#its just mainly about the crazy fan behavior shes presenting

[glowyjellyfish]

OUAT Rewatch Report Part 3: Skin Deep through The Stranger

…yeah, I really binged the hell out of it with this session. I only intended to get past Dreamy and the next thing I knew I was almost done with the season.

1. Skin Deep is so good. I forgot how powerful Rumple’s breakdown in the past and present was. And it’s so interesting how Belle was both right and wrong about his rejection of her. Yes, he didn’t believe she could love him, but he also couldn’t give up his power because his entire plan to find his son would fall apart. And the fact that he lost his son is something he feels unforgivable and unlovable for, and he can’t let go of it because he let go before.

2. I’m not totally sure why Regina inserted herself into Rumple’s business in Skin Deep; clearly she figured he’d either lose his power with his curse broken or get his heart broken, but… why? She believed they were roughly on the same side at that point, I think? Probably just to get power over him, but I feel like it would be interesting to put the flashbacks in order and see whether there’s something she’s getting him back for. Although putting the flashbacks in order is a TRAP, I fell down that rabbit hole before and that way lies madness.

3. All I could think about with August the whole time is the silly stick figure comics I once drew making fun of his very bad plans to get Emma to believe. I enjoy him a lot, and had some feelings about him in these episodes, and his plans are SO BAD it’s hilarious.

4. I find myself constantly thinking about an old theory that I don’t think I came up with myself, about how all the cursed characters also lost the thing they loved most about themselves, and I think it’s strongest with David and his very wishy-washy behavior. This run of episodes are very clear, he does not have the bravery and honor of Charming.

5. god I hate the episode Dreamy it’s so bad and so cheesy. the worst thing about it is that there are good things, mainly in the present day B plot, but the flashback A plot feels like it was written for five year olds. and what’s worse, they could have taken this plot and made it be about how dwarves are manufactured slaves working for the fairies, or about how Blue is manipulative and unsympathetic when it doesn’t serve her needs. Getting something interesting out of it. But they didn’t, it’s just dumb.

6. I still think Red-Handed may be the best episode of season 1. Such a good, well-told story. Complete arcs in both the flashbacks and present day that complement and inform one another while also advancing the plot. Not exactly the most surprising twist to Little Red Riding Hood, but played to perfection. I’m a sucker for a werewolf story, but come on this episode is fantastic. Going out of its way to show Red’s strengths and how they aren’t what one would expect just knowing surface things about her. (and I am of the opinion that Whale was trying to be gentlemanly by escorting her where she was going, and it came off badly because of his past behavior)

7. This run of episodes is when the Snow and Charming and Mary Margaret and David melodrama began to get tiresome. I think it was supposed to be that way, because Regina is trying very hard to keep them apart and punish Snow, but they could have made that more clear.

8. I love how Rumple basically does everything but smoosh Snow and Charming together yelling “NOW KISS”

9. I’m not the biggest fan of Jefferson; I like him better in flashbacks and am still annoyed people wanted to ship him with Emma given his entire creepy nutball behavior in this episode. But Sebastian Stan does act his little heart out, doesn’t he? I would have liked it more if they pushed “memories of both worlds plus 28 years in a gilded cage Time loop drove him even more crazy than he already was” more than “oooh mad hatter sexy” but whatever, he gets the job done. I really wish they had actually explained him at any point, though. Why does he have a magic portal hat, especially if he doesn’t know how to make one? If he didn’t make it, why is he the only one that can use it—I know in the long term he isn’t, because the actor stopped being available. For the sake of his episode, I guess Regina mainly needed him to show her how it worked and to serve as ballast so she could get her father home, and she played up admiring his skills so he would feel like she needed him and not the hat… but still. how did this random guy become the portal-jumping keeper of the hat.

10. So, we more or less know that Regina went out of her way to curse Victor and Jefferson, despite them being in other worlds, because they were involved in destroying what hope she had left (or something, I’ll see when I get to that episode). I already speculated about how Regina designed Victor’s cursed personality, so… Jefferson. He’s quite clear about the way in which he is cursed, but it’s also kind of a big complicated knot. For some reason, she wanted him to know he abandoned his daughter for wealth—that’s how she would describe it, anyway. I can see how she took offense at that even though she manipulated him into it, but I’m not sure it makes sense that she also apparently wanted him to know everything. How could she guarantee he’d never have anybody stumble upon his house? Magic I guess, but dude Regina you could have just given him a cursed personality where his daughter is being kept from him with a restraining order or something. Why take the risk?

11. it is incredibly sad that Regina took all her anger at her murderous, manipulative, abusive mother and focused it on an easily manipulated child and then defined her life around that hate. And Young Regina insists she would be happy with Daniel no matter how they had to live, and she does seem to enjoy being hands-on, but my gut tells me that if Cora hadn’t murdered Daniel, they might have ended up more like pre-OUATW Will and Anastasia than Snow and Charming. Which is, of course, a similarity that OUATW noted and played with. I’m not sure how badly I think it might have gone, but Regina likes nice things and it would have been harder than she’d expect.

12. It fascinates me so much that despite all his power, Rumple is still constantly brought down by his cowardice. He thought having power would remove fear, but he still doesn’t know how to deal with it. At least, I’d have to track his behavior through a carefully sorted timeline to see if he improves or just keeps stomping out potential fears with his power; it’s a flaw of his that keeps popping up.

13. This run of episodes features key evidence for the Blue Is Shady theory, the theory that I believe is constantly hinted at but never once followed up on. She seems very eager to eliminate the Dark One, and quite dishonest and manipulative in how she is going about it. It does not seem to be the source of Rumple disliking fairies, and either way I’m with him on that. They are super cheesy and their outfits are dumb, and it’s not hard to conclude that their cutesiness is meant to distract from their own agenda and manipulative actions. why was Blue so invested in granting wishes to the Gepetto family? What’s up with that? And can’t help but feel like she went to a lot of trouble to arrange herself a potential foot soldier in August, keeping him behaving the way she deems correct with the threat of turning back into wood. And what preparations did the fairies have to make when the curse happened? So shady.

14. this show was very good at dropping Intriguing hints all over the place; the problem was when it stopped picking them up and resolving them. I suspect I like some degree of that. I like shows that leave enough puzzle pieces and holes lying around for me to lose my mind trying to fill, only to then lose interest when it becomes clear the show never intended to follow up on any of those things.

15. I always lived for moments like tiny baby Pinocchio getting terrified by a plane. The other ones I remember right now are Rumple getting on a plane, and in OUATW Cyrus and Alice being amazed at Will’s apartment and playing with the light switch.

Tonight I should finish season 1 and start season 2. I’m also planning to insert OUATW during s2 when it takes place, alternating between the two shows, so it’ll take some time to get through.

Also, I had trouble picking out good gifs for each episode, so today I am just doing a set of gifs describing August, because let’s face it he has now peaked, this is his only moment to shine. I probably could have made a bunch more, because Bart’s an easy comparison, but these were all gifs I already had.

[kxlebcross]

hippity hoppity here goes the long ass rant about my cousin

for context - i was a kid when i started liking kpop, like 13-14 yrs old? i was still collecting plushies, reading magazines for young teens, enjoying some music and playing sims. yes, i may have had my emo episode back then with some heavy music too, and that never went well with my mum’s older sister and her heavily religious husband, but oh boi, the worst was my cousin. she is 6 yrs older than me and that was around the time she started picking out an university to go to, so the focus HAD to be on her, the important future student and her boyfriend and this and that... she was always going on about going to art school and she was really fucking talented so she had all chances to be a really great artist, getting married to her boyfriend, wanting a family and all her future, while i was just a middle school kid dressing in all black, who suddenly started enjoying some fun kpop song on their otherwise heavy metal/rock music playlist.

when she find out, she was GIVING ME HELL for it. do you remember 2013 kpop? adtoy by 2pm, ringa linga by gd & taeyang, gentleman by psy or fantastic baby by bigbang? i fucking loved those songs. i was a kid in a really bad place in life after moving 2 countries away from the place where i was born, from all my friends, my school, my life... listen, it’s 10 years hitting this year since my mother decided about moving and i’m still not over it, so just imagine, how bad i must’ve felt back then, when it wasn’t even a year after the move? i was a devastated little kid who found a little joy in some fun, jumpy kpop tones in contrast to the usual heavy music i was listening to usually (do you remember the oldest bring me the horizon songs, all the screaming and anger? think of it as my regular playlist, my mother hated it haha). i was never a diehard fan, never had posters of idols on my walls, i only have like 2 merch pieces (and those aren’t even original cuz we were poor and could never afford it, so i looked up the merch online and my mum had a similar thing done in a local, cheaper workshop for my birthday one time, please don’t judge me for that) and it was just music for me, as well as the english, american, japanese, polish and hungarian music was just music too. 

and i got terrible shit for it from my cousin, who pretty much criticized everything about me: my clothes (we were poor, i was mostly dressing out of second hand shops and surprise - her hand-me-downs), my shitty phone (and old samsung model i got for my 9th or 10th bday), my taste in books (i really REALLY loved king’s books to which one of my classmates introduced me back then), my inability to perfectly speak the language (though i was raised in a bilingual household, the main language in my house was hungarian, and i was a stubborn kid who rarely ever wanted to speak polish at home, so when we moved i could barely speak the language, had to take extra classes every day in school for almost the entire first school year i spent here because i had to learn to write and speak properly), but the biggest shit i always got for kpop, that it’s garbage, that i don’t even understand it, it’s just shitty party music with extra steps... i resented her for that A LOT, which probably had smth to do with the age difference too, but hey, whatever. i always closed up when we visited them and my mum was understanding about it, she pretty much allowed me to just hang around the place and listen to my music, play on my phone or just read a book, and my aunt hated it - but it was at least peaceful, i occasionally got the kpop jab from my cousin which i shrugged off, but that was it... until one time i spoke up.

i can’t remember what it was about - but we were all having lunch and it was easter or christmas maybe, and at a certain point i got called out for something, maybe using my phone under the table? anyway, i spoke up about treating me like shit because i was already 15 by that and i had a big fucking mouth and no tolerance for their bullshit after listening to it for two years, which ended in my mother almost going into a shock after hearing my vicious remark, my aunt’s husband going into a raging fit and my aunt telling my mum that she’s a terrible mother and raised a terrible kid. we left after that and i didn’t return to them in the following years - i just heard from the grapevine that my cousin ended up dropping out of college because “it was just too tiring and too much”, broke up with her boyfriend and then was just sleeping around with some random dudes, and generally just misrailed her life and had to move back in with her parents who were devastated after all their hopes about my cousin went to hell.

i haven’t seen them for years - we sort of reconciled a few years later when my mother forced me to do it; my cousin probably forgot by then whatever shit she was giving me earlier and we hanged out a bit, caught up and shit... i’m pretty sure it was only because she was to get married to her boyfriend and wanted the whole family there? not important. 

the boyfriend is a pretty awful person imo tbh - he has some nationalist tendencies, not once spoke up in a very homophobic and derogatory way about all kind of lgbtq+ people, which in the end resulted in me removing him from all my social medias, because miss me with that nationalism babe. anyway, they got married and moved into their own place and into the family spotlight again, while i finished school and then years after their wedding my mum announced very proudly that i finished school with good grades and got into university - which immediately stirred the shit in the old shit bucket our relations were. my own fucking aunt dared saying that i’ll never succeed in life and will drop out than her own daughter would because i’m not made for a successful life. she never said it to my face - said it to my mother, who gave up a job she loved just so she could send me half a country away from my home so i could study where i wanted. i mean, i have my own issues with my mother too but i can’t not admire her sacrifices she made for me - so that sort off hit it off again with me and i once again burned bridges with them when moving out 3 years ago. seen them maybe two times since then? i mean, i never tried reaching out to them - they only ever got some happy birthdays and merry christmases on facebook, because my mother insisted i do that. they never called or wrote back, not for my birthday, not for christmas, not for anything else. i only found out in the last few months that on that christmas 2 yrs ago, which i spent alone, they were asked by my mum to please invite me over at least for a coffee. they never even called and my mum was heartbroken over it, because she was literal thousands of kilometres away, working and counted on her sister to invite me... my mum’s friends, basically strangers, ended up inviting me over for a christmas dinner in the end. i spent a family holiday with people i’ve literally seen five times in my life and they were more than joyful to have me in their company and they even got me a present, while my technically closes family couldn’t even spare a phone call.

now i’m 23 and my cousin is closing on 30 - and she’s suddenly overcome with that kpop obsession she has, spamming both instagram and facebook with mv links, fantaken photos, band-related posts and news articles, all heart emojis and “OmG i LoVe ThEm” kind of bullshit captions, she’s intensely drooling over certain members she’s posting a lot about, i’m seeing at least 15 posts daily about her bad drawings of members of the band.... listen.... if an artist doesn’t practice for 7+ yrs, the skills they had just start to fade away even if they were really talented (trust me, i know it from my own experiences, i used to know how to draw, sing and play a few instruments when i was young but then i stopped practicing and now the most i can draw in a stickman, i can’t play any instruments for shit and i’m a low average in singing too), but she thinks she’s some motherfucking superstar of drawing portraits (trust me, shes NOT) and keeps spamming all those pics and posts and shit.... and just seeing that sort of brought the memories back, of her treating me like shit over a thing she’s now obsessed with and i’m just sitting here like.... gag.

i could absolutely understand being a fan and being a group stan but there is a certain limit after which being a fan turns into that gross, twisted thing. do you know all those memes that go along the lines of “i don’t hate kpop because of the music, i hate kpop over the r*tarded fans it has”? that’s a whole ass mood. i’m sure that everyone who’s at least interested in kpop heard of the insane psychofan part of the fanbase.... and she’s turning into it. she’s fucking drooling over some famous strangers while she’s like... 30. and has a husband. would it be so hard for her to “keep it in her pants”? i’m super NOT interested in seeing all that crazy fan shit she’s pulling and honestly she’s grossing me out and you know people like her are the reason i can’t even fucking enjoy kpop anymore the way i did earlier - because it’s being fucking pushed down my god damned throat every-fucking-where i look. just calm the very fuck down, please. behave like a god fucking damned adult. 

[quarterfromcanon]

1-4. For the asks

Thank you so much for sending these! <3 

Once I started to answer them, I realized there were comparatively few recent television shows appearing on the list. I seemed to keep gravitating toward older ones I remembered from years ago. I took a handful of days to mull it over in case I was forgetting something, but nothing else comes to mind. Maybe my ongoing list of Shows to Watch During Quarantine will turn up some fresh results but, for now, it looks like I’ll be taking a little trip down memory lane. :) 

This turned out to be a pretty long and rambly post, so I’ll stow it under the cut!

Top 5 TV Shows 

1. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - I can’t imagine this surprises anyone who has been following this blog for the past two years or so. It brought fellow fans into my life, got me back into writing fic, and prompted countless tags of meta. It’s the show my mind drifts to on a weekly basis (if not daily) even a full year after the finale. Just when it seemed I’d reached an age where that level of intense fandom involvement and character attachment might be fading, it proved that quite the opposite was true. I’m very thankful to the series for that, and for the people whose paths have crossed mine as a result.   

2. Schitt’s Creek - This is my #1 Feel Good show and, though I’ve been dodging spoilers for the final season until it gets uploaded to Netflix, I get the impression that it will remain in that top spot. The world feels softer and more hopeful there. It’s healing for my soul. I’m going to have a dreadfully difficult time saying goodbye, but I’m glad there are six season to revisit whenever I want. 

3. Stranger Things - The theme song alone sends such a rush of excitement through me. I love the aesthetic and the atmosphere. I sometimes have mixed feelings about the romances but the FRIENDSHIPS sure do have a direct line to my heartstrings. I think the way they’ve combined media influences into their own story is really neat. You get something that’s new and engaging, but you can also go back and enjoy the sources of inspiration with fresh appreciation. 

4. Joan of Arcadia - I can’t help it. The snark, the jackets, the early 2000s songs, the performances -- the nostalgia for this show is so strong. It’s not without its problems, but it did have some really good things to offer as well. I remember an episode that was one of my earliest introductions to the concept of a trigger, and the effect it could have on a person if exposed to one of theirs. The series dealt a lot with grief and the many forms it can take (I STILL can’t hear Fiona Apple’s cover of “Across the Universe” without getting misty-eyed). I’m also surprised, looking back, at the somewhat positive way I recall them discussing homosexuality on the several occasions that it came up in the show. Not to give too much credit since I don’t think there were recurring canonically LGBTQIA+ characters but, for a kid who spent most days around closed-minded people of a certain religious leaning, it was meaningful along my individual journey. I’d like to provide the several examples that are most vivid in my memory:

A. A girl with short hair, short nails, little to no makeup, and a bulky leather jacket is generally assumed to be a lesbian by the bullies at school. The show directly confronts the fact that “gay” should not be used an insult, that identity should not be assumed without the person telling you so, AND makes sure that the character in question never pushes back by saying harmful things about lesbians despite not actually being one herself. 

B. A boy who is questioning is able to confide in his big brother and have a fairly calm conversation about it; the awkwardness mostly comes from neither of them being accustomed to openly discussing emotions, not from the possibility of a negative response regarding the subject matter. 

C. Another character is accidentally discovered to be gay (he only appears in the one episode, if my memory serves), and some of the leads have the opportunity to share that for personal gain. However, even though he is a popular jock who is a bit of a jerk in the hallways, the show makes it clear that the right choice is still to leave the telling of that information up to him and him alone. 

Like I mentioned, it can’t be said that representation was in abundance here - for instance, I don’t believe anything other than straight or gay was presented as a possibility - but any accepting acknowledgement in a faith-centric series was something for me to hold on to in my still-deeply-closeted days. As a final Very Important personal side note, this show brought Judith Montgomery into my life (pictured below on the left), and that feels like it merits a shoutout for being what I consider a rather significant marker in my awakening. 

THE OVERWHELMING CRUSH I HAD - and still have - is one for the books. 

5. Pushing Daisies - This is another show with an aesthetic I adore. The series has such a fun, whimsical energy. The crime-solving! The clothes! The cast! There's a lot to love. It’s the kind of world I wish I could visit... well, minus the evidently rampant murder rate. 

Top 5 Overrated TV Shows

1. Once Upon A Time - *deep sigh* I tried to stick with it for so long. I think I’ve seen five out of the seven seasons in their entirety. It just felt like everything got mired down by excessive (and increasingly convoluted) subplots, often for the purpose of tossing in as many fairytale and/or Disney characters as possible. Plus, quite honestly, there was too much emphasis on romantic love. For a show whose first season involved a curse being broken by [potential spoiler, I suppose] a mother kissing her son’s forehead, I ultimately found myself up to my ears in romantic ships. It reached such a stifling extent that, if you were not particularly attached to those pairings, there wasn’t a whole lot else to entice further viewing. 

2. Under the Dome - I don’t know for certain what the general public opinion of this series was, but it felt like the commercials always featured alleged rave reviews, so I figured I could include it here. I was vaguely interested in Season 1, mainly as a fan of Rachelle Lefevre’s work. Season 2 pulled me in with the introduction of a new townsperson and I threw WAY too much of my heart into that attachment, which backfired when that character was killed. I made quite the spectacle of my heartbreak, so much so that my family doesn’t let me mention this show around them anymore. :P Season 3 was, to phrase it delicately, not a great time. The series did introduce me to a few new-to-me actors, though, so that was cool. 

3. Bates Motel - Even the incentive of learning that the two characters I liked most share a lot of screen time later in the series hasn’t been enough to call me back to this one. I don’t know if it was the pacing that put me off or what, but the prospect of finishing the remaining seasons feels so daunting. There are evidently five seasons in total and I believe I’ve only seen two of them thus far. I will probably muddle through it someday just to see how it goes, but the fact that I am so disinclined to prioritize it made this feel like a fair addition to the list. 

4. Lost - My interest in this series unfortunately waned right before fervent fandom spiked. I don’t have any specific complaints that come to mind about what I saw; I just sort of drifted and then stayed away. Teachers I liked and peers I spent time with were starting to latch on to the show and I couldn’t find even the slightest inclination to give it a second try. However, did I still dutifully read all the latest installments in my friend’s Sawyer Ford and Kate Austen fanfiction when she passed me handwritten copies at lunch? Sure. I was glad it made her happy, even if I was no longer a viewer. 

5. Hemlock Grove - I say this as someone who still mourns the fates of some characters in this show, so I wouldn’t go so far as to claim that the series stopped being able to make me feel anything. I’m just of the opinion that, in some ways, it might’ve been better off stopping at one season. That’s where the book it was based on ends, and things just didn’t feel as cohesive after that. Season 3 especially was - borrowing from my above review of Under the Dome - not a great time. That being said, there are also certain elements from the book that I could’ve done without in the Season 1 adaptation but... well... here we are. 

Top 5 Underrated TV Shows

1. Picnic at Hanging Rock - Another one that won’t surprise followers of this blog. I have rhapsodized about it quite frequently since I found it a little over a month ago. It’s a period piece mystery miniseries with LGBTQIA+ representation, gorgeous costumes, and Samara Weaving. This felt specifically designed to wedge its way into my heart, and I’m quite content with the space it now occupies.

2. Dark - I’m so intrigued by the overlapping timelines with all of the morally gray characters. It’s possible to like one of these people in the timeline where they’re young but dislike them as adults, or vice versa. It also makes me think of Rant by Chuck Palahniuk a little tiny bit with the idea that time travel, specifically tampering with your own timeline, might make you physically and behaviorally unrecognizable to yourself. And the SONG CHOICES! I have gotten some solid new music selections from this series. 

3. Sense8 - I still need to watch the finale. I really do. But I knew it would make me sad so I’ve avoided it for... two years now? Pretty close, I think. The concept is fascinating and the cast is so strong. Plus the cinematography! They came up with some of the coolest ways to depict the link these characters share and what it’s like when they connect over distance. The planning and careful editing it all must’ve taken... I remain in awe. 

4. Penny Dreadful - There were definitely some story/writing choices I didn’t particularly like along the way, but I did get engrossed in the creepy goodness and the performances -- Eva Green’s Vanessa Ives most of all. It left me wishing for more period piece “monster mash” stories, because having all those classic characters in one place was a blast. It also helped me understand why Helen McCrory was once slated to play Bellatrix Lestrange because she can be terrifying. Oh and Sarah Greene in her Wild West outfits? Perdita Weeks with short red hair in fencing garb, and later in all leather with boots and a long jacket? I WAS NOT PREPARED AND I HAVE STILL NOT RECOVERED. I NEVER WILL.

5. Wonderfalls - There’s some cringe-inducing handling of certain representation in the series, but I have such a weak spot for quippy outcasts who become reluctant chosen ones (Joan Girardi in Joan of Arcadia, Wynonna Earp, Jaye Tyler in this series, et cetera). I also really love the sibling dynamics here. They bicker, tease one another, help each other out of trouble, and have rare but genuine heart-to-hearts. Caroline, Lee, and Katie all did such a great job blending their characters’ adult personalities with certain childhood attributes that rise to the surface in the presence of family.  

Top 5 Movies

1. Addams Family Values - I’ve rewatched this movie at least once annually since I found it in Media Play at age 13. Usually, I’ll play it around Halloween or, at the latest, Thanksgiving. It’s mouth-along-with-every-line level ingrained in my memory. I find myself leaning forward in my seat before favorite parts because I’m still that excited to relive them. Why this movie, and why this devotion to such a degree? It’s hard to explain, even to myself. I can tell you, however, that I hold up every other portrayal of the Addams characters to the versions found in this. Everybody in the cast just feels that perfect for their part. 

2. Clue - I was already pretty fond of this movie to begin with, but then my sister got older and claimed it as a favorite of her own, so now she just supplies me with further excuses to watch it repeatedly. It’s also been a bonding piece of media with a couple of close friends and such through the years. It’s incredible to think not everyone in it was the first choice for their roles; what everybody brings to the table is so top-notch that I wouldn’t have it any other way. I also LOVE knowing that it originally went to theaters with different endings depending on which showing you attended. I gather people weren’t terribly thrilled with the stunt back then, but I kinda think some moviegoers would be into that approach these days? Then again, one hit that tried something different tends to start a fad, so maybe I’d end up regretting the suggestion after a while. :P

3. The Craft - This. Movie. Yes, Act III is a major bummer even though I know it’s coming, and I’ll always wish it ended differently. Even so. This. Movie. I tend to headcanon mostly for shows and sometimes books, but The Craft is a beloved exception. I love so much about it: the magic, the music, the clothes, the settings, the dynamics within the friend group, the performances. I had no idea when I first got the DVD at 17 that it would become such a part of my life, but I’m so glad it found its way to me. 

4. Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion - The soundtrack is a glorious ’80s and ’90s treat for my ears. The colorful costumes are perfectly suited to the main characters’ version of the world. There are so many great lines and it feels like everyone is having a lot of fun in their roles. I LOVE HEATHER MOONEY SO MUCH. She’s my awful, scathingly sarcastic, little grungy grump and she fills my heart with joy. 

5. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - I was pretty sure at least one of the three had to appear on here. I think, if I were to tally them all up, The Return of the King features most of my favorite moments, so it wins the spot. “I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you!”, ‘Edge of Night,’ Éowyn in battle, The Army of the Dead, ‘Into the West’... I end up crying during the end credits every time. So, yeah, ultimately, I would choose the third part of the trilogy if I could only watch one. 

Phew, that’s it! All the questions answered, all the shows and movies listed! Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read it all, and thanks again to @monaiargancoconutsoy for sending in the prompts! <3

[sometimesrosy]

A fan asked Bob at SW4 if Bellarke will happen or not in s6 romantic wise and he laughed and said ‘mmmm..s7’ laughing. So do you still think that they were telling a 2 season story instead of postponing Bellarke till their relationship no longer runs its course?

I didn’t hear that. What I heard was Bob saying he couldn’t say anything about bellarke because it would all be a spoiler. So to me, anything he says after “I’m not telling you,” especially if it’s vague and he laughs while saying it, is not evidence. 

I’m just going to assume that he’s not going to tell us anything, no matter how much we want his statements to be confirmation or denial. And as that statement doesn’t say much, contradicts what he already said, and I did not see what he said or the context of it, it doesn’t make sense to consider it evidence before more information can clarify it.

When I talk about Bellarke, I’m not REALLY looking at the external commentary. I might take it into consideration, but as always, I am analyzing the TEXT. My speculation is based on the text. I DO listen when JR tells us what themes and stories he’s going to explore in the main story or in the character arcs. Because that’s part of understanding story. But I don’t take the commentary ABOUT the show to be the show itself. Everything they say has to be held up against what is happening in the story.

When people listen to actor comments at cons, especially after them saying they aren’t telling, and then use that as the ENTIRETY of their understanding, that’s not analysis. That’s gossip. I don’t like gossip. 

Taking what they say and applying it to the canon to see how that affects your interpretation makes it analysis. “If I look at s5 with this quote in mind, how does it affect the story or my understanding of the story.”

My theory that they were telling a s2 story didn’t actually come from Bellarke. It came from Raven, I think. When I felt dissatisfied at her lack of story and character development. She’s always gotten big character development before, so what happened? Murphy got all the character development, and usually his character arc is a side story. And then I was like, hey, he got more development than usual and Raven got less. Oh wait, that’s kind of like they just expanded the story to fit two seasons instead of just one.

And THEN I took that theory and started holding it up against all the other storylines. And i noticed that MANY of the storylines were left hanging. Madi becoming Heda, Kabby, Zaven, The Blake siblings, despite how IMPORTANT a story it was, it left us with Bellamy nearly denying that she’s his family? There’s no way that couldn’t feel unfinished. It’s too important to the entire story. Echo’s story really barely got started. JR told us her story was about family, belonging and loyalty, AND that her character ended season 5 “controversial,” but we never went INTO those themse and Echo wasn’t controversial, so I thought, okay, I can see where those themes COULD fit, and there’s a start to them with the raven-shaw argument, but we never go there. So that said to me that he was talking about his WHOLE story arc for Echo– but we have barely started it? So that’s where it’s going? So he’s telling the story as if s6 was the s5 story. And that fits with my expanded s5-6 storyline. 

And THEN when I look at Bellarke’s place in the story, and it feels like so much was left unsaid, and there are literal major secrets that affect Bellarke’s relationship that are just HANGING there waiting to be spoken to change everything, it is clear that their relationship story is still smack dab in the middle. 

I don’t even know what you mean “postponing bellarke till their relationship no longer runs its course.” You mean baiting? No, man. I think bellarke is currently romantic in canon, so it’s not baiting, it’s HAPPENING. They are smack dab in the middle of it. Love stories are about what happens BEFORE they get together. Getting together is the CULMINATION of a love story. If you stop in the middle of a love story, They aren’t a couple. Heck, you can stop nearly at the end of Pride and Prejudice, and there is no Eliza and Darcy, because we’ve just found out that Darcy is engaged to another woman and his aunt has told Eliza that she has NO CHANCE WITH DARCY. it’s over. donesies. “postponed till their relationship no longer runs its course.” But if you get to the END of the story, you find out that was the motivation for Darcy to realize that Eliza actually cared for him. And he came back to her. And asked her again. And she said not one word to tell him to stop. And then they got married. End story. Bait? No. STORY. 

So what was the Bellarke story line for season 5? They start off separate/dead. 5.01 is about them living WITHOUT each other. The REUNION was a slow reveal that lasted through 5.01, 5.03 and 5.04, and still leaving us kind of unsatisfied. They kept taking steps towards each other, but never really felt TOGETHER until…. well, until the last 30 minutes of the season finale. 

I said. What does that mean then? That means that season 1 was a bellarke story. from 5.01-5.13 in which they told the story of how Clarke and Bellamy were reunited– as soulmates. And I thought about the season and realized that each episode, even the ones where they were not together showed movement IN THE STORY OF HOW THEY CAME BACK TOGETHER. The WHOLE season was about the NON ROMANTIC REUNION.

AND YET! And yet, within the non-romantic reunion of partners, the head and the heart, they dropped HEAVY romantic feelings visible to all. Which were plot points that turned the story. And THEN they refused to to talk to each other about them, or admit that was going on. So now we have the non-romantic reunion with CANON romantic feelings hanging over our heads. 

2199 days of pining. Bellamy torn between his official girlfriend and his soulmate who was back from the dead. And NEITHER of those stories resolved, but both affecting Clarke, Bellamy, Madi, Octavia, Marper and Echo– although she doesn’t know it yet. And THAT she doesn’t know it yet means it’s a story still happening. 

And yet it’s not a cliffhanger. The cliff hanger is the planet. The Bellarke relationship hit a pause in it’s development in their reunion, like the moment before it revs up the engine to go faster, with that 2199 reveal, and Bellamy’s changed behavior but lack of confrontation about it. It’s like a bated breath as we wait for the other shoe to drop. 

So then it became clear to me that they were telling a romantic story in s5. 

I then compared the story they were telling to my speculation for last year, because, of course, I was wrong about it happening so fast. And when I compared the s5 to my ideas about how Bellarke would develop I realized that my theory for last season was actually still correct and still on target, but only half way there. I was rushing the set up because I saw it in my head as the tropes that were already clear. But they did not rush it. They slowly set it up in 5.01, 5.03, 5.04, 5.05…. yeah all season. pulling it out of stories with characters who were not Bellarke, and so actively making romantic Bellarke PART of the narrative for all the characters. 

It was clear to me that s5 was a slow burn love story about the obstacles keeping the soulmates apart. Clarke’s death was solved. Their changes as people was actually the longest story there, and was solved. Their conflict over Octavia and Wonkru was solved. Clarke feelings of not being his people was kind of solved, but that might expand into belonging and spacekru in season 6. So she got back together with BELLAMY but not the rest of the family– wait that’s half way through the story. S5 INTRODUCED B/E and made it a REAL obstacle (in the trope of soulmates it is not going to stop them so i don’t worry about it, but in the narrative it’s a REAL obstacle,) that has been presented, caused Clarke to draw back, served to point out that Bellamy’s love for Clarke is not platonic but ROMANTIC, and put to bed, literally, until morning. A story that is HALF WAY TOLD. 

So. Like, my theory was influenced by some things that JR said, but mainly is working on narrative storylines that are being told, being set up, being resolved or not resolved. Look. I write novels. When you start a story, you finish the story. The 100 writers are proving that they come back to stories to finish them, and it might FEEL like they aren’t addressing them, but they are. The fandom feels unsatisfied with the stories (like bellarke or the blake siblings) because those stories halted in the middle. But if you TRUST them to finish the stories, you can see they are setting up the events that would naturally finish those un finished stories, and they’re using the other characters and the plot to do so. 

So then I take Bob’s (unconfirmed, i still need to see the source,) statement and say, how does that reflect upon what I know and interpret with the show itself and what he and other people have already said.

First question is: What does “romantic” mean? Because if you ask me “is romantic Bellarke going to finally happen in s6, I personally am thinking… errr it’s happening now, so what do you think counts as romantic if you’re not counting the romantic story on screen? Are you looking for the trifecta of confession/kiss/sex? Are you looking for established couple? Are you looking for the culmination of a romantic relationship is marriage, family and children? Then knowing that he’s not allowed to talk about ships, and you’re putting him in an awkward position and he’s awkwardly laughing. I mean. You don’t count romance in front of you so he can say anything, right? None of it will be a spoiler because you don’t see it. Maybe you never will until after you get kiss/confession/sex and an acknowledged relationship where they get to be official. IDK. Sure. s7. Go crazy.

me: stick to the text.fandom: BUT THE GOSSIP IS CONFIRMATION OF RANDOM THEORIES THAT ARE NOT BACKED UP BY CANON!!!

i don’t know nonny. If you don’t want to interpret the show with me and would rather be like BUT BOB LAUGHED AT ROMANCE, i don’t know what to tell you. You kinda got the wrong blogger. Although maybe not, because I just showed you how i dealt with extra-narrative commentary within my analysis. 

Listen. I’m a story geek. That’s what I like. Story. Narrative. Writing. Sci Fi. Character development. When I fangirl, it’s through these things. I am not, nor have I ever been into gossip, rumors, fanwars, shipwars, stan or antis. I like talking about stuff I love. Fandom is too interested in fandom politics, power plays, who said what, character assassinations, and invalidating the canon so that fanon and fandom can be more important. Not my thing. Don’t come to me and go “AH HA!” what do you think about canon now? Did that statement change canon? No. Does it work with canon? No. Did bob already tell us he’s not telling us? Yes. Let it go. They aren’t giving us confirmation of Bellarke, one way or the other. 

[angrykpoprants]

I don't think I'm gonna support the next comeback in August. It's mainly due to armys being terrible the accusing winner's mino of pedophilia, Hatred towards got7 and rampant racism towards black fans and the recent racism the k army directed to black fans over fan cafe photos and bts continues to be silent on it has rubbed me wrong way and I don't feel right supporting the next comeback as a black fan myself

I don’t really think its wrong to not fully support the comeback, you still have every right to call yourself a fan/army. Truth be told I haven’t fully supported their comebacks since B,S,& T. I still buy their albums and watch the music video once but that’s about it, if you don’t want to watch the music video or buy the album also, that doesn’t mean your less of a fan either. I kind of stay away from watching the live performances and all that stuff because there’s just so much negativity that their fans put out their. 


For the people that don’t know whats going on about Mino I’ll explain it below since it can be a sensitive topic and I don’t want to trigger people. But for the TL:DR he is not a pedophile. 


The armys never fail to surprise me. Don’t you remember during their second Mama performance when they collaborated with got7, armys went around supporting got7 just because they performed with bts and they said that they were friends with them… They even supported Jackson because Jackson said that he’s friends with Rap Mon, yet now that got7 is stealing the spotlight from bts they all of a sudden hate got7. I feel like armys wake up angry and wanting to fight people everyday. Got7 has been around for a while, people supported them even when they were featured in an episode of who is next. Got7 is very talented and they work hard so they deserve to get attention. I’m sorry armys but there are a plethora of very talented kpop groups, bts is not the only one of its kind… heck, bts isn’t even “original” there literally Bigbang mixed with B.A.P B.A.P has been around a about 19 months before bts and bigbang has been around 7 years before bts. 


I know you said that they fan cafe thing is synonymous with racism and I full on believe you but I’m going to address them as separate because both of them are a major issue in and of itself.

As far as the racism thing… there are a lot of accounts of armys of all kinds of races being racist towards other fans… I’ve even experienced blatant racism from their fans at both TRB and wings. At wings my friend who is full Asian and I were waiting patiently in line, we were keeping to ourselves and we were one of the last people to arrive. In the line that we were in the people in front of us kept looking back and they said that “I thought they just came to America for their white fans“ and I was thinking “did I really just hear that?” who knows what else they said when they got in the venue… It’s just sad that those two girls have that much hatred inside of them, at TRB I attended with my mom as I was only 15, and my friend was 13, both her and my mom are full white. People assumed that my friend was my moms daughter which is understandable, I’m not mad at that, I don’t really look like my mom either. As soon as the heard me refer to her as Mom and my friend refer to her as Miss.P for anonymity… its not that me or my mom have a problem with remaining anonymous but its more like I don’t know who follows me and for what reason… mainly it because I don’t want any retaliation from bts fans maybe someday I’ll be less anonymous, they started treating both me and my mom super rude and weird. Even during TRB, my mom had went upstairs to go to the bar, there was another mom there but she was talking about how awesome Asia is and how her two children younger than me are going to go to Korea and blah blah blah, it was basically this fantasy-land view of Asia and Asians. My mom then told the lady that being married to an Asian isn’t all lollipop and rainbows and living in Hawaii my mom dated a few other Asian men before she married my Father. After that her behavior towards my mom changed, as if she was disgusted over who my mom chose to marry, yet she created that same-like fantasy in her head for her daughters. I had also gone up there to get some water and to get out of the crowd I have asthma and I forgot my inhaler, hot/lukewarm water helps sometimes and the look on her face she she saw me looked was a real look of disgust, she was extremely rude to me too. 
If that’s the type of prejudice that I face, being a hapa… I cant imagine what you go through.

Now with the fancafe issue, ever since they opened up the fancafe, the photo have been share left and right. Am I saying its okay? No, it’s against the rules. They have said that they were going to shut down the fancafe or ban people if content gets shared but it seems to just be empty threats from bighit. What’s not cool is that they put the blame on black fans. Fans of all races have been sharing fancafe photos. If they truly want the sharing of the photos to stop then they should report it to bighit… but at this point are they even going to do anything? Its just like how they say that legal action will take place of the content from their dvd’s gets shared but does anyone actually get sued?

Yes, your right, bts and/or bighit should step in at this moment because there is way too much toxicity in that fandom. It’s not hard to tell the fans “hey dont be mean”. “dont be racist”, or even “be nice to other fandoms”. B.A.P has said all of that to their fans, just take a look at BYG’s speech in Atlanta. Bigbang has even said something along the lines of “its okay for you to like other groups, we dont really care” which i believe somewhat help die down the fanwars in the VIP fandom. Although, I dont think that’s what bighit cares about anymore. Yes, bts should be able to come out and say it themselves but like i have said previously, we dont really know what their contract entails, we dont even know if they are aloud to say anything that could potentially jeopardize the money coming into to bighit, and that’s all bighit cares about now, I dont even think bts has freedom of speech at this point, they seem to manufactured as of now. Although, bts has been subtlety dissing their fans lately and I think that this fandom needs it at this point.

Below will be the controversy with Mino.

Now about the Mino pedophile issue, no… Mino is not a pedophile and he didn’t commit pedophilia. Mino was following an instagram account that was ran by a photographer called prettypuke. I’ve know about this account for a while because he had been following since 2015, although some fans say that he was hacked. Now that photographer was also the co-director for CL music video Dr. Pepper which was released in 2015. I also believe that he had worked with other YG artist before and other people from YG were also following him.

What happened is that there was this article in published saying that Mino was a pervert… not a pedophile which, in some cases can go hand and hand but not all perverts not pedophiles. The reason why that made headlines in Korea is becuase of their online censorship and pornography ban which its more like anything that can be sexual is banned, Then this Army got a hold of the article and “translated” it but she flat out called him a pedophile. The reason for that is there was this picture that was uploaded and it was a boy with a buttplug on is forehead, what seemed to be him pretending to be a unicorn. However, just because there was a sex toy in that picture that did not make the picture sexual. There are a ton of videos and pictures where children find their parents toys. It got so bad to the point where Mino unfollowed everyone on his Instagram and the photographer had to make a statement. He said “Here is context to the image causing so much controversy in Korea. I fucking hate that it has come to this. This is my son Casper two years ago. Children are extremely inquisitive. My job as a dad is to be present, educate him, and protect him” along with that he said “My son happen to find his mother’s toy and began to play with with it. To him it’s just a found object, disgusting adults are the ones bringing negative connotation to such a simple image that shows no sexual intent“ 

The army then tweeted out a half-assed apology, she really didn’t apologize to Mino per se but more apologizing out of embarrassment because there even were a group of armys attacking her. Its just so sickening that she thought that that was okay to say because forever his image will be messed up due to people deeming him a pedophile and it seems like people just started to forget about the whole SMTM controversy. There are no accusations that they can use to even make him seem like a pedophile. This could potentially mess up his solo debut. No matter what, when a man gets accused of being a pedophile, rapist, molester, etc… and hes proven innocent that label will forever be on him for the rest of his life, not necessarily though the legal system but through out the street.  Part of me is also think that she did that to try to tarnish winners name because after Everyday their fame has been increasing like crazy.

[bolddeducktionneverfails]

Launchpad’s Association with Della Duck: A Secret Agenda?

When it comes to working for the McDuck family, I don’t think LP’s just along for the ride. He certainly can't be in it for the pay: in the old show, Scrooge pays him pennies an hour. If that's still true, why on earth would LP bother sticking around? That isn't enough money to sustain him. (But then again, Scrooge stated “Every dent is coming out of your salary!” which ultimately causes him to work for nothing...still though.) I’m sure he wanted to befriend Scrooge in the process since he wants to be friends with everyone and possibly because he wanted to take the opportunity to work for someone so important, but maybe he’s also hoping for an exchange of information. The main reason why he could be working for Scrooge might be to find out what happened to Della. If anyone has an idea, it’d be Scrooge.

When the reboot opens up, we find out that LP just started working for Scrooge. He was really eager to talk about the aviation aspect of his life. His mentions of being a pilot could have been him seeing if he could carefully segue into asking Scrooge about Della. (Because bad things do happen to those who speak of her.) He was low-key trying to motivate Scrooge to come out of retirement so he could go on an adventure with him. Maybe he’s hoping that one of Scrooge’s adventures could possibly lead him to her or he wants to stay close to the family in case anything important leaks out.

Launchpad could be playing dumb (to an extent) so no one will suspect anything and to remain on Scrooge’s good side.

Launchpad has access to the mansion and he’s just roaming around the place. Does he live there? He just so happens to be behind the door whenever the word “pilot” is mentioned. Was he eavesdropping?

In the pilot episode of Darkwing Duck, “Darkly Dawns the Duck”, LP mentions having a scrapbook of newspaper clippings. Frank Angones confirmed on his Tumblr that this will still be relevant in the reboot. When Scrooge goes to look at his diving outfit, he walks past an old ripped up newspaper with a headline that alluded to Della’s disappearance. It’s likely that LP could have his own copy of the same article in his scrapbook with who knows what else.

Della and Launchpad definitely could have known each other, they’re both from well-known families with aviation relations: LP from The Flying McQuack stunt pilots (assuming this will be carried on into the reboot) and Della piloting for The Richest Duck in The World.  Della may have been his friend from flight school or their paths just so happen to cross one day and a friendship formed from that. Launchpad was probably a fan of hers; he was probably a fan of the McDuck’s in general with their globe-trotting and whatnot. Heck, Della could have been a fan of his family. For all we know, they may have inspired her to become a pilot️! The more active you are in your field, the more people you’ll meet within that field.

Why are Della and Launchpad matching? No, they’re not straight up matching but they're both pilots wearing brown and green.That doesn't automatically mean that they have a connection, but sometimes in art, it can signify importance.  One could argue that they have these colors because they’re pilots, but judging by characters like Baloo, Ripcord, Loopy and Gadget, it doesn't seem to be a requirement to wear them.

Tᴏᴘ, Lᴇғᴛ ᴛᴏ Rɪɢʜᴛ: Tʜᴇ TᴀʟᴇSᴘɪɴ ᴠᴇʀsɪᴏɴ ᴏғ Bᴀʟᴏᴏ ᴀɴᴅ Gᴀᴅɢᴇᴛ Hᴀᴄᴋᴡʀᴇɴᴄʜ ғʀᴏᴍ Cʜɪᴘ ᴀɴᴅ Dᴀʟᴇ : Rᴇsᴄᴜᴇ Rᴀɴɢᴇʀs.

Bᴏᴛᴛᴏᴍ, Lᴇғᴛ ᴛᴏ Rɪɢʜᴛ: Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ’s ғᴀᴍɪʟʏ; Rɪᴘᴄᴏʀᴅ MᴄQᴜᴀᴄᴋ, LP ᴏғ ᴄᴏᴜʀsᴇ, Bɪʀᴅɪᴇ MᴄQᴜᴀᴄᴋ ᴀɴᴅ Lᴏᴏᴘʏ MᴄQᴜᴀᴄᴋ.

Only Baloo has been confirmed for the reboot (not explicitly, but c’mon, you can’t have Cape Suzette without Baloo), but I think it’s safe to say that whenever any of these characters will show up, they’re not going to lose their signature colors. That breaks the rules of the character designs they’re going for. This show likes to update old characters while still retaining key features. (Like Webby for example, she has an indigo vest and a purple skirt now, but she still has pink articles of clothing.) Brown is very common when it comes to what pilots wear, but those shades of green? Whenever green is incorporated in aviator outfits, they’re usually in much duller shades and sometimes boarder-lining brown.

At first, I thought their colors were some kinda indicator of the flight school they went to, but I later began to doubt that. Their outfits probably aren't something that a school would enforce anyway, they’re a little too casual; Della’s wearing shorts and LP’s even more so with his t-shirt and cap.

I also thought maybe what Della is wearing in the reboot was a reference to her pilot outfit in the “80 is prachtig”/”Family Ties” comic that the show-runners drew inspiration from for her character. I took another look at it and the design is completely different from what Reboot!Della wears. Green and brown are present, but overall, the design of it isn’t strong enough to make a good comparison.

In “Woo-oo!”, Della is depicted in an outfit closer to what LP used to wear in the old series, but in other depictions, her outfit falls more in line with what Reboot!LP wears when he's adventuring.

Nᴏᴛᴇ: Tʜᴇ ᴘɪᴄᴛᴜʀᴇᴏɴ ᴛᴏᴘ ʀɪɢʜᴛ ᴡᴀs ᴅᴀʀᴋᴇʀ ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴛʜɪs ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ᴏғ ɪᴛ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ʜɪᴅᴅᴇɴ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ɢᴀʀᴀɢᴇ. I ᴀʟᴛᴇʀᴇᴅ ɪᴛ ᴀ ʙɪᴛ ᴛᴏ ɢɪᴠᴇ ᴀɴ ɪᴅᴇᴀ ᴏғ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪᴛ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʟᴏᴏᴋ ʟɪᴋᴇ ɪɴ ɴᴏʀᴍᴀʟ ʟɪɢʜᴛɪɴɢ.

Tʜᴇ ᴘɪᴄᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴏᴛᴛᴏᴍ ʀɪɢʜᴛ ɪs ғʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏᴍɪᴄ “Oʟᴅ Mᴏɴᴛᴇᴘʟᴜᴍᴀɢᴇ Hᴀᴅ A Cʜɪᴄᴋᴇɴ!” ɪɴ Issᴜᴇ #2 ᴏғ IDW’s DᴜᴄᴋTᴀʟᴇs sᴇʀɪᴇs

Della’s scarf is often a shade of blue-green and LP’s hat falls in that spectrum. Blue-green is the dominant color in Della’s dedication room (and the dining room where she shoved Donald’s head into a cake, lol). LP was mainly wearing a shade this color and other various shades of green in “The Impossible Summit of Mt. Neverrest”.

Launchpad’s standard wardrobe has never had the color green or blue-green in it until the reboot. (As far as I know, anyway.) He had a light-green scarf in Fabian Mense’s concept art and now he wears two green articles of clothing. LP completely loses the color green when he’s a chauffeur. Based on the covers for the new DT comics and other early promotional material, it’s suggested that he was originally going to wear his chauffeur outfit consistently no matter what task he was doing. Somewhere later in production, it was decided for him to have two separate outfits.

Tᴏᴘ, Lᴇғᴛ ᴛᴏ Rɪɢʜᴛ: Fʀᴏᴍ ᴏɴᴇ ᴏғ 2ᴠᴇɪɴᴛᴇ’s ᴘʀᴏᴍᴏs, ᴘᴀʀᴛ ᴏғ Cᴏᴠᴇʀ B ғᴏʀ Issᴜᴇ #4, ᴀɴᴅ ᴘᴀʀᴛ ᴏғ Cᴏᴠᴇʀ B ғᴏʀ Issᴜᴇ #5.

Bᴏᴛᴛᴏᴍ, Lᴇғᴛ ᴛᴏ Rɪɢʜᴛ: A sᴄʀᴇᴇɴsʜᴏᴛ ғʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ Dᴜᴄᴋʙᴜʀɢ Qᴜᴇsᴛ ᴍᴏʙɪʟᴇ ɢᴀᴍᴇ, ғʀᴏᴍ ᴀɴ ᴇᴀʀʟʏ ᴘɪᴇᴄᴇ ᴏғ ᴘʀᴏᴍᴏ ᴀʀᴛ.

Della and Launchpad’s outfits seem to suggest that they’re very in-tune with each other. This is looking a little too close to purely be a designing coincidence...

So...they’re both pilots, they have a good chance of knowing who the other is, it’s very likely they were friends and they’re sporting similar colors. With all these similarities, factors and connectedness going on, one can’t help but wonder…

Could Launchpad…

...actually be…

....the long-lost father of the triplets?!

(Yes, I'm going THERE! And yes, I know, but here me out.)

I mean, with all this talk of mom, it’s only a matter of time before there’s talk about dad, right? LP and Della are oddly connected from the get-go. In “Woo-oo!”, the pilot episode, Launchpad, a pilot, constantly states “I’m a pilot!I’m a pilot!I’m a pilot!” and what do we find out at the end of the two-parter? HDL’s mom is a pilot. Like...what’s with all this pilotception? I’m having a hard time believing that the show-runners would set something up like this for it to go nowhere️.

We still don’t know too much about Launchpad. He has this mysterious background that the characters aren't really paying attention to; especially Scrooge. He constantly ignores LP every time he tries to talk to him about his life.

It seems to be implied that he was a world traveler before he started working for Scrooge. He claims that the road is his office and he has the ability to speak other languages. (How well he’s able to speak them isn’t exactly certain. He suddenly spoke in Swedish when Webby was trying to lie to her grandmother and he probably knows Chinese as well.)

It’s been confirmed that the old episode, “Double O Duck” will be reworked into this show, and depending on how the crew plans on using its story elements, he could have been or could still be a spy! Back in the 90’s there was a Disneyland live show called “Plane Crazy” that involved Launchpad along with a few other Disney Afternoon characters being recruited by the FBI to retrieve a stole spy jet. There’s another secret agent connection right there! The show-runners aren't just pulling from the comics and the previous show, there’s a good possibility that they could use something like this as a source. (I mean, they made something as obscure as a Toontown Online reference! Almost anything is possible!)

No one expects much from Launchpad McQuack. People think he’s just this stupid comic relief guy who keeps crashing planes everywhere. The Macau trip proved that there’s more to him than what he seems. LP is an outsider with a ton of connections.This won’t be the first time he surprises us.

If he’s the father, why does he not remember his children? At first I was thinking that maybe some mind-wiping might have come into play. (How far is Scrooge willing to go to cover up Della’s existence? What the heck happened to the mailman?!) It would explain his odd behavior and why he’s so unfocused, but now I’m leaning more towards an event in the past that could have prevented him from returning to his family.

He could have gone missing himself, he probably didn't even know Della was pregnant during his absence. Maybe he had a severe injury that kept him sidelined. (No one has ever died during LP’s crashes, but has anyone ever gotten hurt?) LP is already a clumsy-accident prone character who always ends up getting in some sort of dangerous incident. In the episodes we've seen so far, something always ends up impairing him during the adventures.

                       Let’s check the hit counter:

Bitten up by snakes

Falling off a mountain

Freaking out about ice fever

Several arrows to the back

He had an eye-patch in that same episode, so he possibly sustained an eye injury

Crashing into a wall

Getting paranoid about mole monsters

He’s also apparently sunk a helicopter in a wave pool once

Tʜᴇ Iɴsᴛᴀɢʀᴀᴍ ᴅᴇsᴄʀɪᴘᴛɪᴏɴ ɪs ғʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜɪs ᴘᴏsᴛ. Iᴛ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ʙᴇ ʀᴇғᴇʀʀɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀᴍᴏᴜɴᴛ ᴏғ ᴛɪᴍᴇs ᴛʜᴇ ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ ᴡɪʟʟ ʟᴏᴏᴘ ʀᴀᴛʜᴇʀ ᴛʜᴀɴ Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ ᴄᴏɴsᴛᴀɴᴛʟʏ ʜᴀᴠɪɴɢ ᴛʜɪɴɢs ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴ ᴛᴏ ʜɪᴍ, ʙᴜᴛ sᴛɪʟʟ.

In HDL’s original comic debut, their mom leaves Donald a letter, mentioning their father being hospitalized due to a firecracker exploding under his chair. Doesn't sound too far off from some kind of crazy thing that could have happen to Launchpad. 

[Note: Della originally started out as Donald’s cousin.]

Sky Pirates exist in this universe due to Talespin, maybe they raided his plane and kidnapped him. If he’s a spy, he could have been called out on a long mission. Launchpad could have also been in the military. I've seen comments when some viewers were speculating that LP might be suffering from PTSD due to how badly he reacted in “Terror of the Terrifirmians!”. The oldest illustration of the triplets’ father (WHY did they give him human ears?! ARRHG!) depicts him having a buzz cut hairstyle. This could be suggesting he was a soldier. Launchpad did army crawl in “The Impossible Summit of Mt. Neverrest!”, and there was a scene where he was acting like a drill sergeant in “The Living Mummies of Toth-Ra!”. Heh, I guess that could be another explanation to why he’s wearing green.  (LP just strikes me as a character who has had multiple occupations in the past.) 

[Note: Della was previously called “Thelma” and “Dumbella” before her name was finalized.]

If he’s the father, how could Donald and Scrooge not know who he is️? I really don’t think they would know...Della probably didn't properly introduce them to him. This could have been due to his possible disappearance. He could have been really busy due to whatever job he had at the time or maybe she was afraid to tell them who he was because they could have thought poorly of him. (He probably was notorious for his constant crashing around.) I have a bit of a feeling that Della kept certain important things in secret; her love-life probably being one of those things (And the possibility that she was working with Magica). I’m sure Scrooge could care less about who Della’s dating, he just needs her to be available for adventures.

Now with Donald, I dunno. In the “80 is prachtig”/”Family Ties” comic, Della just randomly shows up at Donald’s door with the triplets. He had just returned from the navy and he didn't even know she had children. Why wouldn't she tell Donald? It feels so weird for someone as close as your twin sister to lose contact like that. (Really? No letters? No telegrams or whatever means of long-distance communication that existed in that time frame?)

D’oh geez...what if Donald knew or had a feeling but saw Launchpad unfit to take care of the boys?  He already isn't very fond of LP for mishandling his damaged houseboat. I just wanna see Donald show a general annoyance towards Launchpad regardless of it having anything to do with Della. LP’s character was basically created to r̶e̶p̶l̶a̶c̶e̶ help fill the void Donald left behind in the old series after he went off to the navy. It would be entertaining to see something meta like that.

Towards the end of “Woo-oo!” where Scrooge instructs HDL not to tell their Uncle Donald about going to Atlantis, Launchpad says “Wait, who is that?” This could suggest that he doesn't know who Donald is, but it’s possible that it was the “Uncle” part that threw him off. Donald wasn't an uncle 10+ years ago, so maybe he thought Scrooge was referring to another relative. It’s also possible that LP wasn't paying attention during Scrooge and Donald’s exchange in the earlier part of the special. Depending on how far the spy element will be worked into his character, he could also be pretending he doesn't know who Donald is so his cover won’t be blown. (Would Della not tell Launchpad about her brother? If so... why?)

If the relationship Launchpad and Della have is a romantic one, I don’t think the show runners are going to be quick to confirm it. Frank Angones stated that this show isn't about romantic relationships. That doesn't mean that there won’t be any romance, but it’s main focus will be on the platonic relationships that go on in a family. Discovering who both of HDL’s parents are fits perfectly with the family theme of the show, but we probably won’t see this get addressed until maybe the third season or the end of the show in the fourth season. (Disney has a rule about how their shows can’t exceed four seasons.) The relationships of the main cast needs to be established first before a surprise element like this can be thrown into the mix.

While it may take a long time for their connection to be addressed, I believe there may already be hints to insure that this is happening. In my next post, I'll be discussing some other interesting things I've noticed and what they could mean.

Are you up for more reading? Continue here.