#the sign of the triple distelfink

[the-gadabout-gander]

Nobody asked but here's my headcanon on Gladstone's guardians as he grew up

Like most Gladstone Stans I do subscribe the Daphne-Goosetave parentage, including the bit where he ends up orphaned, and like any proper Gladstone Angst Enjoyer, Sign of The Triple Distelfink and his unlucky birthday are part of it.

And then for a long time I figured he lived with Grandma Duck and Gus until suddenly he didn't and he was with Ludwig, but then I read the skies of farm town.

I enjoy the Farm Town Stories on their own; I don't really ship Gladstone with girls, tho, so the love interest storyline doesn't factor into most of my headcanons.

What did wriggle into my brain, tho, is Olivia Duck. Introduced as a Maternal Aunt who Also has the miraculous Good Luck. The comic posits that she raised Gladstone, until a turning point when he hit a certain age where their Luck began to counteract each other, turning him unlucky around her, at which point she moved far away. In the present she also has. Awkward relationships with her relatives.

Anyway that felt perfect lol. Adding a sister for Daphne to not only balance out the gender ratio of Grandma's kids, but also Olivia's departure giving an opening for a custody transition for whatever reason onto Matilda McDuck and/or Ludwig Von Drake

So now my hc/nearly-oc version of Olivia is like. Daphne's twin sister, both being given the luck of the Triple Distelfink. But while Daphne is more subdued and modest about her fortune, Olivia...isn't Gladstone levels of arrogant, but she's much more pragmatic. And honestly it just feels right that one of Elvira's kids felt stifled on the farm vs in the big city and flew the coop ...

...until she hears word abt her sister's death, leaving behind a young nephew with the same magic luck. And then she's moved, not all the way back to the farm, but to nearby Duckburg, to raise him.

Until their respective lucks go haywire around each other, and for maximum angst potential let's hc that to happen when he's just around 13. And she feels it's best for his own safety that she get as far away from him as possible.

Leaving Grandma with a young traumatized teen with attachment issues, and limited support beyond her daughter-in-law's sister, who has a good friend who, well...

[teamcavota]

sorry to be asking so many questions, but do you perhaps have any facts about the glorious gladstone gander?

nonono everyone should ask as many as they like

anyway this was actually difficult to think on for a moment, as many facts I could think of are things that are just something that happened in the comics that one time but. then the other half my headcanons that I forget aren't canon

-in earlier appearances Gladstone seemed to use lucky charms and such. in some comics appearances he has occult knowledge. the sign of the triple distelfink gives an origin story for it, and usually Italian comics will chalk it up to "Fortuna" the goddess

-gladstone has had relatives mentioned across different comics that include: sadstone gander, badluck gander, and shamrock gander

-in barks canon (is that the way to refer to that, I don't know) Gladstone specifies that scrooge is his "mother's brother's brother-in-law." though in barks comics I believe the triplets usually refer to him as "cousin"

-as they do in dt17, Gladstone losing his luck is an incredibly common comic story for him. its also pretty common for him to have some sort of realization about how his luck may alienate him, only for him to kinda go back to square one in the end.

-its also common in comics that Gladstones luck will only work to his sole favor, including in the dt17 comic with him where his luck doesn't help a doomed LP and scrooge.

-hes intended to be pretty handsome in terms of the duckverse standards (which, I guess makes sense with good luck)

-gladstone is usually not actually rich (in terms of having a lot in the bank at any given time), he just gets money or other goods when he wishes or needs it. hence him not rivaling scrooge in that regard

[toonqueen]

DAY 30: Problematic DUCK

I’ve missed most of Duckvember because I was sick and then work kicked my ass weh. So now I’m gonna go through these as quickly as possible lololol

For Gladstone Gander it would be Problematic Duck - but more like Problematic Luck. Ha. I headcanon That Grandma Duck (Elvira) actually had a little bit of extra luck to begin with. In the comic “The Sign of the Triple Distelfink” the painted symbol is more of a magnifier of already existing luck, which makes Daphne’s luck much more noticeable. Then, Gladstone being the next in line has his luck even more magnified than his mothers. 

Now, one of the things mentioned in the duck lore is that Gladstone’s parents died from overeating at a free picnic. That isn’t very lucky for Daphne, who is supposed to have luck. Wellll, look at this interesting part of this comic. 

So Gladstone won toys the day before and Daphne won a truck to hold Gladstone’s toys that morning. Her luck is taking a supporting role to Gladstone’s luck. So if the ‘luck’ was in a situation where both were in trouble but only one could be saved, would make sense the luck would choose the kid over the parent. And in my headcanon Gladstone’s luck would be stronger than his mom’s soooo. In a story I would hope to finish someday I had it that they were at a picnic but it wasn’t overeating that really killed them. Gladstone wasn’t there of course but OH BOY. As an adult he has some survivor's guilt.

 I have it that his parents wanted to leave where they were picnicking but child Gladstone was like NO I want to stay a little longer- and then leaves them to go play in whatever park or whatnot is nearby. It is when he leaves them is when the ‘INCIDENT’ happens. Dun dun DUN. So the reason they were still in the area was because of Gladstone, and he tries not to think about that.  It’s really NOT his fault there was some other stuff going on he’ll find out someday. SWEATS.

I also have an OC that is his and Magica’s daughter OF COURSE. Her name is Felicity. :3  And when she is a year away from being the same age that Gladstone was when his parents died, well, some weird stuff starts happening. My main fic I’ll write SOMEDAY is about Magica nd Gladstone researching really what is going on with the Distelfink, like who exactly painted it and what origins the actual design has. Trying to find out the background of the luck,  because you know, what if the luck takes out Gladstone is some round about way because it needed to protect Felicity. 

Also, with the luck magnifying every generation, Felicity’s starts to go out of control.  Gladstone’s luck  is more - oh 1000 people entered this raffle and he just happened to win it over the other people. Felicity is more like the first 40 numbers pulled before hers the people were sick or stuck in traffic. So she still wins, but some bad stuff may have happened to the people that would have won so she wins by default? Hard to EXPLAIN. As it gets  more powerful it seems to be more than just luck, but to bend reality itself. So a stop to it must be found to like, you know, prevent bad things. The usual. 

Art of Gladstone and OC daughter Felicity commission by @duckbutts69

There is also a AU I have where Felicity had been kidnapped by some baddies that knew of her luck/reality bending abilities. Her parents of course go to try to rescue her.  Soon after an Elder God type creature takes out most the life on the planet. Poe De Spell (my version have been turned back into a duck around the same time Felicity was born,) is one of the few people still alive on the planet. He believes it is because when Magica and Gladstone went to go try to rescue Felicity, Gladstone had told him to stay here (Grandma’s farm) because someone had to be here to way for Felicity to get back in case she comes back on her own. And Gladstone’s luck, even though something happened where him and Magica are now gone, still held with that statement making Poe survive all of it. Because someone had to wait for Felicity. Felicity disappeared at 6 and in  that AU is now 25. Poe has also not aged a day between that. So yeah, that's concerning. Though he’d probably start aging normal once Felicity gets back but unknown to him she actually went to a whole other universe. Oops. So he’s just gonna be immortal alone at Grandma’s farm because of GLADSTONE’S LUCK. 

Also Felicity for the canon super hero AU comics she would go by Miss Fortune. Which you know, sounds like misfortune, hinting to her luck causing bad luck for others. Dun dun dun.

Also I'd like the point out that man that painted the symbol is suspicious as hell, right?

[straightyuri]

sign of the triple distelfink is the reason I 4ever believe that gladstone is younger than donald (in a way that's like. negligible as adults but feels like 1 million years as a kid) cuz this is what having a younger slightly annoying cousin is like

I would be doing this shit to them if I had the opportunity. instead I just bit them and shit.

[duckburg-calisota]

[modmad]

Wow. When you pointed out he used to have bad luck on his birthday yOU WEREN'T KIDDING..!

Following your blog it always makes me more curious about Gladstone..! Hyped for your next art pieces and I hope you're gonna have a great day!

it’s true! I even make direct reference to this part in Plane Sailing-

it’s such a fascinating little story because before Don Rosa made the Sign of the Triple Distelfink it wasn’t really explained how or why Gladstone came to be so lucky, but since then it just all... clicked, you know? there’s some other versions of how he got his luck but as with many other takes the Rosa/Barks versions are largely the most accepted, because they just feel right.

[radarsteddybear]

ARE THOSE DONALD’S PARENTS????

[bonbons-artdump]

The ‘Luckiest Goose In The World’

So after bingeing Ducktales (2017) I became fascinated by Gladstone a week long research later and.... My favorite Goose period. Alot of this is thanks to @modmad and their wonderful doodle comics! I even used their design for the Triple Distelfink for the stained glass Gladstone is sitting on. 

He’s just such a fascinating guy well i’m gonna go back to reading and finding more comics of him lol

[leoruby-draws]

Its been a while since I've posted some duck drawings, or any drawings so here are some to fix that!

The top unfinished drawing is an obvious parody of The Swing by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, I thought it seemed perfect for Daphne. You can probably see where I kinda gave up lol. Honestly I didn't like how the inking came out (I drew this in 2019 when my inking was still bad), and I also knew I would never color it. It would use up all my green markers!

The second pic is my interpretation of Lady Luck, who gives Gladstone his incredible luck. I've seen pics of her floating around on tumblr and wanted give my own spin on her. The painter is from The Sign of the Triple Distelfink. I kinda have a crack theory that painter was Lady Luck taking mortal form who sometimes paints distelfinks for people she favors in order to pass on her luck. Why? Maybe she's just lonely but like I said its just a crack theory.

Well I hope you like it!

[redkimmie]

Reading Rosa's "Sign of the Triple Distelfink" and this particular scene with Hortense caught my attention.

So :

😁😁

[mintytrifecta]

I have this theory that Gladstone would have inherited the triple distelfink from his mom even if he wasn't born on the same day as her or under the original sign itself BUT since he was also under the distelfink itself he got the luck from it as well as his mom's, making the power doubled. Sextuple distelfink

[suspendersofdisbelief]

are you gonna have your own explanation for how gladstone got his luck?

I like the “Sign of the Triple Distelfink” explanation.

[backgroundshipper]

Done with my art project!

And it’s…

The Duckman family tree!

I know it’s sideways, but there’s a lot of Duckmans. I put their associated colors in the background of them,except for Danielle, who’s background is gray because I used black for those who are dead, and Kelly who is transgender.Some of them have decorations in their backgrounds. I put yellow candles in the backgrounds of Emilie’s great grand parents, and great aunts because they died in the Holocaust,a moonstone in the background of Izzy because she was supposed to be born lucky but Emilie put a moonstone under the egg she was in,causing her to be born with the ability to see into the future. I put blue four leaf clovers in Claire’s background because she inherited Gladstone’s luck(I have no self control when it comes to shipping). I wanted to put the Sign of the Triple Distelfink on Gladstone’s, but I don’t have the artistic ability-or patience. I put the F.O.W.L. symbol in Walt’s background because he joined F.O.W.L. in The Chronicles of Emilie Duckman Part Three. I also aged up Claire,Paul, and Betty for The Life and Times of Emilie Duckman.I’m not going to put Ben in because somebody on Instagram asked me to put their OC(Ben)in The Chronicles of Emilie Duckman Part Three, and then they got annoying.

[brightideas]

The Sign of the Triple Distelfink

[slootsforshace]

✒️ What is the origin of Gladstone’s luck? I think there were a few explanations in the comics, like him being born under a distelfink sign and being blessed by Fortuna.

Ah yes, the Triple Distelfink Hex on the barn of Humperdink and Elvira Duck's farm - that is still very much a thing, yes.

Daphne was originally born under that sign, and as such had tremendous luck her entire life, especially on her birthday. Gladstone was also born at the barn, on his mother's birthday, and Daphne used her Birthday Wish to further bless her youngest child. As such, Gladstone's kind of hyper-charged with Luck to the ridiculous degree we see in the show - it's practically its own sentient entity, really.

[frustratedpker]

The many faces of Gladstone Gander

In a fandom such as the duckverse where many artists have been creating and contributing for years it’s only logical that the same characters have been interpreted differently more than once

So I thought that it would be nice to summarize and gather such interpretations of Gladstone in a post and compare them to each other.

Barks’ Gladstone

The “original” Gladstone. Barks was his creator and he first introduced him in 1948 in the story “Wintertime Wagers”.

Barks’ Gladstone presents some changes depending on the chronology of the story.

He first started out as an incredibly arrogant, quarrelsome rival of Donald (and according to Barks himself that was the exact role he intended for him). Even in this premature era, Gladstone’s liking to luxury (usually in the form of his lottery winnings) is obvious. His luck here is used solely to make him more annoying and unbearable to Donald.

In one of his interviews Barks had stated that gifting Gladstone with supernatural luck was an attempt to make it impossible for the reader to identify with him and thus keep him to his antagonist role (I wouldn’t use the word ‘villain’ for Gladstone). But this was to change in the following years.

In later stories (circa the 50′s), Gladstone evolved in a refined dandy, a bon viveur who takes pride in never having worked in his life. He becomes more sarcastic and less brutal in his arguments with Donald (who now usually is the first to strike).

Along with his new established looks (hat, blue coat, walking stick) comes character depth.

We learn his biggest secret and for the first time we see him vulnerable, lonely and ashamed. He descends from the pedestal of the luck-god and becomes more human (in a matter of speech).

That’s the form he preserves until the end pf Barks career with minor changes in some stories (aka hippie Gladstone).

So, summarizing all this information, Barks’ Gladstone is arrogant, proud, haughty, charming, smug, irresponsible and imature but also compassionate (he even helps Donald in some cases), optimistic, an altruist (in his own way) and more lonely that everybody imagines.

Don Rosa’s Gladstone

Being Barks’ “heir” (in a lack of a better word) in the duckverse, his version didn’t stray much from the one Barks created.

Rosa portrays him as the usual dandy, though more modernised and overly sarcastic.

In stories where he’s a second character his luck is used mainly to annoy Donald or to establish him as an antagonist or as a plot convenience (e.x A little something special).

When he’s the protagonist though more layers of his personality become evident.

This is nicely explored in the story “The sign of the triple Distelfink” where it is revealed that the day of his birthday is by tradition a most unlucky one.

Here once again we have the motif of his supernatural state of powers shatter before his eyes. He’s vulnerable, in fear of this vulnerability and for once extremely anxious. His egoistic and arrogant facade melts away to reveal the real Gladstone, introverted, alone and afraid.

Compared to Barks’ version, I think that in Rosa’s stories Gladstone comes of as a little bit more unlikeable to other characters trying to hide his insecurities. He is more self centered and also self conscious. He is visibly struggling with his mental health as a consequence of his luck and contemplates its uses and functions. For the first time the issue of his loneliness is tackled and he seems more mature and down to earth.

Summing up, Rosa’s Gladstone is (kind of a prick to be honest) egoistic, arrogant, overly sarcastic and a show off. He is also introverted, insecure, lonely, starved for love and support (I dare say) and also, at times, generous.

Italians’ Gladstone

The italian artists using Gladstone in their stories are far too many to individually analyse, so I ‘ll try a general approach.

Gladstone’s italian design (more curvy, less edges) perfectly matches his personality as interpreted by the Italians.

In these stories we see him more and more as a protagonist, having many stories featuring and revolving around him. So, we have a more completed approach on his personality.

In the italian stories, Gladstone isn’t the unapproachable, distant character but more like the duck-next-door. He’s not put on the ‘pedestal’ I mentioned before but the reader can experience the story from his point of view and easily empathise and identify with him.

We see Gladstone interacting with the members of his family, handling the consequences of his luck, working (!), struggling with his love life (we don’t talk about Matilda!), doing sports and generally experiencing life as every person would do.

We see the duck behind the luck. His luck is not -necessarily- his identifying trait, his defining element. He has a personality that comes first (even if this personality is influenced by his luck).

Also, both good and bad aspect of his luck are shown in more detail. Yes, he is lucky, but it sometimes gets unbearable, exhausting, leading him in some cases to even want to give up!

I ‘d say that his personality is more bubbly, he has a childish innocence in some stories but can also get serious, isolated and alone. He really struggles to keep the balance in his life and to be a decent person. He is no longer egoistic and his arrogance has decreased to very low levels being less insecure and more confident. More stories show him teaming up with Donald than arguing with him. So, I come to the conclusion that Gladstone is depicted as more mature and responsible, more ‘adult’ if I may say so (compared to the spoiled-rich-youth vibes from Barks).

Summing up, I ‘d say that in the italian stories Gladstone is very optimistic, helpful, friendly, generous and a decent person but also can get serious, depressed, and very lonely.

These are my thoughts on the matter, I tried to be as impartial as possible. I analysed the three versions I am most familiar with. Mind that I haven’t read some of the stories for a long time so if I ‘m mistaken in something let me know.

Feel free to add more Gladstone versions from other media / artists!