#the phandom really has some excellent ideas

[manchasama]

Idle thought about King of Ghosts Danny and another interpretation of what that role is.

So a common theme I've been enjoying lately is that ghosts have a desire/need to brawl. It's a nice twist so that fan favorite ghosts can be on the "good" side, be an ally to Danny, despite the fighting they've done in the past.

Another idea is that ghosts are very territorial. They all have their haunts in the ghost zone. They are protective over their haunts and those that live in it. A full ghost would not be able to change their haunt, and losing it would be devastating, damaging, and might even end them.

Also there is Right of Combat succession idea, where by defeating Pariah Dark (either as in the show, or through a seen/unseen rematch), Danny has the right or automatically becomes the King of Ghosts.

And I was just thinking, what if the brawling was the duty of the King. What if the King was supposed to ensure the health of their subjects by engaging in these fights regularly, to give the ghosts an outlet as well as be a safe target (on account of being the strongest). Because Pariah was both a tyrant, then absent for so long, the denizens of the Infinite Realms are actually in a very unhealthy, manic state.

The reason they come out swinging as it were, is that they have been driven half mad due to the lack of the King and outlet for their fighting instincts. They can't battle each other healthily, because that goes against their territorial haunt nature. Those kind of fights are not outlets, those are real attacks on their very beings.

Then this little half-ghost starts standing up to them, starts battling them in a catch and release manor (which while novel, is similar to what the King should do). Perhaps Danny was already unconsciously moving into the role of King before he ever made an "official" move on it. Perhaps that is another reason why his rogue gallery is willing to support him being King, as he stepped up when no one else did, when no one else could.

[threewaysdivided]

Hi!

Okay, first of all. I LOVE your blog (particularly you Danny Phantom tags). I didn't know this Phandom exist until about a month ago? and I've been having a blast here.

That's and there this one thing. Do you know anything about Duck shaped candle in the Phandom? It's a Fanon thing, right?

I found them in some stories (usually DC x DP fic that have people summoning Phantom) and I just think it's really cute.

Hi, and welcome to the Phandom!

I'm glad you're having fun on my tumblr 💚 A lot of the content in my Danny Phantom tag is reblogged from other users who make excellent stuff (fanfic, art, meta etc) so I heartily recommend checking out the blogs of the original posters to find more things you might like.

Now, as for your duck-shaped conundrum, I think I can give you an answer. It is purely a fanon thing, coming from the DC Comics crossover (DP x DC) space. Specifically, I believe it originates with this story from @noir-renard:

If You Give a Bat a Burger Gen (non-romantic) | Case-fic | Currently updating Strange things are going on in Gotham: A series of crimes linked only by a sentence uttered. A drug that no one seems to be selling, but lots of people are taking. An old enemy reborn, or someone pretending to be him. Graffiti that can't be photographed by normal means. Bartenders disappearing without a trace. John Constantine is also there. Danny wants nothing to do with any of it. He just wants to sell burgers and survive. Actually, he'd like to go home again, but since that isn't possible, he'll stick with burgers. Gotham's vigilante's have other plans. This is why Danny doesn't do favors.

Detouring away from the ducks for a moment, this is a very good elseworld-style crossover fanfic. It has a more traditional spirits-magic-hauntings-psychopomps take on Danny Phantom lore than canon and they use it to create a really cool urban-fantasy mystery setting for the characters. (If you've encountered the Ben Aaronovitch Rivers of London novels, this has a similar general vibe and aesthetic).

Our duck-candle friend first appears in Chapter 1 of IYGaBaB, where a reluctant Danny has it very insistently gifted to him by an amateur occultist, and is then quick to re-gift it to an injured Red Hood. As of the most recent published chapter, the duck-candle is floating in a bowl of water on Jason's nightstand and the rest of the Batfam are giving it little hats. Apparently the candle wards away spirits if burned but no-one wants to light Dr Quack on fire just yet.

Fandom being fandom, people latched onto it as a cute and funny concept, and so began the proliferation of the Red Duck Candle through the DP x DC community.

(This kind of wide-spread fanon lore is not at all unusual for the DP fandom, where a good 50% or more of the most widely accepted concepts are fan-creations at any given time. Ghost Obsessions? Danny as King? Summoning Rituals? Liminality? Ghost Hunger? Ghost Nip? Wes? All fanon.)

As for where the recent boom in DP x DC content came from, I'm not sure. DP x Other Superhero crossovers have had a fandom for a long time (I started writing my own DP x DC crossover fanfic back in 2015, when Teen Titans Animated, Miraculous Ladybug, the Early MCU and the original run of Young Justice Animated episodes were dominating), but it's really ramped up in the last year. I know there are a couple of popular prompt blogs and apparently a DPxDC-focused discord running at the movement, but as for which came first (the duck or the egg, one might say) I have no idea.

Either way, hope you have fun!

[paperandsong]

So, I still have a few more things to say. And then I think I might be done with this topic. I write this for the record.

One of the strangest things about @phandombigotryarchive /@wjsnsfriend is how she turned on so many people who once supported her fics. She has since changed usernames on ao3 and made her Pharoga fics anonymous – but they’re still there. And you can see all the people who left kudos and nice comments who were eventually harassed and driven out by PBA/@wjsnsfriend and @trans-flint.

The only interaction I had with PBA/@wjsnsfriend before February 2021 was when I left a nice comment on her fic Tristeza não tem fim. I was excited to see that title and to read in the notes that she had been inspired by the 1959 film Orfeu Negro. The interaction we had in her comments is probably why she mistakenly thinks I am Brazilian. Because she assumes things without knowing anything.

I’ve written two posts about this complicated film here and here. It is both one of my favorite films and also a deeply problematic piece of art. So problematic that Barack Obama wrote about his negative experience watching it in his book Dreams of My Father. In other words, it needs to be viewed with nuance. Nuance PBA did not lend Madame Faust’s work.

While Orfeu Negro is a Portuguese-language film, made in Brazil with an all Black cast, it was directed by a white French man, Marcel Camus. He was married to the lead actress, the Black American Marpessa Dawn, at the time of filming.

Among many issues with the film is a really awful and racist scene involving watermelon. I mention this scene in this post. [Photo after the cut]

I don’t criticize the quality of PBA’s fic or her use of Orfeu Negro as inspiration. I think the film is important enough to transcend the racism inherent in most films made at that time. But I find it extremely hypocritical that she would excoriate another author for addressing themes of slavery and racism in fanfiction while uncritically enjoying a film made by a white French man as problematic as this one. 

What was it about Madame Faust that really bothered PBA? And let’s not forget that PBA didn’t work alone. @trans-flint/ @cenfantomeenhabitnoir /elegantidler had a lot to do with PBA’s actions in February and March of 2021. They are both responsible for trying to destroy another author and to cause harm to as many people as possible within the Phantom of the Opera fandom. I wonder how long it took for them to plan it all out? From the tags in this post it looks like @trans-flint had some idea that he was going to start hurting people at least as of January 1 2021.

Why Madame Faust? Both PBA and @trans-flint wrote Pharoga fics and MF a was a popular Pharoga writer. And she is a nice person who they rightly assumed wouldn’t fight back. Within that MF call out post there was a long tirade about how all Pharoga writers are racist and Orientalist, again making assumptions about who Pharoga writers really are, completely ignoring non-white people in the PotO fandom.

I am not a Pharoga writer. PBA never came after any of my fics. I don’t think she even reads fic – not even MF’s fic beyond searching for some quotes to take out of context. I have often wondered why I was targeted by PBA - she wrote absolutely sickening lies about me – why was I even in her sights? Here’s what I think: PBA and @trans-flint went after people who shared common interest with them. I believe @trans-flint encouraged PBA to come after me because just a week before the MF post on February 25, I made a proposal for a PotO Paris Commune Week to be held in May. Clearly, he found this intolerable.

@trans-flint makes a lot of assumptions about the phandom and about how stupid he thinks we all are. The tags are interesting. While I am politically sympathetic to the Paris Commune, the execution of their 62 hostages was the worst thing they did and it damaged their reputation in history for decades. Leroux plays heavily upon this bad reputation too. Maybe the Commune was good – but executing hostages is always vile. Commune Week went really well, by the way. Even if PBA tried to spam the tag with some k-pop reblogs, because that’s not racist or fetishizing at all.

PBA reblogged this post from @trans-flint on March 5 2021 and she again insists that I am Brazilian and again tells lies about me.

I have never tried to excuse the trans-Atlantic slave trade – and neither did Madame Faust. It’s all lies. It’s disgusting that she would say this. It makes a mockery of actual racism. There is racism in the PotO fandom, absolutely. But MF’s fic was not it.

I never complained about anything PBA did until August 2021. It took me a while to get some perspective on what happened. But I think I get it now. @trans-flint and PBA laid out that MF post like a trap. They created something so outrageous that it would horrify everyone in the fandom, even people just watching it unfold. They were probably always going to make a list – that post was just a way to collect names. If PBA actually cared about racism in PotO, she would be out here calling out those who have said awful things about Lucy St. Louis. But she’s not. Her work is done.

But they’ve already lost. Their list has been proven meaningless. It protects no one. Even PBA seems to have forgotten about it. And I think the phandom should too. Let @trans-flint drive himself crazy trying to update it without using excel. 

[ladylynse]

Have you discussed the 'Danny and Jazz have a cousin named Flynn' idea that the fandom has been talking about? I like the idea of them having an older cousin to extend their family tree a little bit. Not too sure on the whole 'lost in the Ghost Zone' part.

I haven't weighed in myself, no. I remember some good posts spinning off from @the-stove-is-on-fire's excellent retcon of the post-canon info, and from what I know of what Flynn is actually supposed to be (I haven't watched the official video), it is leaps and bounds better. Older cousin makes infinitely more sense than older brother who's never mentioned (or even present in, y'know, actual safety precautions that even the Fentons would realize they'd need to take if that had happened, even if they haven't told Danny and Jazz about Flynn).

Given that the phandom has collectively decided to ignore Flynn's existence as canon in favour of arguably much better fanon, I think you'd be safe playing Flynn however you wanted--whether someone who wound up in the Ghost Zone through a natural portal and is surviving because Alicia taught him how to survive practically anything or someone still in the human realm that Danny and Jazz know but don't see often enough to remember much of, like when you're meeting cousins (second cousins or first cousins once removed or more distant relations) at a family reunion and you kinda know who they are but you don't really know who they are and you call it good if you can figure out how they're related to you. Frankly, if I wrote anything with Flynn, Flynn's character would depend largely on the story I wanted to tell, because I'd treat them mostly as a blank slate. I took a lot of liberties with Kyle and even Wes Weston when I wrote a fic with them, picking and choosing pieces of fanon and mixing in a bit of my own headcanon for the strictly fanon characters, and I'd probably do the same with Flynn.

[dannymayevent]

Great work @paper-glasses completing the daily calendar! It was great seeing all of the different art works you came up with!

This fic was created by @phandom-phriend for your day 29 prompt Heat

*tw mentions of death, parental fights

----

Ever since she saw those people on the TV screen with their loud instruments and voices, with their crazy hair colors and even wilder outfits, Ember knew she wanted, needed, to be part of that. Her parents were always quick to turn off the television when these bands came on, or change the radio station when something particularly loud or out of their comfort zones came on. But even at nine, that couldn’t stop Ember.

The second she had the chance, she found herself in the music room of her school. It wasn’t much, seeing as the school was for elementary students who couldn’t really grasp the idea of complexity quite yet, but she was desperate to get her small hands on something. Anything. The teacher was more than happy to help with her little hobby, taking the time to teach her things about rhythm and notes. Teaching her how each part worked to create the whole of what would later be heard on the radio by thousands.

Ember was entranced.

In middle school the very first thing she did was join the band. It wasn’t quite what she wanted, but even that tiny drum set served as the perfect outlet. Her parents had been fighting more and more lately, but because they were so absorbed in their own petty fights they didn’t even notice that she often returned home late from practice. It worked for her in that way, seeing as music still didn’t really seem to be their ‘thing’, but when she actually wanted for their eyes to look her way…

So Ember tried. She tried so hard to excel in all her classes, in her band performance, even in her chores to try and turn those angry glares into proud fondness like it used to be. Or maybe it was never like that and it was simply her child mind making the best of things. But it is a goal she strived to achieve in some sort of way from the moment she wakes up to the moment she goes to bed each night.

In the end, her grades slipped. Ember was still trying so hard, but it wasn’t enough. She couldn’t bring herself to focus on her studies the same way that she focused on music. No matter what she tried, she just couldn’t get the same joy from reading or equations that she got from beats and lyrics. Sitting in a classroom could never have the same appeal as being on a stage, but it seems that kind of logic doesn't work on teachers or state tests. Who knew?

In eighth grade, a friend of hers introduced her to the guitar. It was something her dad kept propped up in the living room corner. The previous times she had been over, Ember had thought the item was merely a decoration to ‘tie the room together’. But when he found Ember staring at it and offered to teach her, that was a moment she could never forget for the rest of her life.

Feeling those strings under her fingertips. The way her heart beat with each sound that strummed from the instrument with only a slight movement of her hand. The way it sent shivers down her spine with the absolute feeling of power and pride dancing in her veins with every new note. This was her instrument. The guitar called to her in a way that drums and flutes and clarinets never had. She knew that from that moment on, she would do everything in her grasp to keep this feeling with her.

At sixteen she is no longer in band, but instead choir. They had recruited her during freshman year and she found that she enjoyed singing just as much as she enjoyed the guitar. The freedom and range it gave her, the chances for solos and the spotlight. For all those eyes on her. Her parents never came to a show, but when the stage lights flashed in her eyes so that the crowd became nothing but shadows, it was easy to pretend they approved. To pretend things were okay and that she would see them after the show. To prove her worth was more on the stage than it could ever be on paper.

Now she is also working part time at some stupid diner. It’s totally not her scene with the overly stressed coworkers and the customers that pretend to know their jobs better than they do. The grease from the food and the same six songs playing during her long shifts aren’t quite the excitement she’s looking for. Not to mention the tacky uniform that totally clashes with her bright red curls…

So if she keeps waiting for a Help Wanted sign to appear in the window of the record shop across the street, who really needs to know?

But it pays well. Well enough that she finally, finally, gets what she’s been wanting for so long. An electric guitar of her very own, colors customized to shine perfectly in the spotlights glow. Holding that gem in her hands for the first time nearly brought her to her knees. This, this right here in her thin hands, is her legacy. This shop in this small town is going to be the start of something great, it’s just that no one else knows it yet.

At eighteen it’s her senior year and she refuses to graduate without doing something she deems herself as great. So without a second thought she signs up for some talent show with a grand prize of $5,000 and a record deal. She has to drive three states away and skip a few school days to make the auditions, but school work and attendance has never stopped her before.

A week later, she got an email congratulating her on making it into the first round.

And just like that she began to shoot up to the top like a rocket going to the depths of space. Ember won round after round after round. Sure, seeing the crying faces of her competition that got sent home wasn’t a good feeling. But the feeling of being so close to stardom, being recognized as one of the best, let those negative feelings be drowned out. They all may have had dreams, but she did too. And she wasn’t going to give hers up for anything or anyone.

And then

She

Won

She won the competition, driving all over the country to different venues to perform her way to the top all by herself. All those hours practicing, all those moments where she chose not to give in when the rest of the world told her to, lead up to this moment. This very moment where the gold and silver confetti falls from the ceiling accompanied by matching balloons. This moment where the judges she's seen face to face countless times over the course of this journey walk up to her with a golden trophy. This moment where she gets to choose which record label she wants to sign to.

This moment where she is truly free.

Then came time for her first live performance. Her hair all tied up, makeup done in a way to leave an impression. Outfit displaying all the power and ferocity within. This would be her debut song to the world. The first pillar after a long string of stepping stones leading her to the fame she has desired since she was small. Her parents still aren’t in the crowd, but that’s okay now. Now she has fans that watched her journey cheering her name. And the only way she plans to go is up.

Except that didn’t happen. Halfway through her song there was an… accident. One of the stage crew members didn’t properly put out their cigarette backstage and started a small fire. It could have been easily handled, but the assistant who found it panicked and fanned it with the papers they had been holding, unintentionally making the flames bigger.

By the time Ember realized the heat wasn’t from her workout of working her stage magic, but from the hidden flames backstage, it was already too late. The rope they had used in place of the rusted metal beam that once held one of the spotlights burned.

The rope burned and the light came tumbling down, down, down. All she could do was look up into it as the bulb flickered out. Look up and hope against all hope that this wasn’t it. That there would be more to her story.

“... But I woke up in the ghost zone instead of some hospital bed. Years had already passed by the time I manifested and everyone… everyone had already forgotten about me. Just another news story. Well, they did change the safety measures for stage performances after that. So I guess that’s a win.” Ember sighed, looking out at the stars above them. Sometimes it hurt to look at them, all twinkling and bright above her.

Sometimes she worries that one might fall.

“I’m… sorry, Ember.” Danny said sadly. He knew that all ghosts had their story, a reason they remained. But hearing them never got easier. The pain of having lost everything just to be stuck in some kind of in-between is a burden that feels like it’s too much to bear, but there is no escaping it either.

“It’s okay. Well, it’s not, but you don’t have to be sorry.”

“I wish I could help you.”

“Well, you could let me perform my hypnotizing show without issues.”

Danny laughed and shook his head. “Fat chance. Unless you can do it without the whole mind control thing, I don’t think that can work.”

“Aw, you’re no fun.” Ember laughed back before standing up “Well, maybe one tame show wouldn’t be so bad.”

The halfa stood up after her and smiled. “Then it’s a deal. The mayor owes me one, so I’m sure I can get you a great stadium attendance.”

“You know…. You’re not so bad, kid.”

“Neither are you.”

The two stayed silent for a moment, simply looking out to the stars, both of them thinking about their broken dreams caused by being a ghost. So many things were lost or taken from them. But that’s the funny thing about being broken, sometimes your edges line up with someone else's. Sometimes with someone you would never even expect.

[lestatslestits]

Hey! Really excited about your trans Phantom celebration & looking forward to seeing what amazing stuff the phandom comes up with. I want to support this but as a Cis, Heteroromantic female I'm not sure I have much of a point of view to bring to the party and would be nervous of writing anything myself in case I misrepresent anything. I would imagine there are a few folk like me here, so I just wanted to ask, how can we help?

Hi! This is an awesome question and I hope you don’t mind me publishing it/reblogging it onto the Trans Phantom Appreciation Week blog.

While the event is open to anyone who wants to explore creating content with trans characters, I absolutely understand that some cis people may be nervous to get involved, and that’s absolutely okay! I understand and also appreciate anyone’s concern about this.

These are just some general thoughts and ideas on how cis people who are nervous about writing trans characters could participate.

I will be posting some resources in the coming days about writing trans characters—in fact someone was kind of enough to tag me last night in an excellent post about writing canon era trans Daroga and I’m super excited to reblog it. So if anyone is on the fence or WANTS to write but doesn’t know how to get started, I definitely recommend keeping your eyes peeled for stuff like that.

If you’re a content creator who works in multiple mediums but is specifically concerned about writing a fic, you could consider creating something in a medium that has less of a narrative focus, such as phan art, moodboards, pride themed edits, playlists...other things I’m sure I could think of if I hadn’t recently woken up because I stayed up until 5 am watching Jonathan Roxmouth’s Instagram Live video.

For anyone who isn’t interested in creating content for Trans Phantom Appreciation Week, here are some ways you can be involved and support:

- Signal boost! Reblog posts directly from @transphantomweek, or even make your own talking about your excitement! Reaching as many people as possible leading up to the event is the the goal, and any word of mouth is awesome.

- Submit prompts you would like to see! I think this is a great way for people who aren’t creating content to get involved. Prompts that can be interpreted across mediums are awesome, and word and phrase prompts are perfect! They don’t have to be obviously related to trans culture, they can be anything that you would like to see creators interpret. I can’t promise every single prompt will make the list, but ANY prompts submitted will be considered and I will be very grateful for them.

- During the week of the event, reblog posts! It’s a great way to support diversity in the phandom, and you’ll also get to see some amazing creations. Interacting with posts is also amazing! Leaving feedback and nice comments is a great way to encourage creators, both trans and cis.

- If you’re interested in things like beta reading, consider offering to beta read for any writers who are interested. This could mean providing specific story feedback, or it could just mean proofreading—whatever level you and any writers you work with are comfortable operating at. If enough people are interested in this I can absolutely make a master post of beta readers that authors can contact if they’re looking for help! Anyone who is interested feel free to let me know!

- If you have an idea that I haven’t mentioned here, or you have a specific skill I haven’t thought of, feel free to message me to talk it over! Chances are I’ll say “Yes!” And add it to this post.

- One last thing that isn’t directly related to Trans Phantom of the Opera Appreciation Week, but I think is worth mentioning; I will always encourage cis people to put their pronouns in their bios if they feel comfortable doing it. It’s a great and pretty easy way to normalize the idea that everyone has pronouns and that everyone’s pronouns are important! Anyone who wants to list their pronouns can just put “she/her,” “he/him,” “they/them,” etc., in their info. Again, this is entirely up to your comfort level and I totally understand if anyone isn’t comfortable doing it, but I’ve seen a lot of cis people over the years who WANT to put their pronouns, but are afraid that it will be seen as minimizing or appropriating trans experiences. Listing your pronouns is not only okay, but awesome!

I hope these ideas give you a good jumping off place! Feel absolutely free to reach out again if you have any other questions or thoughts!

[kae-karo]

hey katie i know you’re not really a dnp blog anymore but i just wanted to know if you’ve heard about dan’s book and your thoughts on it???

hello dear!!!!! aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA yes i have heard about the book, the literal second i woke up yesterday and saw the news (with official links) i preordered it lmaoooooo (also for anyone who hasn’t preordered but wants to - x)

honestly like...i’m a little wary of the ‘self help’ labeling, but only bc i’ve traditionally found self-help books to be a bit preachy. but i trust dan, i trust the serious content we’ve seen from him (daniel and depression, basically i’m gay, hell even trying to live my truth) and more importantly i trust his integrity in creating a project like this - the fact that he wants to ensure all his advice/suggestions are looked over by a mental health professional is excellent, and goes a long way imo in terms of shifting this away from some sort of traditional preachy self-help book

i do also often think abt that live where he talked abt his methodology for making his vids - how there has to be a balance between them being informational, humorous, and personal. very genuinely, i expect that to be his baseline for creating this book

ultimately, though? i’m really excited. i’m excited for him, it sounds like this has been a long time in the making and i’m not the only one in the phandom who knows how arduous it can be to write. i’m excited for the book, and to see what he has to say, and maybe to learn a bit or approach the way i think about my own or others’ mental health differently. and ultimately in my lil dannie heart i’m just excited that he feels comfortable enough to share a bit more of his life with us

and oh my god i am proud i literally just feel like a proud mamma bird watching her lil babie fly for the first time. he’s doing something that, according to his own words, has been really challenging for him, and he’s doing it because he wants to help others and let them know that they’re not alone and that they can get through it

a very long time ago, i heard dan during a liveshow say that ‘life is very long’, and bad things or bad feelings will not stick around forever. and it resonated with me so deeply that i got it tattooed on my arm, and i think it flows so smoothly into the idea of ‘you will get through this night’ that i cannot help but believe this is going to be an extension of the dan we’ve always known, of the things we’ve come to know and love and be proud of him for. that this is going to be, as he said, the next chapter for him - but all part of the same book of dan

[danphanwritingprompts]

Friday, February 15th : OTP

I gotta be real guys: I am both a very shippy man, and yet not at all. I rarely read PURELY ship phics, mostly just phics that have ships as a main subplot. But I still reached into the depths to find some stuff. As somebody who ships basically everything it feels like, I tried to get a bit of a variety in, and I’ll separate this by ship.

DannyxStar (Phantom Satellite)

Echoes by Hey It's That Guy

A rarepair phic featuring Danny and Star.

Why I love it? Rarepair!! WELL DONE rarepair!! It's such a beautiful story that just really gives Star some much needed characterization. It has very sweet and loving bonding between Danny and Star, which I feel the ship really deserved considering many of the ship phics I find of Star and Danny seem to be blackmail based. Which makes for good plot!! But LET THEM LOVE EACH OTHER!

Danny Phantom: Confessions of an A-Lister by Saberhawk

A rarepair phic that features Danny and Star as she picks him over popularity.

Why I love it? god give me the rarepairs man. It’s such a good phic that really explores Star as a character and includes her as being part of the main trio. Another rare example of a non-blackmail phic including them.

Star Gazing by prophetofgreed

Gonna be real with you pham. I don’t remember much about the summary of this besides Star begins crushing on Danny.

Why I love it? Like I said, I honestly don’t remember much of it, but I remember the title always catching my eye and keeping an eye for it in my inbox. There was just always something about it that made me always remember it. It just had that something special that always left an impact in me, even though I don’t remember the details.

DannyxSam (Amethyst Ocean)

Exposed by Hearts of Eternity

This phic is actually really popular, but it's kinda old honestly? So I feel like a lot of new phandomers don't know about this brilliant phic where Danny is exposed being fucking ripped as shit.

Why I love it? It's just a classic, cute little Danny/Sam piece. A oneshot that's just really simple and cute, has that really adoring charm to it.

Hot by ghostgothgeek

This phic is about Danny and Sam chilling at the beach with their classmates! WARNING: Has some mature sexual-based themes (no smut, but it does get NSFWish)

Why I love it? It's just so charming. It's got such a darling spark in the way their relationship is talked about, and it has such good character building. The trio are older, and it captures how they've changed since senior year really well. Very underrated. I got the pleasure of beta-reading this, and I still really adore the passion and charm that went into it.

DannyxValerie (Gray Ghost)

Just Five Minutes by Elle Aitch

A phic that's actually based on a challenge I had proposed years ago! It's such amazing story of Danny and Tucker basically pimping out Phantom in a speed-dating thing.

Why I love it? Firstly, this person looked at my idea and went “YES, I want to write this”, and they took that idea and produced this amazingly well written masterpiece. It's got great pacing, and I really love the way the author portrayed a lot of students here, including how Danny deals with Paulina's crush and how Star feels about Danny. So good, so underrated.

What Friends are For by hufflepuff_poet

Danny helps Valerie study!

Why I love it? This is another fanfiction where I had told people “hey pls do this” and this person went “hmm okay” and DID IT and it's SO GOOD. It's a sweet little oneshot that just has such adorable moments between Danny and Valerie. It's just good shit.

DannyxPaulina (Pink Astronaut/Shallow Sapphire)

Shadow Dancing by imekitty

Danny/Paulina phic that deals with the question of why Danny and Paulina date. A rarepair!

Why I love it? HNNNNNN IT'S JUST SO GOOD! A rarepair? With excellent storytelling? Just FUCK me up, pham. This is so well written and paced. It dives into Danny and Paulina's relationship in such a beautiful and realistic manner, deals with Danny's insecurities as to why Paulina likes him and has Paulina characterized as a person who encourages Danny to try new things and have more confidence in himself. It's such a wonderful portrayal and characterization of somebody (Paulina) who's just so often demonized and basically shit on in fanfics, that people use as a plot device. Paulina deserves better, and that's exactly what imekitty gives you in this.

Strawberries and Cream by pearlsapphiresnapdragon

Danny/Paulina phic where Danny gets to know Paulina. Really know her.

Why I love it? RAREPAIR PHIC BABY! And so well done! Yet another person who gives Paulina the characterization and portrayal she deserved and needed. She's so wonderfully developed and just??? Great here. I love how Danny and Paulina come to enjoy each other's company in this. Just a great phic.

Can't Sleep Love by Litastic

Danny/Paulina oneshot collection

Why I love it? Clutches chest. MY RAREPAIR MAN! A lovely set of fanfictions that just capture some adorable moments between my babies. So sweet, so good. The author is also just an absolute joy to talk to with so much love for this pairing, and you can really see that in the oneshots.

DannyxDash (Teddy Ghost/Swagger Bishie)

Step on my ego, just don't walk in place by Sarcasmastic

Dash/Danny angsty phic where Dash grows close to Phantom and crushes on Danny.

Why I love it? Honestly? It's just angsty as fuck. I'm not typically a big Dash/Danny fan, but there's just? Something? So charming and angsty about this? It doesn't end well, and it honestly kind of villainizes Sam, but I still love it. That factor to it has a bit of a cheese, but overall? I rarely like Dash/Danny. I'm not a big fan of the ship dynamic, but this one just GOT me man, hook line and sinker. It hurts so good.

[janylate]

Girl may I ask for some advice on drawing Christine’s hair? I’m at a standstill. It’s okay if not. Thank you!!

This is gonna be long, so sorry in advance! I’m probably not the best person to ask about this, since Christine’s hair has always been one of the most difficult things for me to figure out. I’m partial to the Sarah Brightman-era bushy hair that I love in Edwardian photography, but really, any style of Christine hair is gonna be complicated, largely since it’s curly and all over the place. There are a ton of small highlights that result from the curls, so trying to replicate these while making it legible as hair is difficult. The simpler highlights and contours of straight or wavy hair or the contained silhouette of an updo simply aren’t there in Christine’s hair. 

It’s important to figure out which style (or combination of styles) you want her hair to follow; the Broadway and West End wigs, for example, are miles apart in terms of the look they convey. Following a reference image is always helpful. @operafantomet ‘s blog is an excellent resource for different costume and wig styles on Christine, in case you’re not sure what you’re aiming for. This (x) is a basic masterpost of the variety in styles. I think from a drawing standpoint the World Tour-style (or restaged tour) wigs are probably the easiest to draw, since they have a gentler wave, a simple styling along the forehead, and more easily followed contours and highlights.

If you’re drawing her hair just with line and largely ignoring shading and value, it’ll probably be significantly easier to fake the curl problem, since you don’t have to focus on defining the form, shadows, and highlights of every lock of hair. The below picture is an example of me faking curls with some messy scribbles, following a Hamburg-style Christine wig design. If you wanted to add a bit of shading to this sort of thing, you can do so in a few key areas (like behind the ears on the head, edges of the forehead styling, bottom of the wig and between major locks of curls) to convey a general sense of the dimensionality.

If you do want shading, oh god the shading I think it’s important to keep in mind the idea of mass when drawing her hair, since it’s easy to get bogged down in details, and Christine’s hair is nothing if not complicated. When drawing hair, it’s important to think of it as if you’re drawing and shading a shape rather than a lot of individual strands of hair (but of course the defined Christine curls demand a lot more attention to individual locks of hair than normal so the extent to which you can rely on this is limited). Very basically, the image below (sourced from here) is how you might start shading hair as a form with volume instead of thinking of it as a flat entity you add lines to. I’m not sure what your normal procedure is for drawing hair, but this is just generally a good drawing tip so I thought I’d add it. This (x) is also a great video that explains this technique for hair, in case you’re not super familiar with it or not sure how to execute it.

Another thing to keep in mind if you want to avoid detail (like me) is that you can sometimes take advantage of the fact that Christine has dark hair, and you can focus on just some of the highlights, rather than trying to shade every damn thing. This picture of Valerie Link (sourced from operafantomet’s blog) would be an example of a lighting situation where you could have a large, flat shaded area with limited highlights in key areas and still convey a nice sense of volume and form. Aim for only having to shade key hightlights/shadows whenever possible.

My art nouveau Christine, for example, goes with an essentially dark base color (as seen around the neck area) and generally only adds key highlights on top of that (i.e. middle of the long part of the hair, forehead/side-of-head styling, and bangs). I didn’t bother with defining individual strands of hair or trying to draw all the curls in her hair, since that would drive me absolutely up the wall; instead, I go for a softer look that adds some light, broad areas of color to add general dimensionality, then add some sparse details on top to give the idea of curls. Work in large sections. You can also definitely play with the value of the curl blobs you draw to add the illusion of more depth while still keeping the details minimal (as with the middle of the long part of her hair in the image below).

I’m very much a rookie at this, and this is just my current approach to what I find to be a very difficult subject. Hope some of it helps, and definitely hit up my inbox or DM if you wanna talk more. I’m really interested to know what kind of look or style you’re going for, for example, or what kind of view (side/front/back) of the hair you’re planning on drawing. I’m very flattered you turned to me for advice!

If anyone else wants to contribute advice on their own method, please chime in, I'd love to hear thoughts from other artists in the phandom!

[monotype-on-phantom]

I have a question: about Phantom Planet A lot of people in the phandom are saying that they wished PP had never existed in the first place (personally I also think the episode could have been better) What do you think about this episode? Is it good? bad? or maybe okay? I'm curious

Personally, I think Phantom Planet is far from the worst episode the show has put out. (That distinction goes to Livin’ Large.) And honestly? I’m glad it exists. Plenty of shows that are cancelled early don’t get any kind of conclusion, and I’m grateful that DP at least attempted to give us one.

Buuuut...yeah, PP is pretty bad. I actually think the worst part of the episode is anything having to do with Masters’ Blasters, though. As characters, they’re obnoxious, every scene with them was painful, and the plot points connected to them were all garbage.

As soon as they’re gone, the episode gets a lot better. The scene with Vlad and Jack in space is actually excellent, and definitely worth the episode’s existence.

There’s still a lot I dislike after that, though. Tucker becoming mayor is...pretty dumb. It’s not the worst crime the episode committed, but it’s dumb. And I can’t say I’m fond of the idea of Danny outing himself to the entire world. I mean, Forever Phantom showed that Danny doesn’t really like the celebrity stuff. He needs to have his secret identity so that he can live as much of a normal life as possible.

And don’t even get me started on Valerie.

I’m still glad we at least got some sort of conclusion, and there are good moments. Honestly, if they’d cut the entire Masters’ Blasters plot and spent more time on wrapping up character arcs and such, the episode could’ve been at least okay. If I had my way, though...yeah, it wouldn’t have happened.