#while remembering how Vlad acts around Danny

[ryoalouette]

Out of curiosity, has there ever been a DP x DC of this premise:

Of which anonymous online forum/chatgroup or villains. Just. Complaining about this one vigilante/hero that's their rival/archnemesis/etc and like.

Vlad and Slade commiserating about this one vigilante kid they would like to make son/apprentice.

[rin-may-1103]

The Wrong Robin Au (part two?)

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"Alright, kid." Danny sighed as he walked back into the motel. "tell you what, you tell me everything you think you know about me and bats, and I'll be Robin. Deal?"

Tim's eyes widen in surprise, "wait, really?" he asks, dropping the third Oreo he had been trying to balance on Sam's forehead. Sam snored, her nose twitching in agitation for a moment before going back to normal.

Tim leaned back, keeping an eye on her. "do you really mean it? you'll come back and fix him?"

Danny sighed, "I can't promise that I'll be able to fix him, but I can promise to do my best."

Tim nodded his head, "That's all I ask." then the kid stood up, holding his hand out for Danny to shake, "We got a deal, Robin."

Danny smirked, unable to keep a straight face at how cute the kid was being. Reaching out, he shook his hand.

"Right, first things first. Who's Batman, and why do you think so?" Danny asked, making his way over to the table. Tim followed behind him, his face brightening up in excitement.

"Bruce Wayne of course," Tim cheered, plopping down onto the chair across from Danny.

Of course, another rich fruit loop would be Batman. Why not? What's next? Lex Luther was Superman's archnemesis? Oliver Queen cosplayed Katniss Everdeen?

"I thought Dick Grayson, Bruce's ward, was Robin at first. It had made sense, or at least mostly did but I wasn't completely sold on it. I only really thought it was him because Robin was able to do a quadruple backflip, and only Grayson's family was able to do that. but then I saw you! and it makes perfect sense!" Tim smiled excitedly, leaning forward as he continued.

"You were able to do the flip, AND you acted just like Robin did! Dick doesn't act like Robin in public, or ever really. But you do! You did the flip, you make puns! you even bit that one mugger!"

Danny blinked before slowly nodding his head; Well, at least his personality wasn't going to be a problem. "right, makes sense," not. it did not make sense, but who was Danny to crush this kid's hopes. also, how long ago was this? because Danny hadn't done the flip this time... he's definitely bitten a criminal or two over the past two weeks, but the flip? that had to have been back when he first got his powers... he vaguely remembers his parents dragging him around the country on some trip Vlad set up for them.

see, it was totally Vlad's fault.

"and who was the second Robin?" Danny asked, leaning back and crossing his arms.

"Bruce's second kid, Jason Todd," Tim replied, not smiling anymore. "The Joker killed Robin over in Ethiopia. Jason went missing and was declared dead around the same time."

"Right," Danny coughed, glancing away from Tim. "and what else do you know?"

"Well, I know Commissioner Gordon's daughter, Barbara, was batgirl..." Tim trailed off with a wince, obviously not liking the conversation anymore. Danny had to agree, the whole class had been informed about the dangers of Gotham City. Barbara Gordan had been one of the examples they used.

"I know that you're using a fake name!" Tim suddenly added, looking more lively now. Danny blinked before sighing, "Yeah? and why's that?"

"you used your bat training to make a fake identity to throw Bruce off your trail! That way you would have more time to settle in with your new team! and it worked for a while, that is until he caught up to you and your team. it doesn't seem he knows about this identity, so you've been using it ever since Jason's death. because you're mad at him."

"and why am I mad at him?" Danny asked, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling. Just what had he gotten himself into?

"because he didn't tell you about Jason's death." Danny glanced back at the kid, watching as he looked away and out the window. "just like he didn't tell Dick..."

had he finally connected the dots? had he finally realized he got the wrong person?

"why would he not tell you two?" Tim asked, turning to look up at Danny. Danny shrugged, turning to look back at the ceiling. "grief makes people do things they never would have before." like becoming a billionaire and spending twenty years scheming on how to murder a single man. or it could make them more obsessed with their work.

Danny knows Greif, he's had to deal with it for years now. It's the only thing he understands about why Batman has changed so much. Greif, especially for someone you love? It changes you, it holds onto your heart and never lets go. It can drive you insane if you let it.

"he was so caught up in his own grief he didn't realize that there were others who needed to grieve with him."

"Oh," Tim replied.

they sat in silence for a moment before Tim spoke up again.

"I know where the Batcave is."

Danny blinked. Right. Batman. Batcave. the bat-themed vigilante had a secret lair and it was a cave. That checked out. At least it wasn't in the basement.

"yeah?" Danny prompted, "And where's that?"

"under the manor," Tim replied, crushing any and all hope Danny had for Bruce Wayne.

It was official. All billionaires were fruitloops. Danny didn't care if they didn't all have secret basements, they were fruitloops.

Next

[flamingpudding]

I am keeping him B

A/N: Stress late night writing, while I am supposed to sleep cause I still got work tomorrow but screw my life...

It all started with the disappearance of Box Ghost, followed by Spectra. Back then, Danny didn't realize what was happening, and he still blamed himself for that. What a fine bridge of balance he was....

The next to disappear had been Elli and Danny had mobilize whatever he could to organize a search party when he lost contact. After Elli, Ember was next. Maybe by then Danny should be realized.

Dan was the next in line of disappearances. Vlad was the one making Danny aware of it. Everything Danny had mobilized in his search for Elli was extended to find Dan now, too.

Shortly after Dan, Vlad also disappeared from the face of earth. If he hadn't already be worried Danny would have been now. His events tripled, sleepless nights followed, days in which Jazz practically had to force him to sleep.

One by one all the Ghosts Danny knew disappeared. Maybe he would have realized it sooner if he had paid more attention to certain things, to the news to politics, to anything really. Maybe then Danny would be noticed the appearance of Dalv.Co and his parents invention on the black market. The sudden spike in Meta traficing following or the sudden interest in Ecto-entities.

But he hadn't...

...and that probably what was what costed him too.

Because, one day, he woke up in a dark cell, still in his Phantom transformation but with a collar around his neck. It zapped him any time he touched it or tried to let go of his ghost form. It was like a reverse of the stupid taser Vlad had. There were no mirrors or anything he could use to see himself with, but he had a feeling that collar used Fenton tech. He also realized that he was in a more eldrich kind of transformation. His hands that usually were in white gloves when in phantom form were clawed and inky black with sparks that reminded Danny of the night sky's above Amity Park. He couldn't tell if he looked anything like himself or not, but judging by his hands, probably not.

That day, when Danny woke up in that cell, he realized the reason behind the disappearances of his family and ghost rogues. Just like there was a spike in Meta trafficking, the growing interest had also developed into Ecto-Entity trafficking and worse was, they weren't even protected by law. The Anti-Ecto Acts are making it not even a real or all too big of a crime.

Months passed, and Danny learned to shut his mouth and emotions out. He thought he was even in a state disassociation, Jazz would have been proud of him for his self diagnosis, maybe. With the passing days, Danny stopped remembering who owned him and who he was forced to fight. Sometimes, his eyes came to live when he met one of his old friends in the battle rings. Tho their fights were no longer a form or bonding, it still felt nice to sometimes feel the heat of Ember's flames, the sting of Skulkers blasters or even see a box get thrown at him.

Of course, he had tried to escape or save at least one of the others before, but whoever modified his parents' inventions knew what they were doing. All his attempts were met with failure.

But then the day everything changed came. Danny didn't know how long it had been, all he knew was that a stupid clown was his current holder. The guy spouted some nonsense or wanting to see how a bat, of all animals held himself against one of the strongest ecto-entiies. Danny really wanted to refuse, yell at that fruitloop of a clown and be done with the World.

But what he didn't expect to happen that day was the shock of electricity, the ricochet of a bullet, the crack of metal... and the collar falling of his neck.

Suddenly, Danny no longer felt like he was trapped in his own body, like he was just an onlooker, but at the same time, he had never felt this tired before. He stumbled forward his body losing whatever momentum he had before. It was a single arm that saved him from faceplanting.

"Fuck! That thing was actually a kid!"

"What?!"

"I am going to fucking murder the clown."

Danny blinked slowly as he felt his awareness sliding from him, yet he still couldn't help muttering at least something before the world would go dark. "Get in line, I really hate clowns, and he is the nightmare realm fodder."

Danny felt the arm holding him shaking, and he really wanted to close his eyes and sleep, but right before he did, in fact, black out from pure exhaustion, he heard one last thing. "I don't give a fuck, B. I like this kid so I am keeping him."

[tanglepelt]

Dp x dc idea… more of a mini fic 108

Dani is melting in front of Danny’s eyes and Danny is panicking. He reveals that he and Dani are halfas. Begging his parents to help stabilize Dani. That he couldn’t watch her melt away. his parents don’t take it well. Chasing him out of the lab.

He barley got Dani and him out with minimum injuries.

Danny had no access to proper supplies, and risks going to vlad.

Offering to be the perfect son if he saves Dani. Making him promise she would be safe and stable. Telling him all that happened. That his mom wouldn’t accept him, she didn’t even accept Danny.

He has a bad feeling when vlad eye flash red and he agrees.

After a few test the fruitloop announces he got the dna necessary to stabilize her. That he will easily synthesize the necessary components. But he wouldn’t hand over the cure unless Danny proved what he said. That he was capable of following orders and being the perfect son.

He was Holding a vial of some liquid. Telling Danny to drink it.

Vlad wouldn’t kill him right?

So he drinks the mysterious liquid. Last thing he heard was that when he wakes up he and his sister would be safe. Which confused him. Why was Jazz involved.

When he woke up things were too big. Why was everything so big? Looking around they were in a cage… on with no roof. Then he saw Dani. Dani was small. Tiny a mere toddler. Maybe 5 at the most. Wait. No no no. He was the same size.

Vlad: i hear you’re awake little badger. How unfortunate. I was hoping to move the three of us before hand. It’s not as if you’ll remember any of this. I was planning on erasing it once we were across.

Vlad was standing in front of a portal. Not his ghost portal. One separated and with a deficient design.

Vlad: this dimension simply isn’t safe for my little family. I recently recorded an artifact that will allow us to jump dimensions. One time use unfortunately. With no stable portal not even your allies will find us.

Yea. No. That’s not happening. Danny didn’t agree to be turned into a toddler. Nor loose his memories.

He wasn’t going with the fruitloop. He just had to phase out of here. He couldn’t get himself to fully phase. Only a hand.

Vlad who hadn’t even looked up from the now glowing portal: “even you should have realized your powers aren’t working. It’s why i needed more dna samples. To fix both my children. Far to young, body’s to frail to handle them all. You’ll slowly grow into them.”

The fruitloop finally turned to face him and Dani. Approaching them. Picking them up. Did he really just pick him up?

No.

This was not okay with Danny. So he started hitting, kicking and squirming. All while Dani stayed asleep.

Vlad: Daniel behave. Act more like your sister. The portal is only one way trip. You wouldn’t want to be left behind now would you.

The fruitloop was only getting close to the portal. He had to act.

One way trip… Act more like his sister. Act like Dani.

So.

He hit the man as hard as he could. Until the man let go and essentially threw them to the ground oh so close to this new dimension. He didn’t have time to think.

They were so close to the portal.

He just grabbed Dani chucked his shoe at vlad to unbalance the man and fell through the portal.

**

Jonathan and Martha Kent certainly weren’t expecting two toddlers to fall out of the sky into their field. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time they took in two children.

Their oldests could do with some younger siblings.

Even if they did have to coax the two twins?siblings? inside with pie later that night.

[radiance1]

Vlad has been asleep for a few centuries now, in a goddamn coffin that he specifically made just for that like the weird rich person he is. He was also, the phoenix king.

Or at the very least, one of them.

Honestly, Danny couldn't give less of a flying cheerio how long Vlad would sleep for if it wasn't an inconvenience to it.

But it was.

You see, he's the ghost prince, prince of the infinity realms, dragon of infinity, son of war and ward of time, etc, etc.

And somehow, he has bloody paperwork.

Even though the Infinite Realms fell into Anarchy eons ago.

So he honestly doesn't know why he has paperwork, and it's so much that Danny has been spending centuries doing it and he's so tired of it and then he remembered, hey? Who likes can do mountains of paperwork without breaking a sweat and could finish this way better than Danny could?

Vlad Masters.

Hasn't seen the guy after his mother died, don't know where exactly he is, but he isn't in his lair (yes Danny managed to get in, don't ask how) and Danny is going to find this man by the Ancients because he cannot deal with those anymore.

He barely even made a dent!

Anyways, so Danny goes over to Earth because he hasn't been there for a hot minute, and that's probably where Vlad is and uh, woah there is this really Earth cause it's lookin mighty different to how he saw it last time-

Why was the Earth currently covered in flames? Black flames that look mighty familiar to someone else's that he knows actually. You know, someone who should have been sleeping the centuries away instead of, oh he doesn't know.

Taking over the mortal world?

It even seems that Vlad got himself a goddamn cult too! How neat! How much time did it take you to assemble all these people Vlad? You even gave out pieces of your power when you could've been, oh, he doesn't know.

Helping him with paperwork?

So, he's kinda mad about this, pissed, actually. So, he goes to find where exactly Vlad is in this reign of madness, finds a literal crack in reality and just heads on through because he couldn't care less about that actually.

What he finds is not what he expected.

Cause you know Vlad? Phoenix king who is probably trying to take over the mortal world instead of helping him with paperwork and was supposed to be sleeping inside a coffin?

Yea scratch that. Because that isn't a coffin.

When the hell was Vlad sleeping inside a magical barrier-

And who the heck was that spamming Vlad's signature black flames while laughing manically, and who in the infinite realms were those guys who were currently fighting said spammer.

"What exactly, in the Infinite Realms, happened while I was doing paperwork?"

===

So, the Justice League is now combating a new world ending threat. Some cult who wants to cleanse the world in the name of their deity so they could hand it to him once he reawakens.

Which, apparently, might've been around for centuries, slowly preparing for this day which, dedicated, but not the good kind of dedication really.

So, back to the fight, they're fighting this possible immortal who's been taking over the bodies of each new head of the cult for centuries and, well, he genuinely had power to back him and his cult up.

Not really a shock there, to be fair, since he claimed his powers to originate from the sleeping deity who blessed him with a portion of his power.

Vlad didn't, bro just stole a portion of his power and claimed it as a blessing lawl. Not that the cult knew that-

So the Justice League managed to break their way into the place holding said sleeping deity that also acted as the base for the cult leader and, well. Yea he truly does have the power to back himself up and, if the magic users had anything to say about, a very magically powerful deity he follows too.

So they're kinda screwed if said Deity wakes up, they don't even know when he will actually, neither did the cult leader. He just will 'eventually' which isn't as descriptive as some (read: Batman) would like.

First things first, beat up and disband the cult, figure out a way to prevent the sleeping deity's awakening later.

So they were fighting a battle (shocker I know) with their forces spread between their world and the pocket dimension and things weren't looking quite as good as they hoped. Lots of causalities, both civilians, heroes and even villains alike, a whole lot of magic and powers being thrown about and the monologuing of the cult leader who was floating above said sleeping god.

You could even think it to be symbolic in some way, that he thinks himself above a god.

So, safe to say, in all of this chaos they weren't exactly expecting a new voice to join the fray.

"What exactly, in the Infinite Realms, happened while I was doing paperwork?"

And the owner of said voice, to be a goddamn dragon.

[picturejasper20]

I want to talk about Vlad Masters characterization in the game "Nickelodeon All Star Brawl 2" story mode.

So, Vlad is the main antagonist of this game, or at least that's what the game makes you want to think at the start until the weird time loops start happening and Plasmius keeps repeating things like "Mind controlling everyone is the way to save everyone" and "Don't you understand?!", which comes off as weird to the hero character.

The last time you beat him, Clockwork transports him into the same void "safe space" other characters are in. You can go and ask Vlad what he was talking about and he will answer how there is a bigger enemy at moment: Clockwork.

It is later revealed that Clockwork got infected by Vlad's mind control device, which in reality doesn't work as it should and makes people acts volatile and agressive instead. The "evil" Clockwork has been sending the hero protagonist to stop Plasmius from fixing his mind control machine and make the universe destroy on purpose again and again. Vlas has been trapped in these time loops like that player has been and he remembers what happened each time, forced to see the same event repeat all over again

Meaning that all this time the hero protagonist has been the "bad guy" while Vlad was trying to fix the mind control machine to prevent the universe from getting destroyed. Vlad even mentions this near the end of the game, calling himself "the hero of the story"

Of course, that's incorrect because Vlad was trying to freaking brainwash everyone. But it is interesting is how he is potrayed as sympathetic to some extent as he was trying to do the "right thing". He talks to the hero protagonist about how Clockwork isn't himself and he shouldn't be trusted.

This characterization reminds quite a lot from the one that he has in "A Glitch in Time" graphic novel. In the novel he helps Danny with searching for the source of ghost power and defeating Dan. He realizes the wrong of his selfish past actions and starts a path to redemption near the end of the story.

Considering that Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 involves time travel and time loops like A Glitch in Time, it wouldn't be out of place to say that Vlad's characterization in the game is intentional, probably being written with the goal to be close to his character version in A Glitch In Time.

While Vlad doesn't exactly regret his actions at the end of the game, the idea of him not being as evil as he looks/ having standars is still there. There has been certain change of how his character gets potrayed lately. To someone more sympathetic, less emphasis on "evil" and more "he doesn't understand what he is himself getting into" vibes.

It also suprised me how he was chosen to be one of the main antagonists for this game and one of the characters that has the most lines in the story mode. It makes you wonder why they didn't make a Danny Phantom game instead since all the plot revolves around Danny Phantom characters.

On smaller observation, despite Vlad's motivations being "taking control over the universe" there are some lines of dialogue that hint as his own loneliness such as saying the game player that "they would make a good sidekick" and regreting "not having an audience" to see how he activates the mind control machine. In part it is understandable this doesn't get expanded upon since there are likely people who play the game that don't know about Danny Phantom.

I don't know who was behind writing the dialogue from this game but one thing i can say is that they seem to get Vlad's character in a good part, specially how he doesn't seem himself as a villain in certain moments.

All this emphasis in Vlad from AGIT graphic novel and the Nick fighting game makes wonder if he is going to have some important role in possible future stories from the series. It seems to me that it is trying to build up to something to be more than just pure coincidence. If he does gain more protagonism on long run, i hope they continue with this potrayal of his character because i find it pretty interesting.

[raaorqtpbpdy]

Death by Exposure

Written for the Phic Phight Prompts: At first Danny had been worried sick that Wes had figured out that he was Phantom, but when no one believed him it had sort of become funny. Still, after the anti-ecto act, and the GIW, and his own parents very public very violently vitriolic screeds against ghosts, Danny had to wonder what he'd ever done to Wes that the guy would risk exposing Danny to all that. (from @hpwotters-blog, or at least I think that's you're tumblr.), Wes Weston wakes up to find an injured Phantom on the fire escape. (from @half-deadmagicperson), With how much time he spends on basketball and his delusional conspiracy theories, no one would ever suspect that Wes Weston has another secret hobby… (from @kadziduo), And Wes has been spending more and more time around Fenton and Co. lately - hey! he’s only trying to get some much-needed evidence against them, not trying to get all buddy-buddy with them. And anyway, they’re an entirely annoying bunch, so he wholeheartedly blames them for the fact that he’s currently being monologued at by the ghost holding him hostage. (from @a-closet-emo)

Chapter 5: Exposed

AO3 Link

[Warnings death mentions and kidnapping]

Much to both boys' surprise, Wes and Danny bonded during the remaining days of spring break. Even after Danny was fully healed and could go home, they hung out together. Wes even helped him in a ghost fight once or twice. When Sam and Tucker got back from their respective trips, they were dumbfounded.

"Danny, this is definitely just another ploy to gather evidence that you're Phantom," Sam pointed out. "I know you're not the brightest bulb, but even you have to see that."

"First of all, rude. And second of all, I showed up on his fire escape, bleeding out, and he patched me up," Danny told her. He'd already told her twice before. "I really don't think he's all that eager to expose me anymore. For now, at least."

"And how long is that gonna last?" Tucker asked. "How do you know he'll still feel that way tomorrow? Or next week?"

"I rarely ever say this, but Tucker's right," Sam said, crossing her arms. "Your parents and the Guys in White have created a propaganda machine that's constantly pumping out new anti-ghost sentiments. Wes may have resisted so far, but for how much longer?"

"Will you two just trust me?" Danny pleaded. "Ever since he figured out I'm Phantom, Wes has learned a lot more about ghosts than your average Amity Parker. He knows as well as we do that the Guys in White are lying about ghosts being non-sentient. And you're right, he still wants people to know I'm Phantom, but you were also right a couple months ago when you said he didn't want me to get hurt. Do you remember that?" 

"We do trust you, Danny," Tucker said. "We just don't understand why you'd trust Wes, unless you're like, being overshadowed, or you lost your mind or something."

"Is that it?" Sam asked. "Have you gone completely insane? Next thing you're gonna tell us is that you've started thinking of Vlad as a father figure."

"Ew," Danny cringed. "It's nothing like that. I just think maybe we misjudged Wes a little bit."

"I'll believe it when I see it," Sam scoffed.

"Great, 'cause he's having lunch with us on Monday, when school starts back up again."

"WHAT?"

Sam and Tucker were none too pleased when Wes joined them in the cafeteria, just like Danny had said he would. But he didn't go on his usual tangent about Danny's secret identity, and, "How am I the only one seeing this? Wake up!" Even when Danny openly mentioned something that happened while fighting ghosts as Phantom, Wes kept it confined to their table.

He did ask a lot of questions about ghosts, though, and every time Danny answered them, Sam and Tucker would give him a look like he'd just sold Fenton Works for a handful of beans.

"What are you doing?" Sam hissed in his ear. "He's going to use this information to expose you!"

"Eventually, maybe, but relax," Danny muttered back. "He's changing his tack, okay? He wants to prove ghosts are sentient first and get the anti-ecto acts repealed."

"Oh, sure, that's a totally attainable goal for a high school student." She rolled her eyes. "Do you really believe he's going to do that?"

"I don't know, but he seems to," Danny told her with a shrug.

"I know you guys are talking about me," Wes said. "If you won't say it to my face, don't say it at all. Put up or shut up."

"Sam says she has no faith in you," Danny told him, and she gasped and punched him in the shoulder. "Ow!"

"That's fair," Wes said. "She's gonna eat those words, though."

"I'd like to see you make me!" she sneered.

"I'd like to see that, too," Tucker piped up cheerfully. "It's always fun to watch Sam eat her words. Those words better be vegan, am I right?"

Danny laughed before saying, "actually, I think words are technically an animal product, since they come from humans. Guess Sam may have to go off her diet." The two of them busted up while Sam scowled, and Wes looked confused for a moment before chuckling awkwardly, just so he wouldn't be left out.

Wes continued to spend more time with the three of them. He could often be found taking notes on things they said about ghosts for his new conspiracy theory about the G.I.W. covering up the fact that ghosts are sentient in order to enact the legal genocide of an intelligent species.

"What are you doing hanging out with that loser so often?" Dash asked derisively as he caught the ball Wes sent his way and passed it to Josh. Wes had just told him that he was meeting Danny and his friends once basketball practice was over. Dash faked a gag for dramatic effect.

"Lay off, dude, I'm gathering evidence," Wes said. The whole school still thought Wes was obsessed with his 'Fenton is Phantom' theory, and he didn't have enough evidence to start spreading his new theory yet, so he used that as his cover. It was harder than he thought to prove that ghosts were genuinely sentient when the commonly held belief was that they were pretending to be sentient, for God only knew what reason. "If I spend time around them, they'll eventually slip up and give me everything I need."

"Dude, you're off your nut if you're still trying to prove your stupid theory," Dash said with a snort. "He's not Phantom. Just admit you're crushing on him and stop making excuses."

"I am not crushing on Danny Fenton!" Wes snapped, insulted by the insinuation, one that was made far too often for Wes' liking. "Fenton's a complete dumbass, a liar, and an asshole. I'm gay, not stupid. I would never be attracted to someone like that."

"Uh-huh, sure." Dash clearly didn't believe it. Wes just sighed and stopped arguing, knowing it would be useless if he did. Nobody ever believed anything Wes said, so that was hardly new. It was annoying though. 

When basketball practice ended, he headed to Fenton's house. Sam, Danny, and Tucker were all going to teach Wes how to play Doomed, which promised to be an... interesting experience.

Wes had never really played any video games before. He'd tried out a few at an arcade once, years ago. Kyle got to pick where they had their party on odd numbered years, so they went to one for their eleventh birthday. Wes hadn't lasted more than five minutes on any of the games there, and it ranked among the worst birthday parties he'd ever had for the pure frustration. He got back at Kyle for their twelfth though, when Wes got to choose the place and they had their birthday party at a bird sanctuary.

He knocked on the door when he arrived, and Danny answered it and immediately ushered Wes up to his room before his parents could intercept and trap Wes in a one-sided conversation about ghosts. Well, actually, with Wes there might've been some audience participation.

After an hour, Wes had made a character and approximately nine thousand derisive comments about video games, but he hadn't even managed to beat the first level. The other three were extremely amused.

"I told you I'm not good at video games," he reminded them, having to shout to be heard over their uproarious laughter as he repeatedly ran his character into a wall... again. "I told you all, like, a dozen times, but you insisted!" Even Sam had, which had surprised Wes, because she didn't seem like the gamer type. "I don't have the finger reflexes and shit."

"You spend all day behind a camera!" Tucker pointed out, panting with laughter. "How do you not have finger reflexes?"

"It's different reflexes!" 

"You know what, Wes, maybe you should stick to bird watching," Danny said, patting his shoulder with fake sympathy.

"I didn't want to play in the first pla—"

"Bird watching?!" Tucker shouted, interrupting him. "You're shitting me right now."

"No, I saw his bird watching journal," Danny said. "It's intensely nerdy." Wes shot to his feet to chew him out for exposing his shameful secret, but whatever he said, it couldn't be heard over Sam's witch-like cackle.

In the end, Wes couldn't help getting dragged in, and started laughing himself. Even as he said, "Fuck you guys," he was smiling.

They took a break from gaming when Danny's parents left to check out a ghostly disturbance that Tucker had called in a fake tip about. The four of them headed downstairs to the lab to give Wes a tour.

"If he's going to hang out with us, he needs to at least know how the ghost portal works," Danny insisted, though Sam and Tucker grumbled complaints the whole way down the stairs. "Let me show you." Danny gave him a demonstration of how he returned ghosts from the thermos into the Ghost Zone, and how to know when the portal was just closed, and when it was actually sealed.

"This is pretty cool, actually," Wes said. He'd heard about the portal, of course, the Doctors Fenton could hardly shut up about it, but looking at it was a different story, "seeing another dimension."

Danny snorted. "Careful, Wes," he warned lightly. "That's the same thing I said, right before I died in it." Wes stopped cold.

"You what?"

"Oh... I guess I forgot that for all your yelling, you don't actually know how I became half ghost, do you?" Danny's smiled turned pained. "Yeah. The portal didn't work at first, and Sam and Tucker convinced me to check out the inside. It uh... kinda turned on while I was in there and...." Danny trailed off for a moment, swallowing and furrowing his eyebrows, as though he was remembering something deeply unpleasant. "Well, short version is it kinda killed me, kinda didn't, and that's why I am the way that I am."

"Just so you know, Wes," Sam said darkly, "It's super rude to ask a ghost how they died."

"It's okay, Sam," Danny told her, pulling himself together. "I'm the one who brought it up."

Wes refrained from making a biting comment about how he wasn't the one who'd goaded Danny to his death to begin with. It seemed like it would be in poor taste, given the setting and present company. Danny clearly didn't like thinking about it. Instead, Wes pointed out a huge object against one wall, covered in a tarp, and asked what it was. 

Danny jumped on the subject change and tore the tarp away to reveal the Specter Speeder, and told Wes all about how it worked. "Maybe some other time, we'll take you with us on one of our trips into the Ghost Zone," Danny offered.

"Really? That would be awesome!"

Sam and Tucker groaned. They still weren't fully on board with Wes spending more time around them, and it wasn't like Wes wanted to get all buddy-buddy with them either. If anyone brought it up, he'd tell them the same thing he told Dash. He was gathering evidence against them, nothing more. They were all annoying, anyway.

Wes left when it was starting to get dark out. All told, despite monumentally sucking at Doomed, he'd gathered a lot of good information on ghosts and ectology when he was in the lab, and he could definitely use it to support his theory. As soon as he stepped off the front porch, something grabbed him out of nowhere, and he was flying away.

"What the?!" Wes struggled, but it was no use. He looked up to see his kidnapper, the ghost of some kind of medieval nobleman or something, wearing fine purple and black robes and a bitter expression on his blue face. "Fan-fucking-tastic." Wes pouted and crossed his arms. Of course something like this would happen. This is what he got for befriending Danny Fenton. 

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[fangirlwriting-stories]

Unexpected Connections

Summary: No One Knows AU Part 14, Vlad approaches Valerie on her way to a meetup with Danny.

Author's Note: Sorry updates have been a little slower, unfortunately that's probably going to continue because school has been kicking my ass. Thanks for your patience while I have less time to write!

...

Vlad approaches Valerie while she’s on her way to the park, and it creeps her out a little bit.

Sure, he could have spotted her very casually and decided to talk to her just as casually, but he’d approached with just enough purpose to make her nervous.  But before he starts speaking, she makes sure to shake the feeling off.  She can trust Vlad.  He’s her ally.

“Ms Gray, I heard you had a fight with Phantom,” Vlad says, in a tone way too purposeful to be the start of a casual conversation.

Valerie nods.  “Plus that vampire ghost.  I don’t know his name.”

“Plasmius,” Vlad says with a nod.  “He’s one of Phantom’s underlings.”

“He is?” Valerie asks, raising an eyebrow.  “He seemed more powerful than Phantom.”

Or well, that wasn’t quite it.  He’d seemed more willing to act than Phantom had.  Phantom mostly ran.  This guy attacked her.

Not that Phantom was unable to find other ways to ruin things.

“Ally, technically,” Vlad says, waving his hand dismissively.  “But you know how little Phantom respects others.”

Valerie looks at Vlad for a moment, but sees nothing but sincerity in his face.  “Sure.”

She turns to keep walking towards the park.  “If you want me to help train today, I’m sorry but I’m busy,” she says.  Like she’s gonna drop her park date— park time with Danny just to babysit Thing 1 and Thing 2.

“You owe it to them after that fight,” Vlad says.

Valerie stops and turns to face him in bafflement.  “What are you talking about?”

“Ms Gray,” Vlad says, turning to face her.  “You left them there alone right after the fight was over.”

Valerie gave a startled laugh.  “What?  Is that what they told you?”

Vlad’s gaze turns puzzled.  “I’m sorry?  Did something else happen?”

“Yeah, something else happened, I got hurt,” Valerie snaps.  “And then they left me.”

Vlad’s eyes widen slightly, but his voice is still smooth when he responds.  “I see.”

“So maybe instead of getting pissy with me for leaving them, you should pick people for me to help who have the slightest bit of loyalty to teammates,” Valerie says, and moves to walk forward and end the conversation.

“Ms Gray,” Vlad says before she can get too far, “do you remember your first ghost fight?”

“Uh, yeah,” Valerie says, turning around.  “What’s your point?”

“Were you frightened?”

“None of your business,” Valerie snaps, probably a little too quickly.

“It’s perfectly alright if you were,” Vlad says.  “It’s dangerous, dangerous things are scary, especially in the beginning.  They’re learning, they were probably frightened themselves.”

“They didn’t seem all that frightened to me,” Valerie says, crossing her arms.

“Of course they didn’t,” Vlad says.  “They don’t want to seem any more inexperienced than you’re constantly telling them they are.”

“Excuse me?  Are you saying this is my fault?”

“Of course not, my dear.  I’m saying they likely rushed off because they were overwhelmed.  You did leave them behind to try and chase Phantom on your own, you know.  And they need to be there, to learn.  You’re more equipped to handle getting hurt.  And didn’t one of them mention they got hurt too?”

Valerie narrows her eyes but doesn’t say anything.

“That’s all I’m saying, my dear,” Vlad says.  “Just make sure you’re there to support them in fighting Phantom.  It’s bound to be hard for them, they need all the help they can get.”

Valerie opens her mouth to snap back at him, but before she can he says, “That’s all,” again, and walks off, much faster than she would have expected.

Valerie blinks again, trying to process what just happened.  Did he really just show up, say “hey I know you got hurt but suck it up because you’re used to it and help these two people who I seem to like way more than you and that you can’t stand”, and then leave again?

“Hey Val,” comes a sudden voice, and Valerie spins around to find Danny approaching her.  She stares at him for a second, looks around again, and realizes she’d reached the park while walking with Vlad.

But she hasn’t had enough time to stamp out all of her anger, and Danny seems to pick up on that.

“Are you okay?” he asks, giving her a curious look.

“I— fine,” Valerie manages, trying to wave her hand dismissively.

“You sure?” Danny asks, raising an eyebrow.

Valerie sighs, and turns to look back towards the park.  “Just— an annoying conversation.”  She moves to start walking, and thankfully Danny picks up the single and joins her.

She really can’t talk to Danny about Vlad, so instead she shakes her hands out a couple times and tries to refocus on the good time she came here to have.

Valerie tries to look around at the people milling about, but it’s not working that well.  She can tell Danny wants to ask.  But he doesn’t, and they only take a few steps when Valerie realizes she really wishes he would.

“I just,” she says before she thinks it through.  “Look, these people— they’re just being like— I have a life too, you know?  I have things to do and stuff going on.  And they’re not even trying to understand where I’m coming from!  It’s all about how those two somehow matter way more than me, and what I’m going through doesn’t matter in the slightest!  I thought I was supposed to be important to him!  I used to be!  Am I just insignificant now that he’s found other people he likes more?  Because that’s a real shitty move to pull!  I’m not a tool to be used and discarded, I’m a person!  You know?”

She spins to face Danny, who’s staring at her, and Valerie realizes she just said all that out of nowhere.

“Of course you don’t know,” she says, reaching up to massage her temple.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to dump all that on you.”

“No no, it’s okay,” Danny says, holding up his hands.  “I actually— I kind of get it.”

Valerie blinks.  “Huh?”

“I mean, I’m not going through exactly that,” Danny says, rubbing the back of his neck.  “But sometimes— uh, this person, makes me feel like I’m just around to vent to.  Like they don’t care how I’m doing or even care about just doing stuff together.  When it didn’t used to be like that.  And it really… I mean I don’t love it.”

Valerie looks at him for a minute.  “Oh,” she says.  “I— that’s not what I was trying to do—”

“I know,” Danny cuts her off.  “Don’t worry.  You looked like you needed to let off some steam when you got here, I get it.”

Valerie looks at him for a minute.  She hadn’t expected Danny to relate in any capacity.  And there’s only so many people he could be talking about.  It’s not like he has nearly as many friends as she used to have.  There’s a whole slew of people Valerie could be talking about, though she doubts Danny would guess the real answer.  She can only think of two, maybe three people that Danny could mean.

But Danny didn’t ask her.  And she can tell he doesn’t want her to ask him.  Still, she doesn’t want to go on a rant about her problems, let him respond “yeah I kind of get it this person’s using me as an emotional dumping ground,” and then not offer him the chance to say anything else.

So, she keeps her gaze on Danny as they continue walking, and says slowly, “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“Oh uh, no, no I’m good,” Danny says, looking away.  “It’s uh, really personal, and stuff.  And I like you, but we kind of just now met for real and all that, and… yeah.”

There’s a long pause, and Valerie can tell there’s something he’s not saying— well, there’s a lot he’s not saying, but she knows what it looks like when you’re holding something back versus deciding more casually not to talk about it.

But he did say no.

“Do uh,” Danny says finally, turning to face her.  “Do you want to talk about—”

“No!” Valerie says, a little too quickly.  “No I— I’m good.  You know, too.”

There’s another long pause, and both of them just look at each other for a minute.  And for as much as Valerie really can’t talk about Vlad to Danny, having him relate to how used she feels was nice, and she doesn’t want it to end, really.

So finally, she opens her mouth.

“But it sucks, right?”

“Oh my god, so much!” Danny exclaims.  “It’s like—” he makes a bunch of irritated gestures, and despite not saying anything, Valerie gets what he’s feeling.

“I know right?” she says back.  “And—” she copies his irritated gesture and makes a couple noises of frustration.

Danny responds in kind, and they both do that for a couple seconds, both the motions and noises building in intensity until they finally both just lean in closer and say “YEAH!” at the same time.

And the exclamation is absurd enough to make them realize they’re both right in each other’s face, which causes them both to lean back with laughter that feels a little awkward, but so much lighter than it would have been when they first got to the park— at least, Valerie feels so.

They both stand up as they stop laughing, and Valerie finds herself smiling at Danny.  “Hey, thanks for listening,” she says.  “I mean, I didn’t really mean to start talking about all that when I came here today, just… thanks.”

Danny smiles back at her.  “You’re welcome,” he says with a nod.  “Thanks for listening to me too.”

“Anytime,” Valerie says, shrugging.  “Whether you want to actually talk about what’s happening or just use super vague terms and talk about things more around what’s happening.”

Danny snorts.  “Right back at you,” he says.  There’s another moment of quiet, and then Valerie glances around.  She spots a bridge up ahead of them that goes over a small creek, and points it out as a subject change and place to walk to, and the two of them start over.

And Valerie tries to focus on that and not on just how much she’s starting to enjoy spending time with Danny Fenton.

[thesoulspulse]

Owen's Timeline (Part 3 ~ Teenager Continued...)

And here we have Part 3 of Owen's timeline basically summarizing the rest of the most important events so far in his first story arc.

Owen senses something is amiss about their visitor and rushes down to warn Vlad, horrified to find that it's the same Wraith in disguise who tried to kill him too that fateful day. At the same time Vlad realizes she must have killed the investigator at some point to get those files so she could personally deliver them to Vlad, thereby getting a shot at Owen again too.

Owen's powers start going off wildly in response to seeing his parents murderer and this time the power is so concentrated even Vlad can see those butterflies swarming around him to create a barrier. Taking advantage of the distraction while the Wraith is fixated on Owen -who isn't acting like himself- Vlad attacks her. Then Danny shows up after using Vlad's ghost portal as a shortcut inside and lends Vlad a hand keeping the Wraith busy.

Owen's consciousness is temporarily taken over by the collective memories of all his past lives and tells Danny about Revenants/Living Ghosts who are people who have died but returned to life again.

He also mentions how Danny is “marked by Death” too which is an important detail to keep in mind for later.

Lastly this entity temporarily awakens Danny's ice powers from within his ghost core which he uses to help pin down the Wraith long enough for Owen to banish it.

After the fight Danny tells Vlad about the occult website with haunted photos on it, one of which happens to be of Azrael/Kurst and Owen.

While staying at the Regal Hotel Vlad and Owen get a call about ravens circling the mansion who were most likely called there by Owen's Necromancy powers but Vlad refused to go back to make sure of that since they might be spies working for Azrael/Kurst. (Note: Owen will get his own Familiar later on though.) Also Vlad was half right, some of them were spies and helped track down Eris so he could hold her hostage and entice Owen to come looking for her.

Two days later they go back to the mansion and that night Owen discovers another new power, the ability to use astral projection to separate his soul/consciousness from his body while his body is still alive.

The next day Owen calls Danny and finds out Azrael's name, a part of him unconsciously remembering that's actually the name of an Angel of Death and not his real one which we later find out is actually Kurst.

Owen confronts Vlad shortly after for not telling him Eris had been reported missing. They sort things out then decide to visit Salem in search for answers, hoping to find Eris too.

As soon as Vlad and Owen get there they discover the entire town has been put to sleep by Nocturne, the Ghost of Sleep. Vlad takes Owen back to his childhood home there to escape notice. And while there Owen starts to wonder if his mother knew more about their family ties to necromancy than she let on before she died.

Owen suggests summoning Nocturne to save them both a lot of time and effort wandering around Salem, insisting that the sooner they get the town back to normal the sooner they can get back to searching for Eris and answers about his connection to Azrael

The summoning works but sadly Nocturne breaks free due to Owen's inexperience and Vlad gets knocked out from a nasty blow to the head. Meanwhile Owen astral projects out of his body to escape and takes refuge in his mother's antique shop. There he's found by Eris who managed to escape from Azrael earlier by magically transforming into a cat and she hangs up on his call to Danny asking for help, insisting on telling him the truth about herself at last.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker manage to convince Frostbite to let them borrow the Infimap to reach Salem sooner via a nearby ghost portal and make it to the antique store just before Owen's spirit is forced to return to his body.

Meanwhile Vlad is trapped in a dream until he's shocked awake by it taking a very sudden dark turn and sees the aftermath of Azrael controlling Owen and making him use his powers to utterly defeat Nocturne before Danny and the rest of the gang get there.

Owen wakes up inside some sort of ritual chamber and meets Azrael again face to face who tells him everything. About how they were friends in his past life and made a blood pact as children that has kept them connected all these years, making Azrael a ghost while Owen was reincarnated into who he is now 400 years later.

Azrael tells Owen they're going to destroy the council after his awakening once they renew their blood pact. But Owen remembers the tracker Vlad gave him and uses it to give the others a heads up to where he is.

While Vlad and Danny confront Azrael, Sam and Tucker sneak down to Owen's location but unfortunately are unable to free him and he ends up dangerously close to dying, meeting a Shadow of Death who reveals his destiny to stop Lilith, Azrael's real name, Kurst, and Death's part in creating the Ghost Zone to protect ghosts from becoming one of her Wraiths and destroying the living world.

Sam manages to resuscitate Owen after he had stopped breathing and he rushes off to confront Kurst, saving Vlad's life and then using the same dagger that Kurst killed him with in his past life after being tricked by the council to remake their pact but on his terms, not Kurst's. This releases an incomplete Wraith from Kurst's heart which Owen destroys by incinerating it's core with his now fully awakened necromancer powers.

Two days later Owen wakes up and Vlad tells him about his plans to officially adopt him and help solve the rest of this mystery about the council's schemes and the master of the Wraiths which Owen hasn't told Vlad anything about yet since they've been through enough recently without adding more fuel to the fire so to speak.

Then they pay Owen's parents a visit at the graveyard before heading back to Wisconsin to prepare for the charity event.

Eris lays low at the mansion though since she's still considered a missing person and doesn't want to work for the council anymore after learning what they did to Kurst and Owen 400 years ago.

The charity event starts off smoothly until social workers come for Owen, telling them the director of Mistveil has been arrested because he's suspected to be behind a bunch of recent kidnappings so they have to take him into protective custody. They have until after the event is over so Vlad asks Danny for help again searching for clues about what's really going on.

They soon discover through the combined efforts of Eris's shadow along with Danny, Sam, Tucker, and a vision from Owen that seven people had snuck into the building who had been given orders by one of the council members to capture Owen along with several other children from Mistveil suspected of being gifted as well. They even mistook Danny as one of them earlier and tried to corner him but they got away.

After leaving Owen in their care for the time being Vlad tracks down four of the impostors who attempt to force the social workers to leave the building while posing as fake security guards. Vlad fights against their magic and wins, immediately teleporting to where Owen and the others are to help them detain the final three intruders.

Once the intruders are arrested Vlad convinces the police to send patrols to keep an eye on the Mistveil kids for their protection instead of sending them to a shelter so whoever is already staying in a foster home won't have to deal with the stress of unnecessarily being taken away from a familiar setting, promising to hire more security in his mansion for Owen too.

His timeline ends there for now but I'll make a Part 4 of this once the sequel is finished!

[halfagone]

Idk if this idea will do anything for you, but I'm watching Anastasia (1997), and I gotta say an Anastasia au has so much intrigue to me. Might take some wiggling things around but I can see it.

The one I for sure can see is Bruce as Anastasia and Selina Kyle as Dimitri, maybe Vlad is Alfred? Or Maybe Alfred is Sophie.

But I could also see Damien or Danny as Anastasia.

@roanawayspoons *kicks up my feet like a diva* Anastasia AU, you say? Now I've got some thinking to do...

I definitely agree that Selina Kyle is perfect as Dimitri, though, I love the spin on that. However, you have caught my attention with Damian as Anastasia, as much as it pains me to think of Bruce and the rest of the fam being dead. But we could have Alfred be the Dowager Empress, right? That would fit... Nonetheless! The show must go on.

I really like the idea of Damian being Anastasia, and if you're interested in the Dead Serious ship, then Danny could be Dimitri in this AU. Can you imagine how that would work? Because I certainly can and it is WONDERFUL. We're mixing it up a little to better fit their personalities of course, but we can still keep to the central elements of their characters.

Imagine a faded, cynical Damian who's far more affected than he'd like to let on by the missing gap in his memories. He's kind still, in small ways, because life has been harsh for him- the life he can remember anyways- that he's not so willing to make such grand acts of generosity or kindness. He does the little things, the ones he knows might help even if insignificant, because (even while faintly) he remembers a boy doing the same for him.

And then there's Danny, who finds this boy who could very well be the missing Prince, but he doesn't care so much for the details as much as getting that much needed pay out.

Basically, I need that scene from Anastasia (1997) with Anya (Anastasia) explaining how she escaped, Dimitri finally getting that little flare of hope that he gave up on so long ago, but make it Brain Dead.

[tuxedaaron]

For those of you familiar with my Danny Phantom fanfic series, this character should require no introduction.  And for those of you who aren't...well, for crying out loud people, what are you even USING the internet for, anyway?! ...Don't answer that...^_^; Anyway, this particular individual has been hovering in the background for several stories now, only presenting himself when he deems it absolutely necessary.  Referring to himself only as "G", this mysterious figure has appeared to aid Team Phantom out of several scrapes.  Yet very little has been made known of him at present, except that he is clearly a half-ghost, although he prefers riding a motorcycle around as opposed to flying.  He uses an Old West six-shooter to channel and fire bolts of electrified Ghost Ray Energy.  And like Danny, he also possesses a secondary "True Ghost Form", making him vastly more powerful.  However, unlike Danny, who takes on physical traits similar to Dark Danny, G's form encases his body and his weapon in an odd crystalline substance, acting as armor and augmenting his energy output.  Beyond that, we know nothing, except that he appears to have been sent to observe Danny at the behest of a shadowy organization.  That, and the fact that he's revealed to have a personal grudge against Vlad Masters. To date, G appears to have a vested interest in Danny Phantom's well-being, which would seem to make him an ally.  Yet still the questions remain...who is he?  What are his true motivations?  Those answers will have to wait for another day. While I have to say, while I was more-or-less pleased with the final product, I have to admit, though, I waffled a little bit on the color scheme.  My original plan was to make G's leather coat brown, since I felt it worked better, aesthetically.  But remembering that his True Ghost form is inspired by comic book character, Judge Dredd (you know...is case the image, itself, was too subtle here), I relented and made his jacket black to fit more with that tone.  It's fine, don't get me wrong.  But I still can't help thinking that a brown coat would work better as kind of a "palette-cleanser", seeing as how so many others wear black already. Beyond that, I can't really say there's anything I would change about his look.  I might refine his TGF "helmet" a bit, going forward.  But for right now, I think this is good, for a first attempt. What do you think?  Agree?  Disagree?

[kaidatheghostdragon]

Infinite ghost zone + ghost king danny

Love the idea that its the space between dimensions. Hate the idea that there is a singular entity in charge of all of it. If there are infinite dimensions, then there will be infinite dannies. There are also infinite vlads, an infinite number of which are vying for power, stealing artifacts. Anything less would define danny and vlad as metaversally unique.

Let there be a ghost king for every alt reality, let every alt reality have a ghost zone with alt reality ghosts. Maybe some of the neighboring ghost kings fought and consolidated power to a single king for like a dozen realities in some corners of the metaverse, but there is no putting danny in charge of literally everything. It logistically makes zero sense.

Anti-ecto acts are purged in a few days

Maybe im a pessimist, but any characterization of some government body (american, UN, etc) "discovering" the acts and shutting them down almost immediately just feels painfully unreal. Literally turn on the news and you'll hear all about the public outcry of a dozen different scandals and how they need to get fixed right now. Tomorrow, it will be all new scandals. Two weeks from now, you'll have forgotten todays scandals, of which nothing ever happened. Public outcry is just circuses for the masses.

Laws dont magically appear and disappear. Entire organizations are built around ensuring specific laws to passed to forward some specific agenda and keep those laws on the books, stopping anyone trying to remove them. For something like the anti-ecto acts to exist kind of requires a massive conspiracy. Sure, a lot of fics touch on this, most often throwing luther's name around to imply it, then getting danny captured by a holdout faction working outside the law.

I guess it just irks me that fic writers dont understand that the first and biggest rule of politics is to never solve the problem. Make promises, tell people to vote for you because you'll focus on that issue, but never ever solve the problem. Once you do, you lose a platform to campaign on AND you stop receiving hush money from the organizations paying you to leave things as they are because they benefit from it (and might have a hit put on you for inconveniencing them to boot). No, the UN is not less corrupt than the US - same rules still apply.

Writing that there was outrage and the politicians were embarrassed and quickly reversed it just feels like a fix-it fantasy. They should be spending months debating the laws and standing on their hills (making empty promises to the public) without ever actually moving forward.

Evil giw for evil's sake

Very few people are true sadists. The joker is. Maybe some individuals in the giw are. But the organization overall needs to have a goal and the experiments they do on ghosts need to point to that goal.

The most obvious goal is power. Even in canon, the giw didnt willy nilly eradicate ghosts. They stole skulker's exosuit and reverse engineered several ghost powers to incorporate into the tech their field agents used. These guys are military. They want their technological superiority, and they want to keep it away from others.

(I remember reading someone's argument once that the whole vivisection au is unrealistic because theres a plethora of tools to measure and scan inside a body to see how it operates while whole, so its just for drama and angst. Maybe ironic, but i actually think the vivisection au is justified in-universe if we bring in the idea that ghosts screw with tech.)

Ghost obsessions

They irk the hell outta me. Look, the idea that some ghosts are the personification of a concept is wonderful. The idea of being driven by unfinished business is acceptable. Having intrusive repetative thoughts about a dying wish? Beautiful angst. Bewildering hyperfocus on an incredibly specific specialization? Peak comedy.

You can even keep calling all of these things an Obsession with a capital O, cause ghosts still recognize that they tend to be hyperfixated on things. Being an emotion-based being is gonna have its psychological quirks and patterns.

But stop making it this weird mystical, unyielding, unchanging drive that the ghost is essentially a slave to. Maybe it can be like that for actual echoes that have no sentience or self-awareness, but our boy and all his rogues are clearly conscious and thinking individuals. If i see another "but i /have/ to protect people or i will fade, even though im still healing from an injury that made my insides my outsides and could literally keel over any minute" i gonna hurt.

Cores are okay though. But again, stop being so rigid in definitions. Let some things be nebulous and undefinable. Elemental cores? Perfectly fine, as long as we're not shoe-horning weird cases into an "only elemental cores" mentality.

Ghost culture

Asking about obsessions and death is kinda handled weird in fanon. Yes, asking somebody about something traumatic they experienced is an obvious faux pa, but to say that ghosts never want to talk about it actually defies canon. Ember's song is literally about how she died, and she's sharing that to the world every time she sings.

I personally have scars that i wish more people would ask about because i enjoy bragging about what i survived. I think a lot of ghosts would want to be acknowledged and able to share their stories.

Not asking about obsessions however, would be like banning "so what do you like to do?" Literally asking about people's interests is a normal conversation starter, and its not like there's weather in the realms that they could break ice with instead. Some ghosts literally won't talk about anything else.

Reply to this with your DPxDC hot take

[silentambiance]

words 1,131

prompt, Danny but make it Disney prince (or just a prince in this case LOOL)

Danny sat patiently in court, only recently had he been invited to the meetings. He couldn't say he liked it or even wanted to be there, but his people needed his presence. Being the only Halfa in his kingdom, he was seen as the only one who could make peace with the humans.

But being only a prince and in no way qualified to make an act of peace to humans, more often than thought he ended up sitting g for hours in a stuffy, noisy, room full of uppity Nobles complaining about the dirt they found on the bottom of their shoe that morning.

His uncle, and king, Vlad Masters, had been here with him all morning. Danny hadn't liked Vlad much when he had first met him, but it was either living with his uncle as the crown prince of the Ghost Zone or suffering with his parents who couldn't believe he was still the same person after his death.

Most "ghosts" as they were so eloquently called by his parents, were people that had died or had been blessed with the curse of living for eternity. Halving a whole kingdom of dead people sounds cool until you realize just how hard dead people are to control. He and his uncle, Halfas, had the power to try and steer ghosts' obsessions to something useful to the rest of the world. 

Although the ghost realm and the human realm were disconnected and generally didn't interfere, there were some cases (many) where ghosts found they liked it better in the land of the living. Danny couldn't comprehend why. First, you always looked dead there, no exceptions. Second, so many ghost hunters lurked around the corner that it was practically impossible to exist without getting shot.

That's why people like him and his uncle were so vital to the protection of the kingdom because they could look like people, blend in, and help lost ghosts or captured ghosts find their way back home. 

Danny stifled a yawn and rested his head on his hand. He always tried to stay attentive during these things but oh god they were long. Plus most of the time it was just arguing and arguing till someone came up with a compromise. Being here so early didn't help either. Technically ghosts didn't need to sleep but he was still adjusting, at least that's what his uncle said.

"Daniel, you may leave if you wish… It seems this will take a long while" Vlad waved his hand at the council members and Danny smirked. He felt a little bad for leaving him with these snobs, but he'd be lying if he said he wanted to stay. This shit was boring.

"Thanks, uncle." he said as he hopped down, did a small bow to Vlad, and had to stop himself from skipping away. He gave one apologetic glance as he closed the doors behind him, his uncle just sighed before turning back to his duties.

As he walked to his room he vaguely wondered why his uncle didn't just get new council members. Since his death his uncle had done his best to educate him and keep him in the public's eye, Most ghosts knew him, or at least knew OF him, which was either a great thing or bad.

He dug around in his closet for clothes that looked like the style in the normal world. Careful to pick out a white shirt and blue jeans. Something that looked as normal and un-intrusive as possible. He ruffed up his gelled-back white hair, shaking his head and running his hands through it to spike it up. He closed his eyes, focusing on going invisible. A glance at the mirror and he knew he had succeeded. He flew out of the castle scanning the kingdom as he flew at record speed.

-A Long While Later-

Danny yawned, leaning back and getting comfortable on the park bench. He had gotten there a little earlier than expected, so all he had to do was wait.

Unbeknownst to his uncle he had been meeting up with two humans for months now, he didn't quite remember anything past his half-death, but they both insisted that he was their friend (best friend according to them). They were a ton of fun, he could see how he had been friends with them before. Sam, the only girl in their trio, was a weird sort of kind and harsh at the same time.

 Not that he minded, he would rather get yelled at than be left to do something stupid. Tucker, the other human, was surprisingly smart. The amount of times the boy had gone and ranted about things was absurd. Danny was surprised to understand the things he said ninety percent of the time.

Would he count them as friends? Maybe. He honestly wasn't sure what they were to him, he felt like he had a deep connection with them but, that's all it was, a feeling, he couldn't say he knew anything about them other than the few things they had told him in the little time he had been meeting up with them.

He was always careful not to say too much about the Ghost Zone to them, they had worked with his parents (who Vlad said had killed him, so the trust level with them was nonexistent), but hopefully, they were not as bad as all that. They sure didn't seem to be.

He had met them by accident, he had been exploring the normal world, only a little bit after Vlad had found him. He had been floating around in the park, and they had spotted him and chased after him. Thinking they were trying to capture him to give to his parents for some crud experiment or something, he flew away from them. At that time he hadn't quite adapted to being a Halfa, so most of his hearing was on the ghost level, but he had heard snip-its of what they were yelling, and a could days after he had been chased he realized they had been shouting to catch him, they had been asking him to stop and wait.

Danny had been surprised, to say the least, but he had eventually worked up the courage to come and hear them out after his uncle had taught him how to stay put in his ghost form and his human one. That had been a little under a month ago, and he was content just doing goofy things with the humans. His responsibility to his people lingered in the back of his mind though. Maybe by befriending the humans, he could learn more, and maybe, just maybe, they could help him bridge the gap.

 

(to be continued…?)

[starwrighter]

(I will tag everyone who wants to be tagged for any of my previous prompts but it might take awhile since I'm taking a break from writing to help my Mom recover from a stroke. Now! Heres a prompt before I go silent.)

I'm going to yoink chunks of content from my previous prompts (shapeshifting and the one about Danny's core reforming according to how long he's been dead,)

Now throw Vlad into the mix. Vlad is desperate to have Maddie and no longer cares if Danny is his son. He now thinks of Danny as a problem he has to dispose of. So Vlad being the bastard he is brutally slaughters Danny, making sure his body is beyond repair.

Vlad, not knowing halfas can reform like ghosts takes Danny's core and uses it as a paperweight or puts it on display. All while telling Danny's parents that Danny had run away.

Danny with his core out in the open is able to reform as literal two year old. With his newfound baby brain that is riddled with trauma he barely remembers, decides that Vlad has bad vibes and promptly dips by shifting into a bird and phasing through a window.

Now Danny is on the run, with Vlad trying to find him. Everytime he shifts into human form either people freak out or Vlad finds him. So he just stays a bird, only shifting back when he needed human dexterity or had a safe place to rest. Even though staying shapeshifted all the time is draining and painful he knows what Vlad would do is worse.

Inevitably, he finds himself in Gotham. He's just hopping around as a bird before he runs into the bats and his core registers them as halfas. Immediately the gremlin instincts kick in and Danny starts fucking with them in everyway he can possibly think of. He messes with them when their out as civilians and vigilantes because he's two and doesn't have the logical reasoning skills to see why that would be a bad Idea.

So he just starts going ham, snagging keys, knocking cups out of their hands, fluttering around them and chirping constantly but pecking their fingers whenever they try to touch him. He gets into places it should impossible for him to get to and just stares at their confused faces. He grabs objects left out and charges at whichever Batfam member was unlucky enough to be in his vicinity. (Damian left a knife out on purpose to see what would happen. Jason tried to give the bird a gun for the same reason,)

Danny does help them in his own way though. He helps by chirping and throwing rocks to lead them to crime scenes. Brings shiny objects to offer them. He alerts the other bats when one of them is injured or needs backup. Overall he is their moral support even though he is gremlin.

Eventually one of the Batfam follows Danny to wherever he was hiding out. Maybe they were hoping to catch him, or maybe they were curious of the weird acting bird. Either way they are absolutely horrified when the bird that's been following them on very dangerous patrol routes turns into a tiny toddler.

[snaileer]

YJ/DP Crossover 10

After Aqualad and Superboy nearly get plowed over by both stray crutches and Phantom, the rest of the team wisely stands to the sidelines and lets them have their reunion. Even Red Huntress steps away, leaving while the two talk.

The kid on crutches- Tucker- seems ecstatic to see his friend, and judging by the way he’s glowing, so is Phantom.

“Phantom! I can’t believe you’re back! You’ve been missing for so long! We tried to find you, I swear, but the boomerang never came back and we couldn’t find your ecto-signature and Vlad was acting all shifty and stuff and then your parents-“

Danny holds out a hand to stop him, “I know, Tuck, I already went by there. They didn’t remember me, even when I tried to explain it..”

“It’s not their fault! It’s Plasmius! After you disappeared he did something and it’s like they forgot they had a son at all!” Tucker gestures with a wave of his crutch.

Robin shouts as he ducks to avoid loosing his head, “Watch where you’re swinging that thing, man!” He scowls and brushes down his hair.

“Wait, Plasmius did what-“

“Oh my god, I almost just decapitated Robin… oh my god, am I a fugitive of the Justice League now?” Tucker looks at Phantom with panic, “I can’t afford to be a fugitive, Phantom! I don’t have enough portable chargers!”

Phantom grabs his friend by the shoulders and shakes roughly, “Tucker, you are fine! Batman is not going to kill you! Now, tell me what Vlad did!”

“He erased you!”

Phantom reels back like he’s been struck.

“We only kind of know how he did it, and we’re working on being able to fix it but..” Tucker avoids making eye contact, “Listen, when you disappeared, me and Sam tried to cover for you, said you were at some space camp. When you didn’t come back after two weeks… we knew somebody had to know, had to do something. We went to your parents, they didn’t even know you existed! They thought we were just some classmates of Jazz’s and-“ Tucker watches as Phantom slowly sinks in the air till he’s not even floating anymore. “It was a mess, a big giant mess, and Vlad- well, Plasmius- he wiped your parent’s memories but nobody else, and when you didn’t turn up and nobody could find you, we told everybody you were at boarding school,”

“But… where’s Jazz, couldn’t she jog their memories?” Danny says, pleading.

“We tried… She was away at college, and obviously we called her back but.. the moment she stepped into town, Plasmius went after her. She decided she had to stay out of Amity, so she’s been driving around the states, looking for you. I think she still is-“ Tucker swept his hand out again, this time hitting Robin when he didn’t duck fast enough.

“Sorry,” he winced.

“I knew it was Plasmius! I knew it! Gah.. this is such a mess! I just wish I could rememb—Ah!” Phantom hits the ground with a thump, Tucker’s hand clamped over his mouth.

“No wishes!”

“Oh my gosh, sorry, I totally forgot,” Danny smiles wistfully, “Man, Amity is so weird I actually missed it….” He dims, “I missed so much time..”

“Sorry, wishes? What’s the big deal with that?” Artemis asks.

Tucker stands as he looks at the team grimly and holds up his fingers, “Two words, kids: Weaponized. Genie.” He pauses, “In a thermos. Five words. Eh, close enough.”

Tucker shrugs and turns back to Danny, “You said you’re sure Batman’s not gonna come after me for hitting Robin, right?”

“He won’t,” Robin dabs at the bruise on his forehead, “but I might,” He says with a glare.

“I think you’re good, man,” Danny chuckles and put his hands on his hips like Superman, “I mean, I’m practically part of the Justice League now anyways.”

Wally smirks, “ehhhhh… That’s a bit of an exaggeration, we’re more like ‘Team who wouldn’t stop sneaking on missions till they finally gave in and gave us one,’ but sure, Phantom ‘You’re part of the Justice League’, despite the fact that you’ve been here the shortest,” Wally said with a roll of his eyes.

Phantom quickly floats between them to block Tucker’s view, “And that’s Kid Flash, also known as the Skeptic Grump…him you can feel free to decapitate with a crutch.”

“Duly noted,” Tucker says.

“Why do you have crutches, man?” Danny asks, looking at the bulky cast on Tucker’s foot.

Dani rolls her eyes, “He was ‘hurt in the line of duty’," She stressed the finger quotes, “and now he gets to sit out of actually doing anything.”

Tucker crosses his arms and raises his chin in defiant pride, “I was bravely injured in the midst of a rescue mission.” He pauses at Danny’s doubtful look, “I have a great responsibility, dude! I’m the 4th in command!” Tucker says and puffs out his chest.

“And first in vanity, as always Tuck,” Phantom laughs.

“Someone’s gotta admire all this greatness, otherwise it goes to waste! Speaking of..” Tucker whips around to extend a hand to Artemis, “The name’s Tucker Foley, TF, as in Too Fine,” He smiles, “And don’t worry, the green skin is not a dealbreaker,” Tucker winks and shoots a pair of finger guns at M’gann.

“Oh god, there’s another one,” Artemis says as she reluctantly shakes his hand.

“I wonder if my initials can do that… WW.. Way wonderful? Way….?” Wally says under his breath, thinking hard.

“Torturing them already, Foley?” Huntress asks as she re-enters the room.

“You know it, Red. If you won’t lock this down, somebody’s gotta,” Tucker waggles his eyebrows.

“Blech,” She gagged, “Did you contact Manson? She say how soon she’d get here?”

“Actually she said to meet her at ‘The Spot’ which was like super vague but honestly I think she was just more preoccupied with trying to escape her parent’s gala tonight,” Tucker says, raising his PDA to show a calendar event named ‘Manson Gala’ on the screen.

Val’s eyes widen under her visor, “She said that? That exactly? The Spot?”

“Yeah..?” Tucker looks up from his PDA, “Why?”

Huntress starts moving immediately, “Suit up, Justice Kids, we have a heist to carry out,”

Aqualad steps in front of her, “Please wait. Red Huntress, we cannot just go rushing in, we are heroes and-“

“Listen, Fish Boy,” Huntress says, rising up on her hover board to get in Aqualad’s face, “Heroes or not, Vlad’s plans are what AMITy needs to beat him, and this might be our only chance to get them. As AMITy’s commander, you either get with us or get out of the way, but I’m getting those plans.”

Aqualad looks stunned for a second, the rest of his team sending cursory glances and wondering if this is going to get physical.

“I… understand that, but this team has regulations, people we have to report to.. Phantom,” Aqualad turns to him, “Surely you can agree, this is not the time to be acting rashly,”

Phantom looks conflicted for second, looking between Val and the Team.

And Tucker. And Dani.

He sighs, “Call Batman if you need to, but if Huntress says this has to happen now, then I’m going with her. It could be our chance to take down Vlad,.. Plasmius, the Guys in White…this could be it, Aqualad.”

“Are you sure about this, Phantom? You just got here, just got your memories back and-“

“But I’m not the only one suffering because of him,” Phantom cuts in, “I’m sure, Kaldur,” he says firmly.

Aqualad nods, “Then we will be with you.”

“How ever ill-advised it may be,” Artemis grumbles, only to get elbowed sharply by Robin, “What?? It is!” She whisper-yells back.

Red Huntress looks at them with begrudgment and doubt, “Do what you gotta do, but whoever’s coming, meet me outside in 10. We don’t have time to spare.” Huntress says with military precision and turns to Dani and Tucker, “Foley, make sure Manson knows we’re coming and she’s ready. Then take Dani and help her get past the defenses to get Fenton gear,” she looks to Dani, “Stock up and fly it to us at Vlad’s mansion. We’re gonna need a lot. Spector-deflectors and thermoses especially. Don’t get caught.”

Dani smirks at Valerie and gives Phantom a wry look, “I never do,”

“Good. Keep that record, and make sure to keep Foley out of trouble, I’ll rally the rest of the forces.”

Both of them nod and Valerie leaves the group, an audible shout of ‘Get your pampered butt over here, Dash!’ fading as she descends the stairs.

Danny looks at Tucker, “Has it really been like this the whole time I was gone?”

Tucker shrugs, “I mean, more or less, yeah. If it makes you feel any better, I think the town will appreciate you more when you come back, now that they know everything you do for them.”

Phantom grimaces, “It really doesn’t.” He looks over the railing at the organizing crowd of highschoolers preparing to fight Vlad, “I should have been here. Should’ve been able to stop this, to protect you guys.”

“Phantom,” Superboy says sharply, “What the GIW did was out of your control.” He looks ready to fight Phantom on it, but if anybody would know about secret evil organizations, it’s SB, so Phantom lets it go.

“So it was the GIW?” Tucker asks.

“Yeah, you guys didn’t know?”

“I mean, we had our suspicions, but you have a surprisingly large number of enemies,” Dani says, popping into existence on Superboy’s shoulder. Superboy startles and nearly falls over until he regains his balance.

“I still bet Plasmius has something to do with it, but that might just be the permanent soul deep grudge I have for him,” Dani shrugs noncommittally, then looks down at Superboy, “Do you have any of those Clone-Buddy? Wait you have a name, right?”

“Uh… yes? And also yes? And why are you on my shoulder? And don’t call me that.” Superboy finally seems to catch up with her words enough to be irritated at them.

“Yeesh, fine, I thought we were bonding,” Dani says as she floats over to Tucker.

“Superboy just doesn’t really like physical contact much, sorry Dani,” M’gann says as she gets closer to Superboy.

Dani waves a hand, “It’s fine, call me when he hits clone puberty and gets over the identity issues,” She shrugs with a smile, “It happens to us all.”

Superboy looks away defiantly, ignoring the comment. At least she said he could still call her.

“Come on, Dani, I need to make sure Sam gets our message and I have the tech needed to hack the Fent-“ Tucker freezes with a look at Phantom.

Phantom waves it off, “It’s fine Tuck, it’s not like I didn’t break in my fair share of times, but uhh..” Phantoms pauses, looking down and blushing a bit, “Say hi to Sam for me will you? So she knows I’m back?”

Tucker smiles, “You got it, bro.”

Just as he turns to leave with Dani, Robin stops the two of them, “Hang on, I’ve been ignoring it, but I have to know, why did Dani look so different when we first came in?”

The Amity park residents exchange a look like they’re deciding whether or not to tell them something…

“Phantom, we talked about this, we’re your team, you need to be honest with us,” Aqualad says.

Dani looks to Phantom with a shrug, “It’s your secret, cuz'.”

Phantom lands softly on the ground and returns the look, “That’s just the thing, Dani, I don’t think it is anymore.”

Dani stutters back, “You mean..-“

Tucker remains silent, rocking back on his crutches as horror and grief write themselves across his face.

Phantom turns away, back towards the team, “Dani looked like that because she’s a halfa. Dani’s not a full ghost, she’s half-dead, half-alive, a Halfa.”

Phantom pauses, “It’s what I used to be.”

“Used to?”

On Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/36374176/chapters/90685825. (Cleaner Writing)

Part 1: https://snaileer.tumblr.com/post/661211386227064832/yjdp-crossover (Has spoilers)

Next Part: https://snaileer.tumblr.com/post/675105940768456704/yjdp-crossover-11

[storm-driver]

ep 24/25 : aight, reign storm. the first two-parter/one-hour special. i didnt watch this live back then because i was REALLY young and hadnt developed an interest for danny phantom yet. so someone correct me if im getting this wrong. was this a two-part special that was split into two episodes, or was it just a big one-hour block? the source im using to watch this has it split into two parts.

so immediately i need to be the child that grew up in the 2010s and point out the neural receptors in the ectoskeleton suit reminded me of the fucking springlocks in the fnaf suits and im so fucking childish, FUCK.

FNAF STOLE FROM DANNY PHANTOM???

anyways, reign storm actually was a lot better than i remembered. i don't think this episode appealed to me much as a kid since the action was sorta sparse, but i appreciate it a lot more this time around, how the episode paces itself.

ghost king pariah dark is unleashed by dumbass masters teehee, and now danny has to deal with the consequences!!!! rest in shit, king

so immediately this episode sets up for valerie and danny to get proper relationship development down the line by having them bond over getting hounded at school. plus when the ghost invasion starts, and they're forced to work together as huntress and phantom, it's a genuine pact. valerie still doesn't trust him, but she can recognize the real threat when she sees it.

i wanna point out, the fact that every single ghost was so fucking afraid of pariah that they deliberately threw themselves into the human world is such a show of power for pariah himself. EVERY GHOST that danny knows RAN. EVERYONE WAS SCARED.

skulker scouting out the area right outside the portal after pinning danny and just commandeering everyone to flee was kinda awesome. also, danny throwing himself down the stairs into the lab and sliding across the floor to act as the sole barricade against a ghost invasion was ALSO cool, but in a "oh fuck" kinda way, yknow.

pointdexter is the only ghost out of the invading bunch who kinda acknowledges that what they're doing isn't exactly good, shoving humans out of establishments because they need a home to stay in. and i appreciate that the most human-like ghost besides danny has some humanity and pity for everyone else. except it's immediately hilarious bc skulker points out they're all just living in stores and not actual houses, so props to ghosts for not evicting people from their homes LMAO

when danny tries to get info from the other ghosts, it's showcased as everyone sitting around a campfire while skulker recites the legends about the ghost king. except it's also a gag bc they're just in a lil store with a shitty fake campfire to act as the mood lighting and the visual gags in this show are so fucking underappreciated, i refuse to let anyone ignore this image.

the lore behind the ghost king is interesting to me from a canon standpoint because i cant really imagine where it would've gone from here if it ever got brought up again? the crown and ring being such powerful relics that only fiercely powerful ghosts can even wear them is interesting, but then i need to wonder what constitutes a ghost being powerful enough to wield it? could danny feasibly do it? or anyone else in this room? it never gets brought up again, but i would love if it was in the novels, since pariah was briefly seen in some of the panels.

this shot of danny screaming WE MIGHT ALL DIE, BUT LET'S DIE TOGETHER is great btw, love this kid

also, it never gets brought up again in the episode, but a random shitty fenton probe gets launched into the ghost zone and it never does anything for the rest of the runtime, what even was that.

danny is fed up with vlad lowkey being the cause of this whole mess and outright goes to give him shit for it, then when vlad gets cocky and insists he's controlling the whole chess game, danny loses his temper and just SLAMS HIM. the angry ghost eyes, the lamppost breaking so he can clock vlad without worry of being seen. vlad accusing danny of fighting just like he does, cold and dirty, and danny screaming back "I AM NOTHING LIKE YOU" it's all SO GOOD. IT'S ACTUALLY GREAT??? i wonder if they ever expand on this (they dont.)

once pariah gets the ring back and it's Looking Dire, that's when danny realizes *ahem*

he's not strong enough on his own to fight pariah, but his parents come in clutch again with the ectoskeleton. but still has imposed risk with how the suit just drains your life force, even if it makes your power output a hundred-fold stronger. so danny riding this thing into battle is do or die.

i appreciate the moment where valerie attempts to pilot the suit because she's realized the same thing, the suicide mecha thing is the only hope they have for fighting back. but danny, in a slight joking manner (but also incredibly kind-hearted way to sorta save valerie???) slaps the hood off her face to expose her and make her father panic. and grabs the suit for himself to pilot.

they weren't kidding when they said it was a death wish, the entire lead up to the final fight is framed as danny's last words he might say to his friends. everyone's sad, but trying to be hopeful. danny himself finally gets to rebuke the stupid fuckin invisobill name and tell everyone what his ACTUAL name is, and it actually sticks, too. people use the phantom title from here on and it just feels right.

the actual fight itself is a little goofy fun. danny gets to fuck around with the obscene power of the mecha suit, which has a blue light as opposed to a green one, i like that teehee. it's pretty obvious this was the episode that burned the fucking budget of this show though, there is a lot of needless cgi where i would've gotten the point from hand drawn frames. still, it's fun to watch shit explode violently, so the skeletons just BLOWING UP after a while was good fun.

the other ghosts make a last-second return to help danny fight pariah's army of ghosts, so that danny himself can devote himself to fighting pariah. poindexter looks so fucking funny in this shot tho dude, like wtf is he even gonna do here. he is Actually just a dude.

i would've liked to see more physicality in the fight itself, since danny is sorta just getting his ass beat while showcasing how stupid strong pariah is for DEALING with every kick danny is throwing at him. he only gets the upperhand slightly bc the mecha is able to give danny enough power to FINALLY DUPLICATE HIMSELF PROPERLY. which HELL YEAH KING, GET IT. bro was so upset when kwan did it accidentally in the other episode, and now danny gets to relish in it, even if briefly. he DESERVES a tiny victory, good for him.

so specifically with fight choreography, i feel the show would still benefit way more if they'd kept the person who did the storyboarding for fright knight. which i went back to check who that was, and i think it's Ray Angrum? he's the only consistent name between fright knight, public enemies, and pirate radio, which are the three episodes that looked the most distinct. though he is mentioned to have done at least SOME storyboarding for reign storm, but i have a feeling it wasn't the final fight sequences. or at least, not all of them.

the resolution feels just a lil too cheeky since danny casually shoots the crown off pariah's head and that makes him freak out for a second. which gives danny the time to throw pariah into the coffin again and try to keep it shut. but oops, he lowkey forgot the suit is KILLING HIM and there is absolutely no way he could keep it shut for however long it would take pariah to get tired, and danny sorta resigns himself to probably dying on this hill.

except, last second save, vlad shows up with the same key that started this whole mess and locks the coffin. it's nice to see that vlad did at least care for danny enough to save him from dying. dragging him back home and ensuring he was safe before hauling away with the ectoskeleton for a future episode.

he also...made a deal with the fright knight? allegedly?? but that ALSO never gets brought up again, so fuck me i guess for being curious.

the episode ends off with danny phantom being the accepted name for the ghost boy, and most people's opinions have changed about him. which is nice to see his previous screw-ups are able to be forgiven and danny has a chance to be respected for his selfless acts. it's a nice lead-in for the rest of the season, and i honestly think this special could've acted as a good launch point directly after memory blank. maybe if memory blank had gotten the one-hour treatment and this kinda episode came right after as a two-parter, it'd make the lead-in for season 2 feel a lot better paced.

as far as the episode by itself goes, i liked it. there's a lot of time dedicated to making sure the weight and pacing of everything feels right. episode times are even extended past the typical 22-minute mark in the second half because the fight at the end probably ran long with the resolution scene they wanted.

nothing really felt cut except for danny suddenly getting the upperhand in the final fight. but even then, he didn't just win. he was FIGHTING with his entire life to keep pariah stuck in the coffin and barely managed to do it long enough to make sure that it locked.

there's little moments scattered throughout the episode that help with the pacing. the suit getting built and showcased, the ghosts that fled trying to mesh with their new homes in the human world, conversations and short moments between vlad and danny, or valerie, or the other fentons. jazz herself helps cover for danny at one point right before the ghost invasion and sam just fuckign looks at her like ???? thanks but???? IT'S HYSTERICAL. but also, it's just nice to see a cohesive story with all of its elements getting the right amount of screen time. whoever handled the writing for this episode, props to you, you did great.

this definitely deserved the one-hour treatment as a special, and im glad to watch it again as an adult, with a little more appreciation for all the pieces i get to put together. im eager to see if the novel takes anything established here and does something with it. and im also eager to see if ultimate enemy and reality trip hold up as much as reign storm. i have a feeling it'll be different, but i do love this show and i'll gladly watch more of it for even a crumb of stuff like this.

WE'RE DOING A NEW POST FOR SEASON 2, HERE WE GO

(link to the season 1 post here, check the notes for each episode)