#damon gray

It only takes close to a week before Danny can no longer stay silent about Valerie's shift in attitude towards both him as Phantom, and ghosts in general ever since her return from Metropolis.

After a team-up against Vlad's latest scheme he finally works up the nerve to ask what led to the change of heart. Valerie's hesitant at first. But after they move on to a more private area, she eventually divulges what happened in Metropolis.

Long story short: Lex Luthor himself had sent both her and her dad a personal invite to Lexcorp. And after some small talk once they arrived requested that Valerie, with the necessary gadgets, weapons and any other required equipment provided by him, use her skills as Red Huntress to take out Superman.

Naturally Damon refused, remaining firm even when Lex tried to entice him with the offer of a high paying position as his head of security and Valerie full coverage of a scholarship, as well as reassure them both that she would be closely monitored the entire time.

Taking a different route in his aim to sway them to his side, he attempted to convey how eliminating Superman once and for all would be no different than Valerie's mission to rid Amity of Phantom and all the other ghosts. Valerie's defense of how Superman is an actual hero was quickly shot down by Luthor's usual rhetoric of how humanity shouldn't look to an alien as their savior and the whole "protector of Metropolis" thing was just a long term ploy to hide his true intentions towards all of Earth.

Both father and daughter's answer to that statement was to storm out in disgust. During the long ride home Valerie can't help but start to reassess her stance towards Phantom. While Luthor's tiresome spiel about how Superman was the same as any other alien invader was obviously complete bull, he was unfortunately right about how his vendetta against the Man of Steel was no different than her disdain towards Phantom.

26. Radiation + 29. Polaroid

Sam's beef with Valerie shouldn't have been reduced to petty jealousy just because they were two girls into the same guy, especially when you have Tucker and his established envy towards Danny and desire to get a girlfriend right there.

Seriously, from a narrative standpoint, Danny developing a mutual crush on Valerie and acting on those feelings should have resulted in an argument between Danny and Tucker. Especially because, even if canon completely glossed over this fact, Danny dating Valerie in spite of her being a ghost huntress bent on killing his ghost half for good is pretty hypocritical of him. More so from Tucker's point of view.

Think about it.

During the first half of season 1, Valerie was introduced as Danny's new rival and Tucker's most serious crush.

With him being his most genuinely gentlemanly and selfless for her sake in Shades of Gray (even if it was crystal clear he also hoped Valerie would give him the time of day if he helped her out), to the point Tucker covered for her at Axiom Labs so her dad wouldn't get in even bigger trouble. A gesture that seemed to finally endear him to Valerie, after all.

And yet, come Life Lessons and beyond, Valerie barely acknowledges his existence. If my memory doesn't fail me, she only really addresses him once after Shades of Gray, when he asked her if she was feeling any better in Reign Storm.

Now, at no point am I trying to say that Val is morally obligated to return his affections. Of course not. If she doesn't feel that way about Tucker, then she just doesn't feel that way about him.

But Tucker is also entitled to his feelings and, all things considered, he should have felt very bitter and hurt over Danny dating Valerie. Not just because that's his unrequited crush, but because of the hypocrisy I mentioned earlier.

In Shades of Gray, Danny and Sam were rightfully angry at Tucker for knowingly spending time with Valerie even after she became a ghost hunter after Danny Phantom.

Danny: Great. My best friend has a crush on a ghost hunter. Sam: That's life. Well, your life, anyway. ---- Tucker: Hey guys, can we join you? Sam and Danny: No! --- Valerie: So, Tucker tells me your parents hunt ghosts. Danny: Did he now? What else did he tell you? [Glares at Tucker but he just smiles back.]

And yet, when Danny's the one with the crush on the person with a very heated and personal grudge against him, suddenly it's perfectly fine if he routinely risks his neck hanging out with her?

To add insult to injury, Valerie only hung out around Tucker to get information on ghosts, preferably from Danny, whose parents are ghost hunters and experts on them. In other words, while Valerie grew to be genuinely interested in Danny, she was only using Tucker for her own benefit.

No matter how you look at it, Tucker was dealt an extremely bad hand in all this. More so when you remember he was the one most interested in getting a girlfriend yet he ended up being the only one of the trio who ended the show single (because Danny and Sam started dating each other, but still).

All things considered, it makes much more sense if the conflict over Danny dating Val had been between him and Tucker than between Valerie and Sam.

Yeah, I get it. Romantic drama and jealousy is supposed to pay off when the main couple ends up together at last. However, objectively speaking, regardless of her feelings for Danny or her issues with jealousy, Sam didn't need to be jealous of Val to have beef with her.

@picturejasper20 once pointed out how it was a pity the show reduced Sam's issues with Valerie to mere jealousy when, in truth, there was so much more to it.

After all, by that point, Sam already had plenty of valid and legitimate grievances with her. Like the very real danger Danny was in if she ever found out about his secret and didn't take it well. Or the fact that she used to be a real piece of work back when she had money yet felt entitled to being welcomed into their group with open arms even though she never acknowledged her behaviour (at the very least, not aloud), let alone apologised for it.

I'm just saying. If they were going to pit the girls against each other either way, then at least do it over something deeper than a love triangle. Especially when your third main character has as many reasons as Sam to be jealous over Danny and Valerie's relationship, but his love life and his character in general were given much less focus.

I got myself a fuckin' life Dressed up in evening wear I dress myself in fuckin' lies Guess what? I don't care

Dp

Danny had first encountered the ghost of Valerie’s mother while exploring the Ghost Zone. At the time, he had no idea who she was, only that she had a presence that felt familiar and… comforting. Over the years, as he continued to cross paths with her, she became a guide, a mentor, almost like the mother he never had. And now, after all that time, he wanted to do something for her — to give back in a way that really mattered.

Not many people knew this, but ghosts weren’t usually allowed to linger in the human world during their first years after death. They had to come to terms with themselves, accept their passing, and avoid interfering with the grief of the living. There were exceptions, but they were rare, and this made Danny’s case all the more complicated.

He had spent months advocating on her behalf with the Ancients. It wasn’t easy, but eventually he managed to make a case for bringing Vanessa — or Shadowheart, as she had become in the Ghost Zone — back to Amity to reunite with her family. The next step was the hardest: talking with Damon and Valerie Gray. Not just any talk, though. This was a colloquy, a kind of conversation meant to assess whether they were truly ready for her return.

Danny could feel his stomach twisting at the thought. What if they weren’t ready? What if seeing her again reopened old wounds, or made things worse? He thought of all the years he had relied on her ghost, how she had guided him through the chaos of the Ghost Zone, how she had shaped him in ways no one else had. And now, he had the chance to set things right — to give her a second chance at life with the people she loved.