TWC4: Update and Deleted Scenes

So, earlier I wrote a post sayingg that I was nearly finished with chapter 2 of TWC4 and I would have deleted scenes to post later on, but for some reason this computer will not let me publish posts to this blog. So that post never got added to the blog. Instead I'm just gonna go ahead and make THIS message, and then hopefully be able to post it from upstairs on my OLD computer. And if I can't I have no idea what happens :P

Anyway! First of all: I finished and uploaded chapter 2 of TWC4, "Shake, Rattle, and Mole". The link is to the first chapter. It's also here on AO3.

So, as I wrote this chapter it just got longer and longer. And I'd edit it down, then write more. Finally I said screw it and wrote what I wanted, with ideas of what I could trim out later; the final edit turned out to be about 5,500 words. I got it down to just under 4,300 on FF.net by cutting rather ruthlessly and summarizing some of the dialogue I'd taken out. The stuff I cut was all just conversation, and does not keep the plot moving or anything like that - it's all really just chitchat. The thing is, though, I do feel like it's important b/c it gives a bit more of a reason as to why LP and Beth get along and why he'd start feeling the way he does for her. I feel like the version I posted at FF.net, while it is more concise, glosses over both his growing attraction to her and also the fundamentals of their friendship. So, although that's the "official" version up there and the extra stuff is probably really *better* for cutting, I still want to make it available since... well, it just might make the relationship make more *sense*, I guess. I dunno, I'm too in the characters' heads, and this probably isn't necessary - it probably overstates things way too much. But I felt I needed more transition from LP's resistance to his attraction to Beth, into his total acceptance of it at the end of the chapter.

I actually trimmed even more than I am putting up here... maybe I'll keep those parts or maybe they are genuinely expendable. But here are two snippets I thought were worth keeping, even unofficially.

****

"Traffic... OH." She put her hand to her mouth and looked thunderstruck. Then she put her hand over her eyes. "OH, of *course*. THAT'S why he's mad. Oh, I am so stupid."

"What? He's not mad. Why do you think he's mad?" Launchpad felt a need to protect her, but it came out as a sort of frantic cover-up.

"Nothing - I just... oh, sheesh, I didn't think. No, it's nothing."

"You're not stupid," he said earnestly. He looked around the room. "Is it the pictures that fell down? 'Cause that's not your fault."

"No, I know." She looked at him and smiled.

He smiled back, and realized she probably couldn't see his expression at all. He looked at the table. "So, what happened to your glasses?"

"Oh. They fell off, I stepped on them. Standard klutz stuff." She leaned forward and felt around for them, then put them on. The left lense was full of cracks, and the bridge was so broken that the glasses wouldn't sit straight on her bill, so the right lense twisted upwards. She tried twice to right them, then gave up and put them back onto the table. "Ugh."

"Can you see at all without 'em?" He looked at her carefully, without her glasses on - the first time he'd seen her without them; it made her face look younger and different, uncovered. *Naked*. He blushed a little and looked at his hands instead.

"Kind of. I mean, I can see you - just no details." She reached out and poked him in the chest, and he chuckled and rubbed the spot she'd poked. "But I have degenerative myopia, so I'm super nearsighted."

"Whoa, really? That sounds bad."

She shrugged. "It's not that bad. It's slow-acting, I mean. It mostly happened kind of quickly when I was about twelve, and all of a sudden I needed glasses, then stronger ones. But now it's slowed down and I just need to adjust my prescription every so often."

He looked at her face again, almost shyly. All this time he'd assumed that her eyes only looked big because of the thickness of her glasses, but it turned out they were just that *big*. She looked at most nineteen, and adorable. He realized he was staring and looked away, then realized she couldn't tell, so he looked at her again. "So, does it hurt your head to have everythin' blurry like this?"

"No, not if I don't try to see anything. If I have to squint it hurts eventually. But even if I squint I can only make things out if they're close enough, so I just don't bother most of the time."

"How close do you have to be?"

She leaned towards him, and beckoned him closer too. As he got nearer, she narrowed her eyes, and then stopped him. "THERE we go. Hi!"

He waved. "Hi!" She laughed, all squinty-eyed, and blushed a little. "If I get closer do you NOT have to squint?"

"Um, yeah, there's usually a point where I can see things, just before they get TOO close and I can't see them anymore." She beckoned him closer again, and he leaned in. "Okay... keep coming... keeeeep coming..."

Someone cleared their throat behind them, and Beth jumped back like she'd been stung. "OH my gosh!"

Launchpad sat back, away from her, down at the other end of the couch, and he hadn't been about to kiss her at all. "Oh. Hey!" he said as Drake came down the stairs, glowering at them both. "Heh. Gos okay?"

"She's *fine*," Drake said stiffly, and glared a direct accusation in Launchpad's direction. Launchpad suspected he was blushing.

Etc...

***

[[After this, there is one thing i took out - after reluctantly thanking Beth for staying to be sure Gos was okay, Drake gives her an extra $20 as "overtime" which she tries to give back but he won't take it. Eh, it was a nice touch but really not needed. Then the walk to Beth's, I had conversation written out that I ended up removing and summarizing:]]

"Sounds good," she said cheerfully. He had her repeat the first step, and he did his best to listen even though he was fighting a maddening urge to stroke the back of her hand with his thumb the entire time.

They walked in silence for more than a minute. Launchpad felt every second of it. It seemed as if he *needed* to say something, or else he'd just keep *thinking*, and thinking wasn't helping him in the slightest; but he had no idea what to say. Beth, meanwhile, was uncharacteristically silent; he'd never known her not to keep *some* line of conversation going. Taking a guess at what she might be thinking, he asked, "Still worried about Drake bein' mad?"

She nodded. "I feel like I'm on thin ice with him. Like there's a sword hanging over my head, and every time I do the wrong thing, the rope keeping it up gets weaker and weaker, and there's no way to strengthen it again."

"Don't worry about it," he said reassuringly, and tightened his grip on her hand without thinking of what he was doing. "He just gets, I dunno... funny about stuff. But you were right to stay with Gos, and he knows it."

Beth shook her head. "I should've thought, though... With me still being there when he came home..."

"Huh? What do you mean?" That was weird - it almost sounded like she knew about Darkwing.

"Oh - no, nothing. Sorry." She smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

"Oh, uh, okay." Launchpad scratched his cheek in puzzlement, and reached for a topic - something kind of boring and safe - and came up with, "So, uh, how's the job hunt going?"

Beth sighed dramatically, her shoulders slumping. "Still unemployed," she answered. "I don't know, Launchpad, I've applied to, like, twenty different companies this week alone and I haven't heard ANYthing. And they're all kinds of jobs, I mean, I even applied to a Hamburger Hippo and NOBODY has called me back! I was saying to Gosalyn earlier, I don't even know what I was thinking, just quitting. What a dumb thing to do. That was the ONLY real job I've ever had, and do you know how long it took me to get THAT? And then Henny just hired me on the spot when I came in to inquire... And now, I can't even use that job as a reference because of everything I said when I quit. Henny would *never* say anything good about me now so I have four years' worth of employment at ONE job, and NO references..." She shook her head and sighed again. "But you know, that's the thing about Henny, I don't think I could have gotten a good reference out of her even if I *hadn't* said anything."

Wow. Launchpad was almost sorry he'd asked, if only because she was obviously really upset. "Uh, I'm sorry. I guess it's kinda my fault you quit..."

"What? No! Oh, no it's not, really." She turned to reassure him hastily, waving her free hand all around as she did. "You just said I should look for another job, I'M the one who quit! Nobody is to blame for this but me." She looked at him, or towards him anyway, with an anguished expression. "Launchpad... What do I do? What if I never get another job?"

With that look on her face, he found that the only thing that seemed important was to help her, to find a way to make all of her problems disappear. What could he possibly say to make her feel good about herself? "Of course you'll get another job! You're a great worker an' - an' you, uh, you have attention to details!"

Beth smiled, evidently in spite of herself, at that. "Do I?"

He shrugged. "I'm not real good at this. But you're smart, you'll do fine. REALLY, trust me."

"I don't know. I said to Gos earlier - people, they just don't notice me. There's nothing on my resume that looks interesting, and it's the same thing when they meet me - just being smart isn't going to do it, it's like I'm invisibe. Nobody will ever call me because nobody will ever NOTICE me."

Etc.

***

[[And, last thing, which I won't paste here; after he asks her to have "movie night", she says that she was afraid he was avoiding her which he denies a bit too much. Again, cute but expendable. And there you go, now you know the rest of the story!

This still may not fully convey the transition I tried to write - well, to be honest, I'm afraid I failed with that even in the full version - but I mean, I just cut bits and piece throughout to take out as much as I could. I'm kinda impressed I got 1300 out of it. I wish I could've taken it down to under 4,000 since this chapter is such fluff that I feel bad having it be so long... but oh well. :P]]

This is not a post

Fic update! I posted the first chapter of TWC4 at FF.net and AO3. Since it's a replacement of the chapter that is already there on FF.net, they won't register it as an update until I actually add a new chapter, so this is the "unofficial prerelease". :P I am, however, hoping to have chapter 2 done before the end of the month. :)

I'm so relieved to get this done. I had actually planned on working on this during October, but stress at the beginning of the month basically gave me artistic block on all fronts. I've only JUST started writing again. Hoping this is the start of something good! :)

If I can get to chapter 2 quickly enough (I don't know if that will work or not though) I'm going to work on "Those Daring McQuacks". I have the structure outlined and I tried starting act 2 a couple of months ago but i stalled on the scene. I was able to write it, it just wasn't paced particularly well and I was having trouble with what I wanted to say. I hope I can pick it up again and fix it.

Anyway, I don't think anyone checks this blog if I dont' put up links or reminders, but just in case people do, fic update message and general ramblings. ^_^ Hi!

Three happy chappies in snappy sarapes

Every so often I get "The Three Caballeros" stuck in my head and I really mean STUCK. :P Actually I think I'm going to go watch it if I can find it on YouTube. Just 'cause. I have such a mad crush on Jose Carioca and was sort of shocked to find out that so does half of deviantART, but I digress...

So! Anyway, moving on, and getting back to the point of my single-minded blog; if you've been following TWC3 you know I've recently posted the 8th chapter out of 9. I'm working on the 9th chapter and I already have a deleted scene :P It's a scene I like, but it makes the chapter too long and it's not necessary for the fic as a whole to make sense. So I'm removing it and putting it up here, but I will note that I consider it canon (it was in ALL my earlier outlines, sigh, I hated taking it out but eh. It's genuinely expendable, just something I wanted but isn't needed).

I'm not spoiling anything when I give the context, because - assuming you've read the second-to-last chapter of the fic, you already know how the action plot wraps up. Therefore, this doesn't really give anything away. However, it's really just fluff for the sake of fluff... a bit of schmoopy LP/Beth stuff, yet again. So I guess this is the right place for it. ^_~

***

He picked up the phone, dialed, and then hung up before it rang. What was the best way to do this? Should he be straightforward and get right to it, or make small talk for a while to play it down? Small talk, he decided. That way she'd feel like it wasn't the *only* reason he was calling her. Which it wasn't, he amended to himself hastily. He'd have called her anyway - or, well, he *should* get into the habit of calling her. He'd call her tomorrow to let her know that she should come in, and then keep talking to her after telling her. Perfect.

He dialed again and let it ring.

"Bindler's Hardware, how can I help you." She picked up midway through the second ring, and he thought she sounded tired or maybe just unhappy. He remembered the five-minute rule just before he spoke.

"Uh, hey Beth, it's Launchpad." Maybe he *should* get right to the point, though he really didn't want to.

"Oh, hi!" she said, infinitely more enthusiastic, but he thought he could still detect an edge of flatness to her voice. "Everything okay?"

"Oh, sure, yeah, fine," he said; so much for getting right to the point. "How're things goin' there?"

There was a brief hesitation, and then she said, "Yeah, just fine too... Fine... Henny just got in, actually, so just a few more hours and my shift's done for the day."

"I thought you closed on Thursdays?"

"Yeah, I - I usually do," she said, then with amusement in her voice added, "and I can't believe you remember that."

"Oh yeah, well... just stuck with me, I guess," he said. He felt a little embarrassed now that she'd made a thing out of it, but it wasn't anything, really... It was just easier to know when Beth was in the store and when she wasn't, so that he didn't get stuck dealing only with Henny if he needed to drop by for something.

"Okay - well no problem, just... anyway she's had me close a few times already this week so I asked her to let me have this evening off. That way I can get over there a little earlier, have some time to unwind before I take on Gos, things like that." She laughed.

"Uh, yeah," he said, forcing a laugh as well. "So she letcha switch? Well that's good! After what you were sayin' yesterday it seemed like she might not do stuff like that... So I guess things aren't all that bad!" He wasn't stalling, he was focusing on the positive.

Unfortunately Beth gave a sigh. "Actually now that you mention it..." She lowered her voice. "You'd think I'd asked for an extra week of paid vacation or something. I mean - she has me switch shifts with her *all the time*, something like four times just this month, but heaven forbid *I* ask for something. And I'd *better* not refuse when she needs an evening or a morning free, because if I do, of *course* it's not because I have plans or it's the last minute, it's obviously because I just want to be a jerk. You know-" She cut herself off and sighed again. "I'm sorry, Launchpad, you don't want to hear this. I shouldn't even be saying these things. I just - I'm kind of stressed out right now, and -"

"Hey, you can *always* tell me stuff. I'm here to listen! Even if you just need to vent for, like, a half an hour straight."

There was a sound in the background of her end of the line then, something kind of like a foghorn. Launchpad listened closely but couldn't figure out what it was. "Uh - did somethin' just happen...?"

In a strained voice, Beth said, "That was Henny. I have two minutes left."

"Ah. Yeah, right. Sorry, well... uh... I guess I'll get to the point, then..." He went over a few options of how to lead into the statement quickly in his head, and began, "Well, see, here's the thing-"

"You don't want me to come babysit tonight, do you," she said flatly.

He felt incredibly guilty. "Uh, how'd ya guess?" he asked, hoping if he stayed cheerful he could make it seem unimportant.

She didn't buy it. "Your voice - you obviously had bad news, and you know, that's just the kind of week it's been." She caught herself. "It's not a big deal actually, I'm just being dramatic... You know how it is, one little thing just to validate feeling bad about the big things. Really, I can use another evening off to get some rest."

"Yeah! Get to bed early or - y'know, go out to a movie or somethin'!" Should he offer to take her out to a movie? Nah, she probably wouldn't know how to take that. He had another idea, and this one made more sense. "Y'know, you should come over sometime, but *not* to babysit. Just come on by an' hang out-"

"Hang on." She turned her head away from the phone or something, just enough so that she wasn't shouting directly into the receiver when she said, "Just a *minute*, okay?! I'm ALMOST DONE!"

"Uh, sorry -"

"Don't worry, it's not you... I'm sorry, I probably made you go deaf. She's been like this all *week*." Beth sounded slightly desperate at the end of the last sentence. "What were you saying?"

"Oh, you should just come over and we can hang out-"

Henny yelled in the background again, and this time Launchpad could hear her clearly. Beth yelled back almost immediately, and he was so surprised by the whole thing that he just kept on talking, which resulted in the three of them going all together at once:

"*Store rules are in place for a reason, Beth, an' five minutes means five minutes!*"

"I am NEARLY DONE, Henny, and I still have thirty-five seconds left!"

"-it's been a while, and I miss you!"

He fell silent. Beth and Henny did not, and he got to hear Henny sniping about the exact time by her watch since the phone had started ringing, and Beth started saying into the phone "So anyway *Dad*, thanks for letting me know about Mom, I hope she's out of the hospital soon! Yes, I'll call as soon as I can get home, unfortunately my *manager* feels I spend too much time on the phone!"

Wow. This was crazy.

Henny's voice faded away and Beth took a moment to recover before saying, in a shaky voice, "I am *so sorry.*"

"No, don't be. That sounds *awful*."

"You have no idea," she said; her voice sounded small.

He was at a loss; words weren't his strong suit in moments like these, but she wasn't there in the room with him, so words were all he had to offer. "Your mom's not really in the hospital, is she?"

Beth laughed sharply. "No, of course not. God, wouldn't that just be the topper? No, I just - was being stupid. I wanted her to leave me alone."

"Don't get real upset, okay? You're gettin' out soon, maybe spend the afternoon lookin' at the want ads and see if you can find another place that's hiring."

"Yeah, right." She took a long breath and let it out. "Okay, I should go now or she'll nail me for being over by 47 seconds. Thanks for calling me."

"No problemo. I'll call tomorrow too, okay?"

She paused, just for the briefest second. "Do - do you want to cancel tomorrow night too?"

"Huh? NO! No, I'll just call to check in! We'll DEFINITELy see you tomorrow night!"

"Oh good... okay. Thanks." She sounded deeply relieved. "Um, geez, I should've asked this before now, but is Drake OK?"

"Oh yeah - fine, no, he just... doctor said, to be on the safe side, y'know. Stomach bugs can spread real quick."

"Stomach..." She mused slightly, but didn't finish. Instead she said, "I - I'm not going to ask if you've had a chance to... talk to him yet, about what I was saying... I mean... if you have, well, tell me tomorrow, okay?"

"Oh yeah. You bet. Actually with him bein' sick and all-"

"Right. Well, tomorrow. Thanks again for calling."

When they'd both hung up, he wondered where exactly "I miss you" had come from.

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. :)

Fluorescent lights, they hum like angels

The thing about sunburn is, once it stops hurting, it starts ITCHING. Take it from me on this one.

So! It's been HOW long now since my last entry? Funny part is on some level I thought it had been even longer. :P But still, I was surprised to see that I didn't update at all up until now for the month of June! Yeesh.

So here's my first thing to mention:

I updated TWC3 with another new chapter! Yay for me! I did mention this on DeviantArt and I am pretty sure most everyone who occasionally pops in here does follow me over there, so they probably already knew it. But ya know, I like to mention it here. :) Is it worth my putting a link up here? If you need one let me know and I'll link it.

Second thing to mention:

Apparently TWC3 is just about my least popular fic so far. Seriously, I don't remember the last time I've had this few reviews on an ongoing fic (not counting the old ones I put up all at once). For the record, I'm not saying specific people or friends of mine - I usually get more random pop-in reviews, that's all. I had a few people following the TWC1 rewrite that I didn't even know; I guess they lost interest. Then I met some new people with TWC2, and that was cool, but only one of them has reviewed a chapter of TWC3 this time and it was to say she wasn't sure about Quackerjack's motivations. (Fair enough, btw; I'm not confident writing him. I think it's totally fair criticism, I just am worried that it was enough to put her off reading the fic. :( I don't want to drive readers away!) I'm kind of hoping I'll pick up some end-of-fic reviews once I finish it, but I'm worried I won't, and that'll be a little bit depressing; I have to admit, I'm not that inspired on this one so it's not my best, but some - in fact nearly all - of hte background plot developments in this one are *pivotal* to the series. They all happen in this one. So I sorta hope that's enough that, by the end, I'll have a few more people who feel it's worth saying something. :)

I guess it couldnt' hurt if I interacted more on FF.net, which I find really difficult, because I can't sort through fanfics to find good ones. I just don't have the time. It's very easy for me to go through a ton of art on DA and leave comments, but I can't invest the time in fanfic unless I know in advance that it's worth reading. I'm sure if I read more fics and interacted with people more they'd reciprocally read mine more, or at least comment to make it look like they were reading. ;)

Oh well, the good news (depending on your perspective) is that I intend to finish this fic regardless. :D And I think TWC4 will be a fun one. I hope anyway. :)

Other weird things: All day on Formspring the number of followers has been distracting me. I don't like having it so clearly marked. It has been fluxing between 53 and 55 followers ALL DAY. It's gone up and down at least 6 times by now. Is this normal? Does anyone else have this happen and is it a bug, or do I just have a couple of people who can't make up their minds about me?

Double Post

Wow, I did it. I kinda didn't think I'd make it. But it's nearly midnight so #$&)$. Was it worth it, I don't know. I only got one review on the last chapter so I don't expect to get much on this one either (though what's keeping me going on this is that I want to make it at least to TWC4 since that's where things get "juicy" as it were; anyway point being reviews are gravy but I have an internal push, for now anyway, might burn out we'll see. Damn i'm tired)

Anyway, here is link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2460903/1/TWC_3_Forever_Young

I'll update AO3 tomorrow, right now too lazy/tired/screwyouguys,I'mgoinghome type stuff. BED and I mean it. (As if I won't probably waste another ten-fifteen minutes rechecking my email JUST IN CASE someone reviewed).

I'll just add that I'm at that stage of being tired/annoyed by the fact that I'm not in bed yet where everything angers me. Make a typo, and I'm like "I HATE YOU FINGERS! RAAHR! WHAT IF I THREW YOU IN THE TRASHCAN THEN WOULD YOU BE SORRY?!" ;)

MAN it's cold here

My office is always FREEZING, especially after 5pm.

Sorry no content updates here for the past few weeks, but I have just updated "Forever Young" at Fanfiction.net and AO3! You want the links? YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE LINKS! Oh okay what the heck.

AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/165643

FF.net: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2460903/1/TWC_3_Forever_Young

I just put up chapter 3, which officially closes out Act I. That's great! Except I have barely anything written for Act II. That's less great :P I like to have at least a chapter in advance written, because if I don't, I dno't have any "backup" material to post when I'm stuck. Eh well. I'll try to get two chapters done during April. :)

A quick question for anyone inclined to answer: What do you think I should focus on for now: the rewrites, or the rewrites AND new stuff? Is it worth working on new fics at the same time or should I just get the rewrites done and out there first? I'm afraid I'll lose my drive on the new stuff :(

I've asked this before but no one has really answered, so I thought I'd try again. And I'll try again in a few months, I'm sure, if no one answers this time! ;D

Bonjour, Good Day, How is your family?

1st: New chapter of TWC3 is up on AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/165643/chapters/244215
And at FF.net: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2460903/2/

2nd: The authors notes promise a deleted scene. You might possibly even wonder about that scene before you get to the end, where the author's notes are. What happened is that I wrote the scene where Drake apologizes to Beth, and wasn't really happy with it. It wasn't bad, but I felt like the whole chapter was running long, and I needed to trim it desperately. So I tried the chapter without the scene, just alluding to it, and it worked, IMO. But the scene has been written (and y'all readers might be curious), so I'm going to post it here with my handy-dandy Deleted Scene capabilities! Don't you love Fanfic Blog Extras? ;)

With this scene, there's a bit of duplicated information that shows up at the end of what I actually posted; that's because a small handful of information was important, and so I had to add it back into the chapter another way. I didn't bother to edit it out of here. So just in case you wonder why Beth and DW are having a conversation that they sort of have later on and neither seems to remember that they already talked about it... that's why. XD

Damn, I just realized that I forgot to put the "call me Beth" conversation in the version I posted. Meh. I can fix, though. Oh well! Enjoy!

***

"Ahem. Well," he said hesitantly.

After a moment, she said roughly, "Well..."

"So, uh... I think there may have been a slight misunderstanding just now, Ms. Webfoot," he began carefully. She shifted in a way that he couldn't read. He cleared his throat and said, "I, ah, I had it pointed out to me that you - *ahem* - overheard me say something that was just *ripe* for misinterpretation. And that you may have thought, mistakenly of *course*, that I was talking about *you* just now."

Beth lifted her head in a sort of sideways move, and he saw her eyes blink up towards his. "Re-really..?"

She looked miserable, to the point where he was embarrassed *for* her; it was like she wasn’t able to hide it, and it really wasn’t flattering. And for a moment, he had an awful, gut feeling that anyone who was acting out a deliberate plan wouldn’t be able to pull off so perfect a picture of misery. For just a moment, he was sure that she wasn't a supervillain, she wasn't a criminal mastermind, she was just a regular person. A generally somewhat annoying person, sure, but still a regular one. And he was a jerk.

Drake swallowed. No, that couldn’t be right. There was too much evidence to the contrary, too many coincidences to be real. He shook himself out of it, reminded himself why he was doing this, and then lied as hard as he could. "Oh yes. See, I had a conversation with a coworker this afternoon, and well, I'll spare you the details, but I was just telling Launchpad about it and it would seem that you walked in on the end of it. And from the look of things you jumped to conclusions here..."

She lifted her head slightly. "I... I did?"

He chuckled. "Yep, yep, looks like it." In lieu of anything else to say, he added, "I guess there's a lesson here about walking in on conversations-"

"Mr. Mallard?" She cut him off, and the look she was giving him was both hopeful and desperate. Speaking quickly and stiltedly, she said, "Do - I mean - do you want me - to leave?"

He hesitated. "P-pardon?"

"Just... just tell me." She sighed and put a hand up towards her forehead, shielding herself from him. "Just tell me right now, please, and... and that'll be that."

Oh, now this was too much. This catapulted him right back into his certainty that she was more than she said she was; no one could possibly do this without intending to twist the knife. He almost read her the riot act then and there, but then remembered that Launchpad would probably come to her rescue and tie him up, or something. Without the first idea of what to say or how this should go, he took a breath and lied again. "Nooooo, no no… Whatever could make you think *that*?"

There was a pause - he still couldn't see her face - and she said in a wobbly voice, "S-so you don't want me to leave?"

*Well-played, Beth Webfoot,* he thought. She was crafty. “Who, me? *Perish* the thought,” he said through gritted teeth.

With a slight sniffle she said, "Oh... Okay..." They paused and neither of them looked at each other, and then she said more loudly, "Boy, I sure feel silly over all this. Gosh. I'm - I'm really sorry."

"Oh, no, no no. Think nothing of it." Inwardly Drake was cringing, and wondering if he was really doing the right thing. Well, he was stuck with her now, so he’d *have* to be the one to take down her criminal empire – or whatever it was she was leading up to. "I mean, things... happen. No matter how much we might wish otherwise, am I right?"

"Sure," she said, and nodded. "Oh, Mr. Mallard ... I'm really sorry, also, about - about butting into your conversation."

Unexpectedly, he felt another flash of guilt when she said that, and he squirmed a little under her gaze. "Look, Ms. Webfoot-"

"Call me Beth!" she said instantly; it almost made him think she'd been waiting all this time for a chance to say that. "Um, please."

He winced. "Okay... Beth. Look, let's not even think about it again, huh?" She nodded, looking a little peppier than she had, and he was reminded of a puppy. "Okay, great, so we're settled. Look, I've got to get ready to go, so - so I'll just see you next time, right? We're paid up for the week?"

"Oh yes!" she said, nodding, and then looked thoughtful for a moment. He tried to escape before she spoke again, but she caught him halfway out the door. "Oh! Oh Mr. Mallard!"

He wondered if he could get away with not returning the first-name favour. With a sigh, he decided he probably couldn't. "Drake," he said wearily, turning back to face her. Her entire face brightened.

"I totally forgot what it was I was coming in to say to you! See, Gosalyn had asked me if she could have a friend over tonight and I wasn't sure what you'd think about that so I said I would ask you, I mean, it's pretty much okay with *me* but I don't know YOUR policy on the matter so I figured it was better to ask and be sure so that you didn't-"

"Okay okay, I get it. Are we talking about Honker?"

She looked a little blank, but said, "Is he the next-door neighbour?"

"Yep."

"Then yes, that must be right. Is that okay with you?"

"Sure, sure. Honker comes over all the time. Just make sure Gos doesn't force him to do her homework and there won't be any problems." He started out through the door again, and again she stopped him.

"Dr-Drake? One more thing. Um... is Honker... is he very much like - well, what I mean is-"

He knew what she was trying to ask, as she searched for a tactful way of asking without possibly insulting his daughter. "He's nothing like Gos. He's quiet and studious - you'll like him."

"Oh." She smiled, appearing to relax, and gave him a little wave. He returned it half-heartedly, and did his best to make sure she didn't see him roll his eyes on the way out. The last thing he needed now was to go through the whole darn thing over again.


***

The door to the kitchen opened slowly, almost carefully, and then Drake stepped out. Launchpad watched him, and when he didn’t say anything, Launchpad prompted him a little. “So..?”

Drake turned a look on him that Launchpad couldn’t exactly identify. It was sort of accusatory and annoyed, but also underneath it seemed like it was kind of fumbling and remorseful. It was definitely a glare, though, and Launchpad felt more sheepish every second it was turned on him. After a moment, Drake said, “So I apologized.”

...etc...

I swear it's Springfield's only choice! Throw up your ahnds and raise your voice!

Hiiii everyone!

In case you don't watch me on deviantART, I have put up the first chapter of "Forever Young" (third in TWC rewrites). http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2460903/1/TWC_3_Forever_Young

Please review! If you've never reviewed before this is where to start, and perhaps even end! This chapter has a scene I'm all shaky about and need some love. :)

Um, yes, I did indeed put most of this up here already if you go back far enough in the archives. So you might've read it. But it's OFFICIALLY DONE NOW! :D

Real quick then

I finished "Sea of Green". :D

Blurg, links...

at Fanfiction.net

at Archive Of Our Own

Please send cookies! ^_^

I have some of TWC3, "Forever Young", finished. I'll work on it a tiny bit while I'm on vacation and see how soon I can post it when I get back. 'Til then, hope you like! :)

Final update of 2010!

Definitely the final fic update anyway. I say that because on the surface I'm like "but maybe I'll update this blog before the year is over!"

Deep down inside though I know I won't. ;)

Anyway, I had made myself a promise that I was going to finish "Sea of Green" before the end of the year. I planned it out and was pretty sure I could finish the whole thing in 8 chapters and so I paced it and vowed to have the 8th chapter finished by this evening, if not before.

And guys, I finished the 8th chapter. :)

Unfortunately I realized with my last update that this is a 9-chapter fic. Ah, well. :P This gives me time also to polish up the first chapter of the third installment, "Forever Young". I have about maybe 2/3 or so of it written; the problem is that I don't know how long the chapter should be. I'm not sure of the pacing of the first act of that fic - or of any of it, really. I know how I want the first act to end. I'm NOT sure how much needs to get crammed into the first chapter though. Oh well, gettin' there.

I also plan on working on the next NEW, non-rewritey fic. Sadly I believe that my readership for the non-rewritey fics is down right now because everyone who was following them is in a major time crunch, especially as regards El Interneto. So I guess that's code for "I should focus on the rewrites instead." My goal for 2011 is to get at least two fics done, which I suppose means "Forever Young" (rewrite) and "Those Daring McQuacks in Their Flying Machines" (non-rewrite), but it might actually end up meaning FY and its sequel. Just focus on getting the rewrites done. I dunno.

I hope to write more in here next year. At least I've been sorta consistent this second half of the year... it's not frequent but it's steady, and that's something! But I want to get more content up. Good luck, huh? :D

I think that is all... Best wishes, happy New Year, and lalala all of that. :)

FINALLY!

Finally got the next chapter for "Sea of Green" up. (This announcement post is backwards, because only three people read this blog and so it would more sense for me to advertise the blog in the fanfic. Eh well.)

It took me FOREVER to get around to writing it. I had two weeks and I waited until the last two days, then had to go another two days over that deadline. Sheesh. Plus I realized that there will be a total of 9 chapters, not 8, so there's just no way I'm going to finish before January 1. But, that's okay, because even if I finish it IN January that's still only about 4 months or so to write this one; that's not that bad, all things considered. :) Seeing as how it took me about 8 years to rewrite the first fic, and all. ^_~

OH, and yes, sometimes I actually remember to link to things! http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2460894/7/TWC_2_Sea_Of_Green

Wait a minute, I - Jiminy Christmas.

It's actually been a month since my last update? Oh CRACKERS. D:

Well, I know I've been owing this blog several really good posts, and *those are coming*, but it's been crazy busy at work and my nights at home are usually spent either with quality time or else trying to draw (hah); so I haven't done much writing and even less blogging.

But here's some fic.

"Sea of Green" is updated! And I actually linked you to the fic this time! SO you have no excuse!

Love,
Me.

PS: I gots deviantART account now: It's a really predictable name!

And then, the other thing

Just updated "Sea of Green" at Fanfiction.net... you know I don't have the energy to put up the link. FAIL. D:

(It doesn't matter though, most people who read this will either see this weeks from now or get a notification through FF.net. But I like to pretend.)

Forgot to mention last night

That I uploaded the first couple of chapters to TWC2 at Fanfiction.net! Voici:

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2460894/1/TWC_2_Sea_Of_Green

Please review! :)

Probably won't have notes for a while yet since I like to write them as I revise, at the end of a fic (or at least after revisiting them), but once I finish notes for AAE we'll see what comes out. :) Besides, since I want to get this one done quickly... well, we'll see, like I said.

NEWS FLASH!

OMG you guys. I finished the rewrite of TWC1. And I posted it to FF.net.

FINALLY. *weeps*

I hope it doesn't take me another 9 1/2 years to finish rewriting TWC2. I'll settle for 5 years. I'll call that short. :P

But for the time being I'm going to focus on trying to finish AAE... or at least get a big chunk of it done. I am starting to hate that fic, honestly....

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2451889/1/TWC_1_My_Kingdom_For_a_DoublePlait_Bolt

Boo on me!

Yeah I keep saying I'm going to post more often, don't I? Okay, here's the deal this time around. I have, for the past three or so weeks, just not been writing. It's not even writer's block, it's just like a general indifference. Oh, I intend to write while I'm not at home. Then I get home and it's like "Naaaahhhh, not tonight."

Well, tonight I forced myself to finish a chapter of "All About Elizabeth" that had been sitting in near-completion for about three weeks (seriously, since the middle of August) and get that done, and since I don't feel like starting the second-to-last chapter of "Double-Plait Bolt" right yet I'm going to do the note-thing instead. The reason I put that off is because I am usually coding it for my website at the same time (let me at some point go into the sheer futility of this exercise, but not now) and I'm lazy about that. :P

Anyway though! Stay tuned directly for some (surprisingly short this time, I think) notes on Act II of "Double-Plait Bolt"'s rewrite!

Whoop-de-doo, Tarantula Town!

After ... I no longer remember how many weeks it's been now, I *finally* have managed to finish the last chapter of Act II of TWC1. Thank you lord. I had wanted to have it done by my trip two weeks ago but I just... well, I've been through it. ^_~ Once I got past a certain point it became a little easier and I'm just so glad to have finally posted it! I had to write it slightly out of order, regarding transitional scenes and such, so after I finished the last bit I had to go back and edit and rewrite. I ended up with my first official "deleted scene"! XD Something for the webpage, if I ever get it up and running.

When I was writing it I didn't like how some parts were turning out, but once I'd sewn it all together I reread those parts and they read the way I wanted them to after all. Go figure. Oh well: it's done! It's DONE! So now I will try to write a real content-laden post very soon! But first I had to shout with glee. ^_^

Why not post here?

I guess it can't hurt to post some of the fic in my blog. I just had a fairly productive twenty minutes or so where I wrote approximately the same amount that I wrote in, oh, let's guess about an hour the last time I tried to write. So yay! And I'm happier with it, so double-yay! It doesn't fix what I wrote before (which I'm still not happy with) but I'm willing to gloss over that right now.

I can't figure out if you can do cut-tags here in blogspot. Doesn't look that way. Well, I'm going to paste in what I wrote since hte last bit I posted at ff.net; so if you actually read this blog you get a sneaky preview! Luckykins. ;D (Or not. I think nobody reads this. But I like having a place I can ramble to and save my rambles, so it's good enough for grampa and good enough for me.) This will be loooong... and it's still only about half the chapter... ;_;

*************

It would be so much easier if he said hello first. She slowed as she approached, hoping he would notice her and she could pretend she hadn't noticed him and act surprised when he said something, but there was no such luck. Maybe she should just keep walking...

The idea of passing someone she knew on the street, *staring* at them, and walking right by them was so stupid and embarrassing that she took a deep breath and pushed right through her shyness. "Ha- hi!" she said, catching a little on the forced peppiness of her voice.

Launchpad started, which was embarrassing and awkward, and for the first split second that he looked at her she would swear he had no idea who she was and that was even worse. She remembered immediately why she preferred never to approach anyone. But a second later, recognition lit his entire face and he gave her a broad grin. "Hey, Beth! Long time no see!"

She laughed awkwardly, all the adrenalin that had allowed her to speak up a moment ago now draining into a kind of weak nervousness. "Heh, yeah, guess so. Um, sorry if I scared you, I just was walking home and I saw you and I thought it would be nice to say something..."

"No problemo," he said casually. That was not a phrase she heard many people say, and it made her smile. "I'm glad you did say somethin', I didn't even hear ya comin' up."

"Oh. Well good."

He looked past her, up towards the roof of the building behind her, for a moment and then back down at her. "You look different outside of Bindler's," he said thoughtfully.

"I... do?" She became self-conscious suddenly; maybe it was the lighting. "In a good way or a bad way?"

Launchpad tilted his head as if considering. "I dunno. Neither really, you just look more... I dunno, more real."

She wanted to ask again if that was good or bad, but that was the kind of question that usually drove guys up the wall (or so she'd heard), so she just smiled nervously instead. As ever, the pleasure she felt in talking to Launchpad was paired with an equally strong sense of guilt; the more she spoke to him, the more she felt like she was keeping him from something else, and she should really let him go and do the things he'd rather be doing. And yet if she didn't talk to him, the guilt didn't go away, it just mutated itself so that she felt guilty for not returning his kindness; he cared enough to talk to her and keep her company, and she was trying to ditch him for some reason. Either way, apparently, Beth was a total jerk in her own mind and since there was no winning, she just stayed where she was, felt uncomfortable, and enjoyed having someone to talk to.

Just now, he straighted up and nodded a little, as though he'd reached a decision. "I think it's in a good way," he said finally. She could feel her cheeks growing hot, and she looked at her feet; as she did, she noticed that Launchpad looked distinctly satisfied with himself somehow.

"Um, thanks," she said quietly. She wondered if she was supposed to return the compliment, decided that if she did it would sound phony, and made a mental note to herself to give him a spontaneous compliment as soon as she could work one in naturally. The conversation was lagging; she fumbled for a topic. Looking back up at him, she said, "Did you guys find the bolt you were looking for?"

Launchpad had been looking at the skyline again; as he dragged his eyes back down towards her, he said, "Huh? Oh, no, it's funny... apparently you guys are the only ones in the area who carry 'em."

Beth was surprised. "Really? Wow, there must have been a recall or something. Henny gets these deals with manufacturers to unload all their leftover stock at lower prices, see," she explained. "She's, um, she's really good at negotiations."

"I bet," Launchpad said in a low voice. Whatever he was thinking, Beth guessed it wasn't flattering, and she giggled. He winked at her, before checking out the rooftops again.

"I'm sorry, is there -" Beth began to turn around and check out whatever he was looking at, continuing, "Am I keeping you from something?"

"Oh, no way!" he said quickly, and reached for her shoulder, pulling her back to look at him. She was startled enough that she whirled back, and they stared at one another for a few seconds before both smiled sheepishly. "Sorry 'bout that," he said.
"I just mean, uh, there's nothin' up there. Just... just the stars."

"Oh, you're looking at the stars?" She smiled; that was kind of romantic. Although when she looked over his head, the light pollution in St. Canard was so strong that she couldn't make out anything but streetlamps.

"Uh, kinda," he said, perhaps guessing what she was thinking. "Tryin' to, anyway." With all the speed of someone who was deliberately changing the subject, he said, "So that bolt! I think I'm gonna come in and put in a special order or somethin', if you guys think you could get any more."

"Oh, that's a good idea!" she said. An even better idea occurred to her then, an idea of the kind she rarely had: clever, subtle, and almost-but-not-quite devious. "In fact, I can put one in FOR you. But I'll do it in Mr. Mallard's name so that it'll come straight to him, since he's the one who needs the bolt."

"Hey, good thinkin'," Launchpad said, nodding.

Beth retrieved a pen and an old receipt from the pocket of her jacket, and held them at the ready. "I'll just need his phone number and full address, and I'll get this done the next time I'm at work." She looked up apologetically. "I can't get it delivered in less than five business days, though. I guess he kind of needs it sooner than that."

"Well, we'll keep lookin' around to see what comes up, but if that's the quickest we can get it, it's good enough for me." Launchpad rattled off an address and phone number, and Beth scribbled both down and shoved both paper and pen back into her pockets, feeling satisfied and even a little proud of herself. She knew that she was extremely unlikely to ever call Drake Mallard personally, but now, if she actually felt up to it, she *could*.

The fact that she'd accomplished this task lifted her spirits and made talking to Launchpad easier, somehow. "Well, I feel better now that *that's* taken care of," she said.

"That's real nice of you to keep DW in mind that way," Launchpad offered.

"Oh, you know, customers first." Emboldened by her recent success, she asked, "So, um, is Mister - Dra- Drake... Mallard... around?" That was the most awkward sentence ever spoken aloud, she thought, and wilted inside.

"Oh, Drake is, uh, he's grocery shoppin'," Launchpad answered.

"At... at ten in the evening?"

Launchpad cleared his throat. "Uh, well, we needed a few emergency things." He looked uncertain. "And I'm just out here, uh..."

"Looking at stars," she finished for him.

"Yeah. Well, no, not just that!" Looking uncertain, he said, "I'm actually... keepin' an eye on the car, too."

"Oh! Well, gosh, that's really nice of you!" She was starting to get tired, and still had a long walk ahead of her, but the chance for a possibility of seeing Drake again was so great that she had to at least consider staying. "So, is... is Mist- is he going to be coming back soon? Do you think?"

Launchpad looked just the tiniest bit lost, and it took him a moment to answer.

***

"For the last time, you single-minded simpleton, it's a *grappling hook*!" Darkwing shouted, dodging another blast of lightning. Megavolt seemed beyond listening by now, however; he wasn't even ranting about robots anymore, just taking aim with that zap-gun of his and shooting bolts in all directions.

Well, two could play at that game. Darkwing pulled out his gas gun, aimed by instinct, and fired. And only *then* remembered that it was broken, as the gun misfired and a cloud of purple gas began to leak out of the gun and surround him. He kicked it to the side, cursing everything from the gun to the bolt to that bubblehead at the hardware store who hadn't helped him at all; the gun had worked fine when he shot the grappling hook - why was there a problem now?!

Megavolt's attention was somehow ensnared by Darkwing's momentary equipment failure. "Ha! If that was supposed to be intimidating, I've gotta tell you, you need to rethink your strategy!" He giggled at that, though Darkwing didn't think it was a particularly impressive taunt.

He tried bluffing in response. "All part of a plan, Sparky, but the less you know about it, the better!"

Whether Megavolt would have bought it or not would never be known, however, since he apparently stopped paying attention at the name "Sparky". "Oooooh, YOU! *DON'T*! CALL! ME! THAT!!" The amount of power he was discharging went up considerably, and the rooftop began to look like it was housing a neon sign in the shape of an electrified rat.

Maybe the taunting hadn't been the best idea, Darkwing acknowledged as he hugged the edge of the rooftop, fleeing from Megavolt's blasts. He paused at the west side of the roof, sticking his arm over the side and waving it three times in what he hoped was as natural a way as possible. So, granted, this fight hadn't gone entirely as he'd envisioned it so far, but Darkwing was a master of improvisational fighting and this whole showdown could easily be salvaged. Darkwing would keep wearing him out, and meanwhile, Launchpad would be up here in just a few minutes to distract him and help take him down.

***

In fact, Darkwing would have been absolutely right in his expectations, if Launchpad had actually been following the plan. Instead, his sidekick's attention was increasingly focused on Beth; she kept asking stuff about Drake, and he was having more and more trouble steering the conversation away from the danger zone. Launchpad felt he was generally pretty good at not giving away anything important when it came to secret identities or that kind of thing, but Beth kept asking so *many* questions that he was having a little trouble coming up with answers.

"What department?" she asked, cocking her head. She looked so *intent*; he was so fascinated by how different she was from when she was at work, how much more *alive* she seemed, that he forgot to answer. "Launchpad? What department does Mr. Mallard work in?"

"Huh?" Shoot, another tough question.

"In his social work. Do you guys both work in the same department?"

"Oh, uh..." He coughed as a way to stall. "It's, work with, uh, whattaya call it. Troubled teens."

"Social outreach kind of thing?" Launchpad nodded; Beth's eyes were practically shining. "That's so noble!"

"Yeah," said Launchpad. "And, yeah, I work with him. For him, kinda." She didn't seem to notice; he felt the tiniest touch of disappointment at that, but decided that he needed to change the subject completely before she asked something even harder. "So... do you go out a lot?"

"Go out?" She seemed taken aback; her energy level fell noticeably. "You mean like, with... with other people?"

"Yeah," he said, surprised that he'd taken the conversation that way. Sure, he'd mentioned to DW that he'd been playing with the idea of asking her out, but he hadn't given it any thought beyond that. "Out, with people."

She gave a quick, odd laugh. "Um, no, generally speaking no I don't."

"Really? You're kiddin' me," he said, grinning. She got all fidgety and looked at her feet, rubbing her cheek a little and grinning a little, herself. "Well, maybe sometime I could -"

"You probably do a lot though, huh?" she said quickly, cutting him off.

He considered the question for a moment. "Well, kinda... Not as much as I used to, but I was thinkin' of-"

"What about Mr. Mallard?" she asked, interrupting him again. "Does he go out on a lot of dates, or... well, he's probably got a wife and everything, actually, right?"

"Who, DW? Nah, he's not married. Nothin' like that." The question had given him pause; how had they ended up on the subject of Drake *again*? It wasn't until Beth's eyes lit up as she answered that he began to understand.

"Oh... he's not married?" she said. Her voice was eager; there was no mistaking it.

So she had a thing for DW. Launchpad needed to just take a little moment to process that; he really hadn't seen that coming. It wasn't like it *mattered* - he didn't have his eye on her that way or anything, it was just...

Well, what was it? He wasn't sure. His interest in Beth was purely platonic, as cute as she was capable of being. She wasn't the type of girl he generally went after, but he liked flirting with her; he liked being the guy to make her smile, since he had a feeling there weren't many guys who took the time to do it. And he really *did* like her, anyway, but that didn't have anything to do with whether or not she was interested in DW.

He was losing his touch, that was it. It wasn't that Launchpad had ever thought of himself as a real ladies' man or anything, exactly, but he'd never had any problems lining up dates either. With most girls, they at least knew when he was flirting with them; Beth was the first one who seemed genuinely ignorant of it. And it wasn't that he wanted to string her along, but he was surprised to find that they weren't on the same page here after all. Now that he thought about it, it *had* been a while since he'd been out with a girl, even casually... There'd been lots of girls when he was younger, in Duckburg, but most of the ones he'd really liked he'd had to leave behind. Then things had started to move more quickly - he'd moved to St. Canard, taken up odd jobs, started working with DW, and dating just hadn't been a priority. It took a lot of energy, it seemed, and there weren't usually more than two or three dates, and then either he or the girl lost interest; lots of misunderstandings, or just boredom.

Beth was kind of an experiment, and also kind of an attempt to ease himself back into it; go out a few times with a friend, remember how you do it, then start working into meeting new girls and seeing what happens. And it was way better to go out with a friend you knew you liked being with than it was to just pick someone at random, right?

Except now that he thought about it, asking Beth out under those circumstances, flirting with her every time he saw her... it all felt a little dishonest. He felt like a heel. Better not to ask her out in case she took it the wrong way... He was probably lucky he hadn't already set that situation up, by mistake.

"Oh, gosh, what time is it?" Beth asked suddenly. Launchpad checked his watch - it was quarter to eleven - then showed it to her. "WOW, is it really that late? I'm sorry to keep you - I should have -"

"Hey, I'm the one who's waitin' here, remember?" he interrupted, chuckling. "Calm down. It's more like I'm the one keepin' you."

She half-smiled. "It's not like that at all," she said; it was hard to tell if she was talking to him, or to herself, but she relaxed a little. "Well, I should go. I'm starving, and I have a long walk ahead of me."

Something in that sentence made him uneasy, but Launchpad tried not to show it. "Then go get somethin' to eat, an' I'll see ya later. Thanks for sayin' hi."

"Thanks for... answering," she said feebly. Her smile was distinctly nervous now, and she started past him down the sidewalk. "I'll see you. Um, probably. Right?"

"Yeah," he said, a little distractedly. It hit him belatedly what was bothering him about what she'd said. A long walk home... "How long is long?" he asked as she was walking away.

"What?" She turned back to him, and when he repeated the question, she blinked and then understood. "Oh - home? Um, about twenty minutes. So it's really not that bad, I'm just hungry, and you know how it is when you really want to *be* somewhere, right?"

"Yeah, but..." The direction she was headed in one a bad one. Launchpad had a pretty good sense of the better and worse parts of the city, and another half mile or so that way was definitely one of the worse. "Are you - you're just gonna walk?"

Beth cocked her head. "Well, yeah." She caught on a moment later, and fished through her handbag. "Oh! Oh, it's okay. I walk home all the time. I-" She paused, rummaging, then came up with a little spray can. "I have pepper spray." It had taken her a long time to find it, tucked away in her handbag. Her incredibly conspicuous handbag.

Launchpad had a sudden, vivid mental picture of Beth getting mugged. It was a horrible picture. His stomach twisted a little. "Look, I'm gonna..." He stopped. What was he going to do? Walk her home? That wasn't an option right now. With that thought as a trigger to remind him, he looked up briefly at the rooftop, then back down to Beth. He could *not* let this woman walk home alone.

She was watching him quizzically. A moment later the proverbial lightbulb went off over his head, and he dug into his pocket. "Okay. I think I got enough for a cab."

Beth came rushing back towards him, shaking her head and her hands. "Oh no, oh gosh, no no no. Please don't."

"Yeah. I'm insistin'."

"No! I can't take-" He stopped her, and forced the money into her hands. She held onto it but frowned. "I-I can afford a cab myself," she said quietly.

"Okay. Then you can pay me back later." She started to argue again, and he cut her off. "C'mon. Do me a favour, Beth." He grinned, what he hoped was appealingly, and she softened. A huge weight lifted off his chest when she nodded her consent. "Great. No rush on payin' me back, either. I'll see ya real soon."

Beth dropped her hands, cupping the money he'd just given her, and gave that half-smile again. "I'll have the money for you then." She took a step backwards, turned to go, and then turned back. "Um... Thanks."

"No problemo!"

She turned again, took two more steps, and then turned back beseechingly. "Tell Mr. Mallard 'hi' for me?"

Launchpad smiled and nodded, and what he felt was oddly melancholy. "Will do." Beth waved, and he waved back, and then she was halfway down the block, and then she had turned a corner.

He did wish he could have walked her home. But he was technically on the job, and there was DW's plan to consider... His eyes widened. "Uh-oh." Launchpad turned his head up to the rooftop, in time to see Darkwing hanging half over the edge, waving both arms frantically.

"LAUNCHPAAAAD!" he yelled. Then he disappeared - apparently pulled backwards - and there was quite a lot of light.

"*Uh-oh,*" Launchpad repeated, and raced across the street.

The Perils of Ficcing

*lays head on desk and sighs*

Well, first of all I just posted another chapter on FF.net of All About Elizabeth, which is y'know. Fun on wheels. ;) No, I like it, actually. Present-day stuff (if you consider 1993 to be "present day" which for the sake of this fanfic we shall), and I get to introduce Beth's younger brother, whom I still know next to nothing about. I don't know yet if he wears glasses or not (Candy does - or rather, she needs them, but she has contacts; Beef doesn't need 'em) but I *think* his hair is slightly too long. I am pretty sure it's brown.

Eventually I'll work Kit, the youngest, in there too. I mean if I didn't it would just be danged lazy, you know? ;P

However, I have the spare time to write tonight and I've been in a real writing "groove" lately but what happens all too often is that I spend my days thinking of what I will write next, then I sit down to do it when I have a free evening and all my drive goes *poof!* out the window. Or um... out something that would make a "poof!" noise. (Baby powder bottle?) The problem I run into is that I don't want to write any of the scenes I am currently at in my fics. I only have two that I'm working on right now - AAE, and the rewrite of TWC1 - and I don't feel too much like doing TWC1 just yet but I am getting annoyed with Beth's therapist and don't feel like writing him. Nor do I feel like doing a flashback. This is all a little maddening since, with a handful of exceptions, that is all this fic is about, so I'm kind of stuck.

That's the problem I run into now. For years and years I've been teasing myself with the romance stuff - I don't write it all that well, so I try to limit myself with it and mostly just write the sort of tension of it. But I really want to write it for real, and sometimes it reaches the point where everything else is just the stuff I have to get through before I can write a good romantic and/or romantic tension scene; I have destroyed myself a little, I think. *sigh*

(Can you believe I've been drawing this relationship out for 14 years now? What the heck is wrong with me? :P)

Does this happen to anyone else? Do you ever get writer's block specifically because you want so much to write a particular thing, and get bored with/don't feel like doing the in-betweens? Fortunately sometimes it does pass and I can get good blocks of actual STORY done; sometimes however, it gets really bad - and this is the worst - it gets so bad that I can't actually even skip ahead and write a scene I've been wanting to do, because it doesn't come out right, so instead I sit and stare at it with even more self-induced block. AARGH. This is why I was not cut out for this.

I'm serious about that question, though. I'd like answers if anyone has any to give; discussion is totally cool by me. I believe I have it set so that you can post here without having a blogger account - if not, leave a message on LJ and I'll see if I can change my settings.

Aaaaand this? This right here? Is called procrastinating. :P Give me strength, folks. Deep down I would like to maybe get some part of a chapter done on TWC1 or something, tonight; I'd settle for making it through the first section of a flashback if I can't do TWC1. But c'mon. SOMETHING.