I wanted some practice designing and drawing mobility aids, so here's Danno as a wheelchair user!
Partially inspired by tsubaki's Phantom comic! This isn't set in the AU, I just read this comic and decided to have my own go at designing and writing a disability AU.
Some wheelchair design details/AU explanation under the cut!
In trying to make logical design decisions, I ended up writing a bit of an AU for this!
He's an ambulatory wheelchair user- meaning he can feel and move his legs and he can stand, but not for long period and not without some balance issues. He uses a cane to stand.
I was going to draw his chair as having stickers, painted on stars, lights, and other decorations, but I figured Danny would probably keep the decorations pretty limited- mainly because he wants to keep a low profile. The iridescent film wrapped around the spokes and the crochet cover on the chairs back are as loud as I reckon he would want to be.
This is absolutely NOT just because I didn't want to keep drawing stickers all over the chair consistently. Nope.
Here's the 3D model I made! It's not very detailed, I just needed it to use as a reference:
Some other AU details I thought of:
This AU is set when Danny is 16 and Jazz is 18. She drives him to school in the GAV because her car was too small to fit the chair into without phasing it in
In ghost form, he exclusively uses his spectral tail. Floating or flying with his legs isn't comfortable.
He keeps his thermos in the the hammock under the seat, but also stores a notebook full of outlandish stories he tells people when they ask how he became paralyzed. Sam comes up with the best fake stories. Iirc this is something that Garrett from Superstore does- don't quote me though.
His left side is worse/more painful than the right due to pushing the portal button with his left. He always uses the cane on his right side, and that's why it's stored on that side too.
The cane is stored sideways because it's length fits within the chair, and keeping it close by keeps it out of the way of others.
I didn't draw it clearly this way, but on top of there being spikes on the handlebars to prevent people from pushing him around, he'd also be able to remove the handles.
Danny picked the colours of yarn Jack used for the crochet.
Danny wears gloves to protect his hands from the wheels, and he bought his first pair. Sam bought him more, in a variety of colours- as well as an expensive wool lined pair for winter.
Danny wears long sleeves and gloves to hid lichtenberg figure scars on his arms.
Danny's hair is going white at the base of his head was, of course, inspired by izbubbles and tatumsdrawing
Tucker bought him the little hip bag/bum bag/fanny pack- whatever you want to call it- as a joke. Danny hates how useful he finds it.
He doesn't use his ability to float to help him stand or walk, it messes with his center of gravity too much and makes his balance issues worse
I'm not a mobility aid user, and while I tried to educate myself about mobility aids- how they're used, how/why certain chair features suit people's needs, etc- I am still learning.
Any feedback or advice would be greatly appreciated!
This is a part of my wheelchair/cane user Danny AU, and while I first had plans to draw Vlad and Dani in this AU- I just had to try my hand at drawing Cujo.
Cujo is a mobility assistant dog, he provides Danny with an additional level of balance support when Danny walks. He also has other tasks like item retrieval and "opening" doors.
He's also a trained diabetic alert dog! May as well put those heightened ghost dog senses to work.
More design explanation and little "rambles" under the cut, as always!
Someone in one of the other posts mentioned Danny using a hurrycane, and while I originally gave Danny a non-folding acrylic one for the aesthetic, I did want to give drawing different cane styles a go. This one has a wider base that swivels as he walks, and a small model of Pluto attached to the strap.
I imagine that, even though Danny would probably take the NASA designation very seriously, Pluto would become his favourite 'planet' after he develops his ice powers. Plus, in roman myth, Pluto is the equivalent of Hades- Hades has the dog Cerberus. And Pluto is a dog name- it was just too perfect.
When Danny brings Cujo to school with him, he brings a pouch of specialty ectoplasmic dog treats and Cujo's squeaker toy. He keeps those attached to his hip with a carabiner
Danny's new cane in this art has glow in the dark star stickers stuck all over it.
Cujo is modelled after a mastiff and bully- for no reason other than I wanted him to have the mastiff fur pattern and big ol' cheeks
Cujo being a diabetic alert dog actually comes from a gag line from a comic I've been working on. Danny was trying to get out of detention and fight a ghost, but Lancer rejects each of his excuses before he can make them, and one is "No, you may not go get Sam some juice or a snack, if she has low-blood sugar, I will get something for her."
But then I think it could just be a nice thing to train Cujo to do; I imagine that when Cujo is out with Phantom, he's alerted to a few random citizen's blood sugar levels
Cujo's full list of tasks include:
balance support for Danny while walking
"opening" doors (touching his nose to them to turn them intanglible for Danny)
item retrieval (less used due to how difficult ectoplasmic dog drool is to clean)
circling (where Cujo paces around Danny's chair in crowded places to give Danny space to move, stand up, or sit down)
wheelchair pulling (this is NOT an average mobility dog task- this is EXCLUSIVELY because Cujo is a ghost, he's got ghost strength)
and diabetic alert for Sam and other civilians.
More design rambles
Cujo's muzzle is non-restrictive. It's merely there as a signal to Cujo that he's still working, even if one or both of his vests have been removed.
The mobility assistant vest is inspired directly by a harness from Bold Lead Designs. I chose that one due to the adjustable height of the main bracer, but made a few changes; there is a leather bracer in front that's short and stays upright. The metal bracer can rotate back to lay against Cujo's side when it's not needed- and the plastic handle is moulded to curve around the shape of his body to make it lay flatter. There's a wool lining around the main parts of the vest for Cujo's comfort.
Here were my reference images:
The patches on the purple vest include "Mobility Assist" and "Diabetic Alert", a "Danny Phantom Certified SAFE GHOST" patch, another patch that says "Service Dog: Do Not Pet", and Danny's Casper High ID.
The light and dark gradient of Cujo's eyes is the reverse of what the humans have. Humans have highlights at the top of their irises and darker shades at the bottom, but Cujo has dark on top and highlight at the bottom.
Cujo's Axiom Labs dog tag has been replaced with a Danny Phantom tag.
The patches on the purple vest include "Mobility Assist" and "Diabetic Alert", a "Danny Phantom Certified SAFE GHOST" patch, another patch that says "Service Dog: Do Not Pet", and Danny's Casper High ID.
The light and dark gradient of Cujo's eyes is the reverse of what the humans have. Humans have highlights at the top of their irises and darker shades at the bottom, but Cujo has dark on top and highlight at the bottom.
Cujo's Axiom Labs dog tag has been replaced with a Danny Phantom tag.
Phew. That's a big list. Hope I didn't forget anything.
And that's about it for now. Like I said, I have plans for Vlad and Dani- but for now I just want to say this:
Thank you all so so much for the overwhelming support on my original post for this AU. 2K notes on the first drawings I did is insane- I have been blown away by how kind and excited ya'll have been about my design choices and art! And I'm so so so incredibly grateful for all of the wonderful people who gave me their feedback and advice, and corrected me on some of my mistakes.
I hope that as I post more, I continue to learn and improve.
also if I knew it was going to get so much attention I would have drawn backgrounds for the first two posts. They look so unfinished to me now ;-;
When I get time I'm going to go back and add some simple backgrounds to those two posts.
Thank you for sticking around and reading the rest of this post!
Extra art of Service Dog Cujo! This comes from my wheelchair/cane user Danny AU
This first image is Cujo taking a break from being the world's goodest ghost dog, and the second is Cujo preforming the task of circling! This is where Cujo paces around Danny and his chair in a circle to create a barrier between him and other people in a crowd (pretend I drew Danny surrounded with other people in a crowd)
I don't know 100% is circling is a mobility assistant dog task, any list of tasks I found online didn't include it.
I know about it from autism service dogs, who do it to protect their handles from over-stimulation.
Some extra little drawings from my attempt to design/write a wheelchair/cane user Danny AU.
Seeing as I aged Danny up, I wanted to give some of the other characters some refreshed designs too! So here's Sam, Tucker, and Dash.
I reckon the Phantom trio would be such judgey lil gossips if they wanted to be.
*I have discovered I have been drawing/drew Danny's cane the wrong way around. I'll fix that and edit this post to have an image with the correct orientation soon.
As always, reference and design discussion under the cut, feat. the super scuffed, rough sketches I made to figure out heights and outfits.
I am kicking myself though because when I was doodling out plans for their outfits, I gave Tucker has cool ass techwear pants- but I drew him standing behind Danny's chair so didn't get to draw them.
Also I added bisexual pant cuffs to Dash's jeans because I can.
And notes about the characters' bodies- Tucker and Sam's head shape, notes about Dash's body type- are for the sake of remembering how they stand out from one another. Dash is unique because he's got a thicker, athletic neck and round little ears- admittedly inspired by rugby players because I don't live in America.
Dash's shoes are absolutely not custom made ones inspired by Phantom. They Are Not. (they are, he worked so hard to pay for them, and he's secretly thrilled that you noticed)
Sam's one green painted nail is how I do my own nails; main colour on most nails, and a colourful/brighter accent on the middle finger.
Sam's outfit is lightly inspired by Lydia Deetz from Beetlejuice, with her shawl and gothic lil gloves. The pale lilac neck of the shawl is also supposed to be emblematic of the white neckline of Phantom's suit.
Tucker was the hardest to design for because... what even did I have to go off, honestly. So he gets cool techwear! It took everything in me to not add even more excessive and pointless straps to his jacket.
Those green loops in front of his knees are actually inside out and are supposed to go around his knees. Iirc, during the Terrible Influence Tour, Dan (of Dan and Phil) wore a pair of jeans with those knee straps, and wore them wrong like that too.
I don't really have a reason for the note that Danny's nailbeds are slightly green. I think I was just reading a few fics about Danny having ghostie traits and thought "yeahhhh add that, and that he hides them with nail polish so he has to paint his nails."
And maybe I made this design sheet for a comic... Maybe
Introducing my Val redesign and her place in this little AU of mine!
I've decided to write up a little drabble (fair warning, I definitely am not a writer lmao)
I'll post a second, gallery post without the story in-between the art and with Valerie's original sketch and character design notes.
"The last thing that Val wanted, today of all days, was to have to see the wretched ghost dog that had so thoroughly ruined her life."
Rest of the story and more art under the cut:
And yet here it was, close enough to her to bring its ambient ghost chill to her skin, staring up at her with it’s fiery red eyes, and vocalising it’s low, echoing whine.
Valerie had, up until now, tried to hold her tongue about her… Distaste, displeasure, disgust, rage, betrayal- at the ghost dog, Cujo’s, recurring presence at her school. She kept her mouth shut, if only for Danny’s sake- seeing as the boy couldn’t decide whether he was terrified of ghosts, or if his heart bled for them. She’d overheard more than enough conversations of him and his friends complaining about his own parent’s stance on ghosts. And she didn’t miss the awkward and uncomfortable look on his face, or the way it paled, whenever Val had found herself speaking up in class about her opinions.
How Danny could be raised by ghost hunters, and live in the country’s most haunted town, and still come away with anything other than fear and hatred of ghosts eluded Valerie. Though, then again, she may just be biased. Unlikely.
The mangy ghost mutt just seems to insist on being an obnoxious staple, an inescapable factor, in her life. It started with Phantom bringing the hound out on patrols with him. He’d just claimed that “Cujo’s a sweetheart, he just likes to play- and if I can get him to consider ghost hunting as play, then he’d be a lot easier to handle.” She had rolled her eyes.
And then, somehow- Valerie had no idea how this had gotten approved- Danny Fenton had turned up with the glowing green hound in a service dog vest and mobility support harness. It followed him around throughout the day, helping him navigate the school, and conveniently warding off Dash and the other A-listers.
The ghosts’ “Danny Phantom Certified Safe Ghost” patch was made to infuriate her, specifically, she thinks.
The ghost had, fortunately, stayed under Danny’s control so far. Most likely that was thanks to the promise of that infernal pink squeaky toy and a pouch of glowing green dog treats. But Valerie was sure it was only a matter of time before the dog got into an incident.
And that time was now.
Cujo’s presence in the school was a nuisance to her on most days, but she definitely didn’t have the patience for it today.
She was the definition of bone tired. Yesterday, she had barely gotten any sleep in preparation for an exam, which was followed by a gruelling shift at work.
After work, she’d gotten her complimentary manager’s meal- Nasty Burger had definitely lost all of it’s allure to her after 2 years straight of seeing how it was made- but she never got the chance to eat it. Almost as soon as the paper bag was in her hand, her ghost alert on her wrist had beeped and she was thrust into action.
It was an easy fight, no sweat off her back- but by the time she returned to her meal, it was cold, and the grease had turned the chips and burger buns soggy. With a grimace, she binned it and headed home.
Another few ghost fights had followed her that night, and she never did find herself something for dinner. She’d fallen into a lackluster 5 hours of sleep the second she got through her front door.
She slept through her alarm, not having the time to grab even a protein bar before she was racing out of the door.
And as she had entered the cafeteria, her stomach angrily protesting it’s emptiness, she discovered that she’d also managed to forget her wallet in the rush to get out the door. It was probably still sitting in the pocket of her work pants back at home, and she definitely didn't have the energy to fly there and back right now. It'd be best to conserve it for the rest of the day, she thought. So, she sank into her usual seat in the corner of the cafeteria and groaned, and ran a hand down her face. Maybe that explained the headache she had been developing…
It could also be the reason she didn’t notice the creature's approach until it was right by her side, threatening to soak her with its ecto-slobber. Sure, it’s ecto-signature had been coded out of her tracking devices, but the mutt wasn’t usually this subtle or stealthy. Especially with the very physical leash attached to its collar; which was laying on the floor tiles by the dog’s large, clawed paws.
Valerie growled under her breath and gripped the pendant of her necklace tight in her hands; the buzz of her suit's energy radiated off the golden medallion in her palm. She met the ghosts’ eyes with a deep glare, and it seemed to return its own.
It’s shoulders twitched, as if preparing to jump up at her- maybe it finally recognised her and had come to finish her off for good? ... Good luck with that, Mutt. He wasn't getting any closer, not if she had anything to say about it-
“Yeah, that’s right… Hold still, and I’ll make this quick.” The anticipation of a fight rolled over her body, making her limbs feel shaky. She held her fist out, scanning the room around her subtly to make sure her weapon would be hidden enough, but found her sight of the crowd to be slightly disorienting.
No matter, vision seeming to swim or no, concealing her blaster beneath the cafeteria table should be fine. But, before she managed to pull her focus together enough to summon it, one Danny Fenton comes to the rescue.
Though who was he rescuing? Valerie, or Cujo? Valerie would argue he was rushing to the aid of the ghost, if he was wise.
Fenton sped over before gripping his wheels tight to come to a stop at the head of her cafeteria table. “Cujo- what the hell, boy, heel.” He commanded between huffed out breaths. He must have raced across to her from the other side of the cafeteria, Val realises.
The ghost ducks its head and looks at Danny guiltily, but makes no effort to return to Fenton’s side.
She scowls, bringing both of her fists to her chest. Hopefully Danny didn’t see the glowing red energy she had been trying (and failing) to summon. “You know, I’ve tried to keep quiet about you bringing this ghost, of all ghosts, to school.” She mutters.
“I know.” Danny murmurs, averting his eyes from her and shuffling forward in his chair.
“Because against my better judgement, I trust you.” She expresses, her shoulders relax when she sees Danny lean forward to pick up the dropped end of Cujo’s leash. “But if you can’t keep him under control-” She grumbles, issuing him a warning that she knows he doesn’t understand. She’s been able to keep her identity as the Red Huntress under-wraps, after all.
“I know, I know, I’m sorry Val.” Danny says. He plants a foot on the ground for stability and leans the rest of the way forward to pick the handle of the leash up. “I thought Tucker had a better grip on his leash. But Cujo just took off- Cujo, heel.” He tries again, glaring at the ghost.
Once again, the ghost makes no attempt to move. Valerie watches as it’s shoulders tremble again and it draws its paws closer together while it stares at her intensely. The ghosts swirling red eyes cloud her vision, so she pointedly looks away before it makes her more light-headed- since when did the sight of a ghost make dizzy? She’s so off her game.
Cujo nods it’s head, poking it’s bright green tongue at her and letting glops of glowing drool fall to the ground. Gross. Danny seems off-put by it too, if the way his brows rocket up to his hairline and his eyes widen is any indication.
“It shouldn’t be allowed to do that at all- It’s a monster, remember.” She hisses.
Leash in hand, Danny rests his elbows on his knees and looks back at her with a frown. “Ix-nay on the onster-may, Val.” He says with an unimpressed tone. “He’s just doing his job.” He says slowly, reaching out to scratch behind the ghost's ear. He whispers a quiet “Good boy” to him, which has Valerie’s frown setting deeper.
“Nuh-uh, not good- that damn ghost is anything but good.” She protests, “It nearly attacked me!”
“Cujo would never,” Danny says, rubbing Cujo’s cheeks and smushing around the excess skin of his face with his palms. “Look at this sweet little face.” He says, guiding Cujo to face her. Any other student might describe Cujo’s eyes as round and sparkling, as his tongue lolls out of his maw happily. Valerie only sees those large fangs of his. “He just loves to do what he was trained for.”
“Oh I bet.” Val says bitterly. “Phantom would train him to attack me.”
Fenton shoots her a look, one brow quirked higher than the other, and his head tilts to the side. “Why would Phantom want Cujo to attack a random student?” He asks, letting go of the dog and sitting back in the wheelchair again. As soon as Danny settles and pats his lap in invitation, Cujo morphs back into his (deceiving) puppy form and plops down. Danny fishes out a treat for him, and hands him that damn pink squeaky toy. The ghosts’ deceptively blunt fangs sink into the pink rubber as the squeaker inside whines.
“He’s not all that great.” Valerie huffs. With Cujo back on his leash and distracted, she feels comfortable relaxing a bit more. She slept horribly, she doesn’t need to be this tense- she leans forward against her empty table. “Someday he’s going to show his true colours.”
“Colour, singular; he’s just green. Black and white doesn't count, they’re tones.” Danny quips. Valerie rolls her eyes so hard her headache flares up again and she winces. “Anyway- Val, out of curiosity-”
“What is it Fenton?” Valerie mutters through gritted teeth, rubbing a circle on her temples to try and soothe her headache.
“Did you- Oh, I don’t know- Stay up all of last night, potentially doing something physically draining, without eating before or after?” Danny asks without a breath.
“... What?” Eyes narrowing, Valerie looks back at Danny again. He can’t have any clue that she’s the Red Hunter, Danny never sticks around during ghost fights, and no one else has ever alluded to knowing her secret.
“It’s a normal question-” Danny says quickly. “You- Uh- You work out, right? If I remember correctly, you’re a black belt. Did you, like-” He pauses, eyes flitting around as he tries to think, “Do you have a competition you were training for? Or something?” He guesses.
Val flinches. She can't tell him the truth, that she was out ghost hunting, so she accepts the excuse he doesn’t know he’s offered her. “Yeah… That’s it. I don’t have time to train during the day between work and school.” She agrees. “Yeah, I was training.”
“Right,” Danny nods, “and you haven’t eaten.”
“How could you possibly know that?” She asks.
“Oh, uh- Sam’s diabetic, and Cujo’s trained for diabetic alert.” Danny points out. Which… Yeah, Val remembers seeing Cujo’s patch for that now, and she thinks she’s seen the dog alerting to civilians after ghost fights. She had just brushed it off as a PR thing; if Cujo could alert to a random civilian's low or high blood sugar, that meant that Phantom got to swoop in and educate the public and look like a hero. Though Valerie knew better. She knew to be suspicious of how he even got those resources in the first place.
“Cujo was alerting to your low blood sugar.” Danny continues, “And you look-”
“How do I look, Fenton?” Valerie challenges
“... Like you- uh… Like you’re- um.” Danny struggles, voice cracking, “Uh- You look lovely?” Danny winces.
“That was a terrible save.”
“Yeah, I know.” Danny sighs, “Look, the point is, do you have food? You need to eat.”
“That’s none of your business.” She huffs, though her cheeks feel a little warm at the reminder that she forgot her wallet.
“It is if Cujo’s gonna break away again to alert to you.” He says. “He’s too helpful.” He mutters, stroking Cujo’s back.
“He’s a good for nothing ghost.” Valerie retorts instinctively.
“He’s been quite good for me, actually. Sam, too.” Danny points out, an almost smug expression spreads across his face.
Valerie frowns and looks away from him.
"And he’s good for all those civilians he alerts to during fights…” Danny points out, his tone sickly sweet, before he chokes and stutters out, “or so I've been told, because- obviously- I'm not... at those..." Danny coughs. "Anyway. You need to eat something. Come on."
"I don't have lunch money today." Valerie points out. "I'll be fine, I've got work right after school, I'll eat there."
"You should eat now, though, is the thing." Danny says. "Don't worry about the money. The second Sam hears Cujo alerted to you, you'll have to fight her not to buy you lunch." Danny continues.
"I don't need your pity, Danny." Valerie says.
"It's not pity-” Danny groans, “Look, it can just be a juice box and a granola bar if you're that bothered by it." Danny says. "That's like... 3 bucks worth of food. You can pay us back or give us extra fries next time we're at Nasty Burger. Just... please, come with me, have some juice, get your blood sugar back up." Danny locks the wheels of his chair and extends a gloved hand to her.
Valerie glares at it, then flicks her eyes to where Sam and Tucker are sitting. Tucker’s head is down, he’s either got his nose buried in some gadget, or he’s scarfing down his meal. Sam, though, is staring right at her with a puzzling look, as if she were trying to read their lips to gauge what they were talking about. But when she sees Valerie notice her, she quickly turns away and sits back down.
Valerie glances back at Danny’s hand and sighs, not rolling her eyes this time, and takes it. It’s preformative, she didn’t need him to help her stand- he’s seated too- but she still uses his help up. Disengaging his breaks, Danny spins around and guides her back to the table.
“Hey Tuck,” Danny calls out, “Do you mind getting another juice and a granola bar?”
The moment the request is out of Danny’s mouth, Sam’s eyes widen and her mouth falls open. She turns around to start digging through her bag.
Tucker looks up from his PDA, “What for- you know I’m saving right now-” He begins, but he’s cut off when Sam thrusts her card into his face with her manicured hands.
“Use that. Juice, granola, and something else substantial. Doesn’t matter what, my treat.” Sam says quickly.
Tucker looks between the card and her, shrugs, turns his PDA off, accepts the card, and stands “Whatever. Can I get something too?” He asks. Sam has already turned back to face Valerie and has shuffled to make room on the seat next to her. Tucker takes Sam’s dismissive handwave as a yes and walks away.
“What’s happening?” Valerie asks cautiously, slowly lowering to the seat beside Sam, as the goth places a small, plastic wrapped fabric container on the table. It strikes Valerie with an odd sense of familiarity, but she can’t remember where she’s seen one of these packages before. When did her mind start to get this foggy?
“I told you, once Sam figures out Cujo alerted to you, you’d have to fight her to get her to back down.” Danny said, situating himself back at his usual spot at the head of their table. Cujo’s leash has been tied back to the frame of his chair, not that it looks like the dog has any intention of gallivanting off now that he has his favourite toy between his paws.
Sam rips open the plastic packaging to reveal a small, orange fabric case. “I hope you don’t mind the colour, I’m all out of anything else.” She says. She unzips the case, revealing a small device inside.
Oh, now she remembers. This is one of those blood glucose monitor kits that she’s seen Phantom handing out when Cujo alerts. “I suppose you’re where Phantom gets these kits then.” She says, unable to hide her displeased tone. She already knew that most of the school was head over heels for the vigilante ghost, but she assumed he acted as a lone wolf. Which, yes, meant she assumed that these kits were likely stolen- but somehow she feels worse knowing that Samantha Manson was his supplier. You would think that her best friends’ ghost hunter parents would have taught her a bit more sense.
“Yep, they were my idea. It’s easier to educate some people about blood glucose levels when they actually get to experience a test.” She says proudly, unpacking one of the test strips and loading it into the machine. “One test kit per person; may as well put my parent’s gross amount of money to good use.” She explains. "Now c'mere, gimme your hand!" Sam says, holding out her palm.
This post is getting long enough, I reckon- and while I did do a lot of research to get this right, a lot of which hasn't ended up in this little drabble, I might save it for a dedicated one-shot on Ao3 if ya'll like this!
The TLDR is that Valerie Gray is Valerie Gray; she's not a fan of Cujo being out and about around the school, no matter how many good deeds she sees him doing. That might only change when she's forced to get along with him and confront what it is he does for others.
You can choose to interpret this as Val also being diabetic; I did consider how the nano-bots her suit is made of would effect her blood glucose levels, but chose to keep the diabetes rep to Sam.
EDIT: Here's Dani's design!
And Vlad's and Dan/Dark Danny's!
I'm really happy with how this turned out! He's a halfmoon betta, ofc. I hope that that comes across
He does have some damage on his lil dorsal fin, that's fine he's ok.
I tried to emulate the patterns of his suit with the placement of the white on the main fin, his arm fins, and waist. I was also really happy with how he's got some silver scales on his knuckles! He uses them to punch, probably
I was originally going to make the metallic stripes on his fins blue, because that's what my latest betta looked like. But I couldn't resist the ecto green.
Mer Danny Mer Danny Mer Danny Mer Danny Mer Danny Mer Danny Mer Danny
This was made for the Phantom Core discord server's Valentines Mail event! My giftee was rinsanityart on instagram, and their prompt was mers!
So I took some creative liberties and drew Danny as a zebra moray eel mer, and had some fun drawing a reef full of colourful fish and corals :3
I also made a blacklight version of this, inspired by the lights on reef aquariums! Does that make sense, considering this is set in the ocean? Who cares, it's fun!
~~Once again- I have been far too distracted by whipping up some shots for RePhanimated and adding them to my showreel that it took,,, nearly a month for me to post this. Whoops.~~
Objective: Get Cujo accepted into the school so he can be Danny's service dog.
Step 1: Get Cujo trained and certified as a service dog
- This was easier than anticipated. Danny had saved up all the money he needed to pay for the course, but ended up getting the fees comp'd when Phantom saved the training school from a hoard of ghost cats (who knew that that grudge was real, and that it carried on in the after-life).
- Cujo's previous training as a security dog, and his obsession with a particular pink bear toy, means he's toy driven enough to retrain easily.
Step 2: Manufacture trust in Cujo as a good boy safe and trustworthy ghost
- Two years worth of ghost fighting, city saving, and school defending means Phantom has garnered quite the positive reputation, especially among his fellow students and the school's faculty.
- Sam organized getting the "Danny Phantom Certified Safe Ghost" patch manufactured
- A lil blackmail negotiation saw Vlad lend his legitimacy as the mayor to the authorization of Cujo's training certificate
Step 3: Meet with Principal Ishiyama to sign off on the necessary "Assistive Ecto-Entity" permission documents
- Ishiyama needs Phantom's personal, verbal and written confirmation that Cujo is safe
- Ishiyama needs Fenton's explanation of Cujo's needs, and needs to confirm that there's no such thing as an "ecto-dander allergy"
If only there were a way for Fenton and Phantom to appear in the same place at once...
I've been asked about how Danny's parents react to him having Cujo- and someone asked about Valerie, and I AM thinking about that, I just got carried away with making this first oops.
The Ghost Catcher has to be my favourite of Jack and Maddie's inventions and I love the idea of Danny just,,, using it to solve his problems. Also I just like the idea of Danny never managing to duplicate.
Defeat the literal king of all ghosts? Easy. Immediately teach himself a incredibly powerful attack after witnessing it once? Got it.
Duplication? No. He can't do it. No amount of training is making him better at it.
Also, a sneak peak of Vlad in this AU! Like I mentioned, I had plans for Vlad and Dani, and Vlad's have to do with scarring and his vision, seeing as he took a portal blast to the face. I'll detail it more later, but he has burn scars around his eyes and ecto-acne scars, and has photophobic blindness- meaning his vision is very sensitive to light. He'll get his own, dedicated post when his art is finished. For now, he gets to be a sweet little cameo.
As always, some small design notes:
Phantom exclusively uses his spectral tail while in ghost-form because it's more comfortable than his legs
Vlad's scars are two different colours, even though you can't really tell in this image. The burn scars around his eyes are purple-ish because they're burns and because of his pink ectoplasm. Meanwhile, his ecto-acne scars around his cheeks and forehead are pale.
Vlad's pupils are a slightly paler pink/purple, due to pale pupils being a common way to visually depict blindness in art, but it's also pink/purple like his ecto.
Giving Danny canonically green nail-beds as a ghostly halfa trait means Vlad does too. Meaning Vlad get to paint his nails >:3c
Someone pointed out to me that a service dog would be on a leash most of/at all times when possible, so Phantom's holding it in both of the shots of him. For Cujo, as a ghost, a leash reinforced with Fenton ghost-fisher line is a part of how Cujo would need to be handled around the school
Fenton doesn't have his lichtenberg figure scars, his nail-polish, or pointed ears because he's completely human in this comic, and those design details come from his ghost half.
Fenton and Phantom's eyes are greyer when separated like this.
Their hair are also their respective, solid colours
In an attempt to hide that his hair is a different colour than usual, Phantom is wearing one of Sam's hairties.
Phantom's hair floats upwards, while Fenton's hair sags more than usual
There's no ghost to fight here, so- without his usual purpose- Phantom is a bit antsy.
Someone must be in physical contact with Cujo at all time for no reason other than that I think Cujo deserves all the love and adoration possible.
I would again like to disclaim that I'm not a mobility aid user, or a service dog handler, and that this AU is based on research instead of any personal experience! My intention is to provide accurate representation while I improve my awareness and understanding, and improve my art and research skills.
That being said, service dog handlers are not legally required to show anyone some kind of "service dog documentation". Not all service dogs are professionally trained, so they might not have a training certificate, and there's no official standard for documents surrounding service dogs.
I looked up a few resources about the process of bringing a service dog to school; all of them suggested meeting with staff to discuss the needs and accommodations of the handler and the dog, but not all of those resources mentioned providing any kind of documentation. I decided that I would include/depict some kind of documentation in this art ; the papers Ishiyama is holding are a certificate and report from Cujo's professional training course, which have been signed by Mayor Masters, and a written letter from "Phantom" about how Cujo is well-behaved and safe for cohabitation with her human students.
