The Another Day in Bluffington Duology is a duology of Doug One Shot Fics published on Archive of Our Own by bananaandhaircasserole
. The entire premise of both stories is to show a "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue in the days since the end of the Nickelodeon series. Both stories are:
Another Day in Bluffington: The first story in the duology, it follows what a normal day is like in the life of an adult Doug Funnie.
The Convert: A prequel story to Another Day in Bluffington, it follows the perspective of Roger Klotz and how a chance meeting changes his life.
The Another Day in Bluffington duology provides examples of:
- 0% Approval Rating: The White family became pariahs in the town following Bob White losing the mayoral elections to Tippi Dink. He was already unpopular with the poorer classes for making the rich richer and accepting bribes, but after he lost, he slowly began to lose his mind to the point where he had sex with an underage girl. This caused the Whites to be kicked out of the town in disgrace, with Bob's son Willie only being able to hold a job as a janitor and living with people who secretly supported his father.
- Adaptational Sexuality: In the show, Patti and Beebe were the love interests of Doug and Skeeter, respectively. Here, Patti and Beebe were in a same-sex relationship and hid it from the town until they moved away.
- Adapted Out: Cleopatra "Dirtbike" Funnie, Doug's baby sister from the Disney series, doesn't exist. Instead, Judy is mentioned as the only daughter in the family.
- The Alcoholic: Doug became a drunkard in order to cope with everything around him changing. Even his morning routine starts with a glass of gin and water.
- Ass Shove: This is how Percy Femur accidentally dies at the hands of Roger Klotz.
- Closet Gay: Implied with Patti Mayonnaise and Beebe Bluff. The small town mentality of Bluffington meant that Patti and Beebe had to keep their relationship secret, even if it meant they had to be with boys so they wouldn't be ostracized.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Percy Femur died of alcohol poisoning. What makes this unusual was because it was caused by a vodka-soaked tampon that Roger shoved up his rectum.
- Canon Character All Along: Annie Ferguson, the woman who Roger knew as "The Countess", revealed herself to be Judy Funnie, Doug's sister whom everyone thought to be dead.
- Death by Despair: It's revealed that after years of searching for her daughter Judy, Theda Funnie had died of a broken heart believing her only daughter to be dead.
- Disease by Any Other Name: Willie White was never one of the smartest kids in Bluffington, but here, it's less of The Ditz and something more along the lines of an actual mental disorder akin to severe mental retardation. It's implied that the money spent on tutoring him was all wasted, and he never fully grasped the severity of his family's scandal and stayed behind.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": Annie tells Roger that she does not like being called "Judy" anymore, for it brings back bad memories to her.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After living his life in abject poverty due to poor financial decisions he made in his youth, Roger finally has a new lease on life in The Convert. He feels genuinely happy with his life, and he never has through his struggles alone, as he found a girlfriend in Annie.
- Everyone Has Standards: For all of his worse moments, Roger was never homophobic. In fact, his old bullying tactics worked when he protected a gay couple who moved in to Bluffington from the local Homeowners' Association.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Annie Ferguson, also known as "The Countess", is mentioned to have red hair. This is the first clue that Annie is actually Judy Funnie, with "Annie" being a shortened form Judy's middle name, "Anastasia".
- The Fundamentalist: Averted with Roger Klotz. As a convert, Roger never became extreme with his beliefs, and he doesn't get angry with Doug when he refused to go to church with him.
- Karma Houdini: Downplayed. While Roger does end up staying in jail for the death of Percy Femur, they let him go after a year due to lack of sufficient evidence to convict him.
- Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: Played with. As kids, Beebe and Patti were almost polar opposites of each other: Beebe loved shopping for clothes, while Patti was more tomboyish. As adults, the roles are reversed: Beebe owned a construction company and occasionally played softball, while Patti became a housewife.
- Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here: Discussed in Another Day in Bluffington. This is the exact reason why people are moving out in droves. No one wanted to move to Bluffington because nothing interesting happened there. The only noteworthy event in the town's recent history was a sex scandal involving former mayor Bob White.
- "Ray of Hope" Ending: By the end of the day in Another Day in Bluffington, Doug is still miserable, drunk and pining for the good old days when everything was still normal. However, while the fanfic implies this is a repeating cycle, the prequel story The Convert states that Judy Funnie is still trying to get help for her baby brother. To her, the day will come when he finally seeks help, but it will be a long time before that happens.
- Secret Relationship: Patti and Beebe hid their relationship from everyone, even their close friends.
