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[casbooks]

Book 48 of 2024 (★★★)

Title: Born Twice: Memoir of a Special Forces SOG Warrior Authors: Dale Hanson ISBN: 9780998135366 Rating: ★★★ Subject: Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.Specops.MACVSOG

Description: “Dale Hanson takes us from a northern Minnesota boyhood to the incredible stresses of U.S. special operations during the Vietnam War, the deadly world of MAC-V-SOG, the top-secret Special Forces project that conducted America’s Secret War against the Communist forces on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Shrouded in mystery and equipped with exotic weaponry, SOG operators suffered casualty rates in excess of 100% for three successive years.

Dale Hanson served with Recon Team Florida during one of the legendary missions of SOG, the killing of an enemy colonel who was carrying super-secret documents of enormous importance to the American war effort. After intense fighting, those documents were brought back by the team. Dale survived and went on to serve three tours with the legendary special operations group.

The American heartland can bring forth young men of great valor and commitment, and one such man wrote this book. To read it is to go along on a near-unbelievable story of deadly missions carried out by small Green Beret-led teams operating deep in enemy territory against all but impossible odds.” —Michael P Buckland, Special Forces SOG warrior

My Review: The author is a good writer. He's able to convey his thoughts, his ideas, and what he sees and feels to the reader in a very eloquent way. Having said that, I'm not sure I'd classify this as a great book, or even a good book. It's a decent book that covers multiple topics. The first 30%, and no that's not a typo, 30% of the book is about him growing up in Minnesota and his Christian faith. It's a lot. I'd say another 5+% of the book is just song lyrics or copied poems from others. Once again, that's a lot. There is a huge section on his convalescent leave where he travels to Greece and Africa as well. What's left is his time running recon with RT Florida, a very little snippet about 1-0 school, an interesting bit about the Siege of Ben Het, and at the end, which almost feels tacked on, you get a story from his time with the Hatchet Force, and a little bit with his time with the 219th RAC Headhunters, aka SPAFs.

The thing that tends to really grate is the wrong names used for multiple people, whether it was Capt Roesch or Baby Huey, it makes no sense how some names are 100% accurate, and others are close or not even.

The stories though, are worth reading. You get a real sense of how RT Florida operated, the members of the team, as well as what the SPAF and Hatchet force was. You also get a handful of some really great stories of some key events in CCC history, like the death of David Hayes (Baby Huey), the arrest of Rheault and the Green Beret affair, Operation Tailwind, and more. Some of the stories he best conveyed were the ones he had no part in, simply because he really is a good writer and storyteller. A decent read, just a few too many issues that keep it from anything more than a 3 star.

[blue-bird-lamentation]

Huey about Elmer in 2002: "He's my best friend. That's all. No more, no less. Although I could never make such an embarassing confession to him personally."

Elmer about Huey in 2002: "He's my friend. My best friend ever."

Ok...bit fruity 🤨

[g00ngala]

binged the first two seasons of ducktales 2017. i see why everyone likes this show.

thoughts (and spoilers for seasons 1 and 2) incoming:

hooohhhh boy it is a ride

it's equal parts mystery, action adventure, comedy and heartfelt which is RIGHT up my alley

also i heard that PENNY IS A LESBIAN?? UHM?? HELL FUCKING YES??

as a lesbian i approve

also... idk if this is a ship but... roomies, huh ;)

*cue "and they were roommates" joke*

oh and who gave the kids the right to be so relatable.

firstly WEBBY omg adhd icon

actually dewey is also an adhd icon. that's why they're a great team.

tbh they all have mommy issues but dewey has Mommy IssuesTM

love the parallels between their characters tho

actually all the family parallels are great, like you can see elements of the adults in the kids but none of them are exact bc they're unique (perfect for a swap au actually..)

anyway dewey's whole thing of needing attention and to prove himself is super interesting too

huey's thing of "If One Thing Goes Not According To Plan I Will Break Down" is a massive perfectionism/anxiety disorder mood and i relate

and louie's two modes being Lie and Cheat or Panic and Cry are ALSO very relatable.

he fucks shit up bc he's selfish very often but he's so charming. problematic fave (/j)

louie is interesting tho bc he clearly has some of the insecurity like dewey and some of the anxiety and need to be in control like huey. double package, congrats kid!

oh and LENA. her entire arc with breaking from her abusive aunt/creator was soo well done, best dealing of trauma in child/teen characters on screen since steven universe future imo

oughghh donald and della. Many Feelings About Them

(S2 finale spoilers) AND WHEN THEY WERE FIGHTING ON THE SPACESHIP AND SCROOGE WAS LIKE "I REALLY MISSED THIS"

🥺🥺😭😭💖💖 WHEN I TELL YOU I CRIED

della's whole moon arc was soo good and the finale was great

della is super funny and badass too i love her. also shes very pretty. am i a furry for being into della duck? don't answer that

also donald as a character needs to be paid attention to. like. motherfucker lost his sister in space, decided to take care of her three infant (well they were eggs u know what I mean) children, RAISED THEM AS ESSENTIALLY A SINGLE FATHER, FLAT BROKE WHILE SCROOGE PAID NO CHILD SUPPORT EVEN THO HE'S LITERALLY THE RICHEST DUCK IN THE WORLD (I like scrooge but tf man), and he loved them so much he wrecked the shit of multiple bad guys, including the space dictator, survived a spaceship landing that they said NO MORTAL COULD SURVIVE, stayed on a DESERTED ISLAND AND SURVIVED, etc.

idk. king shit. i am the president of the donald duck fan club.

launchpad is quintessential himbo

and finally, beakley also the only one in the show who counts as a responsible adult is beakly. queen of babysitting idiots

honorable mentions: gyro, fenton and dw. those 3 are my fave side characters they're so funny

[themattress]

Battle of the Seasons

DuckTales (2017): Season 1 vs. Season 2 vs. Season 3

So now that this series has ended, how do the seasons stack up?

Season 1 stands as a favorite for many because it's what introduced us to this re-imagining of a classic Disney cartoon, and right from the two-part premiere it showed that it was going to do it right. As Doug Walker said in his review of it, "it's funny, it's creative, it's modern, it's retro, it's classic, it's new, it has great animation and charming characters, clearly combining old-school Disney adventures like their comics and the Disney Afternoon with newer Disney adventures like Star vs. the Forces of Evil and Gravity Falls - and they mix perfectly."

I want to digress by elaborating on Doug's last remark: DuckTales is one of the animated Disney shows that on the surface seems bright, silly and cartoony, only to increasingly reveal a continuous story arc(s) that sucker-punch viewers with how complex, serious and emotional they can get, and done in such a skillful way that it doesn't sacrifice the show's general kid-friendly tone in the process. Gravity Falls started this trend, and it's continued with Star vs. The Forces of Evil, The Lion Guard, Elena of Avalor, Tangled the Series, Amphibia and The Owl House (Wander Over Yonder and Sofia the First also flirted with this style in their final seasons, Milo Murphy's Law attempted something along its lines but failed miserably, and Big Hero 6 the Series went in reverse: establishing continuous, complex and serious story arcs right off the bat only to end as just a bright, silly and cartoony show where even the story arc going on throughout the episodes is played for laughs.)  

Ironically, the one major weakness Season 1 has is actually related to its continuous story arc, which is divided into three distinct plot threads: Dewey trying to solve the mystery of what happened to his mother Della and what role Scrooge played in it, Magica De Spell sending her "niece" Lena to befriend Webby and infiltrate Scrooge's family in order to steal his Number One Dime, and the rise of Gizmoduck as Duckburg's defender. These plot threads seem totally unrelated to one another until the finale where they all come together, which is fine. What isn't fine is the pacing - it takes an obscenely long amount of time between episodes that progress each plot thread. And while it being the first season means the show can get away with this particular weakness due to establishing its characters and world being a higher priority than pacing out the overarching stories, it's a weakness all the same.

Season 2 is basically what happens when you take Season 1's structure and work out all of the kinks. Once again we get a mix of standalone adventures and a continuous story arc that is divided into three plot threads: Louie trying to make his way in the world as an adventurer businessman in charge of "Loue Inc.", Della returning from the moon and learning how to be a parent all while the manipulative leader of the moon's denizens plots an invasion of Earth, and Scrooge engaging in a bet with Flintheart Glomgold that says whoever makes the most money by the end of the year wins the other's company. The difference is that now the plot threads regularly intersect with one another rather than just waiting until the finale, which also now brings back elements from the standalone adventures! This means that the season has a far greater sense of purpose and forward momentum than its predecessor.

I also feel this season's arc is the strongest in the series due to the characters who are front and center in it. In Season 1, I cared about Lena and Webby and what was to become of them and their friendship which made it all the more upsetting when its pay-off failed to deliver (something this season mercifully rectified), but Dewey rubbed me the wrong way too often and I wasn't given enough time with Fenton to sufficiently care enough about his personal plight when becoming Gizmoduck. Louie, Della and Scrooge, despite all of their bravado, are all far more interesting, flawed, vulnerable characters who I enjoy watching grow. General Lunaris is the best Big Bad in the entire show, being a physical and mental match for Scrooge and his family in a way that no other foe they faced before or after is, on top of being intimidating and loathsome in the best ways possible. And "Moonvasion", where everything and everyone comes together, still stands as my favorite season finale, my favorite extra-length episode, and one of my favorite episodes period.

And finally we have Season 3 and.....it's a mess. A high-quality mess, mind you, but still a mess when compared to the previous two seasons. One reason for this is the inevitable result of mixing all sorts of other Disney Afternoon properties into the show, which the writers have slowly been doing since the very beginning but it really explodes here, with major roles and showings by the likes of Goofy, the Rescue Rangers, Kit Cloudkicker, Molly Cunningham, Don Carnage, Darkwing Duck and his cast of supporting characters and villains, Bonkers D. Bobcat, and even Goliath from Gargoyles in a roundabout way.

But a bigger reason is that the story arc's three plot threads - Huey overcoming his personal hang-ups and anxiety, the search for the Missing Mysteries listed in Isabella Finch's journal, and the evil conspiracy against Scrooge and his family undertaken by FOWL - are tied together right from the start. The writers probably thought this was a natural evolution from Season 2's structure, but it turns out to be a big step down, as now these plot threads are left fighting each other for screentime and focus. This is especially damaging for Huey's personal arc, which doesn't receive the same amount of focus that Dewey's and Louie's had and doesn't even get a definitive wrap-up...it just kind of stops two-thirds of the way into the finale. And it's a damn shame given that Huey, with his knowledge-seeking nerdiness, commitment to boy scout honor, and autistic-coded neurosis, has always been the most likeable of the triplets.

While the series finale, "The Last Adventure", is excellent and ties the whole show together as one grand, cohesive story, I honestly feel like the whole season could have benefited from possessing more of its epic, large-scale quality. If I was in charge, I would have had the Duck family learn about the FOWL conspiracy right near the start (instead of Launchpad learning about it and then becoming unable to warn the rest about it), and then have the arc mostly be a globe-hopping adventure where the Ducks seek to get the Missing Mysteries before FOWL does. Huey's growth would be more pronounced and have a more definite wrap-up. And there would be more obvious foreshadowing for the big twist regarding Webby the closer things got to the finale - it may have not been so divisive among fans if the writers hadn't insisted on being super subtle and sneaky about it right up to the eleventh hour.

I would keep "How Santa Stole Christmas" exactly as it is, though. That episode was perfect.

Final verdict: Season 2 > Season 1 > Season 3.

[ordinaryschmuck]

Top 20 BEST Animated Series of the 2010s-4th Place

To anyone who plans on making a reboot of their favorite show in the future, you might want to take notes on this next pick. Because if you ask me, this next series that I'm going to talk about is the best example of how to do a reboot properly.

#4-Ducktales (2017-2021)

The Plot: Scrooge McDuck is the richest duck in the world, who made it big by also being one of the greatest adventurers of all time...ten years ago. Sadly, after an unfortunate accident with the family, Scrooge is forced to live the life of a normal businessman-er-duck. Up until Donald Duck asks Scrooge to watch over his nephews: Huey, Dewey, and Louie. What starts off as a single day of babysitting soon turns into a life of adventure as Scrooge gets back into the adventuring spirit to show his new family what the world really has to offer.

Now I want to make one thing clear: As of the moment of me writing this review, I have seen a total of zero episodes of the original Ducktales. That being said, despite my limited knowledge of the series, I still think it’s fair of me to point out how this is hands down the best reboot as of late (and I’ll explain more as to why that is later). And besides, from what I’ve heard from fans who have watched the original, Ducktales (2017) is a pretty faithful adaptation of the beloved franchise. The reason is that I believe this show remembers the two most important rules of making a reboot.

The first rule of a reboot is to try something new while still being faithful to the source material. Doing something like that is simple as a writer just needs to keep what the fans love and change what they hated. And trust me when I say that the writers of Ducktales (2017) knows how to do just that. For the most part, the show is about a family going on crazy globe-trotting adventures while still learning that family is the best adventure of all, much like the original. As for the characters, most of them keep their fun personalities. Scrooge is still a stingy miser with the heart for adventure, Launchpad is still the lovable idiot who can’t fly a plane, and Donald Duck still remains the one who gets stuck with all the bad luck. Then some characters have their personalities/roles revamped into something that improves upon the original. The best example is Fenton, who is still the wannabe superhero but is now a scientist in this show, wherein the old one was just Scrooge’s accountant. This way, both the hero and the man-DUCK-who’s behind the mask are equally capable of saving the day. There’s also Mrs. Beakley, who was originally a nanny that nagged Scrooge’s ear off for putting the kids in danger. In the reboot, she’s treated more as the anchor of reality to the more oddball characters, who also used to be a kick-butt super spy in her younger years. It is still the same role, but a different interpretation.

Now, some characters receive grand changes to their original personalities. But from what I’ve heard, those changes are made for the better. And there are no characters that need it more than the children. More specifically, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. This show does something that I’m eternally grateful for, and that’s giving each of these three their own distinct personalities and quirks. For years I couldn’t for the life of me tell the triplets apart. They had the same design, the same voice, the same personality, and the only difference people had to go off of are their different colors (which really didn’t do much to help). Here, they have different designs, voices, and now defining character traits for each of them. Huey is the smart and responsible boy scout, Dewey is the annoying attention seeker, and Louie is the best character in the entire show, and I WILL FREAKING FIGHT YOU ON THAT! And let us not forget the most appreciated change: Webby. From what I’ve heard, fans hated the original Webby, as she was nothing more than just the stereotypical girl of the group. Here, she’s given an actual personality and a fun one to boot. Webby is the ecstatic thrill-seeking adventurer who is skilled in combat training (thanks to her grandma) and is (of course) a socially awkward girl who wants to make friends. Like I said, this show took the idea that the fans hated and changed it into something that they’ll love. Which makes sense why the writers mastered this because they themselves are real fans of the show.

It is clear how much the writers are fans of the Ducktales franchise as they filled Ducktales (2017) with many references. And not just references to the original series but also references to the classic comics by Carl Barks and even the NES video game from the 1980s (seriously, this show will make you feel things about the “Moon Theme” you wouldn’t think was possible!). Even the show’s animation seems to be a homage to both the cartoon and comics. Not only do the characters and backgrounds have a more comic book style to them, but the characters also work on a mix of realistic and cartoony logic. And let me just say, it is refreshing to see characters in a Disney show have cartoon logic to them since Wander Over Yonder got canceled. And it’s not just Ducktales that the series reference, but even classic Disney movies (of course) and other shows in the Disney Afternoon lineup. And when it comes to these references, it’s more than just a subtle wink to the fans. The writers actually go out of their way to write a story around these beloved characters, so people who don’t get the joke won’t be one-hundred percent lost. For instance, without giving anything away, the writers found a brilliant way to reintroduce Darkwing Duck in this universe that feels right for this famous character. And if you ask me personally, these are the best ways to handle references for a reboot. Make them work within the story, even if you don’t fully get the joke.

This brings me to the second most important rule of a reboot: Make a quality product even though it is based on something else. Let us pretend that the original never existed. Would Ducktales (2017) still be as good as it is now? Personally, as a person who has never seen the original, I think it is.

This is another show that mixes slice of life episodes with adventure ones, similar to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. And just like Friendship is Magic, both are equally interesting because the characters themselves make them so. No matter what situation the Duck Family are in, the audience will care about it because the characters care about it. In fact, I think Ducktales (2017) handles the mix of slice of life and adventure much better than Friendship is Magic. In MLP: FiM, the adventure-based episodes force the characters to stick to their simple personality traits to move the story forward, and character-based ones help them grow. In Ducktales (2017), because the characters regularly go on adventures, they grow as characters no matter the situation. For example, my favorite episode is “The Great Dime Chase” where the main plot is Louie finding Scrooge’s #1 dime after accidentally spending it. While in that same episode, Dewey and Webby try to solve a mystery around the boys’ mom. We get a great lesson about the importance of hard work and a fascinating plot of an overarching mystery within the season, all taking place within the same episode. Both are interesting, neither feels as though it overshadows the other, and the characters develop along the way.

Another thing this show mixes well is comedy and drama. A lot of shows recently tried way too hard to find that perfect mix. Ducktales (2017) is one of the few examples that nails it. The comedy is hilarious, the drama is endearing, and neither feels like it’s prioritized over the other. The show starts off with this mix as well, where others that I’ve talked about seem to start off as purely comedic only to take themselves more seriously later on. That isn’t entirely a bad thing, but I feel as though Ducktales (2017) is the best way to go about the method. That way, fans won’t be complaining about how much “better” the show used to be in its first batch of episodes, much like Star V.S. the Forces of Evil.

Unfortunately, while I recommend this show, it’s not without its fair share of issues. Or rather, issue, as there really is only one problem I have with it. And that problem can be summed up with one name: Dewey Duck. For the most part, I dislike Dewy. Because he’s nothing more than a Ben Schwarts character. No disrespect to Ben Schwarts himself, but lately, it feels as though he only plays the one character from time to time: The egotistical attention seeker slowly and surely learning to be a better person who realizes that not everything is about him. That’s the character he plays in both Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), and it’s the character he plays here. And the thing about these characters is that they’re not as lovable as Ben Schwarts thinks they sound. In fact (and, again, I mean no disrespect to the actor. I’m sure he’s a lovely person in real life), every single one of these characters comes off as kind of annoying rather than as the lovable rapscallions I’m sure they’re meant to be. However, there is one thing worth mentioning about Dewey. While he’s portrayed as annoying when used for comedy, Dewey is surprisingly a compelling character when used for drama. The thing is, he’s rarely used for dramatic moments and is meant as a source of comedy. Hence why I said I disliked him for the most part.

Other than that, there aren’t really that many problems with the show. Well, there are, but they’re mostly nitpicks that the series more than makes up for. Is it weird that the kids are voiced by adults? Yes, but the actors do a great job at being sincere and have great comedic timing than any kid could have. Are there changes to characters that fans might not enjoy? Probably, but I have yet to have seen anyone that has annoyed me as much as Dewey has. Are the villains just evil for the sake of being evil? Yes, but that’s not really a big deal. In fact, a villain doesn’t need a heartbreaking backstory as to why they’ve become so evil. They just need to have a great personality that’s fun to watch, which every villain in the show has (aside from season two’s antagonist who’s basically a Disney surprise villain. And I hate them with a fiery passion). Does it feel as though the show suffers from “too many characters” syndrome? It sometimes does, but each character has such a fun and unique personality that I find it hard to forget most of them.

So really, Ducktales (2017) is the best reboot in recent memory. This is crazy, seeing as how lately it feels as though Disney doesn’t even know how to properly reboot their own movies to save their lives. This is why I feel as though people should take notes on what Ducktales (2017) does if they ever feel like rebooting something they loved as a kid. Because this is more than just a retelling of the same story that people know by heart. This is a fantastic show with even better characters, stories, and tone. Whether you’ve been a fan since the beginning, or a part of the new generation of viewers, odds are you’ll be screaming Whoo-Ooo with every episode.

(Also, a word of warning to those who haven’t watched the show yet: Beware the theme song. Trust me when I say it’ll be stuck in your head until the day you die)

[vhs-ghost]

DT Season 3 Episode Thoughts:

Just a short review of every Season 3 Episode because why not (no spoilers, its just long lol):

Just a short review of every Season 3 Episode because why not: 1 Challenge of the Senior Junior Woodchucks! Pretty good. Didn’t like it as a season premiere tho, just would have preferred Quack Pack to start season 3. Happy for a Huey centered beginning tho. And set up the journal and FOWL well. 2 Quack Pack! Great episode. The designs we so good. Loved Huey breaking the 4th wall in Abed fashion. Just really enjoyable. Also side note, this is my favorite Launchpad look in the series. I love him in the pilots hat and on top of that I love the color palette. That goes for everyone else too. Love those bright 90s colors. 3 Double-O-Duck in You Only Crash Twice! If I had a nickel and every time a Disney cartoon took my favorite character (who has red hair) and gave him a weird James Bond 180 degree character change with a dumb voice and a suit, I’d have 2 nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice (the other one is Bashful from the 7D). I like it because it’s got Launchpad. A lot of Launchpad. And that’s all I’ll say. 4 The Lost Harp of Mervana! Pretty good. Love when Donald’s around. I liked that the harp moved along the secret Webby plot. A fun episode. 5 Louie's Eleven! We got Daisy in this episode, which is a major win. This DonDaisy is so so good. For the rest of the ep, I wish Huey had been part of the scheme more. I just like it when my boys are together. It was nice to see the 3 Caballeros even tho I preferred their first episode. Mark Beaks was kinda funny in this episode. Enjoyable, but I seriously missed Huey. 6 Astro B.O.Y.D.! It made me cry. I don’t think there’s anything else to say. (Seriously an amazing episode. I love Huey, Gyro, Fenton, and Boyd. So fantastic). 7 The Rumble for Ragnarok! A good episode if I recall. Huey got the animation budget in this episode. The fights were meh but I enjoyed the triplets in this one. Also enjoyed Launchpad knowing a lot about something (other than Darkwing of course). 8 The Phantom and the Sorceress! Aaaaaand here’s where I stop having a good time. A boring ep after a long hiatus. Magica annoyed me, Gladstone bored me, and I really used to like Webby but I can hardly stand Webby-centered episodes anymore. 9 They Put a Moonlander on the Earth! I don’t like Penumbra very much and Webby was annoying. I also don’t like seeing LP making a fool of himself (and putting the kiddos at risk in the process). HOWEVER, I like pretty much having confirmation that Penumbra is a lesbian. 10 The Trickening! Was a let down. Would have been more fun earlier on in the series I think. I also can’t believe LP is THAT dumb. It was painful. 11 The Forbidden Fountain of the Foreverglades! I really loved seeing Goldie. Such good scroldie content with good kisses. A fun ep with an interesting concept but I had WAY too many questions about how no one was suspicious after tons and tons of college kids go missing over like, many years. Super dark. 12 Let's Get Dangerous! Absolutely amazing. Best episode of the season by far. One of the best in the show. I just really really love Darkwing Duck and the Mallard/McQuack family brings me incredible joy. 13 Escape from the ImpossiBin! Solid ep. The ending where everyone is calling Scrooge with what was stolen SLAPPED. Also the rooftop showdown and Donald being just the fucking best. 14 The Split Sword of Swanstantine! Liked the dynamics of the children. Enjoyed Lena and The Duke and Louie and Violet. Those parts were great. I feel like I didn’t need more Dewey Webby friendship stuff like the others were so much more unpredictable. Still not my favorite episode tho. 15 New Gods on the Block! Great because it had Daisy. I just wanted DonDaisy content. 16 The First Adventure! A very cute episode. I just love seeing Donald and Della as kids. A fun episode and I really enjoyed it. 17 The Fight for Castle McDuck! Boring and a let down. Not nearly as interesting or good as the other episode that took place at Castle McDuck. 18 How Santa Stole Christmas! I did not care for this one at all. I would have preferred not actually ever knowing more of Scrooge’s hatred towards Santa. I enjoyed the mystery. If anything, I would have preferred the whole family to save Christmas like they did at the end. Also, why is Scrooge such a dick sometimes? Like you think he’s getting better and then gave everyone coal. Like come on, man. 19 Beaks in the Shell! Not my favorite, but definitely not the worst. I missed Fenton. He and Gandra were pretty cute I guess. Love that Huey content. The best scene was Louie pretending to be Huey. Needed more Gyro. Mark is hella annoying and a shit villain now. 20 The Lost Cargo of Kit Cloudkicker! Liked Kit. Disliked everything else. Weird Dewey arc. Needed Launchpad. 21 The Life and Crimes of Scrooge McDuck! Could have been so much better. I feel no sympathy for Magica. Scrooge isn’t blameless for things tho like he was a dick for a long ass time and still has dickish tendencies. I hate Doofus why did the episode have Louie apologizing to him???? Bad! Just a weird episode. 22 The Last Adventure! TBD but I really hope it’s good. I don’t wanna get my hopes up too high tho.

[tobiasdrake]

Dragon’s Eye on DuckTales S01E13: The Spear of Selene

This is another one that I was dreading. Not because I have any innate objection to the premise, but because very little of the episode really stood out as memorable to me the first time I watched it.

The Realm of the Gods

Most of the episode is spent exploring Greek mythology. The Sunchaser crashlands on the island of Ithaquack, which Huey alarmedly informs us was supposed to be a myth. It’s based on the real-world location of Ithaca, famously the home of Odysseus, which is an actual geographic place you can visit. It’s clearly an actual geographic place here in the show too, but we can chalk that up to Huey rolling a Nat 1 on his Knowledge - Junior Woodchuck’s Guide check.

Here on this mysterious vacation spot, the Ducks meet the thundering Olympian Zeus himself! He’s jerk and it’s super appropriate because, historically, Zeus is a jerk. Most Greek deities are.

Zeus specifically begrudges Scrooge for upstaging him and this rings true. Generally speaking, the worst thing you could do in an ancient Greek myth was to offend the gods by being better than them at any given thing. Even Athena, widely considered the “good” one so to speak, still tormented and disfigured a woman for having the audacity to weave better than her. Accounts vary about whether Athena punitively made her a spider or if she drove her to suicide and then felt bad about it and made her a spider in recompense, but neither really reflects well on Athena.

That’s what really stood out to me about this episode on rewatch. The first time through, the addictive mystery-mongering surrounding the titular Spear of Selene makes the rest of the episode seem like time-wasting filler. It’s hard to care about what else is happening when you’ve been promised answers to a burning question (which this episode doesn’t even deliver).

But this premise? In which Zeus furiously resents Scrooge for besting him in a competition and jealousy demands increasingly petty recompense? This is what Greek fables were all about. Scrooge has offended the mighty Zeus and cannot leave the island until he makes amends by letting Zeus beat him at something. Anything. Doesn’t even matter what. He has to do it because Zeus is a god and his power means his petulant demands must be sated.

Honestly, Olympians have done worse for pettier reason.

The writers really show that they’ve done their research throughout the episode. Zeus explains how Ithaquack was once a major party spot for competitions before Scrooge showed up, and notes that he was, himself, the god of hospitality.

We should take a moment to talk about aspects of gods. Greek mythology isn’t, like, a Wikipedia full of ironclad information that writers would then add to over the years. It was more like the Marvel or DC universe. Every writer had their own version of who the characters were and what their powers could do and whether Batman could beat up Spider-Man. Some gods were primarily known for one thing, but were sometimes invoked for something different; these were their aspects, sometimes known by different names.

What Zeus is referring to here is his role as Zeus Xenios, the protector of travelers. Zeus oversaw the practice of xenia, a greek set of rules for how to appropriately provide accommodations and hospitality to guests in one’s home.

I personally consider this to have been selfishly motivated given his other, uh, proclivities. Zeus himself was often an uninvited guest in people’s homes. He had a vested interest in conditioning mortals not to scream at him for being a creep and demand that he leave.

But Zeus isn’t the only figure of great mythical import to be found here. Let’s not forget....

The Ten Friendly Contests of Storkules

You know what’s funny about Storkules? The other Greek myths in this episode don’t have bird names. Zeus and Selene are just Zeus and Selene. I don’t know if this was intended to be a sly reference to Storkules being half-god and half-bird, but good job if it was.

Storkules is, of course, based on the most famous of Greek heroes, Hercules Herakles. Yes, I am going to be that nerd today. Herakles is in an odd position with regards to pop culture; we know him by his Roman name, but typically use Greek nomenclature for everyone else when telling his story. One would think “Storkules” would share this island with his father Jupiter while the kids seek the Spear of Luna.

But that’s a minor nitpick more to due with modern pop culture than with this episode. It stands out to me because the name Herakles is literally a plot point. He was actually born Alkaios, son of his mortal mother Alkmene. Zeus’s wife Hera loathed Alkaios from the moment he was born and would become his archnemesis throughout his tales. She sent a pair of snakes to murder him in his crib; you may recall how that ended from the Disney movie.

Upon strangling Hera’s serpents and making a name for himself even as a baby, he was given the name “Glory of Hera” or Herakles. His name is an irreverent spit in Hera’s face for the fame and glory Herakles wins by thwarting her attempts on his life.

Hera, I should note, is conspicuously absent from Ithaquack. I can’t say I blame her, given Zeus’s notorious infidelity. One wonders if Storkules may have been the last straw.

In terms of personality, Storkules is a big lovable doof. He’s immensely strong but a complete idiot, a mischaracterization that does bother me. Herakles is most famous for the story of the Ten Labors. After Hera tricked him into committing a horrific crime, Herakles sought penance from a king who secretly worked for Hera. He was assigned a set of tasks, twelve in all (two were disqualified), that were designed to be impossible even for a man of Herakles’s great ability.

Each task was effectively a puzzle that Herakles had to solve by not just being powerful, but also clever and cunning.

But while I dislike Storkules being depicted as stupid, I do appreciate that it was a creative choice, not a failure of research. Indeed, the writers once again show their hand with the final competition between Storkules and the Ducks, in which Zeus uses a siren to seize control of Storkules’s mind and force him to murder the Duck family.

For anyone who has read the Ten Labors of Herakles in some form or another, this scene is ghastly familiar. It bears a stark similarity to the deed that set it all in motion, when Hera afflicted Herakles’s mind with madness that compelled him to murder his wife and children.

Fortunately, Storkules is spared twelve deeds of recompense rigged by the person who made him do it by his truest of true friends!

Aw, Phooey: No Escape from Old Friends

While Zeus’s contests provide the action for the episode, its emotional core is the friendship between Donald and Storkules. Storkules insists that they’re old pals but Donald does his best to distance himself and remains cold and aloof throughout the episode.

Storkules represents the life of adventure that Donald, Della, and Scrooge once lived. But for Donald, that’s a life that he’s been trying to distance himself from for years. It’s the life that killed his sister, and that he fears will kill her sons. Storkules is an artifact of a world Donald doesn’t want to be a part of anymore.

Anyone who has ever tried to quit an activity that is popular with their friends may see themselves in Donald here. It’s hard to continue being friends with people who are still heavily engaged in the activity you’re trying to stop. There’s a lot of pressure from friends who don’t understand why you stopped. There may even be resentment, as your friends now feel judged by your decision to abstain from an activity they themselves are doing. But even if there isn’t, their well-meaning encouragement to get back into it can become insufferable.

And it sometimes comes to a point where you either have to participate in the activity or find different friends. Storkules wants to go on adventures with his best friend Donald, and that’s precisely why Donald didn’t want to ever see Storkules again.

Once again, this is some deep personal territory that the writers are treading, so they keep things light and funny by jangling the keys of Zeus’s petty vendetta against Scrooge. Unfortunately, the same problem we saw with “The Missing Links of Moorshire” arises. Both the framing of the heavy conversation and the fun jangling keys antics are great. However, the writers have opted to hold this heavy conversation but don’t actually have any idea for what to say.

So this conflict between Donald and Storkules fizzles out without resolution. Donald is forced to engage the mind-controlled Storkules to protect the kids. Storkules tells him afterwards that he’ll always be a hero no matter how hard he tries not to be, which is exactly the kind of thing you should not say to a person who wants to quit an activity. Donald, for his part, can only continue to protest how much he wants out of this life. And that’s the end of that.

Donald does call Storkules his friend, though, so I guess that’s something.

We’re Dewing It Again: The Spear of Selene

Meanwhile, the actual hunt for the Spear of Selene is happening. In fact, it’s the whole impetus for the plot. Webby and Dewey sabotage the Sunchaser to force Launchpad to crash on Ithaquack. Hilariously, Dewey needs Webby to explain why they’re there after they’ve already crashed; this implies that Dewey was just going along with crashing the plane for funsies.

It’s Dewey, so this checks out.

While everything else with Zeus and Storkules is happening, the episode cuts back to Webby and Dewey’s quest. Much like “The Great Dime Chase”, much of it is just bits of action to remind us that they’re doing something without having them actually do anything that moves the mystery forward.

The emotional core of their arc is Dewey’s fear of the truth. He has an image in his head of what kind of person his mom was and he’s afraid that what they find out will shatter that belief. He doesn’t want the truth to rob him of his fantasy mom.

This, again, is heart-wrenching stuff. It culminates in a fistfight between Dewey and Webby when Dewey gets cold feet and tries to stop Webby from entering the Garden of Selene. Unfortunately, despite how emotionally intense it is, no scene more clearly communicates how much space-filling nonsense is wrapped up in the mystery of Della Duck’s disappearance. Webby actually relents and agrees not to pursue this if Dewey doesn’t want to. Then, apropos of nothing, Dewey abruptly decides he doesn’t have cold feet anymore and that’s the end of that; this entire intensely emotional scene was a complete waste of time.

This culminates in Dewey and Webby meeting Selene herself. Selene, goddess of the moon, is a lesser known Greek deity. She’s actually not one of Zeus’s children; she and her siblings Helios (god of the sun) and Eos (goddess of dawn) are children of the Titans, much like Zeus and his siblings such as Hades, Poseidon, or Hera (SQUICK).

But do you remember that thing about aspects we talked about earlier, with regards to Zeus Xenios? Some versions of Greek myth depict entire gods as merely aspects of other gods, rather than entities in their own right. Selene is sometimes depicted as an aspect of Zeus’s Olympian daughter Artemis.

Artemis is best known for being the huntress Olympian; she favors the wilderness over civilization. She’s also known for greatly preferring the company of women over men. But here’s a fun fact: a lesser known domain of Artemis is childbirth. Artemis, seconds after being born, turned around and helped deliver her twin brother Apollo. In doing so, she became midwife goddess, blessing expecting mothers.

And this seems to be the version of Selene that the DuckTales creative team ran with. They decorated Selene’s chamber with a beautiful garden, gave her statuettes of great mythical beasts such as the chimera, and labeled her a sister to Storkules. This creates an appropriate atmosphere for an aspect of Artemis.

Selene is a delight. Unfortunately, she has very little to offer to the central mystery. After all is said and done, the grand reveal about the Spear of Selene in an episode literally titled “The Spear of Selene” is...?!

A shrug. Selene can’t vouch for it existing. The Spear of Selene is not literally a spear enchanted or owned by the goddess Selene. The writers went to all the trouble to introduce Selene herself, just so she could disavow the spear. And that’s it.

Seven months and ten episodes after introducing the idea that Della took the Spear of Selene from Scrooge and Scrooge erased all record of her existence from the world because of it, the grand reveal in an episode literally named after the Spear is that maybe the name is hyperbolic.

Man. I was lucky; I watched this on Disney Plus. I can’t imagine waiting seven months for “Maybe it’s a metaphor?” Especially for a mystery with an easily googled answer. “The Spear of Selene” is a prime example of why this kind of addiction-based mystery-mongering writing needs to end, and in fact actually did in season two.

In Conclusion

The first time through this episode, I had trouble getting invested in Storkules and the contest with Zeus. This is because the episode promises answers to the questions the show was drip-feeding clues for, and that makes Dewey and Webby’s journey the most important thing to pay attention to.

But ultimately the answers this episode provides aren’t very interesting and neither is Webby and Dewey’s journey to receive them. The actual quest for the titular Spear of Selene is this episode’s weak point.

Divorced from the Della mystery, what “The Spear of Selene” provides is a surprisingly well-researched romp through some fun bits of Greek mythology. The writers don’t have half as much to say as they think they do and even try to end with a moral about feuds keeping families apart that has nothing to do with anything that’s happened here. But much like “The Great Dime Chase”, if you turn your brain off and just laugh at the wacky antics, you’ll have a good time.

[cartoon-savant]

Ducktales "Let's Get Dangerous" Watch Ramblings

Okay, so. That was amazing.

WHO DID THIS!? WHAT MAD GENIUS SNIPED IN BONKERS!? I CAME TO THIS PARTY FOR SPECIFICALLY INFORMED FUN AND THEN THE HOST JUST THROWS GOLD AT MY FACE!!

- The episode feels like a proper dedication to everything Darkwing Duck. The atmosphere of St.Canard still feels like Gotham City so much. If Launchpad is doing double time moving between Duckberg daytime and St.Canard nighttime it’ll hold that vibe the city and DW have. But I can’t help but believe this is the start of his transition to St.Canard. The responsibilities may just be too big to juggle together. Also, this found family of Drake, Launchpad, and Gosalyn is just too good together. Like Launchpad creates a different vibe for himself when he’s with him. He just taps into a whole different side to care for and support them.

-  So yeah, I’m glad Darkwing is still somewhat underappreciated in St.Canard since it didn’t seem like anyone knows about his efforts in the lab. Gizmoduck didn’t even make it halfway across the bridge into the city and gets all the credit. So now we get to see DW work towards that recognition he deserves.

- It was the best blending of nostalgia and new age. They drop a massive Easter egg in one of my favorite scenes, from one of my favorite episodes “A Whale of A Bad Time”, of my favorite story arc where Scrooge and Glomgold race to deliver their fortunes for weighing in a bet to win a lucrative contract. Also love the Fluppy Dogs shot-out. Wasn’t my jam but I gotta respect that attention given.

- F.O.W.L. involvement made the Missing Mysteries tie-in more logical. Huey is getting more involved here since this season is supposed to be this triplet’s turn in the spotlight. I bet this encounter spurs him into action now that F.O.W.L. is exposed to have interest in the mysteries. Speaking of exposed, poor Bradford. Like he would be more successful in his organized bureaucratic villainy if everyone who works for him didn’t revel in the theatrics.

- With Taurus Bulba falling out with F.O.W.L. it leaves me to believe he’ll stay in St. Canard to be a recurring villain for him. If he keeps the “Bulba’s Super Villain Solutions” thing I expect something like the Spectacular Spiderman animated series. Like Norman Osborn he’ll turn out villains for profit while acting behind the scenes and exploiting the chaos. Bonus points if his cybernetic enhancements keep coming in via collateral damage like with Major Bludd in G.I. Joe: Renegades. Since only Megavolt, Quackerjack, Liquidator, and Bushroot seem to be the only returning OG villains (aside from a couple of cool cameos from some C-Listers, haha) now the writers have a nice say in picking and choosing who gets rolled into the reboot reality. Negaduck is basically confirmed as a reboot villain now since they called themselves the Fearsome Four and Justice Ducks got a name drop but not who’s in it. Gizmoduck was a member but is here as a reboot character and they can just grab Neptunia, Stegmutt and Morgana. Real talk, they’ll probably redo all their designs but I hope we keep Morgana’s vibe close to her original which had such a wonderful goofy Elvira feel. Also let’s get a good Batman/Catwoman thing going.

- Bushroot’s redesign and dialogue silence may have been out of respect to his original voice actor Tino Insana’s passing, also the same year the Ducktales reboot came out. Everyone else is alive but the only reprised role was Michael Bell’s Quackerjack and everyone sounded great. Still hope he left like a seedling clone of himself behind so we can explore more of him.

- Gosalyn was well handled. I loved her reboot personality still feeling like OG but with more smarts and skill. Giving her skill with a crossbow was great (she gets a matching outfit and Huntress much) as well as leaning into the Batman & Robin parallels by making her a proper partner/sidekick, instead of a stubborn tag-along.  I want to see her meet Webby because I feel like she will complete a certain dynamic. Webby is an all rounder being good with magic, quite smart and a top fighter. Webby doesn’t hold top mark in any particular area. Lena is basically becoming sorceress supreme and Violet is very intelligent and composed with her reading situations better than the others. So I want Gosalyn to be surprisingly good at keeping up with Webby in a fight.

The second other series that may actually get this kind of dedication in the reboot feels to me like Talespin.

- We have plenty of mentions of Cape Suzette and a Don Karnage. I say “a” because the Season 3 poster revealed what looked like an older Kit and Molly. This leads me to believe the OG Talespin adventures do take place decades prior to closer match the aesthetics of the OGand current era Karnage is a descendant. Della may have also learned to pilot from or was a fan of Baloo so that can be a good background to add to her character. I feel like Shere Khan will be a David Xanatos type character. He was already a fierce, morally ambiguous self serving businessman. But give him that Xanatos pizazz, keen intellect and foresight to make him be the sharpest of the sharpies that Scrooge will ever deal with.

- So all in all it was everything I didn’t know I wanted and gives me such joy for heights this show can reach being this successful in its ambition. I hope further inclusions from other Disney Afternoon characters will start building themselves up in this reboot just as well. I’m excited for more of the world explored from the sides of the Rescue Rangers and Goofy’s suburban slice of life. Oh, and of course cop/detective work from freaking Bonkers! Like this is how you know your reboot is in good hands. When you keep the appeal of and appreciate the old while introducing well defined new takes, bridging the gap between generations so everyone enjoys it. Man, I need that Animaniacs reboot right now.

[mochuelovelli]

Some Alt. Jobs for the Kids in the Future:

Mainly doing this as just a thought experiment. Usually people are of one mind on what the kids will *probably* be when they are older(myself included) so I wanted to give some alts that could fit their personalities.

Louie-Manger/Agent:Making this list mainly for him because I recalled Princess Carolyn from BoJack and how her job could fit Louie pretty well. Ik a lot of people headcanon Lawyer! Louie, I do too, but I think this would be a fun idea.

A manager's job is basically finding ways to get their client's hired or trying to tailor a client's project in order for it to be marketable. We already seen Louie do this in his ep this season but I think it be cool if became a legit job for him. He's still a McDuck ward so nothing with his business would be "normal" and he would have to do similar "schemes" to get his clients jobs, especially if they are inter-dimensional goat demons.

Louie would probably say the reason he became a manager would be "because I've been trying to convince people I am good enough my entire life, might as well make a career out of it". Edgy ik, but this is Louie we are talking about of course he say some dumbshit.

Dewey-YouTube Personality: this is probably just a less popular hc rather than one that's not talked about at all like the Louie (or the next couple examples). For me, I can't see Dewey being anything but some kind of globe trotting adventurer who would also record it for views. But in the case that DIDN'T happen, I think he'd become a youtube personality and make shows with his friends and family. I think it be really cute, that even as they grown older and become more independent, Dewey can still find ways to bring them all to his house to be apart of his youtube show(s) where he and a guest try to guess obscure history facts Webby comes up with (Watchers know what I'm talking about) or where he and some friends try to solve unsolved mysteries or try and bake without a recipe (im really showing what content i watch).

His Youtube channel would be sporadic like, "series" but he doesn't make actual playlists (Huey or Violet do) and uploads whatever he wanted to do that week. Good thing is, he never misses an upload date. Almost.

Huey-Military Engineer/Tech Guy (IE better Beaks): I had the hardest time with figuring out Huey since like Webby, he can pretty much be in any field to me (as long as its stem related). This suggestion to me is the least chill out of all of them but I picked it because 1. Huey likes structure and chain of command and 2. Science and defense systems.

Out of his brothers, Huey isn't the most WORRIED about safety but he definitely is the one who would do something about it to fix it. I can see him making some intergalactic defense systems and various prevention junk. Maybe he works under Gosalyn's administration[see gos] or he makes "unnatural-natural phenomenon" protection stuff. Kinda like the seawalls in Venice but like, stuff to make sure the Earth doesn't get destroyed because of all the crazy shit the duckverse has. Like ghost forcefields or the reversal of timephoons. I don't think he would be a Tony Stark character tho so I am not 100% with this one.

He could also just be a tech guy, but yknow, better than Mark Beaks. He accidentally has more followers than him would crush him in twitter fights (an example would be something along the Logan Paul vs Chris D'Elia). I find this just really funny, Huey would actually be what all those "good guy billionaires" claim to be (also he wouldn't be one just as a matter of principle). Owlson would probably be his mentor or maybe just business partner.

Webby-Comic Artist/Cartoonist: Webby, to me, can pretty much go into any field and I would be like "yeah makes sense". However I know in my heart she'd be some kind of spy or detective. Thinking about her being anything else was honestly kinda hard but then I realized she DOES have another hobby which could be turn into a career - her drawings and stories. Webby is definitely a creative person, maybe the most creative so far in front of or slightly behind Dewey, so I think she would like to make comics and cartoons.

If you want to be angsty, maybe she chooses this mundane route because she was somewhat conditioned by her granny (or her creators if theories are to he proven right) to be a super spy; choosing to be a cartoonist is something she was never trained to become and yet she still did because it's something SHE wanted to do for herself.

Lena-Poet/Song Writer: okay another one that might not be uncommon but I like to just see it thrown out there. Lena is cool in large part because of her magic but in a possible similar motivation to Webby, she wanted to be a poet not only because she was good at it but because she wanted to be. This doesn't have to be her main hussle, usually I don't see it as such, but I also think it be cute if she became a new Robert Frost (this is the only poet ik sorry).

Violet-Cosmologist: Most people see Violet as either some kind of chemist, professor, or occasionally a witch. I think another good alt tho would be cosmology since Violet herself wants to understand the world around her, which is a bit different from Huey who wants to obtain knowledge for knowledge sake in the case it might come in handy though not extremely. Cosmology as field in the dt universe must be WILD too since im pretty sure most scientists know of all the magic and junk, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if there was a legit subject on it or multiple. Trying to make sense of YOUR universe while knowing others exist along with time travel, possibly multiple after lifes? Its a lot. Perfect job for Vi.

Boyd-Therapist/architect: I feel like this isn't such a niche hc, but I do see more folks make him into his own superhero and/or an accountant. I might be playing into the Baymax stereotype of robots being good mental health assistants but idc, I think it's warranted since he has gone through and understands trauma. Maybe he focuses on those who need rehabilitation or are unable to get paid treatment. Maybe he just helps those who have committed crimes. Another alt is that he becomes an architect, building well planned buildings and public spaces in a flash by utilizing his vast abilities. He might even be commissioned to make space colony housing.

Gosalyn-Politican: Alright so, Gosalyn being a superhero like her dad is like, canon but again in an alt universe where it WASN'T (or maybe later in her life) I can see her becoming political. Frank even laid out some of what inspired this iteration of Gosalyn which included notable political activists, so as of rn its not that far of a stretch to say she might be interested in that. I have a feeling its happens because she gets riled up for something in particular rather than she always wanted to be a career politician or whatever. She would definitely be a less polished politician and that be her appeal, she'd kinda be like an AOC in that regard(im sorry I tried really hard not to name drop political figures but-). An example of her "abnormal" diplomacy tactics is where she stopped Ragnarok semi permanently by absolutely wrecking their shit. (She be dramatic about it like her dad, coming in her normal President wear and then throw it off to reveal some crazy wrestling shit. Louie would also make a lot of money that day.)

[ducklooney]

Disney Avengers Or Disney Justice League Or Predecessor Of Disney Avengers (Super Heroes in the Disney’s Duckverse)

To be clear, I have nothing against Marvel or DC, because I love both of those things, but I had to post it because Disney has been ignoring things like that lately. Yes, it's a good thing that Disney when it bought Marvel makes good movies about their super heroes (not all movies are good, of course, but I wouldn't debate it) and I'm glad about that, but it forgets that before it bought Marvel. Disney had its Avengers from the classic Disney universe, and especially from the Disney Duckverse. I know some people have posted this before me, but there are some super heroes to add to that. If you don't like it, fine, your right to have your own opinion. Yes, I know it should be in the Ducktales reboot, but since not everything can be covered in a series, a separate series should be made about this, which would be called a crossover within the classical Disney universe. Yes, you can freely associate with some of these super heroes what I will post with Marvel or DC super heroes (for example, Gimzoduck was inspired by Iron Man, or from Iron Man took the idea to create Gizmoduck (if I said correctly)). Here are the super heroes from the classic Disney universe or from the Mickey Mouse world or from the Disney Duckverse:

1.  Mickey Mouse Mystery Magazine-that he mostly appeared in these comics if I was not mistaken as a crime detective or inspector, but he would also blame himself for being wrongly accused of crime (this could be said as the dark side of Mickey Mouse that few people know about ). Honestly, why hasn't Disney made this cartoon series so far? I understand, this would not be for young children, but for the elderly they would certainly be excited.

2.Duck Avenger (Paperinik, Pk), Double Duck, Maui Mallard- Donald's superhero alter egos

Yes, Donald has appeared as a super hero several times in several versions, so I wouldn't discuss it. Duck Avenger or Paperinik is a super hero to save the world, Double Duck is a secret agent who needs to perform various missions also to save the world (inspired by James Bond) and Maui Mallard who appeared in Cold Shadow. Although a game, he also needed to save the island from a tribal witch. Yes and for that special series should be made about it.

3. Super Goofy that is, a Super Goof

4. Horace Horsecollar-Maximum Horsepower

Yes, the series was supposed to air back in 1997, but since Disney Afternoon came to an end, it didn’t happen. In addition, the owners of that company were not even interested in it and broadcast and broadcast other cartoon series. It's about Horace's journey through space like Star Trek. Honestly, why not make Disney and show it now?! I do not understand.

5. Super Daisy-Paperinika

6.Iron Gus-Gus Goose

7.Clover Leaf-Gladstone Gander

8.Red Bat-Fethry Duck

9.Eega Beeva

Yes, Super Goof, Duck Avenger, Super Daisy, Clover Leaf, Red Bat, Eega Beeva and Iron Gus all make up the Ultraheroes. And a series about that would be made for this.

10.Masked Tophat and Masked Mallard (Scrooge’s alter superhero egoes)

11.Brigittik-Brigitta MacBridge

12. Darkwing Duck

13. Gizmoduck

14. Morgana Macawber

15. Stegmutt

16. Neptunia

Darkwing Duck, Gizmoduck, Morgana Macawber, Stegmutt and Neptunia all make Justice Duchks together and I wish they could reunite.

17. Green Bat-Jose Carioca

18. Quiverwing Quack, Crimson Quackette and Masked Avenger (Yes, Gosalyn Mallard starred in several roles. Sorry, I didn't find a picture for Masked Avenger.)

19. T-Squad (Huey as The Really Incredibly Fast Guy, Dewey as Brain Boy and Louie as Captain Muscle) and Little Avengers (they appeared in Italian comics, I'm not sure what their name is, but also Donald's nephews got super powers from Gyro Gearloose and by having Huey have super powers for painting and scrolling, Dewey for super knows and super knowledge of history and Louie for sports and athletics.) and as a little Duck Avengers.

20. Rescue Rangers and their team-Although they do not have super powers, this does not mean that they do not have the ability to save.

21.Launchpad McQuack-He is a helper and a pilot, but that doesn't mean he can't be a hero.

22. Super Legend Caballeros team (Donald Duck, Jose Carioca and Panchito Pistoles)-in the latest episode of The Legend of Three Caballeros they drank an ancient source and were given magical powers and eventually saved the world.

23. Storkules, Bentina Beakly, Gandra Dee and Djinn (Ducktales reboot) they might as well get involved in it. There is no need to comment on why.

I think there is more, but unfortunately I didn't find any pictures for that. I think this is enough to cover it too. Yeah, even though this all might seem like a super team, I would love to give more super powers to both Goldie O'Gilt and Webby Wanderquack and April, May and June Duck (Daisy's nieces) and Max Goof because they're part of that teams. Who knows, maybe they will get it in the future. If there is anyone else who might be a super hero or already in that classic Disney universe, but I don't know about it, let me know and tell me more about it and thank you in advance for your understanding. That's it. Otherwise, I have posted this post as a thousand year post on Tumblr so it will be marked as a small anniversary of that, even though I have been on Tumblr for over two months now.

[babybutchgosalynmallard]

hdl separated at birth au hdl separated at birth au hdl separated at bir-

i can always count on you to ask abt the separated at birth au. ok this is long af so im gonna post most of it under a read more

basically: when della steals the rocket and disappears, the eggs disappear too. donald and scrooge still get into their huge fight and stop speaking to each other, but without the boys to ground him, donalds a wreck, assuming his sister and nephews are all dead. well, not quite

about 6 years after della disappears, donald gets mugged by some beagle boys who realize that hes scrooge mcducks nephew and decide to try and ransom him. they take him back to the junkyard where he meets a little duck kid. turns out the beagles found him as an egg and took him in (why? idk! because i need them to!) and hes lived with them ever since. donald can see that the kids in bad shape--all the beagles are older and bigger and even the ones that are nicer to him are still. pretty mean. the kid doesnt even have a name, they all just call him “duck”. donald feels bad for him and says if he helps him escape he’ll take him in, and the kid hesitates but agrees. the two escape, and if scrooge ever shows up to rescue donald, hes long gone by the time he arrives.

the boy needs a name, and he likes donalds suggestion, huey. to avoid any retaliation from the beagle boys, they decide to take the houseboat out of duckburg for a while, sailing it along the coast from town to town for about a year. huey is kinda nervous and tends to lash out, but he opens up to donald over time and once he does sorta latches on. when hes around seven, they settle in cape suzette for a while. donald formally adopts him, and theyre doing pretty well for themselves, even if huey is still anxious a bit and doesnt get along well with others. hes pretty grown-up for his age, as a result of being mistreated for so long and now being an only child with a pretty open adult (donald answers a lot of hueys question. he never goes into detail about what happened with scrooge and della but he does allude to it).

when huey is nearly 8, he and donald get into a scuffle with sky pirates (entirely by accident, but you know how it is). don karnage and his crew had just returned to cape suzette, and donald and huey are kinda dragged into an adventure dealing with them. as part of that, they meet the youngest member of the skypirate crew, dancin’ dewey, whos lived with the pirates as long as he can remember, and of course he and huey notice that they look exactly the same. dewey helps them avoid don karnage and crew as they plan to get to the houseboat and get out of cape suzette. along the way, they run into a few members of the crew, who encourage dewey to go with them--don karnage really doesnt like dewey, and definitely wont like him any more when he finds out dewey helped donald and huey escape. dewey loves a lot of members of the crew, who were like family to him, but he knows its best to leave, plus now hes got a mystery to solve, ie what the deal is with he and huey. so the three leave on the houseboat, and celebrate huey and deweys 8th birthday back in duckburg.

donald adopts dewey, too, and the three of them get along pretty well. dewey schemes more than huey ever did, and huey gets dragged in because theyre all “pretty dumb” and he wants to make them work. donald enrolls them both in the junior woodchucks to help them make friends, and while dewey quits bc its boring (donald doesnt mind, bc hes very social and makes a lotta friends at school anyway) huey loves it and comes out of his shell even more. he still prefers hanging out with adults (and dewey) to kids his age, but hes getting better at socializing.

2 years after meeting dewey, theyre 10, and the pilot happens. donald leaves them home alone during his job interview (theyre more self-sufficient in this au, and donalds better at listening to them when they say they can handle something), but when he gets hired he gets them a babysitter, since he’ll be gone for a few days. turns out, that doesnt matter, because they stowaway on glomgolds ship bc his job sounds cool. donald decides he has to hide them or risk getting fired, and he shoves them into a cabin only to find yet another, identical duck their age. surprise!

basically, this kid spent most of his life in the duckburg foster program, since he was found just on the street, but glomgold took him in as his nephew in hopes of recreating scrooges formula. “flinty jr”, as glomgold calls him, (or louie, which is what he went by until glomgold took him in a year ago) is... pretty salty, and doesnt really care that he looks the same as these two other kids. hes really jaded from growing up on his own and now living with glomgold, whos always dragging him places only to ignore him or yell at him when things go wrong. donald, being donald, tries to sell him on the whole adoption thing, but hes really not interested. in any case, most of the pilot plays out the same--instead of donald trying to protect scrooge and fam, hes trying to hide the kids and keep them out of trouble, but they all come together in the treasure room with scrooge, launchpad, and webby. glomgold reveals his nefarious scheme, they all make it out, great. the houseboats fine, donald and scrooge dont really make up (they actually fight a little bit more), and the boys (louie included, hes been won over) arent super interested in moving in with him, so they just. dont. the new family of four goes back to the houseboat and settles in.

thats the basics, really. donald and scrooge start to fix their relationship bc HDL stay in touch with webby and hang out all the time. this timeline pushes back the adventures/magicas schemes until the boys are 12, at which point they and donald actually have moved in with scrooge. i havent decided yet how they finally find out that theyre related to donald and scrooge, but i want it to happen around shadow war? idk. the other thing to note is that the triplets are all a bit different, personality-wise, as a result of growing up in different environments, and their relationship w donald is pretty different too, but beyond that it all sorta falls into place eventually??

if you want to hear any more, send me an ask! this is probably my most fleshed-out au so i have a lot of thoughts about it!

[atarahderek]

Darkwing Duck - Best “Incompetent” Dad

It’s a frustratingly common trope in entertainment: The clumsy, dopey, misunderstanding, almost always wrong dad. Even the best family sitcoms are guilty of using it to motivate half or more of their episode plots. Making the dad of the family the butt of the most jokes or the one in need of learning the most lessons may have contributed to our society’s tendency these days to not take the role of fatherhood anywhere near as seriously as we desperately need to. And it becomes downright infuriating when it seems like every dad in a sitcom or children’s cartoon is the incompetent buffoon who acts more like an obstacle to the other members of his family than the moral compass and loving head of the household he’s supposed to be to them. I know I’m sick of seeing that trope just about everywhere, which is why I tend to latch onto the rare aversions that come our way (lookin’ at you, Tenzin; you’re not perfect, but you are an excellent father).

That said, there are ways this trope can be done well. And I can think of no better example than our beloved masked mallard, Darkwing Duck--known also by his civilian name, Drake Mallard.

Drake’s got all the classic hallmarks of a sitcom dad. He’s clumsy, egotistical, overbearing, and he and Gosalyn are constantly at each other’s throats while still loving each other deeply. But for him, it works. Because Drake has a valid excuse most sitcom dads do not: He has only been a parent for a short time, and he has never had a partner in the picture. At best, he’s got Launchpad, who is more like the uncle who enables the spirited child in her rebellion, either directly or by his agreeing to look the other way. And sometimes it’s almost as if Drake is raising Launchpad too. Plus his work is very dangerous, and Gosalyn is a part time sidekick as she learns to fight crime alongside her dad. Drake’s got a lot on his plate. If anyone can be forgiven for being overwhelmed or breaking down now and then, it’s him.

Drake’s not the only duck on the block to take on the enormous responsibility of raising a child. He hates this, but I’m gonna do it anyway. Drake is comparable in many ways to Donald Duck. And Drake had better just learn to deal with the fact that he and Donald are so similar. They both generally have bad luck, but most of it is self-inflicted because of their respective vices. Despite this, they are the epitome of determination. They voluntarily took on the role of father to children missing their birth parents, both going so far as to formally adopt said children (yes, Huey, Dewey and Louie are, in the eyes of the state, the sons of Donald), and both will do anything and everything to protect their kids. That selfless love is what motivates them to keep pressing on despite their flaws and their bad luck, and is by far their most admirable trait. Donald, like Drake with Gosalyn, is raising HD&L as a single father, but he lacks the excuse of not knowing how to parent the boys by the time they’re Gosalyn’s age. He’s had them since at least early childhood, and in some iterations, since they were eggs, and he’s at least known about them since their birth.

Drake, on the other hand, agreed to adopt a spirited older child who was nearly deemed unadoptable. And having had absolutely no experience whatsoever with children prior to Gosalyn, he’s clueless as to how to raise her. But he dives in with gusto. “Domestic life was never quite [his] style,” but he slips into it almost flawlessly. Drake is a good actor, and playing the part of dad isn’t hard for him--as long as he doesn’t get in his way. Which he does. A lot. Drake and Gosalyn have very similar interests, including both being gamers, but they also have similar sized egos. And this causes them to be pitted against one another in their household. Drake does the domestic part of fatherhood quite well, but the other, more important part--the part that involves conflict resolution--he doesn’t do well at all. Because he has no idea how.

It’s easy to write the rebellious preteen or teen going toe to toe with the stubborn dad who doesn’t “get” them, but when done wrong or too often, it doesn’t feel authentic. With Drake and Gosalyn it does, because both are still getting to know one another and figuring out how to be a family. So they’re going to argue and scream at each other more often than they’re going to cooperate. Add in Drake’s protective nature with Gosalyn and you get a dad who’s trying too hard and a kid who wants to be grateful, but can’t help feeling smothered.

And yet neither of them seems to realize that their relationship is not supposed to be so natural. By the fourth episode of the series, Drake has no problem whatsoever referring to Gosalyn as his daughter, using the term and all its accompanying pet names as naturally as if he’d held her in his arms on the day she was hatched. He even does it in costume at least once. Not with any sense of amazement, pride, awkwardness or disbelief, but rather as if stating an undisputed fact of life. And Gosalyn calls him dad as if she’s been doing so her whole life. Gosalyn does mention her adoptee status more than once in the series, even telling Drake’s ancestors that that’s how she’s come to be part of their family. But she never uses it against him. She makes tongue-in-cheek threats to reveal Drake’s secret identity on more than one occasion, but we never hear her spout anything remotely along the lines of, “You aren’t my real dad!” even in a fit of pique. In the end, she knows exactly how far Darkwing Duck would go and has gone for her, what he has sacrificed, what his flaws are, how he pushes on despite those flaws, and just how much he really, really, really loves his little girl. And she’s eternally grateful for him, not once taking her adoptee status for granted.

As for Drake, he’s starting to understand exactly how important Gosalyn’s place in his heart is. Drake’s own decision on that fateful prom night might have spawned Darkwing Duck, but these days, it is Gosalyn who defines Darkwing. That daring duck of mystery’s greatest act of heroism isn’t defeating all those criminals and super villains, but becoming a father to a very spirited young girl. As Frank Angones put it, “Darkwing Duck without Gosalyn is not Darkwing Duck.”

One thing Darkwing Duck is: Best not-so-incompetent dad in the entire Mouse empire.

Don’t worry, Donald, you’re a pretty close second. Photo finish, really.

[rubbersoles19]

“The Team Vs. King Louie” Issue 1

Don’t get too excited, @raidenraccoon​ and @aj-the-bluejay​. I’m not making a full comic series. Just wanted to do a little something in honor of this Evil!Louie AU that’s got us all loosing our minds.

“The Team” is not a very super-hero group sounding name, but did you know that a group of waterfowl is called a “team”? And I figured these kids would be accepting of all flocks and feathers. But these three, Huey Duck as Gizmoduck, Webby Vanderquack as Agent 23, and Dewey Duck as Captain Selene, are the core leaders. Plus, who else is going to take down their sibling-turned-evil?

Fun headcanons that are in no way canon but I just came up with will working on this: (THEY ARE VERY LONG)

Huey was reluctantly donned the Gizmoduck suit after Fenton Crackshell, Huey’s idol and mentor, fled Duckburg. Since learning that Fenton was his armor-wielding hero, Huey began to assist Fenton in the lab, and the two grew close, working incredibly well together and sharing new discoveries and ideas. Huey even became, after months of begging, Gizmoduck’s unofficial sidekick, helping Fenton upgrade the armor and being his “guy in the chair” back at the hero’s headquarters. Fenton, however, was still a scientist before a hero, and he and Gyro Gearloose had begun to tamper with mystical forces when disaster struck. The “white-hole” the scientists were attempting a make, a portal between dimensions, was pre-maturely activated by Louie, an immeasurable wave of unknown energy was released. Dewey, who was actively pursuing the disappearance of his mother involving the Sphere of Selene, was radiated when the energy struck the Sphere, Louie was sucked into the portal, and half of Duckburg collapsed. Fenton, blaming himself for the premature activation and accident, gave up Gizmoduck completely, fleeing from Duckburg as a failure and murderer.

With Gizmoduck gone, and the city in ruins, it was up to someone to help rebuild it, and Huey reluctantly accepted the armor. Soon after the accident, Donald took Dewey to the safety of Italy to work with Professor Ludwig Von Duck, Webby was accepted into SHUSH, and the two worked together for the next several years to rebuild their home, and try to rebuild their family. Gyro continued to obsessively work on the portal, trying to reactivate it and repeat the experiment.

Now, with Louie returned and bad guys and heroes running around Duckburg, Huey has joined The Team as the tech specialist and researcher, but will wear the Gizmoduck armor only when absolutely necessary.

None of the children ever knew Donald was a super-hero once, until the accident. When Dewey was radiated by the Sphere, Donald took him and returned to Italy to work closely with Ludwig Von Duck. The scientist was not only the only duck with a chance to finding Louie, but was the only duck who could help Dewey control the affects of the Sphere. Mainly, his new super-powers.

The two stayed in Italy until Dewey was an adult, training and working with him to control and channel the chaotic energy the Sphere had filled him with. When Louie returned years later, so did Dewey and Donald, each donning their own personas: Donald as The Duck Avenger, and Dewey as his partner, an unnamed hero. It wasn’t until Donald gave up his cape, refusing to fight Louie that Dewey earned his place as leader among the group, and his title: Captain Selene, for it’s the sacred Sphere of Selene that powers his Gauntlet, and himself. The lab accident linked Dewey and the Sphere in impossible ways, granting him enhanced abilities and certain super-powers, though only in small measures, until he learns to properly channel and control of the Sphere’s powers. Now, after using his still untapped powers to banish Negaduck, he leads his siblings, and other heroes, against Kind Louie and his minions.

Louie, known as “King Louie,” vanished when he was young. It wasn’t until years later, when he and his siblings were all adults and carrying the mantels of their past heroes, that he returned, ruthless, scheming, and insatiably greedy. Louie’s sudden return and rise to power, as he almost effortlessly toppled the crime rings in Duckburg and took power for himself, drove the remaining triplets, and their adopted sister Webby, to team up to try to stop him. With Louie, however, came new villains and bad characters, and more and more heroes were needed to fight them all.

Eventually, Louie would reveal to his family that he - after being sucked into another dimension in the same freak accident that caused Fenton’s demise and gave Dewey his powers - was apprenticed by Negaduck, leader of that dimension and blood-thirty crime lord. Since the triplets in his dimension had long since vanished (not so mysteriously since Scrooge McDuck and Negaduck had never really seen eye to eye), and had apparently inherited his uncle’s good luck, Negaduck was happy to kidnap the young duck and use him as a bargaining ship towards Scrooge. Scrooge, however, had no interest in Louie, nor did the rest of his family, and while Louie was heart-broken, Negaduck was merely disappointed. He was ready to throw Louie out, until the duck pleaded with him to help Louie get back home to his own dimension, promising Negaduck Scrooge’s wealth in his own dimension as payment. This, of course, was an offer Negaduck couldn’t refuse, so he allowed Louie to be one of his very mistreated and underappreciated stooges.

Over the years, however, Louie’s skills and cruelty grew, fed by his bitterness towards his family, and learned by living around criminals for most of his young adult life. Eventually, Negaduck realized that he had a chaotic force on his hands, and decided to use Louie - who had apparently inherited his uncle Gladstone’s good luck - as his new “partner.” But Louie was never one to be tricked, and after stealing a considerable amount from Negaduck, was able to secure his place in the Negaverse as “Linchpin Louie”, and became Negaduck’s apprentice.

The two fought constantly and never trusted each other even in the slightest, and it turned Louie cold and calculating, and an even better manipulator than Negaduck, what with his tragic backstory and all. The first bug job the two did together was to finally topple Scrooge’s mafia like empire, which Louie’s intimate knowledge of his uncle made possible. Having secured Scrooge and all his resources, Louie tracked down Fenton and/or Gyro in that universe, and when he realized they had never began work on the portal like Negaduck had promised all those years ago, Louie snapped.

It wasn’t long after that the the “white-hole” opened up in Louie’s home dimension once more, and the young adult, ruthless, cold, and filled with bitterness, emerged, ready to take control of the Duckburg that had abandoned him. Negaduck, however, having been back-stabbed by Louie - who not only used the portal without him but took some of Negaduck’s best villains - chased the kid down across the dimensions, finally landing on the primeverse, where Louie was already fighting with his family for control.

Negaduck’s arrival prompted Louie to work together with his estranged family to defeat Negaduck and banish him. Huey, who had still been keeping careful tabs on Gyro behind Webby and SHUSH’s back, enlisted his help to get their own portal working, and Louie provided the plans he had stolen from the negaverse. With Dewey’s powers able to fuel and power the portal, they were able to banish Negaduck for good, trapping him in “Oblivion,” a lifeless dimension. The portal, however, nearly killed Dewey and once again nearly destroyed most of Duckburg, which Louie quickly took command over. Now, it’s him versus his own family, as they try to take their home back.

PS I was literally up until 7 AM making this I think that’s a new record for me

[superwolfiestar]

Across Another Dimension Ch.34

The gang were walking down the hall, and a painting on the wall was creeping them out. A knight and his horse on a cliff both becoming ghostly beings. A young woman in a Greek temple becoming the horrible Medusa. A ship sailing across the sea becoming the Ghost Ship sailing through a storm. A woman reclining on a sofa becoming a werepanther.

“This sure is creepy…” Huey comments, began feeling scare.

“Well, it a spooky place.” Dewey stated.

They have been walking around in this abandoned mansion for what they feel like a hours but there’s no sight of the purple sharp anywhere.

A sudden boom of thunder clapped, and startled the two as it announced the beginning of a storm. Rain drops began falling slowly at first, then faster and larger after only several seconds.

"Oh crap. This sucks," Webby stated in disappointment.

“Guess we will be there for the long time.” Jose comments.

“Let keep moving you guys.”

"Good evening . . ."

Upon hearing this new voice, the group stood frozen in place as if they were caught in a blizzard. Where did that voice come from? Weren't they suppose to be alone in this old mansion?

"Uh . . .who said that . . ?" The other Panchito asked looking around.

"Wasn't me. . ." Jose answered first, eyes wide open.

"I didn't say anything . . ." Boy Princess said, looking over both his shoulders.

"It wasn't me . . ." Huey said, hugging himself to calm down.

"Me neither . . ." Donald added, hiding behind his Unca.

"I never utters in an old voice . . ." Panchito stated.

"I-I-it seems to b-b-be coming from the w-w-walls . . ." Louie stated, fear clear in his every being.

it was then that the air around the seven became eerily still, even the sound of the storm wasn't bothering what was going on inside. It was at that same moment that he voice spoke up once more.

"When hinges creak, in doorless chambers, and frightening sounds echo through the walls; whenever candle lights flicker where the air is deathly still. That is the time when ghosts are present, practicing their terror, with ghoulish delight!"

It was then that everything that the voice had said started happening, much to the group's horror. It eventually stopped, but not before leaving their marks on the seven teens.

"Hola, is someone there?" Panchito reluctantly called out and was met by the mysterious voice.

"Welcome! Foolish mortals, to the Haunted Mansion. I am your host, your Ghost Host."

With that said, the apparent "Ghost Host" let out a sinister chuckle, which made the group uncomfortable.

"H-h-h-haunted M-m-m-mansion . . ?" Louie and other Louie whimpered in absolute fright.

"G-g-g-ghost H-h-h-host . . . ?" Dewey and other Dewey also whimpered in an equally frightened voice.

"I am."

"Okay, we are really, truly sorry for trespassing on your property, my friends and I just wanted to find the purple crystal sharp to restore the Rainbow Crystal Star. So, if you'd be so kind as to where the purple sharp and our other friend is, we'd be more than happy to leave and never bother you all ever again."

"I'm afraid I cannot do that."

"Why c-c-can't you?" Fenton asked in a small, squeaky voice.

"Let me assure that you will not be harmed-"

"That's a relief." Gyro sighed, feeling as though a great weight was lifted off his shoulders.

"-but you shall not be released, until-"

"Until, what?" Princess Della asked reluctantly.

"Until you all take a tour of my home."

"Voice-of-no-body-ghosty says what?" Boy Princess asked in confusion.

"We have so few visitors . . . well, live ones, that is!"

The Ghost Host let out another sinister chuckle, frightening the group some more.

"Hold that thought, guys; huddle!" Panchito called as he and the other gang gathered in a football circle. "Okay, it's official: we're trapped."

"Tragic, isn't it?" Boy Princess asked sarcastically.

"Guys, I don't want to be here anymore, I want to get out. . ." Louie pleaded shakily.

"I’m agree, storm or no storm, I really don't want to be here now . . ." Mrs. Beakley mumbled in absolute fright.

"Look, I wanna get out of here too just to grab the Sharp your last friend, but what choice do we have?" Panchito asked, feeling that they had limited options.

"Yeah, besides, our generous Ghost Host just said he won't let us go, until we take a "tour" of this place." Jose added, though he was ready to leave, there was nothing he could do.

"As much as I want to leave, I see no other options." Boy Princess stated.

"Well, I’m ready to do whatever." Donald said, trying hard to hide his own fear.

"Guys, I know we're not anywhere near friends, but we'll need to stick together to get through this." Panchito stated, which made they share a glance, then nod. "Ready?"

"Ready!" They all muttered.

"Okay, sir, you've twisted our arms; we'll take your tour."

"Splendid! Kindly step this way . . . there's no turning back now . . ."

The Ghost Host let out another sinister chuckle as candles on the walls began to light up a hallway to what appeared to be a sort of parlor.

"Of course there isn't." Scrooge muttered, he looked towards at Donald. "You'd think we'd be use to things like this after the past ten years."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Boy Princess asked, which had Panchito and the Super Caballeros interested.

"Oh, nothing." Donald dismissed.

"Long story." Scrooge stated.

"Tell us some other time, but right now we need to keep moving." Panchito said, ushering his friends towards the parlor.

And so, their tour has officially begun.

[rosetowers]

Ducklings as they grow up masterpost

hey, so i’ve made a lot of posts about how everyone grows up and for your convenience i’ve decided to put the important bits plus extra into one post.

this gets long to under the cut it goes

Huey

13-16: wears sweater vests because he’s a nerd. Around 15 he realises he’s asexual and is generally pretty chill about it and is generally not interested in dating. Puberty is fine except for when his voice breaks and for a while it just… randomly pitches higher. Donald gets how he feels since when he hit puberty the same thing happened (so between that and his speech impediment puberty was not fun for Donald). Huey’s siblings tease him relentlessly for it tho.

17-21: still wearing a sweater vest. Still not interested in dating, but people who talk to him are and his naturally sweet nature means a lot of people crush on him, not that he really notices (boy can tell from the next room that Louie has fallen in love again but can’t tell when someone is flirting with him smh). Is learning to fly from his mother and Launchpad, so he’s not only going to be able to fly expertly, but also be able to survive and repair/rebuild after any crash. Ends up about average height for a duck, like Donald or Scrooge’s height and gains some muscle.

21+: finally changed his look and now tends to wear overalls. At some point, Ma Beagle passes away and Huey is asked by Bouncer and Burger to take over, which ticks off Big-Time and a small group of the other Beagle Boys. the rest embrace his leadership and make peace with his family as he changes the groups from a criminal gang to model citizens. They do a lot of charity work like recycling, building homes for the homeless and raising money for the needy etc. and the Junior Woodchucks are flooded with the youngest members of the family. There are also a lot of turf wars with the Beagles who broke off, they call themselves the Big-Timers now.

Dewey

13-16: cycles through various adventurer-style outfits and does not suit any of them, mainly because he has dozens of zits and keeps having random growth spurts which makes him all gangly and awkward. Bi as hell and uses bad pick-up lines when he has a crush. Getting a more in-depth education on sailing from Donald. Has developed a tendency to jump onto high places and belt out musicals out of nowhere. Is also being taught to fight by Webby.

17-21: finally picks a look, tank tops and sleeveless denim jackets, and he’s also considering getting an anchor tattoo (don’t tell Donald). Actually looks pretty good since he turns out really tall (like, a head shorter than LP) and gains a lot of muscle, he loves being tall since it drives Huey crazy. Tries to be a suave, flirty adventurer, but can’t flirt to save his life, so it drives him nuts that Huey gets so much attention without even realising it. Loves to party, sneaks into clubs a lot.

21+: sticks to denim, does get the tatoo (Donald faints), still can’t flirt. When Scrooge retires they go adventuring together with Dewey working as skipper. Very capable on adventures now, what with the skills he learned with Webby and Scrooge, but often needs his uncle to drag him out of danger (and visa versa).

Louie

13-16: goth phase. He ends up with Scrooge and Fergus’ sideburns, and more or less looks like Scrooge did as a teenager. Wears a black, zip up hoodie over a green shirt, green hair dye on his bangs, and too much eye-liner. Gay edgy boy with a diary full of bad poems. Reads the Duckverse equivalent of Twilight and develops an unhealthy concept of romance where his type is jerks with heart of gold; falls in love with jerks with hearts of jerk super easily, cries a lot. Retains some sense of humor, mainly in the form of standing behind Scrooge and mirroring his movements, Manny sometimes joins in.

17-21: over his goth phase. Very confident, snappy dresser, wears blazers, scarves, and bling. Also really short and chubby and cute, loves himself. A good hustler and gambler (he cheats like crazy) to make some cash since he’s stuck as an unpaid intern at the Money Bin (Scrooge: you’re being paid in experience. Fenton: that means he’s cheap. Louie: don’t I know it). Has moved on from duck-Twilight to awful romance novels and duck-Fifty Shades of Gray. So he still has terrible taste in men and gets his heart broken (he eats so much ice cream). Can use his rep as “Love-struck Louie” to trick suckers into thinking he’s fallen in love with them for hustling purposes, but he has to be careful because this can backfire if he accidentally does fall for them. Also flirts to get what he wants and has a really good gaydar, no matter how deep in the closet someone is.

21+: turns out hard work really does pay off! When Scrooge retires to go adventuring full-time, Louie’s the only one with the experience and any actual desire to run the company. Wears tailor-made gray suits and silk, green ties. Remodels the manor and loves throwing lavish parties hosted by the ghosts of Beakley and Duckworth. Is actually a hard worker, pulling all nighters, as well as putting a lot of money into charity. “Recommends” the board of vultures who stopped Scrooge from searching for Della retire, replaces them with new members, including Gyro and Fenton, and makes Manny head of R & D. Also hires Webby as his bodyguard and keeps LP on as his chauffeur. Also finally burns all those romance novels and tries harder to protect his heart. For reasons i don’t fully understand, I love the idea of Louie and Mark Beaks becoming enemies. Like, maybe mirroring Scrooge and Glomgold; they take over the Billionaires club and spend their time there glaring at each other, whilst their bodyguards Webby and Graves (because I said so) are on hand to keep them from getting into a slap fight. The rest of their time is spent trying to outdo each other in new tech (and with Gyro and Fenton now being part of his board of directors there’s no end to the ideas to one-up the jerk).

Webby

17-21: doesn’t grow much, she and Louie end up around the same height as adults. Lesbian. Still loves the colour pink, and also denim jackets; wears a handkerchief wrapped around her head instead of a bow (like this but pink). As hyper and excited about the world and adventures as she’s always been, but thanks to the influence of her honorary siblings she’s ridiculously sarcastic. she’s also become a bit of a prankster, so everyone in the manor has developed a habit of slowly and carefully opening doors and cabinets in case anything jumps out, checking “treasure” for price labels, and making sure maps and documents relating to treasure and artifacts are what they appear to be. Duckworth and occasionally Della are often her partners in crime. Joins in when Dewey randomly starts singing. She’s in the process of officially joining SHUSH.

21+: as I said, she becomes Louie’s bodyguard, but that’s mainly an excuse to hang out with him, and is also her cover for her other job as a SHUSH agent, since Louie can actually defend himself just fine (she also keeps him awake during board meetings). Wears a black suit when on bodyguard duty and a pink catsuit on missions. Grows her hair out and ties it back with a pink bow.

Lena

16-21: pansexual. Generally wears a heavy coat over a dress and various enchanted items of jewelry that Scrooge lets her keep. BTW yes Scrooge has long since adopted her and is now her dad. About as interested in dating as Huey is, but might still flirt if she finds someone cute; having said that she’s gotten into more than one fight with Louie over a boy (but if the guy is interested in Louie she chases him off since he’s clearly a creep, Louie’s a kid after all). She’s generally a pretty chill person, but she does struggle to make her needs known to her family and is kind of closed off around new people. Has power over both dark and light magic (a connection to shadows and celestial objects, can travel through shadows and shape shift + general magic stuff), but for a while she has poor impulse control, even though she wants to use it for good. Luckily, she finds Scraps the familiar, and black and white corgi who protects her and tries to keep her from doing dumb stuff with her magic.

21+: develops into a powerful sorceress, recognised by various magical authorities as Empress of Light and Queen of Shadows. Wears black with various shades of blue and purple, wears long skirts and long baggy sleeves, generally develops a more elegant style. Outside Duckburg everyone believes her to be the town’s mysterious sorceress and protection, to its citizens she commands a certain amount of respect but is generally regarded as Lena McDuck, the girl who blew up Funzo’s when she was fifteen and who occasionally shows up out of nowhere, her corgi likes to be petted too.

[fly-pow-bye]

DuckTales 2017 - “The Golden Lagoon of White Agony Plains!”

Story by: Francisco Angones, Madison Bateman, Colleen Evanson, Christian Magalhaes, Bob Snow

Written by: Bob Snow

Directed by: John Aoshima

Storyboard by: Jean-Sebastien Duclos, Mark Garcia, Tanner Johnson, John Ramirez

I wouldn't call this a creek, either.

This episode starts with Scrooge and the boys paying a visit to a Gala dedicated to a newly opened Glomgold Wing at the Natural History Museum. The joke is that all of the exhibits are just whatever he can salvage from Scrooge's past adventures, and some outright falsehoods. Dewey even talks about how he's trying way too hard. Dewey's right...in maybe too many ways.

Scrooge, obviously not a big fan of this duck who tries to murder him any chance he can, is only there to support Duckburg's cultural institutions as an upstanding citizen. Oh, and to steal Glomgold's cocktail weenies and teriyaki skewers. The irony is that it's Louie that calls him out for this. That seems out of character for him, though it might be due to his suit giving him a rash.

As the boys follow Scrooge's lead in taking a bunch of buffet food, one of the guests of honor walks in the room. Scrooge drops his bag and gasps at the sight at this familiar-to-him face. The nephews ask him if his gasp is about a curse, a villain, or a villainous curse, but it's even worse than that.

Scrooge: ...it's my ex! (gulp)

🎵Life is like a hurricane...🎶

Well, that's one way to do a cold open.

Specifically, it's Goldie O'Gilt. He clarifies that she's an ex-rival and ex-partner, but the boys do not buy it. Scrooge gets the boys, and anyone in the audience who hasn't heard of this legacy character, ready by telling them to watch their wallets. They trade insults to each other, Scrooge saying that she has cloven hooves, and Goldie calling him a tightwad. Well, it is a fitting name for someone who takes hors d'oeuvres from a buffet. I learned just now that’s how you spell those words.

While the insults both disturb and intrigue Dewey, Glomgold shows up to tell Scrooge that Goldie happens to be his date. Even before she says anything, her body language clearly indicates he doesn't want anything to do with this man. Once the music starts playing, Scrooge and Goldie start dancing. He tries a second plan: dancing the same kind of dance with Dewey. I don't have a comment for that one.

After that, Glomgold decides to reveal the main attraction: a skeleton of a "Glacial Klondike Monster" his oil crew managed to dig up in the Yukon. Unlike the Glomasaurus Rex, which was clearly made up of random dinosaur bones, this exhibit is legitimate. The lights go out, and the mammoth's head disappears. No, it's not another mystery story, or another ghost story for that matter. Scrooge looks around and finds a certain someone missing, and he hot-tails it out of the gala.

While Launchpad drives Scrooge and the boys to the Mansion, it will make sense to how he would know about where she went later, the boys want to know more about "Scrooge's new old giiirlfriend", while they all make literal duck-lips. Yeah, that's their only real character trait they have for the rest of the episode. While DuckTales 2017 gave the boys far more distinct personalities, this episode is not a good example of that. Wait, Huey, Dewey, and Louie acting identically? No way!

They do get to be the audience of another Scrooge McDuck flashback to a time long before Donald or Della. We’re getting into “The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck”-like material here. From what I've read, it's a very loose adaptation; no Goose Egg Nugget here.

They go into a cave in the White Agony Plains to find the titular Golden Lagoon. Suddenly, Goldie, in her scheming ways, decides to steal the map to find the lagoon for herself. Scrooge manages to catch her, but the map gets torn in half. Suddenly, the "Glacial Monster" shows itself, being what might be the last of the Wooly Mammoths. Goldie’s part of the map ended up stuck in the mammoth’s teeth, and over a century later, that same mammoth's skeleton ended up in Glomgold's Gala. We get a shot of the skeleton with a map sticking out of its teeth, which wasn't shown before when we got a shot of it before, but never mind.

Yes, I really mean a century later. While they don’t specify the exact year, Scrooge is definitely referring to the Klondike Gold Rush in 1896. Huey, in one of the few times he gets to show off his personality, starts counting on his fingers and outright asks how old Scrooge is. He obviously does not answer that question, but this episode gives a rather decent explanation beyond "it's just a cartoon, so just relax".

While running from the Wooly Mammoth, Scrooge and Goldie jumped into a freezing lake, causing them to be stuck in an ice cube for 5 years. In fact, this episode confirms this isn't the only time they've been in situtations that made them age slower. The dance scene from earlier shows them talking about a fountain of youth and several timeless demon dimensions. In an unrelated note, Goldie also offhandedly mentions a necklace that prevents burns, which the camera zooms into for a few seconds. I did not think much of this on my first viewing.

After the story that was captivating that even the driver got too interested in it, Scrooge finally reaches his Manor to find that Goldie barged into his house, and she immediately asks where his half of the map went. One may wonder how she managed to get past Mrs. Beakley, all but shown to be a super spy with great combat abilities, and her trained-in-similar-arts granddaughter.

Well, she did. As the rest of this episode will prove, she's just that awesome. After Scrooge throws a chair at his own nephews after they do the same "Scrooge loves Goldie" shtick, yeah, don't anger Scrooge, Goldie realizes that it must be in Scrooge's top hat. When Scrooge wrestles her down for it, she offers the adventure. Scrooge asks why.

Goldie: Because it's gold, because it's a treasure you never found, and because you're Scrooge McDuck.

Scrooge, Goldie imitating him: You think you know me sooo well!

They decide to go on the adventure. Speaking of the map, we later see it, and it's one of those "dotted line with the X on it" maps. I'd imagine the one that has the X on it could have at least tried to extrapolate the path. I guess I could assume that half was in that skull, but wouldn't Glomgold take it? Whatever.

Goldie puts on her old outfit, and they go into the cave. The entire episode essentially follows a similar path: throughout the adventure, they both accuse each other of trying to sabotage each other. They are totally doing that. Scrooge finds an arrow trap, which he activates by throwing a pebble at it, and accuses Goldie of doing it. Scrooge then stops Goldie from getting stuck in a giant bear trap that he totally didn't set up. Notice the difference there.

They end up at a pulley-controlled elevator, built for one. Not willing to let one person go and get a jump on the lagoon, they have to share the elevator. Of course, this leads to her complaining about his sweat. It's a funny scene.

Not speaking of particularly funny scenes, Glomgold is slowly following them. I'll be honest: his scenes don't really do much for me. All he really does is get hit by all the traps, cuts the rope of the aforementioned elevator, and talks about how Scrooge is taking his girl. He seems to disappear after this scene, because it's better to focus on the scenes with Scrooge and Goldie trying to mess each other up.

One scene has Goldie lighting a trail of gunpowder behind Scrooge, taking both halves of the map with her while he's chasing. In this universe of ducks and dogs that walk upright and talk, this trail of gunpowder leads to a bear. Not a relative of Baloo, but a bear just like in real life. I wonder how that works.

Unlike in real life, Goldie gets cornered by Scrooge riding that same bear. He even reveals that he speaks bear. This show now has just as much talking to non-language-speaking-animals as that other reboot. How can he do this? Because he's Scrooge McDuck. Yeah, that’s a running gag throughout this episode, and it does have a good payoff at the end.

They eventually reach a dead end, which happens to be right next to the frozen lake where they spent 5 years of their lives. This leads to even more backstory. After 5 years of being forced into staring at each other, their frozen scowls slowly turned into smiles. Aw, they really do love each other. While it's certainly romantic to see this, it is a horrifying thought that they were conscious in there.

Of course, there's a caveat: as soon as Goldie's half of the ice melts, she immediately leaves Scrooge behind. Scrooge realized that she loved gold more than him, and Goldie...agrees. Fitting.

They do get to the waterfall made of molten gold, thanks to the help of erosion over a century. Scrooge gets Nanook, the bear, to break the wall they thought was a dead end open in something that would have looked cool in trailers. However, as soon as they bask in the glory, a twist happens. I debated whether or not I should even have these ellipsis, to be honest.

← JAW$! 🦆 Day of the Only Child →

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Big shock, she was going to betray him in the end, just like Scrooge repeatedly accused her of doing! There is one surprise on top of this: Glomgold decides to show up, after stumbling down a hill because he's Glomgold, and reveals that he teamed up with her to do this ruse! Unlike the last time he tried, this turned out to be true.

Scrooge, telling himself he should have expected this, asks Goldie why she did this after all she did for her. He talks about how he untied her from Nanook...which he happened to tie her to himself. Again, fitting. Her response?

Goldie: Because I'm Goldie O'Gilt!

See, good payoff.

Regardless of what I feel about Glomgold’s involvement in this episode, I do like the flashback scene he describes, which is in this 50's romance comic book-like style. It even ends with him smooching the air. He sure loves that Goldie, he even came up with the shipping name: Glomgoldie.

There's a pickaxe fight that mirrors the dance scene down to certain lines, and a rather shocking scene that does give Glomgold a little more purpose in the plot. I don't want to give away everything, but I definitely questioned whether they would really do what they did.

I only have one thing I will say that will add to this review: the necklace I talked about earlier does become a plot point. What necklace? Well, that was my first impression of that ending, too; it took a second viewing for me to realize it didn't just come out of nowhere.

How does it stack up?

Promising a big adventure that happens to be a huge reference to the original comics, and the return of a classic character, DuckTales 2017 took a huge risk with this episode. As someone who hasn't really read the original stories, I can't judge whether or not it's a good adaptation.

I debated what rating I should give this. It's an entertaining adventure, sure, but it's a little repetitive, and Glomgold just became a third wheel that was more tiring than funny. This one slightly misses the mark for me. In a worse reboot, this would be one of the best episodes, but after Jaw$, it's just merely above average, which is a very high neutral for this show.

Next, the return of another classic character...whether you like him or not.

← JAW$! 🦆 Day of the Only Child →