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gaemkyuu · 4 years ago

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Mommy, Can We Keep Him? (Charlie Gillespie x Original Character

Warnings: mention of teenage pregnancy A/N: I was inspired to write a character like Lilo from Lilo and Stitch and thought of what if Charlie had a daughter like that? Then I thought about Dad! Charlie.... Here is my inspired writing piece! Let me know if you want a follow up wedding piece! Disclaimer: This is a FICITONAL writing piece! In no way do I claim characters in this piece act this way in real life.

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Mommy, Can We Keep Him? (Charlie Gillespie x Original Character)

Riley King started working for Netflix when she was 18 and impressed everyone at the head office with her hard work and dedication. With her motivation and work ethic, she managed to climb her way to be part of the executive management team all at the ripe age of 21. People often asked Riley how she climbed the ladder so quickly, or what was the secret to her success. No one ever guessed that her motivation came from a little girl who looked exactly like her.

Emerson Gianna King was born on August 31st of 2014 when Riley was 16 years old. She had quite the wild nature to herself, always sneaking out and illegally partying with her friends. It was only a matter of time that she would be blinded by love and give her virginity to a boy she swore would get married. He was 17 at the time and she was head over heels for him. One drink too many and a poor judgement call resulted in Riley’s teenage pregnancy.

Her one true love broke up with her a week after they had had sex, stating that his dad had had gotten a job at a law firm in Miami and that a long distance relationship wouldn’t work. She didn’t know that she was pregnant at the time, but when she did, she tried to reach out to him. His family thought it was stupid attempt at getting back together and claimed that the baby wasn’t his. They were ready to launch a full lawsuit in order to protect their family’s reputation, something that Riley and her single mom couldn’t afford to do. So they dropped it, signing legal papers that they would never contact them again and that their son wasn’t responsible for paying any child support.

This heartbreak and her daughter made Riley clean up her act and graduate high school a year ahead of her friends. She quickly started working for various companies, taking night classes at the local college campus in hopes to get her foot in the door for a bigger company and work her way up. Which is exactly what she did and how she ended up working for Netflix. That’s how she met Kenny Ortega, who introduced her to the actors of Julie and the Phantoms. She mostly worked with Netflix, but she was assigned to be there every day of boot camp to watch and monitor the development of the TV show, making projections about how their viewers would receive the new show. She didn’t anticipate to be a part of the small family that was created behind the scene with the cast and crew, and she certainly didn’t anticipate falling for one of the lead actors Charlie Gillespie.

They had been dating for three months before Riley told him about Emmerson. She had expected that he call off the entire relationship, understanding that not everyone wanted to be with someone who had a baby at sixteen. They were 22 at the time and Riley explained that she was looking to be in a serious relationship for her daughter’s sake. While Charlie couldn’t promise that this relationship would go in the direction they both wanted, he did promise that he would do his best to be there for her. He didn’t know that winning over the little girl’s heart would prove to be difficult.

Emerson wasn’t like all the other kids. For one thing, she was very mature for her age. She was potty trained at two years old and started to learn how to read basic books at the age of 4. She developed her speech quickly and often looked to use specific words that kids her age rarely heard or understand. She was a perceptive little girl and sometimes she was a little too smart and observant for her own good. This made it difficult for her to make friends at daycare because everyone thought she was weird. Riley would often catch her talking to Lilo whenever she put Lilo and Stitch on for her to watch. She would tell Lilo about the frustrating girls at her daycare and how they too “need to be punished”.

So it was no surprise to her that when Emerson first met Charlie, she would be grilling him. Charlie had expected her to be a cute little girl that likes to play with dolls. Instead, he was met with a perceptive toddler that made him question his own intelligence at times. She was very standoffish when she met him, afraid that this man was going to hurt her mommy, but over time Emerson began to open up and trust Charlie. One night, when they were six months into dating, they had to cancel their dinner plans as Riley’s babysitter came down with a flu and no one else could babysit. Therefore, their dinner plans were changed to ordering pizza and having a movie night with Emerson. Riley groaned partly through the beginning of Lilo and Stitch when her work called, excusing herself as it was an important phone call.

This left Emerson and Charlie alone for the first time.

“Charlie, who’s Elvis Presley?” Charlie’s eyes grew big like teacup saucers.

“Your mom hasn’t shown you who Elvis Presley is?! How many times have you watched this movie?!” Emerson shrugged, not taking her eyes off the screen, popping a piece of popcorn into her mouth and chewing.

“Do you want the real answer?” he was caught off guard at the frankness in her tone, starting to wonder just how many times she had watched the film. He shrugged it off and paused the movie, pulling his phone out and opening Youtube to educate the child on the legend, Elvis Presley.

When Riley returned to the living room, she was shocked to see Emerson sitting in Charlie’s lap, holding the phone, staring intently at the screen and listening to the music that played out of the speaker. She had never seen her daughter so focused before. She looked at Charlie who was equally focused on the screen of the phone as well, and she smiled to herself enjoying the view. Out of defense, Riley quickly shrugged off the creeping thought that this could be her family. After all, her and Charlie had only been dating for 6 months.

“How have you not shown her who Elvis Presley is?” he exclaimed, noticing her presence. Emerson looked at her with questioning eyes as well, feeling slightly betrayed that her mother withheld such precious information away from her.

“I’m not really a big music person! I kinda just listen to songs I like rather than musicians” she shrugged sheepishly.

“Mommy, Charlie said there’s a documentary on Netflix about Elvis Presley. Can we watch that instead of Lilo and Stitch?” Riley’s jaw dropped at the fact that her daughter was more interested in watching something other than her favorite comfort Disney movie. She silently nodded and changed the settings on the TV, starting the Elvis Presley documentary. This was the first time her daughter ever really opened up to someone and found something in common.

Emerson absolutely loved the documentary and would go on for weeks listening to Elvis Presley nonstop. After Riley waved goodbye to Charlie and closed the door, Emerson sat patiently on the entryway bench for her mother.

“Mommy, can we keep him?”

“Yeah, Emmy. I think we can”

***

It soon became a regular thing to have Charlie stay the night at Riley’s house. He woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, but on his way back to the bedroom he heard soft whimpers and sniffles coming from Emerson’s bedroom. He stood outside her door, debating if he should go get Riley or if he should go in himself. He knew Riley was exhausted having had a full day of work and meetings, so he opted to let her sleep and peek into Emerson’s room. He thought that if it was out of his control, he could always go and get her. The sight of the little girl broke his heart.

Emerson was fast asleep, but she was trembling and clutching onto her stuffed bunny for dear life. She whimpered and tears fell from her closed eyes. Charlie quietly moved to her side and sat on her bed, softly rubbing her back, whispering her name to break her out of her nightmare. It worked, but when she woke up, she jumped into Charlie’s arms and softly cried. He was surprised at first, but quickly snapped out of it hugging the girl and rubbing her back.

“It’s okay Emmy... It was just a bad dream... It wasn’t real... you’re okay... you’re safe” the little girl started to calm down as Charlie soothed her and rocked her side to side a bit.

“They took me away from mommy...” she whimpered and nid her face in Charlie’s neck. He felt the collar of his shirt dampen as she cried, but he picked her up and moved to the armchair she had in her room. He sat down and held her tightly in his arms.

“No one is ever going to take you away from mommy, okay? I won’t let that happen” he didn’t know where these words were coming from or where he got the confidence to say them, but in that moment he knew that he would do whatever he could for Emerson.

“Promise?”

“I promise.” he whispered, kissing her head and rubbing her back. She settled comfortably in his chest and took deep breaths. Charlie instinctively started to hum a song softly as he rubbed her back, until her breathing steadied and soft snores came from the small figure. Charlie smiled to himself that he was able to handle the situation alone, but he realized he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to put her back in bed, or if he had to hold her for the rest of the night. Not wanting to wake her up, he carefully reached for the knitted quilt beside the armchair and draped it over them. Guess he was sleeping in the armchair that night. His neck would hate him in the morning.

Riley woke up early that morning when she rolled over to cuddle the missing Charlie. She bolted up and threw on her housecoat to search for him, but stopped when she noticed Emerson’s door cracked open. The sight inside the bedroom brought tears to her eyes and she covered her mouth to avoid making any sound that would wake them. There was Charlie sleeping in the armchair holding a sleeping Emerson in his arms. They were both fast asleep and quietly snoring.

For the first time, in their nine months of dating, Riley let herself see the possibility of Charlie being the man who could be Emerson’s dad.

***

Charlie fiddled with his collar nervously, holding flowers in the other hand. He took a deep breath and shook off his nerves before pressing on the door bell. He waited patiently and anxiously outside, only to be greeted by his beautiful girlfriend, Riley. She smiled brightly at him and he stood there blown away by her beauty. They were both dressed up semi-formally tonight as Charlie insisted on taking Riley out for a fancy dinner to recreate a cheesy romcom movie date for their anniversary. Their usual dates consisted of hiking or lounging at the beach, so Charlie figured it would be nice to dress up for once, especially since Riley rarely dressed fancy.

“Hey! Come on in, I’m just finishing up debriefing the babysitter” Charlie kissed her cheek quickly and stepped inside, shutting the door behind him as she rushed back to the kitchen. Charlie waited by the front door patiently for her to finish up.

“Where are you taking mommy tonight, Charlie?” he jumped at the voice from behind, turning around to see Emerson sitting on the entryway bench. She looked up at the man who waited for her mom, bunny beside her in one hand and her blanket in the other. Charlie smiled at her presence and squatted down to her level, petting her bunny on the head.

“I’m taking mommy on a fancy dinner. You off to bed?” she nodded and opened her arms, to which Charlie gladly received her hug, only, he didn’t expect her to awkwardly latch herself on to him. Thinking quickly, he adjusted himself and picked her up. She was short and thin, so it was no problem carrying her. Her small stature always made her mother worry that she wasn’t getting enough nutrients. “I guess I couldn’t let you sleep without some snuggles could I?” she nodded as she laid her head on his chest, something her and Charlie had in common was that their love language was physical touch.

“It’s nice to see mommy in something other than jeans or sweats. I like your bowtie too” Emerson fiddled with said bow tie as Charlie gently rocked her. He was always so surprised at how observant she was and how she was able to clearly articulate her thoughts for being six years old. She was very bright and quick to understand situations, which made it hard for her to make friends at daycare. Another thing that Riley worried about often.

“You want me to tuck you in Emmy?” she shook her head against his chest and wiggled, signifying that she was okay with being put down. Charlie obeyed her wish and set her down on the floor, sitting on the entryway bench like she once did. “You’re looking a little sleepy squirt” he chuckled, clearing the hair from her face.

“Mommy said the babysitter and I get to watch a movie of my choice before bed time since it’s Friday. I wanted to watch Big Daddy but mommy said the babysitter might question her parenting choices” he let out a big laugh and Emerson giggled back.

“Having fun you two?” Riley appeared in the entryway with the babysitter. Riley crouched down and opened her arms wide to hug Emerson. The little girl jumped into her mom’s arms, nearly knocking her to the floor. “Love you Emmy. Please listen to the babysitter and go to bed on time” Riley knew she wouldn’t put up a fuss, but she figured she would remind her anyways.

“Love you mommy” she smiled as she kissed her mom’s cheek and walked to Charlie. “Love you Charlie” she tiptoed so that she could reach the man’s cheek, who also gave her a big hug. “Don’t be out too late!” she called skipping into the living room, the babysitter following after. The couple stood in the entryway thinking about Emerson’s last remarks before disappearing.

“Ready to go, my love?” Charlie cleared his throat, opening the door and gesturing for Riley to go first. She playfully rolled her eyes and they stepped out of the house towards the vehicle. Emerson waved at them from the front window, and they waved back, until she couldn’t see them any more.

***

“Remind me again what time you fly in?” Riley wiped some of the water that splashed on her face as she washed the dishes. Like all mothers, she was multitasking. Cleaning the house for Emerson’s birthday and trying to figure out her schedule considering Charlie was flying in from Canada. Emerson sat at the kitchen table quietly coloring while her mother was on the phone.

“Don’t worry about picking me up. You already have so much to do! I’ll just get an uber to your place” Riley toweled off her hands and took Charlie off speaker phone, holding the phone to her ear. Despite dating for a year and a half, they hadn’t officially moved in together. Charlie still had his place with all of his things, but half of his stuff was at Riley’s. “Plus I don’t want Emmy catching on to my surprise for her.”

“Right. Okay, well I’ll keep the door unlocked, since we’re home all day. I gotta go though, I still have to call the bakery to set up a pick up time for her cake and cupcakes” the couple said their quick ‘I love yous’ while Emerson shouted hers from the kitchen. Riley took a moment to herself and sighed against the wall in the corridor. Between everything at work and Emerson’s birthday, she had quite a lot on her plate but she was relieved that Charlie was able to come home a little earlier to help her out. She straightened her spine and returned to the kitchen, kissing her daughter’s head. “Emmy, mommy has to jump on to a zoom meeting in the office, are you okay to color for 30 more minutes?”

“Mommy, when can I go on a date with Charlie?” her mother froze mid movement around the kitchen, the question catching her off guard. “I know we go on dates together, but you always look like you have way more fun when it’s just you and Charlie. I wanna have fun with Charlie too” she smiled at her daughter and sat down beside her.

“Well, why not ask Charlie on a date? You can make him a little card before he gets in tonight and while I do my meeting.” her eyes lit up at the suggestion and she quickly got to work, making her mother smile. Riley got up and headed to her office, not wanting to disturb the project her daughter had started.

Riley’s meeting lasted an hour, much to her displeasure, but it was a productive one. It worked out for Emerson as she had made an elaborate card to give Charlie when he came home that night. Riley helped her daughter take a bath and ordered Sugarfish for dinner, both of them anticipating the arrival of their favorite guy. As soon as Emerson heard the door creak open, she bolted for the entryway and jumped into Charlie’s awaiting arms. He peppered her face with kisses and tickled her until Riley came along, who he kissed deeply and earned a “yuck!” from Emerson. Their dinner arrived soon after Charlie’s arrival and they all sat around the dinner table, Emerson lost in Charlie’s stories of his hometown.

“Emmy, don’t you have something for Charlie?” she perked up remembering and clumsily got out of her chair, putting her chopsticks down to run to the office. She grabbed her card for Charlie and skipped back to the dining room, placing the card beside his bento box.

“Oh? What’s this Emmy? Can I open it?” she nodded her head enthusiastically and sat back in her place at the table. Charlie’s smile wavered as he read the card, feeling slightly emotional. On the front was a picture of the three of them and inside the card read:

Dear Charlie,

Will u go on a date with me?

Love, Emmy

Hearts, flowers and smiley faces decorated the inside of the card, but the text was written in big bold letters. He could tell a lot of effort went into making the card judging by all the neatly placed stickers and carefully drawn pictures and patterns. It still amazed him that for a six year old, turning seven, that she could write so neatly.

“Mommy helped me with some of the spelling, but I mostly did it myself” she smiled, anticipating his response. “What do you think?”

“It’s beautiful Emmy. I would love to go on a date with you” she clapped her hands and bounced in her seat, her reaction causing everyone at the table to smile and laugh. They continued to eat their dinner while planning things that they could do together, as Riley sat there watching and admiring the relationship that was unfolding before her eyes. How did she get so fortunate to find a man like Charlie?

***

Charlie ended up taking Emerson to Disneyland and even though Riley accompanied them, Charlie and her went on all the rides together. Riley took pictures and held onto their things as the two enjoyed themselves around the theme park. Charlie knew it would be a good thing to have Riley around because she was the voice of reason when Emerson and Charlie thought of having their third Dole Whip of the day. The two of them laughed and had the time of their lives. When supper time came, Riley planned to meet a client over super at downtown Disney, planning on meeting her boyfriend and daughter later on in the evening. This left the two of them to have dinner with Goofy at Goofy’s Kitchen.

As they enjoyed each other’s company and visits from Goofy, Charlie helped Emerson pick out her dinner and order it. Charlie could honestly say this was the most fun that he had had in a long time, but he should’ve known that with Emerson’s intelligence, there was more to this date than just having fun.

“Charlie, when are you going to ask mommy to marry you?” Charlie choked on his water, not expecting the question from the curious little girl. “Mommy said I wasn’t allowed to ask you because it was rude”

“Not rude at all Emmy, but why are you asking me that?” he was genuinely curious, thinking that maybe Riley had been venting to her subconsciously again, or that Emerson overheard a conversation with one of her friends.

“I heard Aunty Savannah teasing her the other day over the phone and mommy got really red in the face. I think you should ask her, I know she’d say yes” Charlie’s eyes grew wide as Emerson nonchalantly recounted the conversation her mother had the other day. Emerson continued to color in the coloring book Charlie bought her earlier.

“Do you want me to ask mommy to marry me?” Emerson nodded her head as soon as the question came out of his mouth. “How come?” the question was meant to be playful, but Emerson’s reply was serious.

“Because I want to be able to call you daddy.”

Charlie felt a lump in his throat.

“I’ve never had a daddy. It’s always been mommy and me. If you marry mommy, then you can be my daddy.” she paused to take a sip of her juice. “I think you’d make a great daddy”.

Charlie wiped away a tear that threatened to fall from his eyes and cleared his throat, feeling emotional. He took a sip from his water and took a deep breath. “You think so, Emmy?”

She nodded her head, continuing to color in her book. “Plus Justina at daycare said that in order for me to have a little brother or a little sister, you have to have a daddy AND a mommy.” Charlie chuckled at the little girl, and got up to kiss her on the head, hugging her too.

“Got any ideas on how I should ask Mommy to marry me?” Emerson forgot about her coloring in that moment as her eyes sparkled with excitement over Charlie’s question.

“Well...I have a couple ideas...”

#charlie gillespie #charlie gillespie x reader #charlie gillespie fanfiction #charlie gillespie imagines #imagine #fanfiction

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magic-and-moonlit-wings · 4 years ago

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Chapter 55: Movie Night

Lots of quotes from the movie Lilo & Stitch ahead! Fewer quotes, but some, from Trolls and Frozen.

Bold italics are trollish, ~tildes~ indicate goblin.

Content warnings for this chapter: Swearing. Here we reach the story's first F-bomb.

Also, there is some talk between characters about the harshness of life in the Darklands, how Changelings are treated by the Gumm-Gumms, and mentions of cannibalism.

This was supposed to be a light-happy chapter that got feels-y at the end, but then it went and got all dark on me.

Oh, also-also, (Not) Enrique finds out Claire flirted with Jim a while ago and misinterprets what exactly happened between them, but that gets cleared up fast.

Becoming The Mask

Once again, Javier and Ophelia Nuñez were out for the evening, leaving Claire in charge of Enrique. Claire had gotten permission to invite "some friends" over to watch movies. Jim and Toby arrived to find Mary and Darci already there – Jim suspected, like the time he'd 'babysat', that Claire had purposefully asked him to arrive after she knew her parents would be gone.

They set up piles of cushions and blankets on the floor between the couch and the TV. Jim propped the Amulet up on the coffee table they'd pushed to one side. Maybe some of the ghost Trollhunters would be interested in human movies.

"Finally get your fill of the touchy-feelies?" Enrique teased Jim, seeing how they were all seated separately. Jim snorted.

"Not hardly." He pulled the smaller Changeling in for a hug. "Humans just have different rules about casual touching, is all. Freezing to death's not really a concern in this climate."

"Wait, what?" said Toby, dropping the pillow he'd been holding. Jim looked up to see all the humans staring at him.

"Darklands thing," said Enrique easily. "Gets cold there."

"We'd sleep in piles," Jim explained. "I had a bit of a reputation for being … clingy."

"If you weren't good at finding food and soft stuff, we'd never've put up with ya." Enrique proved himself a liar by climbing onto Jim's shoulders instead of jumping back to the floor. He fluffed the hair on Jim's scalp. "Jimmy-boy got his first nickname for that."

"Shut up," said Jim playfully. "Anyway, humans get weird about touching around puberty. I can still hug Mom whenever I want, but Toby gets embarrassed if I hug him around other people, and Claire, Mary, and Darci haven't given me permission to touch them casually yet."

"… Did you … want permission?" asked Claire. "You, kinda, said you were uncomfortable with that, I thought."

"No, it was more wondering if you were flirting with me that felt weird," Jim assured her. "After that conversation I felt like it'd be awkward to bring up that I was open to hugging and such."

Jim thought he felt Enrique growl, to quietly to properly hear. His hand, still in Jim's hair, changed position so the tips of Enrique's claws were on Jim's scalp.

"When exactly did this happen?" Enrique asked.

"Claire kissed Jim on the cheek on his birthday and then Jim said he wasn't interested in dating her," said Mary.

"Also that I realized she might not have meant it in a flirty way and if I was misinterpreting things she could ignore what I was saying," Jim added. The claws retreated.

Claire looked away. "So what movie did we want to start with?"

"Lilo & Stitch!" exclaimed Darci, looking through the shelves. "I haven't watched this in forever!"

"That's a good one." Jim tilted his head to get Enrique back in his peripheral vision. "Enrique, have you seen it yet?"

"… Yeah."

"Isn't that the one that always makes you cry?" asked Toby.

"It's beautiful. Of course I cry."

Stitch was a constructed 'abomination', who shapeshifted to blend in, and his adopted family found out what he truly was and still wanted him. How could Jim be expected to keep his composure in the face of that?

"So, quick question," said Jim. "Is talking during the movie a crime, or is commentary what makes it a group activity?"

"Commentary," said all three girls together.

"Okay, good." Jim and Toby usually talked during movies, unless one or both of them were seeing it for the first time. Sometimes even then.

+=+

"Not guilty! My experiments are only theoretical, and completely within legal boundaries."

"We believe you actually created something."

"Created something? Ha! But that would be irresponsible, and, unethical. I would never, ever – make more than one."

"What is that monstrosity?"

"Monstrosity?! What you see before you is the first of a new species!"

"You have to wonder if she and Merlin ever had a talk like this," Enrique muttered in Jim's ear. Jim snickered.

"And as for that abomination … it is the flawed product of a deranged mind. It has no place among us."

Jim stopped laughing and cringed. He loved this movie a lot, but some of it stung.

+=+

"A quiet capture would require an understanding of 626 that we do not possess! Who, then, Mr Pleakley, would you send for his extraction?"

"… Does he have a brother? Close grandmother, perhaps?"

"Fun fact," said Darci, "in early drafts Stitch was a career criminal and Jumba was an old accomplice."

"Friendly cousin? Neighbour with a beard?"

+=+

"Surely the teacher won't notice I was late if he doesn't see me come in!" Claire narrated sarcastically.

+=+

"I'm sorry, Scrump!" Mary wailed, as Lilo ran back to retrieve the doll she'd angrily thrown aside.

+=+

"Let me illuminate to you the precarious situation in which you have found yourself. I am the one they call when things go wrong. And things have indeed gone wrong."

"As a cook, that kitchen horrifies me," said Jim.

+=+

"If you promise not to fight anymore, I promise not to yell at you – except on special occasions."

"Tuesdays and bank holidays would be good."

The entire group cracked up.

"How does kid Lilo's age even know what a bank holiday is?" said Claire. "I don't even know what a bank holiday is!"

"Maybe she saw it printed on a calendar?" said Toby.

+=+

A raindrop fell on Stitch's head. He fired his ray gun into the sky. It started raining, hard.

"Oh, no, I broke the sky!" Darci cried.

+=+

"Does it have to be this dog?"

"He survived getting hit by a truck, how much more sturdy and not-gonna-die do you want?" asked Jim.

"Yes. He's good. I can tell."

+=+

"I'm sorry I bit you. And pulled your hair. And punched you in the face."

Mary nudged Claire. "Remind you of anyone?"

Like sunflowers, everyone else popped up and turned towards them.

Claire blushed. "We got into a fight in first grade and for like two days we decided we didn't want to be friends anymore, then our moms made us say sorry."

"He will be irresistibly drawn to large cities, where he will back up sewers, reverse street signs, and steal everyone's left shoe."

"It's weird they get in trouble for everything but this," commented Enrique. "Human grown ups might not believe a dog stole a trike, but wouldn't they think Lilo did it? She's fought the other kid before."

"It's nice to live on an island with no large cities."

+=+

"It's not an angel, Lilo, I don't even think it's a dog!"

"Isn't that the rolling thing Draal can do?" said Toby.

"Yeah, more or less," said Jim. "I mean, I don't think Draal bites his feet – but maybe that's the trick."

"At least with those stick legs you've got," said Enrique. He curled into a ball and rolled in a circle around the group. "Face it, you're out of proportion for this move."

+=+

"626 was designed to be a monster. But now, there is nothing to destroy. You see, I never gave him a greater purpose. What must it be like, to have nothing? Not even memories to visit, in the middle of the night?"

"Now, this next bit I don't care for," said Jim. "The Ugly Duckling is a messed-up story."

"What've you got against The Ugly Duckling?" asked Mary.

"The blatant segregationist propaganda? 'A swan will never fit in with ducks and everyone is better off sticking with their own kind'. You don't even have to read it as a race metaphor. Between that and The Little Mermaid, I thought for while that Hans Christian Anderson was a Changeling writing cautionary tales about why we shouldn't get attached to humans."

"… Was he?" asked Claire.

"Probably not. I couldn't find any real evidence and the rest of his work doesn't match the pattern."

"Counterpoint," said Darci. "The Ugly Duckling is pro-integration. Everyone thought he was an ugly duckling because they didn't know what swans look like. If he'd grown up with ducks and swans around, they could've judged him for what he was instead of what he couldn't measure up to, and he might've had a happy childhood instead of only finding a community that accepted him as an adult."

Jim considered this, and nodded. "I guess I can see that, too."

+=+

"Heard you lost your job."

"Well, uh, actually, I just quit. That job. Because, you know, the hours are just not conducive to the challenges of raising a child –"

"Nani, no!" Jim begged. "I know almost nothing about Social Services but I'm pretty sure choosing to leave your only source of income looks worse to them than just losing it!"

"Thus far you have been adrift in the sheltered harbour of my patience; but I cannot ignore you being jobless. Do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly."

"And next time I see this dog, I expect it to be a model citizen. Capiche?"

"Uh … yes?"

"New job. Model citizen. Good day."

+=+

"So, we saw Cobra on the beach after all the tourists got scared off … D'you think he was just standing there watching them the whole time?" Mary wondered out loud after the surfing sequence.

+=+

"Until we meet again …"

Lilo was about to tell Stitch about her parents. Without thinking, Jim grabbed the remote – on the coffee table, next to the amulet – to fast forward.

"What are you doing?" Darci cried. "This is one of the big emotional turning points of the film!"

Jim paused it. "Sorry. Uh … Tobes and I usually skip this scene."

"I think I can handle it," Toby assured Jim. To the girls and Enrique, he explained, "My parents died in a storm when I was two. A cruise ship, not a car accident. I got kind of upset the first time we watched this as kids, and, we got in the habit fast forwarding this part. I think I'm okay with it now."

"You're sure?" asked Jim.

"I'm sure."

"Okay …" He rewound to the point where he'd started fast forwarding.

"That's us before. It was rainy, and they went for a drive. What happened to yours?"

Jim watched Toby more than the movie for the next few minutes.

"I'll remember you, though. I remember everyone that leaves."

"Do you remember them?" Claire asked quietly.

"Only the stuff Nana tells me." Toby shrugged, and readjusted the cushions he'd propped up his arms on. "I've seen lots of pictures. A couple home movies."

+=+

"Don't run. Don't make me shoot you. You were expensive. Yes, yes, that's it, come quietly."

"I'm … waiting."

"For what?"

"Family."

"Ah. You don't have one. I made you."

"Maybe … I could –"

"You were built to destroy. You can never belong."

Jim blinked fast to keep the tears back. He sniffed, and pulled the blankets more tightly around him.

+=+

"Okay, talk! I know you had something to do with this, now where's Lilo? Talk! I know you can."

"Claire?" said Mary. "You okay?"

Jim looked over. Claire's jaw was clenched, and her hands were tight on the blanket, and her eyes were huge and fixed on the screen, and she was shaking.

"Ah … maybe the little sib getting snatched by otherworldly forces wasn't the best movie choice," Enrique said. He reached out like he was about to go to Claire, then pulled back his hand and hunkered down where he was.

"LILO! She's a little girl this big, she has black hair and brown eyes, and she hangs around with that THING!"

"I'm. Fine," Claire insisted.

"You're sure?"

"We can just fast forward."

"I said I'm fine!"

"Okay …"

Mary and Darci each scooted their blanket and cushion piles closer to Claire's, bracketing her on either side. Jim tactfully retreated to the Nuñezes kitchen to microwave a few more bags of popcorn. Enrique went with him. They could still hear the TV.

"What? After all you put me through, you expect me to help you just like that? Just like that?!"

"Ih."

"Fine."

"Fine? You're doing what he says?"

"Ah, he is very persuasive."

"Is it normal to feel bad for her?" Enrique asked.

"I think so? It's an awkward situation for both of you." Jim selected the white cheddar flavour. "But it's not like there's an alternative. You're not a polymorph. And really, the only reason she's upset is because she found out."

The Nuñezes had the same microwave as the Lakes. Jim didn't find the popcorn setting especially useful for this brand of popcorn – it tended to burn a third of the kernels– so he used the timer instead.

"I never apologized to you for that, did I?" Jim asked.

"It wasn't all your fault."

"Still, I'm sorry for my part in getting you caught."

The Changelings got back to the living room in time to see the unfortunate tourist lose his ice cream for the third time.

+=+

"Does Stitch have to go in the ship?"

"Yes."

"Can Stitch say goodbye?"

"… Yes."

Like he always did during this scene, Jim cried. He let himself do it this time.

+=+

"Wait, how is Little Mermaid a cautionary tale?" asked Enrique during the credits. The camera panned over a photo of Stitch reading to a flock of ducklings. "For getting attached, I mean. I thought the moral of that one was to control yer temper and be careful who you made deals with?"

"Sure, the Disney version," said Jim. "They adapted it to make a more dramatic, less depressing story. And give the characters names. In the older version, the sea witch is actually a neutral character. The terms of the mermaid's transformation are that she's traded her tongue for legs, but walking on land hurts, and she'll become fully human if the prince marries her, but if he marries anybody else, she'll die."

"That doesn't sound neutral."

"Wait for it. The prince gets engaged to a human princess, so the mermaid's older sisters trade their hair to the sea witch for a magic knife and a loophole; if the little mermaid kills the prince before the wedding, she can turn back into a mermaid and survive."

"Kay, I see it now."

"Except she doesn't go through with the kill, so she dies, and because she wasn't really human, she doesn't have a proper soul, so her spirit's not allowed to go to Heaven."

"… Whoa."

"I know, right?"

"I mean," Mary commented, "not murdering somebody is kind of a low bar for moral decency. It's not as if the prince owed her anything just because she was attracted to him."

"No, no, whether the prince deserved to die or not is irrelevant," said Jim. "The point is that the mermaid had a chance to, objectively, trade one life for another, and because she was attached to the particular person she'd have to kill, she didn't prioritize her own survival, and therefore suffered."

"Wouldn't the guilt of murder have caused suffering anyway?" Toby pointed out.

"Not if she wasn't attached," Jim insisted. How were they not getting this? "If she could've just cut the throat of any random human, she'd've been fine. The moral of the story is that caring about people causes pain. That's what makes it depressing."

"Do you like any fairy tales?" asked Darci.

"Sure. Just not most of Anderson's work."

"What should we watch next?" said Claire hospitably. "If we're on a 'sister movies' theme, I've got Frozen."

"Isn't that one also based on an Anderson fairy tale?" said Mary.

"Not really," said Jim. "The Snow Queen was more 'inspiration' than 'source material'. Elsa never kidnaps anyone, and they left out the broken enchanted mirror. Plus it's fun to see all the different ways humans think trolls are like."

"We also have the Trolls movie," said Claire. "I haven't watched it yet. My dad got it for Mom's birthday because she used to collect the dolls."

"I haven't seen that one yet, either," Darci commented.

"Should we?" said Mary. "Any other votes?"

"I'm game for whatever," said Toby. "This one's a musical, right? Those are always fun."

Jim squirmed.

He hadn't watched this movie despite his curiosity, after an online clip of the opening had explained the premise. Getting eaten alive was his greatest fear. Did he want to watch a movie about trolls narrowly avoiding being eaten? Did he want to explain why he didn't want to watch it?

While he debated, the movie got put in.

"Once upon a time, in a happy forest, in the happiest tree, lived the happiest creatures the world has ever known: the trolls. They loved nothing more than to sing, and dance, and hug, and dance and hug and sing and dance and sing and hug –"

Enrique started laughing.

Oh, shit, Jim hadn't warned him.

"Uh, Enrique –"

"Ssh! This is ridiculous. I mean, the huggy bit's kind of like you, but the rest of it – ha!"

"But then one day, the trolls were discovered by – a Bergen!"

"The trolls are gonna –"

"Ji-im! Spoilers!" Toby hissed.

"They were the most miserable creatures in all the land."

Jim grabbed Enrique and covered his eyes. The smaller Changeling yelped and squirmed. Jim switched forms so his fingers wouldn't bleed from the clawing.

Enrique got his eyes uncovered just in time to see the Bergen flick a troll into its mouth.

The onscreen troll's exclamation of "Oh my god!" was drowned out by Enrique's much more lurid cursing.

"What the –?" The girls and Toby all turned to stare. Claire pointed at Enrique accusingly. "I knew that didn't mean 'I'm sorry'!"

"The hell kinda movie is this?! Why would you watch this?!" He twisted to look at Jim, who let go of him rather than risk yanking his scruff by accident. "You knew?!"

"I saw a bit of it on the internet when it first came out. That's why I froze up when Claire suggested it."

That … that was the wrong thing to say. Enrique rounded on Claire. A techno-rock cover of In The Hall Of The Mountain King boomed from the movie soundtrack.

"Why in FUCK'S NAME would you think we'd WANT to watch trolls get EATEN? Is this some kind of threat?"

"How the fuck would it be a threat?" Claire shot back, stealing some cushions from Mary to prop herself up taller without getting out of her blanket cocoon.

"Most Changelings –" Jim started to say.

"DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I'VE ALMOST BEEN EATEN?" Enrique roared. "I DON'T! CAUSE IT'S A LOT!"

"We've all had close calls," Jim finished. "Nyarlagroths, Hellheetis, goblins if you catch them in the wrong mood, Gruesomes if you're already hurt, Stalklings, and it's a … popular threat from Gumm-Gumms."

"You forgot the sloorbeasts," said Enrique bitterly.

"Nobody's gotten lichen patches that bad." At least, they hadn't when Jim got out. "Have they?"

"Still counts."

"Uh, excuse me." Toby raised his hand. "I think I speak for us all when I say, what?"

"The Darklands are a hostile environment with predators and scavengers," explained Jim. "That's the other reason we slept in groups."

"Bigger targets, but we could have lookouts."

"Okay, that's its own kind of horrifying, but I was more reacting to the cannibalism?"

"Changelings don't count as real trolls," Enrique said sarcastically. "We're Impure."

He left out the part where they'd eaten their own dead. Jim didn't add it.

(It wasn't like they'd hunted each other for food. Sometimes a Changeling just died, somehow, in a way that didn't get them eaten by something else, and … well, food was scarce in the Darklands. They couldn't afford to be picky.

It also paid to keep watch over the sentry posts. Gunmar occasionally used the Decimaar Blade to post a sentry and then forgot to order them to rest and eat. Once they died, the average adult Gumm-Gumm was a meal for twenty Changelings, easily, if they could get to the body before the Gruesomes did.)

"Okay, we're switching to Frozen." Mary made the executive decision. "Wait," she said, while exchanging the disks. "If Changelings aren't trolls, how does Jim's adoption work?"

Because of course this was the perfect moment to tell Enrique about that, right in the middle of a squabble with his adopted sister.

"For one thing, most of Trollmarket still thinks I'm human." Jim switched back to human shape to illustrate the point.

"You got adopted?"

"AAARRRGGHH and Blinky thought I should have legal standing in Trollmarket outside of my job."

Enrique stared at him. Green diamond-shaped ears were pinned back. Buggy, slit-pupil eyes were wide and hurt.

"You get everything," he grumbled. "Two nicknames, and the goblins liked you, and you could always find food, and here you're the boss's favourite even when you're a traitor, and your human family still likes you, and now you get a troll family too? S'not fair."

"Hey, the goblins liked you, too." Jim was fully aware that wasn't much comfort compared to all the rest of it. "They gave you your nickname, remember?"

"They gave you one, too."

"Yeah, but you got yours first."

They probably weren't supposed to hear Darci when she muttered, "I feel like we're missing a lot of context."

"Shit," Claire muttered back. "Not Enrique told me a bit of the name part. They don't remember their names from before they were Changelings, and they don't get real names until they have Familiars, so they use nicknames instead. From each other or from goblins, he said."

"They don't get names?" Darci's voice went squeaky at the end of that.

"We're trying to come up with something other than 'Enrique' for him."

"You're trying," Enrique corrected. Darci squeaked again.

"Can we maybe circle back to the cannibalism thing?" said Toby. "That feels like the kind of trauma that should get unpacked at some point."

"I would rather leave it packed," said Jim.

"The way you blurted it out like that feels like you need to talk about it."

"Not all psychology is Freudian, Tobes."

"Do your parents still have baby name books from when they were picking Enrique's name?" Mary asked Claire. "Real Enrique, I mean."

"They didn't use one. He was named after our abuelo."

"Okay, so what about your other grandfather? What was his name?"

"Jose María." Defensively, "It's gender neutral in Spanish."

On the television screen, the movie menu finished another loop and started again.

"I tried spelling my name like it sounds, en are ee kay, but Claire said it spelled 'Nrek'. You get why I couldn't use that."

Jim laughed.

"What's funny?" asked Toby. "Is that an insult or something?"

"No, it's goblin, in English it means 'bottle'," Jim translated. "Or possibly 'container of food'." The only bottles he's seen them use held formula for the Familiars, and the word hadn't come up on the surface, so the distinction was unclear. "It's either a silly name or a really morbid one."

"Aaand we're back to the cannibalism."

"No we are not!"

"Na na na heyana, Hahiyaha naha …"

Either somebody had decided to start the movie, or the DVD had that feature where it automatically began playing if nothing was selected after a few loops of the menu.

The conversation went in circles a couple more times, then faded out.

+=+

"And who's the funky-looking donkey over there?"

"That's Sven."

"Uh-huh; and who's the reindeer?"

"… Sven."

"Oh, they're – ? Oh! Okay! Makes things easier for me."

"~Riot~," said Enrique.

"Huh?"

"My nickname. Before. It meant 'riot'."

What are you doing? Jim wanted to demand. Was Enrique just – just giving up on a real name?

"You can call me that for now. Till we work out a for-real one. Better than 'Not Enrique'."

Jim stuffed some burnt popcorn kernels into his mouth to keep from protesting. He couldn't undermine Enrique's – Riot's – chosen name, right in front of a bunch of humans, when he'd been arguing with them about how rude that was for weeks now.

"Oh. Okay." Claire half-smiled. "Riot."

Jim shut his eyes to hide the flaring glow.

+=+

Previous Chapter (Angor Rot gets treated much better, and more sensibly, than in canon, and is correspondingly less vengeful)

Table of Contents

Next Chapter (Featuring either Otto or Gatto)

A quick thank you to Taycin on AO3 for providing some name-gender context when this chapter first went up.

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ezrisdax-archive · 4 years ago

Note

thoughts on time loops?

okay remember you asked this.

so. I wrote this as I was traveling home and it’s still just a jumble of thoughts but spoilers for like...all shows with time loops. there are a few things I think make up a perfect time loop, not all shows need to follow this structure, most only follow a few of the key things I feel they need and still come out stellar but what it boils down to for me is:

There can only be at max two people involved in the time loop. Three if you have a villain whose caused the loop but the focus should be about those two/one protag character stuck in the loop. This means the narrative growth they go through and the things they learn in the loop gets to shine, Legends of Tomorrow’s loop with Zari for instance. She gets to grow as a person with no else realizing what’s going on and remembers once it’s done. Time loops at their core should be about allowing narrative growth for a short amount of time.

They should remember all aspects of the loop once it’s done. Now some shows can pull off not having that, The Librarians for instance is in my top three of time loops but Ezekiel doesn’t remember in the end and it is probably my least fave part of that loop, but the other characters around him know he experienced the change and see that part of his growth, but I still believe that in order to further development the characters should remember the loop

Now if you’re not going for narrative growth then time loops should be about fun, this I feel is limited to shows that aren’t dramas. Like the Lilo and Stitch cartoon one. You can still have some growth but in a show where most of that will be reset anyway by the next episode just focus on the fun aspect there.

While you can start off in media res like Dark Matter’s time loop there’s something enjoyable about seeing the start, comparing the first loop and then every thing after it and the characters realizing what’s going on. It gives you a chance to really see the differences between each loops.

Look all things have been done before but that doesn’t mean you can’t put your own twist on the loop. In the Librarians the loop is because he’s trapped in a game. In Dark Matter a second person gets stuck in the loop a long time after the first person does. In Star Trek: TNG they don’t realize they’re even in a loop and only have deja vu and subtle hints something is wrong and what they need to change. You can make time loops unique.

Enjoy the humour in them. While I do believe they should mostly be used to establish a change in a character, there’s always that moment in the loop where the character realizes they can do anything. It allows them to explore different areas with other characters while not ruining anything in the show and gives a reasonable explanation for going back to the status quo for the other people not in the loop. Granted that leads to...

Exploring what the loop does on the person. How living it constantly over and over wears you down. Stargate’s time loop does this best for me with quick short loops each about ten seconds long that still get across the exhaustion happening to the characters. Each time you see Jack and the fruit loops you can see he’s just done with this.

Have there be a continual issue the person stuck in the loop has to deal with. It’s a lesson to be learned, like Sam dealing with Dean dying in Supernatural or Erica in Being Erica learning to take the value of a single day or in the movie Naked when the main character just has to

Lean on the repeats, explore the differences even one line can make when a character doesn’t get a chance to say them or how the character in the loop convinces others they’re in the loop and need help. Or you can just show the faith that the characters have in each other by having them believe the other right away like Nathan does with Audrey in Haven’s. There’s something enjoyable either in showing the growing bond of the characters or how it’s always there.

When the loop is done give one scene at the end to show the character is still living some aspect of them. In Stargate Jack is allowed to enjoy oatmeal which seems silly but is big to him given how the loop was. In all of Russian Dolls you can tell the characters aren’t going to forget these any time soon and it’s still influencing their actions and choices (granted this whole show is a loop so it would focus on that anyway). In the Adventure Zone the knowledge Magnus gets from the loop literally changes everything about the story as it follows.

Look at their core time loops are the same as any trope, a means to tell a story. They just also allow the story to contain more growth than the usual one given the short amount of time. You can make them as funny or as drama as you want, ranging from Xena’s episode with Cupid and using her chakram to fix all the issues in one city to Eureka’s episode that ends with Stark dying to stop the loop for good. The nice thing about this trope is how it can be played either way.

Also while loops don’t really explore it (Dark Matter tried but ended the loop on the first go) is getting someone in the loop after the first person is already in it. @sidewaystime and I have had talks about nested loops like that, would the loop reset if either died? Would one have to live out the time till the reset? If someone loops in a smaller time frame than the first how does the effect the first loop? If the first loop is broken does that autobreak the second loop? And if they person starts is now on the same time frame as the first loop what does that mean for the technology that started the loop? Can it sustain that? Is that would cause it to fail in the end?

You can do a whole show of it! Play it like Daybreak and Russian Doll and go whole episodes/seasons involved in that loop or do it like Tru Calling and loop once.

There’s just a lot of variety with this trope! It’s amazing what it can do! Aaaand my top loops episodes/arcs:

Window of Opportunity - Stargate

Cause and Effect - Star Trek: TNG

And the Point of Salvation - The Librarians

The 11th Hour - The Adventure Zone

Naked (Netflix film)

Here I go Again - Legends of Tomorrow

Mystery Spot - Supernatural (look I hate the show but that’s a good episode!)

All the Time in the World - Dark Matter

I Do Over - Eureka

Been There, Done that - Xena

(notice I did not actually put Groundhog Day on here, while I do enjoy that movie I hate that the guys a douche and wins the girl over in the end. I’m not comfortable if they do a relationship much in a loop unless it’s fanfic)

send me asks that are like “thoughts on ______”

#I've only written five time loop fics #I'm a sham #waverly earp #replies in thirty minutes or its free

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hideawayintheimaginationworld · 4 years ago

Text

I am Machine: Chapter 6

“Let's watch something together Alec!

It was 3:56 pm, Alec and Helpy had made themselves comfortable on Lefty's large bed with pillows all around. It was now obvious Lefty had a lot of pillows on his bed which Helpy had arranged into a pile for them. Helpy had set the tablet on a stand so he didn’t have to hold it in front of them.

“What should we watch?” Helpy asked.

“I dunno, I don't know what you have....” Alec shrugged.

This was the only way to spend time, Lefty was working, most likely singing a happy tune on stage while Helpy explained since the encounter with the rotten teen, going out to see guests just didn't appeal to him anymore, he even said to Alec he was also nearly torn in half once by some grubby kids but Foxy intervened.

Helpy looked at the screen, “Well we have Disney movies like Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., Lilo and Stitch... Ooh, I just remembered! Mike finally put the rest of Phineas and Ferb on here!”

“Phineas and Ferb...?”

“A show about two boys who invent all kinds of crazy things and their pet platypus who is a secret agent.”

“I know, I know, my sister sometimes watches it.....” Alec nodded, “It’s a thing for little kids isn't it?”

“No, me and Lefty watch it!” Helpy was kind of defensive.

“Okay, okay!” Alec did not want to start a fight at this point.

“How about we watch the first episode and you decide what you think!”

Alec never sat down and watched it with Hazel. She had asked if he wanted to watch it, but he always looked at her with a scowl and said “No”, then he'd go find something better to do.

Well he didn’t have anything important to do, “Alright. Let's watch it.”

Alec had seen the animation style before, he and Helpy were both engrossed in it by the end, when it finished, Alec felt kind of disappointed, he found it was actually more enjoyable than he thought.

“Can we watch more?” Alec asked Helpy immediately.

“Sure!” Helpy nodded.

Alec wasn’t sure what time it was when somebody knocked at the door.

Helpy paused the video as they were now watching episode 5, he then turned towards the door and called out, “Who is it?”

“It's Lewis!”

“Oh come in Lewis!” Helpy nodded happily.

Lewis walked into the room, all dressed up, closing the door behind him, “I washed this, it kind of smelled.....” He looked at Alec.

He looked puzzled, he then nervously chuckled slightly, “Okay, you weren’t broken, I suspected you weren't but I didn't know... You were so still when I held you...” He scratched the back of his head.

“This is Alec!” Helpy had introduced him. “We're watching Phineas and Ferb! Do you want to watch with us?”

“Ummmm not today...? Do you want this back?” Lewis held up the blanket Alec would drag around, “I gave it a wash because it had a strange smell on it...”

Alec walked over and grabbed the bottom of it. Lewis allowed it to fall onto the ground.

“Thanks Lewis....”

“You're definitely not a Lonely Freddy... Lefty wouldn’t let one get so close to Helpy when he’s not around..... Ever since what happened that night... The fact he left you alone with Helpy means Lefty has some level of trust in you....” Lewis spoke, sounding very unsure.

“I'm human....” Alec had wrapped himself in the blanket, “Umm... Do you remember a birthday party? For a girl named Hazel? That happened in April?”

“Not particularly....” Lewis frowned and shook his head. He had done so many parties here that he didn’t remember all of them, especially not one that happened months ago, heck he couldn't even remember the ones he did last week. They were all kind of the same.

“She's my sister. I remember you were there, you were playing a ukulele on that day...” Alec did remember seeing him strumming his ukulele.

“I do play the ukulele.....” He nodded. “I’m sorry, I don't know you are. It happened some time ago so I don't remember it, ” He shrugged.

“I was a teenager....” Alec was trying to jog his memory reasoning that he may remember something. “Blonde hair, green eyes... I... Ripped the arm of a Yarg Foxy...” He was absolutely ashamed to admit it now, especially in front of Helpy.

“Wait... I remember something,” Lewis froze, recalling back to an event he did remember happening that could be connected. “A woman with a child... She was a little girl with blonde curls and green eyes. They approached me asking if I had seen an “Alec”, telling me he ran off after he tore the arm of the toy......”

Lewis then nodded as he started to see it clear, “I did see some teenager run pass me about twenty minutes before but I wasn’t sure if that was Alec because he ran by quickly and I barely had time to react before I realise he just ran out of my vision. I saw the toy in question and said we could repair it or replace it... They chose to get it repaired at the workshop in the back of the pizzeria... I think the woman was named Meg... Is that your mother?”

“Yes! Yes! That's her!” Alec nodded.

“I saw her later, she said she found you???” Lewis looked absolutely confused.

Alec knew he must be talking about the Lonely Freddy, “She did... But I was... Helpy said mind swap was the proper term... I'm the real Alec... Lonely Freddy is in my body.”

“It explains why Lefty has left you both unsupervised... So... You are a teenager? I know a little about what Lefty does... So I guess this is magic somehow?”

“Lefty explained what happened was some sort of trance... Hypnosis...” Alec remembered that conversation they had.

“Creepy... I don’t understand this pizzeria at the best of times... Kind of strange rules..... We aren't suppose to mention the legend of the Shadow Puppet... We aren’t told why we shouldn’t....” Lewis muttered.

“Wait the doll! Is it still in the repair studio?” Helpy asked.

“No, it was fixed on the same day... We usually like to fix those things on the same day... Both so we can get that stuff out of the way and to please the customers. They were happy with the repair and I remember I said goodbye to them as they left, I remember because the little girl came up to me and thanked me for taking the toy to be repaired quickly.”

That sounded like something Hazel would do.

“I also spoke to.... Alec... But I guess that wasn't you....”

Alec shook his head, “I need to go home! I'm not suppose to be here! I was ready to apologise for being a jerk and Lonely Freddy stole that from me! He stole my body and he’s stolen my family!!!”

“Alec you need to calm down...” Lewis said.

“No, no, no, no! No! I'm suppose to be human like you! I'm stuck like this and I'm scared I'll never go home! I don't want to be here! This place is creepy at night and this... This is too much for me....” Alec held his head in his hands.

Lewis looked around, he had to take in a lot at once. All he really understood was that this thing was suppose to be a child who was trapped in the worse kind of prison. Alec, this poor kid... Was breaking apart. Lewis couldn’t possibly imagine how much pain and grief he was feeling, all at once. Anger, depression, such powerful emotions a child should never have to experience, especially when the circumstances were considered.

Lewis looked at Helpy, who looked the exact same as he did. Trying to process this and figuring out what to do next.

This was the first time Lewis had to ever deal with an intense mental breakdown, especially with someone older, he usually would tend to kids who were younger and their problems could be fixed as quick as a snap of his finger. Teenagers never would get upset.

“Alec....” Lewis started, “I... I... I can't help you...”

Alec expected that answer.

“But I will do you anything you ask of me in regards to this.”

He didn’t expect that.

“Would you like a hug? I usually allow kids to hug me when they're sad, they say I'm cuddly.”

That was really unexpected.

Lewis kneeled down and stretched out his arms, Alec slowly walked towards him then crashed into his arms, he felt himself cry but it was strange, his tears felt really hot.

“Helpy, maybe go find something to calm Alec down..? Maybe something sweet like a chocolate chip cookie?” Lewis asked.

“Okay...” Alec heard Helpy leave the room and his eyes rested on the ground.

“Alec... Are you okay?”

“No,” Alec answered.

“It's okay to feel your emotions... I’d probably have a breakdown also if I was a teddy bear....” Lewis spoke and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, he then handed it to Alec who was using it to wipe his face.

“I can't imagine being away against my will, in a strange place, away from my family... I can't imagine how much you are hurting... Alec... When did this happen if you don't mind answering...?”

“April...” Alec answered in a weak voice, “How much time has passed Lewis?”

Lewis honestly didn't want to answer, because he knew it was going to shock him, but he did, “It's now August the 2nd... You've been like this for about four months..... I'm sorry Alec.... We got rid of the Lonely Freddy's in late April. I read the official decommissioning documentations, they were taken out of service because they kept breaking, and there were multiple complaints about them acting strange. They apparently were asking questions that they aren’t programmed to ask, things like “what’s your biggest regret?”, they shouldn’t know let alone be asking that sort of stuff... It's insensitive and rude.”

“It.. Asked me that..”

“It shouldn't have. Either it learnt that...” Lewis remembered he was told it would learn from conversations, which made it sound like a listening device. That thought always made him paranoid.

“Or bad programming existed....” Lewis muttered.

“I.... Heard you say you didn’t want to leave your nephews alone with it...”

“I couldn’t explain why I felt that way, maybe it was just a gut feeling that I always had, something inside me would always scream at me, whenever I saw a Lonely Freddy approach, my mind would scream at me: “Watch your nephews, don't let them go alone to anywhere, avoid the eyes, and keep them safe”.... I care for my nephews.... I don’t have children and I'm unsure if I want any... I would only have them with the right person... Kinda difficult though... When the majority of the people I feel love for are men....”

“So... You’re gay then..?”

“Polysexual, I'm interested in most people, it's a sexuality that's sort of on the same level as pansexuality...” Lewis explained, “I've had relationships with mostly men, non-binary people... It's kind of adventurous...”

“Is it good? Your relationships?”

“Most are good... I've instantly broken relationships when they cheat or show red flags... Kind of like the Lonely Freddy... Showing multiple red flags.”

“I was foolish to not see-”

“Lefty told me the Lonely Freddy's were manipulative, cunning and sneaky...” Lewis interrupted him to say that, “They were always hiding their true intentions... Did... Did Lefty tell you about Lucky?”

“Lucky?” Alec frowned not recalling that name ever being said.

“It was a Lonely Freddy that came into the room while he and Helpy slept.... I'm not telling you exact details.... But Lefty didn’t always have one eye..... Ask about it...”

One eye.

Did Lefty get into a fight?

How could Lonely Freddy fight a bear that was almost triple his size? Alec found Lefty intimidating still and he had known him for three days by this point, Alec had seen Helpy being completely calm around Lefty because he was super kind to him.

Something wasn’t right here. Lefty's hatred for Lonely Freddy must have started somewhere and it left Alec wondering about the existence of the lock again.

Next Chapter will contain both some answers and Lefty (It's opening hours that's why Lefty is absent).

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#five nights at freddy's #fazbear frights #Lonely Freddy #FNAF Alec #Helpy #Lewis Anthony- Human Music Man #Lefty isn't here but he'll be in the next chapter #I am Machine Story

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the-roanoke-society · 6 years ago

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now presenting: more aus for the ship tags i’d love to see.

explore below the cut. ... because i’ve watched a lot of ouat today.

butterfly knife: cinderella au. it’s not often that a lowly, local tailor missing an eye snags entry into a local ball, courtesy of his fairy godmother complete with hazel eyes and a drawl. but he does know how often he’s seen in the princess in passing. he knows how much he loves her. and now is his chance to see what could happen, maybe, if he can convince her to just one dance...

body shots: lady & the tramp au. he was a scoundrel. she was... well, could at least pass for a lady. but the real plot twist was them finding out how much they had in common--and how much the other seemed like a breath of fresh air.

lies & lessons: sleeping beauty au. maleficent expected a lot of things out of the southern prince. she expected a sword. a shield. righteous anger. and while the rage showed up, something else did too, something that took her by surprise--a lasso.

anchored hearts: the rescuers au. because we really, really need to talk about joseph--big, huge, massive joseph--as the meek and mild janitorial staff member of the rescue aid society, following the optimistic, fearless louise to the bayou, to save a woman who is not all that she seems (i’ll give you a hint, her handle comes from a particularly cursed doll).

magic & mischief: the black cauldron au. kieran had a humble upbringing that got very, very complicated very, very quickly. and it got even more complicated when he found a woman in a tower: “i’m princess alessia!” sort of an inconvenient time to meet the love of your life.

rumcake: who framed roger rabbit au. toons and waking--well, our reality, enmeshed. a detective still mourning his brother in the shape of a bottle, much to the grief of the fiery redheaded bartender who loves him. and now--roger. “you crazy rabbit! i'm out there risking my neck for you, and what are you doing? singing and dancing!” “but I'm a toon. toons are supposed to make people laugh!”

starry eyes: the little mermaid au. his tail glittered like metal--like stars. two things she was very familiar with. and as she gasped back air, her heart jittering back into a normal rhythm--she blinked. the sun was behind his head, blinding her, as she laid on the sand, still sputtering water--but those eyes. those eyes she’d recognize anywhere.

on the rocks: the emperor’s new groove au. she was a queen who’d been turned into a llama. you abso-fucking-lutely read that right. and they were just a simple shepherd trying to carve out a peaceful existence in the hills. but... she needed their help. and thus began a very bizarre quest to take back the throne, and her humanity.

sleight of heart: atlantis: the lost empire au. no one had believed in him. not for years. and he was still young, by the academic standards. but whitman had given him his father’s journals for a reason. and that reason--well. his dad might’ve said something about research, knowledge. but every time he looked at the princess... well. he secretly hoped the reason was shaped more like her.

puppy love: lilo & stitch au. “eggsy--eggsy, babe, that’s not a dog!” “well, look, i couldn’t just leave him there at the shelter, all the other dogs were scared of him! and look, look, jb likes him, don’t you jb?” meanwhile jb had backed himself behind a bookshelf, staring at his new brother, who looked a bit blue for his taste, if he could speak.

from the ashes: treasure planet au. ... look i just really, really want to see a more romantic cut of the scene with silver and jim sailing next to/inside of the shooting star featuring arizona and phoenix and to be honest who can blame me? please consider a grizzled, german ship cook saddled with this poor young woman who was just--at the wrong place at the wrong place time.

devil bois: howl’s moving castle au. the real question is who’s sophie and who’s howl, because either way, this is probably one of the better ideas of i’ve had in like three days.

holy hell: up au. the king of hell never thought, for once, in all his years, that he would lose his wife. his andrea. but... he did. however, unlike the pixar film we know and love, this au, to me, takes a hard left turn: it becomes a journey of a man, his earnest helper, and a dog, all on a journey to find the one sacred relic that can reunite him with his love. yeah, there’s also a weird bird.

out to sea: ponyo au. i know this is essentially the little mermaid but can we please just stop and think about younger!raziel carrying an even younger!nereus around in a goddamned plastic bucket and feeding him lunch meat.

ancient cares: a christmas carol au. i know this is a bit out of season considering i’m posting this in october, but... sentinel, crochety and made bitter by the loss of his true love, is visited by three spirits (all of whom sound strangely--southern). and while it culminates in a changed heart, and a renewed sense of generosity, good things happen to those who do good. and he is not quite prepared when a certain someone crashes back into his life, to the tune of church bells ringing out yuletide hymns.

safety nets: tangled au. he’d been locked in a tower for basically his entire life. granted, he sort of... didn’t always have the best use of his legs. metallic or otherwise. but when a pretty young thief breaks into his tower--well he naturally had to slam a rolling pin into her head, how else was he supposed to react?

grace & choice: strange magic au. she was just trying to rescue her sister. that was it. if she’d known--if she’d known how gentle, how kind, how patient, the bog queen could be, behind her thick walls of malice, violence and dark magic? ... well. if she was honest with herself, she knew damn well she would have gone anyway.

secret gardens: snow white au. “karen? ... karen. it’s okay. don’t cry. you have all seven of us to help you. it’s going to be okay. we’ll help you find the prince in the glass coffin. just--just bring the shears. something tells me there’s uh. gonna be a lot of thorns. the queen’s sense of humor is funny like that.”

royals & robots: big hero 6 au. featuring tilde’s deceased older sister that didn’t exist in canon. although, now that i think about it... some of these lines may actually be a part of their actual canon as a ship tag. “on a scale of one to ten, how would your rank your pain?” “zero!” because tilde got hurt. and she was so used to hiding it from humans, she didn’t understand that she’d failed to hide it from an entity like pru.

hymns & holograms: beauty and the beast au. once upon a time in scotland--a man let his temper get the best of him. before he knew better, before he was given a chance to grow. and one day, a young woman--a scholar, with a bag of mystical tomes slung over her shoulder--blows in through the snow. not completely understanding the curse. not completely knowing what the price is of the magic at hand. “my name is morgan. i’m here to help you.”

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stacks-reviews · 7 years ago

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New Releases 8/29/17

Happy New Release Day!

This is the big one folks. The one we’ve all been waiting and training for.

The Lion King, The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride, and The Lion King 1 1/2 is finally freed from on the vault. I missed picking it up the first time it came out on DVD/Blu-Ray but I am not missing out this time. Unfortunately for our wallets, all three will have to be bought separately. Which is mildly frustrating since Pocahontas, Lilo and Stitch, Mulan, and The Fox and the Hound were all released with their sequels in a combo pack earlier this year. For the same price as what one of these alone will be. Yet I can’t blame Disney for wanting to cash in while they can though they really don’t need to. I’ll definitely be getting the first two later today. I’ve never seen the third and I don’t particularly care to.

In Books --A Song for Quiet (Persons Non Grata #2) by Cassandra Khaw “Deacon James is a wandering bluesman straight from Georgia, a black man with troubles that he can’t escape, and music that won’t let him go. On a train to Arkham, he meets trouble - visions of nightmares, gaping mouths and gasping tendrils, and a madman who calls himself John Persons. According to the stranger, Deacon is carrying a seed in his head, a thing that will destroy the world if he lets it hatch. The mad ravings chase Deacon to his next gig. His saxophone doesn’t call up his audience from their seats, it calls up monstrosities from across dimensions. As Deacon flees, chased by horrors and cultists, he stumbles upon a runaway girl, who is trying to escape her father, and the destiny he has waiting for her. Like Deacon, she carries something deep inside her, something twisted and dangerous. Together, they seek to leave Arkham, only to find the Thousand Young lurking in the woods. The song in Deacon’s head is growing stronger, and soon he won’t be able to ignore it any more.”

I have not read the first book (Hammers on Bone) in this series yet but I don’t think you will necessarily need to in order to read this one. John Persons was the main character in book one but it looks like he’ll be taking a back seat in book two. It was actually this book that made me interested in this series. I love it when music is a form of magic.

--Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor Volume 1 by Tarou Hitsuji and illustrated by Aosa Tsunemi “Lumia and Sisti are mages-in-training at a prestigious magical academy where they hope to be taught by the best of the best. However, when their favorite instructor suddenly retires, his replacement turns out to be a total jerk - he’s idle, incompetent, and always late! Can Lumia help uncover their new teacher’s true potential - and can Sisti still learn magic and unravel the secrets of the mysterious Sky Castle with such a terrible mentor as her guide?”

I watched the anime of this series on Crunchyroll, though I still need to finish the last episode or two. If you ever decide to try it out, give it two episodes. It does a complete mood change near the end of episode two and from the there the show really starts getting good. The volume showed up a little early at my work so I flipped through it at the end of my shift. The end of episode two is where the volume ends. Or maybe it was a little into episode three?

There is some mild fan-service in this series. And the new teacher is a perv. But other than that I really enjoyed the show and I’m excited to read the manga.

--Kigurumi Guardians Volume 1 by Lily Hoshino “Hakka Sasakura’s life it about to turn upside-down. She comes home from a day of admiring her student body president to discover that a mysterious creature resembling a man in an animal suit has taken up residence in her home. What’s more, she has been chosen to work with this strange being to fight off invaders from another dimension and save the world...and she has to kiss him to do so?!”

Really drawn to this series because of the art style. Which this series is written and illustrated by the artist of Penguin Drum. Which then makes me think of Utena and Yurikuma Arashi. The first chapter is available to read on Kodansha’s website. It covers how Hakka and two other students (one girl and one boy (yay more magical boys!)) are recruited and become involved in a short fight with one of the weaker dimensional beings. Though none of them fight in the first chapter, it was set up for them to see that such beings are indeed real and threatening their world.

In Movies --A Journey Through Fairyland “Michael is a gifted oboe player, but his heart’s not in it. He ignores his musical studies to lose himself in the garden, playing for the benefit of his beloved flowers. Michael’s frustrated teacher gives him an ultimatum: Be serious, or leave the music school forever! Despondent, Michael prepares to say goodbye to the garden. But the floral fairy Florence, so bewitched by his music, bestows a powerful magic wand on Michael, and whisks him away. Will Michael’s astonishing adventure with Florence in Fairyland help him rediscover his love of music?”

Really want to see this. It was directed by Masami Hata who also directed Little Nemo Adventures in Storyland and The Sea Prince and the Fire Child. Which I have also never seen. But all three just look amazing. Especially Little Nemo.

--Marmalade Boy Collection 1 “Miki Koishikawa’s parents have always been strange. While deeply caring for their daughter, they’re prone to wasteful spending, oversleeping, and even taking extravagant trips. And their latest trip to Hawaii has brought back something truly outrageous: love. Not for each other, but for a different couple entirely! With her parents planning to divorce and swap partners with the Matsuuras, Miki’s life is turned upside down with a new, highly abnormal family all living together in one house. To top it off, Matsuuras have a son named Yuu exactly Miki’s age, and he’s too gorgeous for words. For better or worse, this is Miki’s life now, but adjusting won’t be easy when jealous rivals and old flames enter the mix!

Collection 1 includes episodes 1-38 of this classic shoujo series. I have never seen this series but two of my friends are very excited for this re-release. At first I thought this would be a more drama shoujo series but after a second thought I realized that it is more of a romantic comedy. After all, with both families under the same roof but staying with the others spouse there is sure to be a lot of funny, awkward situations.

--The Nutcracker Fantasy “After a young girl, Clara, receives a nutcracker from her enigmatic Uncle Drosselmayer, she finds that her precious present is stolen by thieving rats led by Mauslynx, the double-headed rat queen. To win it back, Clara enters a surreal land through her family’s grandfather clock. One of her stops is the Kingdom of Dolls, where she finds the king grieving over his cursed, eternally-asleep daughter, Princess Mary, a doppelganger for Clara herself. She and Franz, the captain of the guards and Mary’s suitor, infiltrate the army of rats in a desperate attempt to dethrone the despot!”

A stop-motion film from 1979 made with dolls. It reminds me of the classic Christmas films of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Year Without Santa Claus, and so on. Which I watch every year so this title would be a nice addition to add to my yearly movies. Also, film wise, it looks very impressive. I looked up a trailer on YouTube and it has some pretty great camerawork that I don’t think I’ve seen in other stop-motion films of that era.

Those are my top picks for this week. Other great titles are also coming out today like Gotham S3 and Ushio and Tora (the new series). What is everyone most excited for?

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littlenerdgirl16 · 7 years ago

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Birthday Surprise!

Prompt: You expect me to walk home with you dressed like that?

Paring: Bucky x Reader

A/n: This is for @tatortot2701 writing challenge. Hope you enjoy this cute thing. I modified the prompt so it would fit better in the story. :)

Warnings: Fffllluufffff

Word count: 1,883

Summary: It’s your birthday and you get the best gift you could ask for. ;)

Your birthday was coming quickly and Bucky had no idea what to do for you. He knew that you loved Stitch from Lilo and Stitch. So he went on Pinterest while you were at work. He logged on to his account,(Because who doesn’t have one. :) ) and searched ‘Stitch Birthday parties.’ The results were very childish but you were a childish person so it worked out perfectly. He clicked on one of the party cites and it was so full of ideas. He had so much to do and little time to do it.

“TONY!” Bucky called for the billionaire. “What do you want Barnes?” Tony walked in the room and looked over his shoulder. “Y\N birthday party is coming up and I want to do it Lilo and Stitch themed. Here are some ideas that I want to do.” He showed Tony the cite and he nodded. “Yes, she will definitely love this.” He clapped his hands and began to leave Bucky’s side. “Let's get down to business.” He shouted as he walked away.

Bucky and Tony were working on your party for hours. They stopped when they realized that you got off work soon. “Thanks Tony, for helping me.” Tony nodded. “Yeah no problem. It fun to actually work together. Y\N is going to love it.” He padded Bucky on the back and went back to his electronics.

Ten minutes later you walked in the door and dropped your bag off in your room. You flopped on the bed, face first grabbing your stitch stuffed animal. “You okay Y\N?” You rolled over and looked at Bucky, “Just a long day at work.” Bucky moved to lay down with you. You moved to your side to see his beautiful face. “Tell me about it.” He smiled and took your hand in his. He rubbed soothing circles as you spoke.

“Well the printer decided that it was going to stop working. Which was very inconvenient and annoying because I had a paper due at the end of the day. So I spoke to my manager and he gave me more time. So that was a plus. Then I dropped my coffee on my desk so now it’s sticky and all my document are ruined.” You laid down on your stomach, head still facing Bucky. He moved closer to you and rubbed your back. “Sounds like fun.”

You shrugged “I guess. How was your day?” He looked down at the bed and smiled remembering what he and Tony did all day. “Quiet. Tony did help me with the birthday party theme though.” You didn’t know about the birthday party theme. Bucky said it would be a secret. “Ooo fun. I can’t wait to see what it is.” You smiled at him and got up. “I’m going to find something to eat.” Bucky got up and followed you.

In the kitchen Sam was already eating. He looked up from his food and saw you and Bucky walk in. “Well, well well. If it isn’t the two love birds. Hi, Y\N. How are you?” You smiled. “I’m great Sam. What about you?” He responded with food in his mouth. “Freat.” You laughed at the response. “Good to hear.”

Bucky walked over to the pantry and got out cereal. You liked to eat cereal after a long day and Bucky knew that. He brought over the bowl, spoon, milk and cereal. You instantly grabbed it and poured it in and ate. You hummed in pleasure at the cold sugary cereal. Bucky sat next to you and ate with you. Your day went out as normal. You couldn’t wait for the weekend. Why? Because it was your 20th birthday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was the morning of your birthday. You woke up to music from Lilo and Stitch, Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride. You stretched out and started to sing along immediately knowing what the theme was. Getting up slowly and making your way to the kitchen to eat.

You sat down at the bar stool watching everyone bustle around. Bucky came up to you and kissed you. “Good Morning and happy birthday Princess. How are you. “ You kissed him again and replied, “Good. I am ready for the day…” You looked down at your pjs. “Well...sort of.” You snickered. Bucky took your hand and led you back to your room to let you get dressed.

Bucky ran back to the main room to start decorating for your birthday. He got Tony and Steve to help. Natasha made the cake and the pizza from scratch. Who knew she could cook and bake? He asked Wanda to take you out. She agreed and went to get you. “But make sure you leave out the back. Ok?” Wanda waved him off.

You heard a knock on your door and a voice you could easily recognize. “Y\N are you ready?” Her Russian accent was so beautiful as she spoke. Man I wish I had an accent like that. You thought. You opened the door to see your best friend. “Hey Wanda!” You hugged her and she gladly returned the hug. “Are you ready? I’m going to take you out for your birthday!” A smile appeared on your face. “Alright let’s go!” You grabbed Wanda’s arm and skipped out the back door for birthday shopping.

Bucky saw you run by and sighed. Seeing you skip was the cutest thing he had ever seen. He turned away as you left the room. “Ok now that she is gone we can really get ready.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Are we ready!!” Bucky excitedly asked everyone. They all nodded and ran to get into place. Bucky texted Wanda that they were finished.

She immediately replied: At the mall getting bday clothes. Be there in an hour. :)

Bucky smiled and told everyone. “Ok so we have an hour to do any last minute preparations. Anything else we should add? Steve?” He shrugged “No I think we are good.” He smiled at his best friend and went to the gym. Bucky decided that he was going to read. He grabbed The lord of the Rings. You are always pestering him about it. So he finally started to read it. But it wasn’t long before he was interrupted.

“The longest hour ever!” Natasha was whining about it for about ten minutes now and it was driving Bucky crazy.Nat plopped down on the couch next to Bucky and draped her legs across his. Bucky was getting irritated. She kept poking him and asking to do something with her. “Can we go to the mall or something? PLEASE I’m dying of boredom! Bucky!! Pay me some attention!!”

Bucky drew in a deep breath and sighed. “Why don’t you go bake more cookies or cake? Stop bothering me.” Nat threw a glare his direction but he could care less. She went to the kitchen and made lots more cookies.

By the time she was done with the fifth batch of cookies, you and Wanda walked in. Bucky and Natasha heard the door and ran to greet you. Nat beat Bucky there and gave you a big hug. “You’re back! Now.” She clapped her hands together and squealed. “Let’s get the party started!” She ran ahead to make sure that everything was in order.

Bucky walked to you giving a hug. He picked you up and spun around, laughter coming from both of you. He walked to the couch, set you down, hovering over you, kissing you. “What’s all this for?” You gestured to everything around you and between you and Bucky. “Well it’s your birthday doll. You thought I forgot didn’t you?” He flashed you a sideways smile. You only shook your head, smiling. Kissing him again, you get up from the couch.

He takes your hand in his and leads you to the kitchen. There you see Nat and Wanda tasting the frosting on the cake. You ran over to join them. You dipped your finger in and put it in your mouth. Your eyes widened. “Nat! This is AMAZING!” You gave her a hug and ate more of the frosting. Bucky and Wanda both laughed at you. “Come here doll. There’s a gift I want you to open. It’s from me.” He winked at you as you walked over to him. “Ok. Lead the way.”

He led you to your room. “Why are we in my room? Isn’t the party in the main room?” He shook his head. “This gift is especially from me.” He went to your closet and grabbed a big box. Plopping it on the bed you gave him a confused look. He handed you a knife and gestured for you to open. You sat down, opening the box.

Inside was the one thing you have been asking for since Christmas. It was a Stitch onesie. You lept into Bucky’s arms. “Thank you so much. I love it.” You kissed his neck as he laughed. “I’m glad you love it.” He kissed you on the lips and hugged you again. “Now the only thing to do is put it on.” You squealed and ran to put it on.

When you came out Bucky greeted you. You laughed and wrapped your arms around his neck. “You are THE best boyfriend ever. You are so amazing. Thank you.”

“You are very welcome Y\N. Lets go so we can get started.” You nodded.

The both of you walked into the movie room and sat down on the reclining chairs. Steve walked in and sat next to you. “Nice onesies Y\N.” He chuckled. “Why thank you Steve.”

An idea popped into your head. You turned back to Bucky and asked. “Hey, Bucky do you want to walk around the park with me?” He gave you a very confused look. “Uhh...You expect me to walk around with you dressed like that? I don’t think so Y\N.”

“Why what’s the matter with it?” You joked. He shrugged. “I don’t think people would take you seriously. You are too cute for your own good and I think that you might get unwanted attention.” You laughed. “I suppose...but we ARE going to walk around the park eventually right?” You threw him an evil grin, knowing that he planned on it. He sighed in defeat. “Yeah, we are.” He kissed you and pressed play. You did and mental fist pump and smiled at him.

You got up to grab a blanket and snuggled back up to him. “Thank you for the best birthday ever. I know you got me this onesie and I absolutely love it, but you are my favorite gift ever.” He looked down at you, “We haven’t even had the cake yet.” You smacked him on the stomach. “We were having a moment and you ruined it.” He laughed and hugged you. “You are very welcome Y\N. I’m glad you are having fun. Happy Birthday, my one and only.” He kissed the top of your head and watched the opening sequence to Lilo and Stitch.

#james bucky barnes #bucky x reader #reader insert #hope you enjoy this!!#writing challenge

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narclla · 8 years ago

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a sweet feeling.

narella is not worthless. not useless. not pathetic. not anymore.

when narella was young, she was one of the happiest children imaginable. she liked to play games, and her favourite was hide-and-seek. she was practically a master at the game, and being an alien definitely helped. she would play it with the agents at the federation headquarters when she was there, or when she was down on earth, she would play it with her ohana and with some of the neighbouring kids. she always won, sometimes receiving candy or toys for her victory. it was a sweet feeling, and the rewards that she got made it even sweeter.

as she grew up, the happiness that she once obtained disappeared from her a bit, and the violent tendencies that she was designed to have began to kick in. by the time she was merely six-years-old, she no longer enjoyed playing games, and all she seemed to do was make a mess of things she wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near.

auntie lilo’s jewelry? it’d go missing for short periods of time. the alarms at the federation headquarters? they’d all be set off at once. just for fun.

narella couldn’t seem to keep herself out of trouble, but she also seemed to enjoy it; every single bit of it.

it was around this time in her life that the grand councilwoman took such an interest in her, and she would meet with the young alien every week, twice a week. it was always an hour-long meeting, and the older alien always asked the same, boring questions.

“have you gotten into trouble this week?”

“yes.”

“what trouble have you gotten into?”

“i took some candy from the candy shop.”

“and what else?”

“i took auntie lilo’s pretty earrings.”

“is that all?”

“... i shoved one of our neighbours into the mud.”

that’s how the meetings always went. the two would just go back and forth. question and answer. narella hated it, but she didn’t question it. she didn’t question it for three years.

then, she turned nine, and she had a revelation.

“auntie pleakley, why doesn’t the grand councilwoman meet with eivui? or ... or any of the others?” she asked the older alien, on her ninth birthday.

“huh? oh, well ... well, you’re just the most interesting to her!” pleakley lied, patting the young girl’s head. “she thinks you’re just ... cute and interesting, you know? she wants to know more about you! and who wouldn’t? you’re a doll!”

narella just giggled, accepting the answer.

still, though, she wasn’t satisfied, not at all. the grand councilwoman never just wanted to ‘get to know’ someone. everyone knew that. narella was no exception.

she didn’t ask any more questions about it, though..

instead, she found something else to ask about, a few months later.

“auntie pleakley, you know how you’re eivui’s mama? and you know how uncle stitch is jaci and nearea’s dad?” she asked, her head tilted slightly to one side as she looked up at the older alien.

“well, of course i know that, sweetie! what about it?”

“why don’t i have a mama or a dad?” the tiny alien asked, her voice small.

“oh! oh. i, uh, because ---” pleakley began, stuttering, not knowing how to answer her question. “--- because ... because uncle jumba made you special, that’s why!”

narella didn’t buy it, but she smiled and nodded anyway.

it wasn’t until narella’s tenth birthday that she found out the truth about all the questions she’d had, and she hadn’t even been supposed to find out.

she had awoken in the middle of the night, and was going to go out to the kitchen to get a glass of water, but she stopped dead in her tracks in the hallway when she heard the hushed voice sounding from the dining room.

“i don’t know, lilo. i just ... i have a feeling she’s gonna ask another question tomorrow, and i’ll have no idea what to say! i had trouble just answering her last question. i know she’s not supposed to know the truth, you know?” pleakley whispered, “not supposed to know about her design or her dad, but ... but i hate lying to her. hate keeping her dad from her, especially. i mean, i know he’s evil, but ... but he’s still her dad ...”

it was then that narella practically threw herself into the room, tears streaming down her face. “i wanna see my dad,” she demanded, her fists clenched at her sides.

it was about two weeks later that narella was taken to the federation to meet her father, leroy. she couldn’t have been more excited.

she practically skipped down the hallway beside pleakley, an excited smile plastered on her face as her heart beat out of her chest. “i get to meet my dad! i get to meet my daaad!” she sang, squealing excitedly at the end.

as the automatic door at the end of the hallway opened, narella ran through the doorway. her eyes immediately widened in shock as her gaze scanned over all of the imprisoned aliens in the cells surrounding her.

“your dad is right over here ...” pleakley murmured, directing the young girl to a cell at the end of the room. luckily, he was at the bottom of the wall , so it was easier to get to him.

as soon as she was at the cell, narella pressed her hands to the glass, calling out, “dad?”

the dark red alien spun around to look at the young girl, who had changed into her alien form just for the occasion. “who are you?” his voice was rough, harsh.

“i’m ... i’m narella. i’m your daughter!” she exclaimed, smiling happily.

“my daughter? i don’t have a ---” the older alien cut himself off with a sly grin. “oh ... that’s right. my daughter. my precious daughter, it’s been so long ...”

“i know! i can’t believe i’ve never met you before!” the ten-year-old practically cried, but her smile remained on her face. then, after a moment, she turned to pleakley and asked softly, “can i talk to my dad alone? just for a minute? please, auntie pleakley?”

pleakley hesitated. “well, i mean, i don’t think ...” he trailed off, sighing gently. “... of course. i’ll be right over there, okay?” he gestured to the opposite side of the room.

“thank you, auntie pleakley!” she said, smiling before turning back to her dad. “dad, listen. you ... you can’t tell anyone, but ... but i wanna get you out of here. i wanna get to know you better, and ... and we can run away! we can go someone better than here or hawaii! okay? i-is that okay?” she spoke quickly, her voice hushed.

“nella,” the nickname was foreign on leroy’s tongue, and he almost wanted to spit when he said it. “nella ... that’s an amazing idea. we can go ...” just then, he saw the small eiffle tower sticker that she wore. “... we can go to paris! how does that sound? but you just ... need to get me out of here first, okay?”

“okay ... okay, i will. i promise! i will! i just ---” she cut herself off when she saw pleakley walking back over to her. “--- i love you, dad!” she sputtered out quickly before running back over to her auntie pleakley.

“i love you too!” leroy shouted as narella ran away.

that was the first time in her entire life that narella had ever felt truly loved.

for the next few weeks, the young girl visited her father weekly, and the two had come up with a plan to free leroy of his imprisonment. finally, the day came to set the plan into motion. however, when narella got to the federation’s headquarters, they were hauling her father away to be imprisoned somewhere else, somewhere more secure.

“dad!” she cried, making a run for it toward the dozens of agents who were there to make sure that leroy didn’t escape.

“stop right there,” the grand councilwoman’s voice boomed through the halls, and she was soon walking toward the young girl, a tattered, red notebook in her hand. “don’t get any closer to him, or we’ll imprison you, as well.” she dropped the notebook on the ground in frount of narella. “we should already be imprisoning you for this.”

narella stared at the red notebook, her eyes wide. “grand councilwoman, i-i’m so sorry ...” she murmured. she knew exactly what was so wrong with the notebook --- it contained all of the plans to free her father. “i-i just ... i just wanted to be with my dad. i just --- i love him, and he loves me. we wanted to be together and go to paris and ---”

“this all your fault, you little brat!” leroy’s voice could be heard as he was hauled away. “i knew you had no value to me from the time i saw you! you couldn’t even get me outta here! and for you to think i’d ever love you ... you’re just as pathetic as you are useless!” then, the doors of the ship slammed and locked shut, silencing leroy’s shouts.

as the ship took off, narella couldn’t find it in herself to show any sign of sadness. her fists just clenched at her side and she said, through gritted teeth, “i’m going home,” before spinning around and walking toward the ship that her and pleakley had arrived on.

narella finally knew why the grand councilwoman always met with her, and she knew why she had never had a father or mother. her father was evil, and she was made to be just like him. not even the people she thought was her family trusted her, and if everyone was expecting her to be so evil, who was she to disappoint them?

from there, her evil genetics were much more noticeable. she would steal small things from shops. she’d take things of auntie lilo’s. she’d break things at the federation. she’d get in fights with the neighbouring kids. she was always in some sort of trouble.

this carried on until she was about sixteen, when she committed her first major heist. she stole a painting, and then ran away. she didn’t return to hawaii or space for almost two years. she had cut off all connections with anyone she had ever cared about. if she had no one to care about, she had no one to disappoint.

by the time she returned to hawaii, she had committed more crimes than she could count. she obtained millions of dollars in stolen money and art pieces.

she was no longer useless, or worthless, or pathetic. she was a world-class con artist, and she had nothing and no one to lose.

it was a sweet feeling, and the rewards that she got made it even sweeter.

#tHIS IS SO LONG I AM SO ?????#but i found narella's angst so #¯\_(ツ)_/¯#but like .......#she just feels like all she has is her crimes #all she has is her art and her money and just .....#feels like everyone thinks she's worthless and pathetic .....#so she does these things to make sure #that no one thinks she's any of those things #oKAY I'M DONE BY E #( just a con | isms )#( para )

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cartoonessays · 8 years ago

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Represent? Pt. 2

As frustrating as I found the political discourse during the 2016 presidential election, I have found the a lot of discourse after the election very frustrating too. As part of the Democratic Party’s postmortem after their major loss this past November is that their platform didn’t do enough to address the economic issues of the working class and poor. I agree that Hillary Clinton’s campaign didn’t do enough to discuss those issues, but almost everyone that has brought up this criticism has mentioned it in opposition to the identity politics that the campaign did address. In fact, many of them have dismissed those identity politics issues as some sort of trivial “political correctness”. Goddammit, that’s wrong, wrong, wrong! Social issues relating to racial, gender, or sexual identity aren’t in opposition to economic issues so framing it that way is so wrong. They’re not even separate from each other; they’re deeply intertwined. It made me mad to see Clinton’s wealthy surrogates frame economics as a “white” issue in their criticisms of Bernie Sanders and it makes me mad to see other liberals offering hindsight critiques of Clinton’s campaign dismiss issues relating to identity as “political correctness”, especially because neither side forgot this point in their takedowns of the libertarian “socially liberal but fiscally conservative” philosophy years prior to the election.

I begin with this point to discuss how I think those of us concerned with more multicultural representation in media should approach our advocacy for it. I think we need to deepen the discussion about it, even if we’re just talking about some cartoon character rather than a particular politician or a specific policy. This will help us recognize all of the intersections in these issues.

It’s not only important for us to ask who is or isn’t (be it ethnicity, gender, or sexual identity) being represented on the TV or movie screen. We also have to ask who is doing the representation and why are/aren’t they representing who they are/aren’t representing. And when I say “who” and “why” in this context, I’m speaking in economic terms. We have to include which major conglomerate is behind whichever character is being represented and why this conglomerate is choosing to represent the character in question.

Let’s get more specific. Let’s talk about Disney.

If you take a look at the very first image I posted, it displays the fairly diverse range of Disney princesses over the company’s almost-century long history. Not included in the picture (it’s an old picture) is as of this writing, Disney’s most recent princess, Moana. Conversations about Moana have applauded Disney for creating a character and film that would introduce its wide audience to Polynesian indigenous culture. I agree that’s a great thing, but this is where the conversation always stops. Who is representing Moana? Well, the character is played by Hawaiian actress Auli’i Cravalho. Great! Most of the cast, which included the Rock, Rachel House, Temuera Morrison, and more, are of Polynesian indigenous descent as well. Excellent! However, the directors John Musker and Ron Clements are not Polynesian. More importantly, neither is Disney’s CEO Bob Iger. This in no way inherently disqualifies any of these men from making a film about a culture outside of their own, but this should be noted nonetheless.

Now the next question. Why is Disney representing Moana? Ideally, because Disney wants to introduce their audience to a different but very rich culture they may not have been familiar with. However, to believe that is the only reason would be naive. Disney is a major corporation in a capitalist economy; it saw a financial benefit in producing a product like Moana. Advocates for more multicultural representation in media rightfully see this as a step up from a major corporation believing that producing any product not starring a white person, especially a white male, as too much of a financial risk to take a chance on. But what does it really mean when a particular culture is seen as marketable to the masses by a major corporation?

Disney took a chance on creating a film like Moana not only because they thought the film would be to their financial benefit, but also because they thought the merchandise spun off from the film would be financially successful. However, Disney got in some hot water over that when people saw one of their Halloween costumes as insensitive towards the Polynesian culture they’re representing. Should commodification be the end goal for those of us looking for multicultural representation in media? I’d say hell no. Commodification is all about turning a profit, not education. So when a culture get commodified, all of the history and the nuances of that culture get ignored for whatever parts of it are easier to turn into products (I already talked about the term “woke” in my last post). And the people of the culture being commodified almost never reaps the financial benefits from the sales of the products. And for those consumers of such products, buying those products does not necessarily mean they love or respect the people of the culture being commodified. As the Public Enemy frontman Chuck D has said, whenever fans approach him and talk about how much they love hip-hop, he asks them “do you love black people?”. He asks that because there are unfortunately a lot of hip-hop fans who are the first to admonish black activists groups like Black Lives Matter or send angry comments to hip-hop artists that speak out against racism, police brutality, the prison-industrial complex, etc.

I think this begs another question, what more does Disney plan to do for Polynesian people? Do they want to do more than sell little Polynesian girls Moana dolls? Although a little girl from an underrepresented ethnic group being able to have a doll that looks like her (if she’s from an economic background that could even afford one) can keep her from internalizing strictly Eurocentric beauty standards, at best that’s a very very small step towards progress. Does Disney plan on making any other films about Polynesian culture? Perhaps a Polynesian tribe different from Moana’s? Do they donate any of their profits to Polynesians groups or causes? Do they regularly hire Polynesian indigenous people for full-time jobs? If they do, do they promote them to executive and managerial positions? Are any of their directors Polynesian?

I’ve been talking about Moana, but that’s just one example. I think the same questions should be asked in regards to black people after The Princess and the Frog, Asians after Mulan, Native Americans after Pocahontas (and that’s just one particular tribe), or Arab people after Aladdin (especially considering the portrayals in Pocahontas and Aladdin were fairly racist). And don’t limit the conversation to their princess movies either; how about in regards to Hispanic people after Sofia the First? Native Hawaiians in regards to Lilo and Stitch? Inuit people in regards to Brother Bear? Indians in regards to Sanjay’s Super Team? How about any other groups of people who haven’t had representation in Disney yet? There’s been a dearth of LGBT+ representation in their films and TV shows for example.

I make this point to highlight one form of representation that could be troubling. The people within all the aforementioned (and whichever I forgot to mention) ethnic groups are just as varied and diverse in culture, thought, and point of view as all of the white people represented in Disney’s/Pixar’s films. To use one Moana as your representation of Polynesian indigenous people or use one Tiana in your representation of black people, especially in comparison to Ariel, Belle, Rapunzel, Snow White, Aurora, Merida, Anna, and Elsa as representing different European cultures, is just tokenizing. This is still an assumption that whiteness is the norm and a person of color is a deviation from the norm. The liberal behavioral manifestation of this is to use one person from a particular underrepresented ethnic group as a trophy for their own inclusiveness (although Disney is a mostly conservative company, what they are doing here is what a lot of liberal-minded companies do). Princess Jasmine, Mulan, Tiana, and Pocahontas have served as little more than Arab, Chinese, African-American, and Native American trophies for highlighting the inclusivity of the product that they sell to the masses. Black representation in Disney movies has been minimal ever since The Princess and the Frog. Chinese, Arab, and Native American representation has been minimal since Mulan, Aladdin, and Pocahontas and those are much older than The Princess and the Frog. This isn’t even getting into how diverse their hiring and promoting practices behind the scenes are (which I admit I don’t know the answer to). If Disney feels Moana is all they need to do for representing Polynesian people, that’s a problem. They would never feel that one token European or white American film is good enough representation of white people.

But even if Disney did more justice to all of the different ethnic groups it seeks accolades for representing, where does all that profit they make from it go?

Very recently, the CEO of Disney Bob Iger had a meeting with President Trump as a financial incentive towards his company. Donald Trump is someone who ran his campaign and currently advocating policies that further marginalized already marginalized groups. It’s common knowledge that Trump’s administration courted white supremacists all throughout his campaign and has hired some, like former Breitbart editor-in-chief Steve Bannon, within his administration. What kind of look is this for a company that portrays itself as multicultural?

I’ll leave Disney alone for a little bit.

The Simpsons is well-known for its liberal political views. That might seem a little funny considering the owner of The Simpsons’ network Rupert Murdoch is known for his ultra-conservative views. His other channel Fox News is well known as a propaganda outlet for his views, which is funny because the programming on his main Fox channel is often ideologically opposed to the values asserted on Murdoch’s news channel. Fox’s first hit series, the cynical nuclear family satire Married With Children has values that balk at the “family values” the Fox News anchors hammer home. Back in the 1990s, Fox helped elevate many black comedians and actors to stardom in their broadcast of shows like In Living Color, Martin, Living Single, The Sinbad Show, etc. while Fox News never hesitates to disparage black people and pander to racists. The anchors on Fox News bemoan the hyper-sexualization of our culture while Fox aired sexually charged programming like Temptation Island, Skin, or Coupled. Keep in mind Rupert Murdoch also owns a big part of VICE magazine. Murdoch gets to have his cake and eat it too. He gets to make a profit off of audiences his news channel wouldn’t attract and uses that money to grasp a stronger hold of our media so that he can continue to finance people and endeavors that promote his ultra-conservative agenda. So he can care less that The Simpsons mocks him and his news channel on a regular basis; he’s laughing all the way to the bank.

It seems like Disney is trying to do the same thing here in its collaboration with President Trump. Contradictions be damned.

All of these things I have brought up about Disney are questions that I feel need to be brought up when discussing representation in media. Like I said in the beginning, social issues relating to identity and economics are intertwined, so the economics have to be discussed along with the social issues in these discussions from now on. This makes the conversations much more complicated, perhaps too complicated for clickbaity online publications to engage in. But it’s absolutely necessary. We need to cut past the surface in these discussions. If we hope for absolute social and economic justice for all of these underrepresented groups, this is a part of how we get there. It’s much bigger than multicultural dolls and Halloween costumes.

#marketing #economics #Disney #moana #politics #representation #social justice #cartoon essays #just my thoughts #intersectionality

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ginnyzero · 5 years ago

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Child Friendly Themes Doesn’t Mean Child Friendly Media

A kid friendly logo does not always make for a kid friendly franchise.

I’ve been reviewing the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise this October. To state the obvious, Pirates is a movie franchise based upon a popular Disney theme park ride. (A ride that they’ve revamped since they put out Dead Men’s Chest to make it more techy and twenty-first century and include the characters from the movie.) And the movies have all come out under the well known Disney Castle logo umbrella.

The same Disney castle logo that is used for Disney princess titles such as Frozen, Moana and Tangled. Disney’s Tinkerbell properties, anything having to do with Pixar such as Toy Story, Finding Nemo and Cars. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and Lilo and Stitch are all very kid friendly properties put out by Walt Disney and use the very same logo in front of Pirates of the Caribbean.

The difference between these properties and Disney’s Pirates is the rating. All Disney Pirates movies have been PG-13, while Disney Princess movies and anything related to Mickey tends to be G or PG.

But despite previews with the ratings on the green screen and having them slapped in somewhat inconspicuous places on posters, people see the logo before they see the rating. And they see “Disney” and think “This is suitable for children” instead of going “Uh, Pirates, there is probably going to be some gruesome monsters and death and this isn’t suitable for my ten year old.” (I don’t really care about the gender here.) Because Disney has the reputation for the kid friendly franchises, right? They wouldn’t put anything out that was really meant for adults, right?

Obviously not, as the third movie took a deep left turn into grim and dark by opening with a mass hanging including a hanging of a child in Disney’s normal target market age group. I remember people being appalled because “this is Disney” and I’m sitting here going “This is about piracy on the high seas and hanging was a blessing for a pirate rather than some of the other things they did. Oh, and PG-13, not for your ten year old child.” Seriously, the opening of Dead Man’s Chest and the man in the gibbet at the prison was more disturbing to me than the mass hanging. (Shudder.)

Somewhere, sometime, our society and culture decided that kid friendly ideas meant that everything with those ideas are kid friendly. Or that certain mediums are meant for children, even though those mediums started out being targeted at adults. (Comics and cartoons I’m looking at you. Anime is in here as well.) There may be an argument for the fact that we’re protecting children too much. However, I’m willing to put forth the argument that there is a difference between reading say, Jules Verne or C.S. Forester or Daniel Defoe or Robert Louis Stevenson, than seeing something like a hanging depicted on screen (even in the cut away PG-13 friendly version.) There is a difference between a written and a visual medium and visual mediums often miss a nuance in written mediums.

Let’s be honest. There are more franchises now owned by Disney that aren’t kid friendly that parents, as adults, love and want to share with their children even though their children may not be old enough for them such as Star Wars, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Other companies are “guilty” of this as well. Fox’s X-Men franchise. Spider-man. Warner Brother’s DC’s Batman and Superman. These were all franchises that started out in comic form for adults, were turned into cartoons for children and then were reclaimed by movies for adults again. However, because there were toys and cartoons and Halloween costumes, instead of paying attention to the ratings, adults saw the name, they saw the brand and thought “child friendly!”

When they really, really aren’t.

There was a time when big studios like Disney would have separate houses for their adult and child fare. Then the current system of big money, big budgets and big tent poles has to some extent changed that system.

I’m not talking about franchises that aren’t child friendly and never claimed to be child friendly and adults still buy them for their children anyways because that M or R logo on the box seems to elude them. Things like Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Halo, Overwatch, Red Dead Redemption. These are specifically computer game mediums created by adults for adults. And once again, computer games have been branded as “for children” since the 80s, instead of “For the family and adults too.” Adults will buy their children a computer game that they aren’t mentally or emotionally prepared for that involves a lot of violence and wonder why their kids are acting out.

Yes. There is a difference between a pretend game of cops and robbers and playing Grand Theft Auto.

And it does not help that many of these computer game franchises that are for adults have action figure dolls in the toy aisle!

The solution isn’t “stop making material for adults with themes that children love like pirates and super heroes.” The solution is the usual solution, take responsibility for your viewing choices, preview what you want your children to watch. Remember that ratings have meanings (even if we don’t like the way the rating system works.) And be aware that not all people are going to think the same way you do and let their children watch different things and your children may be exposed to it anyways.

Which of course, is a great jumping point for several discussions about the movie itself and about parenting and how other people do things different ways. The dichotomy exists and it’s not going away.

I mean, I remember in fifth grade my parents didn’t want me to see Casper (CASPER of all things) because it had a ghost in it. Then I went to a Halloween themed sleep over at my church school and saw it anyways. I don’t remember if we ever had a conversation about why they didn’t want me to see it after that. But I do remember that my father wasn’t happy. I also remember after a certain age, my parents decided Halloween was bad and it became a “forbidden fruit.” (And that really does explain a lot about me in some ways and why I adore Halloween as much as I love Christmas.)

The great thing about talking about movies and their content and what is good and bad is that it allows everyone including your children to think and to come to their own conclusions on what is going on. It allows us to ask questions and explore our world and what is and isn’t in good taste versus being appropriate. And as long as it doesn’t turn into a gambit for control that everyone needs to think the same way that you do, a little conversation is a good thing.

Now, I need to bring this back to my writing.

I’ll admit that I had a pause when my teenage nephew bought my first werewolf biker book. (Not that bikers are actually child friendly themes.) My book has swear words in it and violence and nude guys standing behind counters and all in all, it is somewhere between a PG-13 and R rated movie. (I’m not entirely sure on what side of the line it falls on.) Was this really appropriate for my 14 year old nephew to read? And was that really my call? I was reading Star Wars and such at his age.

No. Not really. That was up to my sister. Who I have no idea if she’s read my book or not. Her house. Her children. Her rules.

My other stories right now are about fairy tales and not the white washed Disney versions either. But children love fairy tales. However, children loving fairy tales doesn’t mean my books belong in the children or young adult’s section. I’m not going to stop writing fairy tales for adults. I have to trust my readers to be discerning enough to go “I shouldn’t give this to my eight to ten year old.” It’s all I can do.

That and recommend Becca’s book. “Oh, you aren’t old enough for my books, go read about the girl who defends unicorns…”

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