get to know: Landon “Launchpad” McQuack
Landon McQuack comes from a complex familial dynamic. On one hand, his family is nothing like anyone else’s. His childhood is spent in the island heat, covered in oil and handing his parents tools and juice boxes (the juice boxes were Landon’s idea) as they fix and modify their airplanes. He learns the different components of a plane before he can even fully learn how to read at his grade level. On the other hand, his family is just like anyone else’s. The McQuack household is filled with laughter and love, warm memories and insurmountable amounts of unvoiced expectations.
Landon sits off in the audiences with his little sister Lola, and together they watch The Flying McQuacks perform daring aviation stunts for the entertainment of those around them. Listening to the crowd cheer for his family is one of the proudest experiences of Landon’s life. And when the show’s over, his father tells his kids that soon enough the crowd will be cheering for them too. The idea feels the young boy with a mixed sene of glee and dread.
It’s not that Landon didn’t want to fly with his family, being reckless and daring must have run in the family because Landon could be just as much of a daredevil as them. But Landon had always had a hard time focusing. Even as a child, Landon was overactive. Running from toy to toy, switching from swings to sandbox to the slide too quickly for his mother to really keep up. He was loud and often didn’t seem to realize that he needn’t shout everything he’s thinking over others, especially if someone else was already talking. At first, no one thought much of it. Just a child being a child.
By the time Landon started school, it became apparent that there was more to his hyperactivity than what his parents originally thought. Teachers complained that he talked almost entirely throughout lessons and had difficulty focusing on tasks at hand. His father believed reprimanding him through nearly constant time outs and yelling at him would be the only way to get through to him, but hardly anything ever worked. His mother noticed a pattern with his behaviors and sought help.
Landon has ADHD. This information didn’t rattle his mother all that much, understood that you just needed to be a little more patient with her little boy. His father had a little more difficulty navigating the waters of this. Landon’s father loves and adores him, he’s just a little more stern than his mother and that, coupled with his exceedingly high expectations for The Flying McQuacks’ often left Landon stressed.
Landon signs up for after school activities to keep himself busy while his parents work. He joins the woodchuck scouts, and while he’s decidedly pretty bad at completing a lot of his tasks without messing up his troop leaders are always in awe of his can-do attitude and inability to give up. He joins karate, and while he’s athletic enough to handle it, he fails at the quiet discipline part. Art doesn’t fare very well for him either solely because he’s just not good at it, his fruit bowls always just looked like blobs of bright colors. The only thing that sticks is football. He’s big and fast, loyal and dutiful, and that makes him the perfect linebacker. Protecting his friends from getting hit? Keeping the other team from getting too far with the ball? Yeah, it’s a match made in heaven
Landon gets the nickname Launchpad the same way his family earns their stage names. Ripcord for his father who’d made his name by jumping out of his plane at terrifying new heights. Birdie for his mother who’d always made sure she was dressed beautifully (and her personal plane painted just as pretty) as she gracefully flit through the sky. Loopey for his younger sister who had a love for swirling and twirling in the air. And Launchpad, who never had any trouble taking off the ground loudly and extravagantly.
Flying had never been the real issue for Landon. It was always landing. Easily distracted, Landon would find himself wrapped in a conversation so long that by the time he’d realized no one was paying attention to steering the plane it was too late. Landon does his best to prevent from absolutely catastrophic crashes. Either it’s luck or some strange talent of his, but no one ever gets hurt when he crashes anything.
He can fix anything! He just won’t fix it well. Landon is known to be able to get any vehicle up and running again after he crashes it, and for the most part it can carry him and his companions home without falling apart. He knows what parts are supposed to do what and where they need to be, he just doesn’t really remember the safety protocols involved in fixing it correctly. But it’s ok, as long as he gets the job done who really cares? Scrooge will have a real professional look at it and make sure it’s safe later.
Landon still finds himself desperate for his father’s approval, and he’s not sure how to achieve it but he wants for his dad to be proud of him.
Landon is a biiiiiig superhero fan. He sees the bravery of Superman, Captain America and his personal favorite, Darkwing Duck, and finds that he respects their fearlessness and desire to protect their loved ones. He relates to it. So, he will always be the first to sacrifice his wants and needs for the security of those around him. When there’s danger, it’s his instinct to grab those around him and shield them from harm.
Because his own relationship with his father isn’t the greatest he looks to his employer, Scrooge McDuck as a pseudo father figure. His opinion of the older billionaire is incredibly high, to the point where he overlooks some of Scrooge’s negative personality traits and chooses to only see the good in him. Scrooge is the only adult, aside from his mother, to ever tell Landon that he’s proud of him. And for that Landon will quite literally do anything for Scrooge.
Despite being a child at heart and the biggest dumb ass of all the land, Landon can be fiercely determined and serious when he needs to be. He cares deeply about people and is his most serious when it comes to protecting those he loves.
Bit of a himbo. Landon has dated his fair share of people, and he’s such a romantic it’s gross. Literally the most devoted and patient and caring partner ever. He never stops loving someone, even after they break up. His heart is big enough for everyone to live there.
WANTED CONNECTIONS
he’s the friendliest guy ever so FRIENDS
maybe he crashed a car into your business and now you hate him. he’s sorry! mr. mcdee paid for it though.
exes. he’s a himbo who loves all his former partners. come join in on the love
anything really, i’m down for whatever
