Chapter Breakdown: Putting the "Fun" Back in "Funeral" C3
HIHIHIHI!! I'm going to be breaking down some parts of my Dead on Main fic's, Putting the "Fun" Back in "Funeral", third chapter. This one was a doozy to write and I kind of wanted to break it down and put out my thought process behind a few things? It seemed like fun and honestly I need a writing warm-up haha.
Anyways, onto Chapter Three: Emotional Constipation has Never Been Easier!
This chapter opens up with Danny zooming out of the Ghost Zone and into his home dimension. It has a scene where he's flying above the cloudbed before dropping down past the storm clouds in a way that is vaguely reminiscent of skydiving, or jumping off of buildings (in like a heroic way nOT IN LIKE A IM GOING SIX FEET UNDER WAY). "Phantom, why did you put this in here?" Well, I wanted to give a little nod to "Into the Spider-verse"! This story has some of the same themes - a superhero coming of age while traveling across dimensions. Having Danny give gravity the middle finger was one way I knew I could sneak that little hint in there, and I think it turned out pretty well! The storm, on the other hand, was just written in there because while I was writing the chapter a thunderstorm was brewing. There was a lot of dramatic lightning flashes and I thought it would be visually appealing (readingly appealing??) to slap that in there!
"Wow Phantom, Danny had a very depressing childhood!" Yeah, yeah he did. This is a bit of a coming of age fic combined with a slowburn romance and healing fic. Danny's childhood wasn't easy - something that IS canon - and having him actually have to think about how his parents failed him helps brew the distrust Danny has in them. The idea of "knowledge is power" combined with how they act equals Danny expecting failure on their part. He has come to fully believe his parents don't care about him or Jazz. "... not noticing their greatest failure hovering in front of their greatest success" Danny thinks he is his parent's greatest failure, despite him literally dying in order to get their "greatest success" to actually work. It's a simple truth, thought maybe a bit misguided, that Danny values in his life. Showing that Danny has been hurt by his parents' inventions, neglect, and actions just drive this deeper.
"Is Danny immortal?" Wellllll yes but no but yes. Danny can still be killed, don't get me wrong, but he's going to be aging at a slower rate. This is brought up in C3 during Danny's talk with his Ghostly Therapy support group - and something that will be brought up again. Accepting the fact that Danny, who has strong ties to the Human and Ghost worlds, will outlive at least one side of himself is something he struggles with. This is a large part of the "coming of age" story arc.
"Jason and Dick have such a great relationship, but he seems to have some issues with the rest of the Batfam, what gives?" Well! When I was growing up I was able to read some of the original Batman and Detective comics - meaning my first impression of Jason was that he was a redheaded circus boy. In those comics Dick was actually able to pass down the Robin mantle himself, Bruce was emotionally competent, and the three of them had a great relationship. With that in mind, I love to see Dick and Jason actually be brothers. They're my favorite duo AND they have a great parallel to Danny. Pulling from the "greatest failure and greatest success" vibes from Danny's thoughts on his parents plus the portal, if you compare that to Robin #1 and #2, you have Bruce's greatest success (Dick, who is a strong leader, good sibling, and manages to VERY RARELY act out in mindless anger) and compare that to his greatest failure (Jason, who he wasn't able to save, who he thought killed a man, who died only to come back so much differently) it draws a wonderful parallel of life and death. In like a vague way. But! Jason needs someone in his corner and Dick is that man. Because we're going old school, baby!
"Jason's POV was very short this chapter" Yup, it was. The main point of Jason's POV was to show that he was okay after being all loopy and that his relationship with Dick's is different than what is the current DC canon. I did this over Thai food and dragon movies for uh... totally no reason. Whatsoever. No foreshadowing and plot thickening here. Just... happy dragons, happy boys, and comfort food :)
"What's up with Danny's outfit change?" Legit I just gave him the kingly outfit for plot reasons. It'll be important later on - trust me - but for now accept that he's a cute little starboy. I have some concept pictures in regards to why I chose what I did, but unfortunately it's kind of spoiler-y :(
"Wow! The Ghost Zone is really changing!" It is!! Many people pointed out in C1 how Danny's coronation carried weight to it, how you all could tell it was important. And it was, and the GZ changing is just showing more of that weight. I've pretty much spent the past three chapters laying together the groundwork and foreshadowing to just what being the Ghost King means to Danny. Part of that is healing the GZ and making it better for his people. The Keep changing (and wow I love being able to name-drop myself in my fics) is only a small part of the reconstruction the GZ is going under. It's great and I'm super excited!!
"Why did you mention the tapestries?" WELL, if you follow me on this hellsite you might remember a post I made a while ago about spending hours creating a political atmosphere for the GZ! The tapestry is hinting at the politics behind the dead, important plot points in the future, and why the Realm is changing. I want you guys to be able to keep reading this fic and have an "oh!" moment where you put the pieces together.
"Oh my god Danny's rich" - said by Faust/Aerois, my lovely beta. Yes, Danny is rich. In my opinion there's already enough fics out there where Danny has to survive on the streets which is something I'm not really looking to do on here. It's also a plotpoint! Keep in mind that Danny's got that great amount of wealth :)
"I love the line Goin' Gotham" SAME THO! It's also me being sneaky and referencing the collection "Going Gotham" on AO3, which is full of DPxDC fics that I love. Also Danny is a dork and he would totally say that because he is a dumb little babyman and I love him.
Anyways, that's it for the chapter breakdown! I'm hoping to do more of these in the future though I can't say I will be doing them for every chapter I post. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter and the breakdown :D
