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popculturebuffet · 1 year ago

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It's Not the Years, It's the Mileage: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Commission for WeirdKev27)

Welcome back all you happy archeologists, to "It's not the Years , It's the Mileage", my look at the indiana jones films… and my return to reviewing after a brief sabbatical!

Yeah long story short a combination of burnout and a mounting move soon got to me and I needed a week to recharge. And now my atomic batteries are to power and turbines to speed enough, we can get back to indiana as we cap off the original trilogy.

We last left our hero with the uneven as hell temple of doom: the action beats, Harrison Ford and Kim Quay Quan's acting, and the cinematography were all top notch, as was the darker atmosphere, but the rampant racism including, as I feel needs repeating making the British colonizers of India the GOOD GUYS and them slaughtering a wave of Indian cultists one of the rare big damn heroes acts that's also a massive uncomfortable hate crime and misogyny baked into the character of willie scot.

So while the film once again made a binload of money, it was one both men were ashamed of… particularly Stephen Spielberg. Spielberg was in a much better place, having both the giant money piles from the first two films and a happy relationship with Kate Capshaw as a result of the last film, one that's lasted to this day.. but it's clear the fatigue of doing a big franchise, the only one he'd do , was getting to him and he was fine with asking Lucas to stop the bus and get off here because he's a factory. And given he had to give up on both Big and Rain Man to do this, it's not hard to see why: While Indy is a great franchise and it's largely Spielberg's deft direction that made it so, he had other things he wanted to do and I can't blame him.

So the two launched into creative mode and a panoply of chaotic first drafts the like of which i've never seen and may have to cover on their own at some point.

Inaitially Lucas once again brought up the Scottish Castle Idea, which i'm BADLY hoping someone used in a comic or something because it's damn good. It's clear that Speilberg wasn't the only one who read Carl Barks as a Kid. But I can't fault Speilberg for not wanting to do it, both due to being similar to poltergeist.. and because a haunted house film just dosen't fit indy that well. The previous films were globetrotting afairs and even with Doom largely set in one country it still had a lot of travel before we settled into the final location.

Lucas then wanted to use the Holy Grail and while that would eventually come back, in this version it's a pagan artifact for some reason which is also in africa, for some reason, and involves Sun Wukong FOR SOME REASON, called "Indiana Jones and the Monkey King" because George Lucas is apparently physically incapable of waking up in the morning without doing something shockingly tone deaf. And yet somehow

Because he then handed it off to Chris Columbus, the one people actually liked.. at least before the mid 2000's. This isn't as weird a move as it sounds as while Columbus has only written a handful of his own films, before he became a director he wrote Gremlins and the Goonies, both produced by speilberg, both classics, both super succesful, and since the Goonies did have a similar adventure vibe, if more of the plucky group of kids variety than the pulp adventure, it did make sense.

To Chris' Credit, he did make some adjustments to make this ten page idea george lucas had into an actual story: while the story was still in Africa, he specified the country to Mozambique, and while still oddly involving Son Wukong despite his journey to the west not remotely touching africa, he at least changed the artifact to the Garden of Immortal Peaches, a chinese myth that explains why the gods live forever. He still proved to have his own brand of accidetal racisim as he included a sterotpyical cannibal tribe and a 200 year old pygmy, but, so he's not entirely off the hook, but it's still more ignorance of the time than.. whatever George Lucas is. ti'd also include a new love intrest, the Kathrine Hepburn style Dr. Clarke, Scraggy Brier, an old friend of Indy's, a nazi cyborg because apparently Arakai wasn't the only guy to think of that, though at least this one isn't a hero, Kenzure, a pirate , and Betsy, a student suicidally in love with indy because THAT'S A FUN TWIST ON THAT JOKE AMIRITT. Also Indiana Jones came BACK from the dead thanks to the monkey king, yet the pirate dies because he's not pure of heart. Had.. had Chris watched the other films?

Chris did get a second draft that did thankfully remove betsy and added an interesting new rival, Dash, an expatriate bar owner working for the nazis. The Monkey King was also a villain now, zombies were included, and one of the big set pieces is Dash and Indy playing chess with real pieces and the losers would really die. So while it was marginally calmer, it still needed to lie down a bit.

To their credit.. Lucas and Speilberg realized the film was a touch racist and more than a touch bannnanas, with Speilberg admitting it made him feel too old to direct it. It's clear that whatever else I could say about Temple of Doom, and I did.. Speilberg did take it's faults to heart and worked to correct them when given the chance. Lucas admitely did too.. it just didn't seem to stick.

It was here the film started to really take shape, as going back to the grail, Spielberg suggested an addition: Indy's Father and a focus on their relationship. This came from a personal place: Spielberg was estranged from his own father, the two not having had the best relationship. Thankfully much like INdy and Henry the two would, with capshaw's help, reconcile soon after this film.

Lucas was worried it'd pull focus from the grail, but Speilberg rightfully convinced him that it'd add an emotional core to the film. While the locations were diffrent for this draft, a lot of the core of the story came into focus: the addition of Sallah, the holy grail. As is the trend for this film's early history ther'es still some batshit to be worked through as Indy stabbed a demon with a holy dagger. I mean it's no stabbing a dog reincarnated with the soul of hitler but even Indania Jones can't be brock sampson and he's fine with that. Also Henry ascends a stairway to heaven because of course he does To finish the job, Speilberg brought in Jeffery Boam. BOam is a writer I hadn't heard of but has a pretty stacked resume having written The Dead Zone , The Lost BOys, Innerspace and Funny Farm, the last two i've only heard of but have a great rep. He also wrote the witches of eastwick, but I won't hold that against the guy. He's done more than enough good to make up for that and if his film work wasn't enough he also made The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., a western starring bruce cambell I haven't seen.. but i'ts a western starring bruce cambell. It's gotta be great or at least cheestastic. And given Kev shipped me the complete series of jack of all trades , I don't think this one is out of the question either. Sadly Boam passed in 2000 from heart failure and will be dearly missed.

Boam decided to emphasize the father angle, moving up Henry's introduction and feeling that's where the heart of the film lied. After all the last two films ended with our hero finding and getting the artifact. While he lost it in some way, the Goverment took the arc and he willingly gave the stone to the village, It was still the crux. Boam instead gave the film it's truly heartrending resolution.

After this the next few rewrites wer ebasic stuff: elsa was moved from a nazi villianess to her currnet role as colaberator, more characters were added and the film went into production, with said production being fairly brisk and uneventful for a change. The main challenge was doing the train scene as the mechanical effects supervisor noted "You can't just stop a train if it misses it marks. It takes blocks to back it up. " They also, horrifyingly ordered 1000 disease free rats for the catacombs scene and got 5000. That's. that's more rats than i'm comfortable with. Unless it's this rat

So 5000 rats, several rewrites and one sean connery later the film was a MASSIVE success, commercially and once again critically.. there were a few negative reviews, because of course, but the one Wikipedia spotlighted was Hal Hinson of the Washington Post who described the film as "They've carried their series deeper-Deeper into hooey". I could go deeper into the pretentiousness of the review, but I think that clinches it. So with that Indy road off into the sunset.. for a few years till Young Indiana Jones Premeried. And as you can probably guess.. i'll be skipping over it. I'ts not bad, but the fact is it's 20 film length episodes, in a project that's both time sensitive and is already costing Kev a bit to commission. Neither of us wanted to do that. Now would I be willing to visit episodes of the series? Absolutely. Feel free to commission them and I might even find one to review pro bono at some point. But I just don't have the time or review space to cram it into this project

What I do have the time to cram in is the rest of the review under the cut.

Family Truly is the Greatest Holy Grail Of All

Last Crusade's biggest strength and biggest improvement from the last film is it's focus on Indy and his dear old Sean Connery. One of my complaints last go round was that there was no character arc for indy in temple after getting a truly riveting one in raiders, but I can see why it might of been an issue: Indy's arc was mostly done: he started robbing temples to get by and ended with his love of the craft back. So reaching into his past instead, looking past who he is as a person and into one of the people who made him such a cranky bastard in the first place was genius.

The intro brilliantly sets it up and is in general a masterful bit of work. Like Indy's distant relationship with his dad, Indy being a boyscout comes directly from Lucas' life, with him having become an eagle scout in good distinction, as was harrison ford. So having the start of the cold open not be indy but him as a teen was a genius way to set up Indy's distant relationship with his dad by showing it to us: the later arguments wouldn't of been nearly effective if we hadn't seen Indy nearly die trying to save a priceless artifact from some shady archeologists, only for his dad to be too deep in his grail research to notice… or to care when the cops force indy to give it back because cops have always been dicks who believe rich men. Honestly hearing the ending to this little adventure ahead of watching it, as i'd forgotten this cold open, I was dreading it, feeling it was a depressing end. But what makes it work is a mysterious man in a hat, who despite being Indy's compettiton not only encourages the kid but give shim his iconic fedora. He may of lost today.. but there will always be a tommorow

There's a lot of little origins to how Indy does things baked into this intro. None are really necessary but their done in a neat enough and subtle enough way to be just fun origins instead of SEEE SEE THIS IS WHERE THE THING CAME FROM. Unlike some prequel bits in more recent projects. SImple things like Indy using a whip to get a lion to backoff, getting harrison ford's real life scar from the whip, and falling into a snake bin just seem so seamless. While it's clear this was a very formative day for indy, none of it feels forced. He clearly already had a love of archelogy, some skill and had the fearlessness to fight the criminals. Who indy was was there, and there was still years of experience to be gained> This was simply an interesting chapter. This intro was so good in fact Speilberg actually wanted to do spinoffs with River Phoenix, who was picked due to having played Ford's son in Mosquito Coast before this and looking near identical, but pheonix's sad passing meant this never happened, even if we did eventually get the similar young indania jones. And the cahtarsis of seeing a modern day indy finally get the cross of Coronado back and into a museum… which probably isn't exactly where it belongs but it's still better than in a sweaty rich mans hand.

We also get another classroom scene like raiders, which brings us to another little detour: this film borrows Raider's plot structure to a point, and it was deleberate: after their disapointment with Temple of Doom and their dodged bullet with The Monkey King, the two wanted to get back to basics. You get the thrilling opening, indy selling the fruits of that cold open to marcus brody, his class filled with women in a trite gag straight out of the 40's, an offer from a person to go on the adventure for a holy artifact, some nazis to punch in the face because every decent human being likes seeing a nazi get punched in the face, and one of the vilians getting melted.

Yet it's really.. only on the surface. The pieces are there.. but their all rearranged so differently. The biggest example of this.. is Indy himself. Part of Temple's lack of emotional core.. was INdy didn't have one since Raiders hadn't happened yet. This time around we're back in a moving timeline, so we can actually see how Indy's doing post character development. Indy's cold open in Raiders was an attempt to squeak out some money in a fairly shady way and then having it all stolen by someone even worse. His class was filled with people not really interested in what he had to say, and his life was kinda hollow. While he lost marion between films, which i'd be angrier about if they didn't course correct that next time, he's still doing really well. While his class is still full of fangirls because a large part of George Lucas is still 12, it's clear many are paying attention to his lecture as much as his physique and when he goes back to his office, he find sit packed with assistants and students. The scene's not only incredibly funny it subtly shows Indy has TONS of students and has likely taken on more classes. Granted he could've easily had a bunch of classes we never saw in the first film, but the intent with that scene was to show his academic career was only doing marginally better. It's also a nice show of just how much Indy truly loves what he does: he's an adventurer sure, but he's an academic just as much. He's just a hands on one. It's also nice to get that refresher before we meet someone even nerdier than him in his dad.

It's the same scene with the same purpose, showing what Indy's life is like between adventures, but it shows a very diffrent indy, one whose genuinely happy again and doing well. It also makes his reluctance when called upon by famed philanthropist and business man Walter Donovan to go on a grail quest like his dad make a ton of sense: in the first film while he did it for the right reasons, Indy badly needed the big adventure and jumped at it. Here he just got done with achieving a lifelong dream, getting the cross back, and has no time for his father's shit. He only decides to take up the mission when it's clear his father is missing. It also nicely sets the stakes: Indy isn't on this mission for the Grail, he's not even sure his dad's actually found it at first as Henry has been looking for the grail since before Indy was born, he just wants to make sure his dad is okay. It's a perfect portrayal of an estranged parent relationship, i've been there: you may not be really on the same page with your dad but if he got hurt or was in real danger you'd drop everything to help. Indy may be fed up with his dad, and as we'll get to for VERY valid reasons, but he still loves the guy.

The next chunk of the film shows just how much the father-son aspect is vital… as it's the weakest part. It feels like a weaker retread of the snake pit from raiders but without the tension. It has more rats but that's about it. The film dosen't pick up again till we get to the castle their holding Henry in, a fun way to likely recycle some ideas from Lucas' castle pitch. We also get overly scottish indy in one of the films funniest bits.

Once Henry enters though the film hit's it's stride. The casting was genius: Sean Connery was an action star himself, having started the Bond franchise and had previously been in highlander just a few years before this. And while I may not cover the franchise as a whole, depends on if someone wants me to, that is a film that i'd love to tackle sometime. It has sean connery as the cool mentor, clancy brown devouring every bit of scenery while still being intimidating an da soundtrack by queen. What else do you need? It also inspired both one of the venture bros best gags and one of it's best episodes.

Reluctantly putting Highlander aside, Sean Connery was a huge enough name that he'd not only be able to go to to toe with harrison ford without being overshadowed, but was just as much a draw as the headliner, something needed since while he comes in about a third of the way in, Henry is the films deutragonist, being just as important as his son. While the Ark was a personal goal for Indy, this is one for his father. The grail is his life's work.

The real genius though was that Connery plays mostly against type. He still has that connery charm: a lot of the comic bits were his idea, he genuinely charmed Elsa, and he's smart. But Henry essentially Indy's professor side , I realize as i'm typing this the way Indy conducts a class may be trying to emulate his father and the only way he does, without the punchy two fisted hero: he has all the charm and smarts, but is essentailly if a real life archelogist who just so happens to end up on a pulp adventure, unlike Indy who seemingly can't get five minutes before he gets a lead on his next globetrotting escapade. There's similarities: their both stubborn, they both have an easy way with women, and their both smart, but their very different people and it only further explains why the two grew so far apart.

It also allows for a LOT of great comedy. While he had some moments in highlander I had no idea Sean Connery was THIS funny. The film in general is really damn funny, something me and jess noticed when we watched. I could spend all day pointing out the great bits from both jones responding when a yes when someone asks for "dr. jones", to Henry subtly revealing that he slept with Elsa too with "she talks in her sleep" a line connery adlibbed. The film has a sense of humor about it that really helps keep the energy up and Connery and Ford just play off each other perfectly: indy gets annoyed at his father's lack of field experince, obession with the grail, arrogance and the fact their now weiner cousins, while Henry is entirley baffled that this is what his son does on a weekly basis. Despite being a non action person there's a LOT of scrooge mcduck in henry: the arrogance, the tendency to double down when called out on his shit, the obsessiveness. Maybe Stephen Speilberg's dad is just like scrooge mcduck. I don't know. What I like though is that Indy's conflict with his dad. Sure it's in parts your standard father son film drama :

But it works well in the specifics: Indy resents Henry so much because his whole life Henry has ignored him, somethign the intro set up well. Indy sums it up perfectly during a discussion later in the film

"What you taught me is that I was less important to you than people who'd been dead for 500 years in another country…and I learned it so well, that we've barely spoken for 20 years"

While Henry is arrogant enough to assume he was a good parent… Indy spent his life after his mom died basically alone… and as we learned earlier fully blames his dad for it. That last part.. feels like Speilberg putting his own life out there, if exagerated slightly: as shown by his most recent film the Fablemans, a fictonalized but still mostly accurate account of his life, Speilberg was VERY close to his mom, while his dad wrote off his filmaking for some time as a hobby. The two reconcliled, I evne found out while researching this his dad funded close encouters of the third time, but at the time they were estranted once again and you can feel Speilberg still felt on some level his dad pushed his mom away. And like with Speilberg himself.. the truth is way more complicated.

To quote the scene. "This is an obsession, Dad! I've never understood it. Never! And neither did Mom." "Oh yes she did. Only too well. Unfortunately, she kept her illness from me until all I could do was mourn her.:

It's such a cutting, raw scene because in a film with snake filled crypts, tank fights and melting buisnessmen, it's so realstic: Indy never forgave his dad for his mom's death.. and it's clear Henry never forgave himself.. and that despite his obession with the grail… he would've dropped EVERYTHING if he could've. It's two men in pure pain. While there's plenty of great banter.. at the core of the film is a son who resents his father and a father whose too much of a proud arrogant ass to admit that he loves his son. IT's only when indy seemingly dies that Henry breaks down the walls a bit, truly mourning his son and realizing he (nearly) lost him because of his obession with the Grail. Indy came out here to save him despite everything. It feels like the real turning point in the character: While the jones men never stop bickering, it's in their blood, Henry dosen't come off as dismissive.

Indy similarly has his walls break down when Donovan shoots Henry , using him as a barganing chip to get the grail. Ford's acting, much like connerys in the tank scene, is truly hearbreaking, as he begs for his dad to pull through. Despite all the crap between them, all the bad history, all the obession.. these are a father and son that love each other and indy went through hell to make sure his dad lived on.

This all cumilates in the climax: when Elsa, and we'll get to her and walter shortly don't worry, tries to take the grail out, the temple collapses and she dies unable to let go of it.

Indy however reaches for it. It's a truly powerful scene, as Indy reaches for it, both to make Elsa's death mean something.. and to make his dad's LIFE mean something. This is his dad's life work and no matter how many times he choose it over his boy.. it's still important. But then… for the first time in his life.. Henry Jones.. chooses wisely… and begs his son to let it go. Henry also sums it up beautifully after they escape.

"Elsa never really believed in the Grail. She thought she'd found a prize." "And what did you find, Dad?" "Me? Illumination."

It took far too long… but Henry found what was really important was right in front of him. Sure the two bicker about indy's name on the way out, but it's in a far less bitter way, a more relaxed way with Henry just casually revealing Indy's name is actually Henry Jones JR the two's bond is restored and while Crystal Skull confirms Henry passed sometime between this film and 1957, the two at least had whatever time henry had left together. And that truly is the greatest treasure of all.

Piggybacking on Hitler

Something intresting about The Last Crusade is how it handles it's Nazi's. Their threat is still assured and we get an extra chilling scene in their home turf, watching them burn countless books. indy even gets the worlds worst autograph from hitler. But unlike Raiders where they were the main driving force and Belloq, while certainly one of the big bads, was working with them, both villians in Last Crusade are simply playing them. Neither actually care about the nazi cause or even want to work with them, but their willing to if it advances their goals. It's an interesting way to use the third reich, a sentence i'm GLAD I don't have to type all that often: their basically mooks with no named officers this go round, though speilberg again takes steps to assure us that no, these guys are still the worst evil the world has ever known with the book burning.

It's also the smart option: while Toht wasn't the standout villian of the two from raiders, he'd already filled the position of cold nightmarish nazi badguy, and while not a nazi mola ram had also given us a rather cold, intimidating monster to fight last time. It made sense to pivot to two more fleshed out villians ala beloq instead and have the nazi's still be a huge threat, but simply more for what they are and what hitler could do with the grail than being the main focus.

My faviorite of our two is easily Julian Glover as walter donovan. Donovan enters the film as a seemingly harmless philantrohpist: Indy has heard of him as a big name donating to countless museum and trusts him with no question. It's only later when their at the castle does the mask come off: Donovan is really a man who will gladly work with whoever or whatever it takes to get what he wants. He's a smug rich bastard, while still being somewhat charming. The nazis are a means to the end: if they get the grail, who cares? As long as he can use it first what does it matter. Donovan reminds me a lot of belloq, both being smug rich bastards, but contrasts him well enough to not be a boring retread: Belloq really just stole whatever he was hired to, while still having a passion for the thrill of the chase adn the game with indy. In contrast while Doonvan is just as cordial to Indy, this isn't a game to him: the grail is his key to never growing old and he will have it. If he has to work with Nazi's so be it. He lacks Belloqs talent, but has a drive rene never struck me with: Rene went after things because of the challenge. Doonvan is OBESSED with the grail as much as henry is and it does him in. I also gotta admit his shooting henry was a brilliant if utterly horrifying gambit.

The other side of the coin is Elsa. Elsa is interesting because like Belloq and Doonvan she sold out, like henry she's obsessed.. but like none of them she regrets it. The book burning horrifies her, she genuinely loves both jones men. So then why does she sink to these lows? Simple… that obsession I mentioned. Like Henry she badly wants it, but unlike henry it's for the glory and not simply to keep the thing safe from those who would use it. You can say a lot bad about Henry, I certainly have.. but he's not wrong that the grail CANNOT go to the nazis and that while they certainly weren't around the whole time he was looking for it it's not like humanity's ever lacked for dickheads with a power complex, he still fully registers how much of a world ender i'td be for the nazi's to get the grail. Elsa.. dosen't care as long as she gets her prize, just like doonvan.. and like that it does him in. While she tricked him with a false grail, her refusal to see she can't have the grail dooms her. She's easily what Herny could'v ebeen had this journey not changed him and serves as a nice parallel: Henry realized over the quest what he'd done wrong, while Elsa just can't ever seem to understand what she's done to people or that saying sorry or feeling bad isn't enough to repair the damage. She feels bad.. but not enough to leave the quest or help our heroes. In the end she's left with nothing not even her life while Henry had the rest of his ahead with his son by his side.

Odds and Ends

There's a bunch more to talk about,but since I either couldn't or forgot to fit it in above, here's the various other bits about the movie that stuck out to me.

First is the other characters: Marcus Brody is a great addition, not only revealing he' san old friend of Henrys but that he's just as inepet abroad, if not more so. The cutaway to him hoplelessly lost after Indy hypes him up, as well as Indy having to somehow explain to Marcus oldest friend that he was bluffing, is fucking gold. We also get a great bit where Sallah tries to rescue him but it takes a few minutes

Sallah is back and.. he sure is there. John Rhys Davies is as good as ever, and while a person of middle eastern descent should be playing him and i'm honestly suprised with that he's comign back, he still does a fine enough job. He's just not that vital to this one: he feels like he was brought back because he was popular in the first one and while they thankfully avoided shoving himin more scenes than necessary, he feels weirdly out of place.

The Grail Knight is fucking awesome. Robert Eddison does a fantastic job, and heartwarmingly enough.. the guy was actually really nervous about it often asking if he did okay despite being a vetran stage actor. "He choose.. .. poorly" is a meme for a reason. The set pieces as usual are great: I will say of the films so far this has the weakest.. but ti's really ionly in comparison: the fun castle fire, tank battle, the traintop opening and the cool as hell temple sequence in the climax are all bangers, and what isn't is still pretty solid. Overall.. Last Crusade is truly excellent and out of the films thus far is easily my faviorite: having Raiders breezy pace, some great action and humor and thankfully sallah is the only questionable bit in the film. It's a well done action film with a hell of a character arc , taking what Raiders did right and making it even better.

Next time we dive into the penultimate film in this retrospective.... and easily the most hated> It's time to nuke some fridges, meet some actual cannibals shiah le bouf and get some shiny skulls, it's Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull!

#indiana jones #indiana jones and the last crusade #henry jones #stephen speilberg #george lucas #sean connery #harrison ford #allison doody #sallah #elsa schnider #river pheonix

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aquaburst3 · 1 year ago

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Ever since that picture of Snow White with the creepy CGI dwarves dropped, I've seen people posting hot takes about Rachel. Here's mine.

I feel bad for Rachel Zelger. She is getting a lot of undeserved flack. Bigots are calling her "Snow Brown" and other hateful things, despite the fact that she's literally a white latina, who is olive-skinned. (Again, I think a lot of it is bigots being angry about "wokeness", but that's a whole other can of worms.) Rachel's position about this specific adaptation is completely understandable.

This movie is shaping up to be pretty bad. Not because of Rachel Zelger. This is already the second time the release date was delayed. I don't think it's just because of the strike. It genuinely seems like Disney is going back to the drawing board multiple times and it's not coming together. I still don't buy their excuse about the dwarves, since they look like they just slapped some CGI figures over the other actors. No one can come back for reshoots, making this even more awkward. Usually movies with this much production troubles never turn out to be good. The same thing happened with Artemis Fowl, and I suspect the same will happen here. I don't blame her for not liking this movie. This wasn't the first time an actor hated the movie that they were in. Robert Pattinson famously mocked the Twilight movies as they were coming out. So why is she any different?

Having said that, I think her comments about the OG animated version were a bit tone deaf. Love it or hate it, Snow White is one of the first full length animated movies ever. If it wasn't for it, the whole animation landscape throughout the world would be different. Hell, this movie along with Carl Barks comics are the whole reason why anime characters look like the way they do. You have to give the movie some respect for that. Her dissing it and brushing off completely makes her come off as disrespectful and like she has zero understanding off the character she's portraying or animation as a whole. The comments she made about the prince, by extension, Jeremy Renner, makes her look even worse. She should've thought through her comments before spouting them out.

Snow White isn't one of my favourite Disney movies. It's certainly a product of its time, and has a lot of issues like not giving the prince more screentime (even if it's understandable why) or it prioritizing random scenes with the characters working or goofing off instead of proper character or story developments. At the same time, I think Snow White's a bit more feminist than what some people are giving her credit for. She is assertive, capable, adaptable and hard working, which are all feminist traits. While I'm childfree by choice "leftist", even I admit that being a mother is a lot of hard work and takes a strong person to do. There's nothing wrong with someone wanting to have a family one day or being like me and never having any at all. Feminism is about choice, after all.

Yes, Snow White as a character needs an update. However, I still think you can do that while also keeping the core of her character and not turn her into a girl boss. That is certainly possible. Vil from Twisted Wonderland is a great example, and he comes from a Disney property too. Despite technically being inspired by the Evil Queen, a lot of his good traits are taken from Snow White and Adam. Like the original Snow White, Vil's hardworking, capable, adaptable, quick on his feet, kind, caring and wants to help out everyone around him become their best selves. He also lacks some of Snow White's glaring issues like her extreme naivety and dumb moments. (Seriously, why did she let in the Evil Queen into the cottage, especially when she was told not to multiple times and the birds attacked her?) But at the same time, he is also incredibly flawed. He's domineering, harsh, impulsive, overly critical, in his own head and super judgemental. These negative traits flesh him out and make him seem more human compared to the original, who was a very flat character. Hell, same can be said about Mary from Once Upon a Time. Disney can do it. They just didn't here.

I think we can all agree that Disney should've casted actual little people as the dwarves, the conservative "media" bullshit making their own movie is fucking laughable and the Disney Princesses can fall in love and be strong characters. Characters like Tiana and all of the other Renaissance prove that. I want more romance in Disney movies again, dammit!

#aqua rambles

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bamby0304 · 2 years ago

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Victoria Grimes VIII: War

Ch.9: It's Gonna Happen...

Series Masterlist

Summary: Daryl and Victoria have worked through her mistakes made at the Sanctuary and have decided to keep the truth between themselves. But with the war between their communities and the Saviours brewing, their bond will be tested all over again. Lies, death and the threat of defeat are coming for Vickie… will she be strong enough to come through in one piece?

Warnings: Angst. Violence. Death.

Bamby

VPOV

The sun was golden in the sky, that beautiful colour it got before sun set. It was beautiful and warm.

I was laying down on a blanket in the field across from home, with Judith by my side. She was happily playing with her toys, watching Aly and Houdini run around us. Giggling and happy barking filled my ears, making my heart swell as I enjoyed the peace while I could.

Carl was only a few feet away, finishing off planting a tree he’d decided to plant in the field across from our home.

The day had been nice. It was a different pace that I’d really needed after the hell I’d been through for weeks now.

I couldn’t remember the last time things had been this quiet, this easy. Even when Daryl and I had our moments, when we allowed ourselves to get intimate and just enjoy each other while we could, things were never like this.

It wasn’t going to last, so I was going to enjoy it for as long as I could.

“Daddy!”

Aly’s voice had me sitting up on my elbows as I watched Daryl head towards us. My mood shifted in an instant.

Pulling myself up, I told Aly to wait with Judith while I headed over to my husband, meeting him halfway.

“You left.”

He nodded, chewing his lip. “Yep.”

“You went to the Sanctuary.”

“Yep.”

“Without me.”

“Couldn’t take you with me. Couldn’t risk it.”

“So you can risk yourself but not me?” I shook my head at him. “What happened to ‘Where you go, I go’?” When he didn’t respond right away, I stepped closer. “Daryl… is it ‘cause you don’t trust me.”

That got his attention.

He stopped chewing his lip as he met my gaze and held it. “I trust you, Vic. Aint trust no one like I trust you.”

“Then why did you go? Why… why did you leave me?” I felt my voice break a little as tears began to brim my eyes. “I was alone and I didn’t know if you were gonna come back, and I thought… I thought if you died out there, today, without me, you’d die hating me.”

Suddenly he was pulling me to his chest, holding me to him. I cried, letting out only a bit of the stress and emotions I’d been bottling up for far too long now.

“Never hate you, Vic.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Just did what I thought I had to. Had to protect you from that place. From those people.”

He didn’t have to say it, but we both knew there was only one person he wanted to protect me from. Negan.

“Won’t do it again. I promise. Won’t leave you again.”

I nodded against him, letting him hold me close as I cried a little more.

CPOV

I thought it would be safe when night fell. I thought I could sneak into the underground sewer tunnels to check on Siddiq. I thought I would go unnoticed. No one ever noticed when I snuck over the fence, so why should this be any different?

I’d been wrong.

As I slid the cover back onto the manhole I tried to be as quiet as possible. Once it was in place I turned, ready to head back home. Instead I came face to face with Michonne as she headed my way.

“Carl,” she called, a questioning look furrowing her brows. “I've been lookin' for you. We're about ready to head out. What are you doing?” she asked as she looked behind me at the manhole.

There was no point in lying, and if there was anyone I could trust it would be Michonne.

“I'm helping someone,” I admitted. “A traveller.”

“In the sewer?”

Before I could explain or defend my actions, the sound of something banging on the town walls had as both freeze and turn in the direction it was coming from.

The front gates.

Feedback rang through the air, followed by a voice we did not expect. A voice that made our blood run cold.

“You may be wondering why the hell your lookouts didn't sound the alarm,” Negan started. “See, we are polite. I mean, I don't know when they're gonna wake up from that kinda shot, but they should wake up. So let's just cut through the cow shit. You lose. It's over.”

My heart was racing. We were unprepared and outnumbered.

Dad wasn’t here. Hilltop wasn’t here. The Kingdom had fallen apart. There were women and children. Elderly people. People lived here that could not fight and could not run.

We were running out of time, and we were running out of options.

“So you're gonna line up in front of your little houses, and you're gonna work up some apologies, and then the person with the lamest one is gonna get killed.” Negan’s voice rang through the town. I had no doubt everyone was listening. “Then I kill Rick in front of everybody, and we move on. You have three, count 'em, three minutes to open this gate, or we start bombing the shit out of you!”

Michonne’s eyes were wide with fear. “They got out.”

“Come on.” I turned and headed towards the houses as Negan began whistling. “Michonne,” I called after her when she didn’t move. “Come on!”

We didn’t have time to waste.

MPOV

With his eyes on the road in front of us, Jesus drove. We were headed for the Sanctuary like we’d all planned. Cars full of our people followed as we drove through the night. Jesus and I were in the front, with him behind the wheel, while Neil- one of the Hilltop people- and Diane sat behind us.

Sighing, Jesus broke the silence, “Do you think they'll surrender?”

“They will.” I believed it. “Eventually.”

“Not now?”

I turned to give him a pointed look. “Would we give up that quick?”

“No, we wouldn't.”

“Damn straight,” Neil agreed from behind me.

“They don't surrender today, they will soon.” It was only a matter of time. “Just need to run out of food water choices.”

Turning back to the road, I focused on the plan ahead. We had one goal, one mission, one destination in mind. It was a road we’d taken several times before. One we knew like the back of our hands. So when something changed it didn’t go unmissed by me.

“Slow down,” I told Jesus as I shifted in my seat, suddenly tense and alert.

“What is it?” Neil asked.

I nodded to the road up ahead. “Tree in the road wasn't there before.”

“Could've fallen on its own,” Jesus suggested. “Trees do that.”

I knew better. “It's them. Something happened.” Grabbing the walkie talkie, I didn’t miss a beat before sending out orders, “Bertie, turn around.”

But there was no response.

“Bertie!”

I looked behind us for a moment to make sure the cars were still there.

“Maggie.” Diane nodded to the front of our car.

Turning again, I watched as a truck rolled down the road. It curved around the fallen tree and turned so the back was facing us before coming to a stop.

Sitting there, all of us tense as the anticipation built up, I found my mind reeling as a million scenarios played out in my mind. I had no doubt this was the Saviours, that was sure. I just didn’t know how they’d managed to get free.

Behind us we heard car doors opening and closing as other Saviours surrounded our vehicles. Then the back of the truck opened, revealing a few other Saviours… along with a beaten-up Jerry, and a wooden coffin.

One of the truck’s doors opened as Simon stepped out, toothy grin in place. “Hello, hello, hello!” He stretched with a groan. “Ahh. What a damn nice night.” He started to walk forward, thumbs hooked into the loops of his jeans. “You all know the drill. Due to your recent decisions, everything has changed. And yet, nothin' has changed. Everyone needs to hand over their guns. Gary, shoot that beautiful bastard if anyone tries anything. Same goes for everyone in the cars.”

With that order, Saviours reached in and took our weapons, their lights shinning in our faces. The coffin from the truck was dragged over and set on the trunk of car. It was all we could look at if we didn’t want to see the state jerry was in.

Glare set in stone, I watched as Simon headed towards me window. He sighed before bending down and leaning against the car to look inside.

“How'd you get out?” I asked, voice tense and full of venom.

“Three guesses.” He shrugged when I didn’t respond. “Well, let's just say we figured it out.”

“What'd you do to the others-”

He cut me off before I could finish. “Oh, yes! That's exactly where I was going next. Right now, Kingdom is getting its innards splayed out for the world to see. And the Saviours will be taking possession of that property, starting tonight. Same with Alexandria. As long as they don't make it complicated. But Hilltop? The farmers? The breadbasket of our nascent civilization? It's your lucky day. You've been chosen to keep producing. Gregory made a little bit of a fool out of me in front of the big man, so I am hoping that you are the one to make things right.”

He paused, leaning back to listen to something in the distance. It was music, coming from the direction of the Sanctuary.

“You hear that? I need you to shift into active listening,” He told me as a wide grin found it’s way back onto his lips. “Eugene! Who, by the way, I was admittedly sceptical of, but, man, worked out like gangbusters. He helped us get out of the situation with the masses of the cold and impolite. And now my guys are leading the rest of the herd away. So this can go one of two ways.

“One, I can kill this likable gent on his knees over there, drag you out of this car, and put you in this box.” He pulled back to knock on the coffin. “Hmm? In which you will not suffocate to death like your friend. Sasha.” He leaned back into the car and continued on, “And then we take you to Hilltop, gather everyone up, and kill you in front of the whole place. And then drag you back to Sanctuary and put on the spike in front of HQ. And then my people will lead the walker herd to the Hilltop and pull off the same move that your people tried unsuccessfully at our place.

“What a pain in the ass for everyone concerned. Hmm?” He shrugged. “Or two, you turn around, go home, start watering that sorghum, save everyone, and, most importantly, me, a lot of trouble. And, yeah we're gonna have to kill one of your people. But then we're aces.” Stepping back from the car, he turned to the Saviour pressing a gun to Jerry’s head. “Nah, Gary. I got this.”

The shot rang through the car as Neil’s head exploded. Simon had shot him. He’d killed him. Without warning or hesitation.

Snarling, Simon leaned in close. “I just really needed you to know what I was talkin' about. I need you to smell it. Now tell me I don't got to kill this gent with the lustrous mane. Tell me I don't got to go down the line! Tell me, Maggie!” He barely gave me a moment to respond. “Gary!”

A gun cocked as Gary got ready to do the same to Jerry as Simon had done to Neil.

“No!” I cried, stopped Gary in his tracks. “You don't need to do any of it.” Tense, tears brimming my eyes, I swallowed it all as I shifted in my seat. Now was not the time to snap. It was not the time to react. Not now. “I just want to ask you a favour.”

“What is that?”

“I'd like that box. Take Neil home, to bury him in.”

Simon nodded. “Favour granted.”

Pulling away from the car one more time, he headed towards the truck and got in without looking back. The other Saviours followed suit, leaving the rest of us there to turn around and head back home.

VPOV

Carl was taking charge. We were all alert, listening to him as he spouted orders, a plan already firm in his head.

“You need to make it look like we're escaping out back,” he explained as he scavenged for things we might need out of the little amount of supplies we had at Alexandria. “Get to the woods, halfway to the quarry, and cut the lights. Get enough of a lead on them, hit them, and get away on foot. You know where we'll be. Just have to get the guns, get everyone else here, and we'll meet you there.”

The plan was simple enough. A group of us would make it out, just a little ways down the road, not too far from home. Then we’d trap as many Saviours as we could and shoot them down. Meanwhile everyone else would be home, being ushered into the sewers while Carl kept Negan distracted.

There was a problem, though. I had a problem… I didn’t want him doing it on his own.

Carl was my baby brother. I’d been in the hospital the day he’d been born. I was there the day Otis shot him. I was there for him after we lost Mum. He’d been there for me, too. We I was found months after the farm it was Carl that I reconnected with first.

He was my lifeline, my childhood, my… my best friend. Before the world crashed and burned, and after it all went to hell, Carl and I had been there for each other.

Was I really ready to leave him here knowing there would be nothing I could do when the Saviours eventually broke down the walls?

“Two minutes, people!” Negan’s voice rang, pulling me out of my head. “Dig deep. I want these apologies to be memorable. Bonus points for creativity. Work up a poem, sing a song. I love that shit.”

Carl turned to those who were staying to get our people to safety. “Get going. There's gonna people in the infirmary. They're gonna need your help.” They ran off without question.

Tara stepped forward then. “Look, we got guns. We can fight them.”

Rosita shook her head. “We will, but not now. Carl's right.”

Surveying the area, taking in our home, Michonne turned to my brother. “Carl, we can't just let them have this place.”

“We can,” he assured her.

It was just a place. Just one more place we’d called home. But as I’d come to realise just a few weeks ago, it wasn’t really a home.

Home was wherever my people were. Home was wherever Aly rested her head at night. Home was wherever Judith would grow up. Home is wherever Daryl was. This place was just that, a place, and it was replaceable. The people here weren’t.

“Carl’s right.” I looked to the rest of the people gathered around. Tara, Rosita, Michonne, Daryl, Carl. “This place can burn and we’ll be fine. We always end up fine. This isn’t about saving our home, it’s about saving our people.

Carl nodded. “All you need to do is survive tonight.” His gaze landed on Michonne as he stepped towards her. “This is my show. You said it. This is my plan, and you're gonna do it. You're all gonna do it. So let's go!”

I grabbed Carl’s arm before he could run off. The others went to do their jobs, except Daryl. He waited for me.

“I can’t leave you here to do this by yourself.”

He looked down at my hand as I continued to hold him in place, before he looked up to meet my eyes. “You can’t stay here. If this doesn’t work out, if I fall… Dad needs you. Everyone needs you.”

I glared at him, feeling tears sting my nose. “Don’t talk like you know whats gonna happen. Don’t talk like you’re already dead.”

“One minute!” Negan called. “One. Minute.”

Pulling me in for a hug, he gave me a quick but tight squeeze. “I’ll see you when you get back.” Slipping from my grasp, he then ran off.

I watched as he hurried for the gate, towards the enemy.

“Vic.” Daryl’s hand landed on my shoulder. “We gotta go. Come on.”

Swallowing the tears that threatened to spill, I turned and let him lead me towards the others. If Carl was going to be in charge then I was going to make sure his plan went as smoothly as possible. I wasn’t letting us lose anyone tonight.

NPOV

“Okie dokie. Brought this on yourself, Rick,” I called on the megaphone as I paced in front of Alexandria’s gate. “See, was willing to work with you. All you had to do was follow a few very simple rules. Now? Well, now I see that you got to go. Scorched earth, you dick!”

“He's not home.”

My people spun around, aiming their guns up at the lookout, where someone now stood. Someone I did not expect.

“Oh-ho-holy shit! Everybody hold your fire,” I ordered, grinning up at the kid. “It's Carl.” They all did as I said, however the guns remained trained on the kid. “Look at you. Answering the door like a big boy. I am so proud. Daddy's not home, huh? What about big sis Vickie? My girl in there somewhere?” I asked looking to the gate, waiting for it to open.

Ignoring my questions, he did something I did not expect from him. He tried to convince us to hold fire. “There's families in here. Kids. My little sister and niece.”

The smile fell from my lips. “Well, that shit just breaks my heart. There's kids at the Sanctuary,” I countered. “You must've seen 'em. Even had a little baby at one of the outposts. I wonder what happened to her.”

Gracie. She was one of the worker’s kids and now she was gone. There was no body, so she wasn’t dead. At least I hoped not. I wondered if she was on the other side of the walls. I wondered if that was where Vickie was. She was a killer, but she was a mother, she’d protect all the babies until she had nothing left in her.

“None of this shit's fair, kid. Hell, you know that. You had to kill your own mum. That is screwed up. Ergo, we need someone in charge who's willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that shit doesn't happen.” I shrugged. “Oh. Wait. That's me.”

“Bad stuff does happen, but we can figure this out,” he argued. “We can stop this.”

“Oh, now you want to talk?” I dropped the megaphone, choosing to yell out at him instead. “See, your dad had it that I died. He gave my people a choice. Not me. Now we're gonna need a new understanding. Apologies, punish-”

He cut me off, “Kill me.”

My blood ran cold. “What did you say?”

“If you have to kill someone, if there has to be punishment, then kill me. I'm serious.”

“You wanna die?”

He shook his head. “No, I don't. But I will. It's gonna happen. And i-if me dying could stop this, if it can make things different… for us, for you, for all those other kids, it'd be worth it.” I could see he was. I could hear it in his words, in his tone. There wasn’t an ounce of a lie in him. “I mean, was this the plan? Was it supposed to be this way? Is this who you wanted to be?”

I couldn’t do it. Not because of the deal I’d made with Vickie. No, that shit had folded the second this war started. No, I just couldn’t kill the kid because I couldn’t. I liked him. I wasn’t lying when I said I’d want my son to be exactly like him if I’d had one.

He was a better man than his father, that’s for sure.

“They got a convoy out. We’re on ‘em.”

My eyes were drawn down to a Saviour behind me and their walkie talkie. The others we’d brought had been outside the other gate of the community to hold the people inside. By the sounds of things, that had gone according to plan.

As I looked back up, the kid was gone.

“Son of a bitch, Carl! Was that just a play?! I thought we were havin' a moment, you little asshole!” I turned to my people. “Bombs away!”

VPOV

I was crouched in the bushes with Daryl, Michonne, Rosita and Tara. We were waiting, knowing it was only a matter of time before the Saviours who had followed us found us. At the same time, though, I knew it was only a matter of time before shit hit the fan back at home. The longer we were out here the more at risk are people were.

My daughter.

My sister.

My brother.

My people.

“They didn't get out because of what we did with the truck.” Tara’s voice had us all turn to her.

“Even if they did, it was just a mistake,” Rosita assured her. “And I made one, too. If I hadn't gone to the Sanctuary to kill Negan, maybe Sasha would still be alive. Maybe she would've gone herself. Maybe everything would've ended up going exactly the same way. I didn't want you guys to do it, but maybe you needed to. Maybe you needed to play things out to figure shit out.”

I was not blaming anyone. I had a feeling things would have gone to hell even if the other’s hadn’t gone back to the Sanctuary despite the plan. Negan always had a way of getting his way. I’d seen it time and time again.

“Where the hell are they?” Michonne was growing impatient. We all were.

The sound of vehicles approaching had as all duck down a little more as Daryl watched, waiting for our moment. Rosita snuck up to the edge of the road, throwing a smoke bomb out in the middle of it. The cars didn’t stop, though, not until they were covered by the fog.

“Now!” Daryl called.

We all aimed and fired, shooting down the unprepared Saviours as they tried to scurry to safety. Shooting down one each, Daryl and Michonne took two more down before we turned to the last couple.

Laura and Dwight.

“That's why you didn't want to block the gate with the trucks. That's why you drove right up to this! It was you! All of it!” Laura yelled, taking a shot at Dwight. “You tell them to stop!”

Aiming my gun, I caught sight of her and pressed my finger to the trigger. She was quick though, ducking out of the way as if sensing danger. She ran off into the bushes, leaving Dwight on the road. Whether he was alive or not we weren’t sure.

“It’s over!” Dwight called.

Pulling myself out of the dirt, I took the lead. The second I saw him I knew he was fine. “You’ll live.”

“Maybe not,” Daryl grunted as he stormed up to Dwight and pressed his gun to his head.

Dwight’s hands were up in surrender right away. “I made sure you guys could get out the back. I drove the convoy right up to the roadblock. I knew what it was. I can't go back. One of 'em got away. She's gonna tell them.”

Daryl didn’t let up, though. “How'd they get out? Was it what I did?”

“Eugene.”

I knew it. I knew they would have figured out something, and of course it was because of the one who had betrayed us. Eugene had been a sight for sore eyes when I’d been at the Sanctuary, but now he was just a thorn in my ass.

“I can still help you,” Dwight offered frantically, knowing his life was at risk.

I could have saved him with one word. He had helped me while I’d been away from my family. He’d helped me escape. I could have spared his life like he’d done mine. I didn’t make a move to, though. This was Daryl’s fight.

“I know how they work, how Negan thinks.” Dwight was scrambling now. “I want you to win. I want Negan to die. And we can settle up after.”

Reaching forward, I rested a hand on Daryl’s shoulder. “He’s right. We’ll settle this later. Right now I need to make sure our family is safe.”

Michonne nodded as she started grabbing guns from the bodies of the people we’d shot down. “We need to get back.”

Bamby

#daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon fic #daryl dixon x oc #victoria grimes #victoria grimes viii #victoria grimes viii war

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openingnightposts · 6 months ago

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#GreenwichVillage #LauraBenanti #MinettaLaneTheater #TulisMcCall

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austincompany · 3 months ago

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Disney when it comes to their features and shorts has always been a mixed bag to me personally because it could either be an amazing short filled with either extremely well timed gags or artwork that screams replayability in the theaters..or it can be a really dull boring short that makes you wanting an MGM/Warner Bros. Short instead. Not helping was Walt having really picky choices on what he really cares about more (mickey was like his adopted son so he became as bland as sandpaper, while Goofy had some of the funniest shorts in the 50s because Walt HATED the goof. Most likely due to his hate relationship with Art B.) Though the choices you picked honesty are in my favorite box too.

Reading your opinion of Snow White is interesting because it too is similar to my own opinions on it. I literally don't care for princess stories or Fairy tales (unless it's made by Tex Avery or Jay Ward, or it's me digging deep in the historal rewritings of the stories), however I think why SW stuck a cord with me (besides the beautiful animation, backgrounds, and score), is, imo, how much of a solid character Snow White is. ESPECIALLY for a woman in the 1930s. Seriously, unless you're a one-note knee showing sex doodle like Betty Boop, or a stereotypical nagging wife who beats up the husband), you were a hopeless romantic that got captured by the over-the-top villain and did jack all to even attempt to save yourself. Meanwhile, you had SW, who was this bleed of sunshine and love and always wanting to help out and see the good of people, while also knowing how to properly teach someone in how to be a more professional person without being too harsh. It is 100% believable to me how, when the film came out, people cried when she was knocked out from the poison apple. Because she literally was one of the best representation for a woman during the time, imo. (Also that 2025? Thing is a mess and animated Snow White would be absolutely disappointed by how she's presented in that reboot thing.

Also YES, PLEASE READ THE DISNEY MICE AND DUCK COMICS! you will not be disappointed when doing so. If you always wanted the main cast to extremely interesting, especially the funny mouse, find anyway possible. Carl Barks and Floyd Gottfredson especially if you're starting out, since they're basically season 1 of a GIANT HUGE Monopoly of either well-written or completely bonkers comics.

Also hi lol

I'm curious, do you have a favorite classic Disney short? 👉👈

OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD Hockey Homicide gets the crowning achievement for that! i've found all my favorite Disney shorts are the ones most (successfully) derivative of Warner cartoons. Clown of the Jungle fits the same niche... i also watched Little Toot for the first time recently and as a lifelong fan of the Andrews Sisters i LOVED IT. THE MUSICCCCC IS STUPIDLY GOOD and i could get lost in its spectacle.

i will say i just watched Duck Pimples for the first time the other day and LOVED IT. genuinely a little burned up it took me so long to see it. it's like... Who Killed Who meets Rooty Toot Toot meets The Great Piggy Bank Robbery. i never expected to see this sort of abstraction in a Disney short. Donald is unsurprisingly my favorite of the characters (well, technically the Aracuan bird is but he barely exists </3) and so i'm excited to see more of his filmography. i tend to prefer '30s Donald but this was very fun

I'M VERY HYPOCRITICAL WITH MY DISNEY TASTES.. i'm averse to the shorts because something about it feels very manufactured goody two-shoes wholesome, and yet i absolutely love the earlier Silly Symphonies, Dumbo and Snow White are my favorite Disney films and i've cried over both multiple times, etc... i really need to do more Disney research because it's been such a blindspot for me. i think i react most strongly to the spectacle and lushness of the art and just the historical magnitude of the studio, and all of that is mainly concentrated in the '30s. when they begin to shed that for their short films and instead try to imitate other studios or do their own attempts at comedy, i'm thinking "well, i could just be watching the Warner or MGM alternative of this instead". IUNNO. i'm at a very odd limbo with Disney. i articulated it a bit more concisely elsewhere (this is what i get for confining all my ramblings and essays on Discord..)

COMPLETELY RAMBLING. BUT YEAH! Hockey Homicide is probably my favorite as of right now, but i enjoy a lot of the '30s Silly Symphonies i've seen as well. i like Donald and want to see more of him--my uncle told me i'd probably like Uncle Scrooge and so i would definitely like to commit to reading Carl Barks' comics because my only real exposure to Barks is a LOONEY TUNES story he did for Dell with Porky and Bugs that is a bit... his ducks are more appealing. but there's some fun grandiosity in the staging you wouldn't get elsewhere. i'm not a huge adventure fan but i'm very curious to see what he has up his sleeves.

nevertheless, i've been liking more Disney the more i've been exposed to it and react most strongly to the '30s stuff. i think i'm more interested in its historical significance than the actual meat of the shorts themselves, which is why i should probably do my research about them. the most well known and easy to research animation studio is the one i know the least about (this is hyperbole but it is particularly egregious to me!)

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sheetsonfire · 2 years ago

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In Pursuit

Fandom: Chicago PD / Chicago Med

Pairing: Will Halstead x Reader, Jay Halstead x Platonic!Reader

Genre: Drama, angst, romance

Warnings: violence, near overdose, drugs, swearing, gun mentions, injuries, sickness

Word Count: 3323

Requested By Anon: I saw that you weren’t really taking requests but I have an idea for a will halstead x reader. Where shes Jay’s partner at pd and she gets hurt on a case, she goes to med and will’s worried, which leads to them both confessing each other’s feelings.

“Carl Larkin! Stop! Chicago PD!" You let your legs carry you, another day another case, another afternoon spent sprinting the streets of Chicago with your partner Jay. You knew he had split off from you a few streets back, a move to help you cut the guy off, as you remained on the pursuit ahead.

Like many of the people you caught on drug-related cases, Carl had been selling a way too potent and dangerous product for the streets. Illegal drugs were one issue, but illicit drugs made incorrectly or made irresponsibly were the true headaches of your work. Of course, Larkin wasn’t the "big fish" he was simply the courier for the supplier he was working under, his value lay in the potential to lead Intelligence to said supplier.

It was somewhere around your second block of the pursuit that Larkin had attempted to slow you down with cursory, wayward, shots in your direction. As civilians screamed and ducked for cover, you instructed them to either move to the side or stay back, you hated drawing innocent people into the chaos. This motion forced you to draw your weapon, ready to retaliate if required. Your boots pounded the pavement, ducking in and out of cars, dumpsters, and general junk that often was left at the back of neighbourhoods, the neighbourhood you’d tracked Larkin into.

You turned a corner, kicking up grit and dirt as you go, you key your radio, “Jay! What’s your location?”

“Heading West, I’ll meet you at the intersection coming around!” He radios back, and you feel the confidence in Carl’s capture increase, knowing you were about to force him to converge right into Jay’s path.

“Carl, stop! You just need to talk!” You holler, gaining speed on him as his limbs flailed trying to run faster on his exhausted fumes, a futile attempt to shake you off.

“Fuck off, bitch! That gun’s not made for talkin’” His voice cracks, but it’s still delivered with venom. It couldn't have been a surprise to him that you would have your weapon drawn. You knew people like Carl, and you knew better than to not take precautions. Unsurprisingly, he fit the bill of a lot of the people you dealt with in the drug world, scrawny, weasely, and a pain in the ass.

You watch in confusion as Larkin slows right down on the sidewalk, rarely did the command for someone to stop result in the actual compliance you were after. But then you realise what’s happening, and you find it within yourself to run a little faster to get to the vehicle Carl is now slotting himself into.

"Larkin!” You bark, holstering your weapon as you manage to get your body in front of the door before he can close it. You tussle with him as you hear Jay arriving behind you, calling out for assistance on his radio.

“5021 George, requesting backup, suspect attempting to flee via automobile, my partner is engaged in a physical altercation, registration Papa Bravo 2 -”

Jay finishes the registration recall, moving forward to help you get Carl back out of the car, before he can even pry open the passenger door he hears a resounding slam of the driver’s door not closing but hitting you instead. There’s a sickening crunch, the hiss of a spray, followed by your string of howling expletives.

Your partner runs back to your side, catching the sight of Carl shoving you away from the vehicle as you fall to the ground, the engine starts and Jay can only yell “Hey!” as he protectively crouches beside you, gun aimed at Larkin as he attempts to pull away, still not knowing if Carl would discharge his weapon or not.

It’s the sound of screeching tires that has Jay keying his radio once again, advising dispatch of the progress of your incident, requesting an ambo be sent to your current location. All of this in a matter of seconds as he turns to your hunched, pained, form.

Jay’s voice is calm, assessing you as you cough and groan, whimpering each time your arm is jarred with your involuntary spasms. Jay sits on the ground with you, securing your weapon and his in his holsters, supporting your weight as he tries to check you for any other injuries. “Y/N, talk to me, what hurts?”

“My- arm… Jay, fuck! He sprayed something i-in my face…” It takes all of your composure to get the words out, this is what you’d been chasing Carl for. N-bomb, a hallucinogen similar to LSD, and it’d been causing havoc on the drug scene. You could feel the fear kicking in, whatever he had sprayed at you was starting to present itself. Well aware that the trip would feed off your agony and stress, it would be a limited time before you really started to react, and you’d need an ambulance quick.

You let out a sob as your arm hangs limply, swelling rapidly by the second, it’s at a sickeningly odd angle and Jay feels his own stomach turn. Larkin had cleanly broken your arm by slamming it in the car door.

“Okay, it’s alright. The ambulance is coming, Y/N. So you just let me help you, alright? Let’s sit you up properly.”

Jay manoeuvers you between his legs, letting you rest against his chest, making sure you’re upright and secure. You’re grateful your partner is with you, you and Jay had become a great team and he was always someone you could rely on to have your back. In this instance quite literally.

“J-Jay… I don’t feel good.” You mutter, your vision was starting to blur, you could feel sweat forming at the back of your neck, and your heart was racing with the pain and the adrenaline of the drug inside you. You could hear a loud whooshing sound, accompanied by nausea that stabbed through your stomach. Suddenly fear struck you, the sense of impending doom came from nowhere as the sounds around you started to feel slow, the faces of passers-by distorting into grotesque creatures as they gathered to observe the scene. You were hallucinating already, that wasn't good.

Jay eyes you worriedly, he could feel you trembling, despite the heat that had been created from running he could tell the temperature radiating off of you was something else entirely. Small whimpers of pain and fear escape you. He finds himself squeezing your good hand reassuringly, whether for you or for himself he wasn’t sure. He knew the very real possibility of you having a fatal overdose of the drug. “I know, Y/N, just hold on, the ambulance is coming, I can hear them.”

Amongst the cacophony of worried murmurs and offers of help, you can hear Jay telling the public to stay back and keep the area clear for the ambo. The last thing you remember before passing out is the beginnings of a seizure and Jay’s pleas for you to stay awake amid your slurred attempts to ask for one person... Will.

The ride in the ambo is frantic, the paramedic working on you is securing your broken arm whilst attempting to alleviate the symptoms of your reaction to the drug. Jay sits out of the way on the phone to Voight, explaining what happened as he anxiously bounces his foot, looking at your fevered complexion beneath the oxygen mask, how quickly you had deteriorated scared him. Your seizure hadn’t lasted very long, but it made it all the more dangerous for you in the midst of coming through this experience.

Jay has never felt more relieved to pull up outside of the ambulance entrance at Chicago Med, though he himself had a severe aversion to hospitals, he knew everyone inside would do their best for you. He didn’t feel much like losing another partner, especially not one with whom he had bonded so well. It doesn’t take more than a moment for you to be unloaded and wheeled into the ED, rushing forward is Ethan with Monique in tow, and the paramedics reel off the information about your exposure to the N-Bomb as well as the severity of your broken arm.

In the wake of the bustle, Jay marches through the ED behind your gurney, seeking out that hard-to-miss head of red curls that belonged to Will.

“Will!” Your partner hollers, jogging over to his brother.

“Hey, what’s-” Will doesn’t have to ask though, watching you roll by tells him enough and he feels his stomach drop. “Y/N? Jay, what the hell happened?” He asks, expression more urgent now as he follows Ethan, only able to observe from outside the already cramped trauma bay.

“She, uh, we were chasing a suspect, they managed to dose her with a bad batch of LSD, she didn’t react well. He slammed her arm in a car door too, it looks bad, man.” Jay exhales harshly, shaking his head in anger. Already calculating what he would have done differently, how he hoped to god some units would pick up Larkin and have him pay the price for what he'd done to you.

He starts pacing slightly with his hands tucked into his tac vest, an unconscious self-soothing behaviour - he was really worried about how long it took to get you to the hospital for the overdose. In Jay's movements, he looks to his brother, he knew how Will felt about you and vice versa, he had been trying to push you both in the right direction for a few months now.

Will’s filled with anxiousness, he knows he shouldn’t interfere with your treatment, Ethan had it handled and if he was being fully honest with himself he probably wasn’t the most emotionally sound person to help you right now.

He can only keep watch over you as they examine you, checking your pupils, your blood pressure again, your respiratory rate…all of it, hearing the turns of phrase that let Will know you’re having to fight hard. There’s a call to push drugs to counteract your high blood pressure, fever and susceptibility to another seizure. They keep supplying your oxygen as they take a look at your arm, Will watches as the technician x-rays the damage.

Jay stands beside him, reaching out to put a reassuring hand on his brother’s shoulder.

Hours pass and the drugs have a few more hours to go before they’re meant to wear off, not yet fully phased out of your system. You’ve been put under light sedation and you’re hooked up to any medicine or machine that can keep the overdose from taking a more lethal hold. Your arm has been splinted for the time being, with regular icing to keep the swelling down. You had surgery scheduled for as soon as you were stable enough.

Will, though not your doctor, keeps vigil, Jay had told him about your request for him right before passing out. He had encouraged Jay to get cleaned up, check in with Intelligence and get something to eat, he could tell his brother was rattled by the whole affair too.

The redhead sits by your side, watching your vital signs carefully, face pensive in the stillness of the room, only the machines to fill the silence. After a while Will can’t stand it, normally your kind eyes are looking at him with that glint that makes him hopeful for something more, you’re usually cracking a joke or taking an interest in one of his cases, more often than not there would be an invite for dinner with the other people or drinks at Molly’s. The pair of you had been quite shy to ask for anything more, like a real date.

Looking at you now, like a lot of near-death experiences can do, Will feels more encouraged than ever to not waste any more time dancing around you. He cared about you way too much to let this friendship stall at just friendship, it had always been pretty obvious the both of you were smitten. Jay had told him repeatedly that you felt the same way and Will knew he had to act on it.

He leans forward to kiss your forehead, stroking away your damp hair from the fever still simmering beneath your skin. “I’m here, Y/N. You keep fighting like hell like you always do, I’m not going anywhere and you’re gonna wake up feeling so much better. I promise.”

Will’s brow stays furrowed in worry, scooting closer to keep hold of your hand not in a cast.

The first thing you’re aware of is the weight in your limbs, your chest, your head… It felt like the world’s worst hangover but multiplied by an absurd amount. You feel stiff, your mouth impossibly dry and you felt compelled to let out a low, disgruntled, whine - hoping that would somehow gain the attention of someone to help make the discomfort leave.

You’re yet to open your eyes, you could feel the brightness of the lights in your surroundings, and your eyelids felt sore and still hot to touch. Licking your lips only cracks your dried lips, stinging your mouth unpleasantly.

“Whatthefuck.” You mumble, trying to take a breath and gather your emotions. Shifting your body slightly you realise one of your arms is immobile, your fingers stiff from the pressure surrounding it. Then, the memories start to flitter back into your stream of consciousness.

The chase, the fight, the attack on you from Larkin’s spray, the searing pain of the heavy metal car door crushing your arm. Jesus Christ, not the best day. You fidget, letting out a cross between a growl and a sigh.

“Hey, sweetheart, you’re coming out of a pretty heavy trip, it’s alright, just take it easy, Y/N.”

The voice is soft, soothing, and familiar. The familiarity and the ‘sweetheart’ release light flutters in your stomach. You hum now, feeling somewhat vulnerable as you blink your eyes open, confirming the comforting voice matches the face you think it does. Sure enough, it’s Will’s warm eyes that meet your tired ones. You smile dopily.

“Will…” You breathe, nose wrinkling. His face changes from pleased to concerned.

“What’s wrong, what hurts, we can increase the painki-”

“My head itches and my mouth is like sand.” You pout, cutting off his spiral into worry.

There’s confusion and then a smile, he leans forward in the chair to carefully scratch at the top of your scalp, following your directions as he finds the irritating spot. You sigh in relief.

“Better?” Will lets out a snort of amusement, passing you a cup of water next.

“Much.” You hum, relishing the feel of cool liquid travelling down your throat. You're closing your eyes for a moment, they really didn’t like the light.

“Too bright in here?” He asks,

“Mmh, yeah sorry. Everything’s heavy and fuzzy, I feel like I got hit by a truck… even though it was a car door and a spritz.” Your face darkens, anger flashing across it as you start to recognise how easily you could have met death as a result of the overdose.

Will sighs, jaw clenched, he felt that same anger too. The thought that somebody could so carelessly put your life on the line made him wish he had Jay’s profession and the capacity to convict. He leans up to turn the lights down on the dimmer, slotting his tall frame back into the chair.

“How’s that?” He queries, gentle fingers caressing along your arm, it sends contrasting sensations to the discomfort you were in. Gentle, warm, goosebumps prickle along your skin, and you meet his eyes once more.

“Perfect.” You sigh. Feeling the pressure dissipate somewhat from your face. Feeling less agitated by the movement, you wriggle your weak fingers to clasp with Will’s, squeezing softly.

There’s a beat of silence. And then you both try to speak at the same time, laughing awkwardly as you stop, waiting to see who would go first. Will gestures to you, head tilting slightly in a soft expression of fondness.

You swallow, gratefully sipping at the second sip of water the redhead offers. Taking a brief moment before you take the leap to confess. “So, Will… At the scene, I…I uh, asked Jay to get you for me, right before lights out. When my arm was killing me and my body was freaking out, all I wanted was you with me. As much as I love your brother like a brother, I needed you. Which is to say…I’m so glad you’re with me right now, and I’d really like it if you were always with me.”

Your heart is hammering, it catches Will’s attention on the monitor and you both chuckle, he reaches to silence the monitor and to spare your cheeks from getting any redder.

He gets as close to the bed as he can, holding your hand carefully in his, thumb stroking along your wrist in soothing circles.

“Jay told me what you said…and then he, uh, he told me to “Stop messing around and tell her already.”... So, here we go… I want to be with you always too, and I would really like for us to stop being shy teenagers and finally do this thing for real.”

You are thoroughly exhausted, and all too aware of how badly this could have gone today, so Will’s words hit you that much deeper. Knowing how long you’ve wanted to hear this and to finally hear it brings tears to your eyes. You feel safe around Will, you want to cherish him as much as he seemingly cherishes you.

“It’s settled then.” You sniff, and Will gets worried.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” He asks, brushing the tears from your cheeks.

“No, you goof, I’m just happy.” You laugh through your crying, nestling your head on Will’s shoulder as he wraps his arm around you as good as he can, palm rubbing up and down your back in a slow, soothing, motion. You press a kiss to his shoulder, leaning back a little to look at him. He’s smiling still, and you reciprocate, licking your lips as his eyes glance at them.

“Can I kiss you?” He murmurs, and you nod, “Absolutely”, you match his tone, feeling somewhat sneaky even though you weren’t doing anything wrong, or anything people didn’t already have bets on. Glancing at the doorway before leaning in, using your good hand to gently sink your fingers into his hair, bringing him close as your lips meet.

You both groan into the kiss, pressing a little more with need. You feel his hand on your waist, the rush makes you dizzy enough to need to pull back.

“Sorry I-” You cut him off, placing a hand over his mouth, breathing a little heavier.

“No apologies, Will. I’m just still a little wobbly is all.” You smile sleepily, falling against his chest as you drop your hand from his mouth, he cradles you to him, stroking your neck softly.

“You need to sleep, I can kiss you senseless when you’re not full of pain meds and recovering from an LSD nightmare.”

You giggle quietly, catching your breath, "Sounds good, it's a date."

You knew Will had the capacity to fuss, as you had seen Jay be on the receiving end of it countless times, much to your amusement. However, it was totally different when you were the target.

You didn't know if it was because Will changed his tact when it came to you or because you were too medicated to find it irritating, but you found yourself totally enthralled by the doctor-ly yet doting way Will made sure you were okay.

In the pursuit of criminals, you were at the top of your game, there wasn't much left that you could be taught. But in the pursuit of Will Halstead, there was still much to discover, and you were only just getting started.

Fin.

A/N: I hope this wasn't too corny!

#will halstead x reader #one chicago #chicago pd #chicago med

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thatwriterchaotic · 2 years ago

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Man's Best friend (Dog part 2)

So a lot of you really liked my last post Dog. I decided to make a part 2 from Dog. Haven't been really sure about what I've wanted to write with Daryl lately so here we go. And if you haven't read the first part to this I suggest you go back and read if you want. Anyways thanks for reading as always. :)

Word count: 1166

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader

It was supposed to be an average Sunday afternoon. Not much was happening in Alexandria. You decide to sleep in a little more than usual. When you woke up you didn't feel the warmth next to you where Daryl sleeps. You knew he was always an early bird. Waking up at on godly hours of the morning to you. You sat up and stretched feeling a slight pain in your shoulders.

You got out of bed and got dressed for the day. It was oddly quiet. You knew Daryl usually took Dog with him everywhere he could. But something just felt off about today. That's when a loud yell came from outside. It sounded like Rick. You quickly grabbed your knifes and put them in the holsters around your hips. You bolted out of the house and to the gate where you saw Rick, Michonne and Carl surrounded by someone hunched on the ground. You didn't realize who it was until you heard Dog bark. You picked up the pace. You felt your nerves go haywire. What happened to Daryl!? Was he hurt?! Your mind raced with thoughts.

Once you finally made it to Rick and the others. You got down right beside Daryl and noticed he had scrapes all up his side and leg. He fell off his bike again. Probably from getting away from walkers. But his bike was no where in site. Did he walk the rest of the way here?? You were happy Dog was with him at least. Daryl groaned and whined as he laid on the ground. “Shh Daryl it's okay we are going to get you help”. You said softly brushing his hair out of his face.

The others came over quickly with a cot. Michonne pulled you back a bit so they could pick him up. You felt sick to your stomach with worry. You knew he had done this before but it still made you worry. “He's going to be alright” Michonne said softly as she hugged you. You sighed softly hugging her back. “I know, I just care about him so much”. You s

A couple of hours had passed, you sat waiting outside the medical room. Denise was inside patching Daryl up. She asked you to wait out here until she was done. Soon she came out and looked at you. “He's knocked out but you can come in now I'm all done” You nodded and got up out of your chair. You thanked Denise before entering the room. Daryl laid in the bed with bandages all around him. His arm and shoulder, down to his leg. He had a small patch above his eye brow where he scraped it.

You sighed softly as you walked over and gently sat down on the bed next to him. “Going to give me a heart attack some day Daryl Dixon” You said quietly to yourself. You reached out and gently grabbed his hand rubbing your thumb across his knuckles. You herd light taps across the floor. You knew it was Dog. Carol was watching him for you while you checked on Daryl. But you knew eventually Dog would want to see Daryl. Dog worried just as much as you did about him.

Dog jumped up and laid down at Daryl's feet whining. “Shh it's okay boy, he's going to be alright” You said softly reaching over to pet him. Daryl groaned as he woke up. He felt like he was hit by a truck. He eventually got still and looked around seeing you and Dog. You smiled softly gently gripping his hand. “Hey hey, you're alright Daryl it's just me and Dog” you said to calm him down.

Daryl relaxed and slipped his fingers in between yours. “hey sunshine” He said as he looked at you. He hated making you worry so much and he knew you must have been doing that for hours. “Sooo you gonna tell me what happened or am I going to have to ask Dog?” You said as you looked at him and then Dog.

Daryl sighed and sat up a little. “okay okay, I was out scavenging with Dog and a hord came out of no where. I hopped on my bike and started heading back when I swerved trying not to hit a walker, I fell off my bike and slid across the road and must have knocked myself out. Dog woke me up and lead me back home” Daryl explained feeling like an idiot.

You sighed softly trying not to laugh. Daryl Dixon, bad ass on a motorcycle wrecked because of a walker. Eventually a small laugh came out and Daryl playfully hit your shoulder. “Hey that's not funny you ass” He said in a bitter tone. You knew he meant nothing behind it. You smiled softly and leaned down kisses his cheek. “It totally is not funny, my poor Daryl is all hurt” You said teasing him more.

You could see a tiny pout on Daryl's face as he rolled his eyes at you. You giggled and gently laid down beside him. Curling up to his side and laying your head on his shoulder gently. “Just messing with you, but if it weren't for Dog you would still be out there” You said softly, happy they both made it home somewhat safe. Dog perked up and moved to lay in between you and Daryl, wagging his tail. Daryl wrapped his arm around you gently drawing shapes into your arm with his fingers. “Yeah he saved me today, good boy” Daryl said kissing your forehead.

You smiled as you reached down petting Dog's head. “He really is man's best friend, that dog would do anything for you” You said softly. You loved how much Dog cared for Daryl. It had only been a few months since you found him and they already had a very close bond. You relaxed and got comfy next to Daryl being careful not to hurt him. “You should rest” you said softly looking at Daryl. He looked so tired from all that pain he went through.

Daryl grunted in agreement. He held you close and nuzzled into you. “If I'm napping so are you” He said before slowly drifting off to sleep. You smiled softly and pulled the blankets up. If you could lay here forever with Daryl and Dog you would.

#daryl dixon #the walking dead #twd daryl #daryl dixion imagine #daryl x reader #puppy #dogs #twd fanfiction

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kaderp · 3 years ago

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HEY! Rosa answered and debunked a lot of Life and Times things

Deadass talked to him for like 4 hours lmao but I got most of my questions answered! This is gonna be only the fact part of my talks with Rosa, I'll post the more personal interactions in another post.

Ok so number 1 is MOLLY WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE A CHILD LMAOOOO. She was still very young (early 20s) and died fairly young as well, but Rosa said he just wanted to portray an overworked miner and mother. AND I THINK HE SAW MY POST FROM JUNE LMAO. He said 'A few months ago I saw someone post how Molly looks like a child and why does she look like a child! But no no no that's not what I intended at all! I don't know why other prints of the family tree make her look like a child! This is the most accurate one.' (he points to the one where Molly is older looking and has Ludwig in it was well.)

Number 2 is what happened to Hortense and Della? Apparently Della was always missing to him. He didn't clarify how exactly she was missing, but she just went missing. Hortense on the other hand, he had more details. Originally in his mind, Hortense was alive and well! She was hiding and only Matilda knew. Rosa was originally going to do a sequel to 'The Castle's Secret' where Matilda reveals that they should go reunite with Hortense.

Rosa got as far as creating a general script and some doodles but then Disney and his editors came up to him and said that he wasn't allowed to include any of the Sensational Six's parents. So treat her as if she died. So that's just what Rosa did, so yes Hortense is dead in the Life and Times.

Number 3: Would Scrooge have settled down and make Dawson his home base instead of Duckburg? Rosa actually laughed at this one cause he had never thought of it before. His first answer was that he wasn't really sure! But regarding a family and stuff, he wasn't sure either so he just said 'maybe? Who knows what would have happened.' AND BOY IS MAYBE GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME LMAO

But he did go into the whole Scrooge faking his death to go and marry Goldie, move back into the cabin, and live the rest of his days with her. Which actually he was going to get that published as well! But Disney immediately said a cold hard 'no'

Not really a number but, ROSA DOESN'T HATE DUCKTALES!!! This is the one that surprised me a bit! He laughed and asked why does everybody think he hates Ducktales! He said DT87 was one of the best shows of the 80s and DT17 is just...interesting and a bit weird to him.

The difference is he doesn't like how the shows were executed. He said the shows really dumbed down the lessons of the comics. But for little kids, yeah it's a good show. He thinks DT doesn't do a very good at portraying everything the comics were able to convey. He doesn't like watching the show, and hasn't watched it all the way through, but he doesn't hate DT.

Also he actually gets excited when people tell him that they discovered his books through Ducktales! Because they're still managing to find and actually taking the time to read the Carl Barks comics and the Don Rosa comics.

Goldie's eye color. Now this one was interesting to me. I brought up how Goldie's eyes constantly change between blue and green. Apparently Rosa intended for her to always have blue! 'She's supposed to be this beautiful woman, so I had to give her those shining blue eyes. But Carl Barks gave her green eyes so it's always changed. I don't control the colonization of the comics.'

What happened to the chilis? So many Don Rosa fans will know that at conventions, Rosa usually brings a basket of chilis for people to eat. But the last few times he hasn't brought them. Apparently it's because in Europe he found out he could get in huge legal trouble for it, and in the US, people would touch the chilis and not eat them. So Rosa just didn't wanna deal with the hassle of that anymore.

I'm sure we talked about more regarding TLAT but I don't remember at the moment, I'll add on if I remember again 😅

#ducktales #ducktales 2017 #disney #duck tales #scrooge mcduck #della duck #don rosa #hortense mcduck #life and times of scrooge mcduck #goldie o'gilt #glittering goldie #molly mcduck #molly mallard #scroldie

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azielgordy · 5 months ago

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Spring 1 - Max Ritcher. Recomposed: Vivaldi's Four Seasons (2012)

The game had been intense, not that he'd shown that on his blanketed expression: each swing on his hand, a clatter of ball on wire had been enough to drive it home. Every single shot mattered whether it was framed to be a friendly, or not. He might've been Dracula sired, but his loyalty lay with one person only. His wife. Still, as Aziel had discovered: loyalty could be bought. While he appreciated the distraction it provided, playing in the realms of such a prominent figure within the vampire world, especially for someone some-what newly turned: it was both an ego boost, and a worrying sight.

Vampires did nothing without personal gain, or at least the older ones.

It did little to quell that unease that sloshed at the pit of his stomach, curdling as if it were waves in a storm. He might've known it was coming, however, the way he felt about his upcoming meeting with Sasha did little to stop the raging worry that lived rent free inside of him. Shifting his features into a practiced mask of unbridled charm. Internally, his thoughts were far from the game they'd just played, or the hand he'd served. It'd never been about that. These matches were lost and won when needed to.

Every move a game of chess, and right now...

Aziel was aware he was the pawn.

And once it was over, like the good little lap dog he'd been turning into for a year, Aziel barked and followed his new master. If that's what he was: because they both had something the other needed. It wasn't an eye for an eye in the case; it was a potential that both parties could offer. There were gains for both of them, and still, age was a huge factor in the vampire world. Watching him move, each ticking hand on the clock, meant that the humans could say one wrong thing.

And they truly would be dinner. It was that part that Aziel hated.

"Good game, Peter." a shake of hands, all formalities, all part of this excessive bullshit game. "Carl, I'll see you at the next match," the constant balancing act that was to be had when it came to things such as business, and the needs of the elite (and Sasha was exactly that.) If caught? By the Dracula's — her face flashed to the forefront of he remind, and he quickly reminded himself exactly why he was here, and doing what he was doing. Even if it meant she'd give him the cold shoulder once he got home...well, sometimes he had to take the risks in order to save his marriage.

Because — eternity without her? No.

His thoughts turned inward, berating, assessing the stakes/ Was it worth it? Yes. Did he know what this conversation was regarding? He knew, and of course, tonight's conversation with Sasha would bring forth the question of what he'd get in return.

Simply hearing the mention of Sasha’s name sent shivers down his spine — so when they'd met. Checkers, calculated minds and conversation that transcended intellect. Class was hard to come by in this day and age, and yet, before him was the embodiment of it. As the new Generation X, and baby boomers before him, it'd been pushed out of society, and with class came some sense of...understanding, he guessed.

However, he stiffened in his spot when Peter grumbled. Eyes sliding to the face of a man he wouldn't dare speak of in such a manner. Albeit, the guy didn't realise he could hear, but that wasn't the point. People really needed to stop poking lions. Because eventually, they bit.

Literally.

Sasha's words were enough to have him bow his head, only slightly. "See you shortly." Aziel had never been a man to speak more than was necessary, although out going around his friends, when it came to business he kept it strictly professional. Of course, unless he was divulging information to the opposition. Desperate times called for desperate measures, right?

The clink of metal and the faint hum of conversations around him barely registered, walking through the clubhouse without a thought for those around him. His mind was elsewhere: Sasha, his wife, the company that now felt more like a ghost than his family's legacy. By the time he reached the locker room, he shed his clothes like they'd been an extra layer of skin, sweat slick to his body as he heaved out. He had but a few minutes alone before his conversation with Sasha was set to take place. Information that could be told by word of mouth, or the brown manila envelope that sat in his locker. He'd been a vampire for only a year, and still, he was adjusting to the heightened senses and the constant undercurrent of predatory instincts. His gums hurt, he was hungry and that meant he'd be out later — which only translated to the fact that his wife would have something to say about it. Tonight's meeting was crucial.

Tonight, Aziel needed to prove himself yet again, to show that he was more than just an un jeu bien joué.

Making his way to the steam room, Aziel's mind raced — reminding himself to remember the business strategy his father had taught him as a fresh intern. Planning, preparation, progress, P.S, and product. Celeste, that piece of work, was Dracula's pit bull for all intents and purposes, and if they were to have any hope -- she needed a stake through the heart and to be burned piece by piece. It was a dangerous game they were playing, but if he was going to pay it with anyone, it'd be Sasha.

"Check mate," he heard, a faint memory of their first encounter.

A towel wrapped around his waist, he finally found himself stepping into thick, suffocating heat. He'd never been the biggest fan of steam rooms. Still, he didn't have a choice as he sat down, forearms. The steam curled around him, parting to reveal that Sasha was already there.

"Celeste? She's cautious, but there are cracks in her armor. She hasn't grown complacent, but If I can get close to her... I believe I can exploit that." He paused, waiting for Sasha's reaction. "The company's new stock is also going to one specific location. One that I didn't approve..." looking around the room to check who was there. "I think they might be trying to move products that...the containers? Huge. We don't need anything that big."

Pause, momentarily, he gulps.

"Sasha...I have solid proof they're funnelling money into a cause. I brought a file..."

Who: Sasha Voskresensky & Aziel Gordy When: 6 June, 1989 Where: Racquet & Tennis Club, NYC Type: Closed

Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, "Winter" (L'inverno) III

The ball connects with the face of his racquet with force, sending it cleanly back across the court. Sasha quickly returns to the balls of his feet, poised and ready for the anticipated return volley. But it never comes. Instead, the ball is swiftly smashed toward his partner's racquet. Sasha doesn't need to call out; he knows instinctively that it will be met with the same determination and precision as his own shot had been.

When the game ended and they emerged victorious once again, he smiled, "Now, now, Carl. We mustn't let our prehistoric natures get the better of us." He watched as Carl glared, facing away and mumbling what he thought Sasha wouldn't be able to hear, but Sasha did. Such a shame. He didn't enjoy drinking from such dirty mouths. Profanity really was such a cheap modern thing, contributing to a coarsening of discourse and eroding standards of civility. So, no, he wouldn't enjoy drinking from him later, but he'd definitely enjoy taking one more potty mouth out of New York's elite society.

"I hope I can still count on you to attend dinner next weekend. It'll be such a shame not to have Helen there as well; Merida was really looking forward to meeting her." Taking Carl's subtle acknowledgment as agreement, he turned his attention to Peter, Carl's partner. "And are you absolutely certain you can't make it, Peter?" If Peter declined, another seat would need to be filled, a decision he would leave to the events of the upcoming week to guide. "Aziel, I'll meet you in the Steam Room in twenty. But first, I need to cool off…" It was an ironic statement for a vampire to make, but old habits, even ancient ones, were always the hardest to change.

After shedding his tennis attire and slipping into his swimwear, Sasha gracefully made his way toward one of the club's two indoor swimming pools. His movements were deliberate, clean, and precise, a reflection of the meticulous nature ingrained within him. This was his time to ponder the impending meeting with Aziel. Earlier discussions with Merida had solidified their mutual agreement: Aziel needed to ingratiate himself further with Celeste. If they hoped to succeed in their mission to eliminate Dracula, disposing of her first was imperative. They couldn't afford to face him with Celeste, his ever-loyal guard dog, by his side—or partner, depending on perspective—still obstructing their path.

Reaching the end of the pool, Sasha paused for a moment before effortlessly hoisting himself out and draping a towel around his waist. After swiftly rinsing off the pool chemicals, he re-toweled himself and headed toward one of the steam rooms tucked away at the back of the club—the one where he always met Aziel. Sliding onto a bench beside his fellow vampire, Sasha took a moment before addressing him. "So, what do you have for me tonight, Aziel?"

#sasha & aziel #sashavoskresensky-cursed #THIS GOT LONG AF #location: nyc #loc: tennis club.#int. ext.#june 24

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frc-ambaradan · 3 years ago

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, UNCLE GID!

Today's february 10th and today one of my all time favourite duck characters turns 66!

Of course I'm talking about Gideon McDuck: Scrooge's younger brother, editor in chief of the County Conscience!

Gideon debuted in the story Paperino e i Gamberi in Salmì on Topolino #132 and #133 dated 10th and 25th february 1956, so yes: while in the US Carl Barks gave life to Flintheart Glomgold, in Italy Romano Scarpa created what would become the first of a long series of memorable characters: Gedeone de' Paperoni (Gideon McDuck in English)!

Gideon: Here, Donald! This is a list of all the most important activities our man may be involved into: you're gonna ask said activities' representatives if they know him! Donald: Okay, Uncle Gid! Gideon: We must find out who is it, who kidnapped him and why! All right? (Paperino e i Gamberi in Salmì, 1956)

Upstanding journalist, Gideon has one goal: to give his readers the truth and the truth only, no matter what! A pristine conduct that clashes with that of his more... flexible brother. The relationship between the two, indeed, it's not exactly all sunshine and flowers! Also considering that Scrooge, as we know, has a huge personality that unintetionally tends to overshadow other people and if there's one thing that Gideon hates is being compared to his brother.

Unfortuntely the character was sidelined for many years, but still he's the McDuck with the highest number of appearances in comics after Scrooge.

Recently Gideon appeared in Uncle Scrooge's Last Adventure sequel: Zio Paperone e il Segreto di Cuordipietra in 2017 and even more recently in the series I Fratelli dè Paperoni (The McDuck Brothers) in 2020: Lo scarabeo d'oro, Il cilindro del potere and Il formaggio perpetuo, sign that Gideon might not appear very often, but he's alive and well! :)

Gideon: Pfui! Details! A good article comes before anything else! Scrooge: Whatever! But you've got McDuck's genetics, don't act like you forgot! (Il Formaggio Perpetuo, 2020)

Gideon: What are you doing here? Scrooge: We came here to save you, but if it's too much trouble for you we can go back home right away! (Zio Paperone e il Segreto di Cuordipietra, 2017)

And, listen, I don't care if Don Rosa doesn't take him into account, okay? Don Rosa's Life and Times is one of the best comics ever written, and I'm a big fan of the man, but he doesn't hold the duck truth (I'm talking to some readers, not Don ;) ). He decided to strictly respect Barks' stories and went with that, but that doesn't mean all other duck canons around the world are worth nothing: hell! when Scarpa created Gideon, Don Rosa was five years old!!! XD (Still addressing some readers... ;P)

It would have been awesome to see Gideon in Life and Times but I understand Rosa's approach and respect it... still, for me, the McDuck siblings will always be four! :)

#mduck siblings are four!#I have spoken!#i dare you #fight me! XD #happy birthday gideon!#gideon mcduck #gedeone de' paperoni #scrooge mcduck #mcduck siblings #romano scarpa #happy birthday!#county conscience #grillo parlante

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babymetaldoll · 4 years ago

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So happy together (Spencer Reid / Reader)

Summary: Spencer bumps into an old annoying classmate, who brags about his perfect family, and Reader decides to pretend to be Spencer’s wife to shut him up.

Warnings: As fluffy as you can get

Word count: 2,3K

Part II

Masterlist

It wasn’t strange that Spencer and (Y/N) spent their free time together when they weren’t on a case. Their job at the BAU left them just a few weekends off, and though they were all day on each other’s faces at work, they loved going out whenever the opportunity arose.

It might have been related to the fact they were best friends.

Also to the fact they were in love, but neither of them had still said a word about it.

Years had passed. Years. Morgan and Penelope were going nuts waiting for them to confess their feelings, but though they had literally pushed them together - once they were “accidentally” locked in a supply closet of the BAU for two hours- nothing had happened yet.

Even Hotch was annoyed. He was happy Spencer had someone he loved around him, but all Aaron wanted to tell him was:

- “You have to act on your feelings before it’s too late, ‘cos you never know what will happen tomorrow, not just in this job, but in life. Take what makes you happy and keep it close”.

Of course, the day he tried to talk to Reid, all Hotch managed to say was: “Tell (Y/N) wheels up in thirty” and that was it, but he was planning on giving the kid a speech about love, as soon as he got a chance.

Then again, when did he have time to do anything besides work?

It was Saturday, and Spencer was taking a calm walk in a park with (Y/N). She had promised Mrs. Sanders from 307B she was going to take Lizzy - her five years old corgi - out to play for a while, ‘cos it was making the old woman insane. Mrs. Sanders was the only neighbor (Y/N) actually talked to…. mostly ‘cos she was never long enough in her house to meet the rest of them. (Y/N) took her dog for walks as often as she could, and the old lady always baked her brownies and cookies for her “and her boyfriend”

- “Your boyfriend is too skinny, take him these and tell him you made them for him, men love when a woman cooks for them”- the old lady smiled and gave (Y/N) a tray with freshly made cookies- “And tell him to cut his hair, he looks scruffy”.

(Y/N) never told her otherwise, a part of her loved the idea of Spencer being her boyfriend…. and besides, it would be rude to break an old woman’s heart. Right?

- “Do you want an ice cream?”- Reid asked her and took her from her thoughts.

- “Yes! I need sugar ‘cos I’m so tired I’m gonna fall asleep standing here”- Lizzy barked at them and left her ball on the ground- “You on the other hand, never get tired, do you?”- the young woman threw the ball.

- “Go fetch, baby!!”

Spencer walked to the ice cream truck and got her a chocolate chip cookie dough cone - he didn’t even need to ask- and a mint chocolate chip for himself. He stared at her playing with Lizzy and for a second, he imagined she was actually his girlfriend, and they were spending their day off together, walking their dog, eating ice cream, holding hands. It was perfect in his mind.

- “Here”- he gave her her cone and smiled. (Y/N) was about to thank him when a stranger’s voice stopped her.

- “Spencer!! long time no see! how are you?”- a man stood next to them, he was maybe five years older than them, tall, good looking, he was carrying a little girl in his arms, and holding a woman’s hand tight. She was pregnant and smiling happily. It was the portrait of a perfect family.

- “Carl, hey, hello, how are you?”- Reid was surprised to see him, it had been years since he had seen his old classmate, and he could have lived a long happy life if he hadn’t seen him again.

Carl wasn’t really nice. He wasn’t mean, or a bully, or anything like that. He was just… an asshole sometimes. He was always bragging about everything he had: grades, cars, girls, anything you might think of. Spencer always thought it was because he needed to be validated over and over again as an alfa male, which wasn’t really his problem. But still, after hearing him for years when he was younger, Reid had enough of him.

- “It’s so weird to find you here, I thought you would still have your nose buried in books like you always did on weekends!”- Carl laughed at his own joke, and Reid just nodded, with an awkward smile.

- “No, I… sometimes I go out now”- that was all he managed to say

- “This is my wife, Andrea, and our little angel, Anna, she is three… and Carl Jr is on his way”

- “Nice to meet you”- Spencer waved and couldn’t even introduce (Y/N), ‘cos Carl continued talking.

- “Can you believe I got married? I always said I was never going to settle down and here I am! with a happy family! you should come and visit us! We just bought this fantastic house outside town, with a big yard and lots of space for the kids to run and play!”

(Y/N) stared at Carl and bit her tongue. She had heard about him a lot in the last few years. Spencer told her all about the classmate who kept telling him about the dates he had with the girls he wanted to ask out. And all the fun he had at the parties he wasn’t invited to. And how he managed to always make him feel smaller, though he didn’t actually mean to. Sometimes people can’t help being assholes.

- “And who is your friend?”- the assumption (Y/N) was his friend and not his girlfriend (although it was actually accurate, that was another problem) made Reid’s blood boil. Why couldn’t he have a pretty girlfriend too?

- “Hi! I’m (Y/N), Spencer’s wife”- she waved and smiled- “Sorry I can’t shake your hand”- she added and showed them the dog toy she was holding, and the ice cream cone.

- “Come here Lizzy! come here!”- the dog sat next to her and (Y/N) pet her sweetly.

- “Wife! man! I never thought you had it in you”- Carl didn’t realize he was an ass, he didn’t mean to, but that didn’t stop him.

Spencer just smiled, and in what seemed to be the boldest move he had ever made, he wrapped an arm around (Y/N)’s waist and moved her a little closer to him.

- “Yes, we’ve been married for two years already”- she added, resting her head against his arm, feeling her stomach tighten. Spencer’s perfume was all around her, and she loved it. Besides, the fact he was now holding her close was killing her. Literally, she could feel she was about to have a heart attack, and it was completely worth it. It took her a few seconds to realize her ice cream was melting in her hands.

- “Shit!”- she jumped and moved from her “husband” to clean herself.

- “Here”- Carl’s wife handed her some baby wipes and looked at her hands for a second- “Did you lose your ring?”- shit, Andrea was nosy and annoying, just like her hubby.

- “I usually won’t wear it playing with the dog, or at work”- lies came out of (Y/N)’s lips as easy as breathing- “You know… we are both FBI, and you don’t know when someone might actually take advantage of any kind of information they have about you”

- “FBI? you?”- Spencer looked at Carl and sighed. Right, he wasn’t done teasing him yet.

- “Yes, I’ve been working at the BAU for the last couple of years, profiling serial killers”- Reid made it sound like it wasn’t a big deal, and (Y/N) decided it was time to brag a little.

- “Honey, don’t be so modest, you are the best profiler, we are the only team with a Doctor in Mathematics, Chemistry, and Engineering”- and Reid blushed- “Besides, you joined the FBI when you were 22 years old”- (Y/N) smiled and looked at Carl- “Did you know he is the youngest SSA the bureau had ever have? there was no psychological exam or test the FBI could put in front of him he could not ace inside of an hour”

Carl looked at Reid and nodded, trying to find something to say.

- “That’s great, I’ve got my own law firm by the way, in case you ever get in trouble”- he joked and looked at (Y/N)- “Or in case you want to divorce him ‘cos he ignores you over books”

- “I could never! did you know he has saved around 352 lives in the last two years? he actually got the FBI Medal for Meritorious Achievement a few months ago… I am so proud”- (Y/N) leaned in and kissed Spencer’s cheek. He looked at her blushing and just smiled.

- “You look adorable”- Andrea finally said- “It’s like you just started dating!”

- “Well, we have to go”- Carl didn’t manage being overshadowed very well- “It was very nice to see you, Spencer”

- “Same! take care, nice to meet you, Andrea”- Reid waved and smiled. (Y/N) did the same and kept eating her ice cream.

- “I hate him”- she whispered as soon as they were far enough not to listen- “I’m so glad we didn’t invite them to our wedding”- Reid laughed and shook his head

- “You didn’t have to do that”

- “Nah, I wanted to”- she really did- “He was being a jerk, just like you told me he was”

- “He doesn’t mean to… I think”

- “Well, he got what he deserved”- (Y/N) felt Spencer’s eyes on her, looking at her in adoration.

- “Thank you, buttercup”- and she giggled

- “You are very welcome, honey bunny…”- and the silence seemed to last for ages until Lizzy started barking.

(Y/N) smiled and looked away from him, knowing she was blushing. She really loved that nickname, and he didn’t call her by it as often as she would like. She grabbed the dog toy from the ground and threw it to Lizzy, who ran immediately.

- “Mrs. Sanders made you cookies”- she said after a few minutes- “But she said I had to tell you I baked them for you, ‘cos that what’s girlfriend’s do to get men’s hearts”- Reid’s cheeks were still red, and those words didn’t make it better- “But considering we are already married, I guess I don’t have to do that anymore”.

They both laughed and then, stayed quiet again. Reid could hear Rossi’s voice yelling in the back of his head “Ask the girl out, for crying out loud”, but he couldn’t even open his mouth, petrified.

(Y/N) finished her ice cream, watching Lizzy playing with other dogs, and sighed. They were standing side by side, both looking ahead.

- “We should head back”

- “Doyouwannagooutwithme?”

The slur of words was so fast, not even Spencer understood what he had just said. But (Y/N) did. She stood next to him feeling her knees shaking, as well as her hands. It had happened. It had finally happened. In her head, she was screaming “YES, OF COURSE I WANT TO”, but her lips weren’t moving, and Reid was starting to panic. Maybe Morgan was wrong, and (Y/N) did like him that way. Maybe he had just ruined the best friendship he had ever had. Shit! what had he done.

- “I mean, I understand if you…”- but she didn’t let him finish

- “Yes, I do”- that was really all she could process. And he didn’t know what to say next. There was no random fact to kill the silence, they would always have a lot to talk about, but that time they were speechless.

- “Tomorrow?”- he managed to whisper

- “Ok”- she nodded as the two of them kept looking at Lizzy

- “I’ll pick you up for dinner”- Spencer’s voice was so soft he was scared it was going to shake and embarrass him (he was already embarrassed, but he didn’t want to make it worst).

- “Sounds good”- (Y/N) slowly turned her head and looked at him, nearly holding her breath. Her best friend finally asked her out. The best friend she had been in love with for years had just asked her out on a date. And all she managed to say was:

- “So… do you want a cookie?”

- “Sure…”- he nodded and smiled. (Y/N) called Lizzy and put on her leash. Gave Spencer the paper bag with homemade cookies she carried in her purse and smiled.

- “Did you know Christmas cookies date back to Medieval Europe?”- and there it was, Spencer’s random fact of the day, just on time to kill the silence when they were about to reach (Y/N)’s apartment.

- “Really?”

- “Yeah, the traditional Christmas flavors, like cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, became very popular, and those are exactly the same spices medieval cooks would have used in their cookies ages ago”

- “I love Christmas cookies”

- “I know”- he smiled and looked at her- You bake them all year long

- “I can’t help it, they are too good”- she giggled and stood outside her building door. They just stared and smiled, Lizzy trying to get (Y/N)’s attention rubbing her head against her leg.

- “I’ll see you tomorrow then”- Spencer blushed at the hint of their date and (Y/N) nodded

- “See you tomorrow”- and neither of them moved. Lizzy barked again and forced (Y/N) to wave and open the door. Spencer just stood there for a second, staring at the empty space in front of him where (Y/N) was standing a few seconds ago, and suddenly, it all sank in.

- “What the fuck did I just do?”

#Spencer reid #matthew Gray Gubler #spencer reid fanfiction #criminal minds #david rossi #aaron hotchner #criminal minds fanfiction #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fic #fluff #matthew gray gubler fanfiction #dr spencer reid #babymetaldoll writes

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