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ocean-nerd cousin and plant-nerd cousin are good buddies 

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Gladstone would do a terrible job of trying to teach a child about how to function as an adult in the real world because he doesn’t understand how to function as an adult in the real world.

I’m sure there’s so many questions Maude could ask him that he’d just “??????????????????” at

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fethryfatalist‌

“Right! Sorry- Is it alright if I hug you?” Fethry asks entirely too late and not letting go of Gladstone. Fethry missed hugs. There was only so much physical affection krill could give.

“Because Scrooge asked me to of course! Besides it wasn’t all bad, I got to see some really cool ocean critters down there.”

Gladstone sighs. “Okay, I guess.” He’ll reach up and gently pat Fethry’s head a few times. He is feeling things and he’s not sure what those feelings are. He doesn’t really care to identify and process all of these multiple emotions.

“I would never do anything just because he asked me to.” Gladstone scoffs. “He doesn’t even like either of us, you realize that, right?” Gladstone isn’t sure Fethry acknowledges when he’s disliked, because he sure keeps trying to talk to people who don’t like him.

“Anyway... I’m surprised you stuck with it for so long either way! I would have expected you to get bored! I certainly hope the old man said thank you!”

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Your daughter's birthday is coming soon! How do you feel about it? Are you planning anything special?

“It’s always kind of hard to buy presents for Maude. She has every thing she could want. I give her everything she wants as soon as possible. I don’t wait.I wouldn’t wait to give something to her on her birthday! Delayed gratification is just… that’s for normal people, you know?Maude isn’t normal, she’s extraordinary.” Gladstone explains. He spoils her very unapologetically. If Maude seems even slightly interested in an object, Gladstone will likely buy her ten of them.

“Usually for her birthday we do some kind of event. One year we rode in a hot air balloon. One year we did go-kart racing… But unfortunately she strayed a little too far ahead of me and her car….” Gladstone grimaces slightly. “…Another year we took a spa day! I love spa days!!! She didn’t seem as into that as me.. I don’t understand… How couldn’t she at least enjoy the mud bath, hm…. One year I took her on an African safari and we rode some elephants… One of those elephants was extremely disrespectful to me…. But at least Maude thought it was funny..” He rolls his eyes.

“I always want Maude’s life to be something her dumb little idiot peers will be jealous of. The other rich kids in her class don’t have the excitement and adventures she does. Their parents hound them to study or tell them they’re too proper for fun.. Ha! Not my Maude! She gets to do anything she wants, forever! I want her life to be a dream!”

All of these exciting and sometimes potentially dangerous birthday events are only possible because of his luck. Maude and Gladstone together are normal. Otherwise, many of her birthday events may have killed her. The go kart incident served as a reminder.

“I’m kind of having a hard time deciding what to do this year… I’ve come up with a few suggestions but nothing seems to be catching her interest….”

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@elviraduck if only he took after his grandma a little more and would listen to the things she tries to teach

Gladstone looks at the flowers with interest. He loves plants. Hates the hard work typically associated with them, but loves plants. Thankfully the plants he keeps seem to grow by themselves, so he doesn’t have to work. It somewhat baffles him to watch Grandma work hard. She always works hard. All the time. All the time....

He’s going to elect to ignore her comment. “I like those ones!” He happily exclaims and points at some hydrangeas.

Not only is Gladstone lucky, but he has an odd habit of constant.... symbolism. Many flowers have multiple meanings, but common meanings with the hydrangea are gratitude and thankfulness... Or boastfulness or arrogance... The fact Gladstone is interested in the hydrangea is likely commentary on his who he is as a person.

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@fethryfatalist cousins reunite! hooray!

Eeuuck sudden touching. He should have known this would happen. “Fee, you need to ask before you touch people. Especially me.” Sometimes Gladstone wears fine pristine suits he doesn’t want other people putting their grubby hands on.

But he’s letting it slide today. He won’t say it out loud, but he’s missed Fethry terribly. Fethry is one person in this mess of a family who doesn’t judge and dismiss Gladstone instantly.

Uncle Scrooge is a name he associates with hard work. “So you’ve been working hard in the ocean? Sounds terrible. Why would you do that?”

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Who inherits Scrooge’s fortune is touched upon in lot of stories but in this story the question of who will take care of Grandma’s farm once she’s too old is raised. Grandma wants them both to at least try to take care of the farm. Gladstone only wants to show he can beat Donald and is planning to sell the farm as soon as Grandma has left for the old folks’ home. Donald tries his best but isn’t too good at being a farmer.

In the end Grandma decides she can’t retire yet, and that it’s best that she waits until Huey, Dewey and Louie are old enough to inherit the farm.

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maudgical‌:

How is Maude supposed to respond?

She can’t say she agrees with Gladstone because she wouldn’t be able to say it convincingly enough. Maude may not be her luck, but she can’t be separated from it either. Whatever her luck causes is caused by her. Her luck can’t just float around and wreak havoc on its own. Maude is a bringer of misfortune, the catalyst of misery. Just because it isn’t intentional doesn’t mean that she isn’t still to blame.

At the same time, Maude can’t tell her dad he’s wrong. Like he’d even believe her anyway. Gladstone loves her and takes great pride in her. He spent years raising her as his perfect little girl. It’d be heartless to say “Guess what, Dad? You wasted a decade of your life on me! I’m worthless and the world would be better off if I weren’t around to cause others suffering!” It’d be an insult to his parenting and his personal standards.

So Maude just sobs. She sobs and sobs until she physically can’t anymore. Her breathing is frantic, trying to catch up to the speed of her crying but always falling short.

The memory will never cease to haunt her. A girl no older than five witnessing her best friend, the only person her age that she had a close bond with, get shredded alive by manticores….she still can see the life leaving her eyes, the moment she went from being a cheery little girl to a meal for some savage beasts. That memory keeps her up at night, fearing that the imagery will rush to the surface the minute her eyes close.

Maude can’t possibly forget.

All she needs is love, probably... Words get so boring and tedious sometimes. They can feel empty and meaningless. But he can give her love. He’ll love her until the moment passes, however long it takes. Because the moment always passes.

It confuses him sometimes that Maude always eventually stops being sad. She’s not crying like this all the time. She finds joy and she finds meaning in her life. Do the little things matter more to her because she suffers so much? Is that the trick? Do accomplishments have meaning?

He doesn’t know. He doesn’t know how she isn’t miserable all the time. And Gladstone isn’t going to question it. He’s sure that would be a terrible, offensive question to ask. Because he knows he gets similar questions. How can you be sad when you’re so lucky? Everyone acts as if he ought to only be nothing but happy all the time. It’s stupid.

He’s a person and so is Maude. They both have a full range of emotions... Well, kind of. Gladstone is missing certain things... He knows he must be missing things... He hopes Maude isn’t missing things, but she probably is... They’re two sides of the same coin as it is said. He and Maude have so much in common, though a person would expect them to be complete opposites.

She probably feels things are missing too... He hopes she’s more successful at him then feeling whole. Gladstone doesn’t know how to teach his daughter to find wholeness... She’ll probably have to do it herself.

Is she really doing most things by herself? Does his presence mean anything at all? Ugh. This is what it’s like when he’s really actually trying and putting effort into something... He doesn’t know if he’s doing it right... And he refuses to admit that to anyone. They’d.... They’d use it as evidence they were right about his lack of capabilities....

He knows he’s the best possible option for Maude either way. There’s so much he can’t understand, but he knows the pain of luck better than most people. Yeah, their luck is different. He can’t connect with her on everything... But he connects better than most people would expect... People who live without any luck interference could never understand.

Gladstone holds Maude close and pets her feathers. “Sweet little cricket... It’s not your fault....” Words might be tedious and unnecessary but he yammers on anyway. “It’s not your fault.. It’s not your fault....” Those words he spends his whole life desperate to hear. Never hearing them from anyone. Not Fethry, not grandma..... Not anyone......

Maude has someone, him... But he’s not sure he’s enough.

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maudgical‌:

Ladybug…what a funny nickname to use at a time like this.

Ladybugs are omens of good luck, a gift from above that better the lives of everyone around them. Maude is far from being a ladybug. Norma is the perfect example of that. Norma loved her and look what that did…how could anyone see Maude as a gift after that?

Her dad has always been a weirdo.

Maude doesn’t understand why Gladstone would get jealous when she goes to others for comfort. Doesn’t he know that he’ll always be number one in her heart? It’s not his fault that he doesn’t have the experience to comfort her most of the time. She has a system to adapt to that- getting comfort from an outside source and then distracting herself with Gladstone after. She likes that system. The system works.

Things are different when it comes to Norma though. Most people believe she should feel guilty. She believes she should feel guilty…but Gladstone is different. Maybe it’s the Dad Bias. She doesn’t deserve comfort, but it’s exhausting to live in constant guilt. Brushing off her father’s comfort might hurt his feelings too, so she allows him to comfort her even though she’s probably just going to deny what he says anyway. Is that really that much better?

“Norma…N-Norma would have lived if I wasn’t her buddy on the field trip. It is my fault…I don’t understand why it wasn’t me instead. Norma…she wasn’t cursed…she should have lived…i-it’s not fair…I-I feel like a monster…a demon.”

It still is a struggle to know what to say... Gladstone is thinking that difficulty is normal... He knows how painful this situation is... He knows how hard it is to feel better about this. Impossible, in fact! It’s something that will cause him discomfort forever and always.

For him, though, the key is to tell himself over and over again that it’s not his fault. That’s what he tries to do for Maude.

“Nonsense! Have you ever seen a monster or a demon? Those things, the bad ones... They make the choice to inflict pain and misery. But you? You didn’t choose anything. You’re not your luck.”

He has one arm wrapped around Maude. His other hand waves side to side in the air. He watches the motion with his eyes. “You and me don’t choose anything. And people are always, all the time... Forever! They’ll always and forever try to make us feel bad over things we didn’t choose. Things beyond our control.... It’s stupid, really. Maude, you really need to realize just how stupid other people are... Stop giving them so much credit.. You’re taking their dumb ideas and making them your own... Because you think their stupidity in blaming you is right...”

His gaze returns back to her. It’s hard to look at Maude when she’s crying. It’s hard to hear her crying. She’s just so sad.... And it makes him feel bad that she feels bad.... He wraps both arms around her now and holds her close.

“Like blaming a terminally ill person for getting sick... Blaming a fish for not knowing how to breathe air.... People are stupid, Maudie...”

He has his own theories as to why not Maude instead of Norma. It’s bad luck for a little child to be traumatized beyond belief at a young age and to have to live a long life of suffering over her best friend’s death.

It really does upset her so much, too... Gladstone thinks Maude suffers more than he does. Probably because it happened to her younger? He was older when mom died. And he didn’t have to see it. Very good luck for a child not to witness someone dying.... Bad luck to watch someone be ripped to pieces... Or stomped to death? He doesn’t remember the vivid gory details.

Maude probably can’t forget.

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I’m having a heck of a time trying to find the publication date of Wintertime Wager. I wanna know Gladstone’s birthday. Why was Nestor’s easier for me to find?

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@maudgical (HEY WHILE WE’RE TALKING ABOUT NORMA....)

Gladstone tries his best to be a dad, but he has a few failures as a result of his personality and strange life experiences. One of the most upsetting things is... Whenever Maude is sad... He tends to be clueless what to do about it. He doesn’t know how to handle other people’s sad emotions. He struggles to understand or empathize. He wishes he could do better, but he just doesn’t know how. He’s asked for advice but.... Something inside him just seems missing when it comes to being good with providing emotional comfort.....

He tries but... Years of Maude having a very difficult life. Years of her having break downs... And she’s stuck with a dad who doesn’t seem to entirely know how to help her in a meaningful way. There are moments where Maude seems more comforted by people other than him and it makes Gladstone jealous and angry. He wants to be Maude’s number one at all times.

But. There is one difficult emotional experience Gladstone understands like no one else. There is one thing Gladstone does know how to comfort Maude about because he’s had that experience. It happens to likely be one of the worst and most traumatic experiences of Maude’s life.

Gladstone knows how it feels when your luck murders someone you love.

He doesn’t talk to anyone about his complicated feelings about his parents and what happened to them. Most people don’t even know the truth of what happened to his father. But he wants Maude to live differently then he has. He wants her to always have the opportunity to talk through her feelings about Norma and process them with someone who understands. Gladstone has never had anyone who would understand. Maude gets to have someone who understands!

He knows the feelings don’t go away. It’s been years since Norma was killed. And Gladstone knows Maude still suffers for it. Because he can’t ever imagine really getting over what happened to his parents. He lies and tells himself he’s over it, but.....

Gladstone is slowly stroking Maude’s hair. Maude’s guilt and shame and horror over what had happened to Norma has come back up again and he notices it without Maude saying anything. He’s normally not so finely attuned to her emotions, but he knows what this one is like!

“It isn’t your fault, my little ladybug.” He knows how impossible that is to believe when your luck kills someone, but he’s hoping Maude having him here to tell her the truth of it not being her fault helps.

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Gladstone- what do you do on especially unlucky days, like Friday the 13th? Do you let your daughter go outside?

His eyes slowly shift. There is a lot running through his mind. A lot. He needs a moment for the jumble of thoughts to stream-line themselves into coherent, cognitive and sensible structured sentences so he can use to communicate effectively.

“I know how luck works.” He begins. His eyes seem to twitch slightly as he says those words out-loud. Weighted words that carry more than he’d like anyone to know. “Going outside.. Staying inside… You really think something like that effects luck? If Maude is destined to suffer on a Friday Thirteenth, why would the place she’s in matter at all? You think my luck alters depending on whether or not I’m in or outdoors?”

He lifts his hands up. His eyes are unnerving. Focused. Fiery. “Probability matters for you luckless people. No luck leaning one way or the other. There’s so much that can effect your probability. There’s so much that changes your life. Every day you make choices that can alter your destiny. If you place yourself in more danger, you’re more likely to die. That’s the life you live as a luckless.”

“Me, though? No matter where I go or where I am, the outcome is always the same. I could be standing in the safest spot in the world and I would be fine, of course. I could also be standing in the absolute most dangerous place in this universe… And my numbers would all be the same. My probability - my likelihood to survive… It’s the same. It doesn’t matter where I am. It doesn’t matter what I’m doing. My luck is good.“

So why do anything.. Why exert any effort… Why try to change fate when it will always result in the same things?

And Maude. Everything is reverse for Maude, isn’t it? If he’s destined for good, and she’s destined for bad, a person would think… It doesn’t matter? According to the theory Gladstone just presented, Maude should be dead, right? So he has to be wrong. Maude is defying fate. Every day.

He thinks he knows better.

“I know a lot about luck, and I have my theories about the reason Maude is the way she is, and why she has survived everything that is so improbable. Because it is not destiny for her to die. When it’s her day to die, she will die. There’s nothing anyone can do for her. Same as when it’s time for me to die, I will die…”

Fortuna…. Can be cruel….. Someone may think Fortuna hates Maude and is trying to kill her, but Gladstone’s theory is… different.

Gladstone is Fortuna’s toy. Fortuna amuses him…. And the same with Maude. Fortuna loves to play with the fates of Gladstone and Maude Gander. She loves to toy with them…. She adores them both in her own twisted way… And she won’t kill her toy Maude… Not until she gets… bored.. of Maude…

Like she got bored of Daphne….

Gladstone believes his life and Maude’s life lies in Fortuna’s hands. Sometimes he does strange things, trying to win Fortuna’s favor. Secret rituals….  Offerings… Sacrifices…. But Fortuna is so… fickle…. No matter what he does and no matter what Maude does… It doesn’t matter. None of it matters. The instant Fortuna gets bored… Finds new toys… It’s over.

He hasn’t had this conversation with Maude yet. He can’t. Maude still has… Faith. And hope. And she works hard. And she tries. And she’s so beautiful. And she’s so… perfect and… Gladstone can’t… tell her… He can’t tell Maude she has no control over anything….. He can’t tell her… This terrible, crushing, soul-destroying news…. He can’t tell her these things… And break her.

She hasn’t broken no matter what awful thing that happens to her.... He can’t... Give her the news and have it be what breaks her....

Gladstone reaches up and presses a hand to his forehead.

Fortuna has told him he doesn’t know as much as he thinks he does. They’ve… argued… He and Fortuna have.. actually argued… About Maude. Well, he thinks it was Fortuna he spoke to. In his dreams. It could be his own subconscious. He could be arguing with himself.

…No no no. He knows. No one knows luck like he does.

He shakes his head and he smiles. “On Friday 13th, we always just do what she wants to do… No use forcefully locking away in her room… If she wants to go out and play, I stay close to her.. To protect her. I’m still lucky, you know. I keep her safe better than no one else. But of course, she often feels.. safer inside, in her room.. So I stay with her….”

“Though, like I said, I don’t think it matters where she is… What will happen… will happen.”

Fate is cruel.

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"Gosh dang it. I remember the days anons ran free, cursing mortals as we pleased. Back when we didn't have glasses and people had to stare at our orifice-less faces in horror." They turns into an eldric horror and attempt to grab a cherry again with a tentacle. Does that count as entertainment?

Gladstone is silent. His typically constantly loose, overly relaxed posture has stiffened. He does nothing but lounge in the quiet. Well, is it really lounging when he no longer seems relaxed?

“…Hey!” He says, finally speaking. He does a Finger Gun at the anon. He clicks. What are these gestures meant to communicate? Not even the Gladstone knows, probably. “I just realized I’m bored of these cherries. You can have them all! Lucky day, aye?”

“I’ve also remembered that I must be in a place not here.” He adds with a wink. What is this wink meant to communicate? Why does he wink? “See ya! Or not!” He scrambles over the luxurious furniture he lays atop and then skidattles out of the room. If he were less lucky, he would absolutely trip over the fabric of his daxiushan. Long draping fabric is just asking to be tripped over… If it were worn by a less lucky bird, anyway.

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Rules

(WORK IN PROGRESS)

First here’s some links to extra info. These links are not all mobile accessible. Sorry.

Exclusives - Ask - Submit

There’s two rules.

1. Be nice to me out of character

2. No romantic ships, don’t ship your character with mine.

I will write romance on other blogs but I am so super picky with this. It’s not you, it’s me. I’m very skittish and only want to write ships with people I trust. I think it’s nearly impossible I will form a ship here and if I do it’s going to be with someone I know really well. Flirting is fine but no shipping.

The following aren’t really rules, it’s just information about how this blog will be run.

I’m not following Rosa’s canon

Italian comics introduce this idea that Gladstone’s luck comes from a Goddess, Fortuna. I like this idea better and allows me to explore themes that interest me more than the Distelfink.

Shy Mun Note

I am warning you that I am a very shy person out of character. I might not always want to speak or reply to things. It’s nothing against you, I’m just very nervous. Too much talking will scare me out of my own account! I can also be very forgetful about replying to things.

Blog Content Warning

There will be dark themes sometimes. I don’t consistently tag triggers. I’ve learned through previous experiences that I am very forgetful with tagging and my forgetfulness causes people problems. If you have any serious trigger it’s better for you to stay safe and not follow. I try not to follow anyone who requests triggers being tagged in their rules because I know I will probably forget.

If I get any interest in writing NSFW I will make a side-blog for it.

No Drama

I don’t like Tumblr drama. I will unfollow if someone posts too many call-out posts and stuff like that. None of that is what I’m here for. I’m here to RP. I’m not keeping track of people who do bad stuff and I don’t have any interest in keeping up with those things. I will write with people who’s viewpoints and opinions I don’t agree with. The beliefs of the people I rp with do not reflect my own.

Following/Unfollowing

If I’m following you then that means I think you’re neat and I do have interest in rping with you. Anyone I’m following is always welcome to make a random starter for me or appear in my ask box or anything.

I will RP with people I don’t follow, but I also won’t RP with any and everyone. Not RPing with someone doesn’t mean I dislike them. Some people my writing style doesn’t mesh with well and it frustrates me because sometimes there are people I do genuinely want to RP with but I just never seem to be able to come up with good replies for them.

If I unfollow someone that doesn’t mean I dislike them. I unfollow for all kinds of silly reasons. For example, I can be highly anxcious and sometimes my anxiety gets set off over dumb things, so I have to unfollow for my own sake.

Extra Stuff

My intent is for this blog to be kind of casual and my activity will likely be very inconsistent. Sometimes I’ll reply a bunch and really fast, sometimes I’ll be quiet for days months. Sometimes I will only be replying to certain threads, this doesn’t mean I’m ignoring you or I dislike you. There are a lot of reasons I have an easier time writing the threads I’m replying to (like I know the person I’m writing with really well or I have a lot of muse for the rp etc) I will sometimes drop threads because I’ve lost interest. You can always just start another one! Sometimes I do just lose track of threads too. I’m forgetful and disorganized. If this bothers you a lot then I’m not the blog for you.

Mun and muse are not same. I absolutely don’t agree with everything these Gladstone says and thinks. We’re all very different from each other.

Thank you for reading!