#my life is always better when ducktales airs

[originalwinnercheesecake]

2017 Ducktales as pokemon trainers an their Teams

Here’s the next, are currently final, Disney cartoon on my list for makings characters into pokemon trainers. After this I will move over to doing other shows on Cartoon network. I did not get into this show when it was airing, and that was my bad. Once I did watch it it quickly became on of my favorites, and inspired me to look up older cartoons surrounding Donald, and his family as well. Its a good show an seems to be (rightly) held up as one of the best done reboots. Hopefully it still has some fans going back to its fan base, who will check this out.

I am going to do this list a bit differently than my other though. In previous lists I have either given all the characters full teams of 6, or given main characters teams of 6 and secondary characters teams of 3-4 pokemon. For 2017 Ducktales though, since it has such a large cast and they all always go on adventures in groups, I am not giving anyone 6 pokemon. Because then there would really be to many characters to fit in the plane, much less the show. Considering the group sizes I have decided to give the child characters 2 pokemon each, adult members of the duck family (by both blood and heart) get three each. This way the three triplets, or Webby, and her friends would all have six in total. Same with Duo’s like Donald and Della, or Scrooge and Beakley. I am also only giving villain or antagonist characters two, because that’s about the mass number villains ever had at one time in the show.

Kid characters are all on this list, adults will be my next list

Huey, Dewey, and Louie Duck

Huey Duck

Pansear: Its the red one in a red, blue, and green trio. It’s to represent his bonds with his two younger brothers

Snover: I wanted to give him a woodland grass-type, since in the 2017 version he is the boy scout of the trio and loves camping/the wilderness. What makes Snover work even better for him is that it is also an ice-type pokemon. Huey having both a fire and an ice pokemon represents his need to keep balance in his life, both externally and internally.

Small note I know he’s the “Smarter than the Smarties” brother, but the smartest pokemon I know is Slowking, and its first two evolutions are dumb. So for Huey I went with his other traits.

Dewey Duck

Panpour: It’s the blue one in a red, blue, green trio. It’s to represent his bonds with his older and younger brother.

Rufflet: Dewey was the hardest to pick a second pokemon for. He is the “tougher than the toughies” brother, so he needed a tough, scrappy, pokemon for his second. He also wants to become a daring adventure pilot, like his mom and launchpad, so I had to pick a flying pokemon. Since he is only just starting out I decided to look for a smaller flying type pokemon, that would one day evolve into a more massive bird, so it could kinda grow with him. It would also need to be super cute because, you know he would post lots of pictures of him and his pokemon to garnish media attention. My search led me to Rufflet, who was all that and blue too. Perfection

Louie Duck

Pansage: It’s the green one in a red, blue, green trio. It’s to represent his bonds with his older brothers.

Meowth: Louie is the “Sharper than the Sharpies” brother, and Meowth has a pretty mean fury swipe. It also loves money and can be kinda lazy. Louie and a meowth is an easy match

Webby,Lena, and Violet

Webby Vandraquack

 Webby is the warrior of both her groups, so I decided that both her pokemon would be fighting types.

Medicham: Not gonna lie a lot of the reason I picked this pokemon was that it is pink, which is Webby’s trade mark color (and one of Lena’s nicknames for her). But it also works because its a very patient and studied fighter, like Webby. Its also the only pokemon I have given to a child character that has evolved. Let’s be real Webby would easily be the first of her group to evolve a pokemon, and its potential to mega evolve means she could still go farther with it

Machop: for Webby’s second pokemon I bounced a few around and kept going back to Machop. Its gray coloring fits her ascetic, much like Medicham. But it also fits her in that it is a tough, brawny fighter, that is trained in multiple types of martial arts, just like Webby. Machop never tires of training/working out. Webby never tires of adventure.

Lena (De Spell) Saberwing

Just as Webby had fighting types I decided that Lena, being the living shadow of a sorceress, should have dark types. More specifically Heroic dark types

Absol: Same reason I gave one to (TOH)’s Hunter. It has associations with bad things happening, and many believe it to be a bad pokemon. But once you get close you learn that Absol is not really bad underneath it all. It wants to help people and pokemon a like stay safe when disaster falls.

Also both it and Medicham can mega evolve. So power couple Weblena can go together to find their stones, and then show the younger generation how strong their Pokemons mega forms are.

Zorua: Another easy choice for Lena. A shadowy fox, with has illusion based magic powers, that it will use when it gets scared or defensive. Zoura discriptions honestly  make it sound like it is a pokemon version of Lena. I could see it, Absol, and Lena making a really strong and supportive team/family for each other.

Violet Saberwing

So unlike the other two girls, I am not going to link Violet to one particular type of pokemon. Looking at her character I think she would prefer to catch and train different types of pokemon.

Anorith: First things first violet absolutely has to have a fossil pokemon. When asked by Scrooge if she liked history the girl out right said “It is my life”, so there’s no way she would not have one. I picked Anorith for couple reasons. 1. Is that even if we never saw it in the show, I 100% believe that Violet is the type of child who is absolutely fascinated with bugs and insects. 2. She is not ready yet, but when she did eventually evolve it, it would be way cool to see this stone faced, brainiac, goth girl with a big, armored, dinosaur.

Vulpix: I also really wanted to give her a fire type pokemon, since two of her best scenes in the show (building herself a hang glider to get over a lava pit in the senior woodchuck race, and downing those ultra spices without breaking a sweat) involve being around extreme heat. Vulpix and its evolved form Ninetales have some really interesting lore and connections to Japaneses mythology. Once again I could see Violet being very fascinated with it.

Also giving her a Vilpix would mean that both her and Lena would have mystical fox pokemon, which could reference the sisterly bond they eventually develop.

Gosalyn Waddlemeyer

I wanted to give her two pokemon for the two parental figures in her life.

Klefki: This one is for her grandfather. Klefki is a magic set of keys that can help its trainer enter into new places for adventure. This represents Dr. Waddlemeyer and what he originally wanted with the Ramrod.

Rowlet: For her connection to Drake Mallard an the dark wing trio (Drake, Launchpad, and Gosalyn) I at first wanted to give all of them bat pokemon, but even after spending days going over each and every bat pokemon I could only really make one work for Launchpad. Then I read that Darkwing is supposed to be more of a general superhero based parody, rather than a batman specific parody. I also  thought about how Drake isn’t even the original Darkwing duck, but a fan emulating what the story meant to him. So I switched the connection between the three to being nocturnal pokemon, and it worked so much better.

After the switch Rowlet became a clear pick for Gosalyn’s second pokemon. It is scrappy, able to give powerful kicks. It is sharp and will one day evolve into a skilled archer, a weapon Gosalyn showed interest in learning to use. It also would be interesting to see it interact with Dewey’s Rufflet, given how Dewey and Gosalyn become good friends in her introduction episode, and how it would be easy for Dewey to come with Launchpad to visit Gosalyn and Drake.

B.O.Y.D

Because B.O.Y.D is a sentient, artificial boy, who was created in a lab; I decided to give him sentient, artificial, pokemon, that were also created in a lab.

Porygon: Because of course he would get a porygon. It’s the original artificial pokemon. Both an anomaly and a wonder. It is also decently powerful, can safely go into many environments, and even moving freely in cyberspace.

Castform: I picked this as B.O.Y.D’s second pokemon because it is adorable and can change its forum depending on its environment. Both Castform and B.O.Y.D have the opportunity to chose who they want to be.

Doofus Drake

I did not want to do him, but if I can give pokemon to Gideon Gleeful I should be able to give them to Doofus too. One qualification I am looking for is “must be powerful enough to beat his butt if he does not treat them well”

Abra: Okay so I do not really fully remember what reasons I had for choosing this one for him. Its powerful, kinda creepy, and can appear very suddenly, just like Doofus. It likes to hang out in tree tops, which Doofus does too. Also its a pretty calm, blank faced pokemon. In Doofus’s supposed “Birthday (I doubt it was his actual birthday) episode” he said blank stares are soothing to him. So it is feasable he may actually like Abra. If not again it could easily send him flying and teleport away,

Cubone: Its a lonely pokemon that misses its deceased mother badly. When I try to look at things from Doofus’s eyes his grandmother was to quote him “the only parent I have ever known”. There are some subtle hints that maybe his mom and dad weren’t really interested in being parents at first. The family lives off Gummeemama’s money, and presumably did when she was alive. Gummeemama likely could not cut them off without losing access to Doofus, and if she was the one raising him she could have feared his neglect if his parents took him with them. This would give some explanation as to why she willed all her money to her grandchild instead of his parents.

After her death Doofus forced his parents to take employment from him to be able to keep up their lifestyle, and threatened to fire them if they did not spend time with him the way his grandmother used to. But even they are not enough to fill the void her death left in him, and he really wants a close connection like that to someone again. Kid Gammeemama is gone, and nothing you can do will change that. You need grief support, and maybe Cubone could give that to you. Once again if he treats Cuey badly, at least it could take out its bone and defend itself.

May and June

So originally they, and their sister April, are supposed to be Daisy’s nieces and female versions of the three boys. In the 2017 series May and June are Webby (formerly April)’s clone sisters, and at the end of season 3 the pair are implied to be adopted by Donald, and eventually Daisy too. The show was canceled one season early, and as a result we never got to see much of the two girls or their personalities (Seems like May (the yellow one) is a bit more protective/confrontational, while June (the blue one) is more curios and silly) so I originally was not going to have them on this list. But they are part of the Duck family, and it seemed wrong not to give them at least one pokemon each.

At first I was just gonna have them each get the same pokemon, and I went through eevee (I feel like I may use its line to much as it is), dito (doesn’t have yellow form and in this case felt like a cop out), and Pichu (closer, but still not right). Finally I decided that they would probably have water pokemon since thy would have to catch them while sailing with Donald and Daisy (Since Bradford hates adventure so much, I headcannon he would probably also hate pokemon and would have not allowed the girls to have them at Fowl). So I went back and looked over water pokemon, particularly ones Misty had, for some that would be easy enough for a bargainers to train but still pretty powerful.

Then once again wanting to Match their pokemon to their trade mark colors (I did it for Webby and the boys) I decided May has a Staryu and June has an Azurill.

#ducktales 2017 #ducktales #duck family #huey dewey and louie #Huey duck #Dewey duck #Louie duck #webby vanderquack #Webigal vanderquack #lena de spell #Lena saberwing #violet sabrewing #Webby Lena and violet #gosalyn waddlemeyer #B.O.Y.D #Doofus drake #Disney #Pokemon #pokemon trainers #pokemon teams #what if post #ducktales 2017 May #ducktales 2017 June

[valorphic]

i can't wait to wake up tomorrow and tp be able to watch the new ducktales episodes

#my life is always better when ducktales airs #ducktales #2017 #season 3

[popculturebuffet]

Amphibia Season 1 Reviews!: Anne Or Beast?/Best Fronds: Spriganne Begins (Patreon Stretch Goal)

Hello all you happy people! So if you’ll endulge me, it’s time for a bit of a story:  Back in 2020, I started covering animation on this blog with some simple reviews of Ducktales Season 3 that quickly snowballed into a career with three patrons, a regular schedule and a much more fufilled me. And since covering Ducktales regularly got me going and was a runaway success, I decided to cover another Disney show as it came out that i’d happily binged the previous year while watching my youngest nephew: Amphibia. So I covered ALL of season 2 as it came out (still need to put that in one post), and have worked my way through season 3. While regular coverage CAN be exausting I do love the conversations it leads to, how many of you found this blog through it and just getting to cover a whole show. 

But as a result of starting in the middle of the show, and having not started this blog when season one aired in one large mishapen pile, that leaves season 1 as a large gap. So I put it up as a patreon stretch goal figuring it wouldn’t take long for just ONE more person to join, as my goals are on a per person basis: everytime someone joins, a new project is added to the to do list and I get to it as soon as possible. Long story short.. took about a year. Still better late than never as i’m finally jumping into the first season of Amphibia. If you want the same treatment for the owl house, hop on over to my patreon, apt choice of words, and sign up. Just a buck a month (though more is appreicated) gets you a review  of a half hour tv episode of your choice (a little over is fine), a seat at the table when selecting things for my monthly polls, and hits my next stretch goal. Owl House season 1, just like this , once a month, come rain, shine or swamp snake. To sweeten the pot i’ll also review that spider-man two parter where a homeless doctor octopus was haunted by hammerhead’s atomic ghost. I’m not making any of that up. 

PATREON IS HERE

So now here we are, back at the starting line with the finish line looming in the distance. It is fun to go back, and not the first time I have either as I helped @jess-the-vampire​ binge the show months ago. But it’s a great time to go back: see what’s changed, reflect on how far everyone’s come etc. I won’t be doing JUST one episode a month, i’ll be doubling up after this, but you’ll still get the same amount of content, wit and shenanigans from me.

For now though we’re back at the start and it’s a weird sort of whiplash. By season 3 the show is gearing up for it’s end, with the arcs having a very crisp pace and a nice ballance between character based slice of life eps and plot advancement. 

Season 1 though? While it’s not bad by any means the larger arc is on the back burner: The Calamity Box is only adressed in three episodes, and the arc involving Toad Tower only factors into about 4 episodes. There’s a strong continuity, including a smaller arc about Hop Pop loosing the stand, as always, but it’s really more about the journey than the destination. Season 1 is more about Anne’s growth as a person and slow acceptance by the town as she adapts to this brave new world, than it is about the larger picture. And honestly whie it could be mildly frustrating when watching season 1 as it came out, even if season 1 again came out in one big ole pile, in hindsight.. it works. Anne’s growth as a person is VITAL to the show as it goes as is the town’s utter love and loyalty to her that’s carefully grown over the season. Seeing her go from selfish, reckless lazy teen to a mildly responsible town protector is wonderful to see and nicely contrasts how Sasha outright refuses to change for most of the series and Marcy SEEMINGLY has changed.. but at her core is still the same person. It also provides a lot of the thrust for Season 3 as seeing how much Amphibia changed her for the better helps her parents accept the whole experince faster. So while Season 1 dosent, for the most part, reach the highs of it’s followups, it’s got tons of charm, character, and worldbuilding to make up for it so let’s hop right to it under the cut!

Anne or Beast? Our series begins in Wartood as we quickly get a sense of things: populated by frogs, swampy townscape, rural area. All neat stuff that’s set up by visual alone.  We also meet our boy Wally who wonders home from Stumpy’s, a nice bit of establishing the place now for when it has an ep later in the season.. and finds a hideous creature in the darkness! Another nice touch I really like I didn’t notice the first two times I watched this one: the fact Anne is absent for the first act. By doing this we’re put in the frog’s perspective and thus eased into the world more gently than anne, getting a sense of the kind of place wartwood is, what amphibia is like and why they’d be so afraid of her

And the answers are just as cleverly laid out the next day: we see a bustling small close knit town that’s charming and clearly still at most fantasy rpg levels of technlogy, but happy and close knit. And we also see a guy casually taken away from his wife or girlfriend by a bug, highlighting this world is dangerous as hell, anything can and will kill you so of course they’d be suspcious of a human. To us we’re just another monster and the town reaction to Wally’s story is to form up a mob. It’s not RIGHT they treat Anne like this, but it’s understandable given how isolated they are and how everything ELSE that’s out in the unknown of the forests and swamps tries to muder them on a daily basis. 

We also meet the rest of the main cast.. and an adorable slug we never see again. 

Yeah for some reason despite Bessie being established as a long time part of the family and their only snail not long after this, we have this slug they changed their mind abouts. I call him jeremy

No not you Jeremy, my hellish source of entertainment. He gets shockingly good bandwith on streaming i’ll tell you. My best guess canon wise is Bessie was sick and one of the neighbors let them borrow their slug. I’m going with Chuck. He grows tulips. 

Anyways we get a good sense of the Plantars from the get go: Hop Pop is strict , protective and responsible, Sprig is a little scamp, and Polly is agressive especially for a baby. Hop Pop also dosen’t find Sprig responsible after a string of incidents that not only set up the worlds danger even more but SPrig’s impulsivness. The punchilne is also great “So yesterday was a bad day”. 

Sprig decides to prove he’s responsible by hunting the monster himself and bribes Polly with candy to keep her tiny mouth shut (”Bribe accepted!”). He goes out into the woods, finds himself caught in a snare and meets the most fearsome creature of all: A Teen-Ager!

And so we’re finally properly introduced to Anne, who just wants Sprig to leave her alone and wasn’t trying to eat Wally so much as get some help. She plans to just leave the child dangling in the woods, but an oncoming giant mantis gets her to change her mind kid and she saves him, leading to one of my faviorite lines of the ep. Seriously as always for the show the jokes are on point “Your a hero, an ugly ugly ugly hero!” this also shows Sprig ALWAYS lacked Tact, he’s just gotten worse with time. Then better: So far he hasn’t brought up any underlying emotoinal issues casually and made everything worse. So far. 

Anyways the two then Bond, with Anne explaning she’s trapped in a world she never made, she has no idea how to get home or where she is and she’s been living in this cave. So that’s pretty neat. Sprig offers to get her something to eat after she turns down bugs, which creates a nice runner: Anne absolutely refuses to eat them at first and is horrified when she does, but slowly grows to like them the longer she’s there. It’s really neat. 

The Angry Mob heads to get her, with hop Pop and polly tagging along and once they catch Anne she thinks Sprig set her up. But this misunderstanding gets cleared like most too: by an even bigger mantis showing up and trying ot eat her. Sprig saves her, a friendship is properly forged and the two fight the mantis off together using the ropes anne was bound with. 

Mayor Toadstool decides to get rid of Anne anyway because safety. Honestly it’s shit like this why all the frog mutants packed up and left for an island I tell ya. Damn shame that giant tortise ate it in this timeline. Damn shame. Anyways Sprig stands up for Anne and while that dosen’t move him because when has an honest heartflet plea ever moved the cold mechanical heart of a politican, Hop Pop taking responsiblity for her does. He also expresses pride in his grand son for doing the right thing.

Anne is greatful but understandbly plans to ease on down the road since you know, trapped in another world. But conviently for the plot Anne can’t leave the Valley for 2 months, as it’s blocked and has to just roll with it, though HOp Pop kindly offers her home and the basement and Sprig sweetly offers his plushies and kind words, forging a friendship that crosses dimensonal barriers and some emotional boundry lines. Once alone Anne tries simply opening the box in private.. but it dosen’t work. As we know now it needs a fresh charge. But she promises to find her friends and a way home. 

Anne Or Beast? is a stellar start to the series setting up the tone , the plot and the main cast beautifully. It’s truly great stuff and shows why the series got a fanbase so quick. WHile Disney has a lot of issues as a company.. a lot a lot.. like way more than they resonably should, they know how to make a first episode truly spectacular. 

Best Fronds:

So first up is some backstory: We see Anne stealing the music box and being peer pressured into it, but neatly we don’t get a sense of who Sasha and Marcy are just yet, instead just getting the short version so we see them open it and wind up here. Anne thinks it was all just a dream only to find out nope, she really is stuck with a bunch of frogs in a death world for two months. Sprig is jealous, Polly wants to kill her before she can eat them, and Hop Pop is worried she sprays acid. Which to be fair when encountering a creture I dont’ know tha’ts my go too. Anne confirms she’s not going to eat a creature that clearly dosen’t bathe (Hop Pop: Fair point) I’d also like to point out some early bumps in the voice acting from these eps: Brenda dosen’t quite pitch her voice up as much in the first ep to sound younger like she does later and Justin is still sorting out his delivery. Though the real noticable ones are Bill and Amanda: Hop Pop sounds MUCH older and croakier, heh, and Polly sounds more nasly. Both things wouldn’t LEAVE, old man and baby respectively, but they’d be more ballanced as the show went on, with hop pop sounding more like a person and polly sounding less like she’s showing the first signs of having been bit by a were urkel. 

Anne is bummed though missing her friends, so Sprig offers to be her friend and while most of the things she lists just have him go

With his face, the mention of a beach has him decide to take her to the lake. Hop Pop vetos this as he wants them safe and her to ease into the town.. despite the flaw in that that if the town dosen’t see her often they won’t get used to her. Anne simply opts to steal the key rather than try some of hop pop’s plot convience peppers like Sprig does. Thankfully turns out Hop Pop sleeps with both eyes open and as much as a regular old man: 86 years, often while yelling at a cloud or writing about hearing the word bra on tv. 

So our heroes go out, though Sprig notices a forboding sign of doom and wants to bounce. We then get our first taste that Anne’s friendships.. are not healthy, though this mostly sounds like Sasha. One weird quirk of season one is I ge tthe feelign they didn’t know QUITE what they were doing with marcy, so most of the bad elements in Anne’s relationship clearly come from Sasha in hindsight, but are directed at both. It’s weird. Anyways Sprig leaves but comes back , the two have a fun montage. But then a dripping wet giant snake rams itself into their day

Our heroes try not to get eaten by the snake, I try not to have to use the Goodnight Everybody gag twice, and Anne apologizes, realizing she was selfish. It’s a nice bit of character shwoing sh’es starting ot realize Sasha really is a terrible role model.. she just hasn’t realized Sasha herslef is terrible. Which agian comes off weird given Marcy ISN’T expotiative or anything, but whatever. Sprig nearly dies but uses the peppers to queel the girthy thing, our heroes head home and succesfully duck hop pop and confirm their bond and Polly is bummed she dosen’t get to put anne in a chokehold for trying to eat them. I mean she coudln’t with those arms but let her dream. Let. Her. Dream. 

But we get another Sprig of plot, sans the actual sprig as we meet grime being all intimdating as he found anne’s shoe and knows Sasha was lying about others, confriming to us that Anne wasn’t the only one stranded here. I also find this endlessly hilarous now he’s basically her dad and now I have images like this

Of who I rightfully assumed was going to be the big bad of the entire series. Time makes fools of us all.

Next Month: A two fer as we go striaght from a menacing teaser of what’s to come to sitcom hyjinks: Anne breaks a cane, we get your standard feud episode, Sprig gets sold into marriage and Anne and Hop Pop trip balls together like any good grandaughter and grandpa. See ya real soon. 

#amphibia #anne boonchuy #sprig plantar #sasha waybright #hopidiah plantar #polly plantar #disney+

[nautiscarader]

2020 in animation - recap

So, 2020. 

Yeah, I have to say I’m not entirely satisfied. Would not recommend, 1 star. 

But I would be willing to bump it to 1.5, if only because of one factor: the animation. 

Because I have to say, this was the best animated end of the world so far! And if there was something that kept our spirits up, it was the cartoon industry!

Just like last year, I should preface this by saying that this is highly subjective selection. Even when one is confined to their Hobbit holes for better part of the year because of *waves hands* everything around, 

day still only has 24 hours, so I have missed a few shows. (I should also apologise for omitting a few major ones last year, like Milo Murphy’s Law S2, Ducktales, or She-Ra. This is why I started keeping a track this year). I’m sure I will catch up with those I missed this year some time in the future, but for now, let’s see what this year has gifted us with.

And right from the start, January opens the race with very interesting propositions. We were still riding on an incredibly high wave from last year, with Infinity Train season 2.

This one focused on Tulip’s mirror, and pushed the season towards a much darker and complex story, diving deep into one’s personal journey and identity. There were tears, math, deer, and cops being murdered. Brutally. 

t was followed by two newcomers: The Owl House and first season of Kipo and The Age of the Wonderbeast. Both of them would dominate first half of the year, with The Owl House’s traditional, week-to-week airings, and Kipo's seasons appearing in  June and October.

The Owl House, a strong contender in "What will be the Next Gravity Falls?" contest, invited us to a world full of magic, mystery, elongated owl demons and some dark secrets. It has also created a milestone for Disney, introducing an LGBT couple with characters of bisexual Luz Noceda and lesbian Amity Blight. Their Grom dance has risen to the top of my animates scenes, polling very closely to the unforgettable Kataango.

On the other hand, Kipo has taken us to the post-apocalyptic world filled with mutant animals, revealing that despite the end of the world, our old vices and animosities have survived in underground burrows, and we have infected the overworld of giant doggos and suit-wearing frogs with them. 

Kipo did not pull any punches regarding commentary about our society, at the same time giving us hope in the form of the main protagonist, who was able to spread friendship and understanding amongst the mutes, as well as the humans that had to survive. And in the world that we have found ourselves in, it was a pretty darn good lesson.

February would bring end to two seasons of airing cartoons, Big Hero Six season 2 and Miraculous season 3, as well as another newcomer that won the hearts of fans: Glitch Techs, with its "second" season arriving in August. And while in my opinion he show wasn't as good as the other two new titles, I am clearly in minority, as the show about Ghostbuters-like team of game console technicians gained huge popularity... though not enough to keep the show afloat. As of writing this, it is currently in limbo, which is a shame, as the second set of 10 episodes finally added some much needed ongoing story.  

in March, another show from last year ended - Steven Universe Future. As we have expected, it tackled slightly more mature themes, showing how much Steven needed that therapy we have wished him, telling an important tale of finding one's worth and one's self. its ending might not have been as explosive as those of the original show, or the movie, but it left Steven’s story as open as an open road, and deep in our hearts, we all knew it would look like this.   

March was also the time when majority of western world caught the coronavirus, and that caused quite a turmoil with the movie and animation industry. One of the first victim of changed schedule was Disney's Onward, which was released on-line on Disney+ quickly after its theatrical release.

I have mixed feelings towards “Onward”. For such interesting promise, I think it made a few questionable and down right boring turns, though the unorthodox message at the end of it was its strongest point, and it was one I haven’t seen in a while, so it was worth watching just for that.  

April was relatively quiet (aside from more end of the world stuff); brought us third season of Ducktales that spread throughout the year, while May gave us final, fifth season of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. 

To my eternal shame, I missed on this show when it premiered, and due to the lockdown, I binge-watched the previous four right in time for powerful and explosive season 5. And even though Catra and Adora finally gave us exactly what we needed, some fans felt slightly unsatisfied, calling for a movie, like the Steven Universe one to be made. And I’d be all for it, the rest of universe needs saving from the Horde! Also, cats in space - hilarious. 

May also revealed a new player on the streaming field: HBO Max, who surprised us with new Looney Tunes Cartoons, much more in the spirit of the legendary originals than the often-criticised Looney Tunes Show from 2011-2014. And in my opinion, it did; one could feel the same fluidity in animation, dedication to slapstick, and synchronisation with music than in the very first cartoons with Bugs and Daffy.

HBO Max would, however, return in June with first of series of Adventure Time original movies called "Distant Lands". The first centred around BMO, with second one - Obsidian giving us a glimpse into Bonnibel and Marceline's lives.

Distant Lands allowed people to revisit the odd, odd world of Ooo and learn about its colourful inhabitants, taking turns to seeing their past and the future, an, as usual, showing us that post-apocalyptic world can teach us valuable and meaningful lessons.   

Just in time for full lockdown in our burrows, aforementioned Kipo season 2 premiered in June, together with another cartoon movie, this time featuring We Bare Bears. While their movie wasn't anything to write songs about, it was exactly like the show, providing some wholesome content right when we needed it.

And just in case you needed more wholesome adventures, Craig of the Creek's second season ended, and its third season began, reminding us of HOW COOL LIFE WAS WHEN OUTERNET WASN’T SCARY AND WE COULD STILL WALK OUTSIDE FOR FUN AND NOT TO HUNT TOILET PAPER.

Just like last year, July was not dogs' days, but frogs'. Amphibia season 2 started raining on our heads, but unlike last year, its schedule wasn't a daily one, spreading the episodes throughout the Summer and early Autumn, with its second part arriving in February of 2021. There were more roadtrips, more mysteries and MORE MARCY.

August was equally strong: aforementioned Glitch Techs "season 2" premiered, offering better and more plot-heavy episodes than the first ten episodes. Unfortunately, the show's future is unclear; the uneven divide of plot between the seasons probably contributed to the show not being renewed. 10 new episodes apparently are written, but await in sleep mode, until Nickelodeon remembers about it.

HBO MAX picked up Infinity Train for its third season, after being derailed by Cartoon Network. And if you thought that killing a mirror cop was shocking... then this season has pushed the limit of what can be shown in modern children's cartoon to a frightening degree. The schedule was once again, weirder, with first five episodes airing on the day of the premiere, ending with a cliffhanger (literally) that only contributed to the shock factor and made us wait anxiously for its conclusion. It was bold, it was dark, it was memorable. 

And just like Glitch Techs, Infinity Train waits on a side track, unsure if it will be picked up, or will it be abandoned and left as a canvas for graffiti artists.

However, to end the Summer, a truly amazing TV movie has arrived on Disney Plus, where we came back to good, old Danville and could witness Candace against the universe. The new Phineas and Ferb movie brought back the glorious memories of this fantastic show, with the same humour, writing, abundance of catchy songs and a surprisingly deep moral.

In September we have seen the start of Big Hero 6 season 3 and a odd change of format. Instead of standalone 22-minute episodes, the show now consists of two 11-minute segments. In opinion of many, this weakened the stories, forcing them to be more comedy-oriented, and shortening the potential emotional drama. Still, it gave us funny, short stories, but they did clash with the two previous season, not to mention the movie.

However, if that wasn't up to your taste, Ducktales season 3 also started airing, and continued its first part up until December with more action- and plot-driven episodes, including the Darkwing Duck crossover, serving as a pilot of the spin-off. 

Later in December fans have learned that Season 3 will be its last, which broke the hearts of many duck fans; however, it seems that the season has been written as the last one in mind, and the news of the ending was known to the creators, which gives us hope for a kick-ass finale somewhere in 2021.

Miraculous New York, telling arguably one of the most mature storylines, opened the "Heroez" world to some new characters and new opportunities, with two more specials, taking place in Shanghai and Brazil, meant to air somewhere next year. AND I DO HOPE WE WILL SEE MORE LOCAL FOOD VENDOR SUPERHEROES LIKE HOT DOG DAN. 

October was the month of two season 3's: Carmen Sandiego and Kipo. In case of Carmen, as it is usual with Netflix, the "season" was only a half-one, with just a handful standalone episodes, and just a dash of more ongoing plot. 

For Kipo, however, season 3 was the end, and what a glorious one it was. Fans were saddened to learn of it, but Kipo was always imagined as a 3-part story, and it showed. The finale proved more than satisfying ending to the plot, elevating Kipo to one of the smartest cartoon characters we should all try to aspire to.

In November, Distant Lands: Obsidian aired, focusing on everyone’s favourite candy/vampire couple, and the long and complicated love between Bonnibel and Marceline. And as usual, it showed us that relationships are not always as straightforward as we would like them to be, but with enough music and teamwork, no enemy is big enough. 

For the next new show, I’ve waited with the most amount of excitement and anxiety. Because while I was completely fine with other reboots and re-imaginings to take creative takes, new Animaniacs, (airing on Hulu) had to be perfect and had to be the lightning that struck twice. 

And sadly... it wasn’t. It was still good, but some people criticised (incorrectly imho) the amount of political topics, while I mourned almost total cast-ration of additional characters, aside from Pinky and the Brain. This truly weakened the possibilities it could have had. It was still very good, but you can feel that some of the original charm was lost, due to these odd, odd limitations. 

December brought us a new original Apple TV movie, Wolfwalkers. A beautifully animated folk tale of friendship and social divides, and how short-sight can cause the collapse of both arguing sides, reminding me very much of the intelligence and heart of original “How to Train Your Dragon”.  

We’ve had to wait two years for the return of arguably one of the most wholesome shows out there: Hilda. Second season dived into deeper mysteries that permeate the rich and colourful troll-ridden land, we saw the return of some familiar characters, and introduced a whole new storyline, that ended with a surprising cliffhanger. Still as wholesome, but now with a tiny bit of Police incompetence. Also Twig, lots of Twig.   

Just like Onward, Pixar’s highly anticipated Soul aired on Disney+, telling a very mature story about finding one’s purpose in life, what that purpose actually means, and whether it exists at all. Beautifully animated, with fantastic soundtrack, it was a stunning tribute to creativity, and it never dumbed down its profound, open message about following your dream.   

And just if you thought that Soul was going to be 2020′s last note (pun very much intended), right before the year ended, DC Super Hero Girls concluded its first season on a rather anti-climactic two-parter. That being said, the season, running from March of last year, was packed with short, bite-sized, funny stories, taking interesting spins on existing comic book characters. For a comic book noob like me, it was perfectly fine, and I can’t wait for the second season next year. 

And so, we have reached the series finale of humanity. 

2020 ends in just under a day. What will 2021 bring us? I do not know, and if the animated shows of this year have taught me anything, is that the future is an always open book, full of worries and challenges, but also opportunities and possibilities. 

...

And in reality I was too lazy to check any news sites about upcoming projects.

#infinity train #glitch techs #amphibia #kipo and the age of wonderbeasts #animaniacs #carmen sandiego #hilda #DuckTales #big hero 6 #distant lands #dc super hero girls #Miraculous Ladybug #spop #The Owl House

[dollhousemuses-a]

@ducktales-wco-oo said ;; This is how it's supposed to be...

This is how it's supposed to end. Fenton has known this since he was a duckling, watching his M'Ma head off to put her life on the line for others. As much as he never wanted it to be her downfall, some part of him even back then had known he wanted it to be his. Would he prefer to grow old and grey? To continue helping people even as his years turned golden? Of course. But honestly-? Dying in the stead of someone else, in terms of ways to leave this world... he can't think of one better. And as far as people to trade his life for, he can't think of better than the duckling beside him.

Even if he would prefer for Huey to not be around for the rest of it.

He hardly has a choice in the matter anymore though. But that's fine... He already made the choice that counts the most. Even as he feels warmth leaking out of his body, crimson and matting feathers, filling his nose with a sickening scent that mingles with dust and debris... Yet, it's a familiar smell. Faintly, he wonders if Huey has grown accustomed to it yet. God, he hopes not. Breathing shallow, feeling like a knife slowly sliding deeper into his ribs with every faint rise and fall of his chest, Fenton swallows thickly- throat bobbing and breath hitching as his insides scream in protest. Air itself is painful... Breathing- LIVING, sending jolts of agony through him he hadn't been prepared for. Still... it's going away. Slowly but surely....

It's merely a matter of time before the chill settles deeper into his bones, bringing with it a rest that Fenton figures is long overdue anyway. However, he fights against it. Struggles against what he knows is coming to claim him, if only because- Huey isn't ready for it. From the tears he can see tarnishing a gaze he only ever wanted to see shining with hope, he can tell that Huey isn't prepared for a goodbye... and few things linger than memories of a goodbye you feel like you failed at. Hand shakily raises, limb feeling like someone else's as he watches it gingerly cup the boy's face, thumb wiping away moisture that stings even the smallest of cuts. Too late Fenton sees crimson tainting dirt-smeared feathers, looking apologetic even now for it.

❝ No... no, don't cry... Please don't cry... ❞

It's not that crying is a bad thing. Crying can be good. Healthy... Necessary to move on. But right now- crying doesn't seem like the right thing to do. It's not how he wants Huey to remember this goodbye. To remember him. Not how he wants to remember Huey- ... if he remembers anything after death. Either way, this is his final moments and he can't help but try and comfort Huey in them; to be there for the boy like Huey has been there for him countless times. Voice weaker than he'd like, smile is even more so... but it's there. For Huey, it would always be there.

❝ Huey... I- I'm not going to be around for much longer. I promise, I'm trying to hold on as long as I can.... but I- .... I think we both know how this ends. ❞ Fenton begins, having to pause to cough violently, turning his head away to try and avoid Huey seeing the blood speckling the ground beside him. Looking back at the duckling, smile somehow seems stronger despite his exhausted expression. More genuine as he states, ❝ But I want you to know how happy I am that you're alright. How I would give my life for yours a million times over if I had the chance... Because you made mine so much better. You inspired me, believed in me... Made my life worth living. ❞

❝ And you are MORE than worth giving it up in your stead. ❞

Hand slowly lowers, Fenton unable to keep it up any longer. Blinking groggily, Fenton wonders when the ground became so cold... Or maybe it's just him. ❝ I don't- I don't know if I'm... saying any of this right... I don't- I want you to know how much I care about you. How I'm not scared... or- regretful..... Yes, I wish I could- see the man you'll become... Help you through life- in a way you can see..... but- .... Huey, I promise- I can't think of a better way to say goodbye, than knowing you'll live. Even just one more day... I hope there's a lot more of them, of course. ❞ A shaky laugh, Fenton finding it harder to open his eyes afterward.... but he does. Just a little longer.

❝ ..... Thank you, Huey. ❞

It's a simple statement. It doesn't cover nearly as much as Fenton would like it to.

But at least he said it.

All he can do now is hope Huey knows exactly what he MEANS by it.... Huey should. He's a smart kid. One of the smartest Fenton has ever known. Smarter than him, that's for sure. Strong too. He'll be okay... Yeah. He'll get through this. He has to.

He'll be okay.

As Fenton feels himself slipping into a darkness that is more comforting than he expected, hints of hesitation still lacing his being as red eyes become blurred, that single thought echoes in his mind. Like a mantra- a wish... a final request to whoever is ushering him away to the next discovery for him to make.

Please let Huey be okay.

answered ;; i asked for this actually

          Huey goes to Fenton, quick as a light, and he wants to throw up at the sight. Blood had never bothered him, injuries neither. He had a strong stomach, and the constitution of a doctor, he could handle blood and injury but this- this had his stomach curling and the need to turn his face away. But he couldn’t no, Fenton needs him. Though there is a part of him that is already resigned. People didn’t come back from injuries like this. It didn’t matter how quickly and ambulance got here, he didn’t matter how much first aide training someone had, badges on badges in the subject, it didn’t matter. 

Tears are already pouring down Huey’s face by the time he’s settles down at Fenton’s side, his legs curled under him as he presses himself close to Fenton, careful not to jostle anything but well within Fenton’s range of motion. And Fenton does reach out, a shaky, bloody, dirty hand reaching over to cup Huey’s cheek, like Huey is the one who needs to be treated with care, like Huey is the one who’s hurt. 

A sob falls out of the duckling’s mouth as he reaches up to hold Fenton’s hand to his cheek. He nestles his face in closer, ignoring the feel of dirt and blood mixing in with his already dirtied white feathers. 

                    “ Fenton, please- ” The duckling begs as Fenton speaks, trying to get goodbye and last words out of the way. Huey didn’t want to hear it, not any of it. This isn’t how it’s supposed to go, this is never how it’s supposed to go. Fenton isn’t supposed to die! Fenton is a hero! He’s supposed to save the day, he’s suppose to get up and keep going, he’s supposed to live. And he’s especially not supposed to die in Huey’s stead.

Fenton’s hand drops and Huey’s follows it, arms to weak to hold it up on his own, so he settles for holding it on top of Fenton’s chest. He can feel the laboured breathing, feel as it slowly becomes more and more shallow and another sob chokes out from Huey’s mouth, a horrible, sad, painful noise. 

He tries to speak again, tries to stop Fenton from saying anymore, tries to reason with him, to tell him he’s okay, but he can’t get any words out. Not around his tears, not around his fear, not around his grief or his pain or his sadness. All he can offer is another noise of despair as Fenton thanks him. 

                              For what? 

          For being in the way? For being too weak? For getting him killed?! 

But even as he tries to figure out something he could say, tries to get any words out of his mouth, something to tell Fenton, that help was coming, that he would be okay, that he wasn’t dying, he can feel slowly falter, can feel is slow, and then all at once it stops and Huey feels as if his world has as well. 

          " Fenton..? ” He asks in a small voice, still heavy with tears but he manages to speak, at least. Now that there was nothing to say. Now that it was too late. “ Fenton, please.” His voice breaks all over again as he reaches up to softly tap at Fenton’s cheek. he does it once, then harder, then lets out a sob as another attempt garners no reaction. 

                    “ No, pl-please, no, don’t- Fenton, please! ” His tiny hands ball up into Fenton’s tattered shirt as he leaned his head down against his chest. He waiting, holding his own breath despite the difficulty. He waits, seconds turning into a minute before he finally gives up. 

           There’s no heartbeat. 

Fresh tears line his eyes as he turns his face into Fenton’s chest, openly crying into the dirt and blood and all of the other horrible familiar scents. “Please Fenton, please don’t leave me.” He begs, but its of no use. There’s a horrifyingly numb feeling as words play over and over in his mind as sirens sound in the background. 

                              Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera is dead.

#huey ;; ic #huey ;; answered #ducktales wco oo #ducktales wco oo ;; fenton #death tw #blood tw #;; long post #anyway rip to fenton ig

[aion-rsa]

DuckTales Season 3 Episode 22 Review: The Last Adventure!

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This DUCKTALES review contains spoilers.

From the opening moments of DuckTales’ final episode it feels like the end. Almost everyone is here. There’s an extra care put into the scenes, a knowledge that we are in the last hour of their adventures. A last moment of uncomplicated joy before things get messy. And at the center of it all?

Webby. In the beginning she seemed to be the POV character of DuckTales, the one everything seemed to focus around. Some of that was caused by the original air dates of the episodes accidentally putting all her focus episodes at the start but it was a feeling that never left me. The show was an ensemble piece but there was something about Webby that kept her at the forefront. Something that made go, “if anyone had to lay claim as the main character of DuckTales, it’s her.” Boy, was I right about that!

The finale puts her in the middle of everything and finally pays off the mystery set-up at the top of the season. We finally learn about her past and as its slowly revealed it tugs on Webby’s biggest heartstring. Family. 

Her clones May and June press her with questions about the family. How none of the people she has connections with are related to her by blood. They aren’t her REAL family. Scrooge’s family isn’t hers. Her friends aren’t family. They play on a fear that’s been deeply held within her, that for all the talk of family is what you make it they still aren’t REALLY family.

It calls into question that critical core element of this new DuckTales. One could argue the show has done a LOT to say family is what you make it and this shouldn’t be a problem for Webby but come on, she has two sisters right in front of her. That would mess with her head and make her feel insecure.

This question of family extends out of Webby’s plotline and to all the others, especially Donald and Della. Donald wants to go off on a big trip with Daisy, intentionally leaving the family behind for the first time in who knows how long. This is a major step for him. He gave up his life to help raise Huey, Dewey, and Louie. He’s stuck by them even as they lived at the mansion. The guy deserves some time with the person he cares about without the weight of responsibility he’s carried for so much of his life.

Della though can’t take it. She tries to get him to reconsider. She has excuse after excuse but the real reason comes out, she doesn’t want to lose any more time with him. She was gone for so long why can’t he stay and make up for that lost time? He could, but as much as Donald loves Della he’s finally putting himself first. Of course Della accepts it because she’s Della and she’s great. I’m so happy they did this with Donald, the guy deserves it. Just because Della wants to spend more time with him doesn’t mean he HAS to. He can take time for himself, he can be his own person, he doesn’t have to be defined by the loss of Della anymore. Of course he’ll still see her and the rest of the family, he’s just going off to start his own part of the family. That’s a crucial element of family as well; you don’t always have to be together.

But of course when Webby and Huey get kidnapped Donald is right there to help and so is everyone else. The whole family rallies together, though Beakley is off on her own. Earlier in the episode Beakley revealed to Webby that she retired specifically because of her. That Webby was more important than anything else and, as we later learn, she gave up taking out F.O.W.L. to do it. There’s a running theme of how much you’ll sacrifice for your family here, as Beakley puts it, “when you find your family you’ll give up everything for them.” It’s well threaded throughout the episode, the biggest example of it of course being the giant mission to storm the temple.

It’s here the family comes up against the biggest nemesis of the series, Bradford. Bradford’s whole deal is that he was the first Woodchuck (and a terrible one.) He wants to rid the world of adventure, contain all the chaos it brings. What does all this mean? Why is he doing this? On first watch it’s a little unclear but when you zoom out Bradford wants to keep the world in order, in check. No deviations, nothing unexpected, no challenges, nothing unpredictable. He claims he’s a businessman, not a villain… but of course he’s a villain because a LOT of business people ARE villainous. Wanting to keep the world in check and playing by their rules is how they keep control. How they stay in power.

Adventures threaten that. They give power to those who don’t have it; they allow a wonder and mystery to fill the world. To give people hope, to bond them together. For Scrooge, it helped create his family. So of course Bradford would try to shut that down, he’s better served if people are unhappy and under his thumb as a businessman. Controlling Scrooge’s money was also a great bonus.

Bradford threatens the very heart of the series, adventures. He uses Webby specifically to gain the ability to take Scrooge’s adventures away… but of course he underestimated the family. He thought creating Webby’s clones would tear them apart, that separating everyone into cages would keep them from rising up… but you can’t stop the Duck family and Webby is the heart and soul of that. Even when she learns she was just another clone that doesn’t stop her for long. For anyone else that might have been a bigger blow but when she learns that Beakley saved her when she was a baby? That Beakley gave up everything for her so that someone would love her? That keeps her going.

That and the fact she’s (more or less) Scrooge’s daughter. Yeah she was made by F.O.W.L. but WHATEVER SHE’S REALLY A BLOOD PART OF THE FAMILY! At this point I was taken aback. Why does Webby NEED to have a blood relation to the family? Why can’t she just be a friend who became a part of the family? Isn’t that what DuckTales has been preaching for its entire run, you don’t have to be related by blood to be family and even if you ARE related by blood that doesn’t always mean you’re like family to someone else.

Some might consider this an easy cop out, a way for Webby to get what she always wants… but it’s so much more than that. Okay yes, Webby was sort of made from Scrooge’s DNA but that still doesn’t automatically make her a part of the family. They could easily reject her for not being “real.”  But everyone in the McDuck family loves her and that’s why she’s family, blood or not. Plus, the rest of the episode goes out of its way to show that damn near every good person the team has met is part of the family. So yes, Webby is now confirmed to be related by blood but that doesn’t undercut DuckTales’ message about family. Lena and Violet are part of the family, Gizmoduck, Darkwing Duck, Gosalyn, Launchpad, EVERYONE. As Webby tells May and June,

“Family are the people who stick by you. Fight for you. Blindly invade a sinister villain’s secret strong hold for you. Family would do anything to keep you safe and sacrifice everything to love you no matter who and what you are. Like Scrooge, like my granny, like you two.” That’s family and that’s DuckTales. Scrooge is willing to sacrifice it all, to give up adventuring… but FAMILY is the greatest adventure of all! It’s so powerful it breaks the most powerful magic contract of ALL TIME. BOOM, FAMILY! 

‘The Last Adventure’ was nothing short of an absolute masterpiece, the closest thing to a true 2017 DuckTales movie we’ll ever get. The action was big, damn near every character from the show made it in, and it capped off everything so beautifully. It’s stunning how many references and characters are squeezed in here but it never feels rushed or over bloated. All the references work, whether you know the deep cuts or not. My personal favorite was the revelation that Manny is no intern… he’s actually The Headless Manhorse of the Apocalypse AND HE LIVES AGAIN… voiced by Keith David. It’s such an elaborate Gargoyles reference but even if you don’t know that it’s hilarious to see this new side of Manny.

There’s too many moments to talk about. So many little bits that could deserve full articles on their own. Della using her leg like an axe, B.O.Y.D. being just a head, or Launchpad becoming Gizmoduck! If you’ve been reading all my DuckTales reviews you know how much I’ve loved the character of Lena and just seeing her there at the end as part of the family made me smile and warmed my heart. She went through so much and look where she is now, she has people who love her AND she’s a superhero. 

As the credits rolled and all the characters we’ve all grown to love soared past the screen for the final time, it hit me just how much I’m going to miss DuckTales. I’ve reviewed every single episode of the series and it has been an immense privledge. The level of care and creativity that went into every single aspect of the series did not go unnoticed. The people behind the scenes truly delivered something special, a series that will stand the test of time as not just a worthy entry into the Duck universe or just a Disney cartoon series, but as an absolutely wonderful show all on its own. It was incredibly funny, joyously warm, and knew how to hit you with some major life lessons. Lena’s story arc in particular will always stick with me and works as a gut wrenching portrayal of the effects of abuse. Her story was just an example of DuckTales as its strongest, when it was able to use it stories to hold up a mirror to our own lives and safely let us explore them. While also giving us a lot of laughs.

DuckTales has power; it’ll keep having power. Now that the show’s ended I have no doubt more people will check it out on Disney + and realize how special it was. How great it was. How even if it still had more stories to tell it still gave all it had. 

Thank you for everything, DuckTales. You’ll never be forgotten. 

DuckTales Quotes To Make Your Life Better

-“No, no maniacal laughter! We are not common villains.”

-“Come with me if you want DEW-live.”

-“Yes I was right! …. Oh no, I was right.”

-“I LIVE AGAIN… Again.”

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

-“Please hold all startled utterances of disbelief for the end.”

The post DuckTales Season 3 Episode 22 Review: The Last Adventure! appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2Q9vozW

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[ozzo-the-wozzo]

Ok I was going to leave it at my last post, but I seriously need to vent (if you click read more, prepare yourself because this is LONG0)

Back in 2017, I was just coming out of the WORST point of my life. I wont elaborate too much, but that transition from things being at their absolute worst to things getting slightly better was still jarring and I felt like I didn’t have much (if any) comfort media.

I was on youtube one day and I saw a video in my recommendation made by a YouTuber I follow saying that it was announced ducktales would be getting a reboot. I didn’t grow up on the original, but as a kid I loved replaying anything that had Donald in it (especially the three caballeros song on the disney sing along songs vhs) ,and my favorite Christmas media was mickey’s once upon a Christmas because of the Huey Dewey and Louie bit, so I was STOKED. I told my little sister about it after following the news on it for a while, and we watched it on that first morning it aired over and over again (do any of you guys remember when they replayed it again and again on that first day?? Because I sure do and it was awesome). That morning was an absolute blast. I made us cereal like I used to when we were younger and would watch SpongeBob together, and at this point in time it had been so long since my sister had heard Donald’s voice for more than a few seconds at a time that we had to watch the episode again on it’s 2nd run so that she could try and follow the tv closed captioning whenever he spoke, which was HILARIOUS. 

Ducktales 2017 has gotten me through SO MUCH. So many of my best memories come from that show, and while other shows that I had previously loved (*COUGH* Star Vs *COUGH*) always seemed to lower my expectations as time went on, Ducktales raised them with each new episode. This was a show I knew would go out with a bang.

If the producers had decided to end it on their own terms it would’ve been ok, obviously, because i’m big on quality over quantity. But the fact that this MASTERPIECE of a show was cancelled just... BAFFLES me. I cant name a single low moment in this show, can’t think of a single person that doesn’t love it. I just cant understand WHY 

I’m trying to stay positive and overall calm, so I just want to end this by saying thank you to @suspendersofdisbelief and everyone else who worked on this masterpiece of a show. You guys have truly made the past few years of my life some of the BEST, being my source of comfort when things got rough. Thank you for bringing some of that classic Disney Saturday morning magic to my little sister while also bringing your own modern twist to the table. Thank you for the hispanic representation done right; it never felt like me and my family were a token to get “woke” points, it felt natural and AMAZING. 

I know it’s not over yet, so i’ll make sure to enjoy the rest of the ride, maybe even more so now that I know it’ll be over soon.

Life truly is like a hurricane, but ducktales makes it better. Stay strong everyone, we still got quite a bit to go :)

#this was LONG #Sorry for all the grammar mistakes #but DAMN was I upset #ducktales #ducktales 2017 #dt #dt17 #mine

[thekytchensynk]

Business Lunch (Fictober Prompt 15)

Prompt number: 15

Fanfiction Fandom: Ducktales

Rating: G

Warnings: No warnings

Read this story on AO3

The letter had arrived without a return address, which had set off some warning bells for Fenton and ALL of the warning bells for his mother.

"What is this?" She gestured to it. "What sort of fool thinks we'd-" She trailed off as Fenton just opened it the way he would any other piece of junk mail, giving him a look of disbelief mixed with anxiety that, once upon a time, would have meant he was grounded, big-time.

"No one would send me a bomb or something through the mail," he argued.

But it didn’t turn out to be either junk mail or some sort of booby trap. It was, instead, a letter inviting Fenton to a “lunch meeting to discuss a potential scientific opportunity.” It didn’t even use a name, just starting “To the lucky resident” instead.

His mother’s eyes further narrowed. She didn’t even need to say anything -- he knew the contents made her even more suspicious. And to be fair, Fenton couldn’t blame her. To a detective, this had to look like step one in either a scam or crime.

But he’d already decided to check it out. The “meeting” was to be held at a fairly popular cafe called Serene Subsistence, so the chances of someone trying something were low. And if the person knew where he lived, they also probably knew he was Gizmoduck -- he wasn’t sure anyone in the neighborhood didn’t. So if they did try something, he had ways to handle the trouble.

So the next day, Fenton made his way to the cafe. Since it was a nice spring day and since the letter hadn’t specified any particular seating arrangements, he chose to sit at a small outdoor table in front of the place, shaded by a blue-striped umbrella and looking through the minimalistic menu.

Fenton hadn’t eaten at Serene Subsistence before, and now that he’d arrived, he sort of understood why. His instincts must have seen something in the decor, or in the sign design, and warned him off. Instead of describing the various options, the menu gave each one just a picture, a name -- something like “the Green Continent” or “the October Surprise” -- and a small list of icons to indicate whether the meal was low-salt, low-fat, gluten-free, all-organic or a host of other things. Huge swaths of white space surrounded each entry.

“You’d think they could put a few lists of ingredients,” Fenton mused out loud, squinting at the menu as though that might reveal hitherto unseen text.

“Awww. come on, where’s the fun in that?”

“You.” The word was out of his mouth before he could stop it, disgusted and angry and very out of place in this hip cafe. If that hadn’t drawn people’s attention, the way the glassware and silverware rattled as he slammed the menu to the tabletop would have.

Mark Beaks waved a hand at him dismissively as he pulled up the selfie camera on his phone and snapped a picture of himself in front of the table. “Come on, calm down, we’re not here to fight. We’re here to talk business.”

“I wouldn’t be here if I’d known I’d be talking business with you,” Fenton said, enunciating hard to prevent his full anger from leaking through.

Beaks grinned at him as though he were a kid who just got his times tables right. “Of course. That’s why I didn’t put my name on it. Uh-duh.” He pulled one of the other chairs at the table out and plopped into it without looking, eyes already back on the phone. “So, yeah, thanks for not looking into that too much, I would have felt really stupid if I get here and you hadn’t shown up.”

Fenton would have loved to have done that. He would have loved to be anywhere but here. Just showing up had given this arrogant tech addict a win, and this guy liked nothing better than wins. Which left him which the difficult task of trying to decide if leaving or staying would give this guy another win.

Or, which would be better for him. After all … what did Beaks want? Why would he be here? If he was plotting something, odds were good that just letting him talk would get it out into the air. Would that be worth dealing with a bit of Beaks to find that out? Maybe stop something before it started?

With a sigh that couldn’t even contain all of the disappointment he felt at doing this, Fenton sat back down. “All right,” he said. “What do you want?”

“Simple. I’m headhunting.”

For a brief moment -- blame too many supervillains -- Fenton thought he was talking like … literal headhunting. Like decapitating people. Luckily, before he could let his reaction to that get onto his face, the clinical part of his mind reminded him that this was a business meeting, and that in business parlance, headhunting had a whole other meaning.

“So, what, are you checking someone’s references?” Fenton asked, trying not-terribly-hard to cut the venom out of his voice. “Looking for recommendations? People who might be willing to build a body-bulking villain serum to-” His mind put two and two together and came up with an answer he did not like.”Are you trying to hire Dr. Gearloose away? Because whatever his reputation, he’s very loyal to the-”

“Gear wha?” Beaks finally looked up from his phone again, and he looked and sounded so puzzled that Fenton felt sure it had to be real. Any skill Beaks had at deception didn’t really center on fooling others with an act so much as just ignoring most people so you never had to worry about fooling them.

Despite that Dr. Gearloose not being the target was good news, Fenton found himself somewhat insulted on his mentor’s behalf. “He’s one of the greatest scientific minds on the planet,” Fenton said. “But you’d never get him away from his lab.”

“Ohhhhh! The guy whose stuff always goes evil!” Beaks said, looking pleased at having worked this out. “Yeah, no. Not interested. Scrooge can keep that stuff. Not good for the Waddle image when things suddenly go all…” He finished the thought by curling one hand into a claw-like shape and making a rasping sound that Fenton assumed was meant to personify “evil.”

But if he really, honestly didn’t care about Dr. Gearloose … “So why are you here?”

“For you-” something about the way he said it made Fenton think there was initially meant to be another word there -- his name probably. But Beaks had probably forgotten it. It was certainly on brand. “I said it in the letter, right?”

“The letter was vague,” Fenton pointed out. “And it’s not like the two of us are exactly on good terms.”

Again Beaks wave a hand, as though dismissing the entirely valid criticism out of hand. “Past is past,” he said. “Just let it go. I want to offer you a spot at my company and I don’t want any misunderstandings to get in the way of that.”

“Misunderstandings?” Fenton’s voice rose again, drawing more stares. Forcing his tone back to an annoyed murmur, he added, “Like when you put countless lives in danger just for your … your click count?”

“Clicks? What, no,” Beaks said, seeming scandalized. But Fenton counted in his head. Three. Two. One. “It’s likes, man. Engagement is key. Clicks. Who even clicks on something anymore…”

“Whatever,” Fenton said.

“But yeah, I meant misunderstandings like that,” Beaks added, almost as an afterthought. “We just need to move past that and see if we can come to a beneficial arrangement.”

The absolute nerve of this guy. “Listen,” he said, and this time it really was a bare whisper. “The suit will never go anywhere near you or your-”

“Wait, wait wait.” Beaks interrupted, shaking his head. “Not that. You. I got to hear some of what you showed off to Dee on that infiltration mission, some seriously interesting stuff in there. We could use someone with that sort of brainpower in our labs.”

That brought him up short. Him? The offer still wasn’t tempting, but that one reveal had changed the entire perception of their conversation. This was about him? About science?

And also about the info he learned from spying on what you thought was a date, the logical part of him mind reminded him unhelpfully.

“You want me to … invent things? For Waddle?” Fenton repeated, just to make sure. This felt wrong, like a trap. It seemed like something that might actually be part of a real business, not the sham that Beaks seemed to run.

Beaks was back on the phone again, and Fenton would have assumed he’d checked out entirely if he didn’t keep on answering questions and comments. “Well, yeah,” he said. “The awesome Waddle devices that trendy young influencers just have to have don’t invent themselves, you know. Slap our name and logo on them and boom! Instant must-have gear. Something for the shareholders to talk about. I gotta prove I can still bring in the cool -- and the cash, too.”

Ah. “So anything that the people in your lab, you take credit for?”

“Duh.” Beaks looked across the table at him, and for the first time in this entire conversion, it felt like he was actually being serious. “People don’t just want the goods, they want to feel like they’re buying into something larger than life. If I sold our phones under some other random name with a stodgy old buzzard as the CEO, you know what sort of market share that would get? None. Because people don’t just want a phone, they want a phone from me. It’s the same reason people react so strongly to you when the cops could usually do the exact same thing. Because they weren’t just saved, they were saved by a hero.”

He hadn’t thought about it that way before, and now, he sort of wished he never had. A hero? His mother was a hero. She’d saved as many people as he, probably more, and she also did the things needed to bring them to trial, to let justice do its work. All he could really do was stop what was right in front of him. Maybe Beaks was right about how it worked in business. But that was maybe the best reason of all to just stop listening to the idiocy that came out of his mouth. All it did was validate Beaks’ own sense of importance.

He stood. Started to leave. “Thanks, but I’ve got to go.”

A chair scraped. “Hey!” Beaks’ indignant voice followed him.

He felt the hand on his shoulder, trying to tighten with some degree of command or control, but it felt laughable. Weak. And then Beaks said, “Hey, amigo, hold on, tell me what the problem is. We can work something out.”

Whirling, Fenton said, “If I was interested, what would the starting pay be?”

Except he said it in Spanish. Not as fluid as his mother’s but still far more dancing than that one thudding word when Beaks has uttered it.

He expected the confusion -- the tech CEO wasn’t fooling anyone into thinking he could actually speak another language. But he got the other thing he expected to see almost immediately. The narrowing of the eyes. The darkening of the expression, as anger took the edge off Beaks’ carefree attitude. He’d been asked a question, he didn’t understand the question, and he thought not being able to answer it made him look foolish. That more than anything else told him all he needed to know.

“All right. Not interested, thank you.”

He didn’t even wait around to see if Beaks reacted to that. He just walked away.

#fictober20 #15 #ducktales #fanfic #fenton crackshell cabrera #mark beaks

[werewolfbarbie]

Halloween Top 5′s

Thought I would start reviewing again! Just not on camera:p for one I want to wait to get back to the review show on Youtube with @breakfast-owl when our new plans come into place and for another I really need to start writing again! So what better time to get my creative juices flowing again then Halloween? 

So for the first week I’m gonna do a Halloween Top 5 List with different categories! 

Today is Top 5 Favorite Cartoons to watch during Halloween. And this won’t be listed favorite to least it’s just my favorite top 5 lol

So here we go!

Top 5 Favorite Cartoons:

1. Danny Phantom: A teenager enters his ghost hunting dad’s Ghost Portal and is fused with Ghost DNA, while unleashing all the ghosts into his town. Now as a half boy half ghost, he uses his new powers to protect the town of Amity Park while surviving high school at Casper High. 

Oh my word I LOVE this show. I remember the day I discovered it. Or when I was introduced to it. I was a little girl hanging out with my cousin and my older brother at Papa and Grandmas. Being that my cousin was older it meant one very crucial thing, HE was in charge of the remote. I really wanted to watch Boy Meets World but he didn’t like the episode that was on. I was about ready to pout (my go to reaction as little Janny, which NEVER worked), when he turned to Nick. Danny Phantom was on and he was so excited. He started telling me the plot and I was soon joining in on the excitement. I would later find out that the episode we were watching was the pilot “Mystery Meat”.  As soon as it was over I wanted more! I went home and waited for the next episode to air. It has been part of my life since and every Halloween I can’t wait to watch it with my friends. 

2. Scooby Doo: Three teens and a talking Great Dane travel the world and solve crimes. Crimes that usually include masked villains pretending to be ghosts vampires and other creatures. 

I’ll be covering this show more with my Movies to watch, to my gosh how can I NOT include Scooby Doo on here?! I don’t even know when I first saw this show. It’s just been in my life that whole time. Turn on the TV, no matter what time, and you’ll probably find it. It’s be rebooted and remade many times and most of the reboots have been pretty good! I watch all of them cuz they always get me pumped for the October celebrations. The best memory I have with Scooby Doo is pretty recent. I was working at a video store (BEST. JOB. EVER.) and it was a brisk Autumn week. I was by myself at the store and no customers. As I was cleaning the place, I put in the dvd’s of Scooby Doo and just felt so excited! I got off work one day and headed over to my friend Kayla’s where we watched more Scooby Doo. This show is just so fun and will never end. 

3. Beetlejuice: A ghost from the Neitherworld and his best friend a teenage girl named Lydia journey between the real world and Neitherworld and numerous adventures. That’s..that’s it that’s the plot. 

Now with the show whenever I talk to people about it, the usual response I get is, “There’s a show?” Beetlejuice the Animated Series is based on the famous film Beetlejuice, with few minor tweaks. For one thing, Beetlejuice (the antagonist of the film) is now the protag of the show and he’s best friends with Lydia from the movie. The Maitlands are not in it and I’m pretty sure Delia is her birth mom instead of step mom. I didn’t watch the movie until recently, (sorry @breakfast-owl I tried to wait but it was on at work!) but I LOVED the musical and got the gist of the film. I love this show. It is so funny, so creative, and so nostalgic! I own the entire show on DVD. In fact to show you my love for this show, I was at Walmart where I had to choose between Danny Phantom and Beetlejuice and I chose that one!! (I love you Danny but it’s BJ! The ghost with the most!!)

4. Darkwing Duck: By night he’s Darkwing Duck, protecting the city of St. Canard from evil doers. By day he’s Drake Mallard, single father raising his adopted daughter Gosalyn. Night and day he’s 100% awesome. 

Okay this one is not a Halloweenie type show per se.. but this show is so much fun to watch during Halloween!! I don’t know if it’s the nostalgia of the show, the way it mostly takes place in the night, the masked crusader and his masked villains, or just cuz I darn well want to! I’ve talked ALOT about this show on my blog and I plan on reviewing it at the end of season 3 of the reboot of Ducktales once I see where the writers are going with him, but for now it’s on this list. It’s just such a good show guys. SO GOOD. 

5. Casper the Friendly Ghost: A friendly little ghost named Casper searches the world for a friend. 

I watch this classic show every Halloween. I love the theme song (yeah the famous one is “Casper” but I love the instrumental one from the old show). It’s a pretty straight forward plot but I just love the mood it puts me in. The artwork is haunting and the characters that Casper interacts in are so entertaining. Despite them being popular, we don’t really see the uncles til later in the show and they aren’t all that mean to Casper. They just wanna make him scary. Wendy is one of Casper’s best friends so I’m glad he got a movie with her later on. Casper is another character that he continued to be remade and rebooted. I’m ready for another! 

So that’s my top five favorite Cartoons to watch during Halloween! Next is my favorite movies. I would love to hear your favorite cartoons!! Feel free to reblog with your response or message me! 

#casper the friendly ghost #danny phantom #scooby doo #darkwing duck #beetlejuice the animated series #favorite halloween cartoons

[ahmedmootaz]

Ooooh I saw your last comic and I wanted to ask if you have any headcanon for magica? Btw u are such an amazing writer and you deserve more followers.

Dear Anon,

D’aw, thank you! Your compliments are really nice to hear. I wouldn’t say that I’m much of a writer, but if any of my writings appeal to someone, then it makes it worth it.

But regarding the question: Yes. Perhaps not as crazy as other people’s, but I have my fair share of head-canons about her. They don’t necessarily apply to one version of Magica over the other, rather, to all of her versions. So without further ado:

1) She mostly speaks English (with a british accent, even) to out-british Scrooge. She still speaks italian, but when trying to one-up your mortal enemy at every possible turn, she’d do anything, no matter how petty or unnecessary it may be. Poe’s her only remaining family member who speaks English with her to both train her and himself, even if he obliges because she wouldn’t accept anything otherwise.

2) A powerful sorceress herself, she often suffers from linking her powers to powerful/mystical objects (See: The Shadow War.), losing them afterwards. While it’s never as severe as what happens in Ducktales 2017, it’s always rather humiliating whenever it happens.

3) Born during a prosperous era, Magica was often the most spoiled of The DeSpell new generation. She was expected to be a new dark sorceress, and it was how it happened.

4) Her entire family tree is full of villains and other morally ambiguous people. It runs in the family, and she only picked up the torch where it was left.

5) I go off the notion that magic helps lengthen one to live a bit longer than your every day person, so I often think she’s born around 1910. Living atop Mount Vesuvius with the rest of her family helped her not really feel The Great War or World War two, though some of her family members got conscripted into the armies of whatever territory they were on.

6) Speaking of which, she does love the little home she has atop the Mount. It’s quite the pleasant place to live, though she had to cut off some of its compartments throughout the years as it fell apart. Naples is a nice city, but she never appreciated the city-life. Only its amenities, as such, she steals her electricity cables, her water pipes, Internet cables and anything else that has bills from down there. She has other bills to pay as a witch, but these ones are out of her life.

7) She’s not really ‘hip’ with the new Tech of this day and age, despite the fact that she’s one of the youngest witches around. Her never-ending quests for glory often put her out of the loop for a couple of years.

8) This isn‘t really a head-canon, more like obscure canon, but she adores football. She’s the number one fan of the Italian team, and she stops all her activities during the World Cup. She’s still salty about the last few ones.

9) She’s not the greatest when it comes to home chores. She often prefers magic to manual labor, but sometimes magical dust or stains require this manual labor. She’s also not the greatest cook around and often depends on Poe, her brother, to help her out with that, even if she can do some of it on her own.

10) Despite her cold, hard exterior....she’s also pretty cold on the inside. But she has a heart. She cares for her family (some members, anyways,), her spells, and winning.

11) Speaking of which, she does actually win!....Whenever Scroogie isn’t around. Retrieving ancient artifacts, destroying other enemies, you name it. She’s a competent sorceress, and if it wasn’t for Scrooge’s perseverance and experience, I’m not certain he would’ve stood against her for long.

12) She had a sort of dream-team with Poe when he wasn’t a raven. He was far more physical than her, and she was better at spells than he was. He used the physical side of magic while she was on the more mentally exhausting parts. Though he did dabble in bits and pieces even she doesn’t touch...

13)...That was, of course, until he became a raven. A battle-gone-wrong and a spell that was supposed to hit a blank ricocheted off a mirror and hit him and, much to both their horror,  she couldn’t go back on it. The closest remaining family member she had and she turned him into a raven. It’s a rather sensitive part of their relationship, and she didn’t forgive herself for it.

14) Both as a result of no longer having Poe be the hitting force of the duo and because of her adventures, she’s rather athletic for a supposed fragile sorceress, if her ability to square with Donald when he’s enraged and then draw is anything to go by.

15) She’s an avid fan of Ducktor Who. Ever since she discovered it in the 60s and up until now, she’s been watching every new episode. First as something to get her mind off of any sort of failure that might’ve befallen her, it’s now something she actually enjoys and sets up an entire movie night for.

16) She’s also a big fan of fashion. Not all the time, obviously, but she has a sort of style, even if she’s often too busy plotting to notice if she’s wearing socks with sandals or other such horrors.

17) She cannot drive cars to save her life, literally. Boats? Sure, some training and a sunken yacht in the Pacific later, but she can do it. Planes? She can keep them in the air. Cars? Nope.Not a chance. If it doesn’t explode, every car she drives is a likely target for bumps, scratches, and complete and utter pulverisation. Luckily, she has magic by her side, but it ruined a good plan on more than one occasion.

18) She’s a pretty good reader. You need to be one when all of the world’s spells are scattered throughout thousands of pages.

19) She’s not really the social type. She has some friends here and there, but disregarding her family, she mostly works alone. It’s not that she can’t do it, more than she can’t be bothered to do it. Too much time spent for too little. Who cares if people found her weird? She only needed her new raven assistant to go shopping.

20) Despite everything that may appear, she’s still at heart Magica DeSpell. Queen of Naples, Guardian of the Forbidden Spells, Creator Of Untrue Titles, you say it. She’s a threat that none should have to face, and she can demonstrate why with her fist before her spells.

So those were twenty head-canons I had of Magica. I hope you do enjoy them, Anon, and be sure to leave your thoughts about them! I do appreciate other people’s thoughts, really I do. So until next time, see ya’!

#duckverse #ducktales #ducktales 2017 #magica de spell #poe de spell #DeSpell family #headcanon #Thanks for the fun ask!

[popculturebuffet]

One Year Anniversary: Top 12 Ducktales Episodes!

Happy anniversary all you happy people! Yes it was one year ago today I started reviewing animation and it’s been a ride to be sure. I’d always WANTED to be a reviewer: I love going on and on about stuff I love, really digging into it and picking it apart... but I could never get started. I tried youtube but I didn’t have the money for the equipment nor a proper shooting space to record, so my efforts.. were not great. And while I TRIED text reviews, my own looming pile of self hatred meant every attempt I made was shot down when it got hard as me not being good enough. 

But one year ago I finally got past that. I’d already been reviewing a bit, doing invididual issues of comics... but got way in over my head trying to do the current line of X-Men comics as it came out, and wisely bowed out of that. But that left a gap: I had nothing to cover week to week and with a demanding new job, I drifted into just doing in charcter chats, little fan fictions script styles. Not bad work, I should do some more at some point and I even got a comissoin once in a while, but nothing I could really live on and not what I wanted to do with my life. 

Enter Ducktales. I’d always WANTED to review the show.. and when the double premire happened, I decided fuck it, and put up my thoughts. And then decided.. hey maybe I can do this every week.. and slowly.. my work evolved, getting better and better, getting more and more likes. I picked up Amphibia when that came by week to week.

And eventually.. this went from a hobby, if one I was passionate about to a career. Not a largely paying one, as only one person was really intrested in paying me for it, friend of the blog and our fincial backer @weirdkev27, but .. it’s money and i’m now making about 30 dollars a month due to a comination of comissions and patreon. Other contributers are always welcome mind you, my patreon is here if your curious and comissions are 5 dollars an episode, but i’ts just nice to have money coming in. To have gone from simply WANTING to review things and make a living off it.. to simply doing it. 

And it’s been one hell of a year.. and not just because 2020 felt like hell or 2021 began with a full on insurrection. I feel like i’ve acomplished a lot in the year i’ve been doing this: I finished what I started with Ducktales season 3, getting better and better as I went. And I didn’t stop there with ducks: I started covering what brought me to Ducks in the first place, the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, and while that retrospective has slid a bit on the schedule, I intend to get it back on track this month. I reviewed a bunch of Darkwing Duck episodes leading up to the Just Us Justice Ducks.. chronologically anyway. The actual airing order reads like someone took 50 issues of a comic, made it rain with them, then just started reading whatever ones they picked up randomly. I also covered some of Duck Master Carl Barks work with the classics Night on Bear Mountain, A Christmas for Shacktown and Back to the Klondike, with more to come. 

And the Duck didn’t stop at just reviews I did on my own: Kev comissioned two MASSIVE retrospectives from me: My first for him was Ride of the Three Caballleros where in just a few short months I covered the boys entire televisied careers together from the movie, to house of mouse, to mickey and the roadster racers, to ducktales (again) and finishing with the wonderful Legend of the Three Caballeros. It has probably the worst Daisy imaginable, but otherwise is really excellent and i’m glad I finally watched it. I also covered Don Rosa’s two stories with the boys as part of it. It was a fun ride and I enjoyed every minute of it... okay most of them again Three Cabs Daisy is the worst. And once that finished Kev started up another idea: Shadow Into Light: a look at Lena’s character arc from start to finish that has gone on to be my most popular series on this blog, and that finishes next week. And there’s more to come as after that there’s a short breather with a look at Lilo and Stitch’s crossover episodes.. folllowed by me looking at all three of season 2′s ducktales arcs. And I fully intend to have covered every episode of the series by this time next year, so stay tuned. 

Outside of ducks though I didn’t slow down. I restarted my Tom Lucitor retrospective, covering what i feel to be one of Star Vs’ two best characters, tied with eclipsa, and my personal faviorite as he redeemeed himself, found love and I bitched a lot about the horrible directions the series took and probabably will more as that’s still not done yet. I did what I always wanted to do and started looks at some of my faviorite comics ever, starting with Life and Times and adding in New X-Men and Scott PIlgrim. I also threw in the awesome comic Blacksad. I did pride month for the first time and not only came out publicly, but also did two whole arcs i’m proud of with The Saluna episodes of Loud house and the rednid episodes of OK KO, and generally just had myself a good old fashioned time as an out bi man reviewing childrens cartoons. 

I started Season 2 of amphibia with it’s lows of an endlesss road trip and highs of adding Marcy to the cast and giving us more of the silky voiced keith david. And finally Patreon wise Kev’s taken me on a hell o fa journey: In addition to the restrospectives i’ve covered some additional darkwing duck, and a simpsons homage to the duck comics... but also got a bit weird and obscure with detours like the lost animnaics sucessor Histeria, the apocalyptic comedy where Santa dosen’t know how doors work Whoops! and the adventures of Santa’s bratty teen daughter jingle belle. In short.. it’s been a long year but damn has it been fun and there’s more to come. I’d like to thank all of you for reading, thank my Patreons Kev and Emma for supporting me, and thank my family for doing the same.  So with that out of the way, I figured the best way to celebrate was to do something i’ve been wanting to do for a long time, something honoring the show that gave me this calling in the first place. And with Season 3 sadly being the last, and enough weeks having passed for me to digest it between the finale and today, I could think of nothing better than my top 12 episodes of Ducktales.

Ducktales is one of the best cartoons of the 2010′s. Brilliantly taking EVERYTHING that had come before, the comics, the original cartoon and every bit of duck media period to craft a masterful, unique and wonderful reboot. It was funny, it was insane, and it had damn good character arcs. By the end every member of the main cast along with major supporting cast members like Fenton, Drake and especially Lena, had changed and signifigantly at that. The show was everything I could’ve dreamed of and more and I miss it terribly, hoping DIsney will do a revivial movie at some point. For now though, Frank and Matt’s run on ducktales, as they called it and I do too since i’m a massive comic book nerd, it’s time to look back on my favorite tales of ducks. So grab your sharks, your number one dimes and your friendship cakes with clear gay undertones and join me under the cut as I celebrate one of my faviorite shows and my anniversary in the best way possible. 

12. House of the Lucky Gander! 

 So as i’ve gone on about before and no doubt will again, Donald kinda got the short end of the stick in season 1. While Frank and Matt had good story intentions, keeping Donald away from adventure since he had no interest in it, in practice it meant a beloved Disney Icon who they and disney HEAVILY promoted as part of the series and whose being here this go round was a big draw for fans of the comics.... was only in a quarter of the season and only got TWO plots centered around him in 23 episodes, with only one being the main plot of the episode. The PIlot and Finale both centered around the family more as a whole if your curious how I counted those so while he got plenty of focus in both, it’s still not a day in the limelight sort of thing. 

But unusually for Donald, he lucked out as his one big starring role for Season 1 was both one of my faviorites and one of Season 1′s most inventive outings.  A lot of the episodes enegy comes from a one two punch of a great guest star and one of the series best settings. The guest star is of course everyone’s faviorite overly lucky himbo Gladstone Gander. The show adapted the prick perfectly: The original Gladstone from the comics.. was the worst asshole imaginable, utterly insufferable. And for a villian, and Donald’s rival, that’s all well and good.. but his super luck meant he RARELY , if ever, suffered any consequences for being just...

The 87 series simply made him nicer, while Going Quackers simply removed his luck. No adaptation really got how to make this fucker work.. until this one. Here Frank split the diffrence: Gladstone is still smug.. but he’s no longer actively malicious. While he is an insensitive prick to Donald in this one, unlike the comics he’s not constantly bragging about his luck or how great he is or actively BAITING Donald to fight with him or trying to ruin his relationship or a million other reasons he sucks and I hate him.

This version by contrast... is generous. He’s not the most empathetic, because he doesn’t get how life works, but he does share the riches of the casnio with everyone and in a cameo appearance in “Treasure of the Found Lamp” gladly offers his nephews some diamonds. He’s got a nice surface level charm to him that makes you understand why people like him.. but it’s also clear ther’es nothing UNDER that of value, making you equally understand why Scrooge and Donald hate him. Gladstone in this reboot is a perfect example of why we need reboots or new adaptations in the first place: Because sometimes the original got something wrong or something can be done much better by the new writers. 

He’s perfectly paired with the setting: The House of Lucky Fortune, a mystical casino with an East Asian astatic based in the country of Macaw and provides two great plots. Donald’s really highlights his character: His understandable jealousy at gladstone earning the boys love through nothing while he struggles to make a living for them, and how he feels like a looser and like Gladstone is simply showing that off instead of just not knowing what empathy is. Having Louie be the one to bond with Gladstone was also just pitch pefefct, as is showing some depth for the boy by having himr ealize his hero is an asshole and be the one to help donald in the end. 

The other plot is just pure joy though and is where the setting REALLY shines: Scrooge and the rest of the kids try to leave.. but can’t find the exit. This is where the creative part comes in: The Casino simply morphs to keep people trapped, and caters to them, giving them whatever they want to keep them trapped. In the cases of the kids it’s all hilarious and adorably in character: Huey becomes entranced by a fancy water show, in one of his best bits of the season, Dewey gets a pet tiger who sadly did not come home with him and Webby gets to live the dream we’ve all had of stuffing her face directly in a choclate fountain. Scrooge’s escape is likewise clever: He simply prepares to get a room.. then books it as the check in desk is ALWAYS near the front. 

We then find out Gladston’es trapped get the whole mystical contest with absolutely gorgeous animation, i’ll talk about it in full some time but this episode is just a treat to watch, has a great arc for donald and had some memorable gags. I can’t help but smile when I watch it. 

11. The Dangerous Chemistry of Gandra Dee!  As I mentioned before i’m a superhero nerd so naturally Fenton was one of my faviorite parts of the show. Frank and Matt were just damn good at crafting superhero stories, and like gladstone improved fenton turning him from an awkward donald stand in to an awkward peter parker-esque science nerd who just wants to be a good person and the best hero he can be. He got into science not just because he thinks it’s neat, but because he honestly wants to help people and you can’t help but foot for him whenever he pops up. Lin Manuel Miranda is a large reason for that, bringing his incomparable a-game to the character. While we sadly didn’t get a ton of gizmoduck focused episodes, the fatct we got AS MANY as we did and that Lin didn’t drop out for a minute even with his busy schedule was a miracle and I’m acknowledging that. 

As for why this one, I feel it builds brilliantly on the previous Fentoncentric episode Who Is Gizmoduck?! which just BARELY didn’t make this list and uses the fact we haven’t seen fenton in a while as both a plot point and to move some things forward without having to spend screentime they clearly didn’t have. By having Fenton be just burnt out on superheroics it finds a way to both explain where he’s been, he’s been busy with his new job, and give us an interesting angle to the old “superhero is tired of the life” thing. He never once complains about saving people or stuff... it’s just like any job it gets tiring after a while. As someone who has his dream job but has struggled with it from time to time, I vastly relate. 

Though while I love my boy and Lin is game as always, the episodes real MVP is my other boy Huey. The episode has moved Huey up from being simply Fenton’s fanboy to being his best friend, and adorable as hell relationship. The two clearly respect and appricate each other and Huey is looking out for his buddy the whole episode. His love of love is also just really cute. Added in the mix is Webby, who in one of my faviorite gags of the series, finds out Fenton is  Gizmoduck because Huey is incredibly and insanely blatant with his unecessary coverup. But she of course is game to help while Fenton is trying to play it casual. We also just get a waterfall of great gags as everyone overdoes it wingmanning for fenton: Huey sets up an itallian bistro and tries to purposfully create a lady and the tramp situation, and sings opera (With Manny on acordian), the wonderfully 80′s suit from Fenton’s dad his mom gives him to wear, and Launchpad, who gives us a tremendous list of his exes, and plays my favorite song of the series: It’s a Date, a micheal mcdonnel riff. 

This episode also wisely ups Mark’s Beaks game as Fenton’s arch enemy, still keeping him hilaroius, with the guy acting like a bored teenager and guzzling so much nanite jucie he turns into a hulk, as well as said hulk mode leading to a ton of great gags from kidnapping the children (”I got your kids.. are they your kids? I don’t know how this family works), to “take that coach dad” to eating a pie with tins and all and wondering about said tins. But he’s an actual threat now, taking on fenton in one hell of a fight, and having an utterly transcendent scene where he hacks his way past gyro’s security while dancing.. and dabbing because of course he does. It’s a fun, well done character piece that’s mostly here for i’ts laugh but Fenton’s struggle with Gizmo overtaking his life, and finding out someone he truly hit it off iwth only wanted him for that.. it’s really good stuff and Lin’s delivery after Fenton finds out, the pure pain and betryal in his voice, is just excellent. Also that opera scene is poetry. 

10. Quack Pack!

One of the episodes that started my career naturally landed here. Not for that reason though: Quack Pack is a fun riff on sitcoms, specifically the tgif ones of the 90′s that Disney Afternoon Kids no doubt also watched, the kinds Disney Channel still makes today, and most importanly the kind the Disney Afternoon itself made like Goof Troop and well... Quack Pack. 

Riffs on sitcoms are nothing new and the last year has been FULL of them. 2020 gave us this episode, Beef House and the wonderful “The Perfect House” episode of Close Enough, and this year gave us WandaVision, my second favorite MCU project so far, right behind Black Panther, which used the sitcom deconstruction to create one hell of a character study. 

So you’d think with a year having passed and this concept happening as an entire mini series would dull this one.. but no. it’s still damn funny, having fun at the cliches while, again like WandaVision, having one of the main cast be responsible by accident but go along with it. The episode pivots from glorious affectionate parody of cheesy sitcoms, to that plus horrifying “Humans”, and a character piece for Donald. This brings Donald’s hatred and fed up ness with adventure to a head revealing his fondest wish is just to have a normal life and not loose anyone again. 

It takes one of his best friends to snap him out of it. Look Goofy is my second faviorite of the sensational seven, an episode with him was already an easy sell for me.. but the episode uses him really well. First for laughs as he’s gentically dispositioned to be a perfect sitcom neighbor.. but also for heart. With his family preoccupied and a bit hurt, i’ts Goofy who cuts to the heart of the issue, pointing out NO ONE is normal and even his normal domestic life raising Max, who we see go to prom with roxanne eeeeee, has all sorts of chaos. Normal is what you make of it and pining for some ideal that will never happen was just tearing donald apart piece by piece and by letting go of that.. he finally begins to grow as a person throughout the season. It’s also a great thematic tie in to the season’s overall plot with Bradford and what Makes donald, despite also disliking the chaos his family gets into, different. Donald accepted it and grew as a person.. Bradford clung to his hate and it ate him alive. Or turned him into a non-sapient kind of vulture. Before I close this part out Jaleel White is also excellent and I wish eh’d get back into voice acting. He’s so freaking good at it. Seriously man i’d love to see him and ben in a sonic property together as a mythology gag. Same with Jims cummings and carey. Just think about it whoever owns the sonic movies.. think about it. 

9. The Last Adventure!

Look I knew this was coming, you knew this was coming. But it had to be on here. The Last Adventure is not perfect: The lack of a build up episode like the previous two finales had really hurt this one: even at about 70 minutes, it still feels rushed in places and Huey, one of hte main characters of the season, dosen’t feel like he has a full payoff to his character like Dewey and Louie got. 

But despite those flaws.. this episode is just a damn good ending. Almost everyone gets a big moment paying off their character arc, everyone in the party that comes to rescue webby and huey, along with the two themselves, gets a moment to show off, and everything comes together to give us one last epic sendoff. There’s just moment stacked on moment stacked on moment from Launchpads heroic second wind and donning of the gizmoduck armor, to Webby’s tearful confrontation with Beakley, to Huey using the greatest adventure of all line to foil bradford in one of the most deligfhully nuts moments of the series, I could go on for days with just how triumphant this finale felt. While it left a lot of doors open.. that feels like part of the design. It’s the end of the fight with FOWL.. but our heroes will never stop adventuring, never stop going and never stop being in our hearts and the curtain call at the end is now my faviorite bit of end credits ever, perfectly giving the main cast and friends one last chance to take a bow in their own unique ways. I will always miss this show but I will never be disapointed by the note it went out on. 

8. The 87 Cent Solution!

Look some episodes are show stoppers, some are heartfelt tearjerkers, some are all this and more.. and some episodes are just clever and hilarious. The 87 Solution is the second funniest episode of Ducktales with me and my go to episode when watching the show. It’s just pure fun and with a clever premise: Scrooge notices 87 cents have gone missing, and already coming down with a cold, goes mad with paranoia as the kids slowly don face masks, something that has become even eeerier given everything, one by one realizing he needs to stop. 

While David Tennant is an EXCELLENT dramatic actor, his comedy timing is really something that shoudln’t be ignored and i’ts on full display here as his performance gets more and more deranged, to thep oint he thinks an 8th dimensional imp is repsonsible. He nicely balances the disturbing side of Scrooge’s paranoia, his distancing from his family, with plenty of great gags about it too, the standout being when he offers 2 million dollars to whoever took the money like he’s publicly appeasing kidnappers. It’s fucking brilliant. 

But while David is awesome as ever what really, truly makes the episode is my boy, one of my faviorite characters on the show if not my single faviriote FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD. Keith Ferguson is ALWAYS a dream as the character but this is his best performance by far. Part of this is the addition of Zan Owlson, Kev who I mentioned earlier’s faviorite Ducktales character. She’s not only throughly likeable in her own right, but provides the one thing Flinty was missing; a straight man.. or woman in this case. Scrooge wasn’t TERRIBLE in the roll, but can easily step away from his shit or foil it. Owlson has to put up with Glomgold’s nonsense while desperatly trying to stop him from undoing all her hard work with sheer force of jackass. The two jut play off each other brilliantly, Glomgold not getting sh’es not his employee but his equal and Owlson constnatly snarking at him. 

And of course both things hit their peak in the climax with the family staging a fake funeral (Though no one told donald it was fake), and we get the funniest scene in the entire fucking show as Glomgold burts in in a white suit, money shades and full dance number to “All I Do Is Win’, which when first watching this I was convinced the song was somehow accidnetly on in the background but nope. They got it after using it in the test phase and the scene is better for it. Glomgold twerking on Scrooge’s casket, trying to get on it to dance, and having to be placated like ac hild is the icing on this very rich cake

And the reveal scene is also gold as Glomgold gets into a YEARLONG staring contest with a baby, fails to steal more than the 87 cents and, in my faviorite touch, put on an imp costume just to make scrooge seem crazier... then keeps the damn thing on the rest of the time for no explicable reason. The episode is the show at it’s comedic peak while giving Glomgold a chance to be a genuine threat and that’s Glomgood. 

7. Let’s Get Dangerous!

Frank’s Rebooted Version of Darkwing Duck is probably his greatest achivment with the show. While this show is a team effort, something I slowly realized as I reviewed the show, it’s very clear from the way he talks, how well he knows the show and how much effort was put into porting Darkwing into the reboot that this was his baby. While redefining ducktales for the 2010′s was clearly a huge dream of his... doing the same for the master of suprise was an even bigger goal. And as a huge fan of superheroes i’ve seen my fair share of half assed takes on laired and complex characters. The XCU alone is one giant grab bag of missed opportunities for me. 

So i’ts no exageration when I tell you Frank.. nailed it. In one of the most brilliant moves i’ve seen for a superhero work Frank worked his love of the show into the reboot.. by having Darkwing have been a show, one Launchpad loved.. and so did Drake, who was inspried by the show to become an inspriation himself and while his attempt to do that through a zack snydery reboot failed, Launchpad encouraged him to do it for real. Drake was still himself, but the meta aspect and the toning down of some of darkwing’s more obnoxious traits that didn’t work in a universe that, while patently rediciulous still took it’s characters seriously, he made a BETTER version of the character.

This is where all that comes to it’s peak, and hoppefully convinced Disney to let Frank , and possibly matt, run the reboot. And no, even if Point Grey is producing that dosen’t stop that: Thanks to Invincible i’ve now realized that Seth and his friend Evan producing the show dosen’t mean it’ll be RAN by them, nor unrelated to this. It just means their helping make it and if anything given how lush and gorgeous invincible’s animation is, it’s a VERY good sign their helping out with it if it’s true. 

But wether this versoin continues or not, Frank gave it his best shot. Part of his diffrent angle is having Drake as a rookie here and as such here we see him truly struggle: he’s had his origin, he ahs the cape, he has the gadgets (in a brilliant turn thanks to fenton, who he actually likes... but is so far the ONLY person to not get he’s Gizmoduck), and the city.. but no crime to fight and no real idea how to go about his lifelong dream. The events of the episode slowly shape him: WHile he already had the spirit for darkwing, never giving up, looking good in a cape etc, this episode gives him the heart the same way it gave his original it: With Gosalyn. Dimantopolis and Beatriz just play off each other perfectly, as the two go from neimies to slowly bonding as Drake realizes this kid needs him and that he needs to fight for more than just filing the ohle inside, and goes to hell and back to help her get her grandpa back, with one of the best moments of the episode to me being when Launchpad helps her realize how hard he’s been working at it, an exausted drake refusing to acccept that he can’t get her grandpa back because he promised. He grows from simply trying to live the dream.. to surpassing the original. We also see more from Launchpad, who grows into his new family and helps push his boyfriend and newa dopted daughter in the right directions. The episode really evolves these characters from the simple disney afternoon versions, who while awesome were made into fully fleshed out characters. Gosalyn still has her edge but now has a hard lesson to learn about doing the right thing, forced to give up someone she loves for the greater good but finding a new family in the process. 

Part of what makes the episode work though as while it is funcitonally one big darkwing duck reboot pilot that’s awesome, heartrending and a joy to watch... it’s still a ducktales episode in parts without either part hurting each other. Huey plays a vital role, figuring the ramrod is too good to be true.. and discovering just how it is, then when captured, slowly unravling why Bradford’s there and being at least in part responsible for outing him as a FOWL agent. While this is largely Drakes story the rest of the cast is still vital to it: Scrooge trusting in huey, Louie serving as his logical counter and Dewey meanwhile bonding with team darkwing and helping Gosalyn, knowing exactly where she’s been and providing a nice foil. The episode is just one long and impressive love letter to the original show while creating it’s own thing and that’s really this reboot in a nutshell. It also has some of the best fights of the series, with the first fight between darkwing and bulba, where our hero, unlike his original counterpart, easily troucnes bulba using his speed and skill, is the standout. 

6. Woo-Ooo!

I covered this one recently so I won’t go on for too long.. but I will say I hold this one up as the gold standard for first episodes. In one hour, hell even in jus the first half we get a sense of the whole cast, the tone of the show, and the world we’ve been thrust into. It gets all the table setting out of the way by weaving it into a compelling story of Scrooge getting back in the game, finding a reason to get back to what he does best in those he loves most and setting up the season long arc effortlessly in the process. The worst I can say about the episode is it sets the bar a bit high for Season 1 and a lot of the first half really struggled to reach these heights. This episode is a masterwork and the perfect showcase for what the series would be at it’s height. 

5. Moonvasion!

Speaking of Golden Standards, Moonvasion is one of the best season finale’s i’ve seen. it’s not THE best.. but that’s a really high bar to clear and that spots currently taken in my heart by “The Crossroads of Destiny” from Avatar the Last Airbender. But while not the best of it’s kind, it’s sitll the best the series put out and is an utterly satisfying epic that ties up season 2. 

While I love the Last Adventure, it had a LOT to tie up and was really hampered by having to do all of that with no direct lead in. Moonvasion by contrast hits the ground running with the Moonlanders arriving on earth and all hell breaking loose, and the episode itself breaking into two stellar plots. Scrooge leading an army of every ally he has against the invaders, and Della seemingly going for reinforcements.. but really just trying to keep the kids safe from it, to their anger once they find out. 

Both sides end up going badly: Scrooge looses most of his army as Lunaris was one step ahead of him and is left iwth Beakly and Launchpad, while Della ends up marooned.. and finds Donald. The reunion between the two is the highlight of the special, as the two argue as you’d expect (And Dewey cutting in seemingly to stop it.. only to rant at Donald for costing him “ten years of turbo” is the best gag of the episode), before embracing. 

Our heroes naturally find ways to bounce back though. Louie, capping off his growth for the season, convinces his mom they can’t just hide.. and in the second best scene of the episode sings the lullabye she wrote.. one Donald sung them every night

And no sooner than Della gets her step back and realizes that dangerous or not she and her newly reunited family have to get back in there, do the cousins show up on Fethry’s giant shrimp/girlfriend Mitzi, and our heroes head back. 

Scrooge’s plot hits i’ts peak though as he’s forced to accept the help of an unlikely and unwelcome ally: Glomgold, who turns out to be exactly what they need: While his plan is as stupid, short sighted and insane as you’d expect, complete with forcing Scrooge to dress up as santa just to piss him off and dressing his sharks in parkas (”I call them sharkas”), the sheer lonacy throws Lunaris off as he dosen’t know how to deal with this and Glomgold not only gets the better of him but gets his company back as part of his scheme.  “You were prepared for our best but not our dumbest!” “And i’m the dumbest theirs ever been! Muahahahaha! Wait...”

And of course our other heroes arrive just in time to save things.. and the episode still manages to pull off what many works struggle to, something tha’ts very hard to: a SECOND climax. Lunaris decides to just say fuck it and blow up the earth and i’ts up to our core family to kick his ass in space. Epic space battles, Della’s girlfriend meeting the family and more insues and an emotoinal, action packed and fully satisfying finale is had by all... and it’s all topped with one of the best sequel hooks i’ve ever seen as FOWL makes themselves known to us.. and prepares to strike. 

4. How Santa Stole Christmas! This one will also be short as i’ve talked about this one.. a lottttt. The initial review, my best christmas specials list and my best of 2020 list. I stand by all of that: this is a unique and wonderful christmas special, i’ll be watching it every year, and i’ts full of charm, humor and gay subtext. In short it’s this series but on christmas footing. 

3. Last Crash of the Sunchaser! 

Another one I covered very recently, this episode is a master piece of suspense, slowly building tension as our heroes get closer and closer to the truth about Della.. and to death, the simple but deadly stakes making this an absolute nailbiter from start to finish. This is some of the series best pacing bar none... but what seals it is the ending: the masterful flashback finally explaning whatever happened to Della duck, our heroes lashing out at each other.. all cumilating in the best Scene of the show. I said it might be in the review but no I can confirm: Scrooge bitterly ruminating over things while we find out just how much he’s lost... ending with him tearfully and angrily sitting once again alone in one hell of a powerful shot echoing Scrooge’s first apperance. Damn fine stuff. 

2. Escape from The Impossbin Only one episode not only matches Last Crash in mounting tension and atmosphere but suprasses it. With FOWL and Bradford’s true nature now out in the wind, this episode uses that to create tension and rattles it’s two most unshakable characters: SCrooge’s normal boundless confidence is shot, not sure he can win this time against an opponent who knows him as well as he knows himself while Beakly slowly unravels, pitting Webby against the boys.. and pitting herself against Webby when Webby sees her terroizing them is only dividing them. Both plots start out funny enough but slowly escalate in tension and stakes until by the end your on the edge of your seat. The Beakly plot is the standout of the two, giving Bentina the starring role she badly needed, having gotten even better in light of the finale. Everyone is at the top of their game and everything builds up to one hell of a twist ending and one hell of a badass boast from our heroes: Their down.. but their far from out and this is far from over. 

1. Nightmare On Kimotor Hill!

I”ll be reviewing this episode in full later this week as part of my Lena retrospective, but I stand by putting it up top. This episode is ducktales in it’s purest form and focuses on it’s best original character as Lena grapples with her self hatred and her past. That core helps anchor an amazing concept: going into the Kid’s dreams and finding out their greatest desires. The results.. are all gloriously rediclous and are easily the best gags of hte series as a whole: Dewey’s high school musical santa claus is going ot high school nonsense from getting a’s in Dewology to running away from the abstract concept of a love intrest, to not getting the sybolism of himself crying a moon made of his own tears. Louie quite literally becoming garfield, and my faviorite scene of the show: Huey, wanting to be the tall older brother..g iving himself horrifcly long leg. While everyone else is just understandably baffled, what makes the scene is the banter between Dewey and Huey, with Schwartz and Pudi at their best as Dewey first freaks out and then asks what the hell man, while Huey defends his weird decision (”I”m not good at imagination stuff okay!”), and then tries to get a jar of pickles. Each dream is just so oddly and wonderfully specific to each kid and each one of the triplests dreams, as well as violets being color coded down tot he backgrounds is a very nice touch. The visuals here are just peak ducktales, using the setting for all it’s worth and the climax is utterly emotoinal and heartbreaking... and Lena’s break from her abuser, finally realizing she has the power now is not only a wonderful metaphor... but also just so damn cathartic. And that’s why this one’s the best to me personally: it just packs so much into 20 minutes: some of the series best and most creative jokes, a gripping emtoinal arc, and so much more. It’s just that damn good and tha’ts why it’s the best... that and starting Huelet for me. Seriously that LIbrary scene is so fucking cute. 

Thank you all for reading. If you liked this artcle, join my patreon and help me get to my stretch goal for monthly darkwing duck reviews, a review of super ducktales and more after! Until the next rainbow... it’s been a pleasure. 

#ducktales #huey duck #dewey duck #louie duck #webby vanderquack #scrooge mcduck #bentina beakly #lena sabrewing #santa claus #della duck #donald duck #gladstone gander #gizmoduck #fenton crackshell cabrera #gandra dee #mark beaks #flintheart glomgold #zan owlson #goofy goof #launchpad mcquack #darkwing duck

[maydaygirl-save-our-ships]

The Worst of Messes

When the Duck triplets first met Gosalyn Mallard they weren’t sure what to think of her. The teachers called her a problem child, she was more than a little rough around the edges, and for a brief moment that day, they weren’t sure if she was going to help them or punch them. Her family was just as odd. Her father seemed constantly irritated at everyone, as if they weren’t worth his time, and the third member of her family was...

Wait a minute... Launchpad?!?!

A fanfic mashup of 2017 Ducktales and 1991 Darkwing.

AO3 Link

Chapter 1: Alarm Clocks and Pancakes

“Gosalyn, it’s time to get up, sweetie.”

Gosalyn barely registered her father’s voice through the haze of sleep. She buried her face deeper into her pillow, trying to shut out the wold. She was soft and warm in her bed, and she never wanted to leave.

She didn’t remember when she drifted off to sleep again, or how long she remained asleep for, when her father’s voice broke through her peaceful slumber once again

“Gos, it’s time to get up. You’re going to be late for school.”

She winced as her father opened the curtains above her bed and sunlight mercilessly pelted her sensitive eyes. She pulled the blankets over her head to block out the light and groaned in response. He gave her another warning, which her sleepy brain didn’t fully process, before he left her room again.

When he left, Gosalyn peaked out of her blankets to glance at the clock on her nightstand. She didn’t know what he was so worried about, she still had plenty of time before school. She still had some time to sleep…. just five more minutes…

The warm embrace of sleep consumed her once again.

“Gos,” her father’s annoyed voice called from the doorway, waking her up for the third time. “You have to wake up. You don’t even have time for breakfast anymore.”

Eh, he sounded mad but he wasn’t panicking yet. She didn’t even need to eat breakfast anyway.  Just a few more minutes…

However, her father didn’t seem willing to give her a chance to drift back to sleep.

“Alright, that’s it young lady, get up this minute or face the consequences!”

Gosalyn opened one eye to see her dad standing over her bed with his hands on his hips. Curious of what these consequences were, Gosalyn closed her eyes and pretended to go back to sleep.

“Okay, you asked for it!”

Gosalyn realized too late what he was going to do.

She let out a squeal as her father mercilessly began tickling her ribs. She spasmed uncontrollably as she laughed.

“Nooo! Daaad stop!”

“I warned you, Gos.” She could hear the grin in his voice as she tried to push her father’s hands away with one hand while attempting to protect her ribs with the other.

“Fine, fine!” she gasped. “I’m getting up!”

The tickling stopped immediately and she glared up at her father who looked far too smug.

“That wasn’t fair,” she said breathlessly as she tossed off her blanket, now fully awake.

“Who said life was fair?” her father asked. “Now come downstairs and eat your breakfast.”

“I thought you said there was no time left to eat breakfast?” She glanced at her clock. School would start in ten minutes. They didn’t even have enough time to drive to the school before the first bell rang.

Her dad grinned. “I set your clock back half an hour. You normally don’t get up until the last minute, so I used that to my advantage.”

Gosalyn huffed. “Lying to your own daughter. I hope you’re happy with yourself!”

“I am,” he said simply as he kissed the top of her head. “Now come on, your pancakes are getting cold.”

After putting on a fresh set of clothes, Gosalyn made her way downstairs. She set her backpack by the kitchen table and took a seat.

Her father was hunched over the newspaper, but his eyes only seemed to be glazing over the words. It was only then that she realized how tired he looked.

“Long night, dad?” she asked as she poured syrup over her pancakes.

Startled out of his daze, her father shook his head to clear it. “That’s putting it mildly,” he said with a yawn. “Two break-ins from regular criminal scum and then I had to deal with both the Liquidator and Megavolt, and those too are a rather… shocking combination.”

Gosalyn scoffed at the pun. “Weeeell… maybe I can help you out? I’ll come along tonight night and-”

“Tonight is a school night,” he said with a frown. “And besides, it’s hard enough to get you up in the morning even without you staying up all night with me chasing down bad guys.”

“Oh come on, Dad. You know I can help!”

“Darkwing doesn’t need your help. What he needs is his daughter to go through one week of school without getting called into the principal’s office.”

Gosalyn crossed her arms stubbornly. “It was just a small prank. It’s not my fault the principal doesn’t have a sense of humor.”

“Gos,” Drake warned, giving her an unamused look. “Small pranks don’t usually result in property damage.”

“I didn’t mean for that to happen!” Gosalyn protested. “Things just got… out of hand.”

“And whose fault is that, huh? Just… no more pranks. I’m too tired to deal with your principal today. That woman gives me a headache.”

“Okay… no trip to the principal’s office and I can go crime fighting with you tonight? Sounds like a deal!”

“No… no principal's office or else your grounded, young lady.”

“That’s not fair!”

Drake sighed. “No more arguing. Now finish your breakfast.”

Gosalyn angrily stuffed another bite of pancake into her mouth. This wasn’t fair. She helped her dad out crime fighting loads of times! She was good at it and she saved his butt more times than she could count. Why was he always so stubborn about not letter her come along?

Gosalyn glanced at the empty seat at the table. She wished Launchpad was here this morning. Maybe she could have gotten him on her side. Then again, that was a pretty big “maybe”. Launchpad didn’t like taking sides between her and her dad very often, and if he did, he was likely to agree with her dad. Not that her dad ever listened to anyone elses options if they contradicted his own.

It didn’t matter anyway, because she probably wouldn’t see Launchpad until later in the evening unless there was a Darkwing Duck emergency. For as long as Gosalyn had known him, Launchpad had a side job as a chauffeur in Duckburg. She knew he worked as one of Scrooge McDuck’s chauffeurs and probably some other rich people as well… she wasn’t sure. Launchpad never said too much about his other job, and Gosalyn honestly couldn’t understand how he managed to find work as a driver with his...unique way of stopping, which often ended in a head-on collision.

However, apparently one of his employers liked him, because for the past six months they started requesting Launchpad fly them long distances for business trips, which meant that sometimes Launchpad wouldn’t be back for days. Her dad hadn’t been happy about this, but the extra money Launchpad brought in from these trips shut him up pretty quick. However, Gosalyn wasn’t as easily placated.

She didn’t like seeing one member of her family gone for so long, and she didn’t like the idea of Darkwing Duck fighting crime without any back up (which is exactly why her dad should allow her to come along more!). Plus, Launchpad would definitely crash during one of these extended trips, and what if he got stranded? When she brought this up, Launchpad had assured her that if this happened he could send an emergency broadcast to the Thunderquack, which had the ability of autopiloting to his location. However, this still didn’t seem like enough for Gosalyn.

Gosylan stuffed another bite of pancake in her mouth as she wallowed in the unfairness of her situation. Annoyed at both her dad for treating her like a baby and at Launchpad’s other employer for keeping him away.

After breakfast, Gosalyn finished getting ready, and miraculously, she and her dad left the house on time for once.

The car ride to school was quiet as usual. Both Gos and her father weren’t morning people, and the fact that she was heading to another day at school didn’t make her mood any better. At least there was one upside about today.

Her school was doing an “After School Jamboree” with another school from Duckburg. After school, they were going to bus in kids from the Duckburg school to play games and compete for prizes. It’s supposed to keep kids active and teach them lessons about being a good sportsman or something. Most of the prizes were pretty dumb, like a free notebook or gift cards to bookstores, but it was the big prize for the winner of the bike race that Goslyn had her eyes on. One of the parents donated the newest off roading bike, the Yeti SB-20. It was the fasted mountain bike around, and Goslyn couldn’t wait to win it.

Just the thought of winning the bike was enough to lift her mood.

“I don’t get why you need to bring your bike to school just so that you can win a different bike,” her father grumbled as he looked up at the rearview mirror at Gosalyn’s bike in the back seat, it’s wheels up in the air. “That seems pointless.”

Gosalyn scoffed. “Dad, the Yeti is not just another bike. It’s the holy grail of bikes! I have to have it!”

“What’s wrong with the bike I bought you? I thought you liked it.” He tried to hide the hurt in his voice, but Goselyn noticed it right away.

“I do, dad!” she assured him hurriedly. “But the Yeti is like nothing else! It’s the fastest bike around and it’s perfect for off roading! You’ll see what I mean when I win it.”

Her dad made a tisking noise with his tongue and shook his head. “Don’t get cocky, Gos,” he warned. “You might think you’re the best at your school, but that Duckburg school might bring some competition.”

Goselyn scoffed. “Come on, dad, it’s me you’re talking about. No one is going to beat me.”

Her father raised and eyebrow at her. “Oh really now? When did you get such a big head?” he asked in amusement.

“Well, I AM your daughter.”

“I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”

She gaped at him. “Seriously? If your head was any bigger, Honker would have studied it for his previous planetary project!”

“Very funny, Gos,” her father said sarcastically. “And nice alliteration by the way. I’m so proud.”

Gos groaned. “Great, it’s official, I hang around you way too much.”

Her dad chuckled as he pulled up to the school. They noticed Honker sitting by a tree at the front of the school reading a book. When he looked up, he looked surprised to see them here on time.  

“Have fun today, Gos. Don’t beat the other kids too badly. Leave them with some dignity.”

Goslyn grinned as she pulled her bike out of the back seat of the car.

“No promises, dad.”

Next>

I hope you all liked the first chapter! More will be coming soon!

If you all are wondering when Launchpad gets a chance to sleep, he does it after he brings Scrooge to his work. Scrooge often doesn’t need him until he has to go home for the day, so he sleeps in the limo. Launchpad is the type of person that doesn’t need much sleep anyway.

I love what this new series is doing with Darkwing but I really wanted to write a fic where the modern Ducktales meets the original Gos and Darkwing. I will be ignoring a few things from canon, so for this fic, LP lives in St Canard and Della hasn’t come back yet.

#ducktales #darkwing duck #ducktales 2017 #drake mallard #ducktales fanfic #maydaygirlfanfiction

[astrodances]

Into the Inferno

Just some silly Scroldie date-night shenanigans with some Rosa references sprinkled in for good measure. ;)

Slight warning for implied "amorous activities" and a semi-clothed Goldie.

—

Lucky them that whenever the rest of the family hears loud thumping and the occasional crash coming from Uncle Scrooge’s room, they know to stay away from that wing of the mansion for the night. Beakley has gotten it down to a science of herding the kids together for a movie night long before any amorous activities begin.

They’re more grateful than usual for it on this night, however, but not because of what Beakley thinks they’re doing, at least not yet.

A part of Scrooge almost wants to laugh at the sight of Goldie standing on the foot of his bed, hands on her hips and his hat lopsided on her head. She took it from him after tossing her evening shawl in his face as a coy distraction, and now he leaves it running parallel to his scarf around his neck. Whatever point she wants to make from her vantage point, well, she certainly has his attention for it now.

“Let’s go over this one more time,” Goldie dictates, rocking back on her heels to test the mattress underneath her. They’re both just a little tipsy, but that, if anything, has contributed to an extra-playful mood tonight. “When a damsel- no, when I’m standing on the edge of a burning stage, flames threatening to consume me at any second, what do you not do?”

Scrooge grumbles a century-old sigh and repeats the lesson she’s reminded him of at least half-a-dozen times over the past few hours. “Stand there like a big dope.”

“Right. And what do you do?”

“Let the hose brigade come and rescue you.”

“Scrooge!”

He laughs and ducks out of the line of sight of her ire, having had way too much fun giving her wrong answers, before rolling his eyes and giving her the one she wants. “Throw aside my pride and save ye.”

“There ya go,” she nods in approval. “Now, let’s try it.” With an extra flair of dramatics, Goldie clears her throat and raises the back of her hand to her head, swooning, “Oh!”

Scrooge, for all he’s worth, dives into past character and bounds up onto his bed in three steps, carrying on with his lines from that fateful night. “Goldie, I-“

Yet just when he should catch her fainting form, Goldie ducks out of reach of his arm and spins out on the post of his bed to swing herself back around, hanging on with a hand on the frame as she watches him sprawl beak-first into his pillows. The tails of his tuxedo coat have ridden up onto his back and all semblance of dignity seems to leave him while he sinks into the mattress. Her melodious laugh does nothing to help, except to prompt him to glare back at her while leaning on his elbow.

“Whoops, you missed me, tiger,” she sings innocently.

With a low growl, Scrooge slowly begins to turn around on his hands and knees like he’s stalking his prey. She wants to play that game? Fine by him. The King of the Klondike always gets his gold in the end. “Trust me, I won’t make that mistake again,” he warns with a scheming grin, and then he pounces.

He leaps forward, scrambling towards her amid a flurry of kicked-up comforter, and she hops off the bed to give chase.

It continues like this for several minutes: Scrooge thinks he has Goldie cornered, only for her to use whatever’s at hand to throw him off his game. A chair gets knocked over; their footsteps pound hard on the floor; her shrieks of surprise when his hand grazes across her hip fill the air with merriment. They’re like two young Victorian lovers, not giving a care to the prim and proper society to which they belong as they let loose.

When she runs into his walk-in closet and pulls the door shut, he knows he has her. With the distinct click of the inner lock on her part, he knows she knows it, too.

“That was pretty foolish of ye, lass,” Scrooge chuckles through the door, crossing his arms as he leans against it. “I have a key, ye know.”

He waits for a retort, but when none come, he reaches into a vase on the nearby dresser to pull out the key. Sure, walking blindly into a closed room with Goldie O’Gilt inside is a dangerous idea, he reasons, but that’s just his life. And besides, he has an idea.

Door unlocked, Scrooge slips in as quickly as possible and locks the door behind him again. The lights are out, which gives him the advantage since no one knows his closet better than him. But that doesn’t stop his heart from beating mercilessly in his ears.

“Oh, Scrooooge...” Goldie lilts from the shadows.

Coat rack. Bingo.

“Yes, my love?” he plays along, sneaking forward with calculated steps.

“Think fast!”

“Huh- pfft!”

A face-full of fabric nails Scrooge in the beak, obscuring his vision while a certain vixen zooms past him. He tries to reach out to grab her, but ends up with air. When he finally pulls the fabric from his face, finding the closet door wide open and bedroom light pouring in, he notices that it isn’t one of his broadcloth coats like he thought she’d thrown at him, but a dress. Her dress.

His eyes fly wide in stunned realization of what’s awaiting him back in his bedroom and, without wasting any more time, he runs to the doorway to spot her, intent on catching her this time. Yet instead of finding what he thought he was going to find, he stumbles across an entirely different scene.

Goldie stands in front of his mirror, still wearing his hat, but now admiring herself in one of his red coats, spinning every which way to get a better angle. They’re all good... he thinks hopelessly.

“I can see why you wear these, Scroogie.”

She hasn’t bothered to tie it closed, he notices as he takes imperceptible steps towards her, and that suits him just fine.

“Warm, durable, lots of pockets.” Pulling it close, she gives the collar a sniff and shuts her eyes with a dreamy sigh. “Mmm, smells like your cologne.”

There are a million things the image of her in his coat is doing to him, and they all work to propel him further forward while he asks, “Can I have my coat back?”

“You would like that, wouldn’t you?” When he nods with an incriminating gulp, she smirks. “Still gotta catch me then!”

Goldie begins her escape once again, but Scrooge is ready this time. When she tries to slip past between him and his bed, he grabs the ends of his scarf and her wrap around his neck and lassoes them around her, earning another gleeful shriek as he pulls her right against him. Their breaths mingle in the limited space between their beaks, and her hands land on his at his hips in a frivolous attempt to push him away.

“Saved ye,” he announces in a victorious hush.

Scrooge guides their path back to his bed, his eyes never leaving hers as they fall together on the mattress and revive each other with deep, drawn-out kisses. When he breaks away, it’s only for a moment to give her fair warning.

“Now it’s my turn to show you what would’ve happened next.”

#DuckTales #Scrooge McDuck #Goldie O'Gilt #scroldie #my fanfics

[an-aspiring-jester]

Since you reblogged that ask post: how did you get into the Ducks? (Particularly Darkwing--I've been a fan of DW since I was a kid.)

Wow, that was quick! :D I’m so happy!

Okay, so I wasn’t much into Ducks as a kid - I never watched Ducktales, I sometimes borrowed Donald Duck comics from my cousin, who used to collect them, but it was a casual read, I found them funny but not that emotionally investing, or particulary interesting. And then the new Ducktales pilot dropped, I heard great reviews, and decided to check it. I fell in love instantly - it had all of my favourite tropes, a has-been hero returns to glory, estranged family coming together, uraveling secrets... I’ve always seen Scrooge just as a cartoony one-dimensional greedy mean miser played for laughs, I never realized he used to be this epic adventurer. I found about Don Rosa’s Life and Times, and after reading it, Scrooge suddenly became one of my all time favourite characters, with complex personaity and background. I went through even more comics, classic Barks etc, which only cemented my love. I watched a few episodes of original Ducktales as well, but I don’t plan on continuing for now. They were cute, and I guess nostalgic, but at the moment didn’t pull me in the way new show did.

As for Darkwing - as I kid I never even knew he EXISTED! In Poland we only had like, 7 episodes, out of order, and they weren’t even the best ones (aside from the pilot). I first learned about him when it was announced he’s gonna appear in DT, and everyone got excited, and I had no idea why. So I did a research. And honestly, I never expected to like the show as much as I did! I was expecting this old boring formula of incopetent moron as a hero and genius child who does all the work and gets none of the credit, etc… instead I got one of the best parent-child relationship on TV ever, perfect balance of comedy and actual skill in the hero, flawed but charming personality, and, gosh, I think Drake is now a MAJOR competition for Scrooge as my favourite! (That didn’t come though until I started to binge english episodes - for me Jim Cummings IS Drake, and he was so much better than the polish dub!) So yeah, I absolutely loved it, I drag my friend into the fandom as well, and I’ve come up with TONS of scenarios how they can make him real in DT world. :)

So, when the Duck Knight Returns aired, I was basically screaming in delight for two hours after it ended and couldn’t focus on anything for the rest of the day! XD They basically did exactly what I DIDN’T want (I thought that Drake being inspired by the TV show would be cheap and boring) but they added the twist and charm to it, and executed it so perfectly, that it’s easily one of my favourite episodes now. I wasn’t half this excited for Della’s return! I think original will forever hold my heart, but I’m excited to see where they’d take this new Drake.

Wow, this got long. Once again - thank you for the ask! I hope you have a wonderful day! You just made mine. ;)

#asks make me happy #mine #darkwing duck #ducktales

[vateacancameos]

Chapters: 1/1 Words: 2263 Fandom: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Aziraphale & Crowley (Good Omens), Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens) Characters: Aziraphale (Good Omens), Crowley (Good Omens) Additional Tags: Autumn, Post-Canon, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, So much fluff your teeth will ache, Gen or Pre-Slash, we'll be getting into slash territory in the rest of this series, adorable Aziraphale, cranky crowley, but not really, he's too busy having heart eyes to put in the effort, Footnotes, gross overuse of footnotes, my footnotes have footnotes, buckle in people Series: Part 1 of Ineffable Seasons

Summary: Aziraphale coos all over autumn and Crowley tries to pretend he doesn't find it adorable.

Story:

Aziraphale takes a deep breath, a smile on his face, his whole being practically glowing. It’s disgusting. Crowley glances away so he can’t be pulled further into the entrancing vision in front of him. But he looks back as soon as his best friend begins speaking.

“Oh, isn’t it glorious? The crisp temperatures, the smell of falling leaves. Jumpers and cider. And pumpkins.” At this final word, Aziraphale breaks his beatific pose—hands clasped in front of his chest, the sun hitting behind him at just the right angle to give him a halo—Hela,[1] did this angel have no shame—to crouch down and pick up a pumpkin in front of him. He holds it under his arm and throws another smile at Crowley, which has Crowley sighing and rolling his eyes to once again protest this whole silly endeavor. How he’d let himself get roped into this inane activity, he’ll never know.[2]

[1] Crowley, tired of trying to figure out which entity to use when he experiences feelings, has recently started using made-up gods instead, starting with the gods of the underworlds. He hasn’t found one that works yet, but he’s willing to try them all if necessary.

[2] It certainly has nothing to do with the strategically sweet and pleading face that had greeted him when he’d entered the bookshop to pick up his favorite angel[3] for lunch.

[3] The only angel he even deigns to like, in point of fact.

“Seriously, angel?” Crowley asks, sliding his sunglasses down just far enough to allow Aziraphale to see the disbelief in his eyes. “Autumn is terrible. Now winter, that’s the best season. Everyone harried and worried about money. Slushy rain and wet socks. Furnaces that stall or overheat. People stuck in their houses wearing terrible jumpers, forced to interact with family members they hate. Shoveling snow, if you live in a place that has that. Yeah, winter is a good one …” He lets himself grow nostalgic, remembering his favorite winters past.

“Oh pish. I’ve seen you light up like a child when seeing Christmas light displays. The closest you get to Scrooge is as him on Christmas morning, buying up roasted meat for the poor children of this world,” Aziraphale argues with a fond eye roll.[4]

[4] Let the reader note that, in fact, the closest Crowley gets to Scrooge is when David Tennant voices Scrooge McDuck on the DuckTales revival, including a great Christmas episode that employs meta jokes that reference Doctor Who, another popular show David Tennant played a part in. This author suggests you check out both shows if you have not yet done so. She’ll wait for you to get back. Okay, back now? Good. That was fun, wasn’t it? 

“That’s not– Ngh– I do n–. Stop it right now, or I’ll shove you into the back of the Bentley and take you right back to your bookshop, no cider and certainly no pumpkins.”

Aziraphale’s mouth drops open, and Hades help him, Crowley can’t tell how real or manufactured the look is. The angel often does an amazing impression of being completely innocent, but there are times that his naivety is real.

“You wouldn’t dare. You’re too–”

“Bless it,[5] angel, if you say nice–”

[5] Sometimes Crowley forgets and falls back on old curses and blesses. He’s been using them for millennia, after all. 

[read the rest under the cut or over at ao3.]

Aziraphale shoots him an exasperated look. “Of course not. I was going to say you’re too invested in teasing me for my every autumnal exclamation today to back out now.” He raises an eyebrow in challenge.

Dear Persephone, he’s right. From the moment Aziraphale had asked for a ride to the autumn festival/pumpkin patch monstrosity,[6] Crowley had been coming up with ways to tease him for his love of the season and all its trappings.[8]

[6] Complete with corn maze, cider, too many games involving gourds, and a—he can’t believe he’s even thinking of it—a hayride. Really, humans are far better than he is at inventing pure misery.[7] 

[7] Let the author again note how amazing she thinks autumn is. That being said, hayrides are itchy, dusty, and bumpy, and you’re stuck sitting far too close to excitedly screeching children. She doesn’t blame Crowley for hating them. 

[8] Just wait until Aziraphale turns the tables at Christmas. 

Crowley acquiesces with a flop of his hand that he knows Aziraphale will read as both “Fine, fine, you caught me, I want to tease you,” and “Fine, let’s go look at these gourds you’re so interested in. Did you by any chance spend too much time in the New World back when it was still new?”[9]

[9] It was only new to the dumb, egotistical Europeans, though. It was plenty old to the native peoples of that continent by the time the Europeans showed up. 

Aziraphale beams, gently placing the pumpkin back on the ground and dusting off his hands and jumper.

“Did you buy that jumper just for today?” Crowley asks as they begin strolling through the pumpkin patch/festival/field of torture. “I don’t think I’ve seen you in one before.”

Aziraphale somehow smiles even more brightly. Crowley is glad he’s wearing his sunglasses.[10] The angel pats the fuzzy, cabled, oatmeal affair covering his upper body. “Do you like it? I saw it in a window display and it just called to me. And it was right after the weather began to turn, and I just had to try it on. And then it was so soft and warm, I couldn’t not buy it. It’s like being wrapped in a hug.[11] I thought today would be the perfect time to debut it. It might get regular rotation with my jacket this autumn and winter.”

[10] To shade his eyes from the terrible angelic brilliance, of course. It has nothing to do with hiding his reaction to said smile.

[11] Crowley would love to be wrapped in a– nope. Nope. That thought will not see the light of day.

“Mm hm,” Crowley responds, quite brilliantly. “Oh look, the cider booth.”

“Oh! Cider? That sounds lov–”

“I’ll just get one for you, shall I?”

He hopes Aziraphale will find another squash to coo over, but he feels his presence next to him as soon as he’s queued up, but he’s cheerfully quiet. They wait in comfortable silence for the people in front of them to get their ciders, Aziraphale’s wide eyes taking in every aspect of the event, and Crowley softens. He enjoys teasing his best friend—doesn’t think their friendship would have survived without it, and truthfully Aziraphale can give as good as he gets, so he doesn’t feel guilty for it[12]—but he also does genuinely enjoy seeing Aziraphale enjoying himself. That smile can have Crowley walking on air for days, even when it isn’t directed at him. It’s the reason he asks the angel out to lunch so often, despite himself being the type to drink his meal rather than eat it. There’s nothing better than watching Aziraphale eat. Or find a new book to fall in love with. Or … yes, even enjoy this absolutely awful season they currently find themselves living in.

[12] Not that demons ever feel guilty. Crowley makes a single exception for back in the beginning and the thing with the humans and the apple. But they don’t talk about that.

They finally make it to the front of the queue, where Crowley asks for one cider, extra cinnamon, for Aziraphale, and one mulled wine[13] for himself.

[13] Which the vendor is surprised to find she has, despite winter still being a good few months away.

They start strolling again, and Crowley lets the angel choose the direction, following along, like he always does, as he always will do.

“I don’t understand it.”

“No surprise there, angel. You may be smart, but sometimes daily life confuses you.”

“Oh hush, you,” Aziraphale admonishes with no heat, patting Crowley’s arm, which has unknowingly been tucked into by Aziraphale’s non-cider-holding hand. That’s been happening a lot lately, but Crowley’s not about to call attention to it, lest it stop. “What I meant was, you said mere months ago that—and I quote—‘I like spooky.’ At the old satanic hospital in Tadfield, if you remember.”

“If I remember? As if I could forget any part of that God-forsaken[14] week.”

[14] Yeah, he means that appellation there. Do you hear that, God?[15]

[15] Yes, She hears that. The author (and Crowley) would do well to remember that the game She plays is complicated and ineffable, thank you very much.

“Well, anyway. That’s beside the point. The point is, you like spooky.” Here, Aziraphale punctuates his words with more arm pats. “And autumn is when Samhain[16] occurs. You can’t have spooky without autumn.

[16] Pronounced saah-wn. Not Sam-hain, like they said on Supernatural that one time, which shows how little research TV writers sometimes do. This author is not stupidly obsessed with this fact. At. All.

Crowley rolls his eyes. “Most spooky these days is over-manufactured swill sold to the masses for profit. It’s torture porn or silly ghosts. None of it frightens me.”[17]

[17] Except the current U.S. president. Now that shit’s scary.[18]

[18] Head office tried to give him a commendation for that whole debacle, but he noped right out of that one.

“Torture porn?” Aziraphale asks, a disgusted and confused wrinkle in his brow.

“Yeah, porn is a term current humans use to mean anything over-indulged in, but it has nothing to do with sexual acts. Well, most of it. Like, torture porn, food porn, space porn.” Aziraphale looks more disturbed the longer Crowley speaks, so he waves it away. “Never mind. I’m just saying, none of that manufactured spooky does anything for me.”

They come to a booth with caramel popcorn, and without even looking at his angel, Crowley signals for a bag, handing it over to Aziraphale as he counts out the correct number of coins. Aziraphale sighs happily and begins munching on it immediately.

“You’re just a stick-in-the-mud,” he says, going back to their conversation.

“Excuse me? I’m the stick-in-the-mud, Mr. I’ve-worn-the-same-jacket-for-one-hundred-and-eighty-years?”

“You’d do well to remember your car is ninety years old.”

“Practically new compared to your old smelly coat.”

Aziraphale’s jaw-drop this time is definitely not feigned. “You take that back. You said it looked good on me.”

“Yeah, in 1840.”

Aziraphale looks truly hurt. “It’s my favorite,” he says quietly, and Crowley relents. He can’t not, when he’s up against that face.

“It’s a nice coat, angel. But it’s good seeing you in something else for once.”

“Thank you, my dear. But the point is, you have no room to call me a stick-in-the-mud. Autumn is wonderful, and you can’t take that away from me.”

Crowley tries and fails to hide his smile. “How’s the popcorn?”

“Perfect!” Aziraphale says, the glow coming back to him. “This is all perfect. The weather could not be more beautiful or autumnal. I can smell spices and caramel and corn husks. The pumpkins look a particularly brilliant shade of orange this year. There are happy people all around. It’s lovely.”

Crowley looks around, seeing a particularly fiendish child twirling his unaware sister’s hair around a candied apple—who he silently cheers on—a small toddler screaming their head off when their parental figure offers them a pumpkin, a couple fighting near the corn maze. The stench of city and human beings is far too strong to be drowned by the sweets and spices, though it does fight for dominance with the moldering leaves blanketing the ground. And though the weather is nice now, he can see a storm building in the distance. They’d do well to hurry through the rest of the festival before they get caught in a chilly downpour.

But He won’t suggest this. He’ll follow his angel as he coos at the children posing for pictures with goofy scarecrows, as he bounces over to the candied apple vendor for a (non-twisted-in-hair) treat, as he begs with his soulful eyes for a hayride. He’ll follow his angel to the end of the world. He’s already done so, and he’d do it all over again if he had to. He’ll let them get caught in the freezing, miserable rain because Aziraphale is too taken with the pumpkin carving contest to notice the darkening clouds, though he will miracle them dry as soon as he’s able. He’ll follow his angel back into his shop, lugging the bag of things Aziraphale didn’t have enough arms to carry himself, and too big of eyes and stomach to not buy.

Aziraphale will light a fire, make two cups of whiskey-spiked chai, and wiggle his way into his favorite chair in the back room. Crowley will follow, landing on the sofa that has molded to his angles and long legs. They’ll talk about Poe and Mary Shelley. Crowley will talk Aziraphale into watching Young Frankenstein. Then Aziraphale will beg to be allowed to read aloud “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar,”[19] and Crowley will concede it’s just a little spooky. Though only just a little.

And though he won’t say it out loud, Crowley will think that maybe, just maybe, autumn isn’t so bad, when you’ve got your favorite person by your side.

[19] Read it here. 

#good omens #fanfic #autumn #autumn mood #ao3 #meagan writes

[solarmorrigan]

Reruns - Ducktales 2017 - established fenpad

The afternoon was, for once, a peaceful one. No adventures, no international crises, no villains or mad inventions – just Fenton and Launchpad, relaxing on the improbably comfortable couch in Launchpad’s apartment (or Mr. McDuck’s garage; Fenton wasn’t entirely sure what to call it, but he was growing increasingly fond of it, regardless).

There was little space between them, with Launchpad on one end of the couch and Fenton stretched out over the remaining cushions, leaning back into Launchpad’s side in a casual sort of occupation of space that Fenton still reveled in. It was an afternoon for anything or nothing, and they enjoyed the laidback freedom in comfortable quiet; Launchpad was occupied by a pile of comics that had built up over the last few busy weeks and Fenton was skimming a back issue of a science journal he’d borrowed from Gyro, while pretending that his eyelids weren’t drooping ever lower as the afternoon wore on.

Gizmoduck duties, though part of his job, were wearing to keep up with when Gyro seemed to have no problem finding many, many things for him to do around the lab, but Fenton wouldn’t give either aspect of his life up for anything; finally he felt useful, his mind occupied and his ideas acknowledged (Mr. McDuck always listened to Fenton’s feedback when it came to keeping the city secure, saying he needed the opinion of the person with their boots on the ground—so to speak—but Fenton was also fairly certain Gyro was coming around to paying his ideas at least some mind). Still, coffee only took Fenton so far, and the ease of the afternoon was pulling him down, and down–

“Oh, it’s two o’ clock!”

Fenton jerked from his doze, tensing and glancing around the room, halfway to alarm before he realized it was Launchpad’s voice that had startled him.

“Two o’ clock?” Fenton asked, shaking his head in an attempt to dislodge the fuzz from his brain.

“Yep!” Launchpad confirmed cheerfully. “Mind if I turn on the TV?”

“Oh, uh – no, go for it,” Fenton resettled himself against Launchpad’s side and attempted to find the last paragraph he remembered reading, only to be pulled from his concentration by the sound of a distantly familiar theme song.

Looking over, Fenton squinted at the TV; the title sequence was so familiar, but why–? “Wait,” the realization hit when a purple-caped figure came galivanting into view, “is this… Darkwing Duck?”

“Yeah! Only the greatest show of all time,” Launchpad enthused.

“Oh man, I haven’t seen this in a really long time,” Fenton turned a little more to see the screen better, magazine all but forgotten in his lap.

“I watched when it was airing the first time around,” Launchpad said. “I’ve got a lot of it on video now, but there’s something about catching it on TV that just feels right.”

“Yeah…” Fenton agreed absently, his memory of the show returning in patches as he watched the scene unfold. “I watched it as a kid, too. My dad and I would watch it together.”

Launchpad glanced down at Fenton, his smile fading back a little. “Oh – did you want me to…?” His hand twitched towards the remote, but Fenton shook his head.

“No, it’s – it’s a good memory. Leave it on,” Fenton couldn’t blame Launchpad for his uncertainty – he didn’t speak much about his father, if only for how few memories Fenton retained of him before his death, but it had never been a subject he’d meant to make taboo. “I liked this show.”

Grinning again, Launchpad left the remote where it was and instead wrapped his arm around Fenton’s shoulders when Fenton shifted to curl into his side and give the show fuller attention. Fenton didn’t bother to quell the smile that formed on his own beak as the faded, sweet nostalgia of the Darkwing Duck he remembered from watching with his father entwined with the warm new experience of watching with Launchpad, and when the first villainous confrontation began to play out onscreen, Fenton couldn’t help but murmur along with the winged crusader. “I am the terror that flaps in the night…”

“I am the winged scourge that pecks at your nightmares,” came Launchpad’s unexpected reply.

Glancing over with a little laugh, Fenton searched his memory of the show. “I am… the little roller-skate at the base of villainy’s staircase?”

“I am the metal key on the sardine can of justice!”

“I am the chill that runs up your spine!”

“I am the wrong number that wakes you at 3 AM!”

“I am the spider who nips at your neck!”

“I am the icky bug that crawls up your trouser leg!”

“I am – I– I am,” Fenton finally lost the fight to the laughter he’d been holding back, unable to finish his sentence and instead giggling so hard that he lost his balance and tumbled across Launchpad’s lap.

Above him, Launchpad joined in Fenton’s mirth, chuckling along even as he put a hand on Fenton’s shoulder to keep him from rolling off the couch entirely.

When his laughter began to fade and Fenton caught his breath back, he beamed up at Launchpad from his spot sprawled across his legs. “I am… really happy to be here,” he said, less boisterously than he had exclaimed any of Darkwing Duck’s catchphrases, but with even more sincerity.

“Yeah?” Launchpad asked, expression brimming with the unchecked sort of joy that Fenton loved to see in him.

“Yeah,” Fenton agreed, leaning up to press a kiss to the side of Launchpad’s bill.

“Good,” Launchpad said, running his fingers up through the feathers on the back of Fenton’s head, “because I’m really happy, too.”

There was no better response to that, Fenton decided, than to lean into the kiss that Launchpad pulled him up for, and to break it only when they were both smiling too hard to continue.

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