#I believe in the schrodinger’s fuck. as in they do fuck but they fuck sci fi way. eldritch telepathic fuck if you will. it’s fun!

[mzminola]

Reaction Post Two: Ectoplasmic Boogaloo

Misc thoughts now that I’ve both seen the show, and had time to think.*

Kinda feel like I missed an episode or two? I could swear there’s screenshots going around that I never saw in context, and collective knowledge that’re so consistent I could swear I missed something...but that might just be the result of a ten year old active fandom. Is it ever stated how long Vlad was in the hospital with ecto-acne? Or is “five years” just a really popular fanon?

I see why so many people call for a reboot; there’s a lot of neat stuff in the show, but due to the cancellation a bunch of threads got dropped or warped out of recognition. Almost a “rough draft” sort of vibe.

One of the major problems with S3 (starting with the S2 finale, actually) is that they tried to go Bigger! Moar Extreme!! Higher Stakes!!! But worldwide disasters weren’t what the show as about. The pacing in Urban Jungle was terrible (plants taking over should be a slow, creepy story, not a five second greensplosion), Vortex was way to overpowered, and Phantom Planet really only makes sense as someone’s dream. Like. All of Amity Park got dragged into an alternate dimension in Reign Storm, because the Ghost King Dark Pariah was supposed to be a big deal. Leave that as a biggest disaster.

“Million Dollar Ghost” was an adorable episode. Danny trying to cheer Jack back up was painfully sweet and dorky.

The two episodes with Danielle are, together, or separately, the most actually horrifying episodes. Melting clones, who look scared as they go. Seriously. And if you strip the supernatural/sci-fi elements from the summary, the first episode from Danny’s perspective would be “parents’ old friend kidnaps you for nonconsensual reproductive reasons, and then tries to kill you and your baby sister in a fit of rage.” No wonder he’s exuberant when Sam & Tucker save them.

Meanwhile, Maternal Instincts from Maddie’s perspective is also terrifying; lost in the wilderness with your child, the only hope for communication or travel to the outside world is in the house of a man you barely know anymore, who yelled “NO ONE SAYS NO TO ME!” when you refused to leave your husband for him.

Speaking of Maternal Instincts, I think it shows Danny didn’t get all his forgetfulness from Jack; Maddie’s so laser focused on finding a phone that she’s disregarding the vehicles.

(and Maddie, you’re sad that Danny isn’t spending as much time with you as when he was a tiny child, but when he hugged you and said “I love you Mom!”, after your smile and “I love you too,” you physically dislodged him and singsonged “clingy!” Really? I get being uncomfortable with physical contact, but calling your kid clingy for hugging you in one of the few calm moments of a crisis is...kinda mean, Maddie)

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Thought on Living Large: Danny's not “letting money go to his head and being an asshole”, Danny’s fucking depressed. We’ve seen Danny get a big ego and turn into a  jerk; example, every episode where he gets temporary popularity (invited to Dash’s party thanks to Jazz, dating Paulina, judging the beauty contest). Thanks to Val’s arc, we know one of the things affecting popularity at Casper High is family wealth. If Danny was being a jerk thanks to money he’d be at school, flaunting it. He’s not. He’s not even attending school, he’s barely leaving his room, and he’s irritable. The kid’s depressed.

It makes sense; he just underwent a major life change that he had no control over in a few days, and lost nearly all contact with his family. (I think his parents are out of character selling Fenton Works for any amount of money, but that’s a sidenote). Danny lost his home. He’s in a strange house, his parents’ neglect thanks to their ghost-hunting obsession is no longer mitigated by a small house where they have to interact regularly, and Jazz is hiding in the library. Major upheaval followed by isolation in a strange place. Poor fucking kid.

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I disagree that “Vlad wants to rule the world” came out of nowhere, but I agree season 3 bungled him terribly. Forget “Phantom Planet”, it’s “Infinite Realms” that’s the worst piece of characterization for him. “take me to my destiny” what the heck,Vlad, that’s so vague. Where’d the Vlad we saw in Reign Storm go?

Vlad (in S1 & S2) makes the most sense if I assume he has long-term goals unrelated to the Fentons. Like he wants revenge on Jack and to ‘win’ Maddie, but honestly he’s had twenty fucking  years for that, it’s like the college reunion came up on his calendar and he want “oh, nice opportunity”. (though Jack’s firm belief in ghosts despite never seeing one until ep1 makes sense if we assume Vlad’s been periodically sending things like the vultures to mess with him invisibly...)

When I first watched Bitter Reunions, I was struck by how badly Vlad handled Danny. In retrospect, it’s even more startling considering how well he manipulated Val. So I thought, why? Well, with Val, Vlad is exploiting her negative emotions towards Phantom and other ghosts. Whereas with Danny, Vlad seems almost incapable of understanding that Danny likes his dad, and in Maternal Instincts he’s likewise confused by Maddie’s loyalty to her husband. Maybe its just that his own view of Jack blinds him to other’s perspectives, but he’s also surprised that Jack defeats him in Million Dollar Ghost. Jack was aided by love and protective feelings for his family, positive emotions. I don’t really think “Vlad has trouble understanding positive emotions in others” is a solid explanation, but it’s a start.

Alsooooooooo, re: Bitter Reunions and most of his other interaction with Danny: Vlad's making Skulker work for him, the vultures (despite being almost 2000 years older than him) do as he says, and we see him regularly searching the Ghost Realm for artifacts and getting into fights.

I think Vlad has spend ten to twenty years (whenever his ghost powers really got going) beating up other ghosts to get what he wants. “No one says no to me!” “Must I beat you with one hand behind my back before you admit you’re outmatched?”

He’s used to manipulating humans, but he saw Danny first and foremost as “ghost kid”, and so tries the same tactics he’s used on all the other ghosts; hit them until they do what you want. This...doesn’t work, with Danny. Sure, Vlad outpowers him, but the kid has a support network, and he thinks on his feet (making a shield bubble after seeing Vlad’s square flat shield? threatening to out both of them? The kid forgets about his own powers half the time, but adapts quickly, which is one of the big reasons hes lasted so long in the hero biz)

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Danny never came out to his parents (excepting Phantom Planet) because as long as they didn’t know, he could keep believing they’d accept him no matter what. Schrodinger’s Parental Acceptance.

I think that’s all my post-series thoughts for now.

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*I apparently wrote this post months or years ago and never posted it, though I did post the segment about depression on it’s own at some point?

#Danny Phantom #misc meta