#which is why I am convinced we'll get Buddie canon

[saucerfulofsins]

I am thinking about Buddie (what else is new). What my non-mythical GA friend and anti-shipping posts/comments about Buddie (both on Tumblr and elsewhere) keep saying is that Buddie's friendship is so strong and special, and that shouldn't change because a relationship might ruin that.

The Buddie side, of course, counters that you can be best friends and lovers, and they wouldn't actually lose that. And I agree with this!

But.

I actually think that the anxiety surrounding change is what the show has been canonically manifesting for Buddie since S7. Tommy in 7x04 changed Buck's relationship with Eddie - that is what triggered his anxiety. Buck coming out "doesn't change a thing between us" according to Eddie.

Then in S8 we've had Eddie changing up his routine. Buck went through changes too. And yes they still end up together, but their dynamics have changed - as several people have pointed out, they haven't been talking. Ryan's confirmed that Eddie's approach to Buck's problems is different. Oliver has talked about how Buck is going through it after a period of relative stability.

The theme the show is going for is change - and I think it's deliberate in two ways. One: they need the GA on board with Buddie, and this is the major anti-Buddie argument. Two: it allows for extended friction and will they/won't they without making it all about their respective sexualities.

So: I think it'll be a while yet before we get Buddie, because I suspect the show will lean into the question "Is risking our friendship worth the payoff of becoming lovers?"

This approach also introduces a significant "won't it" element, because I think if they just went for "are/aren't they in love" it would be almost immediately obvious they are & hold far lower stakes. Plus, it allows the non-supporters to be equally invested through the "it is not worth it" option.

[redux-iterum]

Alright a bit of a weird question about RUNNING Iterum vs the iterum itself. was wondering as an online ‘creator’ (I hate that word but you know what I’m getting at), especially in a fandom such as warriors, how do you avoid the whole ‘pedastaling’ thing, overfamiliarity, and parasocial interaction? I’ve noticed it sooooo much in the warriors community, so I’ve been hesitant to try and out myself out there out of fear LOL.

Don’t feel obligated to answer! Also sending off anon if you’d rather keep it private. Thank you for your time, I hope your day is going excellent!

Well, truthfully, I didn't manage to avoid any of that! I can't tell you any cure-all way to escape them entirely, but I can give you my experiences in dealing with these things and my overall philosophy when it comes to putting out things online.

Firstly, the original Redux was held on a VERY high pedestal - people proclaiming it to be the true canon, at least one person trying to get the actual Erin Hunter team to read it and "take notes", little makeshift books being printed out for it, etc. - and, in the fashion of anything Tumblr held on a high pedestal in that era, it inevitably crashed and burned and led to a lot of drama and disheartening conflict. I won't say people were worshiping the ground I walked on, but they certainly gave me more credit than anyone should give a writer as inexperienced as I was. I think it's just the nature of fandom to get extremely excited about something even mildly good and the cumulative effect of thousands of people getting excited with each other causes a herd mentality that gets only more extreme over time before someone pipes up to the contrary and is actually listened to, whether or not their argument is legitimate, and then THAT becomes the most popular idea. It's way better now than it was back then, believe me - people seem to register when I make mistakes or have flaws without hating me for them, and it's been an overall very healthy perspective from readers and fans on who I am as a person.

To a degree. That's where we'll get into the other two.

Over-familiarity, as well, I certainly have had to deal with, and still do, and this kind of bleeds into parasocial relationships, so I'll tackle them both here. People nowadays seem to have forgotten the most important rule of being online, which is that you need to assume that the stranger you're talking to does not have your best interests at heart and you need to exercise a bit of caution before you get to personal stuff. I've had at least four separate people jump at me with their problems, troubled backstories and traumas (one incident being so severe I don't even want to describe it, and that was their opening line). There are some folk who genuinely want to start a dialog with me and exchange thoughts on things or ask questions about my writing, which is totally fine! That's how I met a great deal of my friends and have a friendly relationship with plenty of fans. I won't say that's invalid. But there are people who seem to think I'm a free therapist or that I know them like they're my buddy, when neither is true. I just recently put up a warning on the About page of this blog that I'm no longer tolerating that shit and will block if one pushes those boundaries. Which I should have done earlier, but I have a bad habit of being too passive and sensitive to strangers.

So those things do exist and can happen to anybody. I won't even try to convince you otherwise. However, they're a really small part of an overall great time I've had putting out fanfics and comics and general creative work. I've made amazing friends (and if it wasn't for me meeting Lynx via the Redux, this whole rewrite would never have happened), I've learned a lot about myself and how and why I create, and, most importantly, I've had people come to me and tell me I've inspired them to do their own thing and give it their all. My effect on the fandom was sizable, whether it was White!Scourge or rewrites as a whole, and it's been a great deal of fun to check my inbox and see enthusiastic messages or questions about lore or even seeking advice, like your ask. I can't give you any sure-fire road to success - I only have a very small idea of why I did as well as I did - but I can vouch for being brave enough to start creating and sharing it with people. If for nothing else, to prove to yourself that your work has worth and can brighten someone's day, even if they don't comment on it (and a lot of people who love stuff, including me, don't say a single thing ever to the creator!).

The piece of advice I would give, if I am to give one, is to establish boundaries. Block whoever makes you uncomfortable or is making your life and enjoyment of your stuff harder. Tell anons when they're being inappropriate or offensive. Delete asks that are probing or trying to get a rise out of you. Put a notice somewhere on your blog if you need to that you're not tolerating whatever it is you're willing to block over. It doesn't have to be some deep-seated trauma of yours. It could be talking about beagles, for all I care. You don't have to discuss shit if you don't want to. Be firm and assertive, especially with aggressively friendly strangers. You don't owe them a god damn thing, whether they think otherwise.

That's about all I can think of to say right now. I hope this answer helped! I encourage you to start posting stuff and just focus on enjoying yourself, rather than any ambiguous problems that could theoretically show up (and they may not ever!). Good luck!

[mochuelovelli]

Fix-It AU pt dos!

[sorry]

Moonvasion! Pt I:

Just a small detail but Della and Dewey come into warn Scrooge since the message from Penumbra/Donald came in that morning as the ending of the subplot from The Richest Duck in the World! Episode happened really...REALLY early in the morning. Scrooge even questions why they are up so early.

After Lunaris gives his first speech and once Louie says "I didn't know there would be an invasion the next day! Gimme a break!" Della starts to say something about how she was able to know about the invasion but Gyro interrupts her to start his scene [if need be it Gyro doesn't have to interrupt Della]

Della gets Scrooge's attention to finish her thought "Donald and Penumbra warned me about the invasion this morning after the satellites went down." Scrooge perks up at Donald's name. "Donald? What do you mean, lass?" "I don't know Uncle Scrooge, but we need to do something. Donald said Lunaris is after the kids." They do the same nod, maybe a little aways from the kids so that Dewey doesn't start yapping about Donald being on the moon just yet

The chase sequence starts but Louie's little dilemma part is cut and skips to where Huey falls

Della's next line (aside from her little sigh) starts at "If I told you the truth you wouldn't come" and sounds a bit more dejected. After Della later proclaims "I can't lose you again!" Lunaris' voice rings out (from the other ship's speaker I guess) "But you will, Della Duck!" Before the ship is harpooned and subsequently captured. Scene cuts from there.

Lunaris' final speech (for this part) also changes the line about Della to "Fear can drive away Della the only Earther left that knows about my people right into my clutches-" Scrooge's face falls and repeats the line "The only Earther left?" Cutting back to Lunaris' who went from scowling to smirking as he continues; the line is also changed slightly.

"Fear can even trick the Great Scrooge McDuck so that my people can land out great planetary engines!" Same joke happens but the camera shows other notable Moonlanders piloting the engines. 

Scrooge then turns around and yells "Where are you, you pebble loving coward?!" Lunaris scoffs, "Don't worry, I'm coming to you. We all are". Lunaris moves away to reveal Della and the kids tied up and Scrooge gasps transitions the scene.

Scene then changes to the perspective of Della and the kids after Lunaris turns off his transmission to Scrooge. He cackled to himself as he turned to face them. "Too easy." He grins. 

Della struggles in her cuffs, "You're gonna be sorry when I get out of these dumb binds you big-" Lunaris interrupts her. "Now Della, do I have to clamp your mouth shut just like I did to your brother?" The ducks all gasp.

If there is enough time, add extra chatter from the kids like: "You got Uncle Donald?" From Huey with Dewey responding "He called us this morning from the moon! I thought he would find us!" 

Della growls "What did you do to him?!" Lunaris then, while maintaining eye contact, turns on the tv to show an edited version of Donald's/Lunaris' fight. He speaks over it: "Your brother was a formidable fighter-" shows Donald punching Lunaris (maybe cut to the kids reaction) "but even he wasn't tough enough to survive trying to pilot that contraption." The screen shows the bullet exploding and Lunaris takes up the screen again to smirk at the ducks and the ep ends on "I guess that was quite farewell to Donald Duck."

Moonvasion! Pt II:

Starts off right after Lunaris speaks, only at a side angle before it cuts to Louie yelling "You're lying! This is just part of your plan to trick us into not fighting back!" His eyes betray him though as he, along with the other kids, start to cry. 

Lunaris grins wildly "My plan was to kill your pathetic uncle back on the moon after I was done questioning him, I don't like loose ends. But he did all the hard work for me and don't worry, I'm sure he was thinking of you as he was being burnt up in the atmosphere." The last half will cut back to the kids full on crying, once Lunaris is done the camera shoots up to Della who is yelling back.

"I don't believe you, I know my brother! I know he's alive!" Lunaris begins to walk close to her "You thought you knew Penumbra and she hated you. You thought you knew me and I betrayed you. You thought you knew how to fix your relationship with your family-" the word family causes Della's face to fall as Lunaris is inches away. "-but you came back and things weren't as easy as it seemed." Lunaris is right in front of her now, face to face. "So tell me, Della Duck, what do you know?"

After the intro, it cuts from the far shot of the Earth revolving around the moon to LP entering the diner. Scrooge has a more soluem line: "Kids, just give me a bit more time. I'll save you."

Cuts back to a funny but somewhat sad scene of Della and the kids being moved down to a jail cell area where some Moonlanders are playing moon marbles and one hits Della in the eye as well as Dewey.

"Mom, what are we going to do?" Huey asks. "Nothing! There isn't a Junior Woodchuck rule for escaping an alien prison! There isn't some super spy move to get out of solid gold handcuffs and I…" Louie's voice starts to quiver "I can't see a way out of this." Della looks at Louie, "We'll get out of this, kiddo. We gotta try." Another marble hits Huey this time before Webby responds "If worst comes to worst, Uncle Scrooge knows what he is doing." Scrooge's original line is the transition.

There might be an added line by Scrooge about Lunaris arriving any minute. He also probably withheld that he has the kids. Glomgold's scene is the same but the scene continues and doesn't cut back to Della and the kids until after the sharks.

Della and the kids are still trapped and look somewhat resigned, with Dewey occasionally struggling only to fall on his face before worming his way back up to the wall the rest are leaning on. 

Louie looks up at Della: "Mom?" "Yeah, buddy?" "I'm scared, which to be honest is basically what I usually am half the time. But I wanted you to know that when you came back...that was the happiest moment of my life."

Della looks to be if she is trying to keep it together before she lets out a bitter laugh "I guess a couple minutes ago was the worst moment, huh kid?" Louie just looks away which causes Della to turn forward. "You deserve a better mom, Louie." The scene turns to the other children briefly as she adds "You all do." Before it cuts back. 

"I...want you to know that if I could I would have traded places with Donald in a heartbeat." At that Louie turns back and he begins crying again, leaning into Della and the other kids join them with only small sniffles here and there. 

Della's head falls as she starts singing part of her lullaby, with the kids backing up the last line. A moment of silence before the lights turn red and Lunaris' voice calls the moonlanders in the brig to man the cannons. His face is shown scowling before it cuts to show Fethry and Gladstone riding Mitzy below the ship. Gladstone calls out "Ahoy there, you big green palookas!"

Transition back to Scrooge and the gang as it plays like the original scene only once Scrooge grabs the outfit it cuts back to Lunaris as he orders the Moonlanders to shoot Mitzy down as they are almost to Duckburg.

The trio dodges some poorly aimed lazers before Fethry begins singing his krill song which causes Mitzy to light up. The last line is about firing her own bioluminescent lazer, which she does and hits the golden spear dead on. Della and the kids are shown peering out a window, Huey simple observes this and questions when could Mitzy do that? To which Louie states "Yeah seems kinda huge plot convenience" Webby then says "Who cares! We're being saved!" 

Lunaris then becomes more agitated at his followers. "Just hit them! It's a giant bioluminescent krill! How are you missing it?!" Mitzy hits them again which causes them to crash on the Duckburg shore. 

Scene cuts back to the Engine, some moments before as the original Santa Scrooge scene plays out except with other Moonlanders instead of Lunaris and it convinces the Moonlanders to gather outside the ship to watch while the sharks/LP do their thing. Scrooge and Glomgold keep making excuses as LP tries to turn off the last engine only for Lunaris to crash. 

Lunaris gets out from the crash site and tries to find Della and the kids, however Gladstone and Fethry get to them first. The same joke that happens on the island happens here except Fethry doesn't talk about palm trees and Gladstone just clamps his mouth shut with his hands (not unlike Louie will do in S3 w/ Dewey).

They ask about Donald as they try to get the cuffs off to which the lot look dejected. Della starts to say something but Lunaris finds them. "He's gone. Just like everyone you've ever loved soon will be."  Before much can happen, Lunaris finds them and though they put up a good fight, Della and the kids are still pretty much immobilized and the cousins fail to stop Lunaris from taking them aboard the big engine ship (which I will call the Great Spear).

Fethry and Gladstone still help trying to get the ship from plugging into the Earth and it plays out about the same way as it does in canon since the Great Spear ends up leaving.

Upon convening once it exits the atmosphere, Scrooge talks to the cousins asking about Della and the kids. When they say they took off, he yells at them before asking hopefully about Donald's whereabouts. Gladstone just says "I'm...sorry Uncle Scrooge." as Fethry takes off his hat (tho the screen cuts off the top of his head or something is blocking it) and sniffles before being comforted by Gladstone. 

Scrooge doesn't say anything, he just looks heartbroken before staring back up at the Great Spear as it begins to turn back to the Earth. Scrooge scrowls before commanding LP to pilot a left over ship. Lunaris gives the same line before only it cuts to Della struggling in her binds, which ends up breaking off her metal leg, allowing her other leg to break free.

Upon hearing this Lunaris stops from almost firing at the Earth to growl out "You." At Della. To which she says "Yeah me." Lunaris and Della then start fighting, the Moonlander using his gun first which damages the interior of the ship as he misses. Della is then able to kick the gun out of his hand and it lands off screen.

Lunaris resources to his spear as Della is now on her back foot (this wasn't a pun originally I swear I forgot I wrote that she broke her leg) since his blows are strong. He ends up knocking her to the ground, he laughs madly before aiming the spear at her face but his strike ends up hitting her handcuffs as she was quick enough to block her face with them. The impact is strong enough to break them and she rolls out of the way of his next attack which gets stuck in the floor. 

Della is given enough time to try and grab the kids. She is able to reach them but Lunaris recovered too quickly and is on them again. But it is at this point where Scrooge comes in and is shown welding the gun. 

Lunaris let's them escape, but not losing the opportunity to challenge Scrooge. "It still seems like the Great Scrooge McDuck isn't as smart, sharp and tough as he makes himself out to be. You live in your own legend's shadow, Scrooge. If you were half as great as people say you are, you would be able to stop me from destroying your planet instead of running away." While they are talking they kind of follow each other by hugging the wall and walking toward/away from the other depending who they are.

"Don't worry, General, I plan to." "Ha! You know that if you leave I will just come after you. I hope you plan on losing more than one family member today Scrooge-" the McDuck/Duck family boards the getaway ship before it cuts back to Lunaris smirking as the door closes"-because you are about to lose them all." 

It cuts to the family trying to get ready to disarm the Great Spear. Della reassures her family (probably speaking to the kids more directly, or even one of them in particular) by saying after taking the initiative and hopping into the pilot seat (LP got up to help the kids out of their cuffs.) "We can do this, Ducks don't back down." This gives some hope to the family as they basically do the same sequence of shooting out the cannons except w/o Donald. 

Penumbra and Donald then are the ones that crash into the engine (Donald is in some heavy duty armour since I literally don't think he could survive w/o SOMETHING). Them crashing into the window is more heartfelt. Penny still says "Hiya, Roomie!" like a dork, Donald isn't having a good time though. The sequence is a tiny bit shorter since Della doesn't try to explain her family relationship at that moment.

The last Lunaris scene is cut down as well with it only being a shot of the team flying away from the debris, keeping it open ended.

When the Getaway Spear covers the camera, it cuts to Penny and Donald getting smothered in hugs. Waterworks happen again along with blubbering from everyone. When they finally let go, they noticed Donald's leg. Donald also sees that Della is missing hers and says "Ya know, I would let you borrow mine but I don't think it's the same size." Della then laughs before playfully punching him. "Shut up, Donald." It still hurts "Ow."

Basically the coming home scene is the same but, ya know, w/o the Penpad scene (sorry).

[Holy shit this took me 4 hrs to write as I was watching the eps to make sure I got a sense of the timing. Hope this was worth reading. I think afterwards (unsure if this would make it into a revised S3 or just like, what happens between eps I guess), Della's leg gets replaced with a golden one to match Donald's (more parallels).

I wrote the last ep with a lot less focus on Scrooge. I remember reading someone else's post that Moonvasion should have more so been Della's fight so I tried to rework it as such. Scrooge is obviously still important (as was Della but ya know), I also tweaked some character moments. 

I also wanted to hint at some potential S3 struggles the characters will face, most notably the internal ones. I made Lunaris a huge dick for a reason, I wanted to make sure he put up a mirror to Della and Scrooge (which oof sorry Della). I wanted these characters to continue questioning if what they are doing was the right thing, or if they are doing enough. ESPECIALLY Scrooge. Him not being the main focus is notable to him. You could probably even hint at him feeling less than useful in the Double 0 Duck ep as it can be seen as him doing what he usually does when he has a problem he can't solve: bury it deep down. This weak spot could also serve as something for FOWL to exploit. I also wanted Della to doubt herself as well. She (along with pretty much the rest of the cast) thought Donald was DEAD. If he actually was, She wouldn't want to adventure for a long...long while, if she ever would again. It would shatter her spirit completely because he didn't die because he was old or because he got into an accident. He died trying to get back to his family. To her, it would be all her fault. But since he isn't dead (but still injured like her) she isn't wary of adventure. She is, however, weary of herself. She continues to question her motherhood, her role as a sister, she even questions friendships old and new.]