Draca's Frequently Asked Questions
Or, My Excuse To Go Off On Tangents
Note: Some of these are Darkwing-related but some of them are . . . just Draca-related. :) Has anyone really ever asked me these questions? Some of them, yes. Maybe not all of them. I leave it to you to decide which is which. PS: If you have a legitimate question to ask me, feel free to ask me at dragonn@penn.com and I will do my best to answer it. Have fun.
The name "Draca" came from the movie DragonHeart. The dragon of the movie is named Draco, after the star constellation of the same title. I fell in love with dragons after that movie, and taking the female equivalent of the name became a natural idea. "Darkwingette" happened almost by accident; a friend of mine, in an e-mail, referred to me as "Darkwingette" (thanks, Des! :) ). I got hooked on the title and couldn't help but take it for my "last name".
Draca Darkwingette started out as my alias for the Darkwing Duck Message Board I post at (and, now, at the Mighty Ducks Message Board I hang out at as well) but quickly became, for me, a second name. I guess she/I (I have this identity problem sometimes :) ) could be called a "fan character", as I appear in Part Two of "The 'Dead Duck' Trilogy" and "Ducks Are Watching Over Me" and have some drawings up (BIG thanks goes out to all the artists who drew me!! :) ). But I really consider Draca Darkwingette to be me. It's more than a "second name"; Draca Darkwingette is who I am. That's the best I can do at explaining.
First of all, I'll only say that Yes, this is a real question someone asked me. Worded a bit different (luv ya, Pinky). :) Anyway . . .
I tried to figure that out myself for a long time. A lot of the "Darkwing Duck" tales out there, period, are drama-filled. I love them all! When I started writing a few fan fics myself, I knew I wanted to put in drama. I liked it. But why?
I considered the question for a long time: Why do we like drama? I know it's different for different people, and I've had a variety of answers to the question when discussing it with others: it brings the characters up to our own age bracket (it is a cartoon, after all :) ), it humanizes them, it detracts from our own pain. I think that was true for each person who offered the idea.
But my own, current theory is that I like drama because, in watching the characters I love go through pain, I can share it with them as I'm reading it (and, especially, as I'm writing it); and while it does, perhaps, make me a bit sad, it also puts me closer to them. In sharing their sadness, I understand them, "help" them, come to love them more. And that is why, the nearest that I can figure out, I enjoy drama. This may not be the whole reason; I still think about the whys and hows of drama sometimes (especially if I'm in a really boring class). But I think I got pretty close to the mark with this answer for my own feelings towards the quandary of why I (and other people) love angst. Sap. Drama. Whatever you want to call it.
I will do a humor story one of these days. Really. Just for Pinky. :)
Why indeed? My mother recently figured this one out, so now I'm a bit more open about the topic. I don't usually share the real reason as to why I love this duck so much. I love the humor and fun and action and his mystery and all of the things that makes the show and the character so fun.
But the real reason? I love Darkwing Duck because, to see him and his daughter, Gosalyn, together, remind me of my father. There was (and still is, I'm certain) a lot of Darkwing Duck in my Dad, and vice versa :) , and something of Gosalyn in me . . . and just to see them together reminds me of my father who passed away three years ago; and it reminds me that he is still with me, loves me, and is my protector the way Darkwing is Gosalyn's protector. I can't explain it any more than that.
Actually, I managed once. See "The 'Dead Duck' Trilogy" Part Three for the best way I have ever explained it. I wrote that part, not only for myself, but for anyone else who suffered a loss. I hope it touches someone who needs it. Therapy writing is wonderful for the soul. :) Another story that I think will get to the issue even closer on some levels is "Ducks Are Watching Over Me", so keep your eye out for that one.
Yup. No doubt in my mind. I could go off on a long, long tangent about how imagination is making the unreal real, the impossible possible. That believing in something is all that reality really is; nothing more. That love and belief make it all real. But I have a Maple Programming Lab I should be doing, so to explain how I think that the "unreal" is, in fact, in existence, I will give you a wonderful verse by Jack Pretlusky, who sums it all up about St. Canard, Darkwing Duck, Draca Darkwingette, and (this time intentionally on his part) dragons:
If you don't believe in dragons, It is curiously true
That the dragons you disparage choose to not believe in you.
PS If you scoff about there really being a Darkwing Duck and all of a sudden Negaduck starts terrorizing you and Darkwing doesn't show up to help you, well, don't think there's anything that I can do about it. I tried to warn you.
Hey, just try to keep in mind----reality's a relative. Ask any English major.
The show "Darkwing Duck" is no longer being produced, much to the dismay of all us fans, but you can catch all 89 glorious rerun episodes (plus the mini-"movie", "Darkly Dawns The Duck", which was the show's premier) that are still being aired out there. If you are lucky enough to get "Toon Disney", check out D.W. on Mondays through Fridays at 11:30 am, 3:30 pm, and 10:30 pm. On Saturdays and Sundays, tragically, he is only on at 10:30 pm. (All times are in EST.) If you don't get Toon Disney, I would advice writing a long letter to the owners of your local television stations, demanding that they put "Darkwing Duck" on the line-up immediately. Or else.
Certainly I do. Did you really think I'm so crazy that I think of nothing but my cartoon superhero duck? Of course, I can relate everything in my Life to Darkwing, one way or another, from school work to other books/movies/TV shows/etc. Does that matter? *Everything* is Darkwing. It's a Zen thing, really . . .
Okay, enough of that before I sound crazier than I already do. :) If you've ever loved a character, you'll understand anyway. If you haven't, try it sometime. It's a rewarding experience. I do also have a great interest in the Mighty Ducks, so I can point out that NO, I _don't_ just think about Darkwing. I think about Duke L'Orange a lot, too. Ha-ha! Got 'cha there. ^_^
Okay, so it's common knowledge out there (more or less) that Draca Darkwingette is a big Darkwing Duck obsesser. But my little closet-obsession has recently gone public (I over-dramatize, don't I?) and it is becoming known that I am a Mighty Ducks obsesser as well. Specifically, a Duke L'Orange obsesser.
Duke L'Orange is a member of the team of Ducks; he's a fifty-three-year-old former cat burglar that redeemed himself completely to defend his home when the people truly needed defending. I'm a sucker for redemption stories, and they don't get much more Keen-Gear-ish than that. :)
This is a Darkwing page, but if you would like to see a little more about Duke L'Orange (and, really, the MD in general, 'cause I love them all), hop on over to My Revenge On Darkwing and check it out. Despite the title *sinister grin*, it IS a Mighty Ducks page. Rest assured.
Just don't let Darkwing catch ya leaving his page to go to Duke and Co.'s. My whole "MD obsession" thing didn't go over too well with dearest Dark, and my newer page was an attempt to get him to lighten up a bit. And pick on him. Enjoy. ^_^