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halfagone · 6 months

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Is it Canon or Fanon?

A little over a week ago, I received a very thought-provoking ask that wondered whether the Fenton parents could be considered good parents after everything they've done throughout the show. I did leave a response to that ask, and you can find the original answer here. But even afterwards, it had me thinking:

Why did we start depicting Jack and Maddie as Bad Parents to begin with?

I aim to answer this question through canon evidence to see where this argument might have come from. Now, something to keep in mind is that we still tend to ignore canon a lot of the time, so there may be some people who won't take this meta to mean all that much anyways. But for the purpose of fanfiction, we have to acknowledge that there needs to be an in-universe explanation to these events and sadly, the 'it's a Butch Hartman show' or 'it's an early 2000s cartoon' excuses don't really cut it.

So let's start with some basic stats. There are 49 episodes to the Danny Phantom cartoon (we will not be using the Graphic Novel, A Glitch in Time, for examples); 20 for the first season, 17 for the second, and 12 for the third. If you looked this up on Google, you might notice that these numbers don't line up with the episode list provided. This is because I counted any two-part episodes as one for convenience's sake. Season 2 has three two-parters: "Reign Storm", "The Ultimate Enemy", and "Reality Trip". Season 3 has "Phantom Planet".

Jack appears for 43 of those episodes, although he does not have any speaking lines in the episode, "Frightmare". Maddie, on the other hand, appears in 40 episodes. The three episodes that Maddie does not appear in, but Jack does, are as follows: "Memory Blank", "Flirting With Disaster", and "Double Cross My Heart".

Let's Start with Season 1:

"Mystery Meat": Jack is shown as dismissive to Danny and his friends' preferences, telling them, "True, I've never seen a ghost, but when I do, I'll be prepared. And so will you, whether you want to be or not." Later on, when Sam and Tucker are visibly shaking and Danny is panting from exhaustion, he doesn't realize something is off about this. When Jazz offers to drive Danny to school, the Fenton parents quickly assume that she's a ghost and go off to track them down... even despite her previous argument that she was mentally an adult (should I be concerned that Jazz called Danny an 'abused, unwanted wretch' to make a point to their parents?) A POINT TO MADDIE, she worried about hurting Jazz if she really wasn't a ghost but Jack quickly dismisses that, as their ghost-hunting device only hurts when gets into human hair (spoiler alert, it gets into Jazz's hair). She also insists that Danny is not a ghost, but unfortunately she ultimately doesn't try to stop Jack when he insist Jazz is a ghost. Standing aside and letting abuse play out does not mean Maddie is innocent of hurting her daughter too.

"Fanning the Flames": When Jazz and Danny are struggling to study for an upcoming test, Jack decides that they should put their kids into the 'Fenton Stockades' which is basically an iron maiden. And yes, the Fentons have an entire floor that is meant to torture people. I feel like that should probably be addressed at some point. A POINT TO MADDIE, she stood her ground and refused to let him put their children inside, and even locks him inside instead.

"Teacher of the Year": After hearing displeasing news about the state of Danny's grades in a parent-teacher conference, Maddie lectures Danny by saying, "Get this straight Danny. You're a Fenton. Fentons get As. Or in your father's case, B minuses." Before this, when Danny tried to explain himself, Jack shuts him up with, "Now that's enough of your sass talk mister." Do a lot of parents act like this? Yes. Does that make this a good, conductive way to help your child improve their grades? No, it does not. In fact, Maddie's response in particular probably reinforces the idea that Danny doesn't fit in with the rest of his family and further proves that Jazz is the favorite child. Not a great parenting moment.

"Fright Knight": In this episode, Jack tells Danny, "If I didn't consider it a sign of weakness, I'd weep with joy!" Not a very promising sign when a parent tells their child that it's wrong to show emotion. It's especially telling, however, when it's crying from joy and not even sadness. Yikes.

"13": This is the episode where Jazz 'dates' Johnny briefly, and we see Danny stalking them on their dates. I've seen people give Danny a decent amount of flack for that as well, so this would be a good time to say that the Fenton parents were there too and even encouraged him to keep stalking his sister. Danny was wrong to ignore Jazz's privacy like that, but he definitely learned it somewhere.

"Public Enemies": Here we see more of the Fenton parents' aggression towards ghosts. We get a line from Jack: "I'm gonna tear that ghost kid apart into a million different-" Notice something here? He recognizes that Phantom is a ghost 'kid' and yet still fully intends to shoot at him with the intent to hurt if not straight-up kill him. The only time Maddie disagrees with him is to insist that she does the dirty work because she has better aim than him. These are not the type of people you should let children stay with.

"Maternal Instincts": Okay, I gotta say it, this is a really cute episode. We get to see Maddie reminiscing over how close she and Danny used to be and wishing they had that bond again. Unfortunately she does get some points docked off for deciding what they should do as a bonding activity instesd of asking what Danny wanted to do and maybe learning more about his interests and who he is as a person now that he's a teenager. But there is this really sweet moment where Maddie tells Danny 'I love you' at the campsite which absolutely melted my heart and then later on when she saves Danny from the ghosts, Danny tells her she's awesome and gives her a hug. So sweet. But then she kinda ruins it by asking her son to act as a distraction and- Please do not ask your teenage children to keep skeevy old guys 'entertained' when you know he's a creep. A POINT TO JACK, while all this is going on he's defending his daughter and even shouts, "Back off, she's a minor!" That's some Dr. Doofenshmirtz energy right there, I respect it. He also talks about making Jazz an action figure, which was a really cute moment amidst the chaos.

"The Million Dollar Ghost": This episode is filled with some great Danny-Jack bonding moments and goes to show how much Danny cares about his father that he's willing to get caught to make Jack feel better about himself. We also get to see how much Jack cares about how Danny views him and he wants to be someone in Danny's eyes. Unfortunately, this is the episode where Danny gets lectured for not doing all his lab chores, such as cleaning the beakers and changing the ecto-filtrator- despite knowing that the portal could blow up if they don't change in time and knowing that Danny is bad at cleaning his own room. And we literally get a scene where Jack knocks something over and tells Danny to clean it up because he was too busy running around to do it himself. Is it important to give children chores? Yes, it teaches them responsibility. You should not be asking them to deal with hazardous, dangerous chemicals that can literally cause an explosion capable of killing people. Something to keep in mind.

Now let's look at Season 2:

"Doctor's Disorders": In this lovely (sarcasm) episode, we have Jack saying to Danny's face: "Poor Jazz. She's always been my favorite." I don't feel like this one needs much more explanation for how horrible this is. Also, this isn't really too relevant to the bad-parent-thing and more to the "they wouldn't take Danny's reveal well under other circumstances" thing, because Maddie literally says to Tucker: "Everybody knows humans can't have ghost powers." Which would technically, probably, dehumanize Danny in their eyes.

"Identity Crisis": There's one line in particular in this episode I wanted to point out, which is from Jack where he says, "Safety features? Why, safety features are for punks." ...I know this is probably supposed to be a joke, but when you think about it, it's even worse than you might think. In fanon we do tend to stress how forgetful the Fentons are when it comes to lab safety, but it's one thing to forget and it's a whole other thing to purposefully dismiss it. I could even argue that we're doing the Fentons a service by characterizing them as simply forgetful.

"The Fenton Menace": This is one of the episodes I referenced in the original ask as well, for its... plethora of concerning material. There are lines such as, "Whether it's air land or sea I won't stop until we capture a ghost and tear it apart. Molecule by molecule." A POINT TO MADDIE, she told her family she loved them by saying, "Nothing like spending quality family time with the people you love." However she immediately loses those points when she and Jack attempt to 'spin the crazy' out of Danny. The episode transcript reveals Danny's reaction to this, which is described by, "Danny screaming, his face and hair flying around. Zoom out to show him strapped to a table, which is attached to a metal arm. Zoom out to show the metal arm connected to a centrifuge-like device on the ceiling." As well as, "Danny is shaking, hair sticking up with bags under his eyes." Is this supposed to be a joke? I wouldn't know because quite frankly, I'm not laughing.

"The Fright Before Christmas": So in this episode we learn why Danny hates Christmas! Which is because he got peed on by a dog. As a baby. What kind of parent lets their baby get peed on by a dog? Again, child neglect is a criminally punishable offense, and if they had left him out, in the cold, with dog piss on him, we could have had a lot bigger problems here. They also ignore both their children for most of this episode due to their arguing, although they go back later on and tell Danny that he shouldn't be alone for Christmas and where was all this concern before?

"Secret Weapons": Ah... This is the episode where it happens. Here we get the infamous interaction. Please note how a ghost is referred to as an 'it'. Not a person, not even a kid. But an 'it' that can feel pain that will go ignored.

Jazz: "Does it hurt the ghost?" Maddie: [laughs] "Oh, Jazz! You know your father and I don't care about that. Jack: "Yeah! If we hear it scream, then we know it's working."

"Micro-Management": At the very end of this episode, Jack makes a comment to Danny, "I'm so proud. Our boy finally has the physical prowess of a 60 year old president. Here's to you son." Clearly it's meant to be a compliment, but I don't know about you guys, but I wouldn't take this as a compliment.

"Masters of All Time": This one takes a more distressing turn, because after Maddie catches Danny for snooping around, she has his strapped down to a table and fires a laser at him to interrogate him, thinking he's a ghost (though the laser doesn't hit him, just threatens him, which... isn't much better). And this is after he's already insisted that he's her son. He is still very clearly a child, and even if she doesn't believe that he's her son (for admittedly understandable reasons, people usually remember when they bear children), the fact that she strapped him to a table at all does not look favorably on her. Especially when he very clearly believed that she was his mother, and he was her son. And she still did this to him. Yes, there were time shenanigans involved, but that doesn't make this any easier on Danny just because he knows the truth.

"Reality Trip": This episode showcases that the Fenton parents can actually be decent parents. While they have a hard time believing the truth at first, they do eventually accept it. However, it is still important to remember that Danny could have never known what their reaction would be, so his fear is understandable and rooted in real concern for his life. Here are some of the best points from this transcript:

Jack: "Imagine, our own son has had ghost powers all this time and has kept them a secret from us. [confused] But we love him! [turning to Maddie] I wonder why he didn't trust us enough to tell us." Jazz: "[sarcastically] Hmm, let me guess. [mimicking Jack] "Hey, Maddie, let's destroy the ghost!" [mimicking Maddie] "No, Jack, let's dissect the ghost." [mimicking Jack again] "I know, let's catch the ghost and rip it apart molecule by molecule!" [normal voice, sarcastic again] You guys are so understanding." [Jack and Maddie drop their gazes, ashamed.]

Moving onto Season 3:

"Eye for an Eye": This is more a passing mention, but Jack seems to be a little obsessed with the GIW and huge fans of their work, and you do see it some more in "Livin' Large" later on in the season as well.

"Girls' Night Out": We see Jack trying to make an effort with Danny in this episode again. I did point out in the original ask reply that Jack was obviously trying to be a good father for Danny, which definitely deserves some points. However, it is still important to point out how generally uninterested Danny was in the bonding activity. It goes back to how Maddie ignored the chance to give Danny a choice, and how dismissive they tend to be towards him. I still want to award Jack a point for looking for advice from 'Father/Son Relationships For Stupids!' but I do so half-heartedly. Their interactions in this episode definitely reek with discomfort, but considering everything that has gone down in between now and "The Million Dollar Ghost", that does make sense.

"Torrent of Terror": This is another instance of extreme lack of safety precautions- the airbags don't deploy? In the GAV??? Somewhere out there, OSHA is crying.

"Forever Phantom": Maddie and Jack show a lot of anti-Phantom rhetoric in this episode. So this tracks how uncomfortable and/or threatened Danny might feel at home. Some examples include:

Jack: "He keeps this up he's liable to make people forget he's nothing but a putrid rancid ball of self-aware protoplasm."

Maddie: "Don't be fooled sweetie. He's up to something. Remember that time he attacked the mayor? Or stole everyone's Christmas presents? Once a filthy ghost always a filthy ghost."

"Livin' Large": Something to remember, the GIW intend to fire a missile into the Ghost Zone after gaining access to the Fentons' portal. While they didn't have the password right away, it cannot be understated that the Fentons basically gave away their house in exchange for wealth. Thankfully the missile was just a fake and not a real weapon of mass destruction, but do not mistake this to mean that- had it been real- the GIW wouldn't have gone through with it. And the Fenton parents would have been just as responsible.

And that concludes our canon research for this argument! Let's wrap things up with some stats. Of the 49 episodes in the show, we have evidence in 21 episodes. That is roughly 43% of the show, and this does not include comments that Danny has made about his parents and how they treat him. Obviously, at the end of the day, human error is possible. There is always a chance that I could have missed another piece of information, or perhaps another thoughtful addition to this list. However, 43% is no laughing matter.

Yes, the Fenton parents had their shining moments, but with all the other evidence presented that overshadows those little gems, can you confidently say that they are good parents? And most of all, if you were in Danny's shoes, would you say the same thing?

It's easy to excuse this as a cartoon. When you're writing in this world, playing with these characters, that excuse instantly evaporates.

Thank you for reading, I hope you all learned something about the Fenton parents like I did.

#danny phantom #dpxdc #jack fenton #maddie fenton #fanon vs canon #character analysis #show analysis

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bobbys-not-that-small · 23 days

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Bringing back my unpopular opinion but please stop saying they’d kiss here.

They wouldn’t. He’s having a PANIC ATTACK.

the end 😁

#Bobby’s hot takes #lockwood and co #locklyle #show analysis

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polifandom · 17 days

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I was rewatching the second episode of Masters of the Air, and decided to make a psych analysis on the bar scene. This is what I've noticed:

- Gale doesn't talk, at all, during the conversation with the Brits. Even when they're talking about him, he does not participate in the conversation, he only answers once when he's prompted by Curt, and even then it's very brief.

- John, as he does, takes every opportunity to either tease or mention Gale. He even answers for him when the Brits enquire Gale if he wouldn't rather be a fighter pilot.

- "He is a fighter pilot. A fighter pilot who happens to fly a bus."

- And that's how it goes until the Brits mention "heavy petting" from their end of the table (clearly referencing the Bucks, since it's followed by the mention of their nicknames and the teasing).

- It's funny how, before that, they said something absurd about how the americans would have more crew if they flew during the night. But that isn't what tips them over the edge, no it isn't. It's the heavy petting comment.

- Gale's demeanor immediately changes, and the first time he interacts at all during the scene is to take them up on their fight.

- It goes: a Brit says "Let's make a bit of a sport ourselves" and then Gale "I think that's an excellent idea." That's the first time he's spoken unprompted all night.

- Gale keeps John from taking in the fight, and then Curt has to basically beg him to be the one to fight. Which is so unlike everything we've seen from Gale till this point.

- John questions him why Gale is interested in boxing (having it implied that he doesn't like any other sports), and Gale says that it's because "it tests the manhood".

- When later in the episode Gale admits he agrees with the Brits' point, John questions him why he wanted to fight then. Gale says it's because he didn't like their tone.

In conclusion: Why would Gale want to test his manhood if not for the nature of the Brits comment? He doesn't mind having John answer from him and pet him and hold his cheeks (it's even of the few times he smiles during the whole ordeal), but he does mind having it point out by the brits. Why? Because it isn't true? Not really. He minds it because it's homophobic. And he can't have that. He can't have people noticing things, and that's why he then feels like he has to test his manhood.

There's a lot of subtext in this show, like how in the same scene Gale confirms, in a way, that he isn't religious (religious and repression go hand in hand, especially in the 40's). They gave us so much subtext, it's basically text at this point.

#masters of the air #mota #john bucky egan #gale buck cleven #john egan #gale cleven #buck x bucky #clegan #show analysis

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pendragonsclotpole · 2 months

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help, i just got slapped in the face with the existence of WILL. be still my beating heart as i write an essay on this man, will of ealdor

firstly, i adore the silent and implicit trust hidden in the first joke that introduces will’s character. like merlin’s been aware his whole life that if his secret is ever found out, he will be hunted down and persecuted, but here comes will with a jab that they both inherently understand is a joke in the macabre style only true friends can lovingly master. the smile they share almost immediately gives me ned stark and robert baratheon meeting again in the courtyard of winterfell in season one of got. there’s also something so normal in their interaction that speaks of a familiarity borne from their equal status and years of friendship. i know merlin’s friends in camelot tend to skew to the non-royal/non-noble, but when you tally it up, those closest to merlin often hold some title that’s greater than merlin’s role as arthur’s servant. gwaine is a knight implied to be of noble blood; lancelot, percival, and elyan are also knighted and esteemed members of arthur’s court; gwen is the lady morgana’s maid and close companion long before she is ever queen; gaius is a physician and long time member of camelot’s court; morgana before her betrayal is literally uther’s ward. i feel like when placed among them all, merlin has a tendency to fade into the background offscreen. obviously the audience knows how important merlin is to the overall story given how much of the storyline focuses on him, and the characters regularly acknowledge merlin’s importance to them or arthur, but all of them still regard merlin as merlin the servant from camelot and few of them are privy to the plots we as the audience see firsthand. and even when they acknowledge him for his merits, his role as arthur’s close friend and confidante takes precedence. look at leon’s reaction in the later seasons when merlin is bewitched by morgana. merlin literally makes a comment about plotting to kill arthur and leon barely even blinks before quipping back, “driving you mad isn’t he?” or something along those lines. except for a few instances with even fewer characters, they never get a chance to know him as merlin the sorcerer from ealdor.

will does! and more than that, he got to know merlin as he is without arthur. we all hype up their status as magical soulmates but damn if i wasnt living for how jealous of arthur will seemed to be in this episode. call me crazy, but it makes me desperately headcanon a realistic past in ealdor for merlin, full of hardship and strife, but never without it’s moments of happiness. furthermore, will’s lone appearance in season one shines some real light on the unfairness of the fate that has been bestowed on meelin. the moment that will points out why he’s been so obstinate with arthur really strikes a deep chord. sure it could be just jealousy, but more compellingly, i choose to read it as a deep sense of care for merlin. everyone merlin has met within camelot, (or reunited with in the case of his own mother) has continually pushed him closer and closer to arthur. will presents a crucial exception. he knows exactly who merlin was before camelot, and who merlin is completely separate from arthur.

will is staunchly in merlin’s corner, and that position allows him to identify a key characteristic of merlin’s series’ long arc: his complete devotion to arthur. will even points it out himself: merlin could singlehandedly defend their home if he just used the full extent of his power. merlin doesn’t, and actively chooses not to because of his desire to stay close to arthur. it’s such a small moment, but i think it demonstrates how much of merlin’s decisions become motivated by his desire to stay close to arthur and to always put arthur first, even at a detrimental cost to himself. merlin understands and readily accepts arthur as his destiny, but this acceptance does not come about independently, instantly, or of merlin’s own volition. it does so eventually, but initially merlin sticks by arthur’s side because of the encouragement of everyone around him. “arthur needs you, merlin” or “arthur is your destiny, merlin” or “arthur is a good man, merlin. he has the potential to be a great king, he just needs the right people, merlin.” its codependent as hell.

sure, merlin originally does not tell arthur about his magic because they do not know each other and as far as merlin knows revealing his magic would lead to his death, but eventually the reasoning changes and becomes so focused on doing what’s best for arthur. merlin can’t tell arthur because then arthur would have to kill him and then who would look after arthur or ensure his fate? merlin can’t tell arthur because if arthur chooses to defy uther’s law, merlin is then forcing arthur to turn against his father and how could he look after arthur then? merlin can’t tell arthur because another betrayal from magic would ruin everything and truthfully, he wonders how would arthur react? merlin comes to fear what his magic might do to arthur and what it’s reveal might mean for his place in camelot more than the laws of camelot and their verdicts.

by this logic, merlin is a magical solar system orbiting entirely around the celestial body known as arthur pendragon. eventually merlin cared more about his relationship with arthur and what arthur thought about him than his own life. in retrospect, it’s so sad that will died so early on, because it strips merlin of a person solely in his corner. will’s death is the first in the series’ long pattern of loss that merlin endures and that eventually comes to define him because people either find out about his magic and their knowledge is directly tested against his loyalty to arthur, or he cannot allow them to know about his magic because it will unravel his relationship with arthur.

will, freya, balinor, morgana, mordred, arthur.

also the fact that will covered for merlin’s use of magic in his last moments just adds to the tragedy AND the growing pile of moments merlin could have told arthur about his magic but didnt. and also the fact that will literally died to save arthur. like tell me that just doesn’t prove my point. tell me. will never stood a chance. tell me every aspect of merlin’s life does not get consumed by arthur pendragon.

i’m all for merthur being soulmates, but god the original series is rife with the unbalanced mess of merlin being wholeheartedly aware of arthur’s great potential and destiny leading to some intense devotion and faith that yes, arthur earns and pays back in full measure but can never fully reciprocate because he just does not know anything. by the triple goddess, it can get so toxic. i wish will had lived if just for that. and like the jealousy arthur gets whenever merlin has other people. because i 100% live for possessive arthur and protective merlin dynamics.

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that-guy-sleepy-miles · 30 days

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Hi! This is your drug TW!

Okay, so, I've deduced what Rayman is snorting in this scene:

It's benzos. he's snorting straight xanax.

How do I know it's benzodiazepines? Here we go:

The blue color

Originally, I choked the blue color up to being a stylistic choice. I didn't think the blue color mattered, and that he was in fact snorting cocaine. However, the blue color does matter—cocaine is white, and benzodiazepines (in the hard pill form you can crush up and snort) are colored, usually blue.

The red eyes

For a while, I was like "Is this a Breaking Bad reference? Is he snorting biker meth?", but I did more research, methamphetamine doesn't make your eyes red. So we look at the (common) drugs that abuse causes red eyes: Marijuana, Cocaine, Crack, Benzodiazepines, Depressants, and Inhalants. And when we look at which one of those is famously blue, we get benzos!

The symptoms

Some symptoms of benzodiapines are: shaking (like the twitching seen after he snorts it, which can also be choked up to the act of snorting itself), confusion and thinking problems (he's having trouble calming down, has racing thoughts, etc.), aggression (most commonly when used with alcohol), and nystagmus (repetitive, uncontrolled movement of the eyes)

(Check the beginning of Episode 5 at these points for twitching and nystagmus)

Why he's taking them.

Cocaine gets you excited, but benzodiapines are calming. Rayman is stressed and scared, taking cocaine would only make that worse for him. He's taking something meant to calm him and relieve stress.

What about the alcohol?

Rayman has mixed benzodiapines with alcohol, very clearly. This comes with it's own host of issues: impaired judgement, unusual behavior, and increased risk of violence. All of these can potentially be seen during episodes 3 and 5, and 6.

Other evidence:

Benzodiapine abuse can leave to nausea and appetite loss. When Rayman throws up later in the episode, we can see that he's not eaten anything that day, and the only thing in his stomach was the juice Bullfrog gave him:

He likely didn't have an appetite, either because of stress or because of the drugs he was taking.

#cl rayman #cl ramon #drugs tw #xanax tw #benzodiazepine #emeto #emeto tw #show analysis #analysis #sav rambles #captain laserhawk #captain laserhawk a blood dragon remix #clabr

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gaypplshallarise · 5 months

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I'd like to think peaches are like their symbol of friendship

Remember their fight when Wukong was sealed under the mountain? It ended up with Macaque crushes that peach and leaving Wukong

And in ss4, Wukong offered this peach popsicle to Macaque, which officially means that Wukong is offering Macaque a second chance. And he accepted it. HOW DID I JUST NOTICE THAT

#shadowpeach #lmk brainrot #why isn't that a tag #gay monkeys #somewhat #show analysis #lego monkie kid sun wukong #lego monkey kid macaque #wukong x macaque #peaches #plums #second chances

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hisnamesdylan · 2 months

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Lockwood/Kipps rivalry analysis:

In the show and the books Kipps mentions something along the lines of how “everyone leaves him in the end”. In the books we get the added note of Lucy hearing something in his tone that she “couldn’t quite understand” or something like that. As well as in the show Kipps’ comment about Lockwood in that “big empty house”.

I think they were close as kids, but given that he was closer in age to Jessica he was probably closer with her. Maybe they were dating. Regardless, I bet Kipps was on good terms with all the Lockwood’s. Anthony Lockwood probably even looked up to him. He might have even wanted to join Fittes because of him.

So (spoilers), when Jessica died although he was older, Kipps was still a kid himself. Again, if Jessica and Kipps were dating, I doubt they broke up. Not that I know what it’s like, but not being in a relationship anymore, not because of anything you or the other person decided, but because one of them died, well, I’m sure that sucks.

Basically in his grief I don’t think Kipps knew how to handle everything. Especially his anger. So he took his misplaced anger and directed it on Lockwood. Kind of messed up, but people are like that sometimes.

As for Lockwood I’m sure he didn’t know how to handle it either. What could he do?

But I’m sure what makes it hurt even more is that after losing his parents and now his sister what would probably have been good for him is having someone to talk to. Or check up on him.

That could have been Kipps. They both lost someone, but grief isn’t fair. And if Kipps was there for Lockwood, who would be there for Kipps? They could lean on each other for support, but given the age difference it would be on Kipps to be the strong one. But that didn’t happen. And the way they both handled it probably made them hurt more.

I imagine that over time, Lockwood started to feel angry towards Kipps too. That he felt like death took his family from him, but Kipps just left.

So when Kipps shows up in the library and says “everyone leaves him in the end.” I think that if Lockwood was a different type of angry he could’ve said “what? Like you?” Cause he was the only one who actually left. Everyone else died.

I think over time they worked through it on their own and maybe they have yet to have a proper conversation about it, but I think they’re doing better with room for growth.

I also think their rivalry has nothing to do with Lockwood poking Kipps in the butt with a rapier.

#lockwood and co #save lockwood and co #anthony lockwood #quill kipps #book analysis #show analysis #saw a post that made me think of this #jessica lockwood #lockwood & co #spoilers

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memento-mori-twilight · 1 month

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I just realized something about My Adventures with Superman.

This is the first (I say first because I have no idea if it will still be the only by the time Gunn's version comes around) iteration of a Superman story that breaks one of the few major behind-the-scenes writing rules about introducing a new Superman story:

It doesn't start the show with either Krypton exploding or the Spaceship crashing.

All other reintroductions to a "new" or "different" version of Superman in the comics, the movies, or the TV shows, all start the story with either one of the two things. So much that you can argue it's as much as a trope as audiences seeing Uncle Ben die everytime Spiderman get revamped, or every Batman movie having to show us the damned blood-covered pearls in Crime Alley.

Just 8 simple words that explain it all

"Doomed Planet. Desperate Scientists. Last Hope. Kindly Couple."

So much so that comics even lampshade it when introducing evil Superman parallels like Ultraman.

"Doomed Planet. Desperate Scientists. Last Hope. Duplicitous Bastards."

But My Adventures with Superman very noticeably don't do that, and that's very much by design because this version of Clark is meant to know nothing and so the showrunners and writers made it so that the audience is in the dark as much as Clark is.

And it works to a wonderful degree because this means the audience spends all of Episode 1 getting to know Clark Kent: Junior Reporter first. We learn the overgrown corn-fed dork who can fly and break sinks before we get a syllable of Kryptonese. We learn about Krypton's fate in Episode 2 as Clark learns about it, but this decision also goes on to do something spectacular.

It also goes to prime the audience that this story of Krypton is going to be different from the version of Krypton and Jor-El and Lara-Lor-Van most people know, and that becomes more and more prominent as the show goes on.

And the Krypton we see hints of is fucking scary!

The show is going wholesale in subconsciously putting us in Clark's shoes because it plays with our familiarity and curiosity of what Krypton is like until we get to Episode 8: Zero Day and we see what the visions and codenames of Nemesis Omega and Zero Day mean. And it invokes the feeling of more dread and terror than hope of seeing any more Kryptonians, and that's without introducing us to the known Evil Kryptonians in the lore. (Zod, Ursa, Faora, Jax-Ur, etc.)

Starting with us not seeing Krypton exploding or the rocket ship that Moses'd him to Earth also later leaves the ambiguity of whether Clark truly has the title of Last Son of Krypton in the last episode climax and end-credit scene. It throws a lot of what we expect into flux while still staying true to the roots of the character at the same time, because it never confirms or denies anything. We're just left to speculate and flounder as Clark is.

That's just a wonderful example of how a story choice can have such a knock-on snowball effect that can pay off in establishing an atmosphere.

And it's all because they refrained from using a proven tried-and-true intro rule to do something new, like they do for a lot of the series.

And I just think that's neat.

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nterini · 7 months

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The Leftover Kids in ONLY FRIENDS

A character analysis of Boston and Ray Ep. 6

This episode reveals a bit more about Boston’s character, and while it doesn’t justify his actions (because your past doesn’t have to justify all your present decisions, especially in fictional characters) we’re able to better understand his impulse to “humble” others when it seems to him like they’re finding their own way.

We learn that Boston’s mother remarried, and flew to another continent to start her new life. And while I don’t want to make assumptions, something about Boston’s politician father (who calls him only to speak about his campaign and winning over young people) encouraging his son’s impulses to toy with the emotions and bodies of others may have had something to do with it. Boston, time and time again tells Nick that the potential of the public finding his sex tapes (with other men) would be a burden to his father’s career. We don’t know if Boston has come out to his father, but the ultimatum that Boston must graduate or be sent back to New York to live with his mom shows his father’s willingness to get rid of a son that may not fit his public image. Boston is a talented photographer and someone in the demographic he wants to target; why so eager to send him away.

In the next scene, while comforting our favorite crazy lovesick puppy, he tells Nick, that the reason he doesn’t make lasting relationships is because he knows he has to leave anyway (and some more be about how he’d be a better photographer abroad). Maybe it’s because of the pressure he feels from his father, but Boston believes that there’s no place for him permanently anywhere. No one has chosen him for an “unconditional forever love” and no ever one will. He’s had no power over that. If my assumption that Boston’s father already knows of his son’s sexuality, and is slowly freezing him out and that Boston knows this already, Boston’s view of his future in Thailand, one that will always be queer, must be bleak. His own father, a popular candidate elect, does not want him. This loss of control triggers him. We see Boston seek control of potential rejection in the way he pursues his flings. He prefers Nick over all his other flings because he’s confident that Nick will always choose him no matter what selfish things he says. He’s envious of Mew who’s constantly chosen and pure, of the perfect Top who rejected him and has his life together, and of Ray and Sands budding relationship. He believes he’ll be left alone again, so he sabotages externally against anyone’s progress.

It’s what makes his scenes with Ray that much more interesting. Because Ray is just like him, except he sabotages internally.

We were introduced to Ray’s family background a few episodes back, and the toll it took on him emotionally, physically, and mentally. His mother was a young and talented actress who married rich, and whose light was dimmed in that marriage. And whether it was resentment over her lost career, Post-partum depression and an uncaring husband, or just a worsening addiction that was left untreated, she died alone drowning herself in alcohol. We know that Ray did not receive much affection from his mother and that his father was just as neglectful. Ray has learned to use money to buy emotions, companionship and intimacy. Unfortunately, he seems to be following in both his parents footsteps.

There is a theory going around that Boston has had a secret unrequited crush on Ray. And while I don’t think there’s a lot of evidence that supports this ship, it’s a plausible theory. However, the way he constantly goes back to Nick when he needs comfort and conversations, other than just straight sex, says the opposite. I think a better conclusion would be that Boston finds comfort in Ray’s lack of growth and misfortune. After all, they’re very similar. Leftover, abandoned, rich kids that were never chosen. I don’t even think he had any ill intention against Mew when he slept with Top or even with Ray. I think deep down he’s secretly comforted by seeing Ray heartbroken. It makes sense that he was triggered when he saw that Ray might have found someone to help him come out of that misery. He doesn’t provoke Mew or Top the way he does Ray. Maybe it’s because Ray doesn’t see how similar they are. Maybe it’s because Top and Mew see right through him.

Mew’s role in their friendship is also really interesting 🤔. Ep. 7 might give us inside Mew’s thoughts and actions. Is Mew manipulating his rich friends to get his dream career and partner or is it all all a grand plan to help heal the lives of the people he cares about most.

Overall, I love how real the show feels. The discussions of drugs in Thailand’s queer community, of privilege and class struggle, it all feels incredibly genuine. It’s hot and steamy and we’ll written. Like we CAN have all of these things at once! The growth that I see in BL/Queer (the slash is necessary) content gives me hope. Please give the lesbians (AprilNamchueam) more screen time plsssssssss 😩.

(Please excuse any typos and errors.)

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hannigramslesbianhusband · 23 days

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Clocks and Metronomes in Hannibal

``Hannibal counted the beats of the metronome against those of the clock. They went in and out of phase``

?????? Clocks???! speaking of this, I found out something really cool. I was researching trying to find some kind of connection or UN-connection between clocks and metronomes and what they might mean here, and I found this very interesting journal, which references and builds off of some of Christiaan Huygens' discoveries and work.

Let's list out a couple of things:

Arguably, Hannibal's favorite book is Treatise of Light, by none other than Christiaan Huygens.

``Among Mr. Jakov’s books was a copy bound in leather of Christiaan Huyghens’ Treatise on Light, and Hannibal was fascinated with it, with following the movement of Huyghens’ mind, feeling him moving toward discovery. He associated the Treatise on Light with the glare of the snow and the rainbow distortions in the old windowpanes. The elegance of Huyghens’ thought was like the clean and simplified lines of winter, the structure under the leaves. A box opening with a click and inside, a principle that works every time. It was a dependable thrill, and he had been feeling it since he could read.``

I skimmed a bit of the book- and it does include an explanations of the calculations Hannibal used to determine the height of the towers in his castle- which he was doing before he read the book. Bro is a literal genius.

``Also in the year Hannibal was six, Count Lecter found his son determining the height of the castle towers by the length of their shadows, following instructions which he said came directly from Euclid himself. Count Lecter improved his tutors then—within six weeks arrived Mr. Jakov, a penniless scholar from Leipzig.``

The journal I previously mentioned is, in very simple terms, about how pendulums and clocks synchronize. We can very reliably assume Hannibal is a fan of Christiaan Huygens, it’s very possible he could later have read Horologium oscillatorium, where he discusses these discoveries. Unfortunately, I can not dig too deep into the original text because the only copy I could find is in Latin, and I really don’t want to translate all that. But I CAN use the information provided in the journal. It’s also reasonable to assume Hannibal would know a lot of the information presented in the journal, because although Christiaan Huygens’ books are from the 1600s, Hannibal is not, and discoveries have been made! Science has advanced! Yippee!

In the journal, It is stated that “Synchronization occurs in diverse physical, biological, and chemical systems. Examples include the synchronous flashing of fireflies, the chorusing of crickets, the rhythmic applause of concert audiences, the coordinated beating of cardiac pacemaker cells, the pathological neural synchrony associated with epileptic seizures, and the coherent voltage oscillations of superconducting Josephson junction arrays.”

It all sounds very artistic. It is beautiful and connected. Right up Hannibal's alley, for sure. But- whats that near the end?? “ the pathological neural synchrony associated with epileptic seizures”. Epileptic seizures. Let’s put that away for later.

The synchronisation of pendulums (pendulum clocks, metronomes) placed on the same (wooden) surface even if started at antiphase will eventually become in phase with eachother BUT: synchonizing in phase causes the pendulums in the clocks to slow down, so they lose time (multiple seconds an hour) but- they way they synchronize is dependent on several things(mechanisms in the clock, length and thickness of the surface they're on,etc etc.) but basically- with a SMALL amount of damping (loss of energy in an oscillating system) the clocks with synchronize in phase, with a large amount of it they will be antiphase. clocks synchronizing in antiphase has been called sympathetic motion or the sympathy of clocks (not empathy).

Synchronization in itself is a pretty artistic thing, beautiful and connected. It shows up everywhere- including something called neural synchrony. neural synchrony is basically when two people interact or communicate, their brain rythms/waves synchronize, couple, create matching patterns. You understand eachother. this is seen a lot more in romantic couples or people who are close together, child-parent relationships(especially as infants) and the such. Not usually seen in strangers. the brain to brain synchronization happens in the temporal-parietal part of the brain. The way will makes himself think like killers- to the point sometimes he feels like he becomes them- is definitely neural synchrony. Why he can do that so easily with strangers, who may have never even met? Who knows; but at least we know all kills leave behind a part of the killer, a part of their psyche, and not always just a message. Basically, Will's whole metronome thing is symbolic of him synchronizing mentally(and neurologically! Very cool) with the killers. This may have been way too much work for something that is a bit obvious, but it’s very interesting to unravel.

I’m not sure how I started with picking apart clocks and metronomes in relation to Hannibal (in the book), and ended up with a conclusion about Will (in the show), but I did! I can’t say much more on this for now as I haven’t finished the book, and Will has yet to show up.

Now, that thing we put away for later.

Neural synchrony is also associated with epileptic seizures. Neuron firing tends to become synchronous/hypersynchronous in the middle of a seizure.

I wanted to go more into Will's encephalitis and seizures related to this- but those are only a thing in the TV show, so I cant connect it quite as well. I can share the things I did find out, though, so if anyone is interested to see that please let me know! But right now, I'm too researched out to put it all together, and that's mainly why I'm not including it here now. All in all- we all know Hannibal knows all that psychiatry stuff and is crazy smart and crazy insane, so here is a bit of the science of it and how it all loosely connects to the books. And, of course as someone who values beauty and art, he would become obsessed with Will upon seeing how effortlessly he can achieve that synchronicity with others- especially those who think similarly to him. Honorable mention to Eldon Stammets.

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willgrahams-gender · 7 months

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Every day I wake up and think about how Will says he would kill Hannibal with his bare hands and then he actually does it in the finale by hugging him and propelling both of them towards the ocean.

Everyday I wake up and think about how killing Hannibal also means that Will has to kill himself because they are conjoined and they in fact cannot survive separation (“We're conjoined. I'm curious whether either of us can survive separation.”) so he kills them both.

And then I cry.

#nbc hannibal #alana bloom #hannibal #hannibal lecter #hannibal rising #hannigram #hugh dancy #mads mikkelsen #silence of the lambs #the red dragon #analysis #hannibal ruined my life #show analysis #bryan fuller #gillian anderson #laurence fishburne #caroline dhavernas

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halfagone · 3 months

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So Here's the Thing About the Fenton Parents...

I have written more than one post about the Fenton parents now. You might have seen them, you might not have. These are the two posts if you're curious: meta post and the original ask that inspired the meta.

From these posts, I've learned that this topic can be very divisive in the fandom. There are those that prefer them depicted as good parents, others as bad, some search for a more mild depiction of the Fentons' poor parenting, so on and so forth. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. If you want a certain depiction or trope, please read those and be respectful to those who don't. It's as simple as that.

However, there is something that I realized we don't talk enough about as a fandom. I'll admit, I've done the same:

How can we depict the Fentons as good parents when they cannot adhere to basic safety standards?

It's easy to excuse this as quirky, eccentric behavior. This is a cartoon show after all, we shouldn't take it that seriously. Except... Danny Phantom, the show, has also showcased how their lacking safety measures has hurt and injured the people around them. More than once.

Vlad was first with the proto-portal in college. Arguably, their children have been struggling with their parents' carelessness long before the portal was ever finished: their food is constantly ecto-contaminated, coming back to life to traumatize their young kids, as we see in "The Fright Before Christmas". And then, of course, we have the Accident. Danny is turned half-ghost, and the rest is history.

Only... now these two have ecto-powered weapons that they use to hunt ghosts, caring very little when their hunts intrude on or injure their children, like the multiple occasions they have turned their weapons to Jazz, who is neither half-ghost or anything ghost-adjacent in canon.

There have been multiple scenes where the Fentons blatantly choose to ignore safety standards. The meta post I linked earlier shows a couple of such examples. But you might be wondering, what does this have anything to do with their parenting style? Well...

If they were good parents, their children's safety would be top of mind.

The Fentons cannot be wishy-washy with their basic lab procedures and also be good parents. These two facts cannot coexist, especially so when their lab headquarters is in their home, where curious children can walk in at any time, unsupervised. Should kids be walking into a lab with dangerous chemicals around? No, but it is their responsibility as parents to make sure their kids don't roam about.

It is their responsibility to teach their children this basic safety procedure, and adhere to it themselves, because it is meant to protect them and everyone around them. This cannot be a "do as I say, not as I do" situation. Their failure to be responsible can both directly and indirectly harm others, as we see from canon, where Danny becomes a halfa in a second portal accident.

Strictly speaking, if Danny had good parents, he would not have become a halfa in the first place. If the Fentons were good parents, they would have been there, in that lab, with Danny, Sam, and Tucker, supervising their visit. Danny would have never been allowed into the portal which- at that time- had been dysfunctional. Furthermore, even if Danny had been allowed in the portal, it should have been unplugged in adherence to safety code. Therefore, even if Danny did trip and hit, say, a misplaced "On" button inside, it wouldn't have turned on because it should not have been powered up to begin with.

More than once, safety measures could have been implemented to prevent a lab accident, yet nothing ever came out of it.

Furthermore, neither Fenton parent make an effort to reach out to Vlad after his own accident. Of course, we could extrapolate and say that the Fentons tried but were barred entry. However, that is more wishful thinking and personal headcanons than based on concrete canon evidence. What does this indicate about the Fentons?

Simply put, they are not good people. Of course, there are many characters in media that are depicted as villains but show compassion and care for their children. The Fentons are not one of them. They say they love their children, but very few times do they show it outside fighting off ghosts- which they would have done regardless if their children were there or not. They do not have respect for personal boundaries, public or private property, or public safety.

There are more than a few examples of this, but here is a very obvious one: the portal itself.

The Fentons believe that ghosts are nothing more than scum; they believe ghosts are malicious entities that would destroy the world given the chance. And yet they thought it was a good idea to create a portal to a world full of so-called malicious entities with little to no preparation whatsoever.

Oh sure, they have their weapons, but as we can see these two cannot be everywhere at once. Not even Danny, with superpowers, can be everywhere at once. The Fentons do not build a door for the portal until episode 13 of the series. 13 episodes. By this time, there have already been multiple ghost attacks, some of which spanned city-wide.

Incompetence is not an excuse. In fact, that incompetence should outright disbar them from keeping their children.

At the end of the day, whether you believe the Fentons really do love their children beyond their prejudice, they have repeatedly shown that they cannot be trusted to care for their children. This begs the question:

Is it still possible for the Fentons to be good parents?

Technically speaking, yes. Everyone is capable of change. The Fentons are more than capable of learning from their mistakes, although evidence indicates that they likely wouldn't, seeing how there were two portal accidents.

But yes, they can learn from the past and become better parents in the future. Jazz and Danny would likely have to be removed from the home until they update and comply with safety regulations, and they may even lose their business license because of their failure to adhere, but it is still possible.

However, the Fentons were not always good parents. Even if they were to learn and grow as people, it cannot be ignored that once upon a time, they had been responsible for a lot of damage: material, physical, mental, and emotional. This can come with consequences, including prison time and losing custody of their children.

Of course, we could choose to ignore all of this. We as a fandom do that for many aspects of canon, the Fenton parents could just be another one. You could argue that canon declares the Fenton parents are good.

But here's another thing:

The Fentons redeem themselves as parents when they accept Danny after a reveal. They are not automatically good ones.

Hopefully this will be the last meta on the Fenton parents from me. I understand people want Danny's parents to be good, and they certainly can be, but I am tired of people ignoring the very real neglect and abuse both their kids suffered. You do not have to have the Fentons dissect Danny to make them abusive. You do not have to have the Fentons work day and night to make them negligent.

Abuse and neglect cover a variety of cases. That includes kids like this too.

Thank you for reading.

#danny phantom #dpxdc #long post #meta analysis #character analysis #show analysis #with yours truly :D

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