Fanfic / Resurrected Memories

Resurrected Memories is a Danny Phantom fanfic written by Flower princess11. The story takes place a few months after Phantom Planet and centers on the ghostly diva Ember.

When the Fenton portal is down due to repairs, Ember gets zapped by a natural portal and lands in the human world. When she wakes up, she discovers she has a heartbeat again. It seems being a halfa works both ways. Now Ember uses this to join Casper High in hopes of discovering Danny's weakness...but what happens when she gets to know Danny? Will they become friends?

Now has a sequel RM: A New Path.

Ember is now a halfa, living with her sister, on the verge of a major record deal and most of all, she is dating Danny. She couldn't be happier but this happiness might be cut short when Ember gets haunted by some metaphorical ghosts of her past, along with dealing with some people who can't seem to let some things go.

---

These fanfics provide examples of:

Resurrected Memories

• 100% Heroism Rating: Danny became the most famous celebrity on Earth for stopping the Disasteroid. Even those from the Ghost Zone have grown to respect him.
• 0% Approval Rating: Paulina becomes this for her horrible treatment of Star at the school dance and being a cruel Alpha Bitch in general.
• Abhorrent Admirer: Many are presented during the course of this story.
  • Dash Baxter develops a crush on "Amberline" solely for her good looks and is constantly harassing her for a date, much to Ember's immense annoyance. Dash isn't ugly and is a popular quarterback but it's his ego, low I.Q and lack of respect that repulses Ember to no end.
  • Paulina to Danny, not for her looks, but for her snobby and overbearing personality, as well as the fact that she pretty much has an Entitled to Have You attitude with him.
  • A more comedic version would be Valerie’s stalker Nathan, an overweight geek who desperately wants to be the girl’s prom date.
  • A ghostly version would be the OC Rancor, a muscular mercenary ghost who hits on both Ember and Kitty, much to the two girls' disgust.
  • Vlad is this to Maddie, for obvious reasons.
• Action Girl: Ember, Sam, Valerie, Maddie and Dani are all very strong, competent fighters.
• Actually Pretty Funny: Some Casper High students laugh when Amberline (Ember) insults Paulina's intelligence since she didn't expect Paulina even to know what "implying" means, let alone successfully use it in a sentence.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Paulina is much more unpleasant here as she treats Star as a servant and harasses Danny out of a sense of entitlement.
• Adaptational Heroism: Ember gives up her villainous ways after befriending Danny and reconnecting with her sister, Amy.
• Adaptational Sympathy: Star was a generic Beta Bitch in the show but here, she's portrayed in a more tragic light where she only hangs out with Paulina for the sake of popularity and puts up with her abuse out of fear of becoming an outcast.
• Adults Are Useless: Played With. The adults in Ember's past qualify, with her parents and teachers ignorant to the fact that she was being severely bullied at school and thus did nothing to stop it, leaving her with several emotional scars. In the present however, this is Averted as most adult figures are shown to be kindhearted individuals who are good at their jobs and care about those under their watch. Mr. Lancer does what he can to try and make Danny's very difficult life a little easier and Mrs. Murray especially is shown to enjoy her job as a teacher, is a great mother to her two daughters, and a loving sister to Ember, once the two figure out each other's true identity, that is.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg:
  • After Amberline (a disguised Ember) makes a bet with Paulina that she'll have to do whatever Amberline says for a month if she doesn't win Prom Queen, Danny practically begs her to make Paulina stay away from him if she wins. In the end, Ember keeps her word, and Paulina is to have no contact with Danny of any kind, much to his relief.
  • Star outright begs Amberline not to tell anyone about Paulina's alcohol problem because she knows Paulina would figure it was Star who revealed it. Ember reluctantly agrees.
• The Alcoholic: Paulina secretly is drinking while underage, even hiding some bourbon in her diet cola when she is at school.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Amberline Carol McLain was one of these during her first lifetime, being bullied and made fun of by her peers.
• Almost Kiss: A brief Running Gag occurs after Ember as Amberline falls for Danny in which she tries to kiss him, only to be interrupted several times, much to their annoyance.
• Alpha Bitch:
  • Paulina is this to a T.
  • When Ember was alive, she dealt with an even worse one named Alexandria Green.
• Act of True Love: Ember nearly sacrifices herself to save Danny from Vlad’s ectoranium bullet.
• Anguished Declaration of Love: The appropriately titled chapter “The Truth is Out” has Ember accidentally reveal herself to Danny right after sharing a kiss with him. Danny, in a fog of anger and betrayal, rejects her but Ember, having truly fallen in love with him, begs him not to leave her, that she truly has changed, and she wants to be with him, to the point of offering to give up her ghost powers permanently.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Kitty asks Ember this after Ember is saved by Danny and decides to do a Heel–Face Turn and become his friend.
  Kitty: Did you tell him who you really are yet?...”
• Armor-Piercing Response: While Kitty tries to talk a lovestruck Ember out of remaining Amberline permanently in order to date Danny, Ember gives this response.
  Ember: I LOVE HIM!.”
• Asshole Victim:
  • Vlad is severely beaten by Danny and is locked away forever.
  • In the end, Paulina loses all her popularity, is suspended from school for a month for bringing alcohol, is in a lot of trouble with her parents for underage drinking, is forced to stay away from Danny forever, and has to spend an entire month doing any humiliating task Ember gives her due to losing their bet. Everyone just laughs at her.
• Attempted Homewrecker:
  • Paulina's fine with flirting with Danny even when he's dating Sam or Amberline, no matter how much he tells her to leave them alone.
  • Vlad is an even worse example since he's okay with forcefully taking Maddie from Jack.
• Attention Whore:
  • With the exception of Danny, Paulina really doesn't like it when somebody else gets more attention than her.
  • Ember's biggest goal is to use her power to get legions of fans to idolize her and then take over the world. She eventually outgrows the more negative aspects of this trope over the course of the story, as while she still likes attention and wants to be famous, she starts to go about obtaining it in a far more healthier and "normal" manner.
• Backstabbing the Alpha Bitch: Having had enough of Paulina's abuse after being insulted too many times, Star reveals to everyone at prom that Paulina has been smuggling and drinking alcohol on school grounds. This leads to Paulina getting a month's suspension and being grounded by her parents.
• Badass Family: The Fentons, just like in canon.
• Bad Boss: An unofficial version with Paulina, who regards Star as more of her personal servant than an actual friend. She constantly bosses Star around, berates her for extremely minor reasons, and cannot stand it when Star accomplishes something Paulina couldn't. It's deconstructed since Star eventually becomes fed up with Paulina's selfish, ungrateful, and demanding attitude and gets revenge by telling the teachers about her secret supply of alcohol to get her in trouble at prom.
• Band of Relatives: An unintentional Type 1 with Ember and Zoe, as is explained below.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Danny and Team Phantom's genuine kindness to "Amberline" inadvertently makes Ember undergo a Heel–Face Turn.
• Becoming the Mask: Ember starts up the whole “Amberline” charade in order to get close to Danny in order to destroy him. The first part of the plan works so well that she ends up falling in love with him and gives up all of her evil plans. She even reaches a point where she’s willing to swear off her ghost half permanently for him.
• Befriending the Enemy: Zigzagged a bit in this story. Ember is aware of this but Danny and the others aren't.
• Beneath the Mask: There are several characters here that seem to posses a "mask" of their own.
  • On the surface, Ember seems like a strong-willed, short-tempered, overconfident diva. Beneath that lies a lonely, insecure girl haunted by the scars of her past.
  • Mrs. Murray seems like a smart, understanding and fair teacher who loves her job and is a devoted wife and mother. However, she is haunted by the death of her older sister (aka Ember) three decades ago and deep down has some emotional scars of her own.
  • Christopher Morgan seems like a bright, friendly, and boisterous teenage boy who is always making jokes and flirting with Sam, who resists his advances. However, it's revealed that his parents are divorced and deep down, he is suffering from his unrequited love and gets hurt when Sam snaps at him, showing he was serious about his feelings for her.
  • Star seems like the typical Beta Bitch, being completely stuck-up, snobby, and insulting to the unpopular kids. However, it's eventually revealed that she only acts that way to please Paulina. Deep down, she is a very insecure, neurotic girl who only follows Paulina out of fear.
  • Sam desperately tries to act like she is okay being Just Friends with Danny, but deep down is jealous and confused over his growing feelings for their mutual friend Amberline, and feels guilty over it.
• Berserk Button:
  • Ember will not tolerate anyone showing her disrespect or bugging her. Heck, Paulina and Dash have pressed it many, many times in this story.
    • Another button is people getting her name wrong.
    • Ember also apparently doesn't have any patience for anyone who hurts her friends and family and will not hesitate to teach whoever it is a very painful lesson.
  • Amy has her own: seeing her sister Ember get hurt. Justified since prior to Ember's infiltration of Casper High, the last time Amy saw her was likely at Ember's funeral 30 years prior.
  • Paulina has two: girls going near Danny, and anyone but Danny getting more attention than her.
• Berserker Tears: After getting exposed and ultimately rejected by Danny, Ember cries alone in her realm before she proceeds to completely destroy it in a rampage.
• The Bet: Ember as Amberline and Paulina make a huge one about whether or not Paulina will lose the title of Prom Queen this year. Should Paulina win, Amberline has to wear whatever Paulina wants her to, but should Ember win, Paulina has to do whatever Amberline says for a month.
• Beta Bitch:
  • Star starts out as the typical “satellite” to Alpha Bitch Paulina... except that deep down, she is a tragic Deconstruction of one. Star is shown to secretly be very insecure and neurotic, and only seems to follow Paulina out of fear of being cast out of the A-Listers and rendered friendless, much like Valerie. The way Star broke down in tears after being criticized one too many times by Paulina had Ember genuinely pity her.
  • In the 1970s, Ember knew a girl named Karen who was one of these to her bully Alexandria.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Paulina and Vlad. Paulina is quick to get on Ember’s bad side and is the central antagonist of the prom storyline while Vlad has returned from space and is building an army in order to kill Danny and destroy Amity Park, and with Spectra’s help, uses Danny’s feelings for “Amberline” against him.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Despite being the central antagonist of the prom storyline, Paulina doesn't even register as a threat, merely being an annoying Spoiled Brat that the heroes (and Ember) want to put in her place.
• Big Ego, Hidden Depths: Ember is a very prideful individual but she is also very lonely and truly cares about those she sees as her friends.
• Big Jerk on Campus:
  • Dash Baxter used to be this as the school quarterback and male head of the A-Listers, but ever since the Disasteroid incident, Danny has him beat in status. Heck, it's implied that the only reason Dash is still in charge of the A-Listers is because Danny didn't want to join them.
  • Ember's first crush, David Parker, was one as well, being a good-looking athlete and popular with the girls... and Alexandria's just-as-nasty boyfriend.
• Big Damn Reunion: Between Ember and her younger sister Amy in chapter 61 "Please Believe Me Part 2" when they finally figure out who the other really is.
• Big "SHUT UP!": Danny gives one to Paulina after getting fed up of listening to her insult Amberline (Ember).
• Big Sister Instinct:
  • Jazz, just like in the series. She is very protective over Danny after his breakup with Sam and is the first person to suspect something is shady about Amberline Lain, and remains that way for the majority of the story.
  • Zoe Murray is very protective of her little sister Maggie and was eternally grateful when Ember/Amberline saved her life from Skulker's attack.
  • Ember herself was and still is very protective of her younger sister Amy, once fending off a stray dog in order to protect her when they were kids. This protectiveness remains even after she discovers Amy has grown up to become Mrs. Murray, as Ember is quick to order her sister to leave Amity Park and take her children someplace safe due to Vlad's oncoming invasion.
  • It seems to be inverted in Amy's case as even though she is physically an adult, she is still Ember's younger sister but is shown to be very protective of the latter as soon as she finds out of their relationship.
• Big Sister Worship: As shown from flashbacks, Amy really loved her older sister Ember and they were very close. Even 30 years after her death, Amy never forgot the bond they shared.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Ember, as Amberline, pretends to be a typical, well-meaning high school student and infiltrates Casper High in order to find Danny's weakness and destroy him. However, by Becoming the Mask, she ultimately ends up undergoing a Heel–Face Turn and becomes a Sheep in Sheep's Clothing.
• Blatant Lies: At prom, when the teachers find alcohol in Paulina's purse, as Star said, she accuses Star of planting it. Nobody buys it since Paulina's lipstick marks are on the bottle, as Lancer points out.
• Blunt "Yes": This is Danny's response when Paulina asks him if she's harassing him when Amberline accuses her of doing that because Paulina refuses to leave Danny alone despite being rejected.
• Brainy Brunette: Technically auburn as a human, but Ember/Amberline has a lot of natural cunning and perspective. In addition, she also works hard to get good grades during her time as a student at Casper High. At one point, she gets her progress report and earns an A-B average, all on her own merit. Another instant, Mr. Lancer is considering her among several other students for an upcoming scholarship.
• Brainless Beauty: Paulina is too dense to see through Danny's disguise when he's dressed as "Donny Felton".
• Brutal Honesty:
  • Danny doesn't bother to hide his contempt for Paulina and constantly tells her to leave him alone.
  • Ember is very open about her disdain of Dash and Rancor for constantly annoying her and not taking a hint that she's not interested.
  • Ember enjoys reminding Paulina that she has no chance with Danny.
  • Maddie makes it crystal clear she completely hates Vlad's guts.
• Bullying a Dragon:
  • Paulina unknowingly makes enemies with Ember by antagonizing her human side, Amberline.
  • Dash does this to a disguised Danny, who responds by turning his pants intangible so they fall off.
• Can't Take Criticism: Paulina acts like a huge brat whenever Danny rejects her because she refuses to accept that he has no interest in her for her annoying attitude. She also never takes it well whenever Amberline (Ember) reminds her she has no shot with Danny.
• Casanova Wannabe:
  • Paulina is a Rare Female Example towards Danny. All of her attempts to seduce him do nothing but annoy him to no end, given that she treats him only as a trophy because of her obvious lack of concern for his feelings or personal space.
  • Dash's obnoxious flirting severely irritates Amberline (Ember), to the point that Danny's intervention is the only thing stopping her from hurting the Dumb Jock.
  • Rancor unsuccessfully flirts with both Ember and Kitty, neither of whom likes him from the moment they meet him.
• Cat Fight: Sam gets into one with Paulina in the girl’s bathroom after Paulina insults her and tries to convince Sam to help her take down Amberline (Ember). Amberline (Ember) tries to stop the fight but eventually joins in when Paulina hits her until their feud is broken up by the teachers. Sam and Paulina are given detention while Amberline (Ember) is left off the hook for trying to end their skirmish.
• The Cavalry: In chapter 67, appropriately called "The Calvary has arrived", Kitty and Johnny lead a large group of Danny's allies to help in the fight against Vlad's invasion.
• Celebrity Is Overrated: Danny has come to believe this due to his worldwide fame from having saved the world and revealing his secret identity. After several months of being subjected to the Paparazzi and people obsessing over him, he greatly misses his privacy.
• Character Development:
  • In the series, Sam had trouble accepting Danny dating another girl. Here, despite her being jealous of Amberline's relationship with Danny, she tries to act maturely about it and doesn't want it to get in the way of her new friendship with the girl.
  • The biggest factor of this story is Ember's own character development, as she slowly but surely evolves from an angry, self-centered diva into a kinder, more caring person thanks to the influences of her new friends.
• Chick Magnet:
  • Danny after the Disasteroid. He has hundreds of fangirls, Paulina being the most obvious. Even Ember ends up falling for him, though much more genuinely. Even Zoe Murray admits she thinks Danny is cute and jokingly entertained asking him out.
  • In the past, Ember was in love with a guy named David Parker who was one of these too as he had many female admirers, including Alexandria.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: There are three notable examples, two romantic and one platonic.
  • Paulina is a extremely possessive of Danny despite him wanting nothing to do with her and gets very jealous of any other girl he so much as looks at, which causes the bulk of the conflict in the story.
  • Sam is a Downplayed example, being somewhat jealous of Amberline’s relationship with Danny, but she doesn’t let it get in the way of her friendship with the girl.
  • Kitty with regards to Ember’s Amberline identity, being jealous that her best friend seemed to be picking the humans over her and scared that Ember would forget about her, though she eventually gets over this.
• Commonality Connection:
  • How Sam and Ember/Amberline end up becoming friends, along with the former’s willingness to help the latter defeat Paulina in the prom bet. Both girls are fans of dark clothing, the band Kiss, and share a mutual hatred towards Paulina and the A-Listers, which helps cement their bond.
  • Part of the reason Zoe and Ember get along so well is because of their shared interest in music... that and also Ember saving her sister.
• Contrived Coincidence: Ember infiltrates Casper High around the same time that A.J. Murray starts as the substitute music teacher and independently ends up befriending A.J.’s daughter Zoe after saving her sister Maggie from Skulker. However, where this trope really comes into play is that it turns out that A.J. is none other than Ember’s little sister Amy all grown up, which also makes Ember an aunt to both Zoe and Maggie.
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: Upon winning the bet with Paulina, Ember makes her do all kinds of humiliating things at Nasty Burger in front of everyone: let Sam dress her as a witch along with a makeover, forbid her from having any contact with Danny, make her bark like a dog, ask out the nerdy Wendell only to get rejected, let Kaitlyn throw a banana cream pie in her face, give the entire chess club foot massages, be forced to compliment everyone she came into contact with, and admit on videotape that she is a shallow witch with no personality or future. Ember also had Paulina go to the mall's food court at 3:30 pm dressed like a baby with a bonnet, binky, rattle, and diaper; she had to offer to give free pictures to whoever walked past her. Also, for the entire month, Paulina can't wear any makeup at all, no insulting and just complimenting everybody she speaks to, and Sam will be in charge of what Paulina will be wearing when she returns to school from her monthly suspension, with the first outfit having her dressed like a clown.
• Cool Aunt: Ember has become this to both Zoe and Maggie, though none of them know it until Ember figures it out in Chapter 62.
• Cool Big Sis: During her first life as Amberline McLain, Ember was this to her little sister Amy. This comes back to haunt Amy quite literally when decades later, she, now going by the nickname A.J., becomes a long-term substitute at Casper High around the same time that a still 16-year-old but now half-ghost Ember infiltrates the school under the very clever name of Amberline Lain. Ember later ends up saving Amy's younger daughter, Maggie, and befriending her older one, Zoe, all without Ember, Maggie, or Zoe suspecting their connection until Amy confronts Ember in Chapters 61 and 62.
• Crush Blush: After developing feelings for Danny, Ember is prone to this.
• Cute Ghost Girl: Technically half-ghost and one who spends a lot of time in human form, but Ember is one, especially when she starts to fall for Danny, though for the most part her attitude tends to make her more “hot” then “cute”.
• Dark and Troubled Past: As shown from flashbacks, Ember McLain had a very difficult human life. Originally called Amberline McLain, she was an unpopular girl with big dreams of rock stardom who was frequently bullied and subjected to pranks from the popular kids, raised by Control Freak parents who didn't understand and neglected her, and suffered from an unrequited love towards David Parker, the most popular guy at her school. One day, David asked her out to the movies and she waited for him all night, thinking that he was just late. However, she eventually went home after realizing she was stood up and cried herself to sleep, unaware that her home had mysteriously caught on fire. She died in the flames and out of anger for her untimely death and horrible life, renamed herself Ember McLain and became the vengeful Evil Diva seen in canon. In fact, the only good thing about Ember’s human life appears to have been her little sister.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype:
  • Paulina is this of the Alpha Bitch and Spoiled Brat, with the story showing how a domineering and entitled harpy like her would really be. Danny wants nothing to do with Paulina to the point he wants her out of his life just to get some peace from her stalkerish behavior; she made a dangerous enemy of Ember McLain by bullying her; Star turns on her after being pushed too far, she gets into a lot of trouble with her parents who ground her for drinking alcohol while underage, she's suspended for a month for bringing alcohol onto campus and her parents have to bribe the school into not expelling her, and by the end of the story, all of Casper High gets so sick of her callous and self-centered behavior that they pelt her with fruit at prom and partake in Ember's humiliation of Paulina at Nasty Burger by making her do all kinds of degrading punishments.
  • Paulina is also one of the fangirl because her Celeb Crush on Danny has completely stopped being endearing and grew into an unhealthy obsession, which just makes her come off as creepy and irritating to everyone.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Amberline (Ember) warms up to Team Phantom after they've been kind to her.
• Demoted to Extra: Tucker Foley. Hand Waved in that he is now the Mayor of Amity Park and has a lot of new duties that keep him busy.
• The Dog Bites Back: At prom, the entire student body of Casper High has enough of Paulina's cruelty when she calls them losers and demands they stop cheering for Star, who was elected Prom Queen, and retaliate by pelting her with food.
• Dogged Nice Guy: The OC Christopher Morgan is a downplayed example. He likes Sam and flirts with her, but he is never aggressive and makes it clear that he respects her feelings and would back off if she genuinely didn’t feel the same way. If anything, he is a Deconstruction of one, as while he does like Sam, he was genuinely hurt when she told him to get lost and lost his patience when Sam said she still likes him, accusing her of being a Master of the Mixed Message and demanding to know if she truly does like him or not, explaining that he can accept rejection, but he refuses to be strung along.
• Downer Beginning: The story starts with Danny miserable over getting dumped by Sam, having to deal with the downsides of fame, and constantly being harassed by his most obnoxious wannabe suitor, Paulina.
• Dude Magnet: Ember is kind of one in both forms since she has managed to get the interest of many guys due to her good looks and feisty nature, such as Skulker and Rancor in the Ghost Zone. This extends to several groups of boys at Casper High, including Dash, briefly Tucker, and eventually Danny.
• Dumb Jock: Dash is still this; he can't even see through Danny's Paper-Thin Disguise as "Donny Felton."
• Dysfunctional Family: The McLain family had a lot of issues, which is part of the reason Ember was warped into the way that she is.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: And how!
• Easily Forgiven: Danny and Valerie bury the hatchet after accepting that they both made mistakes and were never really enemies to begin with, partly because Vlad manipulated their conflict from behind the scenes so they’d end up at each other’s throats.
• Entitled to Have You:
  • Sam sums this up as Paulina's attitude towards Danny; she doesn't care if Danny is already in a relationship or can't stand her and believes they belong together no matter what because she's too spoiled to take "no" for an answer.
  • Vlad is a much more extreme case as he's willing to launch an invasion of Amity Park to get revenge on his enemies and try to make Maddie his. Even when Maddie made it clear how much she loves her husband and family, and how she cannot stand Vlad for his evil actions and thinking that she would ever leave her family for him, Vlad doesn't care and plans on marrying Maddie and for her to have his child.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Even prior to becoming half-human, Ember, despite her difficult human life, had a strong bond with her younger sister Amy, and she is the only one the ghostly girl genuinely misses from her old life.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Ember finds Paulina's Stalker Shrine to Danny to be disgusting and thinks the girl needs mental help because of it. Despite her hatred of Danny, even she thinks he deserves better than someone as unbearably annoying as Paulina.
  • Dash Baxter may be a handsome and popular quarterback, but Ember finds him too dumb and obnoxious to stand.
  • Ember and Kitty don't want anything to do with Rancor because they find him too sleazy (and Kitty is already dating Johnny 13).
  • A more altruistic example was that Ember was genuinely horrified and furious that Skulker deliberately tried to shoot at both her (not knowing it was Ember) and a small child in order to lower Danny's guard in their battle. She gave him a well-deserved beatdown in the Ghost Zone later for this very reason.
  • Ember is disgusted with Paulina's shallowness in ending her friendship with Valerie just because her family lost their money.
• Everyone Can See It: Danny and Ember/Amberline’s feelings for each other are rather obvious to all those around them. Even Zoe and Christopher, Ember’s new bandmates, were able to pick up on it early on. A dark example with Vlad, who wanted to use Danny's feelings for Amberline against him as part of his plan.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Sam, despite expressing annoyance and jealousy over Danny and Amberline’s growing feelings for each other, is disgusted when Paulina suggests they team up. Her first reaction is to slap Paulina and explode that she would even think Sam would betray her friends. It ends with a catfight between the two in the girls bathroom.
  • Paulina is a Spoiled Brat with an unhealthy obsession with Danny, but she knows to back down when Lancer threatens to give her detention over her tantrum in class.
  • The Casper High faculty may favor the A-Listers but they, especially Lancer, have limits on what they'll tolerate, as Lancer threatens Paulina with detention when she throws a tantrum over his refusal to make her Danny's partner on a book report, stops her from bothering Danny when he's recovering in the nurse's office, gives her detention as punishment for getting into a fight with Sam in the girl's bathroom, and suspends her for a month for bringing alcohol on school grounds.
  • Unlike Paulina, Sam doesn't try to get together with Danny despite her lingering feelings for him while he's crushed after finding out Amberline is really Ember McLain because he's in a vulnerable state, so she just comforts him but gives him enough space.
  • Even Star has a limit on how much crap she can take from Paulina. When Paulina pushes Star too far by insulting her at prom and demanding she hand over the prom queen crown, the blonde retaliates by exposing Paulina's alcohol stash to the teachers so she will get in trouble.
  • Paulina's parents may spoil her and pay Casper High to keep her there, but they ground her for stealing alcohol from them and let Ember humiliate her for an entire month as part of their bet.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: It never occurred to Vlad that Maddie would completely hate his guts (even more than before) for putting herself, her family, and the entire world in danger with his villainous schemes, especially when Danny reveals to her the full extent of Vlad’s crimes. He is also actually surprised that Maddie would easily believe Danny; she has to point out that of course she believes Danny over Vlad because he's her son whom she loves dearly and, unlike Vlad, is actually a good person.
• Evil Is Petty: Vlad is willing to invader Amity Park just to get back at the Fentons and make Maddie his by force.
• Evil Redhead: Ember's human form, Amberline Lain, has auburn hair and she is the Villain Protagonist. At least until she undergoes a Heel–Face Turn.
• Exact Words: Paulina only promised Wendell that she'd think about going out with him if he did her science project; she never said she would go out with him.
• Extreme Doormat: Star to Paulina, going along with her orders and never standing up for herself in the face of Paulina's insults.
• Fair-Weather Foe: After the Disasteroid incident, the A-Listers become Danny's biggest fans, always hounding him to join them. Danny rejects all the A-Lister's invitations because he doesn't want friends who only care about his fame and powers.
• Fair-Weather Friend: Danny and Valerie refuse to associate with the A-Listers for this reason.
• False Friend:
  • Ember originally tries to worm herself into Danny's inner circle just to destroy him. Until her Heel–Face Turn kicks in and she truly comes to care about him as a real friend.
  • Spectra is a straighter example. Not only does she sell Ember out to Vlad, she doesn't think twice about feeding on Ember's misery due to her now being half-human and thus accessible to Spectra's powers.
  • Paulina treats Star more like a servant than a friend, constantly bossing her around and berating her for extremely minor reasons. It's deconstructed since Star eventually decides that popularity isn't worth putting up with Paulina after she insults Star at prom, prompting the former Beta Bitch to get her in trouble as revenge.
  • As noted above, Danny doesn't want to associate with the A-List because they only like him for his fame, and Paulina is way too annoying to put up with.
  • Valerie still understandably resents the A-Listers for abandoning her when her dad lost his job and threatens them into leaving her alone when they try to convince her to rejoin them.
• Fangirl: Danny has gotten a ton of them due to becoming famous after saving the world from the Disasteroid. Paulina is the most prominent example. One of the reasons Danny ends up falling for “Amberline” is because she’s not one of them.
• The Fashionista:
  • Despite being ghosts, both Ember and Kitty really love to shop together in their spare time, to the point that Ember has a very large walk-in closet in her realm filled with all kinds of clothes.
  • To an extent, Sam, who wasn't all that opposed to shopping with girls... as long as it was for Gothic fashion and made with non-animal materials, anyway.
• Fatal Flaw: Ember’s own insecurity is her biggest enemy, along with her pride.
• Fiery Redhead:
  • As has been previously stated, Ember has auburn hair in human form and is known to have a bit of a temper, even after her Heel–Face Turn.
  • Seems to run in the family, as Ember's sister Amy is shown to be pretty fiery herself when the time calls for it.
• Fille Fatale: Paulina has no qualms using her looks to manipulate boys into giving her what she wants. Last year, a boy named Wendell did all her homework and final science project to the point of neglecting his own, which cost him two decimal points on his once-perfect GPA, in the hopes of getting a date, but she refused and had Dash forcefully make him leave her alone when he tried to complain. Wendell gets back at Paulina by cruelly rejecting her when Ember forces her to ask him out.
• Freudian Excuse: Ember, prior to her own Character Development, had been a vengeful, short-tempered Evil Diva who wanted to use her powers to have the entire world adore her and her music. See Dark and Troubled Past above for why.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: When Vlad mentions Ember's past in his attempt to lure her to his side, Ember throws back that while she had a horrible life and death, it didn't give her a right to make others suffer.
• Friendless Background: It’s stated that due to moving around a lot growing up and being severely bullied at school, Ember had no real friends aside from her sister to call her own. She even goes as far as referring to Kitty as her First Friend.
• Goofy Print Underwear: When Dash harasses Amberline (Ember) and a disguised Danny (who's going as Donny Felton) at the smoothie bar, Danny makes Dash's pants intangible so everyone at the shop laughs at his pink teddy bear-printed boxers, much to Ember's amusement.
• Good Parents: The substitute music teacher Mrs. Murray seems to be a very loving and reasonably protective mother to Zoe and Maggie.
• Graceful Loser: Dash and Kwan don't mind Danny beating them in the contest to become Prom King since they're among those applauding in congratulations for him.
• Grew a Spine: Star spent the whole story being a doormat satellite to Paulina but finally stands up to her when she insults Star at prom by revealing to the staff that Paulina brought alcohol to school.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Danny, Vlad, Dani and most recently Ember McLain are all half human/ghost hybrids.
• Hands-On Approach: During a "not-a-date" between Danny and Amberline, Danny tries to teach her how to bowl, seemingly unaware that he is doing this approach, but Ember does notice.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: The two OCs Christopher Morgan and Zoe Murray have blonde hair and are very nice, understanding, and friendly individuals. They even become Ember's friends and bandmates.
• Happily Adopted:
  • The Fentons have adopted Dani into the family after the Disasteroid incident.
  • Somewhat played with at the end of the story when Ember gets invited to live with the Murrays after discovering that Mrs. Murray is in fact her sister.
• Happily Married: Jack and Maddie Fenton, just like in canon. Also, it's implied that the substitute teacher A.J. Murray has this with her own husband.
• Hated by All: By the end of the story, nobody can stand Paulina; she loses her popularity, the students of Casper High get fed up with her bullying, she's suspended from school for bringing alcohol, her parents ground indefinitely, and she has to spend a month being humiliated by Ember and the rest of the students.
• Held Gaze: One chapter has Ember as Amberline and Danny watching a movie together with their friends. After goofing around with a pillow fight, Ember accidentally lands on top of him and the two share a moment like this before Sam walks in and interrupts it.
• Heel–Face Turn: Ember undergoes one partway through the story as she slowly falls in love with Danny. Albeit it's a realistic take on one, as it takes a while for her to shake off some of her old habits.
• Heroic Sacrifice: During the final battle, Ember nearly dies again by taking an ectoranium bullet meant for Danny.
• Heroine With Bad Publicity: Ember has this problem following her Heel–Face Turn since Team Phantom still considers her to be an enemy. Though it's played with since Ember’s human identity Amberline is very popular around Casper High. This very nearly costs her everything once Danny learns the truth about “Amberline”.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Afterlife, really, but Ember has this relationship with Kitty.
• Hidden Depths: While Ember is a wild rocker at heart, she is shown to be fiercely loyal and protective to those she deems her friends and is a genuinely hardworking student, managing to get good grades on her own merit as well as Lancer's respect due to her actually trying to work hard in class. On top of that, she is revealed to have a dorky side to her that starts coming to the surface as she falls in love with Danny.
• High School: Most of this story takes place at Casper High.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: By the end of the story, Paulina has lost her popularity, didn't become Prom Queen, is humiliated at prom by getting food pelted at her, is suspended from school for a month, is grounded by her parents, has to stay away from Danny forever, and is forced to do whatever humiliating tasks Ember has for her for an entire month.
• Hopeless Suitor:
  • Danny makes it clear he would never date Paulina even if he were single.
  • Dash has zero chance with Amberline (Ember) because she can immediately see him for the moronic Jerk Jock he is.
  • Vlad has become this to Maddie even more now since she couldn't stand him even before finding out he's a half-ghost supervillain because he's a Slimeball who tried to get her to leave her husband for him.
• Humanity Ensues: Ember McLain gains a human form in this story with her ghost powers.
• Humiliation Conga: At the end of the story, Paulina has lost her popularity, been suspended from school for a month and is grounded by her parents because of her underaged drinking thanks to Star ratting her out, gets pelted by food from the other students at the prom, loses the title of prom queen to Star, is forced by Ember to do all sorts of embarrassing punishments for an entire month, has to permanently stay away from Danny who still won’t give her the time of day, and is dressed up like a witch by Sam for everyone at Nasty Burger to laugh at.
• Hypocrite: There are several examples in this story.
  • Paulina hates Amberline because she thinks the latter is out to get Danny and steal her popularity. Even delivering this line:
    Paulina: Can you believe her?!
    Star: What? You mean her rejecting Dash?
    Paulina: No, I mean how she carriers herself... she walks around here like she's too good for everyone.
  • Danny doesn't say it out loud, but he calls Sam out on this when she praises Amberline (Ember) for pranking Paulina by putting clown makeup on her, while in the past, she scolded Danny whenever he got payback on Dash for his bullying.
  • One chapter involves Ember being called a hypocrite by an old version of herself in a dream for deciding to not use the dirt on Paulina from Star due to having kept a promise to her.
  • Ember is quick to call Kitty a hypocrite over lecturing her on manipulating Danny and keeping her identity a secret from him when Kitty had blackmailed him in order to make Johnny jealous and even overshadowed Paulina to do so.
• I Just Want to Be Special: Seems to be Ember's biggest issue along with a combination of I Just Want to Have Friends and I Just Want to Be Loved.
• Imaginary Love Triangle: Early in the fic, Paulina (who it should be noted Danny has no interest in at this point) accuses Ember/Amberline of having an interest in Danny when the two get paired together for an assignment. Ember reacts in disgust and tells her that she has no interest in the half-ghost boy but Paulina doesn't buy it. However, Danny and Ember do eventually fall for one another.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: Ember seems to have some shades of one.
• In Love with Looks: Dash only hits on Amberline (Ember) because of her good looks.
• Innocently Insensitive: Due to Ember Becoming the Mask as Amberline, she ends up unintentionally shutting Kitty out of her life for a while. On the flip side, it takes Kitty a very long time to figure out that Ember has truly come to love Danny and that causes her to act insensitively as well.
• Insane Troll Logic: Paulina thinks she can win Danny over by constantly bothering him for dates, ignoring his wishes to leave him alone, and treating his loved ones like dirt.
• Insecure Love Interest: Even before realizing she has fallen for Danny, post Heel–Face Turn Ember is extremely reluctant to reveal her true identity to him, out of fear that his hate for Ember McLain would outweigh his new affection for Amberline and that he would reject her.
• I Reject Your Reality: As far as Paulina is concerned, Danny is her soulmate, and no amount of rejection will change that.
• It Runs in the Family: One of the earliest hints that Ember is related to the Murray family is the fact that they both have an affinity for music, with Ember being an Evil Diva prior to a Heel–Face Turn, Mrs. Murray aka Ember's long-lost little sister being a music teacher, and Zoe, Mrs. Murray's older daughter, who is not only putting a band together but also goes to an arts school as a music student. Another trait seems to be stubbornness as Amy shares this trait with Ember.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • Even Danny admits Paulina was right that his relationship with Sam wasn’t going to last when she breaks up with him.
  • Danny's dislike for fame is understandable given how exhausting his overzealous fans can be, especially when one tried to steal his underwear from his room.
  • Danny is right to refuse to join the A-Listers given their history of bullying him and his friends. He especially doesn't want anything to do with Paulina because she continues to mistreat his loved ones, and her entitled attitude towards him doesn't help since it makes her completely unbearable to be around due to her stubborn refusal to accept that he utterly loathes her now.
  • Valerie justifiably doesn't want anything to do with the A-Listers because she still holds a grudge against them for kicking her out when her family went broke, and doesn't waste any time harshly rejecting their membership offer back into their group.
  • Ember is correct that Paulina's pathetic for obsessing over Danny since he clearly hates her and rejects her every chance he gets, but she's too delusional to accept it. She even admits that Danny deserves much better than Paulina.
  • Even Ember finds Paulina's Stalker Shrine to Danny Phantom seriously creepy and a sign that she needs professional help.
  • Ember and Sam point out that Paulina's treatment of Danny is little more than harassment.
  • While Paulina can't prove it and doesn't really know how it happened, she is correct that Amberline (Ember) is responsible for putting clown makeup on her.
  • Valerie points out to Star that she's better off without Paulina because the latter is not a good friend, considering what she and the A-Listers previously did to Valerie.
  • Kitty is correct that Ember can't keep her new half-ghost status a secret from Danny forever, especially if she plans to spend her life with him and have children with him.
• Jerk Jock: Dash Baxter, just like in canon.
• Lack of Empathy: Unlike Sam, Paulina doesn't care that Danny is upset after finding out Amberline is really Ember McLain as she takes the chance to flirt with him. This only earns her an angry Danny yelling at her to leave him alone.
• Laser-Guided Karma:
  • While disguised as Donny Felton, Danny gets back at Dash for harassing him and Amberline (Ember) at the smoothie bar by turning his pants intangible so everyone at the shop laughs at Dash's pink teddy bear-printed boxers, much to Ember's amusement.
  • As for Paulina:
    • She’s constantly rejected by Danny.
    • She's given a black eye by Sam during their Cat Fight.
    • She's humiliated by Danny at her own party when he trips her while he’s invisible after she tries to sabotage his friends' concert by trying to turn off their music, which causes her to fall into a mud puddle that ruins her hair and dress, then she flees home after everyone starts laughing at her. Danny even admits he doesn’t feel bad about doing it.
    • At prom, Star beats her for the title of prom queen, then exposes Paulina's alcohol addiction to the school staff, which gets her suspended for a month and grounded by her parents. After that, she’s pelted by food by the other students, who have grown sick of her behavior.
    • After losing the bet to Ember, Paulina has to do all sorts of humiliating things for a whole month; she has to let Sam dress her up as a witch along with a makeover at Nasty Burger, is forbidden from having any contact with Danny, made to bark like a dog, ask out the geeky Wendell only to get rejected by him, let Kaitlyn throw a banana cream pie in her face, give the entire chess club foot massages, be forced to compliment everyone she comes into contact with, and admit on videotape that she is a shallow witch with no personality or future. Ember also had Paulina go to the mall's food court at 3:30 pm dressed like a baby with a bonnet, binky, rattle, and diaper; she had to offer to give free pictures to whoever walked past her. Also, for the entire month, Paulina can't wear any makeup at all, can't insult anyone and must only compliment everybody she speaks to, and Sam will be in charge of what Paulina will be wearing when she returns to school from her monthly suspension, with the first outfit being having her dress like a clown.
• Lazy Alias: Amberline (Ember) points out how uncreative the name "Donny Felton" is for Danny's disguise. He counters that nobody was ever able to make the connection between Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom.
• Like Goes with Like: Even though Danny doesn't realize it, he ends up falling in love with Amberline Lain, who, unbeknownst to him, is also a halfa of sorts.
• Like Parent, Unlike Child: It's eventually revealed that Amy has grown up to be very different from her and Ember's parents. While their parents were more focused on their own work and social climbing than their children's well-being, Amy is a very loving and nurturing mother to her two daughters, Zoe and Maggie.
• Like Mother, Like Daughter: Both Mrs. Murray and Zoe are kind and welcoming people with a love for music, A.J being a Music Appreciation teacher and Zoe going to an arts school as a music student.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: As unpleasant as Amberline is (at first anyway), Danny still vastly prefers having her as a partner for their school assignment over someone as unbearably annoying as Clingy Jealous Girl Paulina.
• Long-Lost Relative: As stated above, the substitute teacher A.J. Murray is actually Ember’s younger sister Amy.
• Lovable Alpha Bitch: Ember, as Amberline, eventually manages to gain this sort of reputation around Casper High, in contrast to straight up Alpha Bitch Paulina. The combination of her good looks, brains, musical talent, growing friendship with Team Phantom, and her nerve to go against Paulina and the other A-listers eventually ends with her becoming very popular among her peers at school.
• Love Makes You Dumb: At one point, Ember is so lovestruck she thinks she can hide her true identity from Danny indefinitely even when Kitty points out how difficult that would be if they're in a relationship. Sure enough, it doesn't take long for Ember to let her guard down enough that she unknowingly changes into her ghost form while kissing Danny.
  • Another moment would be when Kitty asks Ember what she intends to do if she keeps up her charade, even sarcastically asking her what if she ends up marrying Danny and having his children, and his kids get her powers. Ember is silent... and then just gets smitten at the thought of marrying Danny.
• Love Redeems:
  • Befriending and ultimately falling in love with Danny causes Ember to undergo a Heel–Face Turn.
  • A platonic example would be Kitty. Despite having been extremely jealous over Ember's friendship with Team Phantom, Kitty, out of a desire to protect Ember, helps them defeat Vlad's army by rounding up all of Danny's allies for the final battle.
• Loving a Shadow:
  • Ember spends some time worrying that Danny is an Inverted case of this, fearing that he only likes her alter ego “Amberline”.
  • Danny refuses to associate with Paulina because he’s become well aware of her shallowness, as she only likes the superhero side of him and couldn’t care less about who he really is as a person.
• Loves My Alter Ego:
  • Paulina is head over heels for Danny and wants to date him but he refuses due to knowing that she is only interested in his ghost half.
  • Inverted with Ember, who becomes heartbroken upon realizing that Danny (and by extension, their friends) only like Amberline Lain and still view Ember McLain as their enemy.
• Malicious Misnaming: Ember calls Rancor "Rancid" to express her dislike of him.
• Mama Bear: Mrs. Murray is very protective of her two children.
• Mirror Character: Many examples of this in this fic, mostly centered around Ember and her relationship with others:
  • With Danny, as both he and Ember are not only halfas in this story, but the biggest reason Ember didn't want to reveal her secret was out of fear of being rejected by her new friends, much like how Danny was afraid to reveal himself out of fear of being rejected by his parents.
  • With Paulina. Despite Ember refusing to admit it, she and Paulina are both attractive girls who love being the center of attention and have been willing to resort to unethical means in order to achieve their goals... the only difference is that Ember has outgrown this sort of behavior.
  • With Star. Ember and Star both act prideful and mean towards people they don't like but deep down, they are very insecure girls trying to hide their vulnerabilities.
  • With Vlad, as he pointed out in the final battle. They have both been hurt in the past and became evil as a result, being willing to do anything to destroy their enemies. Ember realizes that at one point, she really was no different from Vlad, much to her personal shame.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • After Sam yells at Christopher to make him leave her alone, she instantly regrets it when she sees that she truly hurt his feelings.
  • Ember instantly regrets slapping Kitty during a heated argument over her decision to stay in Amity Park with Danny.
• Never My Fault:
  • Paulina refuses to get it through her head that Danny wants nothing to do with her on account of her bullying and horrible personality along with her obnoxiously clingy behavior.
  • Vlad is even worse as he won't admit it was his own crimes that made him lose everything and blames the Fentons for it all.
  • Whenever a plan goes wrong, Paulina's default response is to blame Star, even when it was Paulina's idea or Star had nothing to do with it.
• New Transfer Student: Ember, after becoming half-human, poses as a new student called Amberline Lain in order to infiltrate Casper High in hopes of spying on Danny.
• Nice Guy:
  • Danny. He is ultimately a kind-hearted individual who always uses his powers to do the right thing and is extremely loyal to his friends, not hesitating to protect them. It's these traits that eventually make Ember become attracted to him, due to the fact that he genuinely cared for her human self as a friend.
  • The OC Christopher Morgan is also a nice guy who becomes Ember's bandmate and is even interested in Sam to boot. It's to the point that he is the only one of Ember's friends who doesn't feel betrayed when he learns the truth about "Amberline".
• No Guy Wants to Be Chased: Danny doesn't hide his irritation over constantly dealing with rabid fangirls who only like him for his fame since they're always hounding him for an autograph and dates. Paulina just happens to be Danny's most annoying fan of all.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Vlad is subjected to one from Danny for hurting Ember.
• Non Human Lover Reveal: Danny finally discovers the truth about Ember and Amberline right after the two declare their feelings for each other and share The Big Damn Kiss.
• No Periods, Period: Averted as Ember, having become half-human, eventually gets her period once again, much to her immense dismay.
• Not Good with Rejection: Dash, Paulina, Rancor, and Vlad fall under this as they can't comprehend when being told "no" by someone they're interested in.
• Oblivious to Hatred:
  • Paulina is too thickheaded to figure out that Danny can't stand her.
  • Subverted with Vlad. He knows Maddie utterly despises him (even more than before) since she tells him to his face but he still wants her as his queen.
• Odd Friendship:
  • Between Ember as Amberline and Sam of all people, though Downplayed slightly when you take their similar interests and attitudes into account.
  • This trope is also in play with Amberline and Valerie, to a lesser extent.
  • A lesser example would be the gym teacher Ms. Teslaff with the new substitute teacher Mrs. Murray.
• Older Than They Look: Ember is 46 years old but having spent 30 years as a non-aging full ghost before becoming half-human, she is for all intents and purposes still a 16-year-old girl. This is best demonstrated by the fact that the mother of her 14-year-old band member Zoe is none other then Ember's little sister.
• Only Friend: Star was Valerie's only genuine friend in the A-List because they still hung out after Valerie was kicked out.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Sam realizes how deeply hurt Danny is after finding out Amberline's secret of being Ember McLain when he outright yells at Paulina to leave him alone instead of just ignoring her or giving an annoyed rebuke like he usually does whenever she flirts with him.
• Operation: Jealousy: Subverted. Paulina has tried in the past to make Danny jealous by dating the jocks, but it's never worked, as he made clear by telling her he doesn't care.
• Original Character: This fic provides quite a few original characters such as A.J Murray (the substitute teacher), her daughters Zoe and Maggie, Rancor (Vlad’s mercenary) and Christopher Morgan (Sam’s suitor in this story).
• Pants-Pulling Prank: A disguised Danny gets back at Dash for hassling him and Amberline (Ember) at the smoothie bar by making his pants intangible so everyone at the shop laughs at his pink teddy bear-printed boxers, much to Ember's joy.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: When Danny wants to avoid his fans in public, he disguises himself as "Donny Felton" by wearing a crazy pair of black sunglasses, a fake mustache, a goatee, a green and white hoodie that covers his head, a pair of jeans, and green sneakers. It's good enough to fool idiots like Dash and Paulina.
• Parental Neglect: From all of the flashbacks, it’s obvious that Ember's parents weren’t good parents, being more focused on work and social climbing to notice their daughter’s needs, which may have contributed to her hatred of adult authority. Luckily, Ember’s sister Amy turned out to be a much better parent to her two children.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: Danny delivers a rather brutal beating to Vlad, who is later imprisoned.
• Pet the Dog:
  • Mr. Lancer assigns Amberline as Danny's partner for the book report assignment so he doesn't have to deal with any crazed fans.
  • Danny drives Dash away whenever he harasses Amberline (Ember).
  • Unlike Sam and Paulina, Amberline (Ember) is exempt from getting detention despite participating in the Cat Fight between them because she initially tried to stop their fighting.
  • Team Phantom covers for Amberline (Ember) when Paulina accuses her of being behind the clown makeup prank on her by telling Lancer she was with them when it happened.
  • Amberline (Ember) keeps her promise to Star not to reveal Paulina's alcohol addiction even though doing so could help her win the bet by getting Paulina in serious trouble.
  • Sam comforts Danny after he becomes heartbroken and depressed upon finding out that Amberline is really Ember McLain. Despite her jealousy issues with Danny dating anyone else following their breakup, she puts those aside to be there for her friend in his time of need.
  • Valerie decides to give Nathan just one dance at their junior prom, though she was reluctant to do so.
  • Ember keeps her promises to make Paulina stay away from Danny and let Sam dress Paulina as a witch upon winning her bet with the Hispanic mean girl.
• Playing Hard to Get: Paulina refuses to get it through her head that Danny doesn’t want anything to do with her no matter how many times he tells her and just deludes herself into believing he’s being this.
• Popular Is Evil: The A-Listers as per canon are a group of snobby popular kids who bully others they deem beneath them, but it's stated that the popular kids from Ember's backstory are even worse.
• Positive Friend Influence: Befriending Danny, Sam, and the others is what truly makes Ember go from being The Mole to Becoming the Mask and undergoing a Heel–Face Turn. While it was slow, their friendship and kindness towards her causes her to truly care for them as her friends and she becomes happier, friendlier and generally a better person all around as a result.
• Power Dyes Your Hair: A common trait in halfas. Ember has cyan-blue hair as a ghost but gets auburn-red hair when she is in human form.
• Properly Paranoid: During their concert right next to Paulina’s party, Sam has Danny as security because she knows Paulina is too stubborn and petty to let go of a grudge, especially when it’s about someone stealing her spotlight. She’s proven correct when Paulina tries to turn off their music so an invisible Danny stops her by tripping her, then Paulina runs home embarrassed after everyone laughs at her for falling into a mud puddle and staining her hair and dress.
• Real Name as an Alias: Played With. Ember tells Danny that her name is "Amberline", which happens to be her birth name, only because she couldn't think of anything else in that moment. She decides to stick with it for the rest of the story, even shortening her surname from McLain to Lain.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Both Mr. Lancer and Mrs. Murray seem to be good at their jobs and only want what's best for their students.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Ember as Amberline delivers an epic one to Paulina after the latter tries one of her put downs.
  Ember/Amberline: You know what Paulina, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and I think I know now why you're such a bitch.
  Paulina: What did you just call me?!
  Ember/Amberline: Listen here Paulina, you're only popular because your daddy spoils you rotten and always hands everything to you on a silver platter and that you've developed pretty early and started putting out soon after to the first remotely acceptable guy that made a pass at you and now you can't stand to look at yourself in the mirror… because all you see is a spoiled, weak-minded little child who can't do anything on her own who gradually grew up into becoming a whore who's nothing without her pretty face and daddy's money to protect her. That's the reason why you go out of your way to find victims to pick on in order to both gratify your swollen ego and to avoid the inevitable realization that once high school is over, there'll be nothing left for you but memories and several possible STD's and all you'll end up becoming is little more than some scumbag's concubine who's sole survival skills will consist of nothing but these 5 words: "Daddy, I need another loan." ...Am I in the ballpark?
  • Danny also gives one to Paulina after she pushes him too far by constantly insulting Amberline (Ember) by telling her to shut up and that she’ll never be even half the woman Amberline (Ember) is.
  • Maddie also delivers a brutal one to Vlad in Chapter 65.
  • Star, after being abused by Paulina one too many times, finally delivers one to her at their junior prom.
• Reformed, but Not Tamed: Even after her Heel–Face Turn, Ember is a tough and assertive rocker chick, and didn't magically lose all of her vices overnight. She tends to shift to some of her former behavior for a while due to her desire to still manipulate Star against Paulina in order to win the bet. However, she becomes much nicer over the course of the story.
• Revenge: This concept specifically against Danny is a major motivator for more then one character throughout the story as it was Ember's primary reason for infiltrating Casper High until her Becoming the Mask led to a Heel–Face Turn. This also appears to be Vlad's entire motivation given that his goals are to kill Danny and destroy Amity Park for no other reason than to make him suffer.
• Rich Bitch:
  • Paulina, obviously.
  • While not shown often, Ember technically is well-off, having enough money to pay off a half a million-dollar bail on the Ghost Writer just to get him to do work for her and be able to afford comforts from the human world without any difficulty.
• School Bullying Is Harmless: Greatly averted as it's revealed that when Ember was alive, she was severely bullied by her popular classmates, most especially a girl named Alexandria Green. It's obvious that the bullying, along with several other issues she had, is what jaded and embittered her into becoming an Evil Diva in the first place.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Paulina's parents convince Casper High not to expel her for her bullying and underaged drinking by promising to provide the school a new wing. Downplayed as she still faces a month's suspension and is grounded at home.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: It's unlikely that Danny would've stuck around at the dance if Paulina had become Prom Queen, promise or no promise to Lancer.
• Self-Proclaimed Love Interest: As far as Paulina is concerned, she is Danny's soulmate no matter how often he rejects her.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: Both Danny and Amberline have denied it on separate occasions when someone thinks that they are romantically involved.
• Shallow Cannot Comprehend True Love:
  • Paulina is too vain and immature to understand that Danny would rather date any girl but her (especially if it's Sam and Ember) because he finds her bratty behavior insufferable.
  • Dash is too stupid to grasp why Amberline (Ember) prefers Donny Felton (Danny) over a popular jock like himself.
  • Maddie lampshades that Vlad doesn't know what love is and only wants her out of some extremely unhealthy sense of entitlement.
• Shipper on Deck:
  • Valerie, having truly gotten over Danny, thinks Amberline has feelings for him and secretly believes they would be good together.
  • Downplayed with Star, who despite being Paulina's secretly neurotic Beta Bitch, secretly thinks that Danny and Amberline make a cute couple but doesn't dare say so around Paulina.
• Ship Sinking: The fic starts off with Danny and Sam, who were the Official Couple in the series, breaking up and they both struggle to continue maintaining their now fragile friendship.
• Shout-Out: Ember's RYSS to Paulina at prom is based on Brian's speech to Connie in Family Guy.
• Shrinking Violet: The original Amberline McLain was a shy, bullied girl who longed for the day she would become a rock star.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Ember delivers one to Vlad after he tries to persuade her to join him in chapter 66.
• Sickeningly Sweet Hearts: Even prior to their Relationship Upgrade, Danny and Amberline's flirtations have them acting as an unofficial version of one, much to Sam's ire.
• Single Girl Seeks Most Popular Guy:
  • Paulina has a crush on Danny solely because he is a famous superhero who has saved her life, and is constantly hounding him for a date.
  • In the past, Ember, then known as Amberline Carol McLain, had a crush on David Park, the most popular jock at her school.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Ember slowly but surely falls in love with Danny not long after accepting that he sees her as his friend and saved her life from Skulker's missile. She grows to care for him as a person and becomes attracted to him for his kind nature, his sense of humor, his good looks, and the fact that he always encouraged her dream of being a musician.
• Smitten Teenage Girl:
  • Paulina is totally ga-ga for Danny now, who couldn't care less.
  • Ember, after having a Heel–Face Turn, eventually falls hard for Danny and becomes one as well, constantly blushing and acting pretty ga-ga over him herself, though her interest is infinitely more genuine then Paulina's.
• Social Climber: Ember's mother is revealed to have been one of these. As her husband's career continued to advance, she became more focused on her family's social status to the point of emotionally neglecting Ember.
• Spicy Latina: Paulina is Hispanic and extremely stubborn, as Danny can attest to because she's too dense to accept he's not interested in her.
• Spoiled Brat: Paulina Sanchez, DUH! It’s the crux of Ember's "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
• Stalking Is Funny if It Is Female After Male: Averted. Ember and Team Phantom make it very clear that Paulina's harassment of Danny is NOT okay, as best demonstrated when Danny practically begs Amberline (Ember) to make Paulina stay away from him if she wins the bet.
• Stalker Shrine: As per canon, Paulina has a shrine dedicated to Danny Phantom in her locker. Ember is quick to point out how creepy it is.
• Stalker with a Crush: Paulina is always bugging Danny to the point he outright demanded her to stay away after she kept crashing his dates with Sam. Even Ember lampshades Paulina is basically harassing Danny since she can't take "no" for an answer.
• Superpowered Alter Ego: Inverted. Ember McLain is a powerful ghost but her alas Amberline Lain is supposed to be a normal human teenage girl.
• Sympathy for the Hero: Even when Ember hated Danny, she still felt bad for him for having to deal with someone as unbearably annoying as the Alpha Bitch Spoiled Brat Paulina Sanchez.
• Taking the Bullet:
  • In the chapter "The Value of a Life", Skulker is fighting Danny and ends up sending a missile to a pair of civilians, unaware that it is Ember as Amberline Lain. Ember is saved from near-death when Danny willingly steps in and takes the missile blast in her place. Ember was so stunned that Danny nearly risked his life to save her's and it's what causes her to permanently give up her original “Evil Plan” and see him as a real friend.
  • Ember would eventually and literally return the favor when she pushes Danny away before he could get hit by Vlad's ectoranium bullet and takes it herself.
• Tantrum Throwing: Paulina throws one in class over not being made Danny's partner for their book report on The Little Mermaid. Lancer has to threaten her with detention to make her stop.
• Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier: While disguised as Donny Felton, Danny insults Dash and Paulina in Esperanto.
• Tears of Joy: Both Ember and her sister Amy, who happens to be her teacher Mrs. Murray, shed these when they finally realize the other's true identity and hug for the first time in decades.
• Took a Level in Kindness:
  • After being saved by Danny and realizing that he and the others truly see her as their friend, Ember simultaneously undergoes this and Took a Level in Cheerfulness. Thanks to her relationship with Danny, she becomes a much nicer person.
  • Sam overcomes her possessiveness toward Danny and supports his romance with Ember.
  • Dash and Kwan have stopped harassing Team Phantom and even clap for Danny in congratulations when he's voted as Prom King.
• Turned Off By The Jerkass: Danny has completely lost interest in Paulina for her looks and just regards her as a major nuisance after accepting she’s nothing but an irritating Alpha Bitch with an unhealthy obsession with his ghost-self. Her Clingy Jealous Girl and Entitled to Have You attitude certainly doesn't help as it just makes him avoid her even more.
• Unknown Relative: As stated elsewhere, the little girl Ember saves from Skulker and the girl's big sister whose band Ember ends up joining turn out to be Ember’s nieces, a fact the three of them remain completely oblivious to until Ember realizes the truth in Chapter 62, though it appears that both siblings are still in the dark.
• Unrequited Love Switcheroo: Paulina is in love with Danny but even though he had a crush on her in season 1, he saw firsthand how cruel and shallow she really is, with Paulina making it clear to Danny that she considered him a loser, treating him like garbage, and only going out with him to spite Sam. Now, Danny wants nothing to do with Paulina since he knows her interest in him is only because he's a popular superhero and he has since moved on from his old crush.
• Unwitting Pawn: Ember spends most of this fic completely unaware that she is being spied on by Vlad in hopes of making Danny weak.
• Uptight Loves Wild: Okay, Danny isn’t exactly uptight but he is normally pretty mellow and ends up falling in love with the wild, fiery rocker Amberline.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: The original Amberline McLain was implied to have been a very shy, but still decent person who truly loved her little sister and just wanted friends and a chance to achieve her music dreams. However, severe bullying at school, a difficult family life with neglectful and controlling parents, and being stood up by her crush, topped off by dying young, had jaded and embittered the girl into becoming the vengeful Ember McLain.
  • It's worth noting that according to Ember, her parents used to treat her better when she was younger.
• Villain Protagonist: Ember for the first part of the story as she eventually undergoes a Heel–Face Turn.
• Villainesses Want Heroes:
  • Well, Paulina is more of a typical Alpha Bitch than a villain, but she very clearly wants to date Danny, who wants nothing to do with her now.
  • Played With in Ember’s case. She only ends up developing feelings for Danny after her Heel Faced Turn.
• Was It All a Lie?:
  • After "Chapter 38: Realizations", Ember wonders just how true her new friendship with Danny is after he treated her ghost half with distrust and hostility.
  • Danny himself after discovering Ember and Amberline’s connection. The reader knows that Ember truly has changed but Danny doesn’t.
• Wasted Beauty:
  • Danny realizes that Paulina's beauty just hides what an annoying mean girl she is and won't even give her the time of day.
  • Ember wants nothing to do with Dash because his good looks and athleticism don't compensate for his boorishness.
• We Can Rule Together: Vlad offers this choice to Ember, promising to be her mentor and give her power. She refuses.
• What You Are in the Dark: Ember's Heel–Face Turn is put to the test in chapter 38, appropriately called "Temptations". Ember is confused over how real her friendship with Danny is and has discovered from Star a major secret that could get Paulina expelled but promised to keep it quiet. That night, she has a dream where she is confronted by a representation of her former self who tries to tempt Ember into taking advantage of her situation by using Star's information to win the bet and use her powers in order to take over the world with the help of her fans. For a moment, Ember is tempted, only to remember how much she has grown to care about Danny and how he genuinely trusts her, and that if she reveals Paulina's secret, she may very well end up ruining Star's high school life in the process. Ember remains firm and says point blank that she will not betray Danny or Star's trust, thus cementing her Heel–Face Turn.
• Why Can't I Hate You?: Part of the reason Sam is so stressed over her jealousy of Danny and "Amberline's" relationship, aside from some residual feelings for Danny, is because she had come to genuinely like Amberline as her friend and feels a combination of betrayal and guilt over her feelings because of it. However, Sam does find a genuine reason when she learns that Amberline is actually none other than Ember.
• Will They or Won't They?: Between Danny and Ember over the course of this fic.
• Womanchild: Ember. Despite having been a ghost for 30 years, she has not grown past her rebellious teenage mentality. However, she also hasn't physically aged during that time either and is for all intents and purposes still 16 despite actually being 46.
• Woman Scorned: Those who cross Ember McLain end up learning a very painful lesson. Just ask Skulker.
• Would Hurt a Child: Skulker would. So would Vlad.
• Workaholic: Ember's father was revealed to have been a huge one, being more focused on advancing his career than spending time with his family.

RM: A New Path

---