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lettheladylead · 2 years

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running in circles

chapter forty-eight: i love that you can’t help but be yourself around me summary: Goldie and Scrooge have a difficult conversation. warnings: references to sex, nothing explicit wordcount: 7518 playlist (will be updated as chapters are posted): shorturl.at/bfBCQ ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33776632/chapters/103846536 site link: https://sites.google.com/view/running-in-circles/chapters/chapter48

here’s chapter forty-eight!! text will also be included in this post for those of you that don’t use ao3:

2019; Duckburg:

She was learning so much new information second-hand.

No one had specifically told her anything, but everyone was talking very loudly. Talking about how Scrooge’s family (particularly Sharpie and the one with the hat) had defeated Bradford and F.O.W.L. by tearing apart his stupid anti-adventuring contract. Talking about how Webby was actually Scrooge’s biological child (what?) created without his knowledge or consent (how?) and intended to be used to defeat him.

It was a lot to take in.

Goldie was trying her best not to feel any certain ways about Scrooge technically being a father. He wanted to be a father, she’d realized over the years, so he was probably enjoying that. She didn’t want to react to it badly - they’d made so much progress recently and she didn’t need to push herself further away from his family. With this added complication, she knew the best course of action would be to simply be there for him and show her support.

(It was really, really hard, though. She was never good at being supportive.)

The Ducks and McDucks had taken off in Scrooge’s plane, leaving everyone else to find their own ways back to America. Goldie hitched a ride with some bears she’d gotten to know while they were all held captive, and they dropped her off in Duckburg as requested.

“See ya round, Miss O’Gilt!” Kit said with a wave.

“Thanks again. And I’m sure things will work out with your parents, try not to overthink it,” Goldie answered with a wave of her own, finishing up the long conversation they’d had during the flight.

Kit and Molly smiled and took off, leaving Goldie by herself on the edge of town. It was where she’d wanted to land, since she needed to take a shower and get some new clothes before announcing herself to Scrooge once again. Good thing she could always get a free room at the Duckburg Blackjack.

Goldie decided to stay the night in her hotel, not wanting to immediately interrupt what was probably a very complicated family situation. She could wait until the next day. Surely Scrooge wouldn’t head back to work just yet, and even if he did she could just hang around and talk to Sharpie or Pink or…whoever. Della or Donald, even.

She really wanted to know exactly what happened in Egypt and what was going on with his family and…well, honestly, she just wanted to spend some time with Scrooge. Maybe it wasn’t the best time for him, but Goldie didn’t care. She’d just spent weeks stuck in a box next to a man she couldn’t stand, so she didn’t see a problem with trying to have some fun before going back to her old schedule.

Goldie laid down on the hotel bed and her phone beeped, letting her know it had finally charged. She’d had no reception while trapped in Alexandria and then her battery died and her service had been temporarily disconnected and it was a whole thing, but now she was back online and she could see all the messages she’d missed.

There were a lot of messages from Dickie. A lot. Though Goldie didn’t visit her often, she almost always responded to texts and emails within a week. Probably scared the crap out of that kid.

Under those were a few text messages from Sharpie.

And a million missed calls, of course. Many of those were from Scrooge, a handful from Sharpie and Dickie, and then another handful from unknown numbers.

Goldie decided to spend a bit of time scrolling through the messages. It was nice to know that people missed her. Or at least that they were trying to get a hold of her.

Can you send me $100? I need a new electric guitar 😝!!!

Goldie sighed at the first of the dozen messages Dickie sent her. Of course it was about money.

Also I miss you!

Classic.

❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

Goldie kept scrolling to find that there were several messages composed entirely of emoticons. There was truly nothing more confusing and humbling than trying to communicate with a young person over text. Dickie’s emoticon usage got more and more confusing until she sent a final message.

Ok ok. Let me know when you’re back from whatever trip you’re on. I really do miss you!

Assuming her phone was accurate, Dickie had sent that message four days ago. If Goldie didn’t tend to disappear and go off the grid every couple of months, her grandkid would probably be worried sick. Good thing she was so bad at staying in touch already so no one would notice the difference.

The texts she had from Sharpie were more to the point.

Do you wanna help us fight a bunch of evil villains?

After two days of no response, he followed that up with:

Yeah, I figured. It’s fine. We’ll take care of it.

Another day after that he sent his final text.

Uncle Scrooge hasn’t heard from you in a while. I hope you’re ok.

She stared at that one for a few minutes. When was the last time someone besides Scrooge or Dickie showed any care for her wellbeing? She and Scrooge had history and she paid for Dickie’s entire life, so of course they cared.

But Louie? Louie didn’t have to care. He didn’t have to worry about her. But he did.

Goldie kept staring at that text, ignoring the heat growing in her chest. She wanted to respond and…and apologize for worrying him! She hadn’t genuinely apologized to anyone in decades. She’d almost forgotten what it felt like.

Embarrassed, she threw the phone to the side without even listening to the voicemails or seeing what Scrooge sent her. She couldn’t deal with anymore feelings-y crap and just needed to go to sleep.

God damnit. She really did get too close.

—

Scrooge McDuck had had a wild week. Besides all the drama that'd been unfolding over the past few months, he hadn't expected to find out he had a daughter.

And it was Webby.

Webby was his daughter.

Terrible circumstances aside, he was pretty excited. When he was young, he didn't want kids. One thing that made him and Goldie work so well was the fact that neither of them wanted kids or a traditional family. But when Donald and Della came into his life, Scrooge knew his feelings had changed. He didn't care so much about raising his own feathers and blood, but the feeling of raising a child and teaching them the things he'd learned throughout his life…there was nothing else quite like it.

Webby was only twelve years old, but she was already so capable and strong and intelligent. He always knew she had the McDuck spirit in her heart, he just never imagined she also had McDuck blood.

But there were obviously some problems with their situation, too. Webbigail was a child that Scrooge hadn't known about, hadn't consented to, and hadn't necessarily wanted. He was happy about her and happy about the new developments in their relationship, but…they had a complicated origin story.

He wanted to make sure she didn't feel unwanted. But he also wanted to make sure she was comfortable. Still, it was hard to contain his excitement. He wanted to share all the private family things with her that she seemed so eager to know about. He wanted to teach her about business so maybe she could take over one day (if she wanted).

Scrooge also needed to talk to Beakley, obviously. He wanted to know how much she knew and why she hid such important information from him. She obviously knew that Webby was created by F.O.W.L. and she, for whatever reason, didn't trust Scrooge enough to tell him that. Meanwhile, he only hired Bradford on her recommendation. It was a huge mess and a big part of it was her fault.

She was already hurting quite a bit, though. Webby was still calling her "Grandma" on the ride home, so she hadn't rejected her, but all of her lies coming out at once and in such a dramatic way was going to need at least a few days of rest to recover.

The morning after returning home, Scrooge was sitting on the end of his bed and trying to plan out his day. He needed to talk to Webby, but he also needed to talk to the press, and he needed to reach out to some of his kidnapped allies and make sure they were alright and that they understood what happened…and he also needed to work. Without a trio of business managers, he had a lot more work to do than usual.

He stood up and stretched, loudly cracking his back.

"That sounded painful."

Scrooge quacked in shock and turned around to find Goldie sitting on his window ledge.

"Goldie?! What're you doin' here?"

She smiled, finding it funny that he was repeating something he'd said to her last time she was in his home. "Just checking on you, sourdough.'

He calmed down and his feathers visibly unruffled. "Is…is that so? That's suspiciously nice of ye."

Goldie stood and walked closer to Scrooge, brushing some dust off her pants. "It doesn't have to be suspicious, y'know. I wanted to make sure you're alright."

Scrooge continued to look at her like there was a sinister angle to her words, and Goldie tried not to take it personally. She really wanted to be there for him and she was going to do it the best way she could.

Which probably meant they'd have a lot of sex. But she could also listen to him whine or give advice or whatever. Whatever he needed, she supposed. "Don't give me that look, Scroogey. I'm trying to be nice."

He smiled despite his urge to frown deeper, and Goldie knew she'd got him.

"Thank ye, Goldie. I'm -"

He was interrupted by a loud knock on his door.

"Uncle Scrooge! Are you up yet? We're gonna have a big family breakfast!"

Scrooge gulped and looked over at Goldie. "I, um…this isnae…maybe ye could-"

"I'll wait here, hon. I've already eaten."

Scrooge gave her a nod and turned to the door. "I'll be down in a moment!" Then he looked at Goldie again. "I might be a while, Goldie. There's…a lot to be discussed."

She shrugged. "It's fine. I'll wait."

Her words hung in the air. Neither of them wanted to acknowledge the fact that Goldie hated waiting. She almost never waited for Scrooge - she'd leave him behind or she'd disappear without a trace. But she'd waited for him in Florida. She'd wait for him now.

Scrooge gave her a curt nod and then left the room, knowing full well he should be more anxious about a thief being in his home. But he had other priorities at the moment and she knew that.

Goldie watched him leave and sat on his bed, picking at the low thread count sheets. All that money and he still refused small luxuries. She felt an urge to go look through Scrooge’s Goldie Drawer again, but…there was nothing new in there. Despite all the changes in their relationship lately, she couldn’t think of anything that he would’ve added.

Though she told herself not to bother, Goldie found herself opening up the drawer as usual. Inside she saw all the familiar trinkets and clothes that she saw last time. She reached over and grabbed the box that contained his original gold nugget and the deed to his claim in White Agony Creek. It was nostalgic and she wanted to take another look.

She opened it up and was shocked to see something new in the box.

It was the Mayan artifact she’d left for him two years ago.

Goldie was certainly surprised to see it. So not only had Scrooge seen it and not mentioned it to her, but he saved it away like one of the many things she left at his place. He didn’t seem to give it any significance or treat it like the invitation it was. Did he even see the letter that came with it?

She sighed and put the box away again. She was probably overthinking, but it was hard not to. Scrooge always made her overthink.

After another ten minutes of idly sitting around, Goldie decided to shower and walk around the manor for a bit. Why not, right? Scrooge didn’t tell her to leave, so that was basically an invitation to stay.

When she opened his bedroom door to step out into the hallway, Goldie was immediately greeted by the sight of a green-hoodie-wearing child walking down the hall and staring at his phone. She smiled.

“If you don’t look where you’re going, you’ll trip and smash that cute little face of yours.”

Louie stopped in his steps and slowly looked up, a confused and concerned expression on his face. “Aunt Goldie? Why are you here?”

Goldie shrugged and leaned against the doorframe. “Thought I’d take a little vacation after being kidnapped.”

“Oh.” Louie nodded, accepting that answer. “Is that why you never texted me back?”

“It sure is,” Goldie said, then glanced over the balcony to see some of Scrooge’s family walking around. “I appreciate all the messages, Sharpie. It’s always nice to know you care.”

Louie rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue at her. “Don’t make it weird! I just thought something might be wrong. And I was right! Uncle Scrooge should listen to me more.”

“Scroogey never listens to anyone but himself.” Goldie walked over and patted Louie on the head.

He shook away her hand. “Are you coming down for breakfast?”

“Your uncle went down for breakfast almost twenty minutes ago. Your pancakes might be cold.”

“What?!” Louie frowned and rushed towards the stairs without even saying goodbye.

She supposed it didn’t matter, since she was going to be around for a while. Still, she wished she’d said something about how worried she was and how proud she was to hear that Louie had been such a big help in taking down F.O.W.L.

Goldie wasn’t very good with words. She knew that about herself. So maybe she could tell him she was proud in some other way.

A lightbulb flashed above her head as she remembered the golden idol she’d stolen from Sharpie out of his bedroom over a year ago. She decided that putting it back where she found it would be her way of saying that he earned it back. Or something like that. Maybe she just felt bad about taking it and didn’t want it anymore. Who could say?

Goldie decided she’d do that after taking a shower and a nap. She’d had a weird last few weeks and her body was still adjusting to life outside the time stasis she’d been stuck in.

—

“You’re still here?”

Goldie woke up groggily, opening one eye slowly to find Scrooge staring down at her. She’d fallen asleep in his bed and apparently slept more heavily than she had in decades. Usually no one could open a door or walk in the same room as her without waking her up.

“Yeah,” she said quietly as she stretched. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh.” Scrooge squeezed his cane awkwardly. “Goldie, I didnae realize…I would’ve woken ye sooner if I’d known!”

Confused, Goldie opened her eyes. “Sooner than what? What time is it?” She glanced towards the window and frowned deeply.

It was dark out.

“How the hell long was I asleep?!”

He grimaced. “Ah…all day, I think?”

“I didn’t…I didn’t realize I was so tired,” Goldie grumbled, staring down at her hands. She was also starving and that didn’t help how woozy she felt from sleeping so long. “I was in F.O.W.L.’s stupid stasis cage thing for so long, it must’ve messed me up more than I realized.”

Scrooge put his cane down and stepped closer to the bed. He sat down on the edge and reached out one hand to lay it against Goldie’s forehead. “Are ye sick?”

Goldie blushed under his attention and shook it off as soon as she came to her senses. “No, no. I just feel like all my nerve endings are coming back to life.”

“Ah.”

“I’m also hungry as hell.”

“I could ask Beakley to make somethin’ for ye.”

Goldie laughed. “No thanks, I’d rather not get poisoned. I’ll just make something for myself.”

“W-well, how about…I make you something?” Scrooge asked cautiously.

She tilted her head curiously. “When’s the last time you so much as put together a sandwich?”

He let out an offended peh! and stood up. “I’m perfectly capable of gettin’ you food. Just sit right here and wait.”

Goldie didn’t have time to respond before he was back out the door, and honestly…she was very curious what monstrosity he would bring her. As far as she was aware, when his housekeepers were gone he’d just order pizza.

But part of her wondered if he was doing this because he didn’t want to talk to her. He knew what she meant by talk, obviously. Things were going to get serious and weird and intense. They would have to talk about this daughter situation and where they stood and where Goldie stood in regards to the daughter situation. And if they talked about daughters and kids and family and their history and it all mixed together, well…she might end up telling him about the kids they’d almost had.

She didn’t know how he’d react to that sort of news. It wasn’t like she'd hid a living child from him - she was pregnant and then she wasn’t. At least twice. That was it. But as much as she tried to convince herself that it wasn’t a big deal, the fact that she hadn’t been able to tell him about it was telling.

Goldie sighed and laid back down. Would she be able to fall asleep again? If she slept too long she’d look depressed and even though a psychologist might point out some significant flaws in her mental state, depression wouldn’t be one of them. She was fine. Just physically exhausted.

Scrooge was back within a few minutes - a sad looking sandwich and a little bag of potato chips in one hand, a seltzer in the other. She couldn’t say he didn’t try.

She scooted over to the other side of his bed as he handed her the food. Goldie quickly scarfed it down while he got into his pajamas - which told her it was even later than she’d imagined. She was genuinely scared to check the clock and find out how long she’d been asleep.

When he got back to bed all dressed and ready, Goldie was sipping her seltzer happily and thinking about how to get back to the topic of…having a conversation. But she didn’t have to.

“I know ye said ye wanted to talk, but, um…” Scrooge mumbled as he got under the covers.

“No, yeah, you’re probably tired.” Goldie shrugged. “We can talk tomorrow.”

Scrooge hesitated for a moment. “...no, we should talk now. About…uh, well. About Webby, at least.”

Goldie didn’t respond. She just continued drinking.

“I, uh…I dinnae know how much you’ve heard, but…well…Webbigail is my…daughter, apparently.”

“I’ve heard.”

“Right. Well. Black Heron got her hands on my DNA and used that to make Webby. I wasnae a part of it and I certainly didn’t, um…impregnate someone…”

Goldie frowned at his wording. Not this time, he didn’t.

“I dinnae expect ye to come around and act like a…well, like anythin’ other than usual, really. I just hope this doesnae come between us, Goldie.” Scrooge fully turned to her, the expression on his face a combination of worry and hope. “You know I still want ye in my life. But if Webby’s a dealbreaker for you, then…then you know what’ll happen.”

She blinked slowly. She hadn’t expected his little rant to end like that. “What makes you think I’d consider her a dealbreaker?” Goldie asked, putting her seltzer down on the nightstand. “You really think I’m that shallow, huh?”

“I-...no, I…” Scrooge stumbled over his words. “I honestly dinnae know, Goldie! This is new territory for us. Even after everything we talked about in Florida, it’s, um…it’s a big change.”

“And I’m not great with change, I know,” Goldie muttered. “Neither are you, most of the time. But you seem to be adjusting alright to this.”

“Webbigail’s been around this manor for her whole life,” Scrooge said with a shrug. “I wish I’d been there for her when she was younger, but over the past few years we’ve gotten close. I already saw her as part of my family, so though it feels different, it’s not much of a change.”

Goldie hummed softly at his response. “Isn’t that sweet.”

“I…suppose.” Scrooge was clearly trying not to sound awkward, but everything was coming out wrong. How could he be anything other than awkward in his situation? Who else but him would even find themself in such a ridiculous conversation? Telling his lover of over one-hundred years that he had a child out of wedlock that he didn’t know anything about, and then asking her to accept his daughter without hesitation. It was weird, to say the least.

After a few moments of silence, Goldie sighed. “I like her, Scroogey. I do. She’s feisty, she’s cute. I’m not going to get in the way of you being a father.”

“Oh.” He frowned, still unsatisfied with that answer. “Well, it’s not…I dinnae want ye to stay away.”

“You couldn’t keep me away if you tried, sourdough.”

Scrooge chuckled and a smile came back to his face. “So you’re, um…we’re alright, then?”

“We’re alright, Scrooge,” she answered softly. For a moment, she was tempted to turn this conversation around, but the light note they’d ended on made her want to keep it that way. She didn’t need to ruin the mood before bed.

Well, bed for him. She had no idea if she’d be able to get back to sleep.

She leaned over to grab her seltzer again when Goldie felt Scrooge’s hand gently flicking her tail. She turned around, surprised to see him looking - dare she say it? - sultry.

“And here I thought you were tired,” Goldie said with a smirk.

Scrooge had quite a deep blush on his feathers, but he didn’t break eye contact. “Not that tired.”

—

( sex summary: https://sites.google.com/view/running-in-circles/summaries/nsfw48 )

—

Goldie laid on his chest while he idly played with her hair. He was obviously getting pretty tired, but she still wanted to tell him. She usually never wanted to tell him secrets. Maybe it’d be best if she told him while he could barely register it and then he’d be the one who had to bring it up later.

“...Scrooge?”

“Mm?”

“How asleep are you?”

He snorted, but Goldie could feel his hand relax on top of her hair. “Hey.”

Scrooge didn’t respond that time. Goldie glanced up and by the moonlight coming through the window, she could see his eyes were completely closed. She poked him once and he didn’t react, so she knew he’d fallen asleep. He was always fast with that.

She sighed and laid her head on his chest again. Maybe she’d try again tomorrow. Maybe she wouldn’t tell him about it at all and they could just talk about other things. She didn’t have to tell him, after all. This urge to share her sad secrets would certainly go away if she waited it out. It wasn’t Scrooge’s business before, and even though he had a kid now, it still wasn’t his business.

Goldie’s brain kept replaying the phrase ‘Scrooge has a kid’ and she rolled over to stuff her head into a pillow. This should not have been agitating her the way it was. She didn’t have a problem with Scrooge being a…father, of sorts. She didn’t! She’d never wanted to be a mother and that was fine. But the more she thought about it, the more it felt like she should tell him and she didn’t want to tell him, but she…she wanted him to know. She wanted to ruin his good mood with some unhappy knowledge that might make him angry at her for keeping it a secret all this time. Why did she want that? That was stupid.

Disturbingly, sleepiness started to come back to Goldie. She didn’t usually get jetlagged, since she traveled so much and slept whenever she wanted, but this certainly felt similar. Worse, actually. She hoped that if she fell asleep now, she might wake up at a normal time and just stay awake this time around.

—

The next day was very similar for Goldie.

Scrooge left early to get a headstart on work (claiming he wanted to come home early to spend some time with Webby and then, hopefully, with Goldie) and Goldie relaxed and let the day wash over her. She wasn’t ridiculously tired anymore, but she was definitely bored.

She thought about going into Duckburg and visiting Dickie, but she didn’t want to risk cross-contamination. What if Scrooge happened to be walking around town and saw her? Or what if Dickie asked to stay at the hotel with her and it would be a whole big mess. She wanted to talk to Scrooge, so it’d be best to just stick around ‘til they finished talking.

Whenever that was going to be. She wanted Scrooge to fully understand that she wasn’t abandoning him just because he had a kid. But she also wanted to fully understand his expectations for her regarding said kid. Did he expect her to be, like…a mom? Because that sure as hell wasn’t going to happen. But she could be a fun aunt, she supposed. Like she was for Sharpie.

Goldie got up and took another long shower, thinking about how to spend her day.

—

She’d been fending for herself all day when it came to food. Goldie knew that if she stayed around for another day or two, she’d finally just have to confront Bentina and eat lunch with the rest of the McDuck Gang…but she was really hoping to leave that until the last possible second.

On Day Two of camping out in McDuck Manor, Goldie had an awkwardly long conversation with Dewey, the bluest of the triplets. He wanted to interview her for what seemed to be a fake talk show. She didn’t really want to talk about her history or her present with this very talkative child, though she had to admit that he was cute. In an annoying, campy kind of way.

Scrooge entered his bedroom like he did the night before, but Goldie was wide awake this time - reading a book while sitting at his desk chair.

“Hey there, moneybags.”

“Goldie.”

He stepped closer as she swiveled around in her chair, revealing that the book she was reading was his autobiography. Scrooge gulped, unsure if she’d ever read it before. She’d certainly never mentioned it to him before.

“Y’know, Scroogey…this book was first brought to my attention in, hmm…’87, I think?” Goldie flipped through the pages casually while she spoke. “There were a million copies of it at the Dawson Public Library.”

He looked nervous. “I…I see.”

“No one told me about it,” she said dryly. “You’d think a book that I’m mentioned in so many times would be brought up to me, but no. Not even once. So of course I had to read it myself.”

Scrooge squeezed his cane. “Goldie, are you-”

“Only to find that I’m barely mentioned at all! Even when you do talk about me, it’s just my old stage name. Otherwise you say ‘my old friend’ or say you did things by yourself. And I’d forgotten about this, Scrooge, until a few hours ago. So what’s up? You didn’t want to mention me? Did you think if I was brought up, I’d be more likely to point out all your lies?” She closed the book and poked the cover aggressively. “Today your kid Dewey tried to interview me, and he had all these jumbled up facts.”

“Ack!” Scrooge shook his head and pinched the bridge of his beak. “They’re not-! Look, Goldie, listen. I didnae bring ye up in the book because I knew - I know, you’re a very private person. You’d just stepped down from your hotels and it seemed like ye were tryin’ to get away from the spotlight. I didnae want to bother ye.”

“...oh.”

“And they’re not lies! I…embellished some stories to make them more excitin’. But that’s what my publisher told me to do! The first draft of this book was drastically different from the one you’re readin’.”

“Ah.”

Scrooge stood there and stared as Goldie awkwardly tapped her fingers on the book’s cover. She had to admit, those were some good answers. She’d sat here for an hour after finding the autobiography and spent that whole time preparing to stir up unnecessary conflict, but he just shut her down instantly instead of getting mad and yelling in return.

He really wasn’t the same man he used to be.

“Well…thank you, then,” Goldie finally said. “You’re right. I would’ve been pissed if you’d used my real name.”

“I know ye dinnae think I pay attention, but I do value your privacy, dear.” Scrooge walked over to his dresser and started to change. “Is that what ye wanted to talk about this whole time?”

Goldie frowned and stared down at the floor. Of course that wasn’t what she wanted to talk about. But she didn’t want to talk about what she wanted to talk about. “Not exactly.”

He walked over and held out a hand to help her out of the chair. “Well, you’re welcome to stay here as long as ye need. But please stop stealin’ food from the cupboard, Beakley is gettin’ ready to throw ye out.”

“She knows I’m here, then?”

Scrooge laughed, and Goldie hated how infectious his laugh was. She ended up chuckling along with him.

“Ye havenae been the most subtle! She’s known since breakfast yesterday.”

Goldie rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the arm, walking over to the dresser to find herself some pajamas. After a second, she decided to just steal one of Scrooge’s nightgowns instead. They were surprisingly comfortable.

—

Several more days passed without Goldie having the specific talk with Scrooge that kept weighing on her mind. He didn’t complain about her prolonged stay - in fact, he repeatedly told her how much he enjoyed having her around. The nightly sex was probably a big part of his joy, but she chose to think of it as more than that.

She’d had awkward conversations with the other members of the house - mostly the kids, who she kept running into at the worst moments. Scrooge’s daughter, for instance, bumped into her as she was getting out of the shower. And then she ended up finding the girl curled up with some old photo albums and having an identity crisis.

Family certainly was an adventure. Scrooge’s family was, at least.

And then suddenly it had been one week since the Duck family returned from Egypt - she’d been staying in Scrooge’s room for six straight days. The miscarriages were far from her mind, almost completely forgotten, as Goldie tried to blend into Scrooge’s family’s daily routines without bringing much attention to herself. She didn’t know how long this would last and didn’t want any of the kids getting too used to her presence. There was always a chance she would disappear without a moment’s notice.

She had no immediate plans to disappear, but, well…sometimes Scrooge said the wrong thing and she would take it the wrong way. She didn’t deny being overly sensitive when it came to him.

“I dinnae know if you’ve talked to Donald, but he’s leavin’ tomorrow mornin’,” Scrooge said that morning as he got dressed. “Ye might want to say goodbye or good luck.”

Goldie was brushing her hair and staring at herself in the mirror, trying not to focus on the little grays that were sticking up from her part. “I really doubt he cares if he gets a goodbye from dear ol’ Aunt Goldie,” she said sarcastically.

There was an unexpected silence after that, uncomfortable enough that Goldie stopped brushing and turned around to see Scrooge glaring at her. Great, she’d finally messed it up.

“Goldie, you cannae be serious,” he said with a harsh frown.

“What?”

“Of course he’d want to talk to ye,” Scrooge said, buttoning up his robe. “He’s always cared about your opinion of him, even as a lad.”

Goldie shook her head and spun the chair around so she was fully facing Scrooge, sitting there all dressed for the day ahead. “What are you talking about, you old geezer? I barely talked to him back then.”

“Yes, well,” Scrooge grumbled and made some awkward hand movements. “He still liked havin’ you around. And Della did, too, though she never wanted to admit it.”

“She takes after you that way, huh?” Goldie said with a smirk, but she was reeling a bit from this confession. She’d always thought of herself as a nuisance that interfered with Scrooge’s life and pissed his family off. They hated her, or if they didn’t hate her…they wished she’d go away. But liking her? Caring about her opinion of them? It wasn’t anything she’d noticed over the years.

“All the kids like ye, Goldie. It’s not just Louie.” Scrooge kept on talking, almost rambling at that point, not really sure how Goldie would react to what he was saying. He knew she had a tendency to run off when things got emotional and he really, really didn’t want her to do that again. “Webby asked me if it was alright to call ye Aunt Goldie or if she should lean towards mom and I’ll tell ye, that gave me a heart attack!”

His words triggered the memory that Goldie thought she’d completely put out of her mind. But now it was back and she didn’t know what to do. She tied her hair into a ponytail to keep herself from looking at him.

“Of course I know ye never wanted to be a mother,” he said, still rambling. “So I told her to stick with Aunt Goldie, but even that’s a wee bit odd for me to hear, all things considered. I mean…of course, I’d thought about what it would’ve been like to raise a family with ye once upon a time. But I was younger then and just thinkin’ about the future, I knew it wasnae in the cards for us. Ack, this is…I didnae mean to go on like this, just…pretend ye didnae hear any of that, alright?”

Goldie stared at him and exhaled loudly, trying to decide how to respond. “Scrooge.”

“Ah? Yes?” He seemed happy that she’d finally cut him off.

She stood up and walked over to his bed, sitting on the edge and playing with her hair. “I’d…thought about it, too. When we were younger. About what it would’ve been like to have a family.”

“Oh. Well. I guess ye talked yourself out of it, then, eh?” Scrooge asked lightheartedly, following her to the bed.

Goldie heaved a small sigh and picked at the fabric of her pants. She wondered if telling him would be like a weight off her chest or if it would just add more weights on top. There was no way to know unless she just said it, though, was there?

“It wasn’t…I mean. I didn’t…” Goldie stumbled over her words, staring down at her legs. She needed to do this, but she didn’t want to. But she did. But it was very, very hard. She had a strong feeling that she’d split as soon as she was done. “Scrooge, there’s…something I…I want to tell you.”

More curious than he’d been in a long time, Scrooge quickly sat down next to her. “What?”

“It’s, um…it’s not really important at all, it’s just…” She played with her hands while she tried to speak. “It’s relevant to all this stuff and I…ugh!”

Scrooge frowned. She wanted to tell him something related to what they’d been talking about? Was she going to tell him that she had a secret family she’d never told him about? If she didn’t finish soon, he was going to start spiraling into thinking a lot of strange possibilities.

“Webby isn’t your…well she is, but she almost wasn’t…ergh…”

He couldn’t have been more confused. “Webby isn’t what?”

“She wasn’t the first! I mean she is. She is! But she almost…there was almost…”

Scrooge shook his head and stood up. “Goldie, you’re confusin’ the hell out of me. What are ye tryin’ to say about Webby?”

“Ugh!” Goldie groaned loudly, steadying herself by running her hands through her hair. “It’s not about her! It’s not. It’s about us. It’s…”

She let out a deep sigh.

“I was pregnant. Twice. At least twice.”

Scrooge stayed silent and Goldie didn’t look up to see his expression. She didn’t know how she wanted him to react and she didn’t know if she could handle however he was reacting.

“They were yours. Both of them or all of them, I don’t know how many there might’ve been.”

He still didn’t say anything and she felt beads of sweat on the back of her neck. Was it getting hot in here?

“Before you start screaming at me, just-! Just know there…I was never pregnant for more than a few weeks. There was never anything to tell you. So don’t call me a lecherous liar or deviant deceiver or something! I just didn’t want to bring it up. But. I don’t know. Felt different now.”

“...”

She shrugged. “I felt like you should know, I guess.”

The room was filled with such tense silence that Goldie could swear she felt it making her shoulders heavier and heavier. The urge to rush out the window was growing stronger by the millisecond, but she was also frozen in place.

Scrooge sat down next to her again and grabbed one of her hands, the one that had been picking at pills on the comforter. Goldie’s heart started to race faster.

“...when?”

Goldie shrugged again. “The worst one was around 1950. I was pretty sick for a few weeks, and then nothing. I didn’t really understand what happened until later. Then I saw a doctor in ‘60 and he all but confirmed it.”

Scrooge didn’t speak for another minute, processing everything she said. He remembered her mentioning a brief sickness in the early 50’s - it stood out to him because she was so rarely under the weather. And he definitely remembered their time together in 1960… He suddenly felt like an ass for what he’d said to her back then. But how could he have known? She never told him. She never told him anything.

Until right now, that is.

“Would you have told me?” he asked quietly. “If…if the pregnancy had worked out?”

Goldie finally looked up at him and it broke her heart to see the depressed look on his face. He was genuinely so sad, and she didn’t know how to take that. She’d been sad about it for a little while, but then she’d accepted it. He was sure to react similarly, if he was telling the truth about fantasies of a family life with her. “Of course,” she said with a sad smirk. “Like I would have your kid without making you pay for it?”

After a moment of shock at her response, Scrooge laughed. A big, boisterous laugh that seemed inappropriate for the conversation, but made complete sense all the same. Goldie laughed along with him and shoved her elbow into his chest.

“Either you would’ve been paying child support or raising the little tyke on your own.”

Scrooge shook his head. “Maybe I would’ve asked ye to marry me and move to Duckburg. That not an option?”

Goldie hummed softly and tapped the fingers of her free hand against her knee, the other hand squeezing his. “...I suppose it was always an option. Just not one I thought about much.” She leaned her head onto his shoulder and sighed, closing her eyes. However she hadn't wanted him to react…this was pretty good. Her urge to leave was squashed and she even felt like…staying for a bit longer.

“I’m sorry, Goldie.”

She turned her head to stare at him. “For what?”

“Not bein’ there for ye when ye needed me.”

Goldie moved around so she was facing him fully. “For all the things over the years I’d want an apology for, this is not one of them. How were you supposed to know?”

“I still should’ve! I…I dinnae know. I should’ve figured it out!” he said louder than he meant to. “I’m Scrooge McDuck! I’m sharper than the sharpies!”

“It’s not like I’ve ever been there for you in your times of need,” Goldie said with a shrug. She paused for a second, deciding on her next choice of words. “I’m…sorry, too. For that.”

“Ye dinnae need to-”

“I should’ve said something when Della disappeared. Or when Duckworth died. But I didn’t. I didn’t know what to say.”

Scrooge shrugged. “It’s alright, Goldie. I had my family, after all. But you…I dinnae know who ye have. Family or friends or anyone to talk to about things like this. Have I ever even asked?”

She sighed and leaned against him again. “I don’t know if you’ve asked. I’m sure it came up at least once over the last hundred and twenty years. But no. I didn’t have anyone. So I dealt with it, like I dealt with all the shit in my adult life. It’s not that big a deal.”

She thought about telling him that she had someone now. Sort of. She’d never burden Dickie with things like that - the kid deserved to think of her grandmother as strong and intelligent and resourceful and flawless. Well, maybe a little emotionally stunted. But other than that!

Scrooge grumbled under his breath, something Goldie couldn’t quite make out, and then rubbed at his eyes.

He wanted to argue with her and tell her that it was a big deal. But they were the same, he and Goldie. They both grew up independent, knowing they could only really rely on themselves. It wasn’t until Scrooge’s family grew that he learned to trust other people with his life and heart and money (to an extent). Goldie might’ve trusted him with her life, sure, but that wasn’t everything. He wanted her to have a family to fall back on like he did.

A thought struck him suddenly and Scrooge chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“I…I dinnae think we’ve ever apologized to each other before. Not once in all these years.”

Goldie tried to think back throughout their lives and came up empty. She chuckled too, still leaning on his back. “That is pretty funny.”

They grew silent again, though it wasn’t awkward at all. Still, Goldie was tired of it. “Since we’re being all apologetic, I do have one more.”

“Oh?”

“Sorry for dumping this on you right now. I know you’ve got all this other crap going on and the last thing you need is…this.”

Scrooge suddenly pivoted his body to the side, making Goldie fall over so her head landed on his lap. “Goldie, of all the apologies I could possibly want from you, that is absolutely not one of them.”

She smirked and rolled her eyes at him repeating her words from earlier.

“Let’s just agree to stop apologizin' and move forward, alright?” he said simply, staring down at her like she was the only other person in the world.

Goldie stared back, unable to will herself to break eye contact. “Yeah, alright. We didn’t get a fresh start, but we can take another new step, right?”

He smiled and leaned down to kiss her, ignoring the screaming from his spine. This was not a great angle for him, but God did he want to kiss that beak more than ever in that moment.

She kissed back and reached her hands up to hold him in place, not wanting him to pull away.

Eventually, Scrooge wrapped his hands around her back and lifted her up a bit so she was sitting up and his back wasn’t cringing in pain anymore. They kissed like that on the bed for a minute, enjoying the moment of just being together.

When they pulled apart, both old ducks had bright smiles on their faces.

“I…think I should leave today.”

“Wait, what?” Scrooge looked shocked. “But we just…you…huh?”

“Not forever,” Goldie corrected with an eyeroll. “I’ve just really overstayed my welcome, alright? I need to go check on some things. I’ve been away from Dawson for way too long.”

“You’ll be back, though?” he asked. “Soon?”

Goldie smiled, a bit of pink on her cheeks. “Yeah, we’ll see.”

---

DUCK FRANCHISE REFERENCES: - Obviously this chapter takes place after the series finale, The Last Adventure! - Goldie meeting Kit and Molly references my summaries for DuckTales S4 which you can check out here: https://lettheladylead.tumblr.com/post/672841151197396992/if-ducktales-was-still-on-going-what-would-you - The golden idol Goldie returns to Louie was stolen in Happy Birthday, Doofus Drake! Scrooge gave it to Louie at the beginning of S2. - There's some references to my fic "Not Your Aunt" in this chapter, which you can read here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30381390

#ducktales #scroldie #goldie o'gilt #scrooge mcduck #louie duck #running in circles #fic #fics

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criminalmutantsins · 3 years

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My Top 10 Favorite Ducktales Characters

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NO. 10 Hewey Duck

At number 10 is Huey!

Hewey has been my least favorite triplet for most of the series; it by no means he’s a bad character or any of the sorts, Huey is more down to earth compared to other characters. It’s hard to say much about Hewey other than how he’s a sweet, fun character I’m glad is around.

His development in season three was good, though the weakest of the three. Kinda half-baked and rushed, as if the creators thought, “we have to add some Huey development since this is his season.” With Dewey and Louie’s, it felt like their respective seasons revolved around them instead of the other way around. The only episode I really think perfectly gave Huey development and at the same time move the main plot forward fluidly was the “Challenge of the Senior Junior Woodchucks!” with the whole Huey vs. Violet rivalry. Y’know what also sucks. Huey wasn’t even that integral to the finale. That annoys me to no end.

Now, I’m going to end this with positive notes.

What got Huey into the list was his sweet nature and how integral he is to the team’s balance. Every team needs someone who represents order and Huey is just that. Plus, his innocent love for romance is so cute. I love the episode where him and Webby were setting a date up for Fenton and Gandra.

NO. 9 Scrooge McDuck

Scrooge is probably the most interesting protagonist I’ve ever watched. Unlike most of them, he’s more of an anti-hero than a pure hero like Steven Universe or Luz from Owl House.

I don’t really have much to say about him because I don’t love him as much as the characters above him. He probably has the best development- Lena’s rivaling his really well. In the beginning, Scrooge was a grumpy miser but now, thanks to the kids, his heart is softer and more open. His cheapness is annoying, but the good qualities overthrow the bad.

Scrooge most likely would’ve been higher in the list if “The Life & Crimes of Scrooge McDuck” didn’t happen- or at least occurred in season two instead since humility and hard work was the main theme. The writers went overboard showing the audience how bad of a person Scrooge was in the past, especially with him taking advantage of the poor villagers and leaving them in their states-without even helping them. This episode downgraded Scrooge pretty badly.

NO. 8 Donald Duck

Although on the lower half of the list, I still hold so much love and respect for this version of Donald. He’s such a massive improvement from his previous iteration. The creators made him kind and strong-willed but kept his anger issues. Though, they turned that flaw into a more comedic and positive aspect of Donald since he uses that intense anger to protect his family. Speaking of that, his relationship with the triplets is absolutely adorable. He loves and protects them like a great father, and I’m still a bit peeved that characters didn’t acknowledge that more. Instead, their relationship was sidelined and pretty much haphazardly... replaced-I don’t know if that’s the right word- with May and June.

Another thing that annoyed me was Donald’s voice treatment. The creators pretty much portrayed his speaking problem as a joke, which is terrible. I hope to goodness that children with speaking troubles don’t take those “jokes” to heart because there is nothing wrong with having a different voice. It’s also surprising how much characters mostly don’t understand him when I can seventy percent of the time. This complaint is more towards season one since that was the season where most of the jokes happened.

Anyways, I hope this Donald will start a new beginning for the next iterations of him. A nice guy who has anger issues but means well. Same with him and Daisy’s relationship-another massive improvement the writers did. They are such a great couple from the episodes we got with them and this dynamic should continue.

NO. 7 Webby Vanderquack

Another character who was massively improved was the great Webby Vanderquack!

In the original series, she was a boring damsel-in-distress with no personality-pretty much like the earliest Disney princesses. The ‘17 creators did such a great job molding reboot Webby into a character who can kill you with kindness or impressive fighting skills. This pink-loving queen is probably the sweetest character I’ve ever met; I just want to hug her.

I love her optimism and caring personality. She was able to change Lena for the better and not give up on her when almost everyone did. Webby is the best friend you can have.

While I’m not fully on board with the Webby finale twist, I really liked how her interest in the McDucks played some big part of the finale. Do I wish it was in different circumstances? Yes, but I’m still glad Webby got an important moment for herself. That interrogation scene was very emotional; seeing Beakley fully breakdown like she did was shocking and really set the mood of how pivotal that moment. I literally almost cried seeing Webby so heartbroken by her grandmother’s lies- this pink baby deserves all the love in the world. At least she found out the truth and gained a parental figure in her life.

NO. 6 Louie Duck

I’ve gotta admit; I did not like Louie that much at the start of the show. Greedy and selfish characters usually don’t get my love, but season two changed. A lot more depth was added to him such as his insecurities and anxieties. I struggle with these issues and it was nice to see a character show that as well. One of my favorite arcs was Louie’s trouble connecting with Della; it was realistic and not rushed. While watching this season, I was often having trouble connecting with people, even old friends. Sort of having someone experiencing them alongside me made me feel less insecure and lonely.

His development was really good too, from beginning to end. At first, Louie was someone who was willing to execute every angle no matter how much it could hurt his loved ones. Yet, he grew to be a humbler person who now knows the consequences of his angles. A favorite episode of mine is “The Richest Duck in the World” because of this development. Seeing Louie clean the Bombei’s shoes with Scrooge made my heart melt.

What lowered him down to number eight was season three. There were a few episodes that backtracked Louie’s development like “The Trickening” and “The Fight for Castle McDuck” episodes. He was a real jerk towards Huey for no reason. It frustrated me enough to affect this list. And I also prefer other characters more.

NO. 5 Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera

You can’t expect me to not put this quirky and adorable dork in the top five! He’s one of the best boys in the show. Him being voiced by the great Lin-Manuel Miranda does add some bonus points- you can tell I’m a big Hamilton fan.

Like Webby, Fenton was drastically improved. He became this sweet, scatterbrained scientist who only wants to help people. I instantly fell in love with him. And it got even better when Fenton became Gizmoduck- my second favorite DT hero. He deserved so much more screen time, especially in season 3; “Beaks in the Shell” was not a good enough episode for Fenton and his relationship with Gandra. There should’ve been more. The finale moments he had was not satisfying enough, particularly him and DW sort of team up. It was rushed.

If a Darkwing Duck reboot takes place in the ’17 universe then Fenton must be a major character- at least show up in ten episodes a season. A Gizmoduck and Darkwing crossover is essential, and I will riot if it that doesn’t happen. And more Fandra, my fifth -maybe fourth- favorite ship.

I also had a big crush on Fenton back in season one. You can’t help but love him this sweety pie. This pretty much influenced thirty percent of his placement.

NO. 4 Launchpad McQuack

This muscular dummy is amazing! He brings a sense of comedy and light to every episode he is in. It’s infectious as h*ll!

I liked Launchpad instantly. He’s kind and wants the best for people. Optimistic characters are almost the best characters. They are great reminders of how there are still many good people in the world. Whenever I’m down and watch Ducktales, LP makes me feel a lot better with his dumb yet endearing moments. My favorite jokes are literally LP sending Beakley an invitation saying not to come and when he tried to make small talk with Gosalyn at the window; I can never stop laughing at those moments.

There are times when Launchpad’s dumbness irks me, but his good qualities overthrow that. Though, I wish he wasn’t used too much as comedy relief; LP had the potential to gain more development than what he got. I’ll give an example. Learning about his family would’ve been great to know- an appearance wouldn’t have hurt either. It could’ve opened a reason to why LP cares about Scrooge’s opinion and cares about him like a dad. Maybe there’s some bitterness in LP’s relationship with his dad and that’s why he doesn’t talk about his parents. Loopey not being introduced was a missed opportunity. Big brother Launchpad is all I need.

I also have a small crush on Launchpad, though mostly for his personality and voice. He’s still cute *wink.*

NO. 3 Drake Mallard

We made it to the top three! With the dashing caped crusader Darkwing Duck starting us off!

It’s funny how much I love a character who’s only appeared in like five-maybe six- episodes enough to put him in the top three. I had some trouble defining many reasons why I love him; it’s this weird connection I have with DW. He’s this dorky dummy who loved a big part of his childhood enough to make it his reality, yet I love him so much.

I think what made me fall in love with him was how similar we are. Like him, I was a meek person who got pushed a few times- either physically or mentally. Those times also inspired me to grow stronger and be an inspiration for the next generation. I can be pretty clumsy too(lol). Characters I see myself in are usually really high in my love list and it shouldn’t be surprising that Drake is one of them.

His kind and genuine nature was also what drew me in. And, I just made this realization, this is the first time I don’t prefer the original iteration over the latest one. I still love ‘91 Drake but he’s too arrogant.

Unlike the original DW, Drake became a hero to help others- though a wish for glory played a bit of a part too. This clumsy, stuttering actor took a step to become his hero and a future one for children like him. That’s admirable. His lovable personality also being so cute enough for me to want to give a big hug is a good addition.

NO. 2 Lena Sabrewing

Hands down Lena had the best development!

She started off as this distant loner who followed the gray area of morality. Now, Lena is a part of this loving family and her own person. A few of her episodes are my favorites, such as “Friendship Hates Magic!” and “A Nightmare on Killmotor Hill.” They are well-written episodes and hit me in the feels.

Like Louie and Drake, I see myself in Lena. There are times I’ve been afraid I’ll take on my family’s bad habits or turn like them. That’s why I love “A Nightmare on Killmotor Hill!” Watching Lena try to be good enough and feeling insecure reminded me of the dark times I usually think about. There are even times I have dreams of these issues. The creators must have been inspired by me (lol). Though, I am kind of jealous of Lena because of how great her friends are. I want friends like Webby and Violet.

Even so, I do have some issues with Lena. Her magic arc was not written as well as her previous arcs. This might be more of a personal opinion than anything, but I’m still going to say it. Lena learned to control her magic too quickly, and it was treated as more like a plot device. And a shaking one at that. For example, in “The Split Sword of Swanstantine” Lena was able to stop time and send her and Huey into his mindscape. But, somehow, she couldn’t conjure a burst of energy to attack Steelbeak; granted, Huey mentioned that, yet Lena’s reasoning was dumb. Attacking someone with magic is way easier than doing what she did. I’m a little lenient on this since that idea lead to more Huey development, though I’m still going to critique it.

A great thing about Lena learning was her temporary outfit change. She looks absolutely amazing in light colors, which I didn’t expect, and her hair design is what I saw she would look good in. The eye shape is kind of weird.

Lena’s magic mode is in my list of cosplays.

NO. 1 Dewey Duck

Finally, number one is Dewey Duck!

Dewey has stolen my heart since the beginning. His positivity and fun nature always make me smile, even during the toughest times.

In my opinion, Dewey has the best arc/development of the triplets. His arc trying to find out what happened to his mother was what kept me watching Ducktales and helped me see why this show is so special. Many of my favorite moments are in season one, specifically ones involving Dewey. For instance, the scene in “The Last Crash of the Sunchaser!” where Dewey was willing to risk his life to get the last piece of paper and possibly solve what happened to Della was emotional. Hearing the desperation in his voice while pleading with Scrooge to tell him what happened hit me hard. I can’t imagine how much pain HDL have gone through not knowing what happened and thinking they aren’t allowed to ask. It would be terrible to experience.

Another moment I loved was in “The Spear of Selene.” It was when Dewey was hesitant to know what happened as the possibility that Della was a bad person grew more prominent. He looked so defeated admitting that realization and it reminded me of myself. There were moments when I realized that my parents were not as good as I thought. It hurt me a lot. At least sweet Dewey didn’t have to go through that. The scene when Dewey started tearing up seeing his mom in the sphere was also heartwarming. I wanted to give him the biggest hug.

Dewey’s insecurities of not being good enough and to be loved is what I struggle with too. Its kind of different because I have trouble believing anyone loves me while he wants everybody to like him. Confidence is not my forte.

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popculturebuffet · 3 years

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Uncle Scrooge by Don Rosa: The Isle at the Edge of Time (Thank You Comission For Rosie Isla)

Hello all you happy people! Today’s review is a bit special as it’s the result of another review. See I had trouble finding a translation of the subject of last weeks’ mother’s day special, Family Ties.

No not that one. I have Paramount+. I can watch all the Family Ties I want and that’s a fact that i’m pleased as punch about.

No it was the story 80 is Prachtig, called Family Ties in the copy used, Della’s first major comics appearance and one that explains what happened to her in the classic continuity, one that clearly served as the foundation for her far more fleshed out 2017 versions personality and backstory. It also had Pinocchio in it for some reason, and spent most of it’s large run time on a meta comedy plot that had nothing to do with the reason anyone wanted to read this story in the first place.

But despite being a vitally important story, it never got an english translation, something that baffled me till I read the story and found cameos of the racist indigenous stereotypes from Peter Pan. In 2014. You may commence booing. Even with how weird the story was I simply couldn’t find the story googling it and the Della tag is too vast and deep to go spelunking in.

So what’s all this have to do? Simple I put out a post last month when neither I nor Kev, who wanted to comission it as part of Moons, Millionares and Mothers, my coverage of all three season 2 Ducktales story arcs, could find a copy and offered a review to whoever found it. Weeks passed I got nothing.. then in the 11th hour I got a break as the lovely @rosieisla found a translation that was on this very site, one she seemed to have helped with. As a result I could do the review and as a man of my word, offered it up despite her clearly having not seen that part of the post and simply having done this to be nice. Still she gladly took up the offer and offered me my pick of two stories: The Carl Barks Story Back to Long Ago or this one.

As for WHY I picked this one Back To Long Ago didn’t seem bad, i’m just not a fan of “The Cast is put in the past as their own ancestors” type deals. Or in some cases put the cast as people from that time period. It’s just not for me and is most often done in TV where it can get really goofy, Beverly Hills 90210 being a prime example of this, though Girl Meets World was no slouch in being embarassing... that being said I really need to finish that show and miss it.

So yeah when put up against a story with two intresting hooks and FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD, even if i’ts not the version that’s my boy, it was no contest. So what are these hooks you ask? Well join me under the cut and find out.

We open with a weird stylistic choice: This story has a narrator complete with caption boxes. Now for those of you familiar with comics or pastiches of comics in tv and film, this probably dosen’t seem like a big deal. It was a common thing in comics from their inception to 90′s to have caption boxes, big boxes of text narrating the action to help move things along faster. It did start to fade out by the 80′s and was gone by the end of the 90′s for the most part, replaced instead with first person narration. It’s the kind of thing you’d see most often in the Golden and Silver Ages, with stuff like tihs

It’s not a BAD device, it’s good old cheesy and bombastic fun and some writers did get clever with it.. like that time Chris Claremont used the narration to yell at a greiving cyclops after he lost a teammate early in his long and storied run on the uncanny x-men.

This is a objectively weird scene that’s still somehow effective by the by. On the one hand it does come off as Chris Claremont essentally bullying Cyclops who already feels guilty for a death that was not in fact his fault as Thunderbird was told the plane he was attacking with fleeing villian Count Nefaria was about to explode and refused to listen.. and that they needed to get rid of either him or Wolverine as both served the same purpose and chose the non-white guy.

On the other htough it comes off just as much as Scott beating himself up in his grief and anger over the event and his perceived failings as a leader. It’s good stuff and shows why this run caught on as this was only three issues in. Also the rest of the issue features the X-Men fighting a giant cyclopian demon that Cyclops accidently freed in his rage by destroying the stone thing keeping him imprisoned. No really here’s the cover

Huh so tha’ts what Nifty’s dad looks like. Neat. Also I REALLY hope we get the X-Men fighting aliens or demons in the MCU. Unlike the XCU the MCU isn’t alergic to getting batshit.. and for the record Deadpool and New Mutants are the exception, not the rule.

My point that I swear I do have is that this was common practice for most comics.. but never really for Disney Duck comics. It popped up ocasionally, like with Scrooge’s introduction, but Barks and those after him never really used them that much. Sure they’d have caption boxes for flasbacks and what not but Barks and Co geninely only used this sort of thing to set up a story. The most i’ve seen it in a duck comic is life and times and even then i’ts usually only used for gags or to set up the passage of time, as the story IS covering decades and thus often needed to have montages to show time passing, and in the case of chapter 11, had to cover decades in the span of a single chapter, so it’s not like they had many other options. So even Rosa as a personal quirk didn’t really use these often.

Rosa used this specifically because he felt the plot was complicated by the use of the international date line. As for what it is, it’s essentially a line marking calender dates from one side of the hemisphere to the others. To use the offical defentition from the National Ocean Service I found via a quick google:

“The International Date Line, established in 1884, passes through the mid-Pacific Ocean and roughly follows a 180 degrees longitude north-south line on the Earth. It is located halfway round the world from the prime meridian—the zero degrees longitude established in Greenwich, England, in 1852.

The International Date Line functions as a “line of demarcation” separating two consecutive calendar dates. When you cross the date line, you become a time traveler of sorts! Cross to the west and it’s one day later; cross back and you’ve “gone back in time."

Despite its name, the International Date Line has no legal international status and countries are free to choose the dates that they observe. While the date line generally runs north to south from pole to pole, it zigzags around political borders such as eastern Russia and Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.”

Rosa felt this made the story complicated.... and that... really isn’t remotely true. The narration is mostly used for gagas and really dosen’t clarify anything. it’s mostly used well in the opening.. but the actual explinations for the date line are clear enough in the story that even if I hadn’t looked the thing up, I still would’ve got it and i’m sure a kid would’ve too. It just feels like a weird thing to ruminate on, especially because he’s got actual things to make up for: while to his credit the native american characters he cribbed from carl barks are sympathetic, their culture respected and treated decently and used for a green aseop, their dialouge is stitled and sterotypical something he dosen’t even comment on (And these trades ewren’t THAT long ago)

And of course it dosen’t help that he dosen’t even comment on using a common device in american superhero boooks.. in the same volume where he ONCE again makes an unwanted and outdated diatribe about superhero comics. I’ll probably cover the Super Snooper Strikes again so I can throughly tear this apart but higlights include: Calling superhero comics “Unwanted” just because he dosen’t like them personally, when people like me would disagree and they’ve lasted through a LOT of highs and lows, outdately saying they took over the American market as the only suitable comics which while true for a TIME,but by 2015 when this book was printed is laughably out of date, as non superhero works like The Walking Dead, Saga, and Scott Pilgrim were massively popular, one of my faviorite comics that is entirely slice of life and would go on to bea huge hit, Giant Days, re-debuted that very year. He also has the fucking gal to insult The Uncanny X-Men by name and I swear to god I did not know this when I made those references earlier, but as you probably guessed REALLY god me livid.

And this is just on his COMMENTS on the story I can’t imagine just how bad the content itself is and having read the first few pages which come off as Rosa using Donald to essentially do an “old man yells at cloud rant” about superhero comics, I really don’t want to. Might make htis a patreon exclusive or again would do it on comissoin. You all make the call.... the point is I don’t likes his elitist bullshit about superhero comics, and this is clearly something that gets my hackles up as I just spent a good two paragraphs of an entirely unrealted review yelling at the guy for it. I don’t like when he does this and this authors notes entirley felt like an excuse. I GET the dark age of comics were bad, they REALLY were that bad, but I will NEVER accept painting an enitre genre as bad just because one work in it is bad. And I wont accept it from someone who himself writes about an often throughly unlikeable anti-hero for a living. Scrooge may not have a gun on his gun on his gun or get to stabbing or have pouches, but he DOES finacially abuse his nephew, scoff at people’s personal troubles, and often refuse to use his wealth to help others in general. So yeah in conclusion Rosa really needs to say less about this subject.

Okay so where were we.. right the story hadn’t even started yet. Jesus.

Okay so our story begins with the narrator. Whose going on about time and what not. The main point of this speech about time is that it’s night in Duckburg and Scrooge is going to bed as, even being the workhorse that he is, he can’t keep going 24 hours. While he’s snoozing though something major happens and it’s the hook that made me pick this story along with the international dateline one.. an island rises thanks to volcanic erruption.. and the lava is GOLD. That’s just pure unabashed classic Duck Stuff: a mysterious treasure or phenominon of gold bound to bring scrooge in.

But Scrooge isn’t stupid: the sun comes up and the world still spins while he sleeps, so he set up a satalite to monitor for this sort of thing. The thing naturally goes nuts.. and even more naturally breaks down becasue Scrooge bought cheap parts. A nice gag and a fully in character way to bring our antagonist into the picture, as the Satellite of Loaded falls in the middle of South Africa... right on the property of my boy Flintheart Glomgold.

This is something Rosa brought up in his commentary for the story i’d never thought about. It turns out Glomgold being a citzen of Duckburg WASN’T an invention of the original Ducktales but the comics: some overseas had understandably moved him from his home country of South Africa. Him bieing in the same town as Scrooge instead of half a world away allows for easier setups and more intresting ones.

Rosa however being obdient to Barks Version of things, ketp Glomgold in South Africa like barks did, which was an .. ifffy decision given Apartheid had JUST ended at the time of this story. Not so much in the reboot as not only had apartheid been long gone by the time of the reboot, but that’s more fair. Still we do get some gorgeous vistas as a result as Glomgold’s minon goes to look at it and finds it’s from McDuck Mining company... Glomgold’s reaction is obvious.

So on that note we cut to Scrooge rushing to Donalds house and forcing him awake and not telling him anything at first. Look his Ducktales Counterpart straight up kidnapped his donald in my last review, I’d call this a win. He also tries to dress Donald while explaning both his panic to find the crashed satlitle and what it found: the golden island. The end result of him dressing donald is worth a chuckle

So after Donald puts his shirt and little hat on our heroes get rollin rollin rollin what keep rollin rollin rollin who to Manilla. On the plane we get the scene I mentioned: The boys make a quip about Scrooge having lost a day and the group go over the international date line. It’s a fun little scene especially Donald trying to get paid early at the end. Classic scrooge and donald stuff without the abusive undertones some of their classic stuff has.

Meanwhile Glomgold works out the data and finds out about the gold island, and his excitement accidently wakes a giraffe outside.. welll it was nice knowing him, Giraffes are the deadliest species known to man.. here’s an educational video t back that up....

youtube

So at Manilla Airport, Scrooge finds out abotu the south african crash, figuring he’ll get a laugh out of glomgold being there ... only for Donald to spot the Jet. Scrooge figures this can’t be anything good... now come on man maybe he’s just promoting his energy drink.

As super sayin god super sayian as my witness, I will never get tired of Ultra Instinct Glomgold here.

Scrooge isn’t so nice about that though and figures he better find out if Glomgold knows about the island and bribes one of the fueling crew for his uniform. He sucesssfully eavesdrops on Glomgold talking to his pilot, finding out from him exactly WHERE the island is. He ends up hilariously botching the mission though: when getting ready to leave Glomgold complains abotu the price of gas and that naturally causes Scrooge, just as cheap, to join in... and Glomgold to find out it’s Scrooge. The two wrestle outside the plane but before this can progress to a game of Naked Robber an airport security guy comes up and Scrooge cleverly claims that Glomgold’s plane has an infestiation, requring it to be quanrantined and allowing Scrooge to jet on.. thoguh not with an actual jet. With Glomgold seemingly dispatched, he can afford to save some money and take his time with a seaplane and I know just the man for the job.

Oh nope looks like he’s busy. So one time related rambles later we meet Keoki, their asian pilot from the tiny island of Wookawooka.. and no that’s not a real place i checked... and no Fozzy dosen’t own it his check bounced. That being said it is a very well done represntation of someone from a smaller country: he’s doing this job to try and bring money back home, but being a seaplane captain just isn’t enough and his island is dying. Scrooge naturally is about as sympathetic as you’d expect, having apparently never even heard of the idea of a bonus when Huey, Dewey or Louie suggests it.

Even less suprising is that Glomgold streaks by in his Jet:turns out Manilla was already overun with the bugs Scrooge claimed and Donald rubs it in that had Scrooge got a JET this wouldn’t of been an issue.

So Glomgold easily beats them there, and to add insult and actualy injury to a cash based one, our heroes get blasted by golden lava on the way in and crash. Should’ve gotten launchpad... got the crashing professional. Keoki is dispondent as this means his people are doomed. He also dosen’t know waht staking a claim is when Scrooge mentions it and the boys bring him up to speed with the poor guy saying he wish he could for WookaWooka. Donald also makes a valid point about how greedy and heartlress scrooge can be.. and really billiionares in general.

No no YOUR the Grouch who refuses to have one drop of emapthy. Donald’s just pissed at your general selfish and terrible behavior.

Glomgold glomgloats and has seemingly won... but naturally that rant that seemed extranious at the time about the date line comes into play: turns out the Island is on it, and since glomgold put his marker int he west, Scrooge simply puts his in the east which is a whole day before. Now GRANTED there’s nor eal legal prescendice for the intetaoinal date line itself , as noted above... but there’s enough witnesses in Scrooge’s favor that it simply does not matter anyway. Scrooge SEEMINGLY wins.

But Huey, Dewey Or Louie instead backs another claim: Keoki’s from earlier. While it was made in gest, he and the others along with Donald back it as witnsses instad. WookaWooka is saved and SCrogoe ends the story yelling at the narrator.

Final Thoughts: Don Rosa.. did not like this story, feeling it wasn’t one of his best and apologizing for it. I however.. really loved it. It’s not PERFECT: the narration feels not entirely necessary and the gag isn’t as funny as he thinks, though the payoff of scrooge saying “it’s time for this story to end” is fucking hilarous. I also feel it’s a bit too compressed: the story is only 16 pages and was only THAT long because Rosa added a few for exposition, a worthy addition. This feels like one of his 30 page adventure stories but slightly crammed into half the length. I also feel the golden island bit was BADLY underused as it’s such a cool setting but barely shows up in the story.

But despite that.. it’s still a fun story: as is standard for Rosa the art is gorgeous and the humor is great. And unlike some stories where Rosa casually ignores how terrible scrooge is, here it’s his own greed and hubris that do him in: had he actually agreed to help Keoki, the boys likey would’ve let him keep the island but his own cold refusual to be a human being does him in, just as his cheapness nearly did. Flintheart is also decent here.. not the deepest foe but frankly most classical duck antagonists really aren’t all that fleshed out, and we still get some good bits with him. The dateline bit, while telegraphing that it will be important, as I said REALLY isn’t that hard to understand. All in all while i’ll agree with Rosa this isn’t his BEST, it’s still a really damn good story and one he shoudln’t be ashamed of.

Tommorow: Green Eggs and ham is back for some train shenanigans! Kay.

Saturday: The Tom Retrospective returns for it’s last detour! Eclipsa and Moon team up to stop meteora but grapple with diffrent wants: One to save her daughter.. the other to stop waht she clearly sees as an out of control monster. The result.. will only lead to tragedy and a hell of a two parter.

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#donald duck #scrooge mcduck #don rosa #ducktales #huey duck #louie duck #dewey duck #flintheart glomgold #gold #island #volcaones

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