#like either have him be actually scottish or have him be african

[shadowjinx626]

You know what, I thinks it's stupid that Ducktales thinks it's smart for acting like Mark Beak is racist with his microaggressions against Fenton and have the tone treat it as a bad thing.

When you have Duke Baloney, a Southern African character, change his name to Flintheart Glomgold and pretended to be a stereotypical Scottish guy, just so he one-up the actual Scottish character, Scrooge McDuck. And have the tone treat his actions as if it's one of his many funny character quirks.

[flyonthewallmedstudent]

Leishmaniasis

Case Reports, like we're on a episode of house

23M in Kenya, presenting with months of LOW, persistent fevers, and abdo fullness, found to have massive splenomegaly.

examination: massive splenomegaly (10 cm below costophrenic margin, and will definitely cross midline) and hepatomegaly

pancytopaenic on bloods, plt's down to 40s

diagnosis confirmed on BMAT (parasite seen)

normal HIV, liver and kidney function

Bodies seen on the BMAT below are part of the lifecycle of the parasite that is intracellular, hence you can see the macrophages/neutrophils loaded with them, even bursting

What is it:

think of it when you get a patient with pancytopaenia and hepatosplenomegaly, who either traveled to or is in/from a tropical/subtropic region (where sand flies are)

cause - protozoa parasite Leishmania, transmitted by infected sandflies

Epidemio (when to consider it)

tropics, subtropics (South America, Asia, AFrica), Southern Europe

Microbiology/Transmission

parasite, replicates intracellularly (Leishmania donovani)

transmitted in sand flies (can be unnoticeable and usually bite in dawn or dusk - evenings or night), can also be transmitted via needles/blood

more common in rural areas

I've simplified this, but is more extensively covered in StatPearls and Wiki (there's different species of Leish and sandflies that transmit it)

once bitten, the protozoa are phagocystosed by skin macrophages, which then becomes full of the "bodies" (part of the lifecycle). Eventually these burst to release more of the bodies that infect more macrophages

they eventually are spread via blood to liver/spleen/BM and LNs

Random history:

ancient, records of disease date back to Egyptian mummies from 3000 BC --> positive DNA amplication for Leishmania and on papyrus from 1500 BC

multiple physicians from different times have described the disease, but it's named for 2 who described the parasite's intracellular ovoid body stage in smears from infected patients in India: Lt General William Boog Leishman and Captain Charles Donovan (Ronald Ross named the bodies after the 2 --> "Leishman Donovan bodies"

significant disease in Allied troops in Sicily in WWII, called "jericho buttons" (image on wiki from a WWI trooper serving in the middle east)

Leishman: Scottish pathologist and British Army medical officer, later it's director general in the 20s, did extensive research into the parasite named for him by Sir Ronald Ross. He mistook the parasite he observed for trypanosomes (cause of Chagas in South America and African sleeping sickness in Africa)

Donovan: Irish parasitologist, medical officer in India, observed an epidemic across India just after the rebellion of 1857, discovered the "bodies" in spleen tissue as the causative agent for what the locals called "kala azar" (severe visceral leishmaniasis - see below)

Donovan also discovered the "bodies" of Klebsiella granulomatis, hence these too are named after him (cause of ulcerative granulomas)

It became scandalous as both wanted credit for the "discovery" of this newly identified organism. So Sir Ronald Ross named it for both of them.

Sir Ron, by the way, won a Nobel in Medicine for discovering that malaria is transmitted via mossies (this was also a source of scandal, he was meant to share it with another physician who he accused of fraud - and they never received the award)

finally, it was actually a Russian physician who identified it first, but well, he published in a little known Russian journal which was promptly forgotten.

Clinical features

cutaneous type vs visceral organ type (spleen, liver, bones)

From wiki

can be asymptomatic

cutnaeous: can be there for years and resemble leprosy, causes an open chronic wound (most common), incubation 2-4 weeks on average (nodules at site of inoculation that eventually form ulcers), can heal spontaneously in 2-5 yrs

in diffuse cutaneous cases, can affect face, ears, extensor surfaces

can be muscosal = eg nasal symptoms/epistaxis, severe: perforated septum, this occurs in 1/3 after resolution of cutaenous symptoms (can be severe/lifte threatning, as it can affect vocal cords and cartilage, but oddly not bone)

visceral (incubation periods of up to years until immuncompromise): fever, weight loss, hepatosplenomegaly (spleen more than liver), pancytoaepnia, high total protein and low albumin with hypergammaglobulinaemia

this has seasonal peaks related to sandfly habits and humidity

interestingly it is an infective cause of massive splenomegaly, such that it crosses the midline

Extreme - but noticeable hepatosplenomgealy/abdo fullness, from medscape

can be atypical in HIV co infected patients, LAD in seom regions like Africa

Kala azar = black fever in some severe cases (fatal due to secondary mycobacterial infection or bleeding), refers to damage fto spleen, liver and anaemia

invstigations:

serology not great (minimal humoral response to the parasite), so often requires histopath (tissue sample) for which BMAT is safest in visceral organ involvement

visualisation of amastigotes (or Leishman-Donovan bodies), as intracellular --> can be seen in macrophages (small round bodies) post Giemsa staining

PCR of DNA also possible (as done in the Egyptian mummies)

Image source:

Treatment

liposomal amphotericin B (holy shit strong stuff) in visceral, PO: miltefosine (caution in pregnancy), all have significant ADRs, or paromycin. however, mortality of 10% if visceral left untreated

mixed results with azoles

in HIV co infection - start the HAARTs! can improve survival, mortality is 30% in HIV patients

cutaneous: stibolgluconate (have never heard of these drugs) and megluaine antimoniate, but limited disease often spotnaeously gets cleared by the innate system

prevention:

use DEET insect repellant at dawn and dusk

loose fitting clothing that covers all skin

no vaccine (were attempts at vaccinating dogs, which decreased rates)

sandflies are smaller than mossies, so requires small netting

Differentials for hepatosplenomegaly

Sources:

WHO guidelines

CDC guidlelines

Wiki - Haven't covered pathophysio, but wiki does extensively

StatPearls

DermNet - great resource for all things derm, that my derm colleagues pointed out to me

[jes12321]

Scooby Doo Redesign

Because I cannot stop thinking about it.

[art credits at bottom]

Fred Jones

💙 Frederick Steven Jones

💙 19 years old

💙 he/him

💙 Currently identifies as bisexual, but he’s still figuring it out.

💙 Autism

💙 Caucasian (like, the whitest boy to ever white)

💙 Adopted by a middle class family as a baby. Considers his birth parents the biggest mystery yet.

💙 Mom friend of The Gang. He has a satchel that’s really just a mom purse that he takes on all the mysteries. It has baby wipes in it.

💙 Is the one who got the whole Gang to really start hanging out. He dragged them along on their first mystery. Apparently almost dying is a big bonding experience.

💙 Owns the Mystery Machine. He bought it at a junk yard and fixed it up himself. It was a labor of love and he cares about it more than anything in the world (except maybe his friends)

💙 Hyperfixates on mystery and/or traps.

Shaggy Rogers

💚 Norville Dennis Rogers

💚 20 years old

💚 he/him or they/them

💚 Pansexual demiboy

💚 Anxiety, ADHD

💚 Black/African-American

💚 Born into a new-money, rich family. They were very supportive of Shaggy when he told them he didn’t want to take over the family business.

💚 He is usually either stress eating for has the munchies.

💚 Scooby Doo is his support animal. He doesn’t do the best job (considering) but it’s the thought that counts and Scoob would never leave Shaggy hanging.

💚 Got the name “Shaggy” In kindergarten because he refused to let the barber cut his hair all year.

💚 Has a prescription for medical marijuana. Uses it liberally.

Velma Dinkley

🧡 Velma Ruth Dinkley

🧡 18 years old (baby of The Gang)

🧡 she/her or they/them

🧡 Lesbian

🧡 Autism

🧡 Jewish-Mexican

🧡 Both of her parents are Jewish-Mexican as well. They own a small tourist shop in their town and live comfortably enough to be considered middle-class.

🧡 Has literally the worst vision ever. Lenses so thick she has to get a special coating on them so they aren’t so heavy.

🧡 Doesn’t necessarily believe in God or religion, but still practices because it was mostly how she bonded with her parents as a kid.

🧡 Skipped a grade in elementary school. She could have skipped another, but her parents didn’t want her to be with kids that much older than her.

🧡 Hyperfixates on different science fields and history. Comes in handy a lot during mysteries.

Daphne Blake

💜 Daphne Ann Chun Blake

💜 19 years old

💜 she/her

💜 Bisexual transgender

💜 ADHD

💜 Korean-Scottish

💜 Born into an old-money, rich family. Her parents have very high expectations of her and often compare her to her older sisters.

💜 Her mother is Scottish and her father is Korean. He took her last name when they married, but Daphne and all her sisters have the second middle name “Chun” because that was his family name. Somehow Daphne and all her sisters got their mom’s red hair.

💜 When she came out as trans to her parents, they were actually really supportive because they had always wanted all daughters.

💜 Jack of all trades. Her parents made her do everything they could think of to make her “well-rounded” which just ended with her having a lot of random skills.

💜 Has difficulty sticking to one thing for too long before getting bored of it. The mysteries keep her on her toes.

Other info

❤️ The Gang met in a history class they all had together. Shaggy was a senior and needed to retake the class to graduate. The rest of the gang were juniors.

❤️ They are all in a polyamorous relationship with each other. I might make a chart later. Who knows?

❤️ Scooby talks. There is no explanation. No one questions it.

❤️ They are a family. This is very important. They all care about each other.

Art Credits

Also show support on their website:

[nah-thanks-m8]

do you have any headcanons or AUs for riyira?

I do actually (mostly regarding how they speak since I read the stories aloud)!

Royce speaks usually in a monotone, I'm using my standard American accent, a little bit rougher, and a little deeper than my voice. He usually colder when he speaks, and raises his voice only on occasion.

Hadrian is a Scottish boi, I don't make the rules. I got that idea from when we got to see the village where he grew up. He usually sounds like he's smiling, and his voice is pitched just a bit higher than Royce's to balance out Arista's angry, almost-yelling voice.

Gwen's voice is very smooth and rich; deep and comforting, with a hint of an accent (I went for a mix of Greek and Italian for where Calais is in-universe). I would have felt weird imitating the accents of any Middle Eastern or African nations.

Arista is throaty and assertive. She speaks in a forceful, upper-class American accent (think East Coast Old Money/Robber Baron), and her voice is lower and serves to balance out Hadrian's lighter tone.

Alric is a little shit (especially at the beginning of Theft of Swords). He has the same accent as Arista, but is infinitely whinier. His voice is a bit nasally, and higher pitched, but lowers over the course of the books.

Myron's voice is soft and sweet as he is but is a little sad. His voice is higher pitched, floaty instead of nasal. His voice contains a childlike wonder at the world around him, but imbued with quiet confidence.

Albert Winslow sounds like a Southern Gentleman Who Didn't Own Slaves but is Super Oblivious.

Mauvin, Fanen, and the rest of the Pickering troupe have the same style speech as Alric and Arista, but they sound decidedly more Scandinavian. Mauvin sounds reedy, Fanen sounds breathy, Denek sounds more childlike, and Lenare has a more musical voice.

Esrahaddon has a British accent, for which I just imitated Tom Hiddleston. He is either slightly amused or super scary, and Hiddleston works for both.

Bishop Saldur sounds like Emperor Palpatine. No I will not be elaborating.

Modina/Thrace has another voice that changes over time. She starts out small and soft, and slightly Irish sounding, as do the people of her village. In later books, she retains the Irish lilt but her voice deepens and becomes more commanding as she grows into her title of Empress.

Magnus is from Brooklyn, and, like his character, softens over time. He begins angry, nasal, and sharp, and becomes a lot more measured as the story goes on.

All of the other characters are usually Mississippi Southern, Minnesota Midwestern, East End London, New York, Irish, Scottish or the Italian/Greek mixture depending on where we are and where they're from.

Most of the Elven characters have Eastern European accents.

Let me know if there's anything else you want to know or if I missed anyone, I love answering questions!

[octaviasdread]

any girls! dark academia movie recs? i really struggle to find anything not about a group of boys (as much as I love them)

SO MANY!!! This is probably a far more detailed answer than you were expecting but this is a popular question and I want to keep a list for myself and others.

Feel free to add to it/give opinions. I've tried to give a tw for anything I can remember

Girls! Dark Academia Movies/TV Shows

Mona Lisa Smile (2003)

1950s Women’s college

Art professor! Julia Roberts

She’s legit the female Mr Keating of the art & college world

Feminism vs. Tradition

Maggie Gyllenhall x Ginnifer Goodwin; their characters were more than friends. Fight me.

Does not end how you expect

Strike!/All I Wanna Do/The Hairy Bird (1998)

MY FAVOURITE!!!

Free on YouTube under one of its various names

Comedy

1960s all girls boarding school

Young Kirsten Dunst

Group of girls plot to sabotage a merger with a boys school less prestigious than their own

Secret attic clubhouse meetings of the D.A.R aka Daughters of the American Ravioli (eaten cold, ew)

girls get political & advocate for their rights using ANY elaborate and chaotic scheme

TW: eating disorder, vomiting & creepy male teacher but the girls plot against him too

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)

based on a short book I read for uni by Muriel Spark

1930s girls school in Edinburgh

Scottish teacher! Maggie Smith, controversial with a focus on romantic ideals

Spoiler alert, the liberal teacher is actually a fascist

Her group of fave students has cult- vibes and it’s fascinating

Picnic at Hanging Rock

1970s movie or 2018 mini series

Never watched either but I plan to

Wild Child (2008)

00s romcom every UK teen girl loves

Emma Roberts as the spoiled rich American teenager sent to a strict English boarding school

Plots to get herself expelled but oh no she’s making friends with the girls who help her

And the headmistress has a hot son, and he’s nice??? Double oh no

ICONIC SCENES

Everything! Goes! Wrong!

omg she burns the school down

Feel good, comfort, nostalgia

St Trinians (2007)

English girls boarding school

The kids are all criminals, no joke

So are the teachers

CHAOTIC

gay awakening for british girls

Art heist pulled off by school girls

Government tries to shut them down but oh no, the education minister & the headmistress are ex-lovers

Colin Firth x Rupert Everett in drag

Superior cast: Jodie Whittaker, Gemma Arterton, Juno Temple, Stephen Fry, Colin Firth, etc...

embodies the phrase 'problematic fave'

St Trinians 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold (2009)

Mystery, pirate ancestors, hidden treasure

omg Shakespeare was a woman

girls disguised as boys to infiltrate and rob the posh boys school

Villain! David Tennant in that ICONIC boat scene

Teen girls vs. ancient misogynist brotherhood

like the first film but MORE chaotic and BETTER!???

The Falling (2014)

1960s all girls school

best friends! but its unrequited love

Agoraphobic + distant mother aka mommy issues

Sudden death and the school suppresses/ignores the students grief, sparking mass hysteria & a fainting epidemic in the girls

Cast: Maisie Williams (GoT) & Florence Pugh (Little Women) & Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders)

TW: teen pregnancy, death, vomiting, underage s*x, sibling inc*st, past s*xual assault

READ THE PLOT SUMMARY FIRST

The Book Thief (2013)

Based on an amazing book by Markus Zusak

set in 1940s Nazi Germany

Daughter of a communist whose family were taken by the Nazis/died is fostered by an older couple who teach her to read & she paints a dictionary on the basement walls

Coming of age story about a compulsive book thief. No joke, this kid steals books from banned book burnings and breaks into the mayor's library through the window

Family hides the Jewish son of an old friend in their basement and he helps her to start writing about her experiences in the war

TW: death, bombings, WW2 anti-semitism

Mary Shelley (2017)

Overall good & roughly biographical

Pretty costumes and aesthetic

Modern feminist take on Mary Shelly in her own time period

So many INACCURACIES for the drama so don’t take it as truth

Percy Shelley slander and not all of it is justified

Cast: Elle Fanning, Douglas Booth, and Maisie Williams

The Secret Garden (1993)

Based on a fave childhood book

1901 colonial India & Yorkshire, England

Orphaned, spoilt & neglected girl sent to live with her reclusive Uncle in the English countryside

Gothic elements, mysteries, secret doors/passages/locked gardens

local boy with a flock of animals, magic, kids chanting around a fire and all around immaculate vibes

Happy ending!!!

Hidden Figures (2016)

African-American women as mathematicians for NASA

1960s space project

Women balancing a career and family obligations

Deals with racial & gender discrimination

Loosely based on the lives of Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan who worked for NASA as engineers & mathematicians

Anne of Green Gables (1985) & sequel (1987)

Adaptation L.M. Montgomery’s ‘Anne of Green Gables’ books

Canada (late 1890s/early 1900s)

Highly imaginative & bookworm orphan is adopted by a reclusive elderly brother and sister duo

Small town & school years comedic drama

Unrequited Enemies -> Friends -> lovers

Inspiring new woman teacher

Girls re-enact Tennyson’s poem and nearly drown for the aesthetic™

Dramatic poetry reading with INTENSE 👀eye contact👀

Writer! Anne & English teacher! Anne dealing with unruly girls school antics

Collette (2018)

biographical drama on french writer Sidonie-Gabrielle Collette

Victorian & Edwardian era France

More talented than her husband so she ghostwrites for him

Fight for creative ownership of her wildly successful novels

Affairs with a woman called Georgie and also with Missy, born female but masculine presenting

Cast: Keira Knightly, Dominic West, Eleanor Tomlinson (Poldark)

Enola Holmes (2020)

Netflix book adaptation

Younger sister of Sherlock Holmes

Victorian era! feminism/suffragettes

Mother-daughter focus

Mystery, adventure, secret codes, teens running away & escaping from (and eventually fighting) assassins

Cast: Helena Bonham Carter, Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin, Fiona Shaw, Millie Bobby Brown

Ginger & Rosa (2012)

1960s England

best friends since literal birth navigating troubled teen years

poet & anti-nuclear activist! Ginger

off the rails but also catholic! Rosa

Shout out to Mark & Mark the gay godfathers we all want

family troubles 

TW: older man has an affair with a 17 yr old

Testament of Youth (2014)

based on WW1 memoir by Vera Brittain

young woman (writer & poetry lover) escapes traditional family & goes to study at Oxford University

abandons to become a war nurse

romance, tragedy and war trauma

Cast: Alicia Vikander, Kit Harrington (GoT), Taron Edgerton (Rocketman), Colin Morgan (Merlin)

Little Women (2019)

Writer! Jo & Artist! Amy

Mother/daughter focus and sister dynamics

the March sisters’ theatre club is *chefs kiss*

champagne problems edits of Jo x Laurie are a mood

Ambivalent ending perfectly captures Louisa May Alcott’s dilemma with the book the movie is based on

set in 1860s America

ALL STAR CAST and a Greta Gerwig masterpeice

Lady Bird (2017)

coming of age in early 2002/2003 Sacramento, California

all girls catholic school

writer! Christine aka Lady Bird wants to get outta town and start her life again at college 'in a city with culture'

Mother/daughter dynamics - so realistic!

I live for that Jesus car stunt & the nun's reaction

school theatre program

Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Timothee Chalamet, Beanie Feldstein

Another Greta Gerwig gem

Beguiled (2017)

Virginia, civil war era

Girls school with only five students and two teachers left

Find an injured Union army soldier & bring him inside

Women & teenagers want his attention (v. problematic) before uniting against him

(tbh you'll either love it, hate it, or watch once & forget it)

Sofia Coppola film so its very feminine gaze

TW: violence, death, underage

Legally Blonde (2001)

No questions will be taken

Elle Woods was the blue print

TV series:

House of Anubis (2011-2013)

I know it’s a kids/young teen show but I still unironically love it

ANCIENT EGYPT!!!!

Modern day with Victorian era links to treasure hunters & Egyptian research expeditions (stealing from tombs)

Chosen one plot lines, curses, kidnapping, mysteries, secret tunnels under the school, elixir of life

Teens have investigate & protect themselves cus oh no the TEACHERS are involved in some shady stuff

new American kid at British boarding school is the actual premise not just a fanfic au

Nostalgic, light-hearted, funny, and kinda cheesy but I will accept no criticism

The Alienist (2018 -now)

Mid 1890s, New York

Woman’s private detective agency (Season 2)

Serial killer mystery

Woman secretary turns detective and teams up with a criminal psychiatrist and a newspaper editor to solve crime

TW: violence, child pr*stit*tion

Cast: Dakota Fanning, Luke Evans, Daniel Bruhl

The Queen’s Gambit (2020)

Woman chess prodigy

1950s & 1960s

TW: drug & alcohol abuse

Gentleman Jack (2019 - now)

Based on the diaries of Anne Lister

Victorian Yorkshire, England

Upper-class lesbians

Confident, suit wearing! Anne Lister x shy! Ann Walker

Business woman! Anne running the family mines

Cast: Suranne Jones (Doctor Foster) & Sophie Rundle (Peaky Blinders)

TW: violence

Gilmore Girls (2000-2007)

bubbly/ambitious single mom + intelligent daughter

bookworm! Rory Gilmore gets into a prestigious private school and then an Ivy League college

Small town drama is comedic gold

Fast dialogue packed with pop culture and literary references

Comforting & nostalgic

TEAM JESS

Anne with an E (2017-2019)

Loose adaptation of L.M. Montgomery’s ‘Anne of Green Gables’ books

they completely change the plot lines but it’s still very good content!

Orphan girl with trauma and a love of books/poetry is adopted by an elderly brother & sister duo, bringing light and fresh ideas to a rural community

Feminism, girls writing club, lgbtq safe spaces, girls eduction, black/indigenous representation

Miss Stacy as THAT inspiring teacher

Aunt Josephine’s lavish gay parties have my heart

TW: creepy male teacher tries to marry a student, racial discrimination, indigenous assimilation school

Victoria (2016-2019)

Adaption of Queen Victoria’s life

Victoria navigating her political, royal, and personal life

Albert’s involvement with The Great Exhibition, 1851 (on cultural + industrial innovations)

Alfred Paget x Edward Drummond is exquisite

Gorgeous costumes and aesthetics

TW: bury your gays trope

Derry Girls (2018-now)

1990s Northern Ireland during the troubles

Comedy, episodes 20-25 mins long

English boy sent to an all girls Catholic school with his cousin

✨Dead Poets Society parody episode ✨with a free-spirited female teacher

Sister Michael, the sarcastic nun who hates her job & reads the exorcist for giggles

Wee anxious lesbian! Clare Devlin (plus her friends wearing rainbow pins)

Badass with bad ideas! Michelle Mallon

Main Character! Erin Quinn

Lovable weirdo who would fight a polar bear! Orla McCool

Wee English fella & honorary Derry girl! James Maguire

Dickinson (2019-now)

Loose adaption of the poet Emily Dickinson’s life

Set in 19th century Massachusetts, US

Historical drama with modern dialogue & music that works SEAMLESSLY

gives a great understanding of Emily Dickinson’s poems

💕Vintage gays! Emily x Sue💕

Theatre club, writing, poetry, dressing as men to sneak into lectures, love letters, teen drama, feminism, and an underground abolitionist journal as a brief side plot in season 2

Wiz Khalifa plays death in a horse drawn carriage

TW: opium use

A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017-2019)

Based on great childhood books

Bookworm! brother, Inventor! sister, and baby sister with sharp teeth

Mystery, secret organisations, orphaned siblings figuring things out & fending for themselves against the villain after their fortune

Adults either cartoon evil, comedically incompetent, or SPIES

Boarding school, library owner, scientific researcher, and theatre episodes

Ambiguous time period which is really fun to try and pin point

Killing Eve (2018-now)

Classic detective who has homoerotic tension with the assassin she is tracking down

British Detective! Eve Polastri figures out the notorious assassin MI5 are investigating is a woman, is fired & then put on a secret MI6 case with a small team

Assassin! Villanelle, a psychopath with a tragic past and a mastery of both accents & fashion

Woman MI6 boss! Carolyn Martens, head of Russian section

Travel Europe following Villanelle’s killings and escaping the assassins sent by Villanelle’s organisation

‘You’re supposed to be my enemy and moral opposite but omg you’re the only one smart enough to get me and why am I obsessed with you????'

🚨 GO IN FOR A KISS AND THEN STAB YOUR ENEMY 🚨

Cable Girls/Las chicas del cable (2017-2020)

Spanish drama set in 1920s Madrid

Four young women at a telecommunications company form a group of friends and help navigate the difficult situations they are all in

Secret identities, dangerous pasts, murder, crime, lgbtq couple & throuple, trans man character, feminism/suffragists

girls commit crimes for humanitarian reasons and cover! it! up!

UNDERRATED SHOW!!!!

Gorgeous costumes and set

Haven’t finished it yet and I’m catching up

TW: abuse, violence, death

Outlander (2014 - now)

haven’t watched yet but plan to

Woman time travels to Scotland, 1743

Rebel highlanders, pirates, British colonies, American revolutionary war

Time jumps between 18th & 20th century

[genlirema]

Just wondering but do you have any ethnicity headcanons for the Pokémon characters

I’m not that creative when it comes to ethnicity headcanons (Hoenn is Southern Japan, Sinnoh is Hokkaido, Kalos is France, etc.) except for when it comes to some of my favs, but if I had to name a few characters off of the top of my head…

Eusine, Jasmine, and rival Silver are all half Italian/Kanto (Kantoese?)

Giovanni is pure Italian (it’s kinda in the name…)

Janine is half Kanto/Johtoese. That may seem redundant, but the regions of Kanto and Johto have had a long history of fueds, so Janine’s conception at the time would’ve been deemed controversial

Speaking of, Koga is actually from Johto. In a classic Romeo & Juliet fashion, Koga left Johto with his lover to live with her in Kanto

Morty is half German/Johtoese. This would also be deemed a bit controversial in Johto during his conception

Agatha is pure German, her family immigrated to Kanto when she was little. Kanto is a lot more open to immigrants/other cultures, unlike Johto

Steven is half Egyptian/Hoennese

Winona is Kalosian. She is not aware of this as she was separated at birth from her parents

Roxie is part Galarian. In fact, she and Piers (along with Marnie) might share a distant ancestor

Grimsley and Caitlin are half Galarian/half Sinnohese. They are siblings separated at birth, but only Grimsley is aware of this. If he told her the truth, she would not believe him, as she’s considered royalty in Galar and was raised by her father to believe he wouldn’t dare intermingle with “common folk”. Truly, their parent’s history is shrouded in mystery.

Arti (I refuse to call him by his english name) is half Italian/half Kalosian (dont ask me why I have so many Italian headcanons idk either I’m not even Italian)

Hachiku (I also refuse to call him by his english name) is mixed Johtoese/Hoennese, but was born in Unova

N may be a little bit of everything. Kanto, Sinnoh, Kalos, you name it. Arceus knows how that happened.

AZ, like Steven, is half Egyptian on his mom’s side

Riley and AZ (along with Sir Aaron and Lysandre) may be indirectly related. The Aura user’s bloodline shares ties with AZ’s younger brother’s bloodline. Thus, Riley is part Kalosian

AZ and Ghetsis (along with Lysandre) may be indirectly related as well, though Ghetsis naming N after a letter would’ve been pure coincidence since Ghetsis would not be aware of AZ’s younger brother being his ancestor. Ghetsis barely keeps track of his own ethnicity, but he’s pretty sure there’s some Kalosian in him

Guzma is mixed Latino/African American/Alolan

Gloria is Scottish and I refuse to believe otherwise. No, Scottish and Galar are not the same thing.

[popculturebuffet]

Of Moons, Millionares and Mothers Part 2: The Ballad of Duke Balloney or “I’m Flintheart Glomgold and I Always Will Be!” (Commission for WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy people. I”m Jake, I review stuff and today continues my look at Ducktales season 2 story arcs, of Moons, Millionares and Mothers. And while this arc as a whole is paid for by WeirdKev27, due to the Arc’s length, 17 parts including 15 episodes and 6 comics (2 of which will be in the same review), this one’s special as he’s using his patreon review every month to do so. If you too want me to review something of your choice simply hit up my ask box or join my patreon at patreon.com/popculture buffet. You get access to my discord, to pick a short when I do a group of them for characters birthdays, help me hit neat stretch goals like my next which is reviewing a darkwing duck episode a month, and best of all EXCLUSIVE REVIEWS. And I just added one this saturday of a carl barks story centerting around wigs, legal battles and attempted murder, both by our villian.. and by our heroes...

I will never get tired of that panel nor the boys inexplicably finding a blowgun. Point is it’s there if you want it at THIS LINK, but enough plugging so I can help pay the streaming bills and keep doing this... let’s get to the meat of things shall we?

This episode begins the second arc of this retrospective, The Glomgold Arc. And this arc was inevitibly going to come to this blog for two reasons. The first is that I have made no secret, in fact i’ve shouted it as loud as I can the neighbors are concerned, that I fucking love the 2017 Version of Flintheart Glomgold. 

Glomgold is Keith Ferguson’s best role, tied with Lord Hater obviously, but it is indeed a tie. No one but Keith could’ve pulled off glomgold’s combination of ego, ham, and batshit insanity. He just makes the utterly stupid and wonderfully ludicrious things that come out of the mans mouth sound so damn natural with such an unearned confidence. It’s very clear that Frank had Keith in mind when putting this version of everyone’s faviorite South African Billionare pretending to be a Scottish Billionare and wisely built the characcter around him and his immense talent. I was not familiar with Keith at all, wasn’t even aware he voiced hater before this show but damn if that hasn’t fully changed. 

Glomgold was also just in general a brilliant update of the character: While I know a lot of duck fans weren’t happy with this version at least at first. As the action figure sitting on my shelf that once road in a car with my david hasslehoff baywatch funko pop I have entirley due to my love of baywatching,  this insane music video hoff did in the early 2000′s, and just in general how gloriously rediculous the man’s life is when you stop and think about it for a second from a pay per-view concert that ended up falling on the same night as The OJ Chase,  to his kung fury cameo , to his weird insetence they never had sex on baywatch desspite mounds of video evdience and the fact the show was buit around the bulk of it’s cast’s sex appeal, to the fact the model of his pecs used for the spongebob movie was sold in an auction and on and on... I was going somewhere with this...

Oh right as the action figure, and previous praise, shows I am not one of these fans: The original isn’t bad, in fact one of my faviorite life and times chapters that i’ll be covering this week and talking about later in the review has him as the main antagonist and a pitvitol figure in Scrooge’s life in the worst way possible. Rosa GETS what’s needed for Flinty to feel specail: to have him be an evil mirror to scrooge, what he could’ve been had he kept down the path he started down in Africa. A ruthless, amoral asshole who will do ANYTHING to get rich. 

It’s just often that isn’t emphasised enough and he’s instead just another one of the millions of generic assholes trying to get scrooges money sometimes with hired goons...

Not only that but Frank really COULDN’T have him at full effectivness. See an arch enemy in the Silver Age, which STARTED the same year Glomgold Debuted no less, wasn’t a big deal. They were still considered your deadliest foe but they’d often, much like Flinty be shuffled into the rogues gallery, show up for an issue to meance the hero, then either escape, get thrown in jail only to escape from that easily later, or be presumed dead. The last one I bring up because it happened to Magneto a LOTTTT pre-claremont. For Fuck’s Sake Charles have those teenagers train to look for a body once in a while!

Original Flinty was built for that, and brilliantly so as Barks had a talent for it , as seen by the fact The Beagle BOys, Flintheart and Magica have stuck around ever since and even in comics overseas where Flintehart is replaced.. it’s by Rockerduck who Barks ALSO created. The 87 Show followed the same formula, which was just as standard for 80′s cartoons. It’s why Megatron took until his toy was canceled the movie to shoot starscream in the face. 

The problem is villians evolved and the expecation became more that a true arch enemy had to be a true threat. While Frank and Matt COULD’VE made Flintheart a real and honest threat, he also would’ve had to make him a Big Bad. The probelm was those seats were clearly taken: while i’m pretty sure some ideas came as they went, the main story beats were clearly planned out well in advance: Webby being a clone was always the plan, as was FOWL, Darkwing being a fan of a fictional Darkwing who became the real thing, and Della being on the moon. So he presumibly carefully choose each season’s big bad... and thus Season’s 1-3 would be full up wise. Season 1 had Magica, who he made into a TRUE threat, yet left the door open for her to return as she did, Season 2 had Lunaris who even if they hadn’t fully thought him up, they probably had thought up the moonvasion, and Season 3 was what they’d built the series towards with FOWL. 

Details probably changed, it’s very clear to me they were likely going to have all three buzzards be important and ended up deicding to pivot to it just being Bradford over time. But given how well they though tout the general framework, I highly doubt Flinty was ever considered as a seirous big bad.. and I know i’m saying this in an arc that tried to set him up as one, but i’m getting there simmer. 

So they could wait for a season 4 that might not happen.. or make him a recurring villian. So Frank and Matt decided to do that and leaned into comedy. Centering him around keith who Frank worked with previously on Wonder and thus knew he could play a hammy manchild like no one else, they simply leaned into the goofier aspects of his personality. His being similar to scrooge became him being an intentional and blatant knockoff. As Scrooge himself perfectly summed up in episode 1 “The poor man’s version of me.. which to be fair still makes him insanely rich”. 

It’s another reason to really love this version as while yes, they did make him a bafoon.. he’s a wonderfully, redicuously layered bafoon: He still contrasts scrooge perfectly, manically hammy to Scrooge being calm, especially around flinty, blantatly crooked to Scrooge’s died in wool honesty, and wasting money on revenge instead of spending it on his actual company. There’s more obviously but some i’m saving for the review. 

Not only that but his insane schemery has a rhyme and reason to it: He attacks Scrooge every week like the saturday morning cartoon villian he is, but his schemes are always unwieldly and massively stupid, and he always goes with the first draft. It’s something the team enforced: the first version is what they role with because that’s how his sad brain works. He also is obssed with sharks and explosives, the former being given a suprisingly heartfelt and unsuprisingly insanne origin story towards the series end, and works them into every plot no matter how much itm akes no sense. He’s pure ego, pure stupid and pure fun. 

So yeah circling back to him being the big bad, I felt he was made one for this season for two reasons: the first is while a lot of fans (raises hand) enjoyed this version, some didn’t like how inept he was, so this would give them a breif bit of Flintheart being a genuine threat again. The other was frankly... they didn’t want to play their hand. Lunaris WAS the big bad... but fans would get supscious if there was seemingly no true threat on the horizon. Magica popped up in episode 4. We didn’t know her full plan yet true, but all we needed was lena SAYING HER NAME and fans of any other version of teh Disney Ducks would instantly go “Oh shit there she is”. So fans would now have the expectation of a main antagonist.. but would be instantly supscious of Lunaris and Penumbra if there wasn’t one for the first third of a season it took to them, and it’d leave a gap in the story to not have someone driving the plot on earth. 

So Flinty got an upgrade.. a slight one and we’ll talk about the eb and flow. And thus he got a proper origin. Now granted they could’ve planned this too, but this one’s harder to tell as the curse you me gag could’ve been a clever setup or could’ve just been a one off gag they somehow turned into an entire episode. So Flinty got an arc.. and a comedic foil, the other reason this was inevieble, and Kev’s faviorite character, Zan Owlson. So how did it work out for them? Well we’ll begin that journey under the cut. 

We begin our story a few months ago.... on every level really: the months ago shadow war aired when this episode originally good, the months ago I reviwed Shadow War (which via counting I found out was my 200th episode not counting Patreon. Nice), and most importantly for this story, the four months ago before the present day of Season 2. 

Glomgold saying curse you me as he fell into the bay during the Shadow War.... only for once in his life he dosen’t somehow get out of it unscathed and instead passes out, almost drowning. He’s found by Fisher and Mann, two fisherpersons... Mann is specific about that due to being a woman despite the obvious irony. It’s a good gag. Flinty acts like he normally would.. hostile, demanding that they know who he is.. and while they don’t.. neither does he. 

Cue credits and cue present day. Via a newscast with Roxanne we learn what I mentioned earlier: It’s been four month and Glomgold’s been missing. The general mood.. has been about what you’d expect. 

Yeah Roxanne turned on him real fast. I genuinely wouldn’t be surprised if it was because he later openly bragged about stealing scrooge’s money during the shark thing on live tv at some point, making Roxanne look terrible for enabling him and for blatantly supporting him earlier. I mean.. how else do you get a corrupt journalist to do anything decent. 

But with Glomgold gone SOMEONE’S gotta replace him.. and that someone is Zan Motherfucking Owlson. Top of her class at Mouseton Univesity, Owlson is the show once again updating things: previously they added Mark Beaks to the Rogue’s Gallery as he contrasts the 50′s (scrooge ) and 80′s (glomgold) idea of billionares from previous versions of the property being a modern tech weasel. Though instead of just one thing Owlson represents a few: The most obvious is she’s a woman of color: Having a black woman in such a high position of power is something disney would’ve outright vetoed in the 50′s and 80′s. Here it’s well accepted as it always should have been. It also feels like a delebrate move on Frank’s part: There weren't’ any major african or african american coded characters in season 1, despite the show being very open and accepting, so that needed to change. The other is frankly outside of Brigtaa MacBridge, whose also weirdly absent from this series for some reason and has taken Fethry and Rockerduck’s place as the most major overseas duck character to never get adapted, there are hardly ever any females on Scrooge and his richer foes level. He’s had the occasional female rival or suitor, but only Brigittta had staying power and while I love the idea of her, another person as rich as scrooge whose willing to spend more and has a crush on him, she badly needed an update as she’s essentially Adventure Era Amy Rose in a grown ass woman’s body. 

Owlson also provides a diffrent dynamic in that she portrays the ideal of what we’d want from a ceo: She’s honest, works hard, earned her way as square as scrooge did, gladly donates to charity and is extremely charismatic and intelligent. Granted most CEO”s are nothing like this but still, she’s what we WANT them to be. Using the money not for themselves or taking big paychecks but to help people. She also provides something Glomgold needed: a straight man. While he has one in Scrooge at times, Owlson unlike both of them is a fully functional resonable human being. Scrooge, while a good person deep down, can be reckless, impulsive and greedy, and Glomgold had a tarzan like experince with sharks, goes on to name his dummy son sharkbomb, and tried to murder Scrooge on live television twice that we know of. She’s the calm, snarky, put upon sane person trying to reign in the crazy shark explosion man. 

Owlson dosen’t get a ton to do here, but that will change and she does get a decent amout in the final scene. But what she does here establishes who she is and how sh’es FIXED Glomgold industries; She’s shut down the vast number of money sinking scheme related departments, set ups everal charities, and is even setting up a new one with Scrooge, Dimes for Ducklings. In short she knew exactly what was needed to fix the company and it’s image and did so in FOUR MONTHS. Probably even less given they had to be sure Glomgold wasn’t coming back right away. I guarantee he’s faked his death like 10 times just to try and kill scrooge. They have to make sure it’s real first.  As one last note before we move on, Owlson is played by Natasha Rothwell, a producer and writer who i’ve only seen outside of this in Love, Simon and Sonic the Hedgehog.. that is a weird combo of things that mean a LOT to me I haven’t been able to bring up here again. 

We find the tv this was all playing on on the docks with a non-anthro segull pecking it while a bunch of fisherpersons go about their day. We also get this guy. 

Add him to the list of spinoffs I want THE LIST OF SPINOFFS JAKE WANTS: 1. Darkwing Duck 2. Donald, Daisy and the Kids 3. The Sabrewings 4. Tailspin Reboot 5. The Flintheart Glomgold Show 6. A Sequel Movie 7. This Guy Punching A Fucking Fish 

So you might be wondering when any of our main cast are going to show up.. and why the fish puncher isn’t in said main cast. Well that’s about now as Webby and Louie are fishing. Well okay more acuratley webby is fishing because she genuinely enjoys it and Louie is tagging along so he can nap on a boat while Webby paddles him around. That plan is threatnned by her spear fishing and he suggests using rods instead, but they need bait for that. 

Naturally, given we need to get this plot going our heroes run into Duke Baloney, aka an amnesiac Glomgold. Understandably, both of htem think this is some sort of scheme at first because waiting for someone related to Scrooge to stroll by his fish stand for some sort of shark themed trap, especially since he’s right near the water so he dosen’t have to worry about keeping them hydrated like that time he dropped one from a plane onto scrooge’s board meeting with two chainsaws strapped to it. But .. it’s not. While we the audience saw him amnesiac, and at first I thought that spoiled the episode... it really dosen’t. He still ACTS like himself on instinct, so your not sure if he faked it as part of some elaborate scheme or is really gone till this scene shows that, no he really isn’t there. And the how is simply in knowing the guy: Glomgold is not good at subtley. He has disguises and such, but their never remotely convincing. He could NEVER pull off  actually being a humble fish monger nor have gone four fucking months without yelling at scrooge or remotely contacting him. There’s also the fact Fisher and Mann 100% belivie in duke and back up his very real story of being dredged out of the bay. There’s also his south african accent, which actors including David Tennant himself have admitted is one of the hardest to pull off but Keith does swimingly, which is a hint.. but only on rewatch or for those who know his comics origins. 

Louie isn’t convinced which is fair: even if Glomgold isn’t good at this sort of thing, he’s still tried it a lot. Webby however correctly figures he has amensia. So the two simply try talking to him. Fisher and Mann do get a bit dickish laughing off the idea he’s possibly Glomgold.. despite the fact you know you dredged him out of the fucking water 4 months ago.. and if you actually looked at the news, would see Glomgold disappeared around the exact same time you found Duke. It just annoys me because otherwise these two are great characters: Friendly loveable fisherpersons who love their job, have no comeptiviness and genuinely want to help their friend duke. The encounter does have them seeing a fancy money clip Duke has but with no other options they leave for now. 

But while Duke has forgotten who he was... bits of glomgold still stir within him. And that starts when Duke spots the McDuck Industries fishing boat, the best fishing boat on the sea, something his friends are okay with.. but Duke naturally isn’t. So while Duke was a calm sane fisherman before the true glomgold in him is on full display as he comes up with insane schemes involving fish and explosives, before presenting a rather insane scheme to his friends involving getting engineering degrees and other stuff.. it’s as poorly drawn and wonderful as you expect from him. But what’s telling is that he reigns it in when his friends show obvious concern with his actions... something Glomgold would NEVER do. For one he dosen’t have friends. For another, he doesn’t care about anyone else’s feelings or thoughts. 

By now Webby is also championing that Duke is a diffrente person.. which is true. Duke is Glomgold stripped of his hate and resitment towards scrooge. He’s who the man COULD’VE been had he not sworn eternal vengeance on Scrooge. Louie is doubtful that he’s amnesiac still.. but neither can quite figure out the full story so it’s time for research.. and for Webby to accidentally knock Louie into some lobster traps.. which given he’s spent the entire episode assuming an amnesiac man isn’t that despite all the evidence to the contrary, he earned that. That said these two were the perfect choice for it: All of the boys have a bit of skeptic in them, and we already had a plot with Huey being skeptical.. and even he would’ve given up by now as would dewey since he only has a pinch at best. Webby.. has none. She can question motives and stuff sure, but at her heart she’s a kind forgiving soul who belives the best in everyone. And.. its’  paid off fo rher. Look at the whole Lena situation, she believed in her, even while Lena was actively manipulating her,.. and it truly changed her, convinced Lena to do the right thing despite the cost, to choose love over the abusive monster who made her. It’s the only missed opportunity in the episode for me. Character wise it has exactly the 8 it needs to tell the story and focuses heavly on the five it truly is about. But not having Webby bring up Lena when we don’t hear her mentoined AT ALL during her absence (though to the shows credit they did a good job showing Webby still had never remotely given up), and it made the wait more agonizing and would’ve made her motivations hit even harder: that she belives in duke because she believed in lena and it was real. And while this thank christ isn’t remotely romantic, the point does stand: She wants to see the best. 

Louie is a conman by nature so he only sees the worst, the weakest in people, the things he can use to take htem down or take hteir money. He can’t fathom someone doing good because he can’t fathom HIMSELF being good. And that.. says a lot.. but he’s accepted himself as a shady conperson who cares only for himself.. even if that’s not the truth. His inclusion here enhances his own arc much like Huey’s role in quack pack enhanced his. It shows that deep down Louie dosen’t think much of anyone.. and probably not himself. That he has to be shady and greedy to survive when that’s not tru. Sharper than the sharpies yes but also square.

One last bit before we moved on  I just found out though: The Crew originally had this as a straight up origin story: no kids, none of the rest of the duck family, except presumably Scrooge’s parts here, just Glomgold’s struggle with amensia and his past leading to who hei s now. Honestly I think that version could’ve worked, but likely given disney seems TERRIFIED of making a show starring an adult without a chlid and had to be talked into the child light Golden Lagoon, that was a non starter but I think it still works fine. I also foudn this out via a twitter thread of Frank’s rewriting history that goes in deep on teh production of each episode. Had I known this existed before writing this one, I would’ve used it for the other two arcs and most dangerous game night, but I intend to read through it so I have everything on the table from here on out. 

For only the second time in her long career of researching stuff though, Webby has hit a dead end. Mostly because she couldn’t find anything on Duke.. and NOTHING on Glomgold’s past pre-Duckburg. The most she has is his visa...

I want to frame this on my wall.. and someone is actually seling id cards out there, so I want this one at some point. It’s not Disney because they don’t care about fan merch like this, but then that just means they don’t get the money because they didn’t think of it or put the work in then huh. 

But yeah with nothing else our heroes go to the only person they know who knows him well...  Scrooge. 

Meanwhile Duke has .. this... I just.....I can’t put words to this truly bizzare surreal dream sequence.. it involves Glomgold going insane, the kids dancing on a bagpipe, and owlson is there.. despite the fact that Glomgold should have zero idea whot hat is. I think the kids mentioned here but even then, he somehow knows exactly what she looks like.

Otherwise good stuff and it’s raining hard as Duke goes in. Fisher and Mann have formally added him to their sign, and warmly welcomed him in and Duke says “this is the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me I think” which is probably true. and makes what’s coming all the more heartbreaking. 

But before what’s coming Duke has another thing coming.. Scrooge who the kids brought to talk to him. The two talk casually, the kids watch not knowing.. and then Scrooge comes back to them. Turns out Webby was, unsurprisingly right on the money, Flinty does have amnesia, and unlike what Louie thought.. he isn’t inherently evil. Duke is just duke.. and Scrooge has no intention of fixing the amnesia. And while that SOUNDS bad.. his intentions are noble: Glomgold.. was a throughly miserable person. He was never happy and never would be till Scrooge was dead by his hand and that was never going to happen.  It isn’t even taking an enemy off the board: Flinty is only a threat on occasion. Scrooge clearly ENJOYS their conflict: it may annoy him from time to time, but he clearly enjoys upstaging the guy. And as he points out, it’s not a brain injury or anything: Glomgold is practically immortal as Louie put earlier, and Scrooge outright mentions Glomgold’s taken a LOT of explosions to the face. So he’s in no real danger physically or emotionally.. he’s happy. He has friends, a calling he truly enjoys. There’s another reason too but we’ll see that in the final scene. 

So Duke is finally happy... but it doesn’t last... the kids go out but a storms a coming, and Duke selfleslly heads out to save them.. only to get hit on the head and fall in the ocean again. 

It’s here we get the 2017 version of Glomgold’s origin story. We did kinda get one with life and times, as we saw his first meeting with scrooge and why he hated him, long story short with the long story coming later this week Glomgold left Scrooge for dead and Scrooge’s response was to come back, kick the fuckers ass, tar and feather him and utterly humilaite him, leading to Flinty swearing vengance. 

But while I love that version..t his one is just as awesome if not better. And it’s without having Scrooge ride a lion. Here we instead meet Flinty as a child Scrooge’s age... and as a shoeshine boy. Yup just like Scrooge Duke, Glomgold’s birth name, was an industrious young boy with big dreams. He also had unwieldy schemes from minute one, but Scrooge saw in this lad the same fire he had and tried replicating his own origin. 

The problem was... the different context ruined it. Scrooge was paid by an equally poor ditchdigger the us equilvent of his pay: still useless in scotland, but a good lesson in hard work and not being swindled. Scrooge tried that... as the richest duck in the world and without giving flinty the same amount of money. 

So Duke/Flinty took umbrage at this yelled at scrooge.. and pick pocketed his money clip. In the only bit taken from the rosa version of their first meeting, Scrooge never realized he’d met flinty already. There and then duke came up with his first true, and first insane scheme: Save the money and use it to mold himself into a richer, more scottish version of scrooge dedicating his life to one upping him and killing him. A “single white female” type thing as Frank put it. 

It’s.. utterly brilliant... taking Glomgold being a knockoff as mention and just running with that... making Glomgold a LITERAL knockoff. This was indeed the plan all along: A way to have him be both south african and scottish and it was brilliant. It also gives him more depth and more tragedy: He COULD’VE been the next scrooge.. but instead of being his own man or learning any of the hard lessons scrooge did he doubled down on never learning anything and getting vengeance on an old man’s well meant but accidently classist gesture. 

So Glomgold reawakens and while it first looks like he’s going to save the kids... he instead throws Webby into the raging sea, and steals their fish. Webby is heartbroken and Louie asks him “what about duke.” His response is heartbreaking as it is character defnting

“I”m Flintheart Glomgold and I always will be!” the lightning shot, the cackle..i t’s just such a damn good moment that underscores the tragedy of the episode as Glomgold’s new friends are horrified by what he is now and what he was always meant to be and Glomgold leaves to go stalk scrooge once again. He indeed is Flintheart Glomgold and always will be.. because he threw the decent person he could’ve been away. He’s miserable.. because he can’t let go of his rage or ego and just move on from something that happened to him when he was ten! He has to be in his 60′s now! Glomgold may think Scrooge is his worst enemy.. but it’s really Flintheart Glomgold.... and it always will be. 

So naturally his first actoin is to storm into his company and scream at scrooge. How he found him there... honestly not a huge suprise it’s his company and he likely knows how to find scrooge anywhere because he’s a creep like that. Scrooge and Owlson’s reactions are both worth a look at:

Given Glomgold bursts into an already annoying meeting of Scrooge trying to get the dimes part knocked down to nickles (and likely lower before that given he mentioned Pennies earlier), to accuse Scrooge of trying to trick him by appearing as a boat in his dreams her bafflement is both understandable and hilarious. Like she probably HEARD what Glomgold was like but gennuinely didn’t belivie it and her face is just now frozen in a look of “oh my god they were not exagearating what fresh hell is this”. 

She tries to be professional and introduce herself but he just brushes her off and yells at Scrooge blaming him for being forgotten (”You literally forgot yourself), with Owlson also considering calling security. She only dosen’t because Scrooge points out he’ll tire himself out eventually and as usual for their jousts, is not remotely threatened or worried. He’s just..sad. And getting back to his reaction.. that’s what’s telling about his plan. He probably KNEW this would happen. He in his heart knew Duke Balloney would be gone soon, and he’d have to deal with Glomgold again. It helps soften the implicatoins: it wouldn’t last and fraknly if it did Scrooge would probably have people check on him regualry to make sure he was okay. He’s not a monster.. he just wanted Flinty to be happy for five minutes and to not ruin that out of some misplaced sense of right and wrong.. when the right thing was to simply let the man be happy till it inevitably blew up. 

Glomgold however, furious at being forgotten and cast aside has decided to take a huge poorly thought through gamble and challenges scrooge to a classic Scrooge comics trope between the two, but with higher stakes: A contest to see who will be the richest duck in the world by the end of the year.. and given Christmas happens right after this i’m just assuming he means a year from now. Winner gets both companies and fortunes. Scrooge scoffs at this.. till Flinty pulls out the clip, taunting him with how he did it and “If I can beat you once scrooge i’ll beat you again”. And this, Flinty revealing he stole from him and he NEVER KNEW it or realize it, enrages scrooge enough to agree and to take him seriously... meanwhile Owlson.. just tries to get actual work shit done and just forges their signatures. Look she is a woman of color in the business world with genuinely good motives... she’s probably used to using white nonsense to get things past two idiots having a peeing race. 

Final Thoughts:

This episode is truly excellent and like Most Dangerous Game Night! i’d forgottne just HOW good it was. The pacing, the comedy, and the character work is all on full blast and i’ve gushed plenty enough about how great an origin story is. it’s a character piece that explains why this doofus is the way he is and that is what holds him back. 

Next time on MMM: Louie’s back as he pulls a ghostbusters to make quick money and Storkules starts rooming with Donald with predictable results. 

If you liked this review consider joining my patreon and i’ll see you at the next rainbow. 

[paulinedorchester]

Mosley, Leonard. Backs to the Wall: London Under Fire, 1939-1954. London: George Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1971; reprint, as Backs to the Wall: The Heroic Story of the People of London During World War II, New York: Random House, 1971.

Each generation gets the history that it needs — or wants, or demands. That’s what kept going through my head as I read Backs to the Wall, which appeared three years after France’s youth explicitly rejected both Charles de Gaulle, the self-appointed leader of the Free French during World War II, and the political ideology that he represented, and amidst ongoing unrest over the Vietnam War. (It’s also worth mentioning that it was published in the same year as Norman Longmate’s How We Lived Then: A History of Everyday Life During the Second World War and two years after Angus Calder’s The People’s War.) This book gives up a World War II narrative in which Churchill was an improvement on Chamberlain only in that he wasn’t an appeaser, de Gaulle was worse than both of them put together, the Allied leaders all cordially loathed each other, half the British public wanted to sue for peace, and there was across-the-board mutual dislike between London civilians and American troops (and British dismay at the way African-American troops were treated by their white counterparts was far from universal). Do I exaggerate? Only slightly. Backs to the Wall is a sort of distant, city-specific pre-echo of Juliet Gardner’s sour 2004 book Wartime: Britain, 1939-45.

As with Wartime, however, this book does have the virtue of introducing us to a number of very interesting people. I became interested in reading it because it brought Vere Hodgson’s wartime diary to public attention. Mosley quotes or paraphrases Hodgson’s writing from the beginning of the war through its end, and also seems to have interviewed her extensively. His primary villain, meanwhile, is not Chamberlain but Chamberlain’s chief acolyte, Henry “Chips” Channon, from whose diary he quotes widely (and who turns out to have been born and raised in the United States, to my surprise). We hear a great deal from the chemist and novelist C.P. Snow and follow the misadventures of two civilians, Jenny Martin and Polly Wright, whose consistency in both bad luck and bad choices meant that neither of them was able to stay out of serious trouble for any length of time.

There are many glimpses of the London home front through the eyes of two boys, both eight when the war began: John Hardiman, of Canning Town and later of Aldgate, who was evacuated in 1939 but soon returned to London, and Donald Ketley of Chadwell Heath, who was never evacuated at all. Donald, who thoroughly enjoyed himself during the war, had an experience that speaks to our own recent reality:

Another good thing: quite early in the Blitz, his school had been totally destroyed by a bomb. Since Donald was shy, a poor student and unpopular with his teacher, he was overjoyed when he heard the place was gone. Thereafter he went each day to his teacher’s home to pick up lessons, which he brought back the next day for marking. In the following months he changed from a poor student to an excellent one, and although he was aware that his teacher rather resented it, he didn’t care. 

Mosley also introduces us to Archibald McIndoe, the real-life counterpart of Patrick Jamieson, Bill Patterson’s character in the Foyle’s War episode ‘Enemy Fire.’ Art seems to have imitated life pretty accurately in that instance: he and his burn hospital in East Grinstead were apparently exactly like what was depicted, the only difference being that the hospital was set up in an existing hospital building, not in a requisitioned stately home.

Backs to the Wall seems to have been one of the earliest books to make substantial use of Mass-Observation writings. Most M-O diaries are anonymous, but there are two named diarists here who stand out. John James Donald was a committed pacifist whose air of lofty detachment as he observes the reactions of those around him to air-raids and other wartime event and prepares for his tribunal — which, in the end, he decides not to attend — quickly grows irritating. More interesting is Rosemary Black, a 28-year-old widow, in no small part because she differs markedly from what I had thought of as the archetypical M-O writer. Here’s her self-description on M-O documents: “Upper-middle-class; mother of two children (girls aged 3 and 2); of independent means.” Mosley continues:

She lived in a trim three-story house in a quiet street of the fashionable part of Maida Vale, a short taxi ride from the center of the West End, whose restaurants and theatres she knew well. She was chic and attractive, and lacked very few of the niceties of life: there was Irene, a Hungarian refugee, to look after the children; Helen, a Scottish maid, to look after herself and the house; and a daily cleaning woman to do the major chores.

Black took her children out of London at the beginning of the war but quickly brought them back, and when bombs began falling she kept them in place — air raids might be disruptive for them, but apparently relocation had been worse. She was very much aware that she was riding out the war in a position of privilege, and she often expressed guilt feelings; but this tended to fade away before her irritation at the dominance of “the muddling amateur or the soulless bureaucrat” in the war effort. Offering her services, even as a volunteer, proved very frustrating. “She was young, strong and willing; she typed, spoke languages, was an expert driver and had taken a course in first aid,” Mosley tells us, “but finding a job even as a chauffeur was proving difficult” in September 1940. (She actually wasn’t all that strong physically: as we learn, she suffered from rheumatism which grew worse during the war years and probably affected her outlook.)

Black was greeted with “apathy and indifference” by both A.R.P. and the Women’s Voluntary Service. Early in 1941 she was finally able to get a place handing out tea, sandwiches, cake, and so on to rescue and clean-up workers at bomb sites from a Y.M.C.A. mobile canteen. She was a bit intimidated by the women with whom she found herself working:

Their class is right up to the county family level. Nearly everyone is tall above the average and remarkably hefty, even definitely large, not necessarily fat but broad and brawny. Perhaps this is something to do with the survival of the fittest.

And the work did bring her some satisfaction, even if it was of the type that lent itself to being recorded with tongue placed firmly in cheek:

We had a pleasant and uneventful day’s work serving City fire sites, the General Post Office, demolition workers and Home Guard Stations, etc. We were complimented at least half a dozen times on the quality of our tea ... I think the provision of saccharine for the tea urns to compensate for the mean sugar allowance is my most successful piece of war work. What did you do in the Great War, Mummy? Sneaked pills into the tea urns, darling.

For all her good humor and astute observations, Mrs. Black was far from immune to tiny-mindedness. After an evening out in 1943 she wrote:

I had to wait some time for the others in the cinema foyer, and I was much struck, as often before, by the almost complete absence of English people these days, from the capital of England. Almost every person who came in was either a foreigner, a roaring Jew, or both. The Cumberland [Hotel] has always been a complete New Jerusalem, but this evening it really struck me as no worse than anywhere else! It is really dismaying to see that this should be the result of this war in defence of our country.

Indeed, Mosley cites the results of a multi-year Mass-Observation study that showed a marked increase in anti-Jewish views London’s general population over the course of the war. Since it’s just one study, and since I haven’t seen that study mentioned anywhere else, I am reluctant to trust blindly in its accuracy; and there’s also this:

The small flat which George [Hardiman] had procured for [his family] ... in Aldgate was cleaner and airier than the old house in Canning Town [which had been bombed], and the little Jewish children with whom John now went to school seemed to be cleaner than the ones in Elm Road; at any rate, he no longer came home with nits in his hair.

On the other hand, Mosley himself gives us only a fragmentary view of London’s wartime Jewish population: everyone seems to be either a terrified refugee or an impoverished East Ender. We hear nothing about the substantial middle- and upper-middle class population — mostly of German descent and in some cases German birth — that had already taken shape in Northwest London; and while we are briefly introduced to Sir David Waley, a Treasury official, in connection with the case of an interned Jewish refugee, we aren’t told that Waley himself was Jewish, a member of “the cousinhood.” On yet a third hand, Mosley also quotes other M-O surveys from the same period that indicate largely hostile attitudes to most foreigners in London, with Poles at the bottom of the ladder and the small Dutch contingent on top. (Incidentally, the book’s extremely patchy index identifies Vere Hodgson as a Mass-Observation diarist, which she wasn’t.)

Backs to the Wall closes with a very brief, remarkably non-partisan account of the 1945 general election and its immediate aftermath. “Neither side had any inkling of the way the minds of the British voters were turning,” he writes.

When [Churchill’s] friends suggested that he was a victim of base ingratitude, he shook his head. He would not have such a charge leveled against his beloved countrymen. Ingratitude? "Oh, no," he said quietly, "I wouldn’t call it that. They have had a very hard time."

The book is worth reading for the primary materials that it includes, but it probably tells us as much about the era in which it was written as about the period that it covers.  

[rabbitcruiser]

National Dog Day

No one can win hearts like man’s best friend and in honor of this bond between man and canine, Dog Day is celebrated.

Take time to appreciate the love and value that dogs bring to our daily lives, and to do your bit for homeless and abused dogs the world over. From keeping us safe working for the emergency services to supporting people who are blind, deaf, or disabled, dogs do a lot for us humans, and this is an opportunity to give something back.

Learn about Dog Day

No matter how little money and how few possessions you own, having a dog makes you rich.

Dog Day has been created so that all breeds of dogs are celebrated; mixed and pure. The day helps to galvanize the public so that they can recognise the number of dogs that must be rescued on a yearly basis, from pure breed rescuers, rescues, and public shelters.

The day is all about paying tribute to these incredible animals who work selflessly to bring comfort, keep us safe, and save lives. Every day, these animals put their lives on the line. There are dogs that protect our safety and freedom by detecting drugs and bombs, as well as those that pull victims from wreckages and tragic situations. Plus, we have dogs for the disabled, blind, and law enforcement. From these heroic dogs to our family friends, these dogs hold special places in our lives, and so it is only right that we honor them.

Amazing facts about dogs

Let’s take a look at some incredible facts about dogs to help you get a better understanding of these amazing creatures. Did you know, for example, that the most successful hunter in the world is the African Hunting Dog? These dogs are successful in 50 to 70 percent of their hunts. They even hold the Guinness World Record for it. Another Guinness World Record goes to the Saluki for being the oldest dog breed. This breed actually dates back to 329BC. Back then, in Ancient Egypt, these dogs were kept as Royal Pets. There are rumors that this breed can be traced back even further, as there are carvings located in the South of Iraq of a dog that looks very much like this breed and they can be dated back to 7,000 BC. Pretty incredible, right?

Did you know that dogs have three eyelids? This is something a lot of people do not realize about their furry friends. The third lid is a nictitating membrane, which is known as a haw. It is important for ensuring the eye is lubricated and protected. There are also some distinct features that are associated with specific breeds of dogs. For instance, Shar-Peis and Chow Chows have black tongues. Also, 30 percent of Dalmatians are deaf in one ear. Also, did you know that if a cheetah and a greyhound were to go head-to-head in a long-distance race, a greyhound would win? This is because greyhounds boast exceptional long-distance speeds. They can keep up a pace of 35mph for as long as seven miles.

Inspiring hero dogs

It is only right that we give a mention to some of the world’s most inspiring hero dogs in honor of Dog Day. In fact, this is something that we like to do every Dog Day – read up about tales where dogs have done incredible things – and we recommend that you do the same too. It can be incredibly eye-opening and very heartwarming.

Let’s begin with Killian, a Labrador Retriever who saved his little friend from prolonged abuse. Jordan and Benjamin Hope had hired a babysitter for their son after spending some time online researching. They were so confident with their selection that they decided to hire the babysitter for five months. However, Alexis Khan was not the incredible babysitter she made out to be. She would slap the baby and constantly scold him. The abuse would have gone on for at least five months if their dog, Killian, did not warn the couple. Whenever the babysitter would arrive, Killian would stick close to the baby and display aggressive behavior toward the babysitter. It caused concern, and the parents decided they would hide an iPhone underneath the sofa to record what was going on. This revealed everything, and if it was not for Killian, they would never have known.

Another amazing story is about a Golden Retriever called Toby. When his owner, Debbie Parkhurst, got a big chunk of apple lodged in her throat, she couldn’t get it out and had to beat her own chest to try and dislodge the apple, but to no avail. Her two-year-old Golden Retriever noticed her despair, and jumped up and down on her stomach to force the apple out, saving her life! There are plenty of other stories just like this only, so we definitely recommend giving them a read. You will be amazed.

History of Dog Day

The love of a dog is a pure thing. He gives you a trust which is total. You must not betray it.

You may be wondering who started this incredible day, and we have Colleen Paige to thank for it. Collen is an Animal Advocate and a Pet & Family Lifestyle Expert. The day marks the date she adopted her first family dog, Sheltie. The day has been adopted around the world, and it is even written into legislation in New York, showing just how important it is.

How to celebrate Dog Day

Recommendations for ways to celebrate Dog Day range from adopting a dog from a rescue home to giving your dog a holistic spa treatment or even buying yourself and your dog matching t-shirts.

The National Dog Day Foundation supports all breeds and varieties of dogs and discourages purchasing from unethical backyard breeders and puppy mills; instead, support reputable breeders or adopt from rescue homes.

Dog Day has been supported by such high profile individuals as former US President George W Bush whose own dog, Barney the Scottish terrier has his own website and has even starred in a series of short films. So celebrate dogs and their varied talents today, both by taking the time to treat the dogs in your own life and by supporting dogs in need.

You can also celebrate Dog Day by making a donation to an animal charity of your choice. You will probably find that you have a local dog charity or shelter in your local area. All you need to do is a quick search online, and you will discover more about the amazing charities out there that are doing incredible work. There are charities and rescue shelters for dogs without a home, as well as organizations that organize dogs for the deaf, as well as therapy dogs and guide dogs. Making a donation to one of these organizations can make a massive difference.

Of course, you may decide that the best way to do this is to fundraise. In order to fundraise, you purely need an idea that gets everyone involved so that awareness and money can be made. It does not have to be a complicated idea. This is why fun runs and bake sales are so effective. You simply need to make sure that you have something that the community can really get behind. Alternatively, you could decide to take on a challenge and ask people to sponsor you, such as a skydive or walking a certain distance. The options are endless.

It is worth mentioning that fundraising does not have to involve an event of any kind. There are plenty of other ways you can fundraise. For example, you may decide to get a T-shirt personalized and sell them. This could be a T-shirt with some sort of animal quote on it in honor of Dog Day. you could then donate all of the proceeds, or at least a percentage of them, to a dog charity or organization of your choosing.

It is not all about donating money, either. There are a lot of organizations that would appreciate your time just as much. Why not spend the day working with an animal charity or organization? If you are going to be able to donate more of your time in the future, we are sure that this would be greatly appreciated.

Needless to say, another great way to honor Dog Day would be to give a dog a home that really needs it. Your life really does change once you have a dog, and for the better! However, bringing a dog into the family is not for everyone and you may feel that you are not at the stage in your life whereby this is right for you. Plus, you may simply not be able to. Some landlords, for example, do not allow their tenants to have any pets in their homes. If this is the case, why not sponsor a dog instead? By doing this, you will donate a small amount of money per week or month and in return you will help to provide a dog with the home they deserve. You will get updates throughout the year so that you know what your money is going towards and how your dog is doing.

Another great way to spend Dog Day is by watching a dog movie. There are so many great films about dogs, so you should have no trouble finding one that you have not watched before. One of our favorites is the old-classic Old Yeller. If you have not seen this before, we definitely recommend watching it. It is an exemplary coming of age tale. You will go on an emotional journey as you understand the incredible bond between humans and their furry best friends. Of course, you can go for something more fun and less tear-jerking, such as 101 Dalmations. Some other films that we recommend looking into include Heart Of A Dog, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit, Lassie Come Home, Lady And The Tramp, Lassie, Isle Of Dogs, Togo, My Dog Tulip, Bolt, Sounder, The Incredible Journey, and Megan Leavey. The latter is about the bond between a young marine corporal and how she saves lives because of the bond she has with her military combat dog. It’s a great movie, and there are many, many more, so get the popcorn in and spend the day binging on some dog films.

Source

[renee-writer]

M.S.F. Chapter 17 A Wedding is Performed

I was thinking a blend of Scottish and African.” Jamie says at the decontamination center. He is stripped down to his waist and Claire is thoughly distracted.

“What?” He smiles and pulls a clean scrub shirt on.

“For our wedding. There is one particular tradition, tying the knot. It is an actual thing. Us Scots do it as part of the hand fast ceremony. We can combine the two, if you are willing?”

“I would love that. So our hands are tied?”

“Wrist bound. The final knot is tied when the officiate declares us wed. Then there are auld Scottish vows we can say.”

“I really love the idea of combining cultures.” He smiles and takes her hand, the one with his ring on it, and they start walking.

“So, any traditions from the English you wish to incorporate?”

Truly no. I grew up so many places, a citizen of the world. So, having your traditions and those of here, this place we meet, is perfect.”

“If you are sure?”

“I am. I just wish to be Mrs. Fraser, Doctor Fraser. Really, that is all I want.”

He stops and kisses her.

She has also wrote home and had her grandparents wedding rings sent. They are the one thing she has of them. She smiles at the thought of surprising Jamie with them. A former patient, a seamstress, made her a traditional white flowing gown. Joe, who is a minister, as well as a doctor, will be preforming the ceremony. It is all set.

She is a nervous wreck, the day of the ceremony. They have some patients, but all are stable and under the nurses care. Gellis is helping her prepare. Her hair is upswept. The one piece of jewelry she brought with her, her mum's pearls, go around her neck. She borrows a pair of Geillis’ earrings, simple gold hoops. The white dress fits her perfectly. She almost weeps when she sees herself in it.

“You are gorgeous.” Geillis smiles broadly at her. “Jamie will be knocked over.”

The ceremony is to be outside with the available doctors and nurses, old patients and their families, as witnesses. They make a circle around them, a community of love.

She walks on bare feet towards the circle. Geillis had already joined the others. The circle parts and Jamie stands in the middle. He stands in a suit( where in the world did he get that?) looking good. So bloody good. His face lights up even more when he sees her. She feels like she is floating, her feet not hitting the ground as she moves towards him. John and Geillis, stand on either side representing best man and maid-of-honor. Joe holds the book of prayers and the fabric that will tie them together. She places her hand in his and Joe wraps it around their wrists. He then begins the vows.

They are traditional. Sickness and health, better or worse, as long as we both shall live. They quote from the book of Ruth. “Wherever thou goest, I will go, where ever thou lodgest I will lodge, Thou God shall be my God. Let nothing but death part us.”

“Do you have rings?” Jamie looks a bit panicked. Claire hands them to Joe with a smile. He lays them on the open book of prayers and prays over them.

“With this ring I the wed.” She slips her grandad’s ring, now her husband’s, on his finger. He does the same. Joe ties the knot at the top.

““Fuil de mo chnaimh fala demo chnaimh bheir mi dhut mo bhodhaig agus mo sprite gus an teid mo bheatha a dheanamh.” They repeat to each other. Joe unbinds them and pronounces them husband and wife. The kiss is explosive.

[crewhonk]

... Of The Line (4 1/2)

Warnings: Piet is a little shit and we love him, violence, guns, overall battle warnings, jealous!Steve, steve sees YN naked ad has to pick out her underwear

Words: 3.6K-- I’m trying to break down my chapters a little more-- plus if i kept this all one part, it would have been 6k long lolololololol

Chapter summary: The team try and find Klaue ina n African ship yard, and Pietro seems to be having too much fun

A series collaboration with @nomadsgrogers where she writes for Giovanna as the reader! We’re just projecting onto our writing, its FINE

Series Summary: Steve watches YN Banner grow up before his eyes-- from a shy, dorky sixteen-year-old to a fierce, brilliant woman who never fails to keep him on his toes. He knows that she’s untouchable, but that doesn’t stop him from being completely wrapped around her finger for the rest of his long life. 

Series Warnings: Mutual Pining, age gap, gun use, these two are idiots-- seriously they're so dumb, slow burn

Pairings: eventual Steve Rogers X Banner!Reader, eventual Buky Barnes X OC!Stark

AN: PLEASE, PLEASE COMMENT AND LIKE AND REBLOG OUR WORK! We’re getting a little discouraged due to the recent lack of notes on this series!

Till The End Masterlist / Of The Line Masterlist

___

It was early the next morning when a new voice woke her up, her Scottish lilt comforting but unfamiliar. 

“Miss, Mr Rogers is at your door.” YN groaned, and shoved her face deeper in the pillow she was cuddling with. “Should I let him in?”

YN was a moment away from saying yes when she realized what her current state was. She shot up out of bed, blankets pulled around her naked body as she searched wildly around the room. 

“Um— tell him to give me a minute?” Her voice was shaking slightly with panic. “I just need to get ready.” She threw the blankets off of her body and cried out when her feet touched the floor. Damn it, she had almost forgotten she had run around barefoot last night while fighting— drunk-YN was a dumbass. 

“YN, are you okay?” She could hear Steve’s voice on the other side of the door and she wanted to laugh the loudest she had ever laughed before. Of course, she would be doing this right now. 

“I— yeah, I’m just. Not decent and can’t do anything about it.” She replied, tying her hair in a lopsided bun to try to get the greasy locks out of her face. The soles of her feet rocketed pain up to her knees and she cursed drunk her. 

“I’m coming in,” Steve said, barely giving her enough time to cover herself with her duvet before overriding the lock and walking in.

The sight before him would make any man's knees weak. YN Banner was in her bed, blanket wrapped barely around her thighs and chest, shoulders gleaming and bare. Her lipstick was smudged, eyeliner and mascara a cloud around her eyes, and her hair was messy and unkept. If Steve squinted he could picture her in a similar situation, instead, his blanket wrapped around her modesty— the light from his window warming her skin. 

“I— hi.” He said breathlessly, frozen in the doorway. 

“Hey, could you close the door please?” She grinned sheepishly and he fumbled into her room after doing so, looking anywhere but the woman in her bed and shoving his hands deep into his pockets. 

“I— where are your clothes? I’ll get them for you.” He offered and she desperately wanted the floor to swallow her whole. Sure, she could just pretend she was wearing anything at all and ask for a sweater and sweatpants but that would, in fact, be a lie and YN would find herself very uncomfortable the rest of the day. On the other hand, she would have to ask Steve Rogers to get her a pair of underwear and she knew that it was only three days before that she had thrown out all of her granny-panties in lieu of getting new ones. 

So, of course, it would be her lucky hat Steve would have to open the top drawer of her dresser and find pretty, soft underwear of all shapes and materials and oh, god couldn’t Ultron just crash through the window and kill her right now?

Not to be dramatic. 

“I— yeah, okay. Um, my fuck. My underwear is in the top drawer, and my long sleeves and sweatpants are in the drawer under that.” She flushed at the shock in Steve’s eyes and didn’t miss the way his gaze drifted over her bare thighs hungrily. 

“You’re not— okay I’ll just.” He tore his eyes from her and turned to her dresser, looking briefly over framed pictures of her with her apparent favourite people. There was a picture (there were more strung on the wall) of her and Giovanna at a concert, their hair wild and makeup dressed to the nines. Their mouths were open in song and stretched with smiles, hands raised in the air at praise of whichever artist it was. There was one of her and Natasha— a selfie, Steve learned— of them both in matching neon pink facemasks and cheesy smiles. There was one of young YN, side by side with her dad in what looked like a warzone— both of them smiling and holding dripping ice cream cones. Her and Tony, apparently playfully arguing in the lab, Tony with a look of shock on his face and Giovanna with an expression of pure unadulterated joy at the horror on YN’s face. There was a screwdriver in the wall next to Tony’s head. 

Then, there was another that shocked him— it was a picture of him and YN. They had been on vacation in Disneyland when she was eighteen. She had managed to coax him into not only wearing matching bright pink bedazzled Minnie Mouse ears but also to feeding him cotton candy from his back as payment for the piggyback ride he was currently giving her. The setting sun bathed them in an orange glow, and it made his heart soft looking at it. 

He shook his head, eyes flicking up to look at the picture once more before opening the top dresser drawer and feeling his skin fill with boiling water. Sure, he knew she was twenty one now, but he had never expected her to be wearing anything like this under her clothes. There was a rainbow of fabric in this drawer, all the underwear and bras different ranges of cotton and lace, and his hands shook as he picked up a light blue pair, sucking in a breath at the lack of fabric at the back and bundling it into a ball in his fist and out of mind. He grabbed the softest shirt and pants, next, rushing over to hand her the clothes and refusing to make eye contact by any means. 

She thanked him breathily and he swore under his breath as he followed her next orders and went to the bathroom, grabbing her makeup wipes and mouthwash and returning only when she gave him the okay. 

“You good to go?” His voice sounded distant over the blood rushing in his ears. At her nod, he handed her the StarkPad he was carrying and bent on one knee in front of her to allow her to climb like a monkey on his back. 

“Any updates?” She asked into his ear as they left her room. He had told her that Helen's cradle was ready for her and that they would meet together while the cradle did its magic. 

“Yeah, actually. It’s not good, but its a huge lead and we’ll probably be heading out tomorrow for another mission.” He hummed, jogging down the stairs and walking into the lab where everyone was waiting. With a little help, YN was placed into the cradle on her stomach, warmth spreading through her feet as the cradle did its magic work on her. 

Steve walked over to Tony once YN was situated and unlocked his tablet, handing it to him. 

“What’s this?” He asked, handing the pad to Natasha who clenched her jaw. 

“A message. Ultron killed Strucker.” He replied, and Natasha passed the picture over to Giovanna who raised her eyebrows and showed it to YN. 

“And he did a Banksy at the crime scene,” Giovanna commented, YN nodding slowly in agreement and her nose wrinkled. 

“That’s gross.” She mumbled. 

‘‘This is a smokescreen. Why send a message when you've just given a speech?” Natasha commented, taking a sip of the cup of coffee Clint had just arrived with. YN smiled gratefully as he placed an extra large cup in her hand, knowing that while the cradle was magic, it still sucked to have to use it. 

“Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss,” Steve grumbled. Of course, he would be beating himself up for this— for allowing their government agency to take him in rather than Steve doing it himself. If he had just done the work himself rather than following orders, this could have all been avoided. 

“Yeah, I bet he—“ Natasha rolled over to the computer and opened any files she could get her hands on, slouching when she found nothing. “Yep. Everything we had on Strucker has been erased.”

Giovanna walked over and sat in a low riding chair next to YN, taking a sip from her coffee and immediately gagging. 

“I don’t know why you keep trying coffee, you hate it so much,” YN whispered, amused as she watched her best friend chug the nearest water bottle. 

“I honestly don’t know either.”

“Not everything.” Tony had reappeared with a box of files in his hand, and the team stopped and groaned. It was another five minutes before boxes and boxes of files were brought in and lids tossed haphazardly around the room and the team skimmed files and papers relating to anyone even remotely related to Strucker. 

“Steve.” YN piped up as he went to pass her. “Bring me a box.”

“YN, you’re still injured.” Steve looked down at her and she groaned, flopping her forehead against the table under her. 

“Yeah on the opposite end of my brain. Give me a box, I want to help.” YN pleaded, and cheered when Giovanna returned with two boxes in her arms. Steve only rolled his eyes and huffed at YN’s cheer. 

“Didn’t you take notes during the meetings?” Giovanna asked, handing her a millennia folder. YN snorted, propping herself up on her elbows and flipping it open. 

“Yeah, along with notes about how great Steve’s ass looked during them. As if I would ever share them.” YN muttered, gaze drifting from her work to Steve who had made himself comfortable on a couch he and Thor had pulled from the far wall. 

“You’ll share them with me, though right?” Giovanna chuckled, throwing a piece of paper to the floor and picking up the next report. 

“Wanna do a girls night later? I’ll do a dramatic reading of them.” 

“You got it, Dude.”

Tony was pacing again and stopped to look over Bruce’s shoulder. He pulled the file from Bruce’s hands and let out a breath through his nose. 

“Wait. I know that guy— from back in the day. He operates off the African coast, black market arms.” Steve’s head shot up accusingly and Tony rolled his eyes. “There are conventions, alright? You meet people, I didn't sell him anything.”

“I made sure of that.” Giovanna piped up and Tony shot her a glance. 

“You weren’t even there. You were what, thirteen?”

“I went to Paris alone when I was ten and was back before you even knew I was gone, remember? Black market conventions in Africa were nothing.”

Tony jabbed a finger in her direction, and YN raised an eyebrow. “We are talking about this later.”

“I don’t actually need to listen to you, you know— I’m twenty-one now.” She smiled, propping her chin on her fist and shooting him with a mischievous smile that Tony knew would result in just a light chastising. 

“Anyways,” He continued with a glare shot toward Giovanna. “He was talking about finding something new, a game changer, it was all very ‘Ahab’.”

Thor pulled the paper from Tony's hands and nodded towards it. “This.”

“Uh, it's a tattoo. I don't think he had it—“ Tony replied, squinting around Thor’s arm. Yn held out her hand and wiggled her fingers, looking at the picture. There was a man in the picture— well built, grey hair, wide smile and smile lines to match. His skin was plastered with tattoos— some fresh and others bleached from the sun or scars. There was a mark on his neck, though. It was still pink and the skin around it was irritated and puckered. 

“No, those are tattoos, this is a brand.” She said. “ Looks like he’s not too good at making friends. It looks like a hieroglyphic?”

“What dialect?” Steve asked, and YN shook her head. 

“It doesn’t look quite like anything I’ve ever seen before. It looks central-west Africa, almost?” She replied and handed the paper to her dad who scanned the symbol. 

“It's a word in an African dialect meaning thief, in a much less friendly way.”

“Wakanada...? Wa…Wa…Wakanda?”

The word meant nothing to anyone in the room but Steve and Tony who had let their faces drop. Steve looked rather pale, and YN could feel her brows furrowing as they turned to each other. 

“If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods—“ Tony began, clenching his fists nervously. Even Giovanna, who was rarely concerned with her father's anxiety, knowing it was usually something he wanted to deal with himself, sat up straighter. Something was very, very wrong. 

“I thought your father said he got the last of it,” Steve said, turning his body away from the rest of the team and towards Tony. If his hunch was correct, this week was about to get a lot worse for everyone. 

“Can someone tell me what is going on?” Giovanna asked, her voice sharp. 

“What comes out of Wakanda?” Bruce asked, and Steve turned, picked up his shield and handed it to YN’s dad. 

“The strongest metal on Earth,” Steve said, his voice low and saturated with worry. He turned to Tony once more. “Where is this guy, now?”

____________________

The flight and fight in Africa was supposed to have been an easy one— quick. Take out a man who had nothing special to him, capture the twins, take out Ultron and then make it home before Chick-Fil-A closed. 

How very wrong they were. As soon as Steve had announced their arrival, both YN and Giovanna knew that this was going to go terribly wrong. Maybe it was the way that the girl was holding herself, or maybe it was the way that the boy was looking at YN like he wanted to take her to a closet and make her squeal (Steve didn’t like that look very much at all). Maybe it was the way Ultron’s left side was covered in blood with Klaue nowhere to be seen. 

“Something is wrong, here.” YN pressed her finger to her ear as she spoke into the comm system. None of the team on the ground floor made any more to acknowledge her statement but Natasha, who looked warily over to her and nodded in agreement. Something was very much off. Her worries were cut off by Ultron making a noise of disgust. 

“Captain America,” He sneered. “Gods righteous man. Pretending you could live without a war. I can’t physically throw up in my mouth but—“ YN didn’t hear what Ultron had to say next, as Giovanna had appeared by her side, hand gentle on her arm and coaxing her to stay by the doorway. Keeping YN from punching the face off of that damn robot. 

“Throwing punches before the plan starts won’t end well.” Giovanna's voice was sharp in her ear and YN only nodded, shoulders still tense and eyes burning into Ultron. 

“—Casue I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan—“ Ultron cut himself off by capturing Tony in a magnetic pull and throwing him to the metal wall just left of where the girls were hiding in the shadows. 

“Dad!” Giovanna cried, pulling her helmet over her head and launching herself at Ultron who almost giggled. 

“Human bonds— cute.” He said, punching her to the ground and through the metal bridge. It didn’t take long for YN to plunge off the edge after her best friend, finding her shaking herself of dust and rubble. 

“I’m going to kill him,” Giovanna growled, launching herself right back up the boat and kicking the large robot in the chest immediately after a blast from her father. There was a little pause between their attacks and YN would have to inform her best friend just how cool she looked in that moment. The blasts and kicks were quick— precise, and the rage seemed to seep out of the lines of her suit. 

“She’s pretty cool, huh?” The male twin appeared beside YN suddenly, and YN squealed and jumped, momentarily forgetting she was, in fact, in a fight for blood. She moved quickly, grabbing a pistol from her hip and a chained baton from her thigh. Her attacks seemed fruitless— he was much too fast and before she knew it, he was spinning the baton in the air, circling her. 

“You are very beautiful— brave, too.” He hummed, coming face to face with her. She growled, surprising him enough to land a kick to his chest and knocking the air out of his lungs.  She aimed her gun at his shoulder, narrowly missing as he sped to his feet. 

“If I was a normal man, I would surely be dead by now.” His voice crooned in her ear and her elbow moved quickly enough that it caught the tip of his chin. She heard his hiss in a breath—good, the steel-tipped elbow pads had been a good investment after all. 

“Not everyone can get a hit in on me, you know. The HYDRA agents were practically useless. The Soldat got close, but the metal arm was too clunky.” He commented absently and YN stopped long enough for him to throw her to the ground, pinning her and smiling down as he straddled her waist. 

“Bucky. Bucky trained you.” She whispered, breathlessly and the man rolled his eyes. 

“Sure, if that was his name. Angry. Ruthless. Only cared about missions— something I never understood. I always got distracted by the pretty girls.” He smiled, and YN swung her hips and legs forcefully, throwing him off of her and grabbing her other baton, turning it on and feeling the hum of electricity shoot pleasantly up her arm. 

“Do you always talk this much during a fight?” YN said breathlessly and swung, catching the tip of his finger and making him yelp and hold it to his chest. 

“Why do the most beautiful things in the world always come with the most painful bite. God’s greatest play if you ask me.” He then moved too quickly for YN to see his next attack, but it wasn’t unlike a speeding fist colliding with her jaw. YN fell to the ground in a heap and she spat out a fragment of a tooth and some blood, wiping her lip and stumbling to her feet. 

“Now, are you going to tell me your name?” He asked, faking concern and cradling her face briefly before she aimed a kick to his knees. 

“In your dreams, Buddy.” She snarled, aiming her gun and quickly firing three shots— all missing by a hairsbreadth. 

“I’m counting on it. And it is not ‘Buddy’.” He muttered, running around to her back and whispering into her ear. “It is Pietro Maximoff.”

And then he was gone. 

___________________

Steve had just barely caught the interaction, but he seemed to have gathered the gist of it. The Maximoff twin wasn’t afraid to get handsy and was incredibly quick on his feet. His charming smile shot in YN’s direction and making something akin to anger bubble in the pits of his heart and stomach. He hopped down, throwing his shield at the place where he once stood and catching it before running to YN’s side whose gaze darted quickly over the field. 

He came to stand in front of her, clutching her jaw gently in his hand and hushing her when she jumped. Her eyes and skin seemed to be glowing— stress and anger and something else simmering under her muscles. 

“YN. Are you okay?” He said softly but severely. Her gaze finally landed on him— his untouched face and still perfect uniform settling her. So long as he wasn’t hurt, she would be able to keep going. 

“Fine. I want to kick the twin in the teeth though.” She pushed Steve off of her— one part angry, two parts embarrassed at him seeing her lose that battle. He followed her, wrapped his hand around her forearm and spoke through his admiration of the fight still in her. 

“You watch the Starks and Thor’s sixes. I’ll take care of him.” He muttered and something in his eyes told her that there would be no argument in this. 

“Yes, Captain.” She turned away, leaving the ugly green monster who had reared its head a purring puddle of mush. 

______________________

The silver-haired boy wasn’t hard to find— he had been thrown into a pile of crates by the force (or pull) of Thor's hammer. He was stumbling blearily to his feet when Steve hit his chest with the flat of his shield a little too hard for necessity, sending him flying back to the Pietro-shaped hole in the boxes. 

“Stay down, Kid.” Steve’s voice was almost unrecognizable— rage boiled in his words. A flash of fear covered his face before Pietro followed his gaze to where YN had just taken out three bots all the while swinging from Giovanna’s free hand across the open air of the cargo ship. 

“She is your girlfriend?” His irritatingly suave voice called Steve’s attention back to him and all Steve wanted to do as climb on top of him and pummel his smirk to ash. 

“I don’t think it’s any of your fuckin’ business.” He continued, rolling his shoulders and puffing his chest out. The kid only rolled his eyes, standing in a flash and patting Steve’s shoulder. 

“She is beautiful. If you do not make a move, I will. Several quick ones I know she will like.” And with a high pitched giggle and a brush of air, Pietro was gone, leaving Steve about one hundred times more irritated than when he had first arrived. 

____________

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[bolddeducktionneverfails]

Launchpad’s Association With Della Duck: Ballads of Dangerous Chemistry

Part 1 | Part 2 || Part 3 | Part 4| Part 5 || Continued from Part 6

One of the many things I've noticed in DuckTales is that certain elements from earlier episodes tend to return in the later portion of the season. Sometimes as a running gag or an Easter egg, but other times, they end up revealing to be an important concept that's extremely relevant to the story. 

The Season 1 finale was a good example of this: The boys hijacking Donald's Houseboat in the pilot to go to Cape Suzette comes back as Donald wanting to move there when the boys no longer want anything to do with Scrooge. The bag of marbles Scrooge gave the boys when they first arrive to the mansion comes back as a way for Scrooge to reminisce about having them around. The silly cutout of Gyro from "Beware of The B.U.D.D.Y System!" is seen floating around in the underwater lab after the area was destroyed by the shadows. 

Sometimes it doesn't even take that long for the early elements to reappear; they can be contained within the episode itself by giving us hints in the very beginning of it and later come into play towards the ending. Scrooge was right from the start when he blamed Glomgold in "The 87 Cent Solution!" and the ending of the Darkwing Duck series finale basically foreshadowed the entirety of "The Duck Knight Returns!". If Della paid attention as she was attempting to fix the rocket on her own, she would have known about Gold Tech way ahead of time.

Two years ago at the D23 Expo, it was announced during the DuckTales panel  that Duckworth was already shown, but no one had found him yet. Many of us searched around for the butler dog and every character we guessed was rejected by the show-runners. It wasn't until "McMystery at McDuck McManor" that Duckworth was revealed to be the ram-headed spirit we've been seeing in the intro! The answer to the mystery was right there in front of our faces! But we didn't realize it because the appearance of the person we were looking for was altered.

Bᴇғᴏʀᴇ Dᴜᴄᴋᴡᴏʀᴛʜ’s ʀᴇᴠᴇᴀʟ, ʜᴇ ᴡᴀs ʜɪɴᴛᴇᴅ ᴀᴛ ᴀ ᴄᴏᴜᴘʟᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇs ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ʜɪs ʟɪᴋᴇɴᴇss ᴡᴀs ᴏʙsᴄᴜʀᴇᴅ: Tʜᴇ ɢʜᴏsᴛ ᴄʜᴀsɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ᴋɪᴅs ɪɴ Mʀs. Bᴇᴀᴋʟᴇʏ’s sʜᴏʀᴛ , ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʜᴏᴛᴏɢʀᴀᴘʜ ᴏғ ᴀ ғʟᴏᴀᴛɪɴɢ ᴏʀʙ ᴏғ ʟɪɢʜᴛ ᴏɴ Wᴇʙʙʏ’s ʙᴏᴀʀᴅ

Sᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇʟʏ ᴇɴᴏᴜɢʜ, Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ ᴡᴀsɴ'ᴛ ᴘʀᴇsᴇɴᴛ ɪɴ "MᴄMᴀɴᴏʀ" ᴀᴛ ᴀʟʟ ᴅᴇsᴘɪᴛᴇ ʟɪᴠɪɴɢ ɪɴ ᴀ sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀɴsɪᴏɴ' s ɢᴀʀᴀɢᴇ...

This proves that we don't always have to look too far to figure things out, so, after thinking about amnesia, I had to take another look at "The Ballad of Duke Baloney!". It features a confirmed case of the condition and a good example of applying one similar character to another.

The episode begins with a flashback to the happenings of "The Shadow War!", a pretty significant event. Glomgold fails to prevent his shadow from flying off and ends up falling into the marina. He loses consciousness and is eventually found by two fishers, trapped in their fisher net. He can no longer remember the whole ordeal that caused him to take on his false Scottish persona and reverts back to who he used to be: Duke Baloney.

The name Duke Balony, derives from a completely different character named The Duke of Baloni. He comes from an old Carl Barks story that predates Glomgold's character and was the first to be titled "Second-Richest Duck in the World". The show-runners used this similarity as a part of giving an in-universe explanation to why Flintheart Glomgold went from South African like he was in the earlier Scrooge McDuck comics, to Scottish like he was in the original DuckTales series.

Four months later, after Flintheart is reported to have gone missing, Webby and Louie stop by Bait 'N' Such to find him as a completely different person: His demeanor is much kinder, he talks with a different accent, he sports a real beard and now wears a fisherman outfit.

Speaking of which, Duke and LP share a lot of similar colors. Even Young Duke wears teal and green; something that was mainly exclusive to both Launchpad and Della.

The kids aren't exactly sure what to think. Was this really Glomgold? Or were they mistaking a random stranger for him? Was he genuinely suffering from amnesia? Or was this another one of his crazy schemes? As they try to figure out his true intentions, they discover Duke has a suspicious, gold money clip in his possession. This causes Webby and Louie to start an investigation where they discover Duke Baloney's records are non-existent and Flintheart Glomgold's records do not extend past his arrival to Duckburg in the 80's.

Meanwhile, Duke's evil persona slowly starts to re-emerge after one of Scrooge's fishing boats roll into the dock. He can't remember Scrooge's name, he can't even remember his face when they meet, but he suddenly grows negative feelings towards the boat and he's not exactly sure why. He starts coming up with elaborate plans to outrank it and he ends up having a dream full of subliminal messages about his past.

As Duke starts to question who he really is, he notices that Webby and Louie are out at sea as a thunderstorm is approaching. He plans to go out and rescue them but a boat crane hits him on the head, causing him to fall into the marina much like he did before. It's in his second time of unconsciousness where he remembers why he started his Scottish persona in the first place: When Duke was a child, Scrooge failed at teaching him a sense of self reliance by only paying partially for his shoe shining services. Feeling cheated, he secretly stole Scrooge's money clip and vowed to do whatever it takes to out-best him at everything and steal his title of "Richest Duck in the World".

When Duke comes to at the surface, he reverts back to his evil ways. He displays this as he tricks Webby into giving him her hand only for him throw her out of the boat to make room for himself. The other fishers are very shocked to see their friend act like this.

Glomgold makes his way back to his office to reclaim his company from Zan Owlson and to challenge Scrooge with the fiscal year bet. Scrooge refuses until Glomgold taunts him with the money clip he had stolen from him. McDuck becomes surprised, and angry, that his greatest rival has a significant connection to his past.

So, if Launchpad has amnesia, what could Glomgold's situation be telling us about his?

Glomgold's amnesia was tied to a big event as well as LP's could be if he was involved with the cosmic storm.

Glomgold goes missing in the sea, an environment that is very similar to outer-space.

Following his disappearance, Glomgold ended up looking like a different person with a new profession. Launchpad is completely unrecognizable to Della in spite of many signs that they could have something to do with each other's backgrounds and there are also possible signs that he might not be a legitimate airplane pilot.

Glomgold had Scrooge's money clip on him. Maybe LP has some sort of mysterious item or something like a scar or a birthmark that could help prove that he's the father.

Information on both Duke and Glomgold is extremely limited. Launchpad's records probably don't go very far either. 

Duke's sudden hatred for Scrooge's boat reminds me of Launchpad's sudden attachment to Dewey. The triplet hasn't done much to or for Launchpad prior "Terror of The Terrafimians!”; he caused a trap to dump a pile of snakes onto Launchpad without apologizing. Dewey doesn't show any concern towards him until he comes back from his search in "Gander"...and yet, Launchpad established him as his best friend. He may not even be sure why he does. I've been theorizing for the longest time that Dewey could be reminding him of Della. 

In the Theme Song Takeover, Launchpad sings about being on the Houseboat with Dewey specifically without acknowledging that Scrooge, Donald, Huey and Louie are there too. He did a similar thing in “Jaw$!” when he simplified Huey and Louie as “Dewey’s Brothers”. Aside from giving us potential clues about Della, Issue 18 highlighted Launchpad’s friendship with Dewey as well. When he realizes the severity of the tsunami alert, he immediately grabs Dewey and wants to head to safety instead of thinking to grab both Dewey and Webby at the same time. The retail incentive cover for this issue features a bunch of Dewey photos with Launchpad facing them.

Duke has a dream full of symbolism revolving around his Scottish persona. Launchpad’s line in “The 87 Cent Solution!” when Scrooge causes Gizmoduck to accidentally shoot the Sunchaser with a torpedo, reminds me a bit of this. He said the situation reminded him of every nightmare he’s ever had....why is he having dreams of accidentally hitting Dewey with the plane? What does this mean? Is he afraid that there will be a day where he hurts someone he cares about? Has this already happened in the past?

Was the mishap reminiscent of what happened during the cosmic storm? Scrooge accidentally causes Gizmoduck to fire his torpedoes (lightning?), they hit the plane (spacecraft?), smoke fills the vehicle (radiation clouds?) and he comes close to hitting someone he cares about (Della?)

After seeing the boat, Glomgold's old ways start to creep back into his mind. I think after being exposed to Della's presence for the first time in years, Launchpad will start to act a bit like his older self and do things that Della will recognize.

Glomgold had to get knocked back into the sea to return to how he normally is. Will Launchpad have to have another stressful incident or head injury to help him remember who he was?

 There's a line from "The Impossible Summit of Mt. Neverrest!" where he says "NO! This is not the end of Launchpad McQuack! It WILL be by plane crash, or not at all!" Was that possibly hinting towards this?

Duke actually says a line a bit similar to this where he says “All I need to know, is that I came from the sea...and I’ll die buy it...”

 A thunderstorm was involved and a rescue was underway, just like how Della could have been trying to rescue the father while she was caught up in the cosmic storm.

Glomgold's beard gets zapped with lightning from the storm, burning it into nothing. Launchpad possibly implied that he himself survived a lightning strike of some sort.

This episode was about a villain turning back into a good guy after losing his memory. Did Launchpad use to be a bad person? Or someone who was generally good, but made a bad decision? Or just unknowingly caused a bunch of bad things to happen? If Launchpad was the reason behind Della taking the Spear, then it’s partially his fault for Della getting stuck on the moon, losing her leg, Donald and Scrooge's separation, the boys growing up financially unstable without a mother, the depletion of the Money Bin, almost making Scrooge go bankrupt, Scrooge's retirement and depression, the family splitting up for a second time, Donald being sent to jail and the upcoming invasion. Even if the incident was beyond his control, he'll still feel horrible about causing such a chain reaction.

Not really counting on this, but if amnesia caused Glomgold to revert back to his original accent, could breaking out of amnesia cause Launchpad to revert back to his? In the original DuckTales series, Launchpad had more of a Northeastern accent. There are certain points in the cadence of Della's voice that reminds me of how Launchpad speaks in the reboot; more notably when she slips into a lower register

"Iiiit's fiiiine, I'm sure the flavor will wear off soon…"

"I've activated my distress beacon, so you can pinpoint my location and COME GET ME."

"I bet the boys have hatched by now... I'm not even sure what they look like…"

"I was gone for a decade and everyone was just fine…"

Glomgold's change in voice was brought on by copying off of Scrooge. Perhaps Launchpad is emulating Della in that way as well.

There are a few other lines in this episode that reminded me of some lines Launchpad has said in the previous season:

When Duke shares his crazy plans to outdo Scrooge's boat by over-fishing, Mann makes a comment.

 "...But it's like you always say, 'sharing is caring'."

 Duke takes a moment to think about this.

"That does sound like me...or does it?"

This reminds me of the scene in "The Spear of Selene!" where Scrooge orders Launchpad to get the plane back in the air after crash landing on Ithaquack. Launchpad responds.

"Sorry, Mr. McDee, gotta figure out what this flashing red light means. I always say: Better to be safe than... whatever the opposite of safe is!" 

He then looks off to the side with uncertainty afterwards, like he's not exactly sure where this phrase came from, but he could have sworn he said it at some point.

"Yeah, I do say that.”

But then Scrooge fires back.

"WHEN HAVE YOU EVER SAID THAT?!"

Could this little break in character be implying that Launchpad was a safer person at some point in his life?

When Duke notices Webby and Louie out at sea when the storm is about to start, he begins to speak.

 “I'll save ya! Or my name isn't--” 

But then he gets hit with a crane and falls into the water. This reminds me of LP's quote in “The Secret(s) of Castle McDuck!” when he's trying to help Scrooge win his parents’ approval. In disguise, he says

“He's a real family man or my name isn't Launchpad Mc...Donald Duck.”

We all know he isn't Donald and he was close to saying Launchpad McQuack wasn't his real name.

This may not count, but When Duke reached out to Webby and said “Give me your hand!”, it reminded me of when LP said the same thing to Dewey in “B.U.D.D.Y” as well as Scrooge in "Last Crash" when he's going after Dewey outside of the plane. Duke pulls Webby into the water and the limo rides over a rock causing Dewey to come out of the self-driving car and fly out of LP's grip.

After developing my new theory about Della and Launchpad's connection, I later realized how the two episodes I’ve been zeroing in on the most, are next to each other in order of production. One dealt with the ideas of genetic mutation in a space-like environment, combined with the concept of going on a secret trip to meet up with a family member and a lover. Then right after that, there's the idea of someone having amnesia after a big event causes their long absence and then struggling to figure out who they really are when elements from their past start to seep back into their life. A connection between the two is looking very likely. Both stories were set in aquatic places and may have even occurred around the same time. I came across a theory that Huey, Dewey and Launchpad visited the Mid-Atlantic ridge while Webby and Louie went fishing, which would explain why they weren't present in the other's episode. __

If Launchpad was affected by the cosmic storm, what else could it have done to him aside from changing the way he looks?

I've put together a list of abilities he may have gained from this:

Immortality

In "The Most Dangerous Game...Night!" Louie tells Huey that he's convinced Launchpad is immortal due to the amount of plane crashes he's survived.  LP doesn't respond to this comment and later refuses to answer Huey about how he survived the Tower of Infinity when it collapsed.

I think there's enough weight to Louie's remark for it to be more than simply a one-off joke because there are multiple times where he's shown to be pretty resilient.  Launchpad can get sick or hurt, but he recovers incredibly well to injuries and has, as Fisher said when he was describing Duke,  "a freakishly high tolerance for pain".  

After the snakes from the Atlantean trap bit him, he brushes the situation off like it's not a big deal. He's hindered by the venom, but he's still conscious enough to climb down the bridge when it breaks (for the most part) and helps Webby to lie to her grandmother by posing as a Swedish person. When Glomgold announced that he's about to blow up the city, Launchpad’s facial swelling suddenly goes down and he’s well enough to quickly drive the sub to safety. Also, when Launchpad returns to the Sunchaser after looking for Ziyi, a bunch of arrows are pierced through his armor and he has an eye-patch over his eye. He’s winded by having to run to the to the plane in time and escape the danger he went though, but he isn’t wincing from his injuries. He isn’t really fazed by them at all.

Sᴛᴏʀᴋᴜʟᴇs sᴇᴇᴍs ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴀ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇʜᴏʟᴅᴇʀ ғᴏʀ Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ ᴡʜᴇɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ʜᴇ's ɴᴏᴛ ᴘᴀʀᴛɪᴄɪᴘᴀᴛɪɴɢ ɪɴ ᴄᴇʀᴛᴀɪɴ ᴇᴘɪsᴏᴅᴇs. Pᴇʀʜᴀᴘs ʜᴇ ʀᴇᴘʀᴇsᴇɴᴛs Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ's ɪᴍᴍᴏʀᴛᴀʟɪᴛʏ ɪɴ ᴀ ᴡᴀʏ.

Strength

“The Missing Links of Moorshire!” is a good example of Launchpad’s strength. Towards the end of the episode, he’s shown to lift Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webby and Scrooge with ease. Even earlier in the episode, he’s able to push a water-logged golf cart out of a lake, which on average is somewhere between 900 to 1100 lbs when it’s dry.

The cosmic storm may have increased his strength, but the workout equipment in his room would indicate that he needs to maintain it to a degree. Maybe it's a Hercules-type situation; even during his weaker points, he’s still pretty strong, but working out just makes him even more abnormally strong. 

Agility 

As seen in “Shadow War” and “Duck Knight”, LP is a very capable fighter. He has good reflexes, allowing him to dodge most attacks. Even though the venom from the snakes impaired him, he was still able to defend himself from Glomgold’s henchmen. In “Last Crash”, he ran on top of falling items to keep himself from falling out of the plane. And when he was fighting off the shadows on top of the plane, he never lost his balance.

Speed

I'm not really sure with this one, but in "Game Night" Launchpad was able to make it over to Louie and Huey after getting struck with the shrink ray. Perhaps this was ignored for convince, but running fast would explain how he was able to survive the collapse of the Jenga tower.

Aquatic Respiration

I think this is starting to become more apparent. After "Whatever Happened to Della Duck?!" aired, I started to wonder if Launchpad may have used Oxy-Chew when he went to visit Oceanika. But after "Friendship Hates Magic!"....I don't think this is the case. In the scene where he's drinking pea soup through a silly straw, one of the peas gets stuck and he struggles with it until his face starts to turn blue. He faints and all the air in his lungs exits his body before face-planting into his bowl. Then he makes a muffled inhaling noise without choking…

Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ sɪᴛs ɪɴ ғʀᴏɴᴛ ᴏғ ᴀ ᴘᴀɪɴᴛɪɴɢ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ sᴇᴀsɪᴅᴇ ᴀs ᴛʜɪs ɪs ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴɪɴɢ.

In “Neverrest”, Launchpad keeps his mouth open as he falls into the hot spring and doesn’t gasp for air when he bursts out of it. When he comes back to the lighthouse in "Depths", he simply resurfaces with no problem. He isn't panting for air until he has to climb up onto the platform, which can be a bit tiring after staying in the water for so long. So, uh...I guess Launchpad has gills somewhere on his beak...? Granted, if he did have Oxy-Chew at some point, he could have ended up swallowing it; I mean, that stuff is pretty powerful when you chew it alone, but I'm leaning on mutation with this one.

Electrical Powers

After getting caught in a cloud full of radiation and lightning, it would make a ton of sense for Launchpad to have some sort of connection to electricity. But what kind of connection exactly? Can he generate his own? Can he bend and levitate metal objects to his will? Does he serve as a special conductor?  It's really hard to tell since there aren't any on obviously examples, but perhaps there could be something with the latter option.

The ending to “The Spear of Selene!” was very baffling. During my first viewing, I thought Launchpad was scared to leave the plane for some reason, but he ends up disassembling the plane; preventing the family from leaving and bringing him out in the open. Then, during my latest viewing, I realized that the plane isn’t simply taken apart, it looks like it was ripped apart. The pieces are damaged...one of the engines are chipped and dented, one of the propeller blades are also chipped, the tail of the plane has a cracked wing, the control board is all dented with the yoke snapped off...was he really that obsessed with figuring out the problem that he couldn’t just use tools to separate the plane properly? This made me wonder if there could have been an explosion from inside of the Sunchaser. Could another lightning bolt have hit the plane and it was strong enough for Launchpad to react to it? The first time the plane was struck, he’s quickly able to engage a control to stop it from affecting the plane.

The plane parts don’t seem to have any burn marks on them and Launchpad’s clothes aren’t singed or anything, so perhaps there was a different kind of electrical mishap or something that resulted from another side effect of the cosmic storm.

Sixth Sense

Maybe this is purely for meta humor, but LP seems to have this underlying fourth wall-y awareness. At the end of “Moonshire”, the camera is gone, but he still faces the audience and addresses the lesson to be learned. He then undercuts himself as if he didn't want us to know how insightful he is.

In "Terror of The Terrafimians!", he questions if Huey, Webby and Lena were the only three missing from the group when Magica technically counts as a fourth person. 

Good Hearing

You would think that after constantly hearing the sound of breaking glass and denting metal on a daily basis, it would take a toll on Launchpad's hearing, but he seems to be a good listener. 

Even though we weren't able to see his reaction to Scrooge's story about the Spear of Selene, he must have heard it in spite of being all the way on the other side of the plane and being sorta barricaded by a bunch of stuff to help balance the weight. If the boys informed him about what happened, he would have taken their word for it when he was talking over the intercom in "Shadow War", not point out how they’re the ones who blame Scrooge.

After "Nothing Can Stop Della Duck!" aired, I've been trying to figure out how Launchpad knew that Della was in the houseboat. She wasn't being very loud and he said "Thought I'd come over to introduce myself," implying that he knew about her being in there and stalled afterwards. He could have seen her as she was walking to the other side of the pool to board the houseboat, but it would have to have been somewhere where she wouldn’t have been able to notice him. Maybe looking out the window from inside the house. If not, he could have heard her in the boat as he was passing by. She didn’t start talking until around the time he came over, so if this were the case, he would have already known whose voice it was coming out of the houseboat. If he knew about Della being in the mansion this whole time, why did it take him so long to talk to her?

Weight Manipulation?

Part of me sorta wonders if LP has the ability to make himself lighter when he needs to be; holding back so he won't hurt anyone. This would explain things like how Scrooge was able to save LP from falling out of the plane in “Last Crash” without dislocating his shoulder and how Webby was able to knock LP down in “Shadow War”. 

But then again, determination, anger and stubbornness act a bit like super powers to some of the characters. It gives them a boost of strength when the stakes are high and allows them to do things they wouldn’t normally be able to do or shouldn't be able to do based on their body type. Scrooge was able to throw everyone off of him in “87 Cent Solution”, and enjoys swimming around in one of the most heavy metals in existence. Huey dragged LP back to the log in “Only Child” even after he wasn’t able to lift any part of that log. He was also able to lift three kids along with his uncle in “Moorshire” and was strong enough to keep the demon dog at bay in “McManor”. Then there's both Drake and Jim who can go through a bunch of injuries and still get back up after them.

This guess, along with the others I've discussed in this list, might just be part of cartoon logic and isn't meant to be an indication of anything outside of humor or convenience.

The Ability to Be Manipulated?

As I was putting this list together, I suddenly thought: If there's a Greek connection to the cosmic storm, what if Zeus is able to manipulate LP similarly to how he was able to manipulate Storkules with the siren? If Launchpad does have good hearing, what if he heard the siren and that's what caused him to destroy the Sunchaser? Launchpad loves music and, as seen in "Sky Pirates", gets easily distracted by it. The plane was fine when Donald was trying to leave the lightning barrier, but then after the singing and fighting continued, it's in shambles.

Zeus used the siren because he knew it would affect Storkules directly. Scrooge, Huey and Louie were not affected by the singing after later taking their hands from over their ear...holes. Dewey, Webby and Selene couldn't be affected because the temple was way up high on the island. The Sunchaser, however, was located right around the corner. Since Zeus wasn't affected by the siren either, perhaps there's something in the lyrics that affects immortals who rank lower than himself.

__

Back in April, I observed the Spear manual scenes in “Whatever Happened” and noticed that “DT-87” and “DT-18” were mentioned. These are abbreviations for “DuckTales 1987”, the year the original series came out and “DuckTales 2018”, the year Season 2 premiered. The numbers  “7-15”, “7-16”, “7-18” and “207” were also featured. 

“207” as well as the other 7’s refer to “Whatever Happened”’s production code, so I figured 15, 16 and 18 were also referring to other Season 2 episodes that might relate to 7. So far, Episode 15, "The Dangerous Chemistry of Gandra Dee!"  and Episode 16, "The Duck Knight Returns!", have provided things that could be leading up to why Della took the Spear and how it could have to do with the father. Launchpad was present in both episodes, and both shared some similar themes. 

Episode 15 opens up with a thunderstorm storm. Gizmoduck is facing off against an evil scientist named Dr. Atmoz Fear, who's taking advantage of the storm by using one of his devices to manipulate the lightning. When he tries to zap Gizmoduck with it, it reminds me a bit of Gyro and his shrink ray in "Game Night".

Dʀ. Aᴛᴍᴏᴢ Fᴇᴀʀ sʜᴀʀᴇs sᴏᴍᴇ ᴄᴏʟᴏʀs ᴡɪᴛʜ Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ: Hᴇ ʜᴀs ʀᴇᴅ ʜᴀɪʀ, ᴀ ɢʀᴇᴇɴ sʜɪʀᴛ, ᴀ ʙʟᴀᴄᴋ ᴍᴀsᴋ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏʟᴏʀs ᴏғ ʜɪs ғᴇᴀᴛʜᴇʀs ᴀɴᴅ ʟᴀʙ ᴄᴏᴀᴛ, sᴇᴇᴍ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ɪɴᴠᴇʀsᴇ ᴏғ LP's ғᴇᴀᴛʜᴇʀs ᴀɴᴅ ғᴜʀʀᴇᴅ ᴄᴏʟʟᴀʀ.

After the villain is defeated, Fenton meets Gandra, someone else who also works in the scientific fields. Unlike Fenton, who's more professional with his work, she's more on the rebellious side. A similar thing can be said about Della and Launchpad when it comes to aviation.

Fenton schedules a science date with Gandra, but he's very hesitant to call it such. If Della took the Spear because she was trying to save the father and failed, I can see her being very hesitant about getting back into a romantic relationship.

On their way to pick up Gandra in the limo, Launchpad conversates with Fenton by going down a list of special someone’s he’s previously dated. A couple of mentions in this list caught my attention; the first being how Launchpad claims to have dated a clone of himself. I think this is a meta thing we aren't supposed to take seriously. Because...why would this be suggested if a legitimate clone of yourself is basically your twin sibling, your child or somewhere in-between that...?  Maybe it’s just me, but he blinks rather oddly right after he says this. There's also a pause as he stops the limo and begins to furrow his brow. Either he’s thinking really hard about everyone he's dated or he's a bit confused to where these more weirder memories are coming from.

What makes it even harder to take this clone claim seriously is that this is the same character who thinks Fenton is an actual robot because of the Gizmo suit and who also confused someone for a yeti in “Neverrest”. The word "clone" does have a non-literal meaning, so if we consider this and break it down...LP previously dated another goofy pilot who tends to wear teal and green, has a positive outlook on life in spite of all the hardships they face, never gives up, loves adventure, loves family, and doesn't like the idea of being replaced...?

I’ve joked to myself in the past about Della sort of being a female version of Launchpad due to their colors and how they have a similar way about themselves. Della's character pre-dates Launchpad but she was never described as a fearless pilot until the "Family Ties" comic was released in 2014, twenty-seven years after DuckTales debuted. (This comic is where the reboot got its inspiration for Della's character and story arc.)

If LP really does have amnesia, he can’t remember Della as a person, so it would be easy for him to consider her as a copy of himself. Scrooge made it extremely difficult to get information about Della after she went missing so anything that Launchpad is emulating from her had to be based on knowledge prior to that point.

Another reason why this could be a sly reference to Della is because every time we get information about Launchpad’s love-life, we’re always given something that can be traced back to Della: Della isn’t a deadly ninja, but Ziyi’s situation in “Gander” involved her disappearing and possibly leaving her offspring behind. (I’m assuming Ziyi was being referred to due to the order of  the list and being the only previously mentioned lover with an Asian background. Perhaps she has some Japanese origins as well as Chinese.) Della isn’t a forbidden mermaid, but Oceanika’s situation in “Depths” involved her calling out to Launchpad in a sing-song manner, wearing similar colors to both Launchpad and Della, and ended with Launchpad returning with a golden spear and trio of color-coded sea creatures that come from eggs. One of Launchpad’s lines in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” involved his true love giving him “eleven planes a-flying”. Regardless of how strange that statement was, it still planted the idea that there are two Launchpads, which technically, may be true persona-wise.

Tʜɪs ᴍᴀʏ ɴᴏᴛ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ, ʙᴜᴛ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ Tʜᴇᴍᴇ Sᴏɴɢ Tᴀᴋᴇᴏᴠᴇʀ, ᴀғᴛᴇʀ Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ ʜɪᴛs ʜɪs ʜᴇᴀᴅ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴏɢᴏ ᴄʀᴀsʜ, ʜᴇ sᴇᴇs ᴀ ʟᴀʀɢᴇʀ ᴠᴇʀsɪᴏɴ ᴏғ ʜɪᴍsᴇʟғ ᴏᴜᴛsɪᴅᴇ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡɪɴᴅᴏᴡ. Nᴏᴛ ᴏɴʟʏ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴛʜɪs ʙᴇ ʀᴇғᴇʀʀɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ᴛᴡᴏ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ, ʙᴜᴛ ʜᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ sᴛᴏʀᴍ ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ɢʀᴏᴡ ʙɪɢɢᴇʀ ᴛʜᴀɴ ʜᴇ ᴡᴀs ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴀsᴛ.

The second mention in Launchpad’s list of lovers that caught my attention was the talking cloud of energy. Similarly to the pause after talking about a clone, he gets cut off right after he says this. A cloud of energy is basically a cloud full of lightning and that reminds me a lot of the cosmic storm. Since the cloud had the ability to talk, could this claim be based on a memory of Della trying to contact him while he was in the cosmic storm?

Fenton and Gandra’s date takes place at night in Gyro’s underwater lab. The moon is mentioned and it’s likeness is sort of shown through the string of lights used to decorate the room. Outside of the lab’s window is a starfish that is colored with a shade very close to Fenton’s purple shirt. He sits on the side of the table where the creature is located. The scenery is reminding me of the sea-space connections the show has been making. The starfish not only reminds me of stars in general but how the blue starfish attached to Launchpad at the end of “Depths” was a similar color to Della’s teal scarf. I’ve noted in another post that the starfish could have to do with Della because it also shares traits with Dewey and he’s constantly being compared to her, but what makes Della even more like the starfish is her ability to adapt. She lost her leg, but she was able to make a new one. Starfish can regenerate their limbs when they lose them.

When Fenton shows Gandra his Fentonium project, he described the invention as "An innovative generator from a mild-mannered source." If Launchpad has any electrical powers, this makes me wonder if they'll eventually be put to scientific use.

It’s later revealed that Gandra is a spy working for Waddle. Her main objective for going on a date with Fenton was to get him to say his Gizmoduck passcode to activate the nanite serum she made for Mark Beaks. For Gandra, the nanites gave her the power to deliver electrical shocks. For Mark, the nanites enhanced his body by giving him a muscular physique, a more prominent chin and gruffer voice to go with it.

Tʜᴇ ᴄᴏɴᴄᴇᴘᴛs ᴏғ ᴇʟᴇᴄᴛʀɪᴄɪᴛʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴇxᴛʀᴇᴍᴇ ᴘʜʏsɪᴄᴀʟ ᴛʀᴀɴsғᴏʀᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴs sᴇᴇᴍ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ɪɴᴄʀᴇᴀsɪɴɢ. Tʜᴇ ᴍɪᴅ-sᴇᴀsᴏɴ ᴛʀᴀɪʟᴇʀ ғᴏʀ Sᴇᴀsᴏɴ 2 ғᴇᴀᴛᴜʀᴇs ᴀ ᴄʟɪᴘ ғʀᴏᴍ ᴀɴ ᴜᴘᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ ᴇᴘɪsᴏᴅᴇ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ Hᴜᴇʏ ᴛʀᴀɴsғᴏʀᴍs ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴀ Sᴜᴘᴇʀ Sᴀɪʏᴀɴ ɪɴsᴘɪʀᴇᴅ ᴠᴇʀsɪᴏɴ ᴏғ ʜɪᴍsᴇʟғ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀ ʟɪɢʜᴛɴɪɴɢ ʙᴏʟᴛ ʜɪɢʜʟɪɢʜᴛ ɪɴ ʜɪs ʜᴀɪʀ. Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ ᴀɴᴅ Mᴀʀᴋ ᴀʀᴇ sʜᴏᴡɴ ʀɪɢʜᴛ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜɪs.

After the secret plan unfurls, Fenton turns into Gizmoduck. He responds to Mark's mutation:

“You've always been a monster, but now, you are a literal monster!” 

This reminds me a lot of the monster stuff in "Terror". I always feel weird when I try to make sense of that portion of the plot because I feel like I haven't figured it out yet, but something is definitely going on. Since that episode has aired, there have been multiple cases where a character is considered a physical or figurative monster and whether that makes them a good person or a bad person. And there's always an "M" alliteration tied to it:

Mole Monster and McQuack in “Terror of The Terrafirmians!”

"I can't believe my best friend is a mole monster..."

"Wait...am I a mole monster? But I'm a good guy! Then that means...mole monster can also be good guys."

Magica and Monster in “The Other Bin of Scrooge McDuck!”

"They'll turn on you; call you a monster!

“You’re the monster here!  And I know just the hunter to take you down...”

Monstro and M’Ma in "Who Is Gizmoduck?!"

"Eres un monstro, Diego!"

Monster and Mitzi in "The Depths of Cousin Fethry!"

"She's not a monster, she's a Mitzi!"

Moon Mite and Mother in "Whatever Happened to Della Duck?!"

“The mite isn't a monster, it's a mother!"

In an earlier post, I began to wonder if it would end up circling back to Launchpad since he's the one who started it. I thought maybe he'd feel like a monster in a figurative sense for accidentally abandoning his kids, but now it could also be something involving his genetic mutations. Maybe even a betrayal or theft of some sort since those concepts seem to be lingering in the background.

With all these M's going on and the high possibility of Launchpad's foreign names being used for Huey and Dewey, perhaps Launchpad's real name is Maxwell as in his Danish name, Max Motor. Joseph as in his Spanish name, Joe McQuack could also be another possibility. Since HDL went from more outlandish names to more plausible names, it's likely Launchpad's real name is something more standard.

Lᴀsᴛ ʏᴇᴀʀ, Dɪsɴᴇʏ ʀᴇʟᴇᴀsᴇᴅ ᴀ sᴇʀɪᴇs ᴏғ sʜᴏʀᴛs ᴄᴀʟʟᴇᴅ Wᴇʙʙʏ Rᴇᴀᴄᴛs, ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ sʜᴇ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ ᴄʟɪᴘs ғʀᴏᴍ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ Dɪsɴᴇʏ Cʜᴀɴɴᴇʟ ʀᴇʟᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴍᴇᴅɪᴀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅʀᴇᴡ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀʀɪsᴏɴs ᴛᴏ ᴛʜɪɴɢs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴇᴠᴇɴᴛᴜᴀʟʟʏ ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴᴇᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ sʜᴏᴡ. Dᴜʀɪɴɢ ʜᴇʀ ʀᴇᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ᴛᴏ Bᴇx's sᴇᴄʀᴇᴛ ғʀᴏᴍ Aɴᴅɪ Mᴀᴄᴋ, sʜᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀʀᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴏ Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ ᴀs sᴏᴍᴇᴏɴᴇ ᴡʜᴏ's "ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ᴛᴏᴏ ᴍᴀɴʏ ᴍɪsᴛᴀᴋᴇs". Tʜᴇɴ ᴛᴏᴡᴀʀᴅs ᴛʜᴇ ᴇɴᴅ, ɪᴛ's ʀᴇᴠᴇᴀʟᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴀᴛ Bᴇx ᴡᴀs ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ Aɴᴅɪ's ᴏʟᴅᴇʀ sɪsᴛᴇʀ; sʜᴇ's ʜᴇʀ ᴍᴏᴛʜᴇʀ. Tʜɪs ᴄᴀᴜsᴇs Wᴇʙʙʏ ᴛᴏ ᴡᴏɴᴅᴇʀ ᴡʜᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ғᴀᴛʜᴇʀ ɪs.

When Fenton and Gandra make amends and try to come up with a way to stop Mega Beaks from wreaking any more havoc, Fenton points out that in spite of Mark's body being altered, he's still the same weak, ego-fuel person underneath those alterations. A similar thing can be said for Duke; even after he forgot about his Scottish persona, he was still Flintheart Glomgold and this became evident as he began to revert back into him.

When Mega Beaks is able to catch the Fentonium-laced paddle ball Fenton throws at him, he's amazed.

"Wow, I never actually caught a ball before! Well, who's the loser now, coach DAD?!"

This is the second time someone's father was mentioned in the episode. Before the date, M'ma mentions Fenton's father when she gives her son his suit to wear. Perhaps Della has one of the father's belongings that she'll pass down to her sons too.

___

Episode 16 was about two different people sharing the same alternative persona: Jim Starling as the original Darkwing Duck and Drake Mallard as the new one. Jim is outraged that he’s being replaced on a new Darkwing production after years of trying to make a comeback. Being disappointed by the gritty direction of the reboot, Launchpad sees Drake in a negative light and agrees to help Jim sabotage the movie. It was supposed to be for the greater good, but when Launchpad tries to go with the plan and lock Drake in his own trailer, his heroism is questioned. Drake isn’t a bad person and it turns out that he’s a huge Darkwing fan much like Launchpad himself. Was crushing the dreams of playing his childhood hero the right thing to do? 

Once they find common ground, Launchpad devises a new plan where all three of them work together to help make a Darkwing Duck movie that new and old fans can enjoy. Unfortunately, Jim is too full of obsession and desperation to finally give the show a proper conclusion, that he becomes selfish. He ignores Drake when he tries to propose LP’s new idea to him and locks him away. He then refuses to follow the script and ends up destroying the movie set with his defiance. Drake soon breaks free and challenges Jim, leading Darkwing into fighting with himself. Launchpad tries to snap Jim out of it and remind him of the hero he’s supposed to be. While it does cause Jim to literally reflect on what he was becoming and helped him to save both Drake and Launchpad from the surging lightning tower before it exploded, it ultimately wasn’t enough. The one who was presumed to be bad turned out to be good, and the one who was presumed to be good, became bad, leaving Darkwing as both the hero and villain of his own story.

Ok, so, there’s a lot of identity struggle going on along with frustration over getting replaced after years of trying to get back into the spotlight. This seems like more supporting evidence that Launchpad will be faced with a situation where he’ll be confused about who he really is, but could this also be hinting that Della might go a little too far with her rivalry against Launchpad? 

A lot of DW episodes so far seem to contain LP’s fear of being fired...but he’s considered honorary family; it’s hard to imagine Launchpad getting kicked out to take a permanent leave to St. Canard in this continuity. Launchpad wasn’t working for Scrooge in the original Darkwing Duck series because it took place in an alternate universe. Even with DW’s world integrated into the reboot, it’s still DuckTales at it’s base. It wouldn’t feel right for Launchpad to suddenly get removed from the main cast. I think similarly to Drake, Della will find some common ground with LP before anything is able to get out of hand.

When Dewey expresses his ideas to make the Darkwing film better, he mentions aliens, Megavolt and lightning towers. When Jim threatens to zap Alistair Boorswan with Megavolt's lightning ray, Launchpad steps in between them; willing to get hit to protect the director. Drake displays a high tolerance for pain as he survives a box of explosives going off, getting a piano dropped on him and getting zapped several times. 

As Dʀᴀᴋᴇ ɢᴇᴛs ᴢᴀᴘᴘᴇᴅ, ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ's ᴀ ᴠɪsɪʙʟᴇ ᴄʀᴀᴄᴋ ɪɴ ʜɪs sᴋᴜʟʟ; ᴀ sɪɢɴ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʜᴇ's sᴜsᴛᴀɪɴᴇᴅ ᴀ ʜᴇᴀᴅ ɪɴᴊᴜʀʏ.

...ᴡᴀɪᴛ ᴀ ᴍɪɴᴜᴛᴇ, ᴡʜʏ ᴅɪᴅ Dᴇᴡᴇʏ ᴏʀᴅᴇʀ ᴀᴄᴛᴜᴀʟ ᴡᴇᴀᴘᴏɴs ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏᴠɪᴇ?!

An artificial thunderstorm is created when Launchpad turns on the rain machine to stop the movie set from being on fire. When he delivers his speech about how heroic and important Darkwing Duck is as a character, he stands in front of one of the lightning towers. At the mention of the word "light", there's an upsurge of power as the camera pans from Launchpad to the top of the tower. The structure sends sparks everywhere, but Launchpad is completely unfazed by this and continues his speech. 

A tattered image of the moon and a starry sky hangs in the background as this is going on... could this scene be proving that Launchpad has some degree of electrical manipulation? Is it only evident when he's extremely passionate about something? If this was purely the result of the rain machine being activated, wouldn't it have taken a much shorter time for the lightning tower to react?

Tʜᴇ ʟɪɢʜᴛɪɴɢ ᴅᴜʀɪɴɢ Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ's sᴘᴇᴇᴄʜ ɪs ᴄʟᴏsᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪɢʜᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴇɴᴛ ᴏɴ ɪɴ "Tᴇʀʀᴏʀ"'s sᴜʙᴡᴀʏ ᴄʀᴀsʜ. Iɴᴛᴇʀᴇsᴛɪɴɢʟʏ ᴇɴᴏᴜɢʜ, ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ's ᴀ sᴘᴀʀᴋɪɴɢ ғɪxᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴏɴ Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ's sɪᴅᴇ ᴀғᴛᴇʀ ʜᴇ ᴇxɪsᴛs ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴀʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴡʜᴇɴ ʜᴇ ʟɪᴛᴇʀᴀʟʟʏ ʀᴇғʟᴇᴄᴛs ᴏɴ ᴡʜᴇᴛʜᴇʀ ʜᴇ's ᴀ ᴍᴏʟᴇ ᴍᴏɴsᴛᴇʀ ᴏʀ ɴᴏᴛ, ᴛᴡᴏ Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ's ᴀʀᴇ sʜᴏᴡɴ.

When Jim and Drake notice the lightning tower is growing unstable, they both run towards Launchpad to save him. In a hassle to be heroic again, Jim pushes both of his fans out of the way and suffers from the explosion. The rescuer is believed to be dead but he's alive and takes on a new persona: Negaduck. The event figuratively turns him into a monster. 

So, there's a rescue, an electrical based event, survival from that event, a re-branding of oneself and someone is considered a monster. If Launchpad truly is responsible for blowing up the tower, he's the one who "killed" Jim. Drake blames himself, kinda like how everyone blames Della for the Spear incident when it could have been due to her going after Launchpad.

Wʜᴇɴ Dʀᴀᴋᴇ ᴀɴᴅ LP ᴀʀᴇ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛʜᴇ DWD ᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ғɪɢᴜʀᴇs, Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ ᴘʟᴀʏs ᴀ ᴠɪʟʟᴀɪɴ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀᴄᴄɪᴅᴇɴᴛᴀʟʟʏ ᴋɴᴏᴄᴋs ᴏᴠᴇʀ ᴀ ᴄᴜᴘ ᴏғ ᴡᴀᴛᴇʀ, ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ᴇᴠᴇɴᴛᴜᴀʟʟʏ ʟᴇᴀᴅs ᴛᴏ Dʀᴀᴋᴇ ʜᴜʀᴛɪɴɢ ʜɪs ғᴏᴏᴛ.

This episode made me realize a loose pattern that seems to be going on with two similar character that rival each other. One pretty much stays consistent (Scrooge, Lena, Drake), while the other goes through a major change that emulates the other (Glomgold, Violet, Jim). There’s usually an event and or a disappearance tied to their change (Scrooge’s Africa visit, the Shadow War, the tower explosion). The changed character is seen negatively and could be considered a monster. And at some point, one of the rivaling characters realize that the other has a significant connection to their past (The money clip, the amulet, the table signing).

I think Della and Launchpad could be following this pattern too. As noted by Scrooge in “Nothing Can” and “Raiders of The Doomsday Vault!”, Della’s hasn’t really changed at her base. Thus, making Launchpad the one who has most likely gone through a major change. Launchpad was established as Della’s double when she considered him to be her replacement and views him negatively. We know for sure that one of them went missing during an event and there’s enough potential hinting to suggest that they have a significant connection in their past.

Tʜᴇ ʟᴀᴛᴛᴇʀ ᴘᴏʀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴀᴛᴛᴇʀɴ ᴡᴀs ᴘʀᴇsᴇɴᴛ ɪɴ "Lᴀsᴛ Cʜʀsɪᴛᴍᴀs!" ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴇɴᴅɪɢᴏ ᴡᴀs ʀᴇᴠᴇᴀʟᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴛʜᴇ Gʜᴏsᴛ ᴏғ Cʜʀɪsᴛᴍᴀs Pᴀsᴛ. Iɴ sᴘɪᴛᴇ ᴏғ ʜɪs ᴍᴏɴsᴛʀᴏᴜs ᴇxᴛᴇʀɪᴏʀ, ʜᴇ ᴡᴀs sᴛɪʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ sᴀᴍᴇ ᴘᴇʀsᴏɴ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ɪɴsɪᴅᴇ.

Another number featured in the Spear’s manual was “800”. I couldn't figure out what it could mean at the time, but it could stand for "Friendship Hates Magic!". WDTV press has it listed as Episode 8 in order of production.  This episode featured concepts of taking a dangerous risk to bringing someone back from the unknown, Launchpad bonding with a co-worker, possibly displaying one of his special abilities, hinting towards “Duck Knight” and the idea of someone who was thought of as being gone but they’ve actually been hanging around this whole time. When Lena is back to her solid form, Launchpad appears soon after the magical clouds of smoke begin to clear.

The number 17 is missing in the sequence that was highlighted in the manual. Perhaps there's something secretive about Episode 17. Or maybe the plot could be dealing with something or someone that’s missing. It could be when the family realizes Donald is missing or how his jail time is going on the Moon. It could also be something regarding the father; like Della opening up to the boys about him. I guess it could mean that this episode isn’t relevant to Episode 7, but that feels a bit less likely.

In my next post, I'm going to discuss how the arrangement of a scene can give us subtle hints about the future; starting with a closer look at Donald's family photo wall.

Are you up for even more reading? Continue here.

[yourrealitybeyondtime]

More OCs!

Thank you again @technoxslayer360 @dasjansel @corvid-moon @incoherentmoose @cake-and-roses and @teeny-weeny-ducklings for your lovely responses! Unfortunately, the characters I've shown are from THE story, so it will probably be years before I have it complete. I will, however, post excerpts, and I'll write scenarios that you request, like "tol and smol," "person A and person B," AUs, or general shenanigans. I encorage all pairings, minus sexual ones with Uri since they're asexual.

In the meantime, and to help me practice my writing, I started writing my first "fanfiction," if you will. I love yaoi, yuri, shoujo, and dating sims, and I wanted to make a story that pokes fun at the flaws of those tropes, and also have a much more realistic take of it. It was first just meant to be only for my eyes, but it's sort of become it's own thing. I've written 70k words in about 2 months, which is novel length. I realize now that it's a little too important to keep to myself. It's about discovering your sexuality, finding self worth, the lines of consent, enduring abusive relationships, battling severe trauma, learning to stand up for yourself, and learning to accept yourself. It's heavily based off of things that have happened to me irl and has been surprisingly cathartic to write.

I need beta readers, especially since I'm so inexperienced. I would like to ask you if you would consider becoming one. However, this is an incredibly graphic story. There is s*x, there is r*pe, there is a little blood, and there is a lot of psychological abuse. It is not a gentle story. It will have a happy ending, though. I totally get if you don't want to be a beta reader and respect if you say no and won't pry as to the reason why. If you could spread this around and help me find more beta readers, I would GREATLY appreciate it. Now, onto the OCs!

Devin Quinn (The Adventurer)

Age: 18

Height: 5'6"

Gender Identity: Male

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Bisexual

Ethnicity: Chinese/Irish

Other: Depression, severe anxiety, PTSD, dyspraxia

Description: After being terribly picked on in high school, Devin is excited to start his social life in college. However, the glow up he had over the last summer gets him into far more than he had bargained for. Overwhelmed by the sudden attention from his peers, the sheltered boy who hasn't even had his first kiss is now scrambling to decipher the ins and outs of the dating world. Problem is, he realizes he's not so much the innocent school boy he's led himself and everyone else to believe. Devin has to come to terms with this crisis of character while trying to figure out how not to get taken advantage of. Devin is a sweet bean with way too many problems.

Jaxon Rutherford (The Evil Prince)

Age: 19

Height: 6'0"

Gender Identity: Male

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Gay

Ethnicity: Spanish/Welsh

Other: High-functioning sociopath

Description: Devin's old middle school bully. Jaxon doesn't seem to remember Devin, but he's intent on bullying him again. This time, though, it's a very different type of bullying. Jaxon is not even remotely shy about claiming Devin as his own whether Devin likes it or not. Flopping between being being patient, understanding, and giving, and aggressive, possessive, and scary, Devin is completely confused by Jaxon's behavior. Does Jaxon actually care about him or does he just consider Devin his plaything? Either way, Jaxon seems to never get in trouble, no matter what he does.

Hannah Johnson (The Knight)

Age: 17 (Don't worry. Nothing sexual happens with her until after she turns 18.)

Height: 5'3"

Gender Identity: Demigirl

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Pansexual

Ethnicity: African American

Description: Devin's best friend since middle school. They kept in touch when Devin went to Ireland for high school, but Hannah has no idea how bad Devin's high school life actually was. She is almost the complete opposite of Devin in every way. Extroverted, outgoing, a social butterfly, cheerful, and always ready to have the time of her life, Hannah is a cherished light in Devin's life. She has had a crush on him since middle school, but, despite her frank nature, she seems to already have made up her mind not to date him. Instead, she spends her time standing up for Devin when he won't stand up for himself, and serves as the voice of reason when he gets too wrapped up in his anxiety.

Abigail Kingsley (The Good Queen)

Age: 21

Height: 5'5"

Gender Identity: Female

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Straight?

Ethnicity: Danish/Finnish/Swedish

Description: The lead of the most popular sorority on campus. After breaking up with her ex, Jeremy, at the end of last school year, Abigail initially takes an interest in Devin as the safe rebound. Unexpectedly, she develops feelings for him as she gets to know him better. Devin initially assumes she's just some party girl, but finds out she's a level headed and down to earth person trapped in high societies expectations. Unfortunately, Jeremy is intent on getting Abigail back and will more than just push aside anyone who gets in his way.

William Hartsfield (The Good? Wizard)

Age: 54

Height: 5'10

Gender Identity: Male

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Gay

Ethnicity: German/Scottish/Dutch

Description: Devin's English teacher. He seems very stern and old fashioned, but he shows a softer side when it counts. When Devin hears rumors about Mr. Hartsfield being caught in bed with a student, he's reluctant to see him after class. He's surprised to find that Mr. Hartsfield is another ally who provides Devin a safe space. Once just teacher and student, they become fast friends as Devin finds comfort in a protective older male. However, when Devin finally opens up about his situation with Jaxon, William offers himself as a safer alternative. Is William really trying to be protective, or is he just someone else attempting to take advantage of Devin?

Damon Godswin (The Ice King)

Age: 36

Height: 6'2"

Gender Identity: Male

Pronouns: He/him

Sexuality: Mostly Straight

Ethnicity: Welsh

Description: The dean of the college. A serious and controlling man. Devin is warned to not go to the dean if he can help it, but as Jaxon becomes more brazen, Devin doesn't know where else to go. Unfortunately for him, the dean takes an interest in him and is far more cruel than he expected. To both of their surprise, Jaxon comes to save Devin and promises to protect him, but at what cost?

Thank you for taking the time to read through all of this! Whereas my fantasy is completely plotted out, this story was started with no end in mind, so please suggest character ideas if you have any! (ie, for The Princess, The Joker/Fool, etc) I'd really like to include someone trans, someone who's non-binary, and PoC. Thank you again for reading! I'm looking forward to your feedback!

[buckyscrystalqueen]

Winter Wolf: Part 12

Pairings: Bucky x Reader

Warnings: Swearing, fluff, angst

Word Count: 5,485

Box Filled: Gender Swap

A/N: This series was written for @marvelfluffbingo​ and it took on a life of its own. Enjoy!

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It surprisingly took Steve a lot longer than you expected to return to Wakanda on ‘official royal business.’ You were laying on the couch in your living room, watching four and a half month old Anastasia laugh hysterically as she swatted at the colorful, handmade yarn dolls a woman at Bucky’s job had made for her that were hanging above her head. You smiled at her as you reached out and pushed one of the ones closest to you so that it would catch her eye and laughed with her as she kicked her legs and reached for it.

The knock on your front door startled you and you quickly sat up and grabbed the gun you had wedged between the couch cushion and the back of the couch. With quick movements, you got up and walked on silent feet to glance out the window since most people who came over to visit you and Anastasia called first. You peeked out the window and let out a sigh of relief as you turned the four locks on the door and turned off the house alarm system.

“Well I’ll be damned.” You laughed as you stepped back and let a very scruffy Steve into your two bedroom, two bath apartment. “That’s a good way to get shot in this house.” He nearly tripped over his own feet as you locked the house back up, turned the alarm back on, and put your gun on the table by the door.

“What is this?” He asked as he pointed to the little girl on the floor who was looking up at him in awe.

“It’s a baby.” You said with a shrug as you moved the arch away from Anastasia so you could pick her up. “And if we wanna get really technical, it’s a girl baby.” Steve’s face deadpanned as he met your eyes.

“Didn’t realize I became blind overnight but thanks. Where did the girl baby come from?”

“Anastasia…” You said as you balanced your daughter on your hip. “… came from Romania. Her birth mother was an old friend of mine named Daniela who had terminal cancer. Her father was a tourist and Daniela’s moms was a hardcore gypsy that surprisingly would absolutely not raise a baby born out of wed-lock no matter what her husband said. And she was a blatant racist so the mix race thing was not helping Anastasia’s case either. So, Buck and I took her. Well, we didn’t take her, I guess we officially adopted her. T’Challa’s lawyer guy helped us figure out the paper work so her official birth certificate says that we are her parents. So meet your… well technically you could meet your little sister…”

“Oh, my gosh, stop.” He laughed as he reached out his hands to hold her. “Anastasia, you said?” You nodded as you passed over your daughter.

“Anastasia Daniela Barnes. Her mom named her and we figured honoring her mom with the middle name was appropriate.”

“I like it.” He said as he sat down on the couch with her on his thighs. “Hi cutie.” Your daughter looked at him a little confused as she reached out to grab his beard. You laughed and gently intercepted.

“Bucky has to stay either clean shaven or he keeps his beard real short.” You said with a laugh. “We learned really fast that once she gets ahold of something she wants, she will not let go. We both keep our hair back in buns just to keep it out of her reach.”

“She’s beautiful.” He said with a smile as he held onto her sides so that his fingers were supporting her head even though she didn’t need it as much these days. “Now I’m curious. What is she?”

“Romanian, Puerto Rican, Guatemalan, African-American, and a splash of Scottish, Italian, and Greek. I had Shuri run her ancestry DNA when we did a full check up on her when we got her. She was born the day before Bucky and I got married and we got her when she was three days old.”

“God, she’s so cute. I can’t believe you two are parents.” You smile proudly and snagged one of the many toys off the floor.

“Me neither. It’s been a wild ride.”

“I bet.” He laughed as he watched you bop your daughter on the nose with a pink, stuffed rhino rattle to grab her attention. She laughed and reached for it as Steve looked around the living room. “Where’s Bucky?”

“At work.” You said as you handed your little girl her toy. “He got a really good job in IT at the transportation hub. He loves it. He actually should be home in an hour or so if you wanna stick around. I should probably start dinner anyways if you wanna entertain your niece.”

“I think I can handle that, what do you think?” He asked Anastasia, who simply tried to eat her rattle in response.

“Just keep your beard away from her grabby little hands.” You said with a laugh as you got up and headed to the kitchen. “She’s a sneaky little monster sometimes.”

“You can’t be a little monster.” He growled playfully as he picked her up off his thighs and slid down to the floor with her to play. “You’re too cute, right? Yes, you are.” You smiled to yourself as Steve continued to baby talk to your daughter while you got dinner ready for your family and your guest.

With Steve distracting your daughter, you got the homemade Italian dressing marinated chicken, the fettuccini you made from scratch that morning, and the Alfredo you found a recipe for on a website called Pinterest (which was, in your opinion, the greatest thing in the entire world) cooked in no time. You were just getting everything plated when the automatic smart locks on your doors unlocked and the alarm signaled it was temporarily disengaged with a beep. You looked up at the door from the kitchen as Bucky stepped in the door with a sigh.

“Hi baby.” You said with a smile. “We have a visitor.” Bucky looked over at you as he turned the last lock before turning the other way.

“Well I’ll be damned. If it isn’t Captain America. And my little angel.” He cooed as he went over to say hi to his friend and pick up his giggly little girl. “Oh, I missed you!”

“Never thought I’d see the day.” Steve said as he got up off the floor with a laugh. “Playboy Bucky Barnes has a kid.”

“I got bamboozled by the cute.” He laughed as he kissed Anastasia’s forehead. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here on ‘official business’.” Steve said sarcastically with air quotes as Bucky came over to give you a kiss hello. “We’re trying to fine tune the Sokovia Accords and I figured I’d stop in to see how the newlyweds were doing while I was here.” He laughed as Bucky turned his head away from Anastasia before she could grab his bun.

“Didn’t expect the baby, did you?” Bucky laughed as he grabbed one of the plates to help you out before starting a bottle for his daughter.

“Not one bit.” Steve laughed as you passed him his plate and grabbed silverware for everyone. “But then again you two have been full of surprises in the last year.”

“We gotta keep life interesting, Stevie. I’ve been around long enough to know that.”

“Million years really is a long time.” Bucky teased as the three of you sat down at the table to eat.

“Shut up!” You laughed as he laid Anastasia across his arm and his lap and gave her her bottle before you went back to trying her on soft solid food again. He propped it on his chest and used his elbow to keep it upright so that he could still eat and make up for the time he spent away from home that day.

“I’d still love you even if you were as old as the dinosaurs.” He cooed with a smile as you cut his chicken just to make it easier for him to multitask.

“Guys, you’re gunna make me sick before I can even enjoy this meal.” Steve joked as he twirled some pasta around his fork.

“You’ll be fine.” Bucky said around a mouthful of fettuccini.

“So what’s going on in New York?” You asked with a glance over at your friend. “Do you have any juicy gossip for us?”

“Well.” Steve said as he chewed. “Not really. Teams good. We had a mission a couple weeks ago that was a pointless waste of time. Some idiot tried to release anthrax bombs in Central Park and apparently that now requires the Avengers to step in.” He rolled his eyes and sighed with a shake of his head. “Hence the reason I’m here talking to T’Challa. I’m trying to get some semblance of balance to these Accords which is proving to be difficult as expected.”

“How’s Tony?” Bucky inquired with a glance over at you.

“Tony’s… well, Tony. He and Pepper got engaged.”

“‘bout time.” You mumbled as you twirled your fork on your plate. “Is he… has he said anything about me?” You looked up at Steve through your lashes as he shook his head subtly.

“Nothing good nor bad. No one wants to bring either of you up.” You nodded as took a bite of your food to avoid inquiring about the next person but Steve answered the unspoken question anyways. “Natasha’s back. She just showed up about two months ago without a word of explanation of where she had been…”

“Good for her.” Bucky said curtly; still harboring a grudge for your ex.

“How’s Wanda?” You ask to change the sensitive subject. Steve nodded and swallowed his bite.

“She’s good. I think Vision is talking about proposing but I’m not entirely sure.”

“Awe, good.” You said with a genuine smile. “Those two are so good for each other.”

“Yea, yea they are.” Steve agreed with a nod. He could feel the slight layer of tension building in the room and quickly changed the subject to prevent an argument over Natasha. “So tell me more about my niece.”

——

“She’s asleep.” Bucky sighed as he closed the nursery door quietly behind him and trudged toward the couch you had flopped down on after saying goodbye to Steve. With a groan, he laid down on the couch practically on top of you and wrapped his arms around your waist. “Finally.”

“I think she’s teething.” You said as you ran your metal fingers through his hair and pulled out the hair tie. “That’s what the book suggested. She was fussy for a couple days but she wouldn’t let me near her mouth to check.” He nodded against your stomach and buried his face in your shirt.

“Did you put those squishy things in the freezer?”

“Yes, James. I can mother, thank you.” You teased as you rolled your head on the arm of the couch to look at him.

“You sure? I still question if I can father, properly.” You giggled with him and laced your fingers together on his back.

“I think we’re doing just fine.” He said with a smile as he looked up at you. “We’re in this together, remember?” You nodded your head as he adjusted his head on your stomach with a content sigh. You let your eyes fall closed, just content on existing in that peaceful moment with your husband. You could feel his fingers making tiny, tight patterns on your back under your loose fitting shirt and moving at a glacial pace up your spine. There was no rush and no urgency, there was just love.

A knock on your front door caused both of you to stiffen and sigh at your ruined moment. Bucky pushed himself up off your chest and grabbed the gun from the couch cushions. You got up as well and purposely moved yourself between the front door and the nursery. With a glance over his shoulder at you, he turned off the alarm and unlocked the doors.

His whole body tensed as he quickly shove his foot against the back of the door and pointed his gun at whoever was on the other side. You instantly backed up to the nursery door and yanked off your shirt so that you would have better movement when you needed it. You tried to make your five foot six, thankfully muscular body as big as you could in the doorway and wished that you had put a weapon next to the door frame like you had wanted to.

“The fuck are you doing here?” Bucky demanded with more animosity and venom in his voice then you had ever heard before. Which meant one of two things; both of which you were not ready to face.

“Can I talk to her?” Natasha asked softly with tears obvious in her tone.

“Shut the door.” You said from your place.

“You need to leave, now.” Bucky growled.

“Please, I just need to see her!”

“You don’t need to do shit!” Bucky snapped back. “Leave, Natasha.”

“Please.” She begged as Anastasia started to fuss behind you. “Please, I just need to apologize.”

“You have no place to say sorry to me.” You snapped as you stormed away from the nursery door. You put your hand on Bucky shoulder and moved him back a step to look at the partially unrecognizable blonde in front of you. “You’re not welcome here.”

“My star…” She tried but you grabbed your gun from Bucky and cocked it harshly.

“No!” You shouted, which effectively woke your daughter up. “You stood there, Natasha. You just stood there when I needed you the most. You stood there and shook your head. You didn’t even try to defend the woman you supposedly loved as I was thrown from my home. I lost everything! My family, my security, my sanity. All of it was gone and Bucky was the only person that stood up to protect me. Steve did what he could but that wasn’t his responsibility; it was yours. And you- did- nothing!”

“(Y/N)…” She tried as tears fell from her eyes. You heard Bucky growl behind you as he turned to go to the nursery for Anastasia and you shook your head at your ex.

“No, Nat. I don’t want to hear it. Because even though I left, you still did nothing. Sure, you tried to hunt me down but, as you quickly realized, I won’t be found if I don’t wanna be. So that was a waste of time. Let me ask you this. Have you even bother to talk to Tony about me once? Did you try even one time to get him to see that I am not that monster anymore? Or did you just play victim because you choose to literally turn your back on your girlfriend and she was taken from your life like you promised would never happen? I don’t even need an answer from you because I already know it. You played the victim. I expected more from you Natalia. So much more. Especially after you fought so hard for Clint, who you have said you didn’t love as much as me, to get him back into your arms when Loki had him try to murder you.”

“Baby…”

“Go to hell, Natasha. I want nothing to do with you. Stay away from me, stay away from my family, stay the fuck away from Wakanda. Go do you, you heartless shrew because you sure as fuck aren’t doing me ever again.” Without another word, you slammed the front door closed and turned the locks as fast as your fingers would go. Once the alarm was reset, you set your gun down and followed your daughters screaming to the back bedroom.

“She gone?” Bucky snapped as he bounced Anastasia in his arms.

“She’s gone.” You said with a nod as you locked the secondary door in your room and sent out a silent thanks for Shuri making your house impenetrable once the alarm was set. “Come here, angel.” You carefully took Anastasia from Bucky and walked over to the bed with her while Bucky started to pace.

“How’d she even find us?” He asked angrily as he yanked off his work shirt and chucked it across the room toward the laundry hamper. “Who the fuck does she think she is?”

“She’s gone, Bucky.” You said softly as you rubbed your daughter’s back and laid her out on your sports bra covered chest.

“She has no right.” He snapped as he continued to get undressed. “No right to just show up here like that.” You nodded in agreement as you tried to check Anastasia’s mouth again since she was awake. “Who does she think she is?”

“I don’t know, baby.” You said evenly as you forced yourself to keep your anger at bay and you absolutely felt one of her teeth near the surface of Anastasia’s bottom gums. “She’s teething.” Bucky glanced over at you and did a double take as your daughter grabbed your hand almost to hold the soothing metal in place. He climbed on the bed slowly as Anastasia’s crying turned into hiccups.

“Oh, baby girl.” He said sadly as he leaned against the headboard so that he was right in front of her. “You’re OK, sweetheart.” She hiccuped again as he reached up to brush his hand over the back of her head.

“We’re in for a world of fun.” You said softly as she started to chew on your finger. He nodded as her eyes started to slowly drift closed again.

“We’ll figure it out.” He said as he helped get the pair of you under the blankets. “We always do.” You nodded in agreement as he kissed Anastasia’s forehead and laid back against his pillow.

“Think she’ll tell Tony we’re here?” You asked as he grabbed the padded co-sleeper from under the bed.

“Probably.” He said as he laid the sleeper down between you knowing neither of you would sleep comfortably that night if she wasn’t in the room with you. “We’re safe here, though. Tony can’t get into Wakanda without T’Challa knowing about it anyways…”

“Nat did.” You said as you brushed your fingertips down Anastasia’s back so she would fall back to sleep.

“Yea, well now we’re prepared.” He said a little harshly.

“OK.” You said as you looked over at him. “OK…”

“Sorry, baby.” He said as he ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh. “She just… she makes me so mad.”

“I know, baby.” You agreed as you carefully pulled your hand back and laid your daughter down in her sleeper. “But we’re better than her now, right? We’re parents now. We can’t stoop down to her level.”

“Yea.” He said with small smile as he laid down next to the other little lady that stole his heart. “Yea, you’re right.”

“I’m always right, James.” You giggled as you got up to wash your face and get ready for bed. “That’s why you married me.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the night Natasha showed up, you started to live in fear. Every time you stepped outside with Anastasia, you carried an unnecessary amounts of weapons on your person and constantly kept your head on a swivel. After two weeks of jumping at every little thing, the Wolf came back and began to taunt the safety of you and more specifically, your baby girl. And at that point, you locked yourself and Anastasia in your apartment and had your weekly groceries delivered by a teenage boy that lived in your building.

Bucky wanted to protest your seclusion but he was equally as scared for the two loves of his life. He convinced you once about a month after Nat showed up to leave the house just to head up to a restaurant on the corner. He barely made it long enough to order the food to go and rush you back home with a mild case of whiplash. He knew you were at least safe in your home, so after that failed attempt to be social, he looked the other way about you staying home all the time.

Anastasia was growing like a weed. One day she was needing help to sit up on your lap or on the floor and the next thing you knew, she was seven months old, crawling across the wood floors as fast as her chubby arms and legs could carry her, and practicing her standing as long as you held on to her sides. You were beyond ecstatic that her first word was ‘mama’, which Bucky wasn’t a huge fan of, but she didn’t disappoint for long because ‘dada’ came about a week later followed by ‘ba.’ And thus began the part of her life where she would follow you around after you while you cleaned, babbling ‘mama dada’ for hours over the sounds of her knees and palms clomping on the floors.

“She does this all day?” Bucky asked as he helped put away the lunch leftovers on one of his Tuesdays off. You smirked and nodded as you wiped down your kitchen counters while Anastasia sat right next to your legs on the floor repeating your name with the occasional ‘dada’ mixed in as she chewed on a frozen strawberry in a mesh pacifier.

“Every day. We’re getting a lot better at separating our names though.” He laughed as he walked over and looked down at her with his hands on his hips.

“What are you doing?” He said playfully as she looked up at him with a smile.

“Ma dada… da mama!” She said as she reached for him with one arm, not willing to pull the fruit pacifier from her mouth.

“That’s progress.” You laughed as Bucky picked her up and tossed her in the air a couple inches.

“I still can’t believe she’s ours.” He said as walked over and sat down on the couch with her. “I also can’t believe how fast she’s grown.”

“I know.” You sighed with a nod as you hung your rag over the middle of the sinks. “I just want it to stop already. Make her stay cute forever.”

“Yea, because both of us wanna change diapers for the rest of eternity.” He laughed as you flopped down on the couch for a break before you went back to doing laundry. You rested your elbow on the armrest and propped your head on your fist as you watched your daughter ‘walk’ up Bucky’s thighs and stomach while she continued to chew on her strawberry.

“We need to leave Wakanda.” You said softly. Your husband slowly nodded his head in agreement.

“I’ve been thinking the same thing.” Tears welled in your eyes as the pair of you just watched your daughter with more love than either of you knew was possible. She walked her way up his chest so that her little feet were on his face and squealed in joy when he playfully pretended to eat her toes.

“Where should we go?” You whispered, not trusting your voice any louder.

“We can stay in Africa for a while.” He suggested with a glance over at you as he held his daughter over his thighs again. “Head south until we hit the end of the continent then try to catch a ride over to Asia. Head toward Australia. We’ll just keep moving.” You nodded your head and looked over at him as a few tears fell from your eyes. “We’re gunna be OK, baby girl. We know how to survive on the run. And we’ll just be more hyper-vigilant with Anastasia.”

“OK.” You whispered as you pushed across the couch to rest your head on his shoulder. “I’ll call up to Okoye and we’ll leave tonight?” He nodded his head as he turned to kiss the top of your head.

“We’ll pack as light as we can with her when she goes down for a nap. Get out after dark.” You nodded your head and sighed as you got up off the couch.

“I’ll get the laundry finished and make that call.” You heard him mumble ‘alright’ as he took the empty pacifier from Anastasia before she could throw it.

“Come on, pumpkin. Nap time.”

——

“Our clothes, her clothes, bottles, formula, baby food…” You said to yourself as you went through the two, overflowing backpack duffle bags on your bed. “… toys, bathroom bags, pacifiers, blankets.”

“We can strap this to your backpack.” Bucky said as he tossed the padded sleeper on the bed and grabbed the baby carrier from under the bed as well. “The play pen is a little too big to carry with us.”

“True.” You said as you grabbed the ball of twine and the sleeper off the bed. “Did you empty out every drawer on the changing table into the diaper bag?”

“And the extra stuff in the closet.” He said with a nod. “You got the new load of groceries in there?” You nodded your head as you checked the weight of both backpacks to make sure Bucky’s wasn’t too heavy.

“I think we should bring the stroller.” You said as you set his backpack aside, deeming it full enough. “I think we’ll regret it more if we don’t.”

“It’d make carrying the car seat easier. We could fill the bottom up with more stuff…”

“It would make carrying bottles of water easier.” You agreed. You grabbed the Ziplock bag of baby medicines, sunscreen, and other necessities for Anastasia and threw them in the last bit of space in your bag. “These are both done.” He nodded his head, acknowledging that he heard what you said as he pulled the old SIM cards from your cell phones and grabbed new ones and a pair of burner phones from your bedside table drawer. He pulled weapon after weapon from the drawer as you put everything from the room out in the hall.

“You gunna carry her first?” He asked as you came back in and started to load your old Winter Wolf cargo pants with guns and knives.

“Yea, I got her.” You said as you checked the gun you would keep on your hip to make sure it was fully loaded and the safety was on. You put it in your holder and made sure that it was far enough back that there was no way your daughter could reach it before grabbing the carrier off the bed. You followed Bucky out to the living room to load up anything else you could fit in the stroller; a case of water, some laundry soap you otherwise would have had to leave behind, and a few more of her favorite toys, and took one final look around your apartment for anything else you could possibly need.

“We have all the cash?” You asked as you headed toward the nursery to grab your daughter to leave.

“Yea, it’s all in the diaper bag.” He said as he put his backpack and the diaper bag on and grabbed the carseat to put in the front of the stroller. You nodded, despite the fact that he couldn’t see you as you carefully picked your sleeping daughter up from her crib and put her in the baby carrier. You made sure to grab her bedtime blanket and her favorite stuffed bunny rabbit before heading out of the room to get your own backpack.

“You got everything?” He asked softly as he helped you put the backpack on so you didn’t jostle Anastasia too much.

“Anything we forgot, we can replace.” You responded as you tucked the blanket and bunny into the carseat. “Oh, grab the fold up booster seat.” You said as you pointed to the chair in the corner by the dinner table. You pushed the stroller to the door as he stuck the seat across the top and added the two bottles of water for you to the cup holders.

“Alright.” Bucky said as he looked back around your apartment while you shut off the alarm and unlocked the door. “Bye first house.” You couldn’t bring yourself to turn around and look back at it as you pulled open the door.

“Let’s just go, baby.” You forced yourself not to tear up as you headed down the hall to the elevator.

“It’s alright, (Y/N).” Your husband said as he rubbed your shoulder with a small smile on his face. “We’re gunna be just fine. We can handle this.” You took a deep breath as the elevator opened on the ground floor and nodded.

“Yep. We’re…”

“Running away with a baby?” A voice asked from the shadows that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. You whipped your gun out at lighting speed and turned around as Tony stepped out of the shadows. “Do you really think that’s the best parenting choice there.”

“Back up.” Bucky growled as he moved between you and Tony with his gun pointed at the man as well. “Baby, go.”

“No, no.” Tony said as he took a step closer with his hands raised. He instantly took two steps back as both you and Bucky cocked your guns and flipped off the safeties. “Look, I know you’re both a little jaded here…”

“A little?” You asked as your eyes darted around the street; catching Steve and Wanda hiding in the shadows in the alley across from you, Vision a block behind you behind a car, Clint on the roof across from you… and Natasha peeking out from the alley behind Tony.

“Wonder why…” Bucky growled.

“Yea, you have the right to be mad. I was an asshole. Plain and simple. But I was wrong. And I’m man enough to admit that. So if you wanna hide out, go ahead. You wanna raise your kid in fear here in Wakanda… yea, I know everything.” Tony said as you shared a side eyed glance with Bucky. “You wanna stay here, go ahead. T’Challa said that was fine by him. You wanna come back to the towers and feel safe, you can do that, too.” You forced yourself to keep your face unreadable as you searched Tony’s eyes.

“I’ll stay away.” Natasha said softly. “I won’t come near any of you. Just please. Please come home where you belong.”

“She’d be safe.” Bucky whispered in Xhosa without taking his eyes off Tony or Natasha as you watched the other Avengers. “Both of you.”

“Is it worth dealing with the other half of the problem?” You asked with a side look over at him.

“We’d be safe.” He repeated. “And we wouldn’t have to keep running.” You sighed, knowing that he was right and that dealing with Natasha was worth guaranteeing that the voices didn’t come back and that Anastasia would be safe forever.

“Come on, guys.” Steve called out as he took a few steps forward. “Do it for my niece.” You looked over at Bucky, who you knew wanted to go home and not have to work every day even if he wouldn’t admit it, and sighed.

“Fine.” You breathed as you flipped on the safety and ejected the bullet in the chamber of your gun. You could hear the subtle sigh of relief from your husband as he put his gun up while the other members of the team all stood down.

“You stay away from them.” Bucky growled as he pointed at Natasha and put the diaper bag on the stroller. She nodded and took a few steps back as Steve came over to say hi to Anastasia.

“I’m guessing you still have stuff upstairs?” He asked as he brushed his fingers over the top of her head.

“We packed as light as possible so yea.” You said with a nod.

“Alright then. Steve, get them to the jet. We’ll get the rest…”

“I’ll go up with you.” Bucky said as he pulled off his backpack and passed it to Steve. “We can just pile everything that’s left in the crib.”

“Leave the furniture and the dishes behind and put a note on the woman across the hall’s door that she can help herself to whatever is left over as a thanks for her son getting our groceries.” You told him as Steve took off your backpack for you. He nodded his head and headed back toward your apartment building as Steve put his hand on your back.

“Let’s go home, (Y/N).” He said with a smile as he lead you behind Natasha to the quinjet that was parked on the palace jet pad.

“I just hope it’s not the worst decision we’ve ever made.” You muttered as you stared daggers into Natasha’s back.

Part 13

[gimmeanaplease-blog]

From Glass Slippers to the Glass Ceiling: 15 Ways Disney has Improved in the Face of our Cultural Shift

Disney has had a long and complicated history with being outdated. Sexism and racism plague the older movies. However, in the past decade it’s been clear that with the shift of public views Disney has been making a run to catch up with the times.

1. Disney’s First African American Princess

Disney’s shift into the new culture all began with their first African American princess. Tiana began as a hard working woman who simply wanted to achieve her dream of owning her own restaurant in New Orleans. With an upbeat attitude and more than a few bumps in the road she meets her prince, falls in love, and defeats the evil witch doctor.

Tiana remains, however, as hardworking as she started out when pursuing her dream. Even when she marries Prince Naveen she doesn’t use her newfound privilege to get her restaurant. Rather she uses the money she’d earned from years working as a waitress in a cafe as well as the allies she’s met along her journey to buy the abandoned building which she envisions as her future restaurant. With her new husband she renovates the place and opens the door to her new life.

2. Breaking Their Own Rules

Merida was Disney’s next great leap into Disney breaking their mold of the standard princess. Merida was messy, ungraceful, and she hated having to act “like a princess”. She’d much rather stuff her face with food, sport her unruly natural hair, and go shooting archery in the woods. Throughout the movie she participates in activities that her mother initially deems unfit for a princess.

In the ultimate act of defiance of the movie, Merida takes off her headwear containing her hair, rips her dress for mobility, and shoots three arrows into their marks in a competition men were engaging in to become her fiance. She obliterates her competition and shows that her hand in marriage isn’t to be won.

3. A Strong Independent Woman

In the past Disney has had heroines that don’t need a man to save them. From Belle to Mulan we saw princesses who saved the day all on their own. Yet time after time we saw they always ended up with their man in the end. Along comes Brave, a story of a young Scottish princess to be betrothed by her family. Merida, however, loathes the concept and in her own act of rebellion she deems that she will be competing for her own hand.

Through a convoluted plot involving bears and family drama at its finest, Merida finds herself at the epicenter of having to repair her broken relationship with her mother. The central conflict isn’t her engagement to a man she just met, it was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back. Even at the end of the movie when we’re expecting the stereotypical happily ever after, Merida remains single. “There are no intimate evenings, sparkling jewelry, dazzling gowns (Merida, in fact, hates her formalwear), sweet gestures or smart give-and-take dialogue that foreshadow a final, emotional kiss. The suitors are simply buffoons, not fit to brush Merida’s flowing red hair, much less match up with her archery skills” (Zakarin, 2012). To add onto the quote from The Hollywood Reporter, Brave didn’t even star any men that weren’t Merida’s family. She was the first true Disney princess to end up without a man at the end of her movie.

4. Prince Smarming

During the climax of Disney’s biggest hit in years we’re expecting a Prince Charming saves the day moment. Anna is about to succumb to a frozen heart so a collective breath holds as Prince Hans leans in to deliver True Love’s Kiss in order to reverse the curse. Then through a head spinning twist, we find out that Hans had been our villain all along.

In Roxane Gay’s Bad Feminist she details the trials of “Prince Charming”, “The man in most fairy tales, Prince Charming in all his iterations, really isn’t that interesting. In most fairy tales, he is blandly attractive and rarely seems to demonstrate much personality, taste, or intelligence. We’re supposed to believe this is totally fine because he is Prince Charming. His charm is supposedly enough” (Gay, 2014). The writers of frozen use this subconscious ideal of what audiences expect of Prince Charming to disguise his true intentions. In reality Hans wants the kingdom and is willing to kill both princesses in order to achieve a spot on the throne.

5. Maleficent and the Me Too Movement

Maleficent is a movie that came out in 2014 depicting the villain of the same name’s side of the famous story Sleeping Beauty. Starring Angelina Jolie, Maleficent is a tragic hero of sorts as when she was young, she fell for her best friend - and future king - Stefan. Stephan’s father, however, had sent his son off to kill Maleficent as she is the queen of the faeries and keeping him from conquering the land. To prove he’s killed Maleficent, Stephan must deliver her wings to his father. Unable to bring himself to kill her, Stephan gives her a sleeping potion while they are together and cuts off her wings in her sleep.

Sound familiar? That is because this scene is meant to depict a rape scene. Writer Linda Woolverton talked openly about the scene with the press, “I had done some research, and the biggest surprise is that she’s a fairy, not a witch. I’ve always wanted to do a dark fairy story. Then I watched that scene where she curses the baby, and I’m thinking “well if she’s a fairy, where are her wings?” Suddenly it was “boom. Lightbulb. Oh! It’s the wings!” Then I worked backward from there to create the Stefan relationship” (Krischer, 2014). The portrayal of the scene is vastly important to culture as only 3 years later, the Me Too movement brought to light the ever present normalization of sexual harassment and assault that women face every year. The fact that an action is so prevalent in society that it has an allusion in a Disney movie is both heartbreaking and incredibly telling.

6. Queer Eye for the Bad Guy

Disney has had a long history of queer coding their villains. The most basic definition of queer coding is using giving characteristics, behaviors, and actions to their characters so that the audience may read them as gay. Often these are stereotypes such as the Lefou's flamboyance, Hades’ sass, or Ursula’s likeness to a drag queen. Now Disney attempted through their movie to depict a gay character in it’s live action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. However it seems their belief of depicting a gay character is turning Lefou’s flamboyance from a 7/10 to a 12/10. There was even a brief scene of him dancing with a man but if you blink you could miss it. Rani Barker describes how this act is harmful to the LGBT+ community, “The problem, as queer people, is this continues to treat our stories, our yearnings, and our experiences as unspeakable. Something to be whispered, scrutinized and doubted. Keeps it closeted right in front of our faces” (Barker, 2016). It feels like a spit in the face for the first “gay character” in Disney to be such an obvious trove of stereotypes.

All is not lost for Disney’s representation in the LGBT+ community though. Andi Mack, a television show on the Disney Channel features a character that has openly admitted that he is gay and actually approached an arc where he had to come out to his friends. He is not a throwaway character either, he is one of the main characters on the show. Hopefully this character on the small screen will pave the way for proper representation on the big one.

7. Zootopia’s Depiction of Race Relations

Zootopia on the surface appears to be the classic Disney talking animal movie on the surface but underneath the detailed animation and so many puns is an actually complicated statement on race relations. The animals of Zootopia are divided into two types, “predator” and “prey”. As the plot develops Judy, a rabbit cop, and Nick, a civilian fox, discover that there are a series of attacks developing where predators are suddenly “going savage”. As Judy took the lead in the case, she must be the one to talk at the press conference despite them still not knowing the true cause. Chaos ensued as an all out battle broke out between predators and prey.

Not very subtle huh? Charles Pulliam-Moore describes how this scene in particular applies to our society today, “As much as the scene is grounded in the world of Zootopia, it's shot through with elements of many of the real-world police-run press conferences that have followed in the wake of the dozens of high-profile shooting of black people in recent years. Though Judy admits that the ZPD doesn't know the specific details of the case, reporters focus on the few problematic soundbites she feeds them while taking in visuals of rabid, muzzled animals that the police have detained” (Pulliam-Moore, 2016). Both in the movie and in real life it’s media that digs into certain words and forces a fear fueled narrative to cause prejudice in people’s day to day life. Though Zootopia doesn’t quite rise to the ranks in favor of a child’s story happily ever after, it was bold of Disney to try to scale that height in the first place.

8. Realistic Bodies for Women (Finally!)

The proportions for female bodies in Disney has been a rough ride for decades. Since the release of the first princess movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Disney has long regulated the eurocentric ideals of beauty with large eyes, full lips, and a ridiculously tiny waist. Momentarily it seemed like we’d seen a shift via Nani Pelekai in the 2002 movie Lilo and Stitch. Nani defied the Disney standards of beauty with a large nose, a darker skin tone, and even a more realistic stomach. Yet as the next princess movies rolled around, they resorted right back to their usual bullshit.

The tide shifted yet again in 2016 with the release of another Hawaiian based film, Moana. Unlike Lilo and Stitch, Moana was a titular film for the company as it was it’s next big “princess movie” after their big hit Frozen. Moana was the soon to be chief of her tribe and she sported everything the princesses of the past hadn’t. Moana had wild hair, a darker complexion, realistic muscle tone for the activities she participated in (climbing and sailing), and much more realistic proportions. Moana brings forth a body type that much more girls see when they look in the mirror than those looking at Ariel or Jasmine.

9. The Importance of Female Solidarity in Feminism

Yet another climax of a film yields an entirely different result. This time the movie we focus in on is Moana. She and the demigod Maui have traveled across the ocean to return the Heart of Te Fiti. They are stopped by a lava monster Te Kā. When all seems lost Moana discovers that not only is Te Fiti missing but Te Kā is not who she appears to be at all.

It is Moana who realizes that Te Fiti and Te Kā are one in the same. Valentina Boré remarks on the importance of solidarity in feminism perfectly reflects Moana’s thoughts as she returns her heart “If we don’t try to understand what our other fellow feminists have gone through, how can we really make a change for anyone at all” (Boré, 2015). She makes the connection that Te Fiti had her heart stolen from her by Maui and thus lost herself. Through Moana’s kindness and comfort for another woman, she is able to save her island.

10. Real Portrayals of Diverse Cultures

Moana and Coco are two of the most recent additions to Disney’s animated movies. Both contain great amounts of respect towards the given culture shown. It is clear that a great amount of research went into both of these films, including featuring songs in the native languages. In Moana the song “We Know the Way” features a large portion in the Tokelauan language while a lot of the songs featured in Coco are Spanish.

Coco, especially is a feat to be admired. Director Lee Unkrich early expressed concern of rejection as he, himself, is not hispanic or even latino. However, to combat this Unkrich and producers opened the film to Latino cultural consultants for criticism and the ability to toss around ideas to better improve the film. This was met with initial outrage by the company since, for the longest time, production was meant to be kept under tight wraps. Producer Darla K. Anderson commented in an interview, “We don’t normally open up the doors to let people in to see our early screenings. But we really wanted their voice and their notes and to make sure we got all the details correct” (Ugwu, 2017). To go against traditions in order to assure that they got the movie correct shows true care and love for their story and what it will mean for other people.

11. The Voices of Coco are All Latinx

Coco was a movie unlike any before it. The Pixar film depicted a Mexican story of a young boy Miguel getting trapped in the land of the dead when he tried to connect with his estranged ancestor who shared his love for music. Coco was based around the holiday Dia de los Muertos and surrounded an entirely Mexican family.

What sets Coco apart from other films of Disney’s past is it’s determination to have an entirely latinx cast. Everyone from the lead Miguel to the featured character of Frida Kahlo to unnamed correction officers are played by latinx actors. Even Princess and the Frog, who had a mostly colored set of characters as well didn’t mimic this action.

12. What Makes a Princess?

Disney, like many other industries, has poked fun at itself more than once. This typically involves a playfully jab at character’s affinity to burst into song. Tangled and Moana alike have teased the song filled musicals but none have been so ruthless to Disney’s archetype of a princess as Wreck It Ralph 2.

Vanellope stumbles upon a trailer full of all the princesses we are familiar with, claiming that she is a princess as well. Naturally, they have to question her. In detailing the scene writers describe, “As the princess encounter evolved, the writers played off the fact that not only do Disney princesses often get kidnapped, but that they are forever gazing into “important waters.” (In their attention to detail, one princess fan at the studio noted to Ribon that Mulan does not look into a puddle, but rather a horse trough. Robin’s enthusiastic response: “Even better!”) The scene also skewers the reliance on a lumbering hunk to solve a damsel’s thorny problem” (Cavna, 2018). While Disney is only making these jokes in jest of their past and how each of the princesses have something in common, it’s nice to see that they’re acknowledging Disney’s untold rules of what makes you a princess. It takes Vanellope affirming that people say her problems were all solved because of a man for the princesses to accept her as so. Ironically, this is the one point that connects all of the princesses together. 

13. Stories About Mental Health

Outside of physical representation Disney has created a rich environment for representation for mental health as well. Inside Out was a movie that told the story of physical manifestations of a girl’s emotions having to deal with making her happy after a cross country move takes her away from familiar surroundings and friends. Throughout the movie it shows clear depictions of Riley, the girl who houses the emotions, experiencing what many people can recognize as depression.

The standout of them all seems to be a Disney creation that isn’t even a full length film. Before every movie Disney airs a Pixar short. This separate story can hold just as much emotion as a full length movie but sometimes the message can be missed completely based on racism alone. Before Incredibles 2, a short called Bao aired. Bao featured an Asian Woman who became the mother of a dumpling that came to life. However, as the dumpling grew older he became more dismissive of the mother while she became more desperate to hold onto her dumpling child. At the climax as the dumpling tries to leave she eats him. Now, any person with half a mind can recognize this as a metaphor for empty nest syndrome. This is a feeling of loneliness and depression that a parent may feel when their child leaves the home. It is revealed at the end that she was reflecting on her relationship with her human son after all. Given, she did not actually eat her son but more than likely got into a nasty fight to push him away.

Yet, some people simply didn’t get it. Rather than recognizing the story as a mother and son fighting and coming together once more; people saw a dumpling and a woman with Asian features and completely shut down. The thing is, they could’ve told this story with any race of mother and son and food of their given area. “Our cultural signifiers might be different, but basic human emotions are an experience that spans all of us as humans on this planet” (Jitchotvisut, 2018). Any mother who cares for their child would experience empty nest syndrome but the creators of Bao chose to make this character Asian and they didn’t need a reason to do so either.

14. Putting a Woman in Charge

After John Lasseter was asked to step down amid accusations of misconduct a new head of Disney Animation was needed and there was only one man for the job, a woman. By the end of 2018, Jennifer Lee would become the new Head of Disney Animation. Only joining in 2011, Lee quickly gained wins under her belt such as being a co-director for Frozen, being a co-writer for Wreck It Ralph, and being a key component to Zooptopia.

Lee marks a change from Disney’s initial brand of vapid misogyny and truly shows how the brand has taken a turn for the better. In response to her promotion she replies, “My hope is to support the incredible talent we have, find new voices, and work together to tell original stories. The great films of Disney Animation — the films I loved as a kid and my daughter has grown up loving — are magical, timeless, and full of heart, and it is our goal to create films that carry on and grow this 95-year legacy for future generations” (Berger, 2018). We should be able to look forwards to seeing these new groundbreaking stories with a woman at the lead of the studio.

15. Using Their Other Brands to Reinforce this New Image

Along the years the empire that is Disney has bought out many other companies. The cultural shift has created a wave that rippled these industries as well. Star Wars and Marvel alike have seen a move towards the society Disney began reflecting in 2009.

Star Wars revived after 10 years of remaining dormant with an all new story with a female at its center. Not only that but 3 of the other new heroes are all people of color: Finn played by John Boyega is an African American man, Poe Dameron played by Oscar Issac is Guatemalan, and Rose Tico is played by Kelly Marie Tran is a Vietnamese woman.

Marvel’s shift took more time but isn’t any less prevalent. Perhaps the most apparent is the bold move to have an almost entirely African American cast for the 2018 film, Black Panther. With a world of research on the culture backing the project the film broke records and earned Marvel it’s first Oscar.

Disney backing these projects reflect it’s turning tide and the world is more than supportive.

Sources

[backpackbrigade]

Backpack Playlist 5/27/19

I no longer have a radio show so this is where I’m gonna be posting my thoughts and playlists! Have fun, who cares. Apple Music/Spotify links at the bottom. Enjoy. 

“Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” - Kate Bush, Hounds of Love (1985, EMI)

A gay icon, not much to say beyond that. We love some extra as shit background vocals.

“Bags” - Clairo, Immunity (2019, Fader)

First single off Clairo’s new LP coming out at some point this year. Literally all I can think when I hear the guitar line in this song is Avril Lavigne, and I say that with the utmost respect and love. Big ups to VW alum Rostam for the production on this track and Danielle Haim for drums - does this mean Clairo is now part of the PC Music squad AND the VW-adjacent rap/indie rock squad??? Her career is definitely pretty strange so far, but I’m hype to see her blow up beyond the world of the Youtube algorithm chewing up and spitting out DIY music videos. This track is also kinda full circle for her - in her big Pitchfork feature last year, she talked about being starstruck after seeing one of the Haim sisters on a plane listening to SOPHIE, and now she’s got one of them on a track. We love growth.

“Kisses 2 My Phone” - Sega Bodega, self*care - EP (2018, NUXXE)

Lona (aka MANIIK aka BABY GAMELAN) shared this EP with me last year, and it’s been rattling around in my head ever since. Some glitchy trap beats and subtly depressing lyrics about sending kisses to your phone and losing love. Scottish experimental pop kid who gets in your ears and won’t leave.

“Even the Shadow” - Porches, Pool (2016, Domino)

A classic, both Pool and their newer album The House (2018, Domino) remind me of a very specific time in my life when I was spending 12 hours in the photo studio every other weeknight and played Porches on shuffle to get through it. Very sad stoner synthy alt-pop for gay kids with lots of insecurity but dreams of 2014 soft pale tumblr aesthetic escapism!!

“Hatin” - Rico Nasty & Kenny Beats, Anger Management (2019, Sugar Trap)

Remember when Rico was just a Soundcloud kid with a stellar remix of “The Race” under her belt?? When I first heard that track in the background of a friend from high school’s Instagram story, I literally dropped my phone trying to lyric search it to see who sang it. Big ups to Lafayette (a newly minted Howard University grad :,) ) for putting me on. Rico’s always been bffs with Kenny, so this collab record isn’t surprising, but I didn’t expect it to be this good!!! Very excited to see her blowing up on Tik Tok rn, maybe she’ll finally get what she’s owed. And she deserves more than just a 2 second cameo in the Old Town Road music video………

“Dig” - Lance Bangs, Lance Mountain - EP (2016, Citrus City)

Reminds me of screamy jangly indie rock from the summer after my first year when I lived in a commune and got a stick and poke from a friend who was three mojitos deep. Also, Citrus City is awesome and we love to support VA labels!!

“Livin’ On a Prayer” - Bon Jovi, Slippery When Wet (1986, Vertigo)

Mostly putting this on here because it’s the ending soundtrack to a great little animated short film I watched recently called WORK (2009) by Michael Rianda. It’s a super 2009 short, but it’s fascinating because it feels like the aesthetic halfway point between Don Hertzfeldt’s Rejected (2000) and Bojack Horseman (2014-) style absurdity. It’s not the subtlest anti-capitalist cartoon out there, but it’s very cute and funny.

“20 Ghosts III” - Nine Inch Nails, Ghosts I-IV (2008, The Null Corporation)

Put this back to back with Bon Jovi because the weird guitar/vocal growls sound like the “Livin’ On a Prayer” digital doo-wops put through an insane pedal filter. Heard it for the first time when I was watching Laura Poitras’ documentary Citizenfour (2014) - she used it for the super haunting opening and closing scenes, and I can’t think of any better use for Trent Reznor’s sad garage dad phase guitar music.

“Guap” - Yaeji, Yaeji EP (2016, GODMODE)

No introduction necessary, hopefully. Gives me third year queer party vibes, and if you know what that means, congratulations. You’re part of an in-group now. Listen when you need subtle hype up music.

“Indica” - Dizzy Fae, Free Form Mixtape (2018, self-released)

When I showed a friend a picture of Dizzy Fae, their first response was that she’s probably from Amsterdam or Berlin or something and floats between secret clubs all week long before performing herself. She’s actually from Minnesota and is way younger than either of us assumed, so big ups to her for projecting the coolest vibes imaginable. Her vocal distortion is a little FKA Twigs, but she knows how to fuckin rap on the rest of the EP. Well worth a full listen.

“Flower Moon (feat. Steve Lacy)” - Vampire Weekend, Father of the Bride (2019, Columbia)

Best track on this new album, imo, but I can’t stop thinking about Vampire Weekend for a completely different reason. When this album came out, literally everyone was making fun of it for sounding like a Paul Simon redux. A lot of people praised it for the exact same reason lol. But Paul Simon’s relationship with cultural appropriation is a lot like Ezra Koenig’s, and not enough people have made that connection. Remember when Paul Simon broke the cultural boycott with Apartheid-era South Africa to make Graceland (1986)?? Everyone shit all over him for not only straight up taking South African music styles and centering himself in their vocal story, but doing it all in the midst of the largest cultural boycott in modern history. It’s a good album, I won’t pretend it’s not, but it’s deeply problematic and disappointed a lot of people who expected something better from a guy who knew what he was doing. Reminds me of 2008-2012 Vampire Weekend!! Anyway, listen to this track for Steve Lacy, if nothing else.

“Ur Phone” - boy pablo, Roy Pablo - EP (2017, self-released)

Another Youtube algorithm kid, boy pablo was in everyone’s feeds because this EP is the perfect summery shimmery gaze-y indie rock. His newer album is a little more uptempo than I personally like, but this track is *chef’s kiss*

“Can the Circle Be Unbroken” - The Carter Family, Can the Circle Be Unbroken: Country Music’s First Family (2000, Sony; original recording 1935)

Really not trying to wade into the country music discourse today, but this track is genuinely full of intense longing and sadness in a way that so clearly changed country/rock music and its relationship to the guitar.

“Before the World Was Big” - girlpool, Before the World Was Big (2015, Wichita)

Their new stuff fucking slaps, and seeing them come to terms with their gender identities is fucking beautiful!! But I always come back to these weird ass nursery rhymes. It’s literally just their harmonies and two guitars, and legend has it if you turn this up to full volume in your car and drive through your hometown, your unrequited high school crush will appear with their spouse and two kids just to rub it in.

“Vroom Vroom” - Charli XCX, Vroom Vroom - EP (2016, Vroom Vroom Recordings)

I mean. It’s Charli’s early work with SOPHIE, you’ve gotta just blast this shit and ruin someone’s life. The return to queer hyper pop over the past few years is the only thing sustaining my fucking mental health.

“Xternal Locus” - Chynna & Oklou, Single (2018, self-released)

Another track Lona played for me after I picked her up from work in DC. Lowkey enough to ***** to, highkey enough to **** to ;)

“Cinema” - Kero Kero Bonito, Totep - EP (2018, self-released)

KKB really did an about face with this record, but I still fucking love them. It’s still sunny and glittery pop, but with a chilled-out vibe. Their intense pop records are like the come up, and this is the chill smoke sesh the day after. Just vibey enough to let you chill out and kick back, but keeps you on your toes with some unexpected samples and glitchy moments.

“Jack the Ripper” - SadGirl, Breakfast for 2 - Single (2018, Suicide Squeeze)

We love surf rock, and that’s all I’m gonna say for this. You either vibe with it you’re bored as shit.

“watch you sleep.” - girl in red, Single (2019, self-released)

Music To Sleep To.

Playlists