On-Schedule

So! I actually managed to update TWC3 a second time this month! If I can get the last two chapters done on-schedule then we'll be done around the end of August/beginning of September :)

It's not up yet on AO3, but here's the FF.net link.

Since this is winding down, and I haven't done any chapter notes or much talking about the fic itself, I thought I'd make a post about... well, about the fic itself. :) I've whined a lot about how no one really seems to like this one - which is inaccurate, as I have had multiple people contact me via DA and so forth to say that they've started reading with this one, and they find it quite enjoyable. So what I'm really whining about is the lack of reviews on FF.net, when I think about it. Aaaand, whatever. I'll keep whining about that ON FF.net, because I can see how many hits the story gets so I know people are looking at it and I'm just choosing to be all guilt-pushy there, but I'll skip the whining elsewhere. I know you guys. We cool. :D

Oh, wow, that was a digression!

So to get back to what I was talking about, I haven't really posted much about this particular fic and what's gone into the rewrite. With TWC2 I did at least some partial listings of the things I'd changed from the original version, and now that TWC3 is winding down some, I thought it'd be fun to do the same with this one. I can be almost complete, too, since it's nearly over!

In a lot of ways this one is actually very similar to its progenitor: more than either of the others, I really used the original as an outline and just filled the details in more strongly. With TWC2, for instance, I had to change a number of the plot details to make them less hokey, or the order of the events to make them more understandable, etc. With this one, it's largely the same: the outline for both is:
I: Beth gets yelled at/humiliated by Drake and LP comes to her defense, and then she finds out about Drake being Darkwing;
II: Darkwing encounters Quackerjack, who uses his ray gun to minimize him (haha, I like that term), at which point DW gets away but LP and Gosalyn are struck by the change being more than just cosmetic;
III: Darkwing and Gos ditch Launchpad to fight Quackerjack, which they do and they win, and then at the end Beth... Well I can't say yet 'cause it's a spoiler. DUN-DUN-DUN!!! Okay, okay, you got me, I'll spill. She runs away with Negaduck and has his nega-babies. YEAH YOU HEARD ME!

Okay, so, aside from that minor point at the end which may possibly not be true, that's pretty straightforward. I ended up just doing each as 3-chapter acts instead of one chapter each. And I STILL could barely fit all the Beth stuff into the first act, man, even with three chapters :P I do go on and on! So now for the differences:

1. There NEEDED to be a lot more detail in the Beth section at the beginning, because initially Drake just was fed up with her babbling and snapped at her. I mean, it's simple and not fully OOC, but it did make him look like a gigantic jerk. And while Drake can be a gigantic jerk, there's a right way and a wrong way; and he needed to have a reason within his head that made him certain he was NOT being a gigantic jerk. At least not for no reason at all. :D I actually came up with the idea for the whole "nobody can be that BORING" etc while walking to work one day, about a year ago - it just clicked. I'd been sweating over rewriting the scene for MONTHS, not sure if I could make it actually work IC, and then it just fell together. This was also when I decided to really go and just *run* with the idea that DW would think Beth was a superhero, and this was his (flimsy, I admit) reason for letting her stick around and babysit when it wasn't really strictly necessary. So, all this actually took a lot of thought and in the original was way quicker and weaker.

2. In the same vein, I had to *really* punch up the confrontation between Drake and LP. I won't go into the details on it since that's not needed, but I did struggle to make it something that made sense for LP at this point, and it was a challenge. I'm still worried as to whether I pulled it off, though no one to date has told me I didn't. And, again, the discussion between Beth and LP afterwards was very much extended past the original. The idea of LP trying to "talk Beth up" to Drake started as my idea of a way to get him thinking of her more often and - since he ultimately falls for her himself - this might be the impetus to get him to look at her that way or that might just be the excuse he gives himself when he realizes he's doing that.

3. Beth's discovery of DW's secret identity was largely the same but I had to change some details, including why Gosalyn wasn't present (and it's an excuse to bring Honker into the series earlier! I wish I'd had a part for him in the rest of the fic) and just precisely how Beth stumbles onto it. I absolutely wanted her to stumble onto it, too, because as smart as she is, she doesn't think of unexpected things very often so although she probably would put two and two together EVENTUALLY, it wouldn't happen for quite some time. :)

4. I needed more for Launchpad to do in this fic (this is a theme in nearly all my rewrites; he needs more REAL screen time) and thus came the "Harv" sequence. In the original, Quackerjack dealt largely with just DW, though Launchpad did ultimately still rescue Darkwing after getting zapped by the ray. One thing missing in the rewrites: I have to admit that I loved all the Quackerjack and Mr. Banana Brain interactions that were in the original. I can't shoehorn them in unless they feel right, so there arent' nearly as many, and I kinda miss them. :)

5. Almost everything after Darkwing gets child-ized is pretty close to the original, just fleshed out; the phone conversation with Beth ended up a little longer than I intended it, but I think it was needed, because I wanted to show the ease that Beth and Launchpad have between themselves even if she's kind of resistant to it/doesn't realize it's there. I needed some kind of positive interaction between them that didn't involve angsting over Drake. ;) I also had to stick in some mounting tension with Henny, and LP really ought to encourage her to get a backbone, don't you think? In the nice, non-accusatory Launchpad style.

6. Played up the loneliness Launchpad feels when Gos and Darkwing only want to hang out with each other. I hadn't intended it to dovetail like that when I started out having him thinking about how he was kind of lonely in general (back in Act I), but it fit like a glove and was actually already in the original fic. Like I said, I just played it up.

7. The Darkwing and Gos caper is at once directly following the original fic (I'm even referencing it as I go, for the general structure and for content ideas to flesh out) and also incredibly different. Action is NOT MY THING. I'm not good at it. If this reads well, I'm lucky, because I really struggle with it. Things I want to address in the next chapter or two include why DW is acting like such a complete brat (there's a reason, it's not JUST that he actually is one :D), and of course how Gos is going to get free/how the good guys will win.

Finally, upcoming in the last chapter: How will Darkwing return to his normal age? Will Beth find out that Drake thinks she's a supervillain? Will she BECOME one??? What will Launchpad think when Darkwing gives his latest opinion on Beth? Will all of this actually be addressed? NO. :D Some of it will. There's a plot climax coming in Act III chapter 2, and then in the "aftermath" of chapter 3, we'll see the Beth and the Launchpad stuff come to a point. (Not the Beth/Launchpad stuff. Beth stuff and Launchpad stuff, and in some ways the two will meet.)

So in a sense I've always felt like it's not fair to have so much Beth in a story that doesn't really involve her, but in another sense, this is one of the most important stories in the first five so a lot HAS to happen. I hope you'll read on, good friends. :)

The Ever-Vivacious Head of Kitty Carlisle Says:

"HI everybody! Let's start the game!"

So I'm weak-willed, and thus I'm going to break down and post the scene I've been working on for TWC3's rewrite. It may or may not be the opening to the fic - I haven't decided yet - and it's unbeta'd, but what the heck; it's going to be at least another 3-4 months before I start posting this. :)

SPOILERS ahead if you have not read the original versions! (Why do I bother doing this?) If you haven't read them and don't want to be spoiled, or if you want to wait until after reading the rewrite of TWC2, or have some other reason you want to avoid spoilers, read no further on this entry!

As an aside, I'm wondering if I ought to transport this blog over to Dreamwidth or something, so that I can use cut-tags. I miss cut-tags on this format. ANYway!

A little context for people who aren't familiar with the original version, but want to read onward anyway. In my initial version I reached a point where LP and DW "needed" (in my mind) to come to odds over Beth. Mmm, that's good drama! Well, I actually still feel that way - for one thing, DW is just nasty to her sometimes, and someone needs to defend the poor kid. For another, it's... well, it's still good drama. If done right anyway.

For quite some time though I was worried about writing it - as much as I wanted to do it, I had no idea how to do it without just making it go overboard... How not to make Drake look like an unforgivable jerk, how to keep LP in character, how not to make Beth look like OMGPOORABUSEDBETH!... well, a few weeks ago I was walking from the bus stop to work and a little scene popped into my head and I realized it would work. I could've written it in like three days but it was RIGHT the day before we left to go on vacation to Canada. I worked on it a little while we were there but the distraction level was high. So it's taken me a while to get as far as I have... which isn't all that far... but it's something! Oh, the spoilers are pretty mild; mostly they allude to the fact that Beth gets kidnapped by Bushroot in TWC2, and this together with her being followed by Megavolt convinces Darkwing that she's actually a villainess in disguise. (new twist. *G*)

One last note: I was going to wait on this but I've been getting antsy because of the new comic. I haven't read a single panel of it, and I realized it could be a "game-changer" or something. Well, I tend to get paranoid about my canon, not because I need it to come true but because I don't want to be hugely contradicting something that is now the NEW, ACTUAL canon. Plus the general zeitgeist of DWD right now just makes me want to write a LOT and put it out there. I wish I was connecting better with the public, but at least I'm writing; that's making me happy. :)

So! No further ado; here's the scene in question. I will love any feedback I get!

***

There are many ways in which a hero can protect his city.

The most obvious way, of course, is to defeat the denizens of darkness as they come forward, deducing their diabolical intentions and nullifying the nefarious nogoodniks before they can bring their plans to fruition. After a lifetime of experience, Darkwing Duck had mastered this ability and could do it in his sleep. In fact, he had, but that was another story.

A lesser-known protection, however, is the dedication to constant vigilance. Constant vigilance is what allows the very best heroes to not only thwart the very worst plans of the very worst villains as they unfold, but to act preemptively, eliminating threats before they have a chance to strike. Constant vigilance is the way in which the very best vigilantes monitor potential subjects and catch them *before* they are able to perpetrate any wrongdoing.

Constant vigilance, and a healthy dose of intuition, are among the weapons at the disposal of the peak heroes of the world - the creme de la creme, if you will.

Darkwing Duck's intuition had led him to watch a certain newcomer into his life very closely. He was, in fact, ready to place her on the "constant vigilance" list. At first glance, Beth Webfoot was harmless: shy, bespectacled, and interested only in hardware and the occasional babysitting gig. But after a series of odd events, all of which had seemed to involve her in one way or another, Darkwing's intuition had begun to tell him that this woman needed watching.

She seemed to attract supervillains like a magnet, for one thing. There was that, which of itself was suspicious, but add to it the fact that she was worming her way into his family life... coincidence? How big of a coincidence would it have to be for an honestly harmless woman to meet him, get hired to babysit his daughter, and via totally-unrelated means bump into not one but *two* of his most dangerous arch-enemies?

That would be one big coincidence, Darkwing believed. Too big.

Plus there was something about her that just *bugged* him.

A generic background search hadn't turned up any information, and as a result Gosalyn and Launchpad were telling him he was being irrational. So, all that meant was that Beth Webfoot was very, very crafty - and probably using an alias. He'd have to probe deeper.

Some might say that it was faulty logic for Darkwing Duck to allow a suspected supervillain to babysit his daughter several nights a week, but Darkwing believed in the wise old adage, "Keep your friends close but your enemies closer." He was on guard, and so he didn't believe Gosalyn was in any genuine danger. From what he could see, Beth was sounding him out as much as he was sounding her out. He was confident that he'd be able to track her movements well enough to know before she was about to strike.

Meanwhile, he had the advantage: surprise, and foreknowledge. She clearly had no idea that he knew, and while he was being cagey, he could also play her like a fiddle and find out whatever he needed to know.
It was a Wednesday night when he decided to gather information. If the preliminary background check had failed, he would just have to get as much on her as he could, and look at it from every angle. With that in mind, in his Drake Mallard guise, he sat himself down next to her on the couch and began.

"So, Ms. Webfoot," he said, his tone confident and straightforward, "would I be correct in assuming that 'Beth' is short for 'Elizabeth'?"

She straightened up slightly and smiled at him. "Um, yes! You're exactly correct," she said. "A-although I guess, when you think about it, there aren't really many other names that Beth is short for, are there? But still you never know so I understand why you asked."

At this point, Drake was starting to suspect that the stream of ongoing mindless chatter from her was an intentional front. He narrowed his eyes slightly, but gave no other sign of suspicion. "Riiiiight. So, moving on, do you happen to have a middle name?"

Beth looked at him in surprise for a second, and he was just wondering if he'd pushed too far too fast and given himself away, when she blushed a little. "W-well, it's Marilynn, actually."

"Marilyn? Like Marilyn Monroe, huh?"

"Yes, exactly! Only it's spelled with two 'n's at the end so it's not exactly the same - b-but you're not interested in how I spell a name I never even use," she finished, chuckling nervously.

"On the contrary," he said, making a mental note of this information, "I am interested. *Very* interested."

Beth leaned forward, again looking surprised and pleased. "R-really?"

"Oh yes," Drake answered. He leaned forward as well, and propped himself up on one elbow against the couch. "Do tell me more about yourself, Ms. Webfoot... Favourite colour, favourite animal... where you grew up... any prior police records..."

She laughed, presumably at the last one, and went on to tell him everything. In great, extensive detail. Over the course of fifteen minutes he learned a whole lot about very little, mainly - despite his efforts at steering the conversation - about her background in retail. She probably *was* onto him.

After answering two or three questions and then devolving into a rambling monologue that seemed to be mostly about her boss, Beth failed to make any point that Drake could identify. He was stuck nodding, uttering the occasional "Uh-huh" and "Absolutely", and ultimately feeling his eyes glazing over. Was it just possible that she didn't actually notice the effect she was having? After all, the Muddlefoots were the much the same... But this would be such an effective form of torture that it just raised Drake's suspicions even more.

"...And Henny said that it wasn't worth chasing him down over 21 cents, and I guess she's probably right, but it was just going to stay with me all day if I hadn't given him the correct change and really, you know, what if he'd come back and been upset that I'd given him the wrong amount? I know, I know, it's less than a quarter but you never do know, but then Henny said that I'd wasted company time going after him once he'd left the store, and I just thought, it's like I can't win either way, you know? Should I give him his money, should I let him leave, do you know that song 'Should I Stay or Should I Go?' It's by the Clash, and I don't normally like that kind of music but I heard it once on the radio and I thought 'Oh my gosh, that's ME' because it basically goes -"

"What?" Drake said suddenly, as if in response to something. Beth fell silent instantly. He sat up straight, looking like he was listening to something, then called "Be right there!" and turned back to Beth. "Sorry, I think I'm needed in the kitchen. Y'know, you should probably go upstairs and check on Gos and her homework, really enjoyed the chat and I hope we can do this again next year!"

"Oh - yes, me too, we could... um...thanks!" She was just trailing off as he left the room, escaping through the door into the safe haven of his kitchen.

The only person there was Launchpad, who had definitely not called him, but Drake was reasonably sure that - despite his partiality to Beth - he could count on some backup from his sidekick in this case.

"Hey DW - hot dogs are just about done," Launchpad announced, being in charge of dinner for the evening. "You want anything on it?"

"Make me one with everything, LP," said Drake, sinking wearily into the chair at the kitchen table, "I earned it."

"Really? Whatja do?" Launchpad asked as he retrieved about five different bottles and jars from the fridge, then piled them onto the counter next to the bag of hot dog rolls.

Drake let his head rest in his hand, as though he were trying to massage his brain back to life. "Just had a full interview with you-know-who out there, to try to get some more information to go on."

Launchpad rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "DW, for the last time, she's NOT a bad guy!" He checked the hot dogs, turned down the flame underneath the burner, and then addressed Drake again. "You're wastin' a lot of energy on nothin'!"

"I beg to differ," Drake said flatly. "If *she's* harmless, then Dr. Slug should be celebrated as a philanthropist. I just spent twenty minutes listening to her go on, and I'm telling you LP, there is *evil* underneath that drab exterior. There has to be, because nobody can actually be that *boring*."

Launchpad frowned, his expression indicating a bit more displeasure than before. "That's not -" The next word, Drake was sure, would have been either "nice" or "fair"; Launchpad was a staunch defender of Beth, and he seemed to share Gizmoduck's idealistic beliefs that "fair" applied outside to life outside of the playground. But the sentence was never finished, because as he was speaking the words, Launchpad's eyes skipped from Drake to something behind him, and he bit off his comment.

Drake swallowed, and reluctantly turned in his seat; Beth was standing in the doorway, her hand clutching the frame in a manner that suggested she was keeping herself upright this way, but although there was a slight blush on her cheeks, her face was almost impassive. There was absolutely no doubt that she'd heard his last comment; the only thing uncertain was just how much she *had* heard.

An awkward moment fell among the three of them, and Drake shifted guiltily in his seat. As Beth turned her attention toward the ground, Drake returned his to the kitchen table. The tension between them was almost palpable. He had to say something - he knew that - but nothing that came into his head seemed right. In books and TV shows, a person overhearing others talking about them just left - usually without anyone even knowing they'd been there. Naturally, Beth was just *standing* there, like she was waiting for something.

Waiting - or maybe completely aware of how awkward her presence was making things. Maybe this was *intentional*. He reminded himself that Beth was no ordinary babysitter (or hardware clerk or whatever she called herself) - and, depending on how much she'd overheard, it was possibly that she knew that *he* knew.
With his mind racing this way, Drake almost didn't notice when Launchpad broke the silence that had built up around them. With a forceful cheerfulness, Launchpad said loudly, "Oh, hi Beth! Uh, so, how's it goin'?"

It was an incredibly lame attempt to pretend nothing had happened, but at the same time, Drake realized that might be the best way to go. At best she might believe it, and at worst, she might not know that they knew that she knew they knew. Wait - Drake frowned to himself. Was that right...?

Beth, meanwhile, answered in a weak voice. "Oh... um... g-good. I-I guess."

"Yeah? Great! Me too. So, uh... lookin' forward to babysittin' tonight?"

"Um..." Beth's voice shook, and grew quieter. "I-I think m-maybe I should... go home..."

Drake fought down another surge of guilt by reminding himself that he was being manipulated by a diabolical genius. If he turned to face her, he might lose his resolve; much better for him to avoid eye contact.

Launchpad reacted strongly, which did not surprise Drake. "No, don't go! Look, Beth, you didn't hear what you thought you heard. Drake didn't mean - well..." He looked beseechingly to Drake, who shook his head slightly in an effort to convey his suspicions. Launchpad's eyebrows went up in surprise for a moment, then knitted together slightly.

From the doorway, Beth said, "I-I'm sorry..."

Distracted from Drake, Launchpad looked at her swiftly. "*You* don't have to apologize!" he said, an edge of something unspoken creeping into his voice. "C'mon Drake," he said imploringly.

It figured: Launchpad *would* end up buying the act of the damsel in distress and forget to pay attention to the guy with the crimefighter's instincts. Drake grit his teeth together and tried to make eye contact so that he could get it through to Launchpad that they were being played, but it was no good; his sidekick was too distracted, and just kept looking back and forth between them. Drake was well aware that he'd have to say *something*, in any case, but without advance communication, Launchpad probably wasn't going to like it. Still, it had to be done.

Stiff-shouldered, Drake turned partially towards Beth and said, "I'm sorry you had to hear that."

"Um, okay," Beth said in a near-whisper. Drake couldn't see her well from his angle, but she appeared to be talking to the doorframe. She started to slip out of his line of vision. "Um, I'll just... um..."

There was a loud *bang* on the table in front of him, and Drake jumped in surprise and looked up to see Launchpad staring at him. No - *glaring*. Drake was taken too much aback to do any more than blink for a moment, during which time Launchpad said, "What kinda apology was *that*?"

"It was-" began Drake, who wasn't about to take this kind of situation from his own sidekick; but Beth managed to cut through his voice despite the softness of her tone.

"No, no, it's okay - he doesn't have to apologize at all!" She looked from Drake to Launchpad, both of whose attention was firmly on her, and she took a timid step back. "I'm... I'm fine," she said tremulously. "He didn't do anything... wrong."

Ignoring Drake for a moment, Launchpad stepped toward her and took her by the hand, drawing her into the room. "Wait here a sec," he said, his voice growing quiet, and then he surprised Drake again by putting a hand to her cheek, just for a moment, as she cast her eyes downwards again. "Don't go anywhere, okay?" She nodded, still looking at the floor.

Then Launchpad turned back to Drake, and said, "I gotta talk to you." There was unmistakably no room for argument in his tone, and although Drake didn't intend to let Launchpad start ordering him around, he did feel it was utterly imperative to avoid any sign of dissension in front of Beth.

Coolly, he replied, "Fine. Ms. Webfoot," he said politely as he got to his feet, "please excuse us for a moment." Launchpad had already started for the living room, so Drake stepped out after him. Once they'd cleared the door, Drake began, "Okay, listen LP-"

"What's your *problem* with her?!" Launchpad asked, spinning to face Drake and pointing a finger decisively in his direction.

Drake was taken aback, and for a moment all he could do was stare at his sidekick, blinking and frowning as his temper flared in the face of this unfair accusation. Launchpad seemed to be waiting for an actual answer, so a few moments passed before Drake recovered enough to answer. "What is *that* supposed to mean?"

"You know what it means, DW. You haven't given her a chance even once since you've met her. An' now you've really hurt her feelings, and for what? What'd she *do*?"

"Don't fall for that sweet and innocent routine, Launchpad - that woman is-"

"No she's *NOT*!" Again, Drake stopped cold, because talks with Launchpad just were not supposed to go this way. Launchpad didn't cut him off, he didn't yell, and he didn't question Darkwing Duck's instincts. All these things together were such unexplored territory with the pilot that Drake found himself getting equally angry and unnerved. Launchpad lowered his voice and continued, but the anger remained audible. "You don't have any proof about that, you just decided it an' you're stickin' with it 'cause it's easier than admittin' that you're bein' a jerk!"

"YOU don't have any proof that she's NOT a supervillain!" Drake shot back, maintaining the same high-intensity, low-volume tone as Launchpad, as he bristled over the term 'jerk'. "All *you* have is a 'gut feeling', so don't give me this baloney about believing what I want to believe! I'M the one with the hero's instincts here, *sidekick*!"

"Yeah, but if you knew her..."

"Oh, give me a break. Just because you see someone for ten minutes at a time every couple of weeks doesn't make you bosom companions. Why do you even care?"

Frowning, Launchpad pointed again, this time at the kitchen door. "Because maybe you didn't notice, or maybe you just don't care, but she *likes* you. She's a good person, but she's shy, an' she's tryin' every day to get you to notice her just a little bit but all you ever do is complain about her an' accuse her of stuff."

"And that's another thing!" Drake said angrily, refusing to quail under this list of inaccuracies, "*she* barely knows *me*. Why should she care enough to try to get me to notice her? Unless she has ulterior motives, that's why!"

"Or maybe she's just *nice!*" Launchpad shouted, and then stepped back, shutting his mouth again. He crossed his arms. "Look DW - just look at it this way. If you don't believe she's innocent, then pretend for a sec that ya do. Pretend she's just an ordinary lady, who never dealt with supervillains or any'a that stuff before. Now think about how much she's been through the past coupla weeks. She's been robbed, stalked, kidnapped, an' she's babysat for Gosalyn five times now. And she keeps comin' back."

Drake had to pause and concede that this was, indeed, a lot for your average non-superheroic citizen. "But nobody's *making* her."

"Exactly," said Launchpad emphatically.

"Sooooo, doesn't that make you *suspicious*?" Drake let the statement hang in the air for a moment, certain that the implications would finally sink in.

Instead Launchpad shook his head. "No. It makes me think she's lonely."

And then *that* statement hung in the air, and sank in.

But... *no*. Just because she'd won over Launchpad - and really, who had doubted that she'd win over Launchpad? She'd had her hooks in him for weeks now - didn't mean that Drake would let this faulty logic win him over as well. His family, and perhaps the entire city, were at stake.... They *had* to be.

Seeing he wasn't going to win Launchpad over with any grandscale arguments (and unable to think of any more at this point anyway), he averted his eyes and grumbled, "Look, she wasn't even supposed to hear that anyway."

"Well, she did," Launchpad said. "An' you're just makin' excuses now 'cause you feel bad."

He was *not*. Frowning, Drake said, "I am *not*. She needs to learn not to come bursting into someone else's kitchen. Maybe she can use this as an object lesson."

***
(Not the end of the scene, just the end of what I have written. ^_^)

Three posts in three days?! Has the world gone topsy-turvy??

I KNOW!

Anyway I put together some authors' notes (and babbling and random stuffage) on the prologue of "All About Eve". For those following along at FF.net (which is... everyone I think, right now anyway), the prologue is chapters 1 and 2. I'm not splitting them up here, but they will probably remain separate chapters when I post them on my site, because otherwise it's a terribly long prologue.

Though I am well aware that real prologues don't have two chapters. We'll just... overlook that.

Without further ado, except to mention that I have a sore throat and it is driving me CRAZY!, here are the notes!

Prologue:

References:

- Title: "All About Eve", classic Bette Davis movie; the title really has no relation to the content, it's just straightforward, all about Beth.
- "Back to the Future" - Candy's line about turning in her homework in Beth's handwriting.
- "Signs" - Tank swinging at everything during softball games. I had just rewatched the movie, so I snuck that in there. I did stop short of having Tank quote the film with "It felt wrong not to swing", though.

I have heard of situations where, to start with, an advanced kid was mistaken for a kid with a learning disability. But I think it might've been in "The Simpsons". I'm not sure that really happens but I thought Beth is so quiet that maybe even her parents would overlook the signs of advanced intelligence and focus in on the apparent problems she was having.

Writing Irene's accent is hard and I hate it. HATE HATE HATE it. I love hearing it in my head, but I hate actually writing it out. Incidentally, Irene is based on Pert Kelton's rendition of Mrs. Paroo, the irish mother of Marion from "The Music Man". She was essentially "born" that way, all the way back in '96 (yep and it's taken me this long to put her into a fic), but it was coincidence that I had Gosalyn refer to Beth as "Marion the Librarian", another "Music Man" reference, in my rewrite of TWC1.

Bug's name was going to be Herbert, until I realized that he is the *third* "Herb" in the Webfoot Weavings, after Herb Muddlefoot and Honker (whose real name is Herbert Jr). So I changed it to Henry, though I struggled with it, because I originally named him after my grandfather - first name Herbert, nicknamed "Bud".

Shout-out to referencing my own fanfics! I have a reference to TWC4 in here, which is the first episode that mentions Beth's fondness for tadpoles. This was something I guess I tossed in when I was punching it up back in '95 or so, and I forgot about it until I reread the early ones a few years ago. The "tadpoles" thing stuck with me and so I tossed it in here as a running gag, even though I never meant it to be an actual character point.

It's hard to write Beth being this miserable and this depressed, because gosh, she's like this through almost the *whole fic*. I'm not 100% sure that she's actually bearable in this story because she's just so depressed. It's hard to write, since it feels so repetitive (though it's repetitive for a reason, which I'll go into in a separate note), so I'd understand if it's hard to read.

This scene with Launchpad and Beth is so awkward. Good lord. It's even worse than I remembered. :D I actually really like the part when he tries to talk to her and she pulls her hand away. Oh, Launchpad. Also? Stupid I know, but the whole coffee thing is still cute. I love writing little moments between them, even when nothing at all happens.

I wanted to try to make sure that I got Beth's feelings as accurate as I can, and so here is some TMI. My husband and I were friends before we started dating (though not really close friends like in this situation), and he liked me before I liked him. He and I talked about it, and I said "just friends" and he said he was okay with that - although it only lasted about a week because I decided to give it a go pretty quickly :) - but for a few days things were SUPER-awkward, especially during the second half of the conversation when, it seemed, he just decided now that it was out there he'd go ahead and tell me everything, and I was like "OMG I have to get OUT OF HERE!" So anyway... Beth's discomfort and guilt are based on that, sort of, only magnified.

Sigh. True confessions: I am very, very uncomfortable writing intimate scenes. That goes for romance in particular. I like to write banter and flirtatious dialogue, I like to write introspection, I like to write silly comedy; now, technically, I like to write romance but I am very bad at it. That's why things move very slowly in my fics and that is why things tend to be very understated. There are moments within this Launchpad/Beth scene, when he's trying to talk to her, where I'm attempting to convey an intimacy between them - the kind of thing that, if you were watching it in a movie, would make you ache for the people involved and also be chanting for them to kiss one another. I honestly have no idea if I was successful or if it just falls flat. I for one feel underwhelmed and I would LOVE some feedback. But yeah, there's a big reason why there's not a lot of solid romance in my fics so far... after fifteen stories. *sigh*

On the flip side, the introspective Launchpad stuff I wrote... well I'm rereading it for the first time in like, two years, and I'm surprised to find that I like it. This stuff works for me.

Heh, random reference to "High, Dry, and Flooded" when LP passes the Muddlefoots' house: they're having their Tuo security system removed (and getting the house repaired while they're at it) after the finale of that fic. ^_^ I know I say a few paragraphs later that it's only 8:30 in the morning, which is a pretty early start time for home cleanup, but I wanted to get that gag in (but I cleverly played it down during such a deep emotional scene, becuz clever writer is clever :P)

Five points for the implication that everyone will think LP and Beth's "night together" was less than innocent!

The discussion between LP and Drake is, for once, more or less in-character (as I see it anyway). LP's mood has precedent since he can, on occasion, take things quite hard and get pretty bummed out (and when LP bums out he *really* bums out). DW of course is just being DW. God love 'im. *hugs DW*

For some reason it struck me as immensely funny that Drake woud misquote his "clever quip" from when he beat the Liquidator in the finale of HD&F. Since it's been a while since I read the original fic, though, now I'm like "WHO is going to notice that he misquoted it?" which makes it look like carelessness for anyone who DOES notice. It was on purpose! I'm totally anal about these details and I swear I wouldn't gloss over 'em... even if everyone else in the world does. XD

Hahaha. Drake is *not* a Beth/LP shipper. He's totally not *trying* to be insensitive though - in fact he's trying very hard to be the other thing, you know, UNinsensitive ;P - I've just found that, a lot of times, people just don't seem to get that the moment you've had your heart broken is NOT the right time to say "well now you can get on with your life!" (For the record, I almost certainly would totally say that to someone in these circumstances, because I am just that insensitive! No, but seriously, it's easy to forget how much it hurts when it's not happening to you.)

You can see, in a few moments of this discussion as well as later in the fic, that I was writing this and rewriting TWC1 at the same time, and I was in fact just redoing Beth's and Drake's first meeting and working on how she fell for Drake in the first place. This shows up in LP's reflection that maybe if Beth hadn't met DW at exactly the time she did, she never would've fallen for him... which is probably true. Or maybe not. But I stuck that in because I was in process of giving the newly specific details of their meeting, and it was suddenly relevant. Stuff like that pops up throughout - this fic, and TWC1, were very symbiotic and influenced each other quite a bit. Which is WEIRD, if you think about it. Parasitic. Incestuous, almost. ;P (No, not at all actually, but I was looking for a good word...)

And next we have my introduction of Beth's father and brother! I had never really fleshed them out much in my mind - aside from physical description I knew (and still know) pretty much nothing about the older brother Bill (aka "Beef"), and at the time of writing I didn't know much about Bug yet, either. I've since discovered that Bug is a loving, but mostly uninvolved father. He's just a bit too passive in the family situation and has never tried to take any stand against his very, very outspoken wife.

One quick addition, I had forgotten that I wrote this scene from Honker's perspective. I'm glad I did that even though it seems weird since I think this is basically his only scene in the fic. Still glad though. I love Honker.

You can't reason with a headless man!

The past four post titles, btw, are from the Disney version of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, narrated (and in this case, sung) by Bing Crosby. Man I wanna watch that now!

***

Chapter four

References:

- "Monsters R Us", the Darkwing episode, referenced a few times over mostly for Gos having been the Monster and somewhat for LP having been the vampire bat. Evidently Beth has not seen that episode. ;)
- The Seven-Year Itch starring Marilyn Monroe, which is the inspiration for Beth's costume (as she says).
- "Malice's Restaurant", I think, was the Darkwing episode where Morgana meets the Muddlefoots. I always thought it was interesting because it brings Morg into Drake's life, outside of his nightlife as Darkwing. Also because of how quickly the Muddlefoots and Morgana take to each other. *G*

Joke that may be lost: the Super Glue to get the bolts on. One should never Super Glue anything to one's body. I'd intended to refer to the bolts being there later (possibly the next day) but decided it was out of place.

I feel a cardinal rule of writing a ghost story is, even when you have cute scenes, you must keep the tension up a little by including some spooky stuff. Hence the part with the locked/unlocked door at Beth's house.

This is another chapter with a bit of a change to it, mainly with LP in Beth's house; I made him a little more exasperated with her behaviour. 'Cause no matter how much you like someone, when they're frustrating they're just FRUSTRATING, durnit. *G*

Another thing I tweaked was just referencing the fact that Beth knows how LP feels about her now, and is nervous being complimented by him (though underneath she's also quite flattered, as well).

Don't ask me why I "duck-i-fied" Charles Darwin's name to "Drakewin" but did not change Marilyn Monroe or Humphrey Bogart. I just couldn't think of any good replacement names. Drakewin, on the other hand, fit so nicely... SO nicely, in fact, that I'm certain either DWD or DuckTales already used it somewhere. The image of Honker in that costume is SO CUTE in my head! ^_~

The brief Honker and Beth interaction sorta sets up something I started playing with back in "Something In the Air", which is that Beth and Honker think very similarly and as such get along very well - which down the road leads to Honker developing a little crush on her. I think this is different from the "everyone loves Beth" syndrome I used to have, because it actually makes *sense*, and also because I intend to underplay it and use it mainly to annoy Gosalyn. If I ever manage to write a fic that takes place after this one, it'll become a little more obvious. ^_^

One thing that is in use in this fic which I don't think has been made particularly clear in earlier fics is that Beth really *is* pretty, and despite being incredibly skinny, could possibly pull off something like Marilyn Monroe for her costume. It's made a little more evident in AAE. The issue she has is that she's been overshadowed by her glam older sister and had self-esteem issues, so she's never put any effort or developed any confidence into her appearance, and manages to keep people from *looking* at her closely enough to notice that she's quite good-looking. She really is underweight, though - or at least, she was, but she's no longer as bad as she was before she met Launchpad. Once she got more friends, she started eating a little better and is a healthier weight now; so she's still skinny - that's just her body type, tall and thin - but no longer badly so.

I put Morgana in a black dress (kind of a Morticia Addams deal) because I figure Halloween is for her family what Christmas is for a lot of Normals (at least the Christian ones), so she's dressed up after having just left some family affair. Oddly, though, I always put her in black when she clearly prefers the colour red in the series. Well, blame me for liking black, I guess.

Yes, "thrilled to death" to see Morgana is an intentional pun on my part.

LP does indeed do a Bogart impression, I believe in "Double-O Duck" from DuckTales.

Man, I really wanted him to kiss her. *sigh* How come, no matter how many times I reread that scene, he never does? :P

Chapter Five

References:

- None in this chapter!

More additions to the text here, both to acknowledge the changes to canon and to give a little more depth to Beth's freakout. In the original she was freaking out more because she was just afraid she was going to ruin her friendship by falling for LP or something, the way she had with Drake; but it makes more sense for her to freak out because LP is moving in on her and she doesn't know how to deal with it. Of course she blames herself though. *G* And actually, she's sort of right - she is sending pretty mixed messages...

I don't think it comes across too well here but that wall section that keeps worrying at Beth - what makes it so uncomfortable is that it's body temperature, perhaps a little damp, and tends to remind people of touching human skin. :P

Of course the "audio" portion of this ghost scene corresponds to the prologue. I tellya folks if this had been a movie and not a fanfic, this scene would have been positively spine-chilling.

Personal opinion, on rereading this, is that you can tell I was out of practice writing DW when he comes into this chapter... A better representation of him would be to have him say something to make it worse, or something like that. I was writing DW like he had no sense of humour here. If I weren't so lazy I'd rewrite it a little, but eh... ;)

Wow, a short chapter!

Notes On TWC1, Chapter 2

Humongous Author Notes take two! These are so huge that they took me six weeks to complete. Well... obviously not REALLY... but check those dates and arrive at your own conclusion!

Anyway, first the references and inspirations:

- "I gotta go to the can!" - Haunted Honeymoon
- "I'll make a note of that in my log" - Star Trek: First Contact
- "Her?" - Arrested Development (you'll only get it if you know AD, otherwise it's just a word. And if you do know AD, you'll also know why I used it twice.)
- "He sort of bought all we had..." - Beth's repetition of "Sort of" is inspired loosely by a scene in "NewsRadio" where Dave Nelson keeps saying "Well, apparently..."
- "These are the addresses and phone numbers of six different..." - A nod to Amanda Rohrssen's "The Other McCawber Girl", a scene which has not yet been publically released, but you will know it when you read it.

And in noteville:

The retail schedule I go over at the start here is based around some of my own in the past. Very few places I have worked ever had only one employee on shift at a time, but there have been a couple - usually in the morning - in very small, low-volume places.

Most of Henny's dialogue sounds best if you imagine it being spoken by Fran Drescher in her most irritating "Nanny"-esque voice. Oh I love Henny. ^_^

I had the WORST time coming up with stuff from Launchpad's perspective. Just for the record, there. I felt like every scene I wrote from him POV either over-explained things or left them too undetailed. It goes back to my previous characterizations notes on why I find him a little hard to write, I guess... I don't want to have him overthinking things, because I think he kind of does the opposite of that, but it's hard to really explain a situation without! Oh well. I don't know why I began this but the kitchen sequence basically gives the first chronological example of me writing LP stuck on - and pretty awful at - crosswords. It's the earliest time it happens in one of my fics but definitely not the first time I've written it... Though I must concede that I think a lot of the earlier times were in versions I later rewrote.

And still on the topic of writing for Launchpad, my attempts at writing him flirting are pretty pathetic. Then again I think he's not the greatest flirter in the world anyway. ;) It has to be just gentle enough so that Beth can convince herself that he's NOT flirting with her, but cute enough so that everyone else can tell that he is... or trying to, anyway.

I don't know how well Beth's feelings are portrayed here. I think I spell it out later, but Beth herself doesn't think of things entirely straightforwardly, so for anyone who wondered here's the straight dope: Beth really likes LP, but she is afraid of him, because he's "too cool" to be friends with her and she's afraid if she acts like she thinks they're real friends he'll get turned off by that and leave. On the other hand she wants to play it cool, too, so she tries to be casual. The "look for moles for me" is a product of that, which - once she thinks about it later - is WAY more intimate than she is actually comfortable being. Beth's whole relationship with Launchpad at this point is almost entirely conflicting on every point, in that she likes him but doesn't want to, is scared of him and also feels nicely put at ease by him, looks forward to seeing him and is terrified of his visits, and especially, feels both better and worse about herself after each time he comes in. She also can't make up her mind whether he really likes her or if he's just being friendly, which only makes her worse.

And while I'm spelling things out: Beth falls for Drake because he touches the back of her neck and tells her it's perfect. This is an unasked-for compliment and an unexpected intimacy that she misinterprets as kindness. With Launchpad she has her shields up; because Drake takes her by surprise, and because he looks more "attainable" than LP, she has no shields. The first rush of giddiness is addictive enough to overcome her better sense, and she lets herself fall for him.

Despite my maintaining that Launchpad is not openly interested in Beth at this stage, I couldn't resist writing things like him noticing that she smells nice. Because I am wacky like that! Don't boys always notice that kinda thing? :P

Once again - I am not sure that the interaction between LP and Beth feels right for a 'first story'. Even though they know each other already, I keep forgetting it's an introduction to Beth and I'm incredibly aware that this probably doesn't read like an intro story. It's because I've written in such a nastily circular way, and am in fact writing that way even more right now since I'm working on a "current" story about flashbacks. It really screws you up to write a story with scenes that take place in the "past" with a perspective on current events, and at the same time work on a "past" story that takes place at approximately the same time but has NO perspective on "current" stuff.

All the stuff about LP and women? Does not convey what I want it to. I mean, informationally it works - it's what I want it to say - but I can't manage it to sound like it really is coming from LP. Oh well. *sigh*

Jerky!Drake. This is actually the explanation for why Jerky!Drake remains a main character in many of the earlier fics, rather than just a standard use. I'm trying to set up why DW would not like Beth from the start, and continue to go by that opinion of her rather than just ignore her like everyone else does, or something. Because I'm sorry, but I am not going to be rewriting this series so that DW takes a liking to her... That was just never going to happen. XD

The description of Henny when she enters is directly from the very first picture anyone drew of Henny - which was by Lar deSouza and can still be found on many websites. I have my own interpretation of Beth and how she looks, but Henny's character design is exactly what Lar did from the start.

"You're talking about Megavolt" and the "lightbulb" over LP's head: no pun intended! Just a fortunate - and silly - accident. *G*

For the record, I don't think that "Zip it!" is a reference to anything... I just thought it sounded funny in my head and would be amusing to have several characters say it in one scene. I don't think I'll come back to it, at least not in this fic, since that would be overkill.

It's dawned on me just now some of what's missing in my writing Drake. I'm missing the drama and showmanship he puts into some of his little actions; I tend to replace it with snark, of which DW has plenty, but he's not so one-note as I write him. But I find snark easier to write, especially when he's in the mood I've placed him in during this scene, so the snark wins this round. XD Maybe I can make myself write in more drama in future fics, now that I've had this insight! Thank you, Blogspot.com, for showing me the way!

Begin at the Beginning, part two

Well, now... I don't think I've written anything since my last entry, but since I'm still sort of focusing on TWC1's rewrite, I think it's a good time to write about it some more.

So. Characters. To start with I'll say that my style of writing is very character-based; I like to write about why characters do things, feel a certain way, behave or act in a particular style. I like to explain actions. The end result of this is that when I write fanfic for most shows (or whatever I'm writing for), nothing much happens; you might get an insight but you're not going to get a lot of development.*lol*

I'm going to digress for a moment and share my theory on fanfiction: I think most people - not all, but most - write fanfic when there is something they want to see in a series that they aren't getting from the series itself. That might be a particular pairing, a particular mood, a use of a specific character, etc. Some people like to write darker versions of DWD, some really like a character and create a character to pair them with (...ahem. *looks guilty*). There ARE writers who just like a series and want to write their own episodes or whatever and I always admire those people. I discovered that I am more likely to write fic when there's something I want to change and/or see; if I'm enjoying what I'm being given, most of the time I won't even *read* fic, let alone write it. When I do, it's the speculative "nothing happens" fic I spoke of. SO! There's my digression. :)

Anyway, what I guess I wanted to "change" with TWC was not so much a change as an addition, ie the obvious one, Beth. And yeah, you can tell that this was mostly just a matter of liking the series and kind of wanting to be "in" it more, and Beth was a character I could sort of slide right on in there, have the characters react to her, and become invested in the series. I went through this already, but I swear, I *never* thought of her as a representation of myself. I already explained all that in an earlier post, though, so I won't go into it again. ^_^ To tie this back into the second paragraph: I will make the admission that the ideal fic for me is one where almost nothing happens, except maybe some people have a lot of deep conversations about things in their life. And at the end maybe they kiss (or, if that's inappropriate for the characters in question, they don't). *G* That's an oversimplification and a poke at me, all in one! But because I focus on characters, focussing on *plot* is very, very hard for me at times.

Having said that... I thought I'd talk a little bit about my take on the characters, as they are in the beginning of the series.

To start with, there aren't really any major characters on DWD that I don't like. Ironically, I adore Honker; he's one of my favourites. And I almost never use him, probably because Beth usually fills the role he usually filled (the brainy awkward one... the one "nerding it up" to quote the Simpsons, as I so often do). But I don't have any characters who have been in more than three episodes that I don't really like, and pretty much NO characters who were in more than one episode that I actually *dislike*. I like 'em all as they are, more or less, which again is par for the course for me: if I like a character I usually am faithful to their portrayal on the series, because I figure if I wanted something about them changed then I wouldn't be such a fan of the character. Doesn't mean I don't want them to grow, I just want to acknowledge who they are and what I *like* about them that way. (Um... in this case I'm actually thinking specifically of "Xena", not DWD, when it comes to growth and changes. For the record.)

But I have a little trouble writing the characters for Darkwing, because they are *not* deep characters, they are cartoons, and were always written as such. To add a lot of depth makes them more serious and erases some of the fundamental simplicity of their characters. They're two-dimensional because that's how characters usually are on kids' programs, and it doesn't mean they're badly done or not realistic, but it does make it hard to write a fanfic that is terrifically character-driven because... well, because you just can't write a fic about a character and only show one or two personality traits, as the series often did, and have that character be relatable.

The end result of this was that, in the original version of TWC1 (and subsequent fics), Drake is... um... not terribly likeable. I love Drake; I love that he can be an arrogant jerk, and I stand by my belief that he makes snap judgements of people, those judgements are usually (8 times out of 10) more negative than they should be, and he definitely thinks he is smarter than most people. He also has the patience of a gnat. But if that's all you present of someone in a fic written from their POV, how do you justify it? If you don't, if you can't, you're not writing a character who is believeable and you're not writing a character who is likeable.

I had the fundamental problem in the first version of this fic that I was certain Drake should NOT like Beth. I've tweaked my portrayal of Beth to give a few good reasons why he would not (reasons I tried to sort of portray early on, but wasn't really strong enough in my characterizations to get it out there) - mainly that she is awkward and, unwittingly, a hindrance to him. But those reasons aren't really strong enough to carry him out-and-out DISliking her and still not make him look like a creep.

The thing about Drake is that he's pretty certain he's always right - or, at least, in many situations and at many times he's certain of that. There are exceptions; he'll acknowledge when he has no idea what's going on, he admits that people know more than he does about certain things, and of course there's the old ego-shattering that happens fairly frequently when DW goes from puffed-up ego to punctured-balloon ego. *G* But in general, he's the kind of guy who makes a habit out of taking in his surroundings, interpreting them, and refusing to listen to anyone else's take on it. When he thinks he is an expert at something, he's totally confident in that expertise.

(Sidenote: general cartoon inconsistencies taken into account, I'm mainly talking about how *I* prefer to write DW. YMMV and I believe any given episode can provide evidence to contradict my interpretation; but then as I've said, I'm looking for chances to write a fully-rounded version of the character and this is how I'm piecing him together.)

I like writing DW as fairly competent, more than half of the time. The episodes go back and forth with this, sometimes he really knows what he's doing and sometimes he's bumbling through a case. I definitely like a good gag about DW making a dumb mistake - particularly if it's actually funny, heh - but some episodes go waaaay beyond what I'm comfortable with and it makes you wonder why he still has all his limbs intact. I like to see a vigilante who mostly knows what he's doing, within limits. DW limits himself, of course, but I also enjoy the idea that some of his ego comes from a well-deserved confidence in his ability. DW believes his own press -he has to, since he's the one writing it - and a majority of the time he lives up to it. So I like to show him succeeding, having moments of greatness, perhaps tripping himself up in the process but ultimately not only coming out on top but figuring out how to come out on top. I'm not going to necessarily be consistent in it; I think part of DW's appeal is that he's not perfect, after all. But I would rather see him know what he's doing than luck into something and I don't think I'm alone there.

These two things align into Drake's initial reaction to Beth. He is competent enough to recognize what he interprets as incompetence in Beth; he is irritated with anything that does not provide him quickly with something he wants; he is impatient. He also believes in his own *right* to be annoyed with anything that's sort of... standing in his way, I guess; the fact that he's in a bad mood the morning/afternoon that he meets her doesn't change anything. To Drake, it is not a bad thing to judge someone quickly, it's perhaps a necessity since you have to trust your instincts on people if you're going to fight crime. Nor does it occur to him that someone's feelings could be hurt by his being snide; I think that often he's used to most of his comments going over peoples' heads. But this is a tricky balance to write properly, because you have to set up that the character doesn't think it's a bad thing to dislike this other character, you have to give the character's totally (within their own mind) reasonable explanations, and you have to also just cross your fingers and hope that the audience will not AGREE with the character's assessment of the other character.

Last note for this entry: I've developed, over the years, a tendency to write Drake as a sort of cynical crank. This has moved away from the TV series. It started because I was trying to find a middle ground with him for Beth, and that became something where he would be cranky around her but like her underneath it, and it's sort of gotten to a point where if something isn't the kind of thing he's directly interested in, he won't even fake an interest. Not that he will tune it out completely, just that he'll view it with a kind of resigned indifference, even get annoyed if he's asked to pay too much attention to it. Drake lives with a certain element of expectations - one of which is that HE will always be the center of attention - and he will not alter those expectations. So I don't mean to imply that I think the way I write DW is dead-on canon, though I do *try* to make him as close as I can to the Drake of the TV series. Because I love that Drake. But my writing for him has evolved over the past decade and I'm in a pattern now that I don't think I can really escape. Oh well. :) I like my Drake, too. ^_~