#the spear of selene!

[tokuvivor]

Can we just talk about how good this scene in The Spear of Selene! is?

To start, we’ve just got the gradual buildup of Dewey and Webby adventuring around Ithaquack, just to find some sort of answer about Della. It all culminates in this line:

Webby: We’re so close to the truth! Why won’t you let us find it?!

Dewey: Because…what if my mom was a bad person?

And even though she really wants to figure this one out, Webby respects Dewey’s wishes, and decides to drop it for now. But then Dewey has a change of heart, deciding that if they’ve gotten this far, they should see it through to the end.

At which point, an ominous figure jumps out from behind them…

…who turns out to be the Goddess of the Moon herself, Selene!

One thing I will make note of is the fact that Frank and Matt were originally intending Selene to be more serious and regal, but they ultimately reworked her characterization to better fit Nia Vardalos’ voice, which is how we ultimately got the wise, yet laid-back and playful Selene we all know.

Anyway, Selene explains that the whole gauntlet Dewey and Webby just went through was intended for Della, because she knew Della would find it fun.

On the topic of whether Selene would have actually known that Della got stuck on the moon, her moon, I would like to think that yes, she did know. I mean, besides the previous point, she and Della are super close; it just doesn’t seem right to have her not know what happened to Della. As for why she couldn’t do anything about it, well, need I remind you who her father is? But I digress.

So Selene, despite being this all-powerful goddess, doesn’t know what Dewey’s talking about by a “Spear of Selene”, but eventually realizes that he’s “Della’s kid” when Dewey brings up “his mom” taking it.

Even though Dewey’s dismayed that he’s now back to square one, Selene assures him that Della was a good person. The greatest, even. And she made everyone around her better.

She even gives it to Dewey for him to keep.

And she assures Dewey not to give up his search, because Della wouldn’t have, either.

And then we get this sweet bit…

Also, I just love how gentle Selene is with Dewey in this scene. I mean, the boy’s never met his mother, has been looking ceaselessly for answers about her for months, and even though Selene doesn’t have all of them, she tells Dewey what he needs to hear, and even gives him a much-needed hug. She’s not Della, but she gives Dewey that maternal guidance that he really needs right about now.

Random headcanon: Just like Louie with Goldie, Dewey calls Selene “Aunt Selene”. Well, I can see all the boys doing that at some point, but Dewey would probably be the first one.

(Minor credits to TV Tropes for this analysis)

[tealottie]

Funny Bonus Panel Below:

I didn't sleep at all ain't no rest for the wicked (i'm the wicked btw)

[bolddeducktionneverfails]

For years, I had been wanting to create an easier way to share my most recent basis for this couple. And since the Speculation Timeline I wanted to put together isn't going to be completed anywhere near now (and since I'm being indecisive about whether I'd want to post it on here), I thought putting several images together was a good option.

I've had a general idea of what people think about my artwork, and the ship itself, for a long time and I'm sure a lot of those sentiments haven't changed. The other major reason as to why I made this post, is because I wanted to show people that I'm not oblivious to how Launchpad and Della were portrayed in canon. That I'm not picking two random characters to ship out of boredom. I put a lot of thought into how their dynamic could be and why we ended up with what we got. I was hoping to see a build up to something more meaningful. And now that I've been made aware of the show not getting to follow its initial plan, I'm trying to figure out what that was going to be, while also putting my own spin on it.

______________________________________________________________

Ok, so, more on the basis details: 

|    Cover

Dunno if I made it clear enough, but just in case I confused anyone, this is meant to be set within the same timeline as the show. It just goes a little farther than where the show left off. When I was restructuring my ideas, I was going to make an alternative timeline where Season 3 would be closer to what Plan A could have been. (I wanted to see a season revision so bad, but I knew it would never actually happen. 😭) As time went on, I considered what show would be like if it was able to pick up after the finale and I think I might like this case a little more, due to it being the most believable scenario. 

|    Della's Pages 

I undoubtedly believe that Della was supposed to have a turnaround with Launchpad and that "Trickening" was a strong indication of that. She doesn't know what LP is truly capable of because she's never around when he's at his best. And this feels very intentional because it's one of the biggest things that prevented their relationship from getting the development it needed. Keeping them stuck in this stage prevents anything...significant from happening. 

There's not much of a reason for them to be kept here if there's nothing to hide...they're capable of getting along and Della's assumption about Scrooge hiring Launchpad, would have easily been settled if the characters were given a chance to talk it out. 

In order for them to progress, Launchpad needs to do something amazing to catch her attention. I haven't come up with a solid answer to this in my personal timeline yet; it'll probably have something to do with saving Dewey, Della or both. But can you imagine what her reaction to Suavepad would have been like?! Or talking to Gosalyn about what it means to be a hero? The way she looked at Kit when he was cloud kicking could have definitely been giving us a good idea.

While not openly expressed in canon, perhaps another reason why Della is irritated with Launchpad is because there are things about him that remind her of HDL's Dad. Or maybe a bit more generally, how much she hates failure; I've been theorizing that Della had secret intentions of saving him when she headed into the cosmic storm. If this is true, she believes that she failed to save him. She could still be mourning that loss, so, if she began to have any feelings for Launchpad, there's bound to be a lot of resistance.

|     Launchpad's Pages

In the alternate timeline, I was going to have him completely stuck in friend mode and not notice anything until Della finally got more comfortable about her feelings. But I think having them both silently struggling to conceal their feelings, is a lot more interesting. 😂

I always thought it was strange that he was never written to show a prior interest in her...or even prior knowledge about her at all. In earlier essays, I noted how odd it was for Launchpad to know who Scrooge was without knowing about The Duck Twins. They were only out of action for ten years. Launchpad was alive before this happened and being that close to someone as popular as Scrooge...he would have seen them from time to time. 

I've also noted how LP was connected to Della from the first time we met him. His conversation about the snowstorm on the Drake Barrier Reef and the Atlantic trip as a whole, reflected the Spear incident. The way he was talking to Scrooge, sounded a lot like he wanted to encourage him to come out of retirement so he could be his pilot. That would mean that he did know something about Scrooge being an adventurer. So, how would he know about that without the Donald and Della portion?? It's the most recent part! He would have grown up with this! Either there's something up with him, or this is one serious plothole...

When Dewey and Webby started their investigation on Della, they never considered prying information from him...and after Scrooge shared his perspective on the Spear incident, Launchpad didn't have anything to say about Della's decision...(I'd expect someone who's supposedly a latchkey kid, to be...a little vocal about child abandonment...) and while his name carried over from original show, it's still very related to rockets. Why wouldn't the showrunners want to incorporate that into something bigger when the show has such a heavy space theme?! All this stuff feels a little too conveniently ignored...🤨

Speaking of the original, LP's family is full of pilots! If the reboot was going to borrow more from LP's history, that's yet ANOTHER way he should know who she is!! If one of your fellow aviators were related to the richest duck in the world, and they're travelling all over the place with him, surely their name and exploits would be brought up multiple times...Heh, if Della appeared in the original, I think it's safe to say he would immediately have a noticeable crush on her. 😂 The reboot hinted that Launchpad's romantic side is just about as active as it was in DT87, but it's a lot more private in comparison. It's really odd to have him dating around without extending any of that to Della...maybe there was something more subtle in "Coot" where he wanted to impress her...but c'mon, that's a fishy thing to do.

Anyway, I got the impression that LP found out about something having to do with Dad when the Timephoon sent him to the future. A lot of people took his delayed reaction to Louie's remark as taking too long to realize he was talking about Della. But I think it was because he wasn't initially thinking of her. The remark was said as if Louie's actions were hereditary. If not Della, then who else could Louie have "gotten" the idea of taking off with a powerful machine? 

Della's recording in "GlomTales!", warned Louie that he needed to stop his plans and schemes if he wants to be a part of the family. Dad doesn't seem to be part of the family. Could he be missing due to a plan or a scheme in relation to the Spear and the cosmic storm? In "Coot", the characters discussed how something valuable was being sought after on the non-McDuck side of the family and how everyone related to the family were frauds and cheats. If Louie was after valuables in his situation, and his situation was compared to Della's, then couldn't Dad fall under both of these categories?  

When thinking of what Launchpad could have seen during the end of the world, I amused myself with the thought of seeing them kiss, but it doesn't make sense for him to crush on someone else after that. If it was anything romantic, it would have to be a lot more subdued.  (I still do believe they were supposed to share a kiss in the original finale plans...) 

|   Ages

When it comes to pairing the pilots, shippers tend to be met with comments about Launchpad being too young. This is largely because of some statements from one of the showrunners and how they were perceived.

When I had asked the showrunner on his blog about whether Launchpad was around the same age as Donald, the answer confirmed this, and that it may have been agreed amongst the writers that Donald was little older; thus making Della the same.

In the following year, someone else asked for exact ages on Drake and Launchpad and were told that both were in their late 20's to early 30's. It was also mentioned that the twins were in their mid 30's for comparison. 

A month later, there was a question that mentioned the twins being a few years older than LP and Drake with no additional correction from the showrunner.

Later in that year, another fan asked for Donald and Della's ages and were given the answer "36".

The year after that, someone asked for the age difference between the twins and Launchpad. They were told "About seven years, I think.". 🤨 

This was a really strange thing to say after the information I was given, but once I thought more about it, I realized that this was pretty much just another way to reiterate the late 20's to early 30's range that was said before. It does...not sound like Launchpad's age is set in stone. And even though we got a precise number for the twins, it may not have been chosen with sincerity. The same showrunner had said in another age-related answer regarding the kids, that he didn't want to give them canon ages, only age ranges. This might also extend to the other characters in the series. Maybe any number in the mid-30's could be correct for Della's age and 36 was chosen at random for that question...

Similarly, some fans are proclaiming that Launchpad was officially confirmed as 31 because of a "Duckburg Life" podcast episode. But this takes place during an earlier time in the show, that wouldn't be his current age. (I remember hearing things that implied the first season, while others say it takes place in the earlier half of the second. I don't feel like checking right now, lol) How do we know the writer for this ep also wasn't just picking any number within LP's age range? Because it isn't part of the main show, this audio series is either semi-canon or not canon at all. And it wasn't helmed by the regular showrunners, so, we can't take the events and mentions too seriously without their confirmation.

Whatever the matter is behind the confusion and hesitancy surrounding their ages, a three-year age gap between the pilots could still work with how I want to see them. Just because Launchpad could be several years younger than Della, doesn't automatically mean that his is. He could be a lot closer.

That window of possibility could have easily been shut. And what helps to keep it open, is that there are multiple characters who have been placed in...highly unusual situations, that affected the way they age. Dating a mermaid, all the way out in Mid-Atlantic Ridge somewhere, sounds pretty unusual...who's to say it's impossible for him to be part of this trend in some way?

I've been theorizing that he has amnesia. Maybe that caused him to get his age wrong. We've already seen him time travel, and timeless dimensions exist in the show. What if one of his adventures lead him to a place where the passage of time works differently? We've been given at least three examples of characters being frozen. What about that?

______________________________________________________________

I would have loved to see a natural progression for Delpad in the show, but now that it's over, I don't have the patience to completely follow this timeline in chronological order. I'm mostly just going to elaborate on whatever points I feel like and work on organizing them later. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (🎶 can we skip to the good part 🎶 lol)

But don't worry, I'm not going to keep you too in the dark on this. I'm going to publish a light draft of my timeline...somewhere! Each section has been broken up into eras and will be tagged accordingly:

(PreSp-CE)

(PreSp-PDE)

(PreSp-DE)

(PreSp-SE)

(CSE)

(PostSp-SE)

(PostSp-UE)

(PostSp-FCE)

(PostSp-DE)

And I guess anything I'm not sure about adding to my headcanons in general, can be labeled "Up in The Air" (UiTA)

Will there be anything about my basis or these eras that are subject to change? Maybe. Will I create more "How I Ship" pages with other parts of timeline? There's a good chance! Did I purposely exclude an era somewhere in here for a secret reason? I'm not going to answer that. 😶

Whatever happens, I'll be sure to make an update about it! 😁

[sometimes-they-come-back-237]

*EDIT: I wanted to reaffirm that I DO NOT dislike Della. She’s one of my favorite characters and I love her as a character. This is just something that occurred to me when I was rewatching the show, specifically when I got to “What Ever Happened to Della Duck” and “GlomTales.*

I can understand why people have criticized Della for the way she grounded Louie. Forcing him to stay in his room. Literally. She had Gyro program that robot, DT87, to make sure he was stuck in there.

I can’t fully justify her actions. But I can somewhat understand her mindset.

So, here’s my argument.

As a child, she was not disciplined enough or at all. Never scolded for a lot of her actions. From what we saw in “First Adventure”, she (and Donald) set a firecracker under her father’s chair which caused him to be hospitalized. It’s been established that she was already very reckless and impulsive.

That only got worse as she grew up adventuring with Scrooge who was just as bad.

Then the Spear of Selene incident happened.

Della being stuck in an isolating environment with nobody but herself is most likely the first time in her life that she actually reflected on her actions and realized how much harm she did, not just to herself but to her family, as well.

That scenario is why she thought the correct way to ground Louie was to literally keep him stuck in his room with no connection to anyone else and the inability to go anywhere else in the mansion.

[best-ducktales-episode]

ROUND #3

[delladyke]

She is so dear to me... :)

[haystarlight]

So I started thinking of an AU where Della didn't take the Spear of Selene and the bois grew up with their entire family and now I'm thinking....

In this AU, F.O.W.L. wouldn't have seen the need to make April/Webby

Not hear me out

Cause Webby and the bois are the same age yeah? But we don't know exactly who was born first. We know the bois hatched in April 15 (HA! April!) but we don't know when Project #87 started. It's totally possible Project #87 got started after the bois were born

No okay listen to me

F.O.W.L. needed Scrooge's heir, right? But an "heir" doesn't necessarily have to be a direct child, it can be a niece or a nephew too, the show itself says so. Scrooge refers to them all as potential heirs.

So F.O.W.L. didn't need Scrooge to be a father really, they just needed Scrooge to have a child (or multiple children) in his family to potentially consider as his heir. This is why I believe Webby wasn't made until after Della left with the Spear of Selene.

Before Della got lost, Scrooge had 5 potential heirs right there. The twins and the unhatched Duck bois. F.O.W.L. didn't need to clone Scrooge, they just needed to wait until the eggs hatched and see if they could manipulate the triplets into getting them the papyrus.

But then Della got lost, one less potential heir. And Donald had a falling out with his uncle and left the mansion, one less potential heir. And the triplets were hatched and raised in the houseboat, without meeting Scrooge or even knowing they were related. Three less potential heirs.

No potential heirs

So now F.O.W.L. has a problem. And what do they do? That's when they make April/Webby.

So if Della didn't get lost and the family didn't break apart, then they wouldn't have made Webby.

More evidence to this is the fact that we see that Scrooge was living alone when Beakley moved in with him. Della and Donald were all already out of the picture before Beakley came to his door with a child.

Della knows Beakley as "Agent 22", she's surprised that she's the housekeeper now. So, we know that she didn't move in until after Della's disappearance.

So, in an AU where the Spear of Selene didn't happen, there's no Webby.

[rommaru]

Art trade with the amazing, talented and kind @sherbetlemonss 💖✨

Some hurt/comfort between Gyro and Scrooge post Spear of Selene. Scrooge is holding Della's last note.

[elseisnthere]

Ok, so Negaverse you is more like Mark Beaks or Glomgold, in that you are a very corrupt businessman. You DO have your family with you, but they are more like minions to you, Donald is the lucky one instead of Gladstone, Huey is a mean jock, Dewey is a coward, Louie is honest, Della actually hates doing missions, but you force her into doing them making Negaverse you directly responsible for the Spear of Selene, Beakley is more of a behind the scenes person, and Webby is very manipulative.

Im-I'm responsible for the spear of selene? This cannae be- I would never force anyone on adventures or treat my family as pawns!? The spear of selene was no one's fault!

[tokuvivor]

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[marmot-bee-person]

Daily ducktales quotes

brought to you by Mushy’s latest hyperfixation

Scrooge: Easy, Beakley, Della wouldn’t just steal an aircraft and set out on a whim. (beat) Well, except for that one time.

[tokuvivor]

Yes! She was great in The Spear of Selene. That’s a great point, her quest for the truth vs. Dewey being at peace with what happened to Della.

Also, shameless plug of my TSoS analysis here.

What was your favorite webby moment/episode?

I actually really loved her in the Spear of Selene.

She spends so much time, especially in season one, trying to please, fit in, impress, etc, and that episode was such a good showcase of her character.

Dewey came to her with the question, “Help me find out what happened to my mom so I can feel close to her memory,” and she takes off with it, because it’s her obsession. It’s selfish, but she’s you know ten, and she doesn’t get that until the last room of the temple. That’s the first point she realizes that Dewey’s genuinely experiencing something, and she sets aside her quest, finding the truth, in favor of taking up his, finding peace.

Idk girls never get to be selfish or excitable or wrong and she’s just ten, of course she makes mistakes. It’s awesome to see it played out.

Also Sky Pirates. Get wrecked Louie.

Thanks for the ask!

[bolddeducktionneverfails]

Since this blog is active again, I thought it was time to create new pinned post:

_______________________________________________________

🧵 "Launchpad's Association With Della Duck"

-----Part 1 | Part 2 || Part 3 | Part 4| Part 5 || Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9-----

This is a series of essays I made during the show's run where I theorized how the two could be connected. There is another installment I released elsewhere and I plan on making one for Season 3, but I'm not sure if I'll be reposting them to this blog.

_______________________________________________________

Other Highlights

🌙 Selene's Statements About Della Duck

🌑 The Moon In Season 3 + Update Reblog

🌀 What Launchpad Saw In "Timephoon!" + The Show Ended on Plan B

✈ How I Ship Delpad (Current Timeline, Near Future)

[godfrey-the-chaos-duck]

PEOPLE OF DUCKBLR

I DID A THING

I made a little art book of Della's journey in the Spear of Selene! And I set it to the lyrics of Space Oddity by David Bowie!!!

So, here it issss (under the cut, it's LONG)

Listen to the song as you read for the best effect

Apologies in advance for making everyone cry over Della Angst

@justaboot @writebackatya @christianfoxymc @minaduck and all other Della stans out here, this is for you!

Ground control to Major Tom... Ground control to Major Tom...

Della leaves McDuck Manor, and faces the journey ahead.

Take your protein pills and put your helmet on Ground control to Major Tom

Della gets ready for takeoff. She initiates the launch sequence, there's no going back now, but it'll just be a few hours, right...?

Commencing countdown, engines on Check ignition, and may God's love be with you

Gyro (who I firmly believe LIVES in that lab or at the very least sleeps there a lot) wakes up to the sound of alarms blaring - how did she know it was here?!

Della has a picture of her and her family - little does she know...

This is ground control to Major Tom, you've really made the grade And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear

Gyro, in a panic, calls Scrooge, praying he'll wake up and answer.

Though it's two in the morning, he does.

Now it's time to leave the capsule if you dare This is Major Tom to ground control, I'm stepping through the door

When Scrooge hears what's happened, he is understandably horrified, and rushes to the launch site at once.

And I'm floating in a most peculiar way And the stars look very different today

Della looks out at the stars. It's an unearthly beauty the likes of which she'd never imagined.

For here am I sitting in a tin can Far above the world

The Spear gets farther and father away from familiarity... from safety...

Planet Earth is blue And there's nothing I can do

Della's journey is still going smoothly - for now.

*just pretend I did something for that instrumental break*

Though I've passed one hundred thousand miles, I'm feeling very still And I think my spaceship knows which way to go

Scrooge sits down at the comms desk, desperately trying to get a message through to Della.

The cosmic storm has started, and Della's a bit rattled, but not scared.

Tell my wife I love her very much She knows

Scrooge and Della are beginning to realise the gravity of the situation - she might not make it out of this one. Of course, neither of them wants to think that.

Ground control to Major Tom Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong

The Spear is struck by a fierce bolt of lightning borne from the stars themselves.

Can you hear me, Major Tom? Can you hear me, Major Tom?

Scrooge can scarcely bring himself to believe it - and neither can Della. The last time he'd heard her voice, and it was a helpless, piercing scream.

Can you hear me, Major Tom? Can you— —Here am I floating 'round my tin can Far above the Moon

Scrooge bows his head in utter despair as tears begin to well up behind tired eyes. She's gone.

The Spear crash-lands on the lunar surface.

Planet Earth is blue And there's nothing I can do...

Della stares back to the world she left behind.

Scrooge mourns for the niece he lost.

[best-ducktales-episode]

ROUND #1

[mooncalf87]

Me when I'm sobbing at a horrifyingly sad episode of a children's show and the cheery outro music starts playing