My first fan obsession was with Darkwing Duck. My lovely sister bought me the DVDs for my birthday and they finally came today. I just finished watching the pilot episode, and nostalgia prompted me to open The Box.

Now when I say "obsessed", you need to read that as "fanatical to the point of extremism". I taped every show. It started at four o'clock in the afternoon, and I had to run up the driveway after I got off the bus in order to set up my tape properly. These tapes are in The Box. If there was a Darkwing Product, I had to have it. There are books, comics, action figures, figurines, handheld games, puzzles, a watch, cereal prizes, a fanny pack, valentines, a replica gun that shoots bubbles, newspaper clippings, stickers. We didn't eat out very often, but I begged my parents to take me to Pizza Hut, because they had a Darkwing Duck special, and the box from my personal pan pizza is in The Box, because it has Darkwing Duck on the lid.

I watched the shows over and over. I wrote down every quip, every alliteration, and every variation of "I am the terror that flaps in the night" in my notebook. I drew the characters. Also in my notebook is a very elaborate review of the show, written in cut and pasted newspaper clippings, like those movie ransom notes: "'Darkwing Duck' is the best cartoon since 'Ducktales.' I love it! It has wonderful and interesting caracters [sic]. The protaginist is witty and never fails to make me laugh. His (Darkwing Duck's) sidekick, Launchpad, is better as Darkwing's sidekick than Scrooge's. Gosalyn is a bouncy girl with an attitude. I can't say enough about this wonderful and enlightening show. I try to watch it every day, and when I do, I am rarely disappointed. My personal favorite is 'Negaduck.' My favorite character is Launchpad, because I think he's really funny. All of the villans are so stupid, Darkwing usually has nothing to fear, though Negaduck usually poses a problem. When there's trouble you call DW!"

My favorite character was Lauchpad actually because I had a crush on him. For a cartoon duck, he was pretty cute. I wrote my first fanfic about this show, which is unfortunately not in my notebook, but I remember it was mostly about indulging my crush. :) I was Darkwing Duck for Halloween that year, and the feet and the bill/mask are also in The Box. The hat is somewhere in my house, I think. It was too big to fit in The Box.

I believe I was in the sixth grade at this time, and just starting to care about being popular, which I wasn't, and friends, which I didn't have. I filled the void with Darkwing Duck. Whether it was helpful, emotionally, or not, my attachment still gives me a small sense of security.

By the way, Em, "Twin Beaks" is not in this collection. Maybe the next one...

"Zeke...get the diesel fuel"