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the-cat-and-the-birdie · 1 year ago

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Alice 'Allie' Parkington is WonderSpider!

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Miguel: One year and four months ago, I devised the formula for inter-dimensional travel, allowing me to open portals across the multiverse. I created an elite stri-

Alice: Oh, Okay! -

[Alice is the result of a 'Adapt-A-Spider' Challenge, where you adapt a pre-existing character into a Spider! You can see more of my fun Spidersona challenges HERE]

(Also HUGE THANKS to @fairytalespider who made the OG SpiderSnow!)

Gwen Stacy isn't the only blonde who knows about miraculously falling through wormholes.

Except Allie got sent to the universe with talking animals, and a maniacal queen with of taste for beheadings. Not that she's complaining. Not when the tea parties are so delightful~

At 7 years old Alice Parkington found a white waist-coated rabbit, on a hurry to who knows where -

And she followed him, fell down a hole, and never came back.

Origins:

[Alice's world is a mix of the book's portrayal, the cartoon's, and Tim Burton's (though I haven't seen the movies). Her story begins at the end of book - a similar ending to the cartoon movie, but instead she doesn't wake up.]

After losing a game of croquet to The Red Queen of Hearts, Alice is sent to the dungeons, awaiting her beheading on the Queen's orders. That is, until she finds an enchanted Spider in her cell, sent by an ally. When she's bitten, it gives her all the power of Wonderland - and binds her there forever. After escaping The Red Queen's Death Row, Alice was adopted by the woman who helped free her - The kind but exiled The White Queen or Marmoreal, aka Her Aunt Mirana.

Now The Blue Princess of Marmoreal, Alice is next in line for the throne, and the web-swinging protector of Tugley Woods, Wonderland. She spends her days fighting against the tyrannical and murderous rule of The Red Queen of Hearts, and The Court of Cards. With The Mad Hatter as her martyred Uncle Ben - Alice calls Wonderland her home, though she's always left questioning what's real and what isn't. At this point, she's accepted she'll never know the answer. So when she's recruited for Spider Society, it's just another rabbit hole to go down, and another adventure to fall into. On campus she's known as WonderSpider, and she's a lot more powerful (and ruthless) than you'd think.

Design and Personality:

Alice is a lot less sugar and a bit more spice, with her personality taking after the book (moreso than the movies).

Alice is bubbly and independent. She's as curious as a cat and as chatty as a bird. And she's all about asking questions and finding her own way in the world.

She's loves tea parties and foraging and making crazy experiements in the Hatter's workshop. And now that he's gone, she still finds herself in there, cooking up another magical sweet or Victorian style gadget. When she's not doing that, she's at The White Queens side, begrudgingly taking (literally) nonsensical etiquette classes. She isn't afraid to speak up for herself and others. And once she makes her mind up, it's settled.

Despite what some may think, she's isn't an entire lunatic. She's hasn't gone Wonderland Mad yet.

Even since a young girl, Alice has always been known for asking questions - trying to find the sense in nonsense before coming to a conclusion. She's great at picking up on details, and thinking outside the box. And she's always the one to keep a level head, no matter what the circumstances. Doom is not assured when reality is subjective. She's as logical as she is loopy, and although some may think there's nothing going on between her ears, they are sorely mistaken.

She always wears her glasses. She needs them to see.

Or rather, she needs them to see correctly. Having a cause of The Mads, taking off her glasses distorts her vision of the room into a psychedelic and disorienting wonderland version itself - which hurts. She keeps them on always. Though they can be knocked off during battle. Like other Spider-people - The lenses squint, blink, and emote. They have a permanent and consistently moving patterns and colors. Between blinks, the design may change, the swirls changing color or direction. Sometimes the words she's saying may flash over them for emphasis, and they can contain anything from exclamation points to tie dye.

Alice is a de facto genius.

An expert chemist, Alice has mastered dozens of recipes and chemistry formulas using the vegetation in Wonderland. She's cracked the code to rabbit holes, and has an amazing affinity for science and theoretical theory. And if she doesn't understand a certain law of physics or something, she can just choose to ignore it. Literally.

Powers & Abilities:

Hobie told Alice that laws are oppressive. She agreed, told him she hates the laws of physics - then started floating to the ceiling like a balloon. Needless to say, reality doesn't really work for Alice. And she cannot control it.

But no matter what her misfortune, though - She'll always say 'Oh, dear.'

Reality Warp:

Wonderland has side effects. Alice can grow and shrink at will, but once she's there, she can't go back. When she wants, she can manifest rabbit holes to Wonderland on any flat surface, but she doesn't know where they are - so she always falls into them. Her tears are huge, and they flood any room. And for some reason, she's obsessed with cookies. It she sees one, she'll eat it. It doesn't matter if it says 'Eat Me' or not. If you hand her something and tell her to drink, she will. It's the one thing she won't question, although she should know better. She'll read the label, and if it's not clearly labeled bleach or poison, she's drinking it. If it's not those two things, it must be safe right?

The Power of Imagination:

Like Spider-Ham has the Super-Slapstick ability, Alice has the Power of Imagination on her side. If she can make logic of it or believe it, then there is a random chance it will happen. If the team is looking for a way past a locked door, Alice may say 'If only there were a mousehole somewhere here. Mice are such scampers, they can get into anywhere!' There will probably be a 1/4 chance of a mouse running by, leading them to a cartoon like mousehole she can shrink and go through. However, Alice can't will it to happen. She can't be asking or hoping for it, and the thought has to be completely innocent and 'wonderous' for it to work. The ability can also be compounded, with multiple unlikely things happening rapid fire - however this is less likely and HIGHLY dangerous if done in other universes, and is likely to cause an anomaly. Plus everyone else involved goes a tad bit 'loopy' for a bit.

This ability only works outside of Wonderland, and it was discovered by Miguel.

When Alice met Miguel, she began to question his interesting suit, and so she asked. Miguel began to explain to her, but confused, Alice said 'Well, that's nonsensical. Surely you can't wear light like fabric. If that were true, I could pull this right off you.' - And then she did. And suddenly she was holding his suit in her hands as if it were made of fabric, and Miguel was there in his underwear.

Alice's response: 'Oh dear.'

Chesire Mode:

When surrounded by enough chaos or kinetic energy, Alice can go Chesire Mode, and really goes off the bend. She experiences full Wonderland Madness - similar to the Hatter, and gains the ability to unravel herself and turn invisible. Her voice begins to echo, creating a disorienting and hallucination-like affect. Doing this is known to cause madness, but it affects everyone in the room.

Equipment:

WebShooters: Alice uses mechanical Web-Shooters created by her and The Mad Hatter. Her webs are silly string and streamers. 'Bow'-nus Arms: Alice's waist ribbon is extendable like Mr.Fantastic's limbs, serving essentially as a second set of arms. However, when it's off of her, it's much more similar to Doctor Strange's cape, having a mind and personality of it's own. She can take it off and ask it do it, and it'll go off and (try it's best) to do it, just like a snake. It's name is David Bowie. She does not know who David Bowie is - it's just a coincidence: it's family name is Bow-ie, and David is a common name.

Random Facts:

Alice hangs out with a lot of the 'Eccentric' and Mini Spiders - She likes others from cartoons or fairytales, or anyone made for whimsy.

And she likes spending her time small.

She has a crush on Lego Spider-Man. She shrinks to be with him lol

He naturally finds her a little offputting, they're NOT a thing but she wishes (sis he's literal plastic)

Alice's best friends are SpiderPetal, SpiderSnow (@fairytalespider), SpiderFairy (@stardust948) and Spider-Ham.

Since they all live in either a woodland area, a cartoon, or both, those are usually who she's with

Though she only goes small around people she trusts - but never someone like Miguel. In fact, with Miguel, she does the opposite.

When Miguel is in the room, Alice prefers to grow 'full size' as in... taking up the whole room giantess style.

She says it helps, because 'It makes Mr.O'hara look like a little toy soldier.'

With the size of his lair, she can often grow taller faster than he can get lower - so he'll stay up there, and she'll grow to meet his eye.

She can decide when to stop growing or shrinking, just not when she'll turn back.

This power is transferable. Alice's wonderland powers still work elsewhere, and so her cookies and drinks do too.

Alice can only keep 1 cookie and 1 drink on her at one time, never more, it'll always be ruined.

She can use these to either extend her state, or have someone shrink or grow along with her.

But once she uses the one of each item, she can't get more until she returns home and makes more.

HOWEVER. HOWEVER - Alice is down for deals.

If you come to her world and ask for some cookies or potions, she'll give it to you. But there's a mandatory tea party involved, and the only payment she asks is that you bring sweets for the guests - Vegan please!!

(Her favorite is angel food cake, after cookies of course)

Those aren't the only ones - she has dozens of sophisticated concoctions for any need - floating and weightlessness, invisibility, even the ability to mimic voices perfectly -

And just the same, she's able to carry one of each when outside of Wonderland.

A frequent customer of hers is Hobie. He puts the potions to work - plus he makes the best vegan coconut macaroons.

Oh - also DO NOT Drink her tea though - it's made with Wonderland Tea Leaves....Great for a good time, horrible for bedtime.

Despite not knowing her specific age - Alice is a young adult - and she works at The Society.

Her Uncle Hatter was a master chemist, alchemist, magician, chef - and dozens of other things. And for years, Alice studied under him.

Originally, Miguel assumed all of this knowledge would be non-transferable nonsense, but - wrong.

Alice is one of the leading scientists at The Society - with a concentration in Multiversal Physics, studying everything from the visual styles of universes, the path between universes, and differences in time.

She'll often say something, only to get dismissed by Miguel.

But Lyla will cut him off, telling him that scientifically, Alice IS making sense.

It's just that because her world is totally backwards, the ideas she has to describe her thoughts are backwards too.

After a while, she becomes one of the main people to write the updates and programs for the watches, working with Miguel as her boss.

She's like a bop-it, full of weird and very useless quirks.

If her feet get wet, they make the duck waddle sound when she walks.

If she hits her head, it makes the TikTok 'Boink' sound. She runs and it makes the Flintstones noise.

If she stubs her toe or gets hurt on something tiny, she'll scream like Tom The Cat.

She burps bubbles (like the soap kind) and her sneezes sound like one of those party straw thingies.

Sometimes her Wonderland powers play tricks on her. She'll be like 'I'm outta here!!' then walk into a looney toons wall. And she's so embarrassed cause the cartoon noises make it so much worse fhgsuigdf

Sometimes when she tries to run she stays in one place for a second before the running kicks in (like a cartoon) - and Miguel just grabs her and she's like 'Dratz, I was trying to get away.'

She enjoys hanging out with Hobie, though she does not understand him at all.

Like, she's British too - did I mention she's British, cause she's from Victorian England -

But she has no opinion on his ideology because it's ???? lost on her

He's like 'This is a metaphor for capitalism' and she'd be like 'I don't know what that is.'

He's like 'count your blessings'.

But Hobie LOVES that Alice doesn't stick to the rules -

and that she gives the middle finger to the laws of physics by just existing

He's like 'That's so cool, what you just did. Real Metal.'

She's like 'I suppose I am just a container, filled with slowly decaying food - so in that way, I am quite like a fridge, which is cool and made of metal-'

And he's like 'what are you talking about-'

And they mainly hangout because they're both lazy.

Alice is tirrreeed of all these weird physics rules and new technology and non talking cutlery.

She'd much prefer to take a nap, or wander off, of have a tea party, or do ANYTHING that isn't work. Same girl same

And that's it! Most of it, I'll probably maybe maybe not write a post about her joining the society and how it completely warps her perception of reality because she's been trying to get home for so long, she doesn't even know if her home exists then there's this new society through ANOTHER wormhole but she still can't get home-

Oh and before I go, her intro art is inspired by Qveen Herby's single Abracadabra!

Yeah. If you made it this far THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME UR TIME! Thank you so so much for entertaining me I MEAN IT THANK YOU I KNOWI POST SO MANY OCS AND IT'S KINDA OVERWHELMING SORRY AAHHH MY BRAIN CANT STOP I CANT FOCUS HELP

Anyway I'm normal

HERE HOBIE

Bye.

#NO PROOFREAAADDDD #spiderman #atsv #spider man #marvel #across the spiderverse #spidersonas #spidersona #alice in wonderland #disney #disney movies #disney princesses #technically?????#chesire cat #the mad hatter #UHHHHH #YEAH

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princesssarisa · 4 months ago

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The Mad Hatter for the character ask

These answers are all about the character from the original book and its traditional adaptations – not about Tarrant Hightopp from the Tim Burton films.

Favorite thing about them: What a funny, memorably insane character he is, whose kooky logic and literal-minded remarks include so much clever wordplay and use of double meanings. This combined with his unique appearance in his oversized top hat and bowtie (courtesy of John Tenniel, never strayed from since) makes it only natural that he's the most iconic and beloved Wonderland character next to Alice herself.

Ironically, he wasn't even in the original story that Lewis Carroll told to the Liddell girls on their famous rowboat outing, or in the book's original manuscript: the Mad Tea-Party was a later addition when Carroll expanded the book for publication. But once the Hatter came into being, he understandably stole the show.

Least favorite thing about them: How rude he is to Alice, and the way he and the March Hare both casually abuse the Dormouse. It's no surprise that adaptations often tone these things down.

Three things I have in common with them:

*I can be literal-minded.

*I enjoy tea parties.

*I usually look good in hats.

Three things I don't have in common with them:

*I don't have any talking animal friends.

*I don't have a watch that tells me what day of the month it is.

*I'm not mad.

Favorite line:

From the book:

His famous riddle:

"Why is a raven like a writing-desk?"

When Alice says that "I mean what I say" is the same thing as "I say what I mean":

"Not the same thing a bit! You might just as well say that 'I see what I eat' is the same as 'I eat what I see'!"

When Alice says she can't take "more" tea because she's had none yet:

"You mean you can't take less. It's very easy to take more than nothing."

And his long speech about Time and why "he" never does what the Hatter wants anymore.

From the Disney version:

"Mustard?! Don't let's be silly!"

brOTP: The March Hare, for sure, and possibly the Dormouse too.

OTP: None in the book, but in some adaptations, the March Hare.

nOTP: Alice or the Dormouse.

Random headcanon: Even if Time were to release him from his perpetual six o'clock, he would still have endless tea parties with the March Hare and the Dormouse. He likes it.

Unpopular opinion: I don't see him as a potential love interest for Alice whatsoever. Nothing against people who ship them, but I just don't get it.

Song I associate with them:

"The Unbirthday Song" from the Disney version.

youtube

"The Pun Song" from the 1972 film.

youtube

"Laugh" from the 1985 TV version.

youtube

Favorite picture of them:

The classic illustration by John Tenniel:

This illustration by Robert Ingpen:

This creepy illustration by Angel Dominguez:

Disney's animated Hatter:

Edward Everett Horton in the 1933 Paramount film:

Sir Robert Helpmann in the 1972 British film:

Anthony Newley in the 1985 TV version:

Martin Short in the 1999 TV version:

John Hoffman in the '90s Disney Channel series Adventures in Wonderland. A very fun, different spin on the character: a wacky inventor and jack-of-all-trades, who shares an especially cute friendship (and possibly more than friendship – both actors are gay and it shows) with his March Hare.

#character ask #alice's adventures in wonderland #alice in wonderland #the mad hatter #the hatter #fictional characters #ask game #fictional character ask

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bestworstcase · 2 years ago

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jaune is the hatter

if your exposure to alice in wonderland has hitherto only come from pop culture and/or high profile film adaptations like the 1951 disney cartoon or (through gritted teeth) burton, then you are probably and fairly going “…huh?” right about now but, hear me out.

firstly, to get this out of the way: 1. the creature jaune’s doppelgänger rides isn’t a rabbit; it’s a hare, or more accurately a jackalope, and appears to be modeled specifically with reference to the winter coat of a white-tailed jackrabbit (jackrabbits being hares, not rabbits); and 2. clocks and timekeeping are actually the hatter’s thing—the white rabbit’s perpetual lateness and constant temporal anxiety is a massive pop culture exaggeration. and as it pertains to rwby, it’s really obvious that the ever after is taking its cues from the carroll books, because right off the bat there are a lot of references to things in the books that never filtered through into the wonderland of pop culture. so my inclination is to give a lot more weight to what’s in the books.

so!

the hatter and the march hare are sort of unique among wonderland’s cast in that they appear in both alice’s adventures in wonderland AND through the looking glass. in aaiw, they’re hosting the tea party when alice first encounters them, and the hatter is later summoned as a witness during the trial at the end of the book. in ttlg, they’re called haigha and hatta, and they act as messengers for the white king. (slightly modified names notwithstanding, there is zero ambiguity about their being the same characters.) this has the effect of giving the hatter, in particular, something akin to a character arc, so there’s a fair bit to go over.

alice first encounters the pair in chapter vii of aaiw (the mad tea party). after a bit of rude back-and-forth (and delivery of the “why is a raven like a writing desk?” riddle), the hatter pulls out his watch and asks alice to tell him the date; it’s may fourth, his watch is “two days wrong!” and—after alice comments on the peculiarity of his watch (it marks the date but not the time) and fails to guess his riddle, the hatter admits he doesn’t know the answer, and alice replies “i think you might do something better with the time than wasting it in asking riddles with no answers.”

this initiates a fairly long digression regarding the hatter’s complicated relationship to time. namely:

up until a few months ago, the hatter was on such good terms with time that he could rely on time to do “whatever [he] liked with the clock,” for example rushing from nine o’clock in the morning right to half-past one and then keeping it half-past one until he felt hungry enough for dinner. in march, however, the hatter sang at a concert given by the queen of hearts and performed so badly that she accused him of “murdering the time,” and since then time won’t do him any favors and has made it permanently six o’clock at the hatter’s table. hence, it’s always teatime; the hatter and the march hare are stuck going round and round the table with no time to even wash the dishes.

after the hatter relays this history the scene goes on; the dormouse tries to tell a story, alice exasperates it by interrupting with questions, and the hatter and the hare exasperate her in turn by remarking rudely on anything she says, until she leaves in a huff.

the hatter next appears in chapter xi (who stole the tarts?), where he’s called as a witness in the trial of the knave of hearts. he still has his tea, not having had time to finish; he has been having tea since the fourteenth or fifteenth or sixteenth of march (the jurors write down all three dates, add them up, and reduce to shillings and pence); the king asks him to remove his hat, and the hatter replies “it isn’t mine,” provoking an accusation of theft (“stolen!”) to which the hatter retorts “i keep them to sell. i’ve none of my own. i’m a hatter.”—and of course identifying himself as such gets the queen’s attention. the remainder of the hatter’s examination takes the form of indirect back-and-forth between the increasingly nervous hatter and the queen of hearts as she tries to place him in her memory, with him bolting out of the courtroom an instant before she puts the pieces together and orders his execution (again, having already done so once at the concert).

that is the last alice sees of him in aaiw, but he reappears—as hatta—in ttlg chapter vii (the lion and the unicorn), although he is mentioned but not named by the white queen two chapters prior:

“For instance, now,” she went on, sticking a large piece of plaster on her finger as she spoke, “there’s the King’s Messenger. He’s in prison now, being punished: and the trial doesn’t even begin till next Wednesday: and of course the crime comes last of all.”

“Suppose he never commits the crime?” said Alice.

“That would be all the better, wouldn’t it?” the Queen said, as she bound the plaster round her finger with a bit of ribbon.

Alice felt there was no denying that. “Of course it would be all the better,” she said: “but it wouldn’t be all the better his being punished.”

“You’re wrong there, at any rate,” said the Queen. “Were you ever punished?”

“Only for faults,” said Alice.

“And you were all the better for it, I know!” the Queen said triumphantly.

“Yes, but then I had done the things I was punished for,” said Alice: “that makes all the difference.”

“But if you hadn’t done them,” the Queen said, “that would have been better still; better, and better, and better!”

by the time alice catches up to hatta himself he has been released from prison and is terribly hungry and thirsty because “he hadn’t finished his tea when they sent him in, and they only give them oyster shells in there.” he’s eating too feverishly to speak at first, but begins to cry when haigha asks him about his time in prison (“Hatta looked round once more, and this time a tear or two trickled down his cheek; but not a word would he say.”); he only manages to choke out a few words when the white king demands it, and is shortly thereafter sent off to signal for the drums that are to drive the chapter’s titular lion and unicorn out of town.

and while that is his final direct appearance in the story, the hatter is referenced one last time in chapter ix (queen alice):

“Don’t let us quarrel,” the White Queen said in an anxious tone. “What is the cause of lightning?”

“The cause of lightning,” Alice said very decidedly, for she felt quite certain about this, “is the thunder—no, no!” she hastily corrected herself. “I meant the other way.”

“It’s too late to correct it,” said the Red Queen: “when you’ve once said a thing, that fixes it, and you must take the consequences.”

“Which reminds me—” the White Queen said, looking down and nervously clasping and unclasping her hands, “we had such a thunderstorm last Tuesday—I mean one of the last set of Tuesdays, you know.”

Alice was puzzled. “In our country,” she remarked, “there’s only one day at a time.”

The Red Queen said “That’s a poor thin way of doing things. Now here, we mostly have days and nights two or three at a time, and sometimes in the winter we take as many as five nights together—for warmth, you know.”

“Are five nights warmer than one night, then?” Alice ventured to ask.

“Five times as warm, of course.”

“But they should be five times as cold, by the same rule—”

“Just so!” cried the Red Queen. “Five times as warm, and five times as cold—just as I’m five times as rich as you are, and five times as clever!”

Alice sighed and gave it up. “It’s exactly like a riddle with no answer!” she thought.

…which of course echoes directly her frustration with the hatter’s unanswerable riddle.

now, with all of this laid out, i would like to highlight two things:

first, notice the consistency with which the hatter appears or is mentioned in connection with time going funny. it’s in every scene! and even after he escapes his table, the hatter remains stranded at six o’clock—in ttlg, six months after aaiw, he still hasn’t finished his tea. (in contrast, the white rabbit is running late when alice first encounters him, but in later appearances he’s anxious about a variety of other things. it’s not a Thing for the rabbit like it is for the hatter.)

second, notice the theme of accusation and punishment here. the hatter is unmoored from the normal passage of time because he is an accused murderer; the king of hearts unfairly accuses him of theft; in ttlg hatta is imprisoned to punish him for a crime he hasn’t yet committed because the white queen remembers things backwards. the relevancy of this aspect of the hatter’s character to the guilt and self-loathing jaune feels because of his role in penny’s death speaks for itself.

so that’s the hatter. how exactly does the V9 op draw a connection between jaune and the hatter—as opposed to, say, neo, who actually wears a hat and drinks tea in a shot that is clearly intended to evoke the classic pop culture image of the hatter? WELL,

the thing about neo’s presence in the op is that she’s also very overtly identified with alyx—the image of neo at the bottom of the “rabbit hole” fades into a shot of alyx lying in the same position as she wakes up in the ever after. it’s established in roman holiday that “the girl who fell through the world” is one of neo’s favorite stories, and she identifies herself with the character of alyx. neo knows this story! she loves this story! and i think it’s very likely that she, like blake, will piece together that she’s in this story and make decisions based on her knowledge of the fairytale. i think it’s possible that she might fleetingly adopt the superficial roles of many different wonderland characters. what else is a woman with a fragile sense of self and an overactive imagination going to do, upon finding herself literally in the shoes of the main character of a fairytale she loves?

jaune, on the other hand, is tied overtly and only to the hatter—but in a way that really isn’t obvious unless you’re familiar with both aaiw and ttlg. the main thing is his association—or at least his doppelgänger’s association—with the jackalope, who can only be the hare. (i might believe that the jackalope is meant to be the white rabbit despite not actually being a rabbit IF the op weren’t also so clearly positioning alyx as the white rabbit; as it is, that role is unambiguously filled and the jackalope has to be the march hare.) that the jackalope also appears to be galloping through the marketplace of the town where yang’s arm got stolen supports this reading, because that town seems to be drawing its inspiration pretty directly from ttlg vii. the march hare and the hatter being a pair that always appears together—even in the trial scene, the march hare is mostly silent but still accompanies the hatter—close affiliation with the hare necessarily suggests the hatter.

more importantly, the presence of the town from ttlg vii—and the jackalope’s presence there—locates the primary reference in through the looking glass, not alice’s adventures in wonderland. hatta retains his teatime purgatory and [in tenniel’s illustrations] his hat, but he is no longer identified primarily as the hatter; he’s the king’s messenger who stands accused of a crime he has yet to commit. those are his foremost characteristics, and that’s how rwby can get away with a helmet instead of a hat. the hat is not the important piece.

as for our other glimpses of jaune in the op: in one he is crying silently (as hatta does in ttlg vii), and in the other he’s standing before an array of clocks—all identical, reading two o’clock, and having two twelves. and. ok.

the clock imagery alone is enough to evoke the hatter, especially in combination with the jackalope, but remember how the hatter is stuck at six o’clock?

there are six clocks here. the clocks have two twelves—and if you halve twelve, you get six. the second hands point to the numeral ten, which makes sixty; similarly adding together the hours of the three fully visible hour hands makes six. and six is the only numeral visible on the rightmost clock.

this image is a fucking. nesting doll of visual puns on six o’clock.

anyway.

having laid all of this out, what might this connection suggest about jaune’s upcoming arc? here are the things that most interest me:

first, the hatter’s peculiar relationship to time opens a lot of possibilities for temporal fuckery—both in the sense of jaune experiencing time very differently from team rwby, and in the reversal of causality by way of hatta being punished before committing the crime. the latter strikes me as a potentially fascinating means to explore the notion of destiny and choice, both of which are very salient for jaune individually and the broader narrative. (in particular, i don’t think the story is going to answer “whether or not they’re equipped to stop salem” without dissecting the ideas about destiny and heroism baked into the huntsmen institution.)

second, the crime and punishment stuff is again, obvious for how it connects generally with jaune’s emotional state and self-perception when he falls, but here’s where it gets really fun: the natural equivalent, for jaune, of “murdering the time” is the role he played in penny’s death. in theory, this leaves the baseless accusation of theft and the undefined crime foreseen by the white queen still in play as things that might happen to jaune during the course of V9. one possibility, if the brother gods turn out to be present in any capacity, is for rwby to mingle this with jaune’s role as a heroic narrative foil to salem and bring the gods back into the story through this doorway; another is for rwby to leverage this theme to examine the self-blame jaune inflicts on himself.

third, hatta’s role as a messenger creates, potentially, an interesting space for jaune (and his doppelgänger) to be integrated into the ever after—right before he fell, jaune’s chief responsibility during the evacuation was to deliver the message to the atlesian and mantelian people. he has also twice now sent a message pleading for help only for help to arrive either too late (for pyrrha) or not at all (for penny). and he—or his doppelgänger—now appears to be galloping around the ever after astride a giant jackalope. might he perhaps be somebody’s courier?

#rwby v9 spoilers

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wisheduponastar · 1 year ago

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You’ll have to find the cat (I think he likes you) (2.3k words, M/M)

For Day 3 of @danganronpashipmonths Saiouma month. Inspired by the prompt : Wonderland AU

Shuichi decided to follow a white rabbit, for some reason. He's had his hat stolen by a magical cat, and now he's at a magical tea party with nonsense. But he does need to get out of here, and the only advice the Hatter can give him is to seek out the Cheshire Cat, because apparently the cat will like him. And after observing him for a bit, the cat decides he does like him - and comes out to play…

Or~ Shuichi takes the role of Alice, and Kokichi a more flirty Cheshire Cat. What could possibly happen when they meet? (With Rantaro appearing as the Mad Hatter)

Read on Ao3 or below

Shuichi was still trying to get his bearings in this place, and as he looked around he realised he wasn’t sure if joining the Hatter’s tea party had helped or not. In some ways the tea party had helped calm my nerves. Everything tasted so normal, and felt so real - that maybe this wasn’t just a hallucination. And in a way, being around the Hatter and the others had helped. They were more insane than him anyway. For now at least…

Thinking, he quickly took a sip of tea instead - cursing as he realised it was scorching hot. Immediately, Kirumi looked up, the eye he could see (the other seemed to be perpetually covered by her hair) and asked, “Are you quite alright?”

“As alright as you can be in this place,” interjected Rantaro, his words of wisdom losing some of their effect as his hat slid down suddenly, covering most of his hair. Pushing it up again, he briefly sighed, “Damn this hair.”

“Don’t you mean… this hat?” Shuichi ventured, knowing Rantaro seemed to be the most reasonable when it came to corrections.

“Of course not dumbass,” fired Miu suddenly from across the table, “If he meant his hat, he would’ve said his hat. It’s his hair that’s the problem!”

“Of course,” Shuichi reluctantly agreed, staying silent for a second before asking, “Why is it his hair's fault?”

“Why, is it not obvious you fuckin’ virgin?” Miu said again, clearly about to rant before Kirumi put up a black glove and interjected.

“Shuichi is new here, it is fair he does not understand our customs yet,” she gave Shuichi a small smile, “His hair should be supporting his hat, of course, yet for some reason it is not doing so.”

“It’s probably just cause he’s doin’ it wrong.”

“My hat works perfectly, thank you Miu,” Rantaro interjected calmly, “I made it, and I do not make mistakes.”

There was a small pause in the conversation, before Rantaro suddenly spoke up again, “Until I do, of course.”

What was the logic behind that statement? Shuichi shook his head again, he’d been here almost an hour - and there didn’t seem to be any logic in these people. In this place. Afterall, every time he’d reached for something he’d eaten there had been more food there - and sometimes food appeared in places there hadn’t been food in before. He’d tried to ask, but no-one had given helpful answers. Miu made fun of him, Kirumi gave a nonsensical explanation that only made sense to her and Rantaro, and Rantaro had kindly said that he shouldn’t worry about it, he should only be worried about death and its impendingness.

Looking around the table, a conversation had sparked between the Hatter and the Hare, Shuichi saw that Miu was just about to open her mouth again and begin to talk. Breathing in deeply, he announces suddenly, “I need to go.”

Everyone stares at him, and it’s at times like this he wishes he had his hat back (a cat stole in from him, he thinks). Eventually Kirumi smiles and nods, “Of course, where do you need to go? And are you sure you do not want to stay for tea?”

“Well, next tea-time,” Rantaro corrects with such sincerity Shuichi almost forgets how mad this is, “It’s already tea-time. It will be tea-time shortly as well, and we don’t want you missing that.”

“No, I really do need to go,” sitting up, Shuichi placed his cup down and left the chair, “Which way too..”

Seeing his hesitation, Rantaro let out a light laugh - this time grabbing his hat to stop it from falling, “Well, we can’t tell you if you don’t know where you’re going.”

“He should see the cat,” Kirumi suggested.

“That fucking loser Kokichi?” Miu suddenly interrupted, before looking at Shuichi, “Actually, you seem like the kind of person he’d be interested in.”

Shuichi tried to think of a person he’d met called Kokichi, instead just drawing blanks, and he instead asked, “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Means you’re both shifty nerds, obviously.”

“Mui,” Rantaro’s voice didn’t change, but for a second his demeanour seemed to shift, “It’s ok Shuichi, we’ll all help you after tea is over.”

“But…” He almost didn’t want to point it out, “Your tea time never ends.”

“Oh yes,” Rantaro suddenly made perfect eye contact with Shuichi, “We’ll be no help at all. You’ll have to seek out Kokichi after all. Just keep going, turn three-hundred and sixty degrees, and then go left. He’ll probably appear.”

“Probably?”

“The cat’s a curious thing. Very fickle,” but Rantaro smiled, “But Miu is right, I think he’ll like you.”

“Coming from you, that’s not encouraging,” Shuichi said. But that just made them all laugh, with varying levels of politeness, until eventually Rantaro broke off from it, “It’s not meant to encourage you, it’s meant to be honest.”

He broke off suddenly, picking up his watch (out of the butter-dish) and frowned, “Ah, tea’s just started. Are you sure you won’t stay?”

Shuichi weighed up his options. But at the end of the day, if this Kokichi could help him get back to friends - then he would go to him. Because he needed to get back, and he wouldn’t stop until he’d exhausted every possibility. Finally moving, he stepped past all of them, taking one backward glance at the table and the fact that they’d all started talking again. He would’ve thought they had forgotten him, had Rantaro not briefly turned around and dipped his hat at Shuichi, before going back to talking.

Sighing slightly, Shuichi began to simply walk away instead - going back into the part of the forest he came from. Before long, everything seemed to have changed completely. Any noise from the tea-party had disappeared, although the place still had a strange musical ambiance. It almost sounded like a very quiet but very dramatic orchestra that was building up to a main piece. Shuichi also felt as if he was being watched.

But he didn’t feel scared, yet. The thing watching him didn’t seem to be malicious, and his intuition marked it as a more curious, playful sort of gaze rather than anything dangerous. Every now and then he would make a quick head movement to see if he could spot his observer, but all he heard was the sound of laughter.

Not that Shuichi was complaining. There was something comforting about the laughter, and in his mind he attached it to a picture of someone - his saviour. Someone nice, with a good sense of humour, who would look at Shuichi with a smile that could be carved in marble. He almost tripped while trying to imagine a smile, sending even more obvious laughter from within the boughs of trees.

That just made Shuichi think more. In… where he was from, there wasn’t as much potential for who he could date. But in this fantastical, mainly crazy place, he hoped it could maybe be a boy. Someone shorter than him, so when he hugged them he could hold them properly - and protect them. But someone with a good sense of humour, who was sharp enough to make him think. Shuichi’s ideal almost certainly wasn’t watching from the trees - but if he couldn’t dream here, where could he dream?

Eventually, while looking up at flowers that seemed to be made of crystal, and almost as tall as him - Shuichi finally tripped on something and fell over. More laughter followed, like usual, but it sounded much closer than usual. To Shuichi’s left, he assumed. Maybe a step away, maybe a little less. So, without thinking, he propelled himself upward - reaching out for where he thought someone would be.

And something slipped through his fingers. No, not something - someone. Shuichi could feel their pulse racing for the second he was touching them, and he suddenly hunched. He had just grabbed whoever was laughing. With no warning, and no time for them to prepare.

But instead of the disgusted silence he expected, he was greeted with a more distinct, more deliberate laugh, “Nishishi, were you trying to catch me, newbie?”

This time it sounded from above, and so Shuichi looked up - only to be met by a floating smile, nothing more, and nothing left. And then it moved and spoke, “Wow, you’re pretty observant for a completely new outsider. Did Hatter or the others tell you about me?”

“It depends,” Shuichi stood his ground, staring a little up from the smile - and to where he imagined eyes would be, “Are you… the cat? Umm… Kokichi?”

“Wow, you’ve got your facts all the right - I’m impressed,” the smile moved effortlessly from above him to next to him, “Do you know anything else?”

“You…” Shuichi couldn’t help but feel this was a test, “You have a pretty laugh?”

“Aww, are you trying to flatter me?” The voice moved closer, and Shuichi could feel the slightest touch on his chin, tilting his head towards the smile, “It’s working.”

The feeling of the touch, the smile - for a second Shuichi simply couldn’t do anything except stand there and feel his cheeks blush redder and redder. I mean, it was one thing to fantasise daydream about a mysterious laugh and who it might belong to, it was a completely different thing to tilt a stranger's head to look at you while whispering into their ear.

Then, eyes suddenly appeared; sparkling and bright and beautiful. An unnatural, but gorgeous shade of purple - staring directly and unabashedly into Shuichi’s. But it was the eyes that suddenly made it click for Shuichi, and he took a slight step back. “You- you stole my hat.”

“Huh?” The voice said immediately, the hand falling back (and with it contact that Shuichi definitely did not miss), before a more teasing tone came on, “But you’re not wearing a hat, silly!”

“No, I-I mean earlier. I came in here with a hat. I remember your eyes-”

“You were paying that much attention?” The face that was visible tilted slightly, as if the owner was thinking, “Ya know, I was onto something when I said you were flirting with me, wasn’t I?”

“That’s not it at all!” Shuichi said, trying not to let his blush get any worse, “I’m not trying to flirt, I just want my hat back!”

The eyes sunk slightly lower, and their sparkle dimmed slightly. Just those dimmed eyes were enough to tug of Shuichi’s heart, and when the playful smile suddenly drooped into a frown, his heart almost began to hurt. Struck by some sudden urge, Shuichi said, “Well- I mean, getting my hat back isn’t the only goal…?”

“So you are flirting!” And with just that, the sparkle and smile returned twice as bright as before, “I knew you liked me!”

“Wait- you’re just-no… well, I mean-”

Shuichi hadn’t been the best at talking in this Wonderland before all of this, but somehow he was doing an even worse job than before. Averting his eyes, Shuichi just tried to miserably look to the floor - only just noticing the second pair of shoes that had suddenly materialised.

Forgetting his misgivings, Shuichi began to look up again - this time seeing not only perfect face and eyes, but the entirety of their owner. And their owner was… beautiful. Dark purple hair with patches that became lighter as sunlight dappled on them, smoother skin that betrayed a dust of blush as well. Pristine white clothes, in an immaculate and incredibly formal dress - for some reason topped with a checkerboard neckpiece and colourful buttons. On his head was a black and gold cap, and in his hand was Shuichi’s.

“I don’t normally reveal myself to people, you know?” The boy was the first to break the silence, his vocals now accompanied by gestures that both fitted him perfectly and made Shuichi’s heart sing. “So, you’re pretty lucky. I guess we need to introduce each other now right?”

“Ummm, I think so?” Honestly, Shuichi was still looking at the boy in front of him.

“Well - I’m Kokichi Oma!” There was another sparkle in Kokichi’s eyes, “But most people from here call me the Cheshire Cat.”

“Why?”

“Hey - introduce yourself first, mister mysterious!” Shuichi was slightly taken back by the way he raised his voice, but Kokichi still seemed friendly enough. Nodding, Shuichi said, “Yeah… I guess you’re right, I’m Shuichi Saihara. Nice to meet you.”

“Your name is nice.”

“Thank you?” Almost any compliment from Kokichi sounded almost heaven-sent, but Shuichi was still sceptical at the same time, “Does that have a… hidden meaning, or whatever?”

“You’re so suspicious Shumai!”

“S-Shumai?”

“I give people who I like nicknames,” Kokichi said, rewarding Shuichi with another grin before suddenly coming closer, “Oh my god! Are you blushing?”

“What?” In fairness, Shuichi was - he could feel it, “I’m… naturally rosy. And I still want my hat back.”

“Which hat? This one?” In a single, rather elegant, swooping motion Kokichi took his own hat off his head, offering it to Shuichi while nestling Shuichi’s hat into his own hair. The hat should look ridiculous on him, but Shuichi thought he looked beautiful in it. Even if it was slightly out of place.

“Look, your hat won’t even fit me,” Shuichi tried to reason while smiling.

“Ok. Fine…” Kokichi looked around for a second, as though searching for inspiration, “I’ll give you it back. For a price.”

“A price?” Shuichi echoed, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“I’m not unreasonable!” A large smile took over Kokichi’s face, and he leaned in again, “I just want a kiss.”

“That’s- that’s completely unreasonable!” Shuichi managed to burst out after a second of stuttering (and a second of almost leaning in).

“Do you… not want to kiss me?” Kokichi suddenly began to fade until only a pair of eyes and a frown remained.

“No. Of course I do, it’s just-”

“So Shumai does want to kiss me?” Kokichi reappeared, and he had somehow got closer than before, within… kissing distance. His lips almost seemed to pucker, before he drew back, “But it’s ok if kissing is a big deal to you or whatever. I can always just take your blood.”

And then the sudden feeling of love sharply dimmed for a second, or at least it wasn't the only thing Shuichi could think about. Taking an instinctive step back, Shuichi simply asked, “Excuse me?”

#danganronpa ship month 2023 #saioma ship month 2023 #saioma fanfic #saiouma #kokichi oma #shuichi saihara #shuichi x kokichi #wonderland au #danganronpashipmonth2023 #danganronpa v3 #danganronpa x wonderland

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ishipmutualrespect · 3 years ago

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I decided that Alice in Wonderland was worth rewatching because I wanted to see if there were any other references and here’s what I found (idk if some of these things make sense or will make sense but they are interesting)

In Alice in Wonderland the 2 months mentioned are March and May:

In the Walrus and Carpenter sequence there’s a scene where there’s a calendar that shows that it was March:

In the calendar the R turns red because there was apparently a say that stated that oysters should be eated in months with an R. See this post for more.

On a side (and funny and this time totally coincidentally) note the days of the March month showed in this scene correspond to the days of March 2010 (lol).

The March Hare

also makes you think that it’s March because of the name and because of this:

However in these next considerations, that can be seen here, something makes people think that it’s not actually March because Alice also speaks about May in the 6th chapter (pig and pepper):

“The March Hare will be much the most interesting, and perhaps as this is May it won’t be raving mad–at least not so mad as it was in March.”

I discovered that people think that it’s May 4th because in the 7th chapter (a mad tea-party) the hatter asks Alice what day it was:

“What day of the month is it?” Alice considered a little, and then said, “The fourth.”

You can read more about dates on that website if you’re interested because they also write about how May 4th should be Alice birthday but she never says that it’s her birthday so.. yeah I suggest you read this if you’re interested.

Anyways I found it peculiar that we’re in March and the whole “you are home” takes place now + there are rumours about singles and MV to be released in March BUT the album is rumoured to be released in May.

Another interesting thing is that the Caterpillar’s colours are reversed when he says “keep your temper”.

He’s usually blue-violet and his belly is blue but in these scene the colours are reversed.

That made me think about this tweet

But idk this could be a stretch anyway

#I’ll keep watching Alice and update if I see something else

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millennialslayer · 3 years ago

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If I wrote This Year's Girl & Who Are You, it would spend more time on Faith's coma dreams and they'd be different.

She's in the Bronze or a dive bar and the hookah smoking caterpillar from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland keeps asking her "Who are you?" like he asked Alice.

Go Ask Malice (her prequel) was inspired by the novel Go Ask Alice. Lewis Carroll's story has been used as a metaphor for addiction, teenage turmoil, and mental illness.

Faith jumping off of the roof in Graduation Day was her literal fall (down the rabbit hole) to go with her moral descension.

Faith has to climb onto a table for the drink-me potion & Key (Dawn foreshadow) but it's a pool table and full sized Spike & Buffy are playing (foreshadows Fool for Love) and she's trying not to get impaled by pool cues or crushed by balls (maybe ties into Riley's dorm room balls poster).

There could be a rabbit with a pocket watch, ties to Buffy's dream (Restless) when Giles tried to hypnotize her and Anya's fear of bunnies (life pre-D'Hoffryn). Or Faith follows the cat from their shared dream, like Miss Kitty Fantastiko symbolizing the First Slayer or when Buffy followed a giant cat during her Slayer vision quest (Intervention). She could be the chesire cat.

Faith's tea party is for her birthday, she turned 19 in the coma 2 months before waking up. Wilkins is the Mad Hatter.

Willow throws a cymbal banging monkey on the ground and wears a shirt or pendant of Nila Saraswati or Ekajati, the "Blue Tara", (re: her break up with Oz, being with Tara who died in blue and wore a sari in Buffy's dream in Restless, and the goddess who killed Buffy in Retreat), a callback to Buffy's dream in Surprise with Willow & an organ playing monkey and Oz & Willow's conversation about monkeys in What's My Line.

Imagine meeting the deranged but elegant "off with your head" Red Queen in Faith's dreams then she shows up the next season in No Place Like Home as the Big Bad (Eliza & Clare were both in Bring it On).

#faith lehane #btvs

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stay-tinystars · 4 years ago

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The Storyteller

Ship: non idol Yunho x fem OC (Mia)

Mostly fluff, slight angst bookstore au. ---Word count: 9.1k. ---Warnings: mentions of cheating (not main pairing), one mention of sex (non explicit), self doubt, depression, unsure of other warnings. ---- A/N: due to the lovely 250 word block limit these paragraphs run on, and for that I am sorry. I am posting this in Honor of Yunho's birthday. Though it's slightly late.

This year the summer seemed warmer than usual. Yunho noticed more heat coming through his apartment window as he worked. Writing and composing songs as he overlooked the city. He was in a rut with writing, they had asked him to write another love song. How could he write about something that broke him last year? How could he write about something that seemed so far out of reach. All his experiences with love he'd already written, and at this point he felt like if he wrote another song about his ex, he might scream. The blinking cursor on the blank screen of his laptop seemed to mock him. He got up and decided to call his brother, maybe he could help him with some ideas. "So, I got a promotion,and part of that promotion is I get to go on a cruise with the CEO and other leaders in the company." His brother said excitedly over the phone, as Yunho paced the floor in his living room.

"That's awesome," Yunho responded, maybe he shouldn't have asked his brother how work was going.

"Problem is, it's only a cruise for two, and it would help me get to know the higher ups better," his brother continued. Yunho's stomach sank, as his brother started to ramble.

"Why do I feel this means I need to watch the twins." Yunho sighed as he opened the door to his small balcony, stepping outside.

"Yunho, it would be the biggest help if you could watch them. It's only for a week, and being as you work from home, I was hoping you could just reconvene to my house for the week. We will buy all the food for the three of you. If you do this I'll also buy your groceries for the next month!" How could he say no to that. His brother had been working so hard and diligently for years. Two 6 year olds shouldn't be too hard right?

Yunho had never been so wrong. Was free food worth this? The twins were driving him crazy. Never a second of rest, and they always wanted to play, eat, or do something that meant Yunho couldn't focus at all. He hadn't gotten anything done for work in three days. He needed a break. How his brother and wife cared for these two tornadoes 24/7 was bewildering. After the twins came back in from playing in the backyard complaining that Yunho didn't do anything with them, Yunho wanted to scream. As a last resort he searched online for something to do with kids. He found a small ad on social media from a nearby bookstore, something called, 'Story time adventures' that happens every Thursday during the summer at 1pm. Recommended age was 4-10, and it was free. He sighed in relief, today was Thursday, and he could have a small break. Maybe he would get just a few minutes of peace while the twins attended. Yunho packed up the kids, and promised to go to the park after the story time, if they behaved. The twins eagerly obliged. Once they arrived at the bookstore he saw a small area set up near the back of the store, with a bean bag chair and lots of small pillows placed on the floor in front of it, a few children already sat on some of the pillows. He urged Kai, and Nami to go join, with a small nudge. Yunho took a deep breath, feeling a small sense of relief as he started to let the atmosphere of the small store put him at ease. As he started to browse, he found himself in the fantasy section he picked a book and started to read the insert, it didn't seem interesting to him, so he placed it back upon the shelf. As he continued to wander around the store he could hear the children giggling as someone read. He turned down another isle, and could hear her voice.

"Who are you?” said the Caterpillar.

This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, “I—I hardly know, Sir, just at present—at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.”

Yunho was enthralled. The storyteller's voice timbre changing slightly with every character. Her narration voice was calming. He found himself looking around the shelfs towards where the story time was happening. That's when he first saw her. She looked small in the bean bag. Her white jeans, and powder blue blouse, made her match the character of Alice. A white plush rabbit sat next to her on the bean bag. A children's picture book of Alice in Wonderland was in her hands as she read so the children could see the pictures. Only after someone cleared their throat did Yunho realize he was currently blocking the main aisle way. He quietly bowed and muttered an apology and moved off to the side. She looked so at ease around the 15 or so children who sat in front of her. Each one clinging onto her every word. Her eyes sparkled as she read about the tea party, her mischievous grin matched that of the Cheshire cat as he disappeared. She made the whole bookstore become Wonderland. As she read and placed Alice back into her rightful world, Yunho found himself leaning on the bookshelf behind her. Admiring her attention to the little details. She had a small top hat clipped in her hair, a blue butterfly sat atop. Her earrings were pocket watches.

"Now how did you all enjoy Wonderland?" Her natural voice was joyful, still drawing him in. He listened to the discussion about the book she had with the children. Some asked about if food could really make you grow, others commenting on the mad hatter.

"How did you do so many voices?" Kai asked, obviously intrigued. She laughed. If Yunho could describe the sound he would, but he couldn't pinpoint any words, it just sounded happy to him.

"I like to make sure every character has their own personality, it makes reading even more fun!" She responded, and clasped her hands together.

"Ok, unfortunately that's all the time for today." Her words were met with groans. "I hope you all come next week, we are going to Neverland!" Her smile widened as she lifted a children's picture book of Peter Pan.

Yunho shook his head bringing him back to reality. He wanted to return next week. Kai and Nami ran towards him. "We were good, can we go to the park now?" Nami pleaded, as she tugged on his hand.

"Of course, I might even treat you guys to ice cream" Yunho smiled, as the twins cheered.

----

Yunho found himself daydreaming about the story teller. The way she made the story come alive, made him want to go back, and listen to her again. But now that his brother was back home, which he was grateful for, he couldn't go. Or could he?

"Hey, so I was hoping to take the twins tomorrow for a few hours around lunch" he heard his brother choke on air through the phone, as he sat on a chair on his small balcony.

"I thought you couldn't be happier to be rid of them. Isn't that what you said on Sunday?" His brother's voice bewildered.

"I've had a change of heart." Yunho leaned back putting his feet up on the small metal table.

"Yunho, you aren't trying to pick up single mothers at the park are you?" His brother's voice teased

"No, why would I do that?"

"It's the only explanation for you actually wanting to watch them. After being stuck with them for a week. I know what little monsters they can be."

"No, I just thought they might enjoy going to story time again." Yunho's voice faded as he played with the hem of his shirt.

"Oh so you're wanting to see the storyteller again? Hmm?? The kids said they enjoyed that, and that you gave them ice cream afterwards." Yunho could hear the teasing tone continue, as his brother spoke.

"Why do you always have to bug me about seeing someone new? Can't I just enjoy the stories with the kids."

"Well you can, but I know you're not going for the stories. You're going because you want a girlfriend."

Yunho wanted to retort his brother's statement, but he knew it would just lead to more teasing. "Look, can I just take the kids to story time tomorrow?" He sighed.

"If you end up meeting someone, that means my children make great wingmen!"

"You're so weird"

"You're the one wanting to borrow my children"

----

He knew nothing about her, but her voice haunted his dreams, both awake and asleep. His only thought was to try to find a seat in the small book shop to listen to her. He got there early, and sent Kai and Nami to sit, as he found a seat off to the side, grabbing a book and pretending to read. Yunho laughed as he noticed Kai taking the front center pillow, his sister following suit, Kai was just as intrigued as he was. He watched as other children filed in, their parents starting to browse the store. Suddenly a sound of tinkling bells came from the aisle next to Yunho. He watched as she appeared, dressed in a Peter pan inspired outfit, green jeans a matching top tucked in, she even had a Peter pan hat complete with feather. Her phone making the sounds.

"Are you guys ready to go to Neverland? Does anyone know how to get there?" She inquired as she approached the bean bag.

"Second star to the right!" Nami practically screamed. Her response was met with laughter from around the store.

"That's right, and straight on til morning! Now all we need is pixie dust, and happy thoughts then away we go!" She reached into her pocket withdrawing a hand full of tiny shimmering clear glitter. She tossed it, sprinkling it over the children, who giggled in response. He watched as she sat on the beanbag, lifted the book.

"Peter Pan" she started, as she opened the book. Yunho never opened the book he had grabbed, he listened, being sucked into the story as much as the children. She even crowed like Peter, while reenacting the fight between Peter and Hook with one hand as she read the story from the bean bag. She was having just as much fun doing this, as the kids were. He rode the back of the wind with the children, until the storyteller placed Wendy, John and Michael back in London. He had to get to know her, at least her name. The discussion time for the book started and ended quicker than Yunho wanted, he hadn't caught what book she was doing next week, nor any of the questions asked. He was caught up in his head. He usually had such confidence with these situations, but he didn't know how to approach this talented young woman. It had been a while since he tried dating. Luckily for him Kai wouldn't leave the poor girl alone, he was talking her ear off. As Yunho approached, he heard Kai asking every question that popped into his head.

"What's your favorite color" Kai's voice excitedly said.

"Purple" she laughed, Kai looked between the storyteller and his uncle and smirked.

"When was the last date you went on?" Kai's smirk grew, along with Yunho's eyes. What had gotten into this kid?

"Umm, I haven't been on a date in a while" she responded looking at the young boy with a raised eyebrow.

"So you don't have a boyfriend?" Kai asked.

"No Kai, I don't have a boyfriend" she chuckled, placing her hands on her hips.

"Can I be your boyfriend?" The 6 year old asked, looking up at her with big eyes. She smiled warmly, and softly shook her head.

"I'm sorry Kai, but you are far too young to be my boyfriend. You are sweet for asking." She tried to let the kid down easy.

"What about my uncle Yunho?" Kai grabbed his uncle's shirt. Yunho's ears turned red as he looked bewildered at his nephew.

"Well, I will have to see," she laughed, as she looked at the tall panicked man.

"He's been lonely since his girlfriend left last year," Nami added as she grabbed onto Yunho's pant leg. What had he gotten himself into? Yunho wanted to hide.

"Well that wasn't very nice of her was it." She responded, looking between the two twins. Then looking at Yunho. "Kids say the darndest things" she held back her laughter as best as possible. "I'm Mia" she extended her hand.

"Yunho" he shook it, and did a small bow. She smiled warmly.

"Well these two are sweet. It's nice of you to bring them."

"He asked to bring us today, so he could hear another story." Kai smiled mischievously. The kid definitely took after his father. Yunho wished he was anywhere but here.

"Is that so?" Her eyes twinkled as she lifted her eyebrow at Yunho and winked.

"Yeah he called dad last night." Nami added, excitedly. Yunho wished he could disappear, like the cat from last week's story.

"So Uncle Yunho, are you employing kids to be your wingmen?" Her eyes full of mischief, as she smirked, he was sure his face was redder than a tomato.

"I, uh, I swear it's not what it seems. I just, uh, like your stories" he mentally slapped himself, though his panicked response made her laugh.

"Well, that's a shame because you're kind of cute." She joked, winked again, then walked away towards the front of the store. Yunho watched her for a moment, shocked at her bold statement.

"Wait, Mia! " he said following her, grabbing each of the twins hands in his.

"How can I help you," she smiled, as she went behind the counter.

"Wait, you work here?" Yunho questioned. She laughed again.

"What did you think I was doing here?" her response floating along her slight laughter.

"Well I thought you only came to read to the kids. I truthfully thought you were a voice actress." his voice faded as he looked at the counter, setting his hands on top of it.

"Well that would be an interesting career. I actually pitched the summer storytime idea. I read a book to a little kid to help calm him down after he lost his mom at the spring festival earlier this year. By the time I finished reading I had a group around me." she smiled as she stared at Yunho's hands resting on the counter. "I've always enjoyed books, so if I can help kids enjoy the stories, and start reading themselves I want to do it."

Yunho felt his heart soften. This young woman in front of him seemed to have a heart of gold. He barely knew her, but he wanted to get to know her better. He just wasn't sure if he had the courage to ask her out quite yet. His heart still fragile from its harsh break last year.

"Miss Mia" Nami peeked her head over the counter.

"Yes, Nami" Mia leaned on the counter making eye contact with the small girl.

"Will you come to the park with us?" The little girl asked. Mia laughed softly.

"Well, I still have work." She placed her head in her hands.

"For how much longer?" The small girl questioned. Mia looked at her watch.

"About a half hour"

"We can wait!" Kai didn't wait for either of the adults to respond, he just pulled Yunho back into the book store. They browsed the shelfs of the entire store until each of them found a book that interested them. He walked back up to the counter with the twins in tow, each of them setting their choices on the counter.

" 'The Astronaut Who Painted the Moon', good choice Kai. I think you will really enjoy it, and the way it describes the colors. Oh, and Nami you chose 'Planting the Wild Garden' it's a great book about how seeds actually work." She then paused with a smile gracing her lips, as she picked up Yunho's choice, her eyes sparkled with nostalgia. " 'Spinning Starlight' is one of my favorites. It's actually a retelling of 'The Wild Swans', but this book captivated me. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did Yunho." Her hands gently placed the books into a paper bag stamped with the store's logo.

"You know a lot about these books," Yunho said, handing her his card.

"Well I do work at a bookstore, plus you guys happened to pick books I have read and enjoyed." laughter traced her every word, as Yunho traced her features in his mind. The way her eyes crinkled as she laughed, the small imperfections in her skin bringing beauty to the world around him, the way her lips sat so perfectly, she was imperfectly perfect, and he was transfixed. He was starting to realize he was head over heels for this girl, that he barely knew. The trio stepped outside and sat on the small bench waiting for Mia, as she clocked out and grabbed her things.

"I don't get invited to go to the park very often. What's the first thing we should do?" Mia asked as she looked between the twins a small smile on her face.

The four of them played on the playground equipment, the younger two creating their own world, and directing the older pair at what to do. Which resulted in side aches from laughing so hard. "What?" Yunho asked as Mia laughed at him, as he laid the full length of the child size slide.

"You are bigger than the slide" Mia giggled as she leaned on the side of the slide looking at him. Yunho smiled as they looked at each other.

"Thanks for coming to the park, you didn't have to." Yunho sat up, then stood from the slide.

"Well I haven't been asked to go to the park in a while, plus I didn't have anything going after work today, and some sunshine would be good for me." Mia said as she walked towards the empty bench off to the side of the playground. Yunho started to follow only to be called by Kai. Yunho ran over and looked up at the young boy through the railing of the playtoy.

"Have you asked her out yet?" Kai inquired as he played with the ship wheel in front of him mindlessly.

"It's not that easy Kai, I barely know her" Yunho responded as he gazed in her direction. She was sitting on the bench now, leaning her head back, eyes closed enjoying the sunlight on her face. She seemed to glow in the midday sun.

"Well, I think she likes you. I can't wait to tell dad I'm a good wingman!" Kai smiled to himself, bringing Yunho's attention back to the twins.

"Did your dad put you up to this?"

"Well he said if we helped you get her number, he would give us ice cream everyday for a week!" Nami said excitedly, as she took control of the wheel from her brother.

"Your dad bribed you guys to get me on a date?"

"He said someone needed to help you, ever since Yuni left you've been sad. Dad just wants you to be happy." Nami looked at her uncle with concern on her face.

"I am happy," Yunho countered softly, as he looked towards Mia again. Was he really just putting on a front? His brother surely saw through everything. Could everyone see how lonely he'd felt? How would that affect the small spark he felt with Mia. He looked back to the twins, who were staring at him. He sighed they were right. He wasn't happy.

"So I'm thinking we should go get some ice cream, how does that sound?" Mia suggested as she approached the trio. Squeals of approval came from the twins as they raced to get down to them.

"Can I have strawberry!" Nami asked as they approached the ice cream stand.

"I want chocolate!" Kai added.

"Can I get one Strawberry, one chocolate, one cookies and cream and whatever the lady here orders" Yunho said at the window.

"I can pay for myself," Mia said, opening her wallet.

"No It's on me. You came to the park, and you didn't have to" Yunho insisted, handing his card to the worker before she could do anything else. Mia shook her head and sighed.

"Um, I will also take cookies and cream," she said softly. The worker nodded and swiped Yunho's card. Soon enough the four of them were eating ice cream at a small table in the shade.

"Thanks for joining us today Mia, it was fun!" Nami said as she devoured the last of her ice cream.

"Well thank you for the invite. I'm sure Chen hasn't missed me too much." Mia thought aloud.

"I thought you said you didn't have a boyfriend," Kai accused, pointing his chocolate smudged finger at Mia. She laughed.

"I don't, I have a hedgehog," she paused to look at her watch, "who is probably upset I'm not feeding him yet"

"You have a hedgehog!" Kai yelled, sending small droplets of chocolate all over the table.

"Yes," she chuckled. "And he is three this year" She was proud, like a mother would be of her child. "Do you guys want to see a picture of Chen?" She asked, unlocking her phone.

"Yes!" Nami scrambled from her seat, climbing atop the table to see the phone better. There on the screen was a small light brown almost cream colored hedgehog, sitting on a small blue towel

"Chen is a blonde hedgehog, I rescued him from the shelter almost two years ago"

"They have hedgehogs at the animal shelter? I thought they only had cats and dogs" Kai asked as he got closer to the screen. The two small faces stared intently at the screen. Their noses only a few centimeters away.

"The shelter actually has all sorts of pets, most people just go for the dogs and cats. But my apartment doesn't allow animals bigger than Chen." Yunho just watched as Mia showed the twins more photos of Chen. He hated to say he believed in love at first sight, it always seemed to be a stupid thing to him. Until now, ever since he first saw Mia he couldn't get her out of his brain. The more he saw her, the more intrigued he became. He wanted to learn everything about her. "Sorry Yunho, you probably couldn't see him over these two" she laughed as she handed him her phone. There was the small hedgehog, she had placed a small bowtie on him. "This is when I celebrated his first 'gotcha' day"

"He is a cute little guy, he looks like he'd fit in just the palm of my hand." Yunho smiled, handing back her phone.

"Why don't you ask Mia if you can meet him, then you can see" Kai, again, was making Yunho want to disappear. Mia was gently shaking her head, her expression was no longer peaceful. She looked slightly panicked, and Yunho's mind started reeling. What had he done wrong?

"Maybe someday" she responded, getting up from the small table. "But I should go and take care of Chen. It was a lovely afternoon, and thank you for the ice cream" she gave a smile as well as a soft bow and wave, and quickly walked away.

-----

Yunho went to the small bookstore on his own that Saturday, hoping to see Mia and apologize for whatever had happened. Mia was wearing jeans and a graphic t, nothing abnormal, yet Yunho couldn't stop staring. "How can I help you today, Yunho?" She said sternly as he approached the counter.

"I wanted to apologize for Thursday." His large hand swept through his hair, still trying to figure out what he did.

"You did nothing wrong." she seemed to brush off the subject, as she walked away with a pile of books in hand.

"I feel like something happened. Was it the twins? I'm sorry if something they said was inappropriate." Yunho said following her.

"No. They also were fine." Her answer was abrupt.

"Can I help you put those away?" Yunho gestured towards the books, as he fell in step with her.

"I'm alright, I can do this on my own." She kept walking further into the store. She seemed so warm on Thursday, but now she seemed to be turning a cold shoulder on him.

"I-" Yunho's own words caught in this throat, his feet stopping at the end of an aisle. "I'm sorry, I'll leave you alone." his soft words barely reaching her as she stopped.

"Yunho." She sighed, and motioned him to come closer with her head. As he approached she lost her own words. "It's not you." She whispered as she started to put books on the shelf.

"It has to be me. That's the only explanation I can come up with" he said, stepping behind her taking the book she was trying to place on the top shelf from her hand, and placing it where she was trying to place it.

"The explanation is me." She kept her eyes on the shelf in front of her, he could hear the slight tremor in her voice. He placed a hand softly on top of the one she had resting on the shelf. He could feel her body shake slightly as she started to sob. Yunho started to search for words. He was concerned, he wanted to comfort her. Would a hug be too much? I mean he was practically caging her in right now. Was that what was making her cry? He lifted his hand and moved backwards slightly, not wanting her to feel trapped. She dropped to her knees shaking, propping herself up against the bookcase. Mia was finally letting it all out. It was too late to stop her emotions now. Without getting closer Yunho just sat down next to her. Sometimes silence answered more than words. Today that was the case. Mia noted Yunho's presence, currently it felt like the only thing anchoring her to a safe harbor. She had been building this shell for so long, that when it broke it let a dam of emotions loose. The grief and betrayal from last winter. The constant mask she bravely put on everyday though she was broken. Mia found herself placing a hand on Yunho's knee as he went to move, she needed her anchor. Yunho placed his hand on hers.

"I never meant to make you cry." Yunho's words barely above a whisper, as he took his other hand and softly wiped her tears from her cheek.

"It isn't you." Mia rested her head against his hand. She wanted to trust him, to tell him everything, but her mind fought against it. He'll be just like Jay, he will make you believe him then he will lie to you over and over again. She shook her head. No, Yunho was different. But is he, or are his good looks deceiving you. Mia wanted to scream at the doubting voice in her mind. She looked up into Yunho's eyes. They were pure, almost puppy like. "Can you promise me something, even though I barely know you."

"Yeah" Yunho nodded, as he dropped his hands. He was now staring at her intently.

"Can you promise me that you'll be honest with me?" Her question puzzled him.

"Of course."

"No, I need to know you're going to be honest. That you won't lie, even if it's to cover up my pain." Mia wasn't sure exactly why she was demanding this from the man she barely knew, in the bookstore after she just cried in front of him. Yunho wasn't sure either, but he nodded anyway.

"I promise I'll be honest." He looked at her, a small grin turning up the corner of his mouth. "To prove that. Can I say my butt is really starting to hurt, can we stand up now?"

She laughed, and got up. Wiping her damp cheeks with the back of her wrist "I want to explain some things." She paused as she took a deep breath. "I get off at 6. Would you be willing to meet me at the diner two doors down, about 6:15? I'll pay for dinner." Mia inquired as the two of them headed towards the front of the store. Yunho smiled and nodded.

"I will see you at 6:15"

-----

"Are you two ready to order?" The waiter smiled as he pulled a pencil from behind his ear, looking at Mia.

"I'll have #2 with over hard eggs, and bacon" Mia said, handing the waiter the menu.

"I'll have the #7 scrambled with extra bacon" Yunho smiled at Mia, as the waiter scribbled down their orders.

"I'll get those put in" the waiter nodded as he walked away.

Mia looked at her hands and as she played with her fingers nervously. How could she even start.

"I saw your boss pull you aside as I was leaving. You didn't get in trouble did you?" Yunho asked, only to get a breathy chuckle from Mia.

"No, fortunately or unfortunately she pulled me off to the side to make sure I was OK. This isn't the first time I've broken down at work." Mia let another breathy chuckle as she played with the ring on her pointer finger. "I hope it's the last though. I feel embarrassed that you saw me like that."

"Don't feel embarrassed, I can be a shoulder to cry on." Yunho then looked at her tentatively. "Do you mind if I ask if you're ok?"

"I'm getting there." She avoided looking at him like the plague.

"Is there anything I can do to help, or make you feel better?" His words, sincere. He was truly concerned, he hadn't seen someone else break down like that in a long time.

"It is sweet of you to ask but I don't know. I don't know how to explain any of it properly, at least not without having another meltdown" her gaze found a drop of water on the table. She put her finger in it, and started to doodle with the water. She would take any distraction from her emotions right now.

"You don't have to explain anything then. I can wait until you are ready." Yunho cocked his head to the side, and bent over to try to look into her eyes.

"What if I'm never ready" she finally looked at him, her pained look met his soft caring eyes.

"I will still wait. I can be a constant in your life. Like an anchor in the storm."

-----

The next Thursday he took the twins to listen to Mia again. This time Mia was dressed in all blue as she told the tale of Pinocchio. Yunho smiled when he realized she made herself the blue fairy. The true narrator of the tale. He watched from the seat he had chosen the week before. He laughed as Pinocchio's nose grew. When the mischief started Yunho could feel the tension of the story. It amazed him to hear her read the stories, she painted the pictures so marvelously with her words, that when Pinocchio was stuck in the water just before he got swallowed by the whale he wanted to hold his breath. He felt joy as the blue fairy gave Jiminy his good conscience badge, and when Pinocchio became a real boy he had to hold in his cheers. Everytime she told a story it was as if it was the first time he heard it, though he knew all the stories well.

"So how did you guys enjoy Pinocchio?" Mia asked as she set down the book.

"I liked the cricket. Though I don't like bugs" one of the girls said, as she pulled a face. Mia giggled.

"I like him too. So, do you guys think Jiminy was a good conscience?" She asked the group.

"I think he was. Pinocchio just didn't always listen." One of the older boys said.

"But Jiminy was supposed to keep Pinocchio from doing the bad stuff. So didn't I don't think he did very good." One of the girls piped up.

"That is a good point Sumin. He didn't always stop him, But do we always listen to our parents?" Mia asked the little girl, who blushed slightly as she looked down.

"No, I guess we don't."

"But that doesn't mean we have to give up if something bad happens. Sometimes we have to be brave and do things that scare us. Maybe we can do our best to be brave and fix our mistakes like Pinocchio did." Mia said, making eye contact with Yunho. She nodded at him slightly as she returned her attention to the group.

"Then we can become real boys!" One of the smallest in the group said excitedly, which resulted in giggles from around the area.

"Yes, then we can also become real like Pinocchio. Remember life isn't about being perfect, it's about doing your best, and apologizing if you do make mistakes." Mia smiled. "Now remember next week is our last week for this summer so come ready to listen."

"What are you going to read?" Nami asked excitedly.

"It's a surprise! But, I'm going to dress as a princess." She loudly whispered with an exaggerated wink to the group.

"Can I dress up too?" A voice called.

"Of course. We'll give special treats to the princes and princesses who come." Mia's response was greeted with cheers.

"It was a good story today," Yunho said, approaching her.

"I've always enjoyed the little wooden boy." She smiled, as she cleaned the small area up a bit.

"I was wondering if you could maybe give a real boy a chance." Yunho looked at her, his eyes pleading. She looked at her feet then back at him.

"I can try" her voice soft, as she nodded.

"Yes!!" The twins shouted, making the older pair jump slightly. Yunho actually forgot he had brought them for a minute. Mia just started to laugh as the twins started telling Yunho which ice creams they were going to make their dad buy.

"Are you available Saturday?"

-----

"Hi Mia, Are you ready to go?" Yunho leaned on her door frame as Mia answered the door.

"I believe so" she smiled as she grabbed her purse.

"You look nice," he said, admiring her jeans and brown peasant blouse.

"Thank you, you look nice as well. I like your shirt" she noted looking at his dark gray short sleeved button up. Her smile lit up the hallway as she locked her apartment. "So where are we going"

"Well, I wanted to do something a little different" He smiled. "I hope you're ready for an adventure."

As they entered the building Mia did her best not to laugh. She had never been to a place where you could fish indoors before. Let alone one that had a pirate ship that people could fish from. "I would've never expected this." Mia giggled as Yunho took her hand gently.

"Well I haven't stopped thinking about this place since you read Peter Pan. I haven't been here in years, but I thought fishing would be fun. Plus we can pretend to be pirates while we fish." he smiled as he paid.

"I've always thought of myself more as a lost boy than a pirate," she laughed, as they followed the employee to their reserved spots on the ship.

"Pirates have more fun." he wiggled his eyebrows, as they started baiting their hooks.

The next hour was full of small talk, to get to know one another. She found out that Yunho Majored in music, he had a love for writing and composing music. He also loved to dance, he loved the way he could portray his emotions and the words in the song by moving his body. He found out she had been studying environmental science, that she wanted to help be the solution instead of the problem. She said she had to take an unexpected break from school last year, and that she was hoping to start again in the spring. Their conversation lulled to a comfortable silence, until her fishing pole started going nuts. She stood, trying to hold onto the pole. "Oh my gosh! Yunho help!" Mia yelled as she tried to reel in whatever had taken her bait. He quickly stood behind her wrapping his arms around her holding the pole with her. When she finally got the fish out of the water they heard music come over the loudspeaker.

"Someone has caught the largest fish in the tank!" The voice echoed around them. As an employee came over and helped them, weigh and take care of the fish Mia ended up winning the grand prize of the day, which was two gift certificates for more fishing, as well as two free ice creams from the ice cream parlor next door. The prizes from Yunho's small catches was a small plush seal, and some jellies.

"Yunho that was so much fun. Thank you." Mia placed her hand on Yunho's elbow as they stepped outside.

"You're welcome, but the night is still young. If you are okay with it, I'd love to treat you to dinner." He smiled as he gently set his hand on top of hers, as they strolled down the busy street.

"I think that sounds wonderful, what do you have in mind?" A content sigh left Mia's lips as she enjoyed the warmth from the sun.

"Well," he started. "What if I told you it's a surprise"

"Usually I would question more, but I am getting hungry" she said, her stomach growling as if on queue.

"Well lucky for you, and your stomach, it's just a few minutes walk from here." Yunho teased, as he guided her to a pizza place, with outdoor seating on the second floor.

"Yunho!" A few employees cheered as they entered the busy restaurant. "We have your usual table ready for you." The Host smiled as he guided the two of you up the stairs, out onto the patio. "Here you are."

"So, you come here a lot?" Mia asked as she sat down.

"Yeah, a good friend of mine works here as a chef. So I started coming here to support him, but I actually really like their pizza." Yunho sat and sighed contently as he looked across the street. "Plus I really like the view of the park from here, it makes me feel a little closer to nature even though we are in the city."

Mia followed his gaze and could see what he meant. It was beautiful here. She watched as two squirrels fought around a tree. Just taking it all in. Yunho was lost in his thoughts as he watched Mia. The view was spectacular, the sun was hitting her at a perfect angle making her glow slightly as it pitched towards the horizon. The waiter soon brought them some waters, and informed them that the chef prepared something for them, so they had no need to order. Soon they were talking about how lovely the weather had been this week.

"Yunho! I made something special for tonight!" A man with dark hair, sharp looks, and a mole under his eye came over. Carrying a full tray of food.

"Hi, Wooyoung. This is Mia." Yunho gestured, as Wooyoung set the food on the table.

"So this is the storyteller. You were right she's cute" Wooyoung took her hand and kissed it. Mia could feel her cheeks flush.

"Wooyoung, stop. She's my date, not yours." Yunho rolled his eyes.

"What, I can't appreciate beauty?" He scoffed. "I don't know what you see in this." Wooyoung jabbed his thumb towards Yunho.

"I see potential" Mia smiled looking at Yunho, whose ears were tinged pink. Wooyoung just rolled his eyes.

"Well, I prepared Yunho's favorite pizza, as well as avocado salad, and for dessert I have brownies baking." Wooyoung smiled as he rubbed his hands on his black apron.

"Thank you Wooyoung." Mia responded with a slight bow.

"I expect feedback the brownies are a new recipe I'm trying on you two"

"That worries me" Yunho joked, as his friend smacked his shoulder.

----

"Yunho tonight has been just perfect" Mia said as she wiped her mouth with a napkin, to get off any sauce from the slice of pizza she had just finished.

"I've had an enjoyable time as well," Yunho said, before taking another bite.

"I want to tell you something" Mia looked over towards the park, the sun was starting to set, sending golden tones over the trees.

"Anything"

"I'm going to tell you a story, you can't interrupt it ok" she looked towards him, concern painting her face along with the gold of the sunset. Yunho nodded in response.

Mia spun a tale of a young woman who had just moved to a new city. She was full of wonder and hope. She started college and met a man who swept her off her feet. His name was Jay. Everything Jay said was perfect, she felt like she was living in a fairytale. Until she went to surprise him at work one day. Only to find out he had been fired two weeks previously. When she called him, he shrugged it off. Saying he got let go for a stupid reason, and that he hadn't wanted her to worry so he hadn't told her. She asked if he had another job, and he said he did. He had told fanciful tales of what life could be like together, so when her lease was up she asked to move in with him. He seemed tentative until she said she would pay half the rent. Jay agreed, only to have the landlord kick them out two months later, due to overdue rent he never told her about. After they got kicked out, she found another place, and Jay was full of promises again. She told him not until he could be honest and pay bills on time. So he moved in with a friend to help prove he could be better. After a few months Jay had convinced her he had changed. So she let him move in. When she asked him for his portion of the rent he would say his work hadn't paid him yet, or that he had to help pay for something for his parents. Mia started to see his pattern, she wondered if he really ever had a job, or if he was just using her to have a place to live and food to eat. She was starting to wonder what he had done with the money she had given him previously for rent. She never expected to come home early from work one day to find Jay on their couch, having sex with a complete stranger, money scattered on the coffee table beside them. That's when she had enough. She started yelling, scaring them both, and kicking them both out of her apartment without letting them get dressed. She shoved them out the door and locked it. She then gathered everything of Jay's into garbage bags and set them next to the trash bins outside.

Mia took a deep breath as silence took over the area. She looked at the brownies that had been placed in front of them.

"That is why I tried pushing you away. You came in being charming, and after I started to feel something towards you I panicked. I can't go through another Jay." Mia said quietly as she picked up a brownie placing it on the napkin in front of her and picked at the edges.

"I can promise you that I will never do those things to you." Yunho reached across the table for her hand. "I will be honest, like I promised. Jay was a fool for doing those things to you."

"Can I be honest with you?" Mia asked looking up shyly.

"Of course, I would love for you to always be able to tell me things honestly" his hand felt warm around hers.

"I'm scared. I barely know you, and those I have known have hurt me. I don't trust anymore. I need time with so many things. Honestly I have enjoyed this so much, but I have so many problems. I don't want you wasting your time with me. I'm broken beyond repair" tears threatened to fall with her every breath.

"What are you saying?" Yunho inquired.

"I'm saying you deserve someone who you don't have to wait on. Someone who can love you like you deserve. Someone who you don't have to worry about. Someone who isn't me. You deserve someone better." Her voice shook as she stood up.

"Mia, I like you-" he followed her actions.

"I know, but you shouldn't. You need to find someone who isn't broken." She said as he stepped closer to her, Yunho's arms wrapped around her as they stood next to their table. He remained silent for a moment.

"Can I tell you a story?" He asked. She nodded as she rested her head on his chest. "Once upon a time I fell in love with a girl I thought I would marry. Yuni had all the things I thought I was looking for. She moved in with me, I believed it was going well. The night I was going to propose I came home to find her standing with luggage in hand, all of her things packed. She told me she couldn't handle me anymore. She hated the life she was living, she had been cheating on me with a childhood friend. She was sick of the lies. Sick of the constant music. She told me that I was nothing. She left me heartbroken in the middle of my apartment, the ring in my pocket seemed to weigh me down. She had destroyed most of my friendships. I sat in my apartment that night realizing that now I had nothing beside my brother and his kids. I was lucky enough to have some forgiving friends who welcomed me back, after I explained how caught up in her I had been. So I am just as broken as you. I'm still not sure how to love again without getting hurt. But with you I feel like giving it a shot. Maybe we can help each other realize we don't have to be whole to be loved." He was holding her as close as he could. His shirt was wrinking from her tears, but he couldn't care less. He was holding her, he wanted to be her protector. Her arms were locked around his waist, she wouldn't be letting go anytime soon. They were both broken, trying to hold themselves together. Yet in that moment they each felt small pieces of themselves start mending. They held each other as the night grew darker.

"So love birds, did you enjoy the brownies?" They heard Wooyoung say as he stepped outside. They quickly separated, and looked at the table where the brownies had yet to be touched, her eyes grew wide, as Yunho smirked.

"We only ate what we liked," Yunho laughed as Wooyoung's face grew angry. Which made Yunho laugh harder.

"Sorry we haven't tried them yet. We got a little- preoccupied" Mia said as she reached over and picked up her brownie. She took a bite and groaned at the delectable taste. "Holy crap these are delicious!"

Yunho picked up a brownie himself. "Wooyoung this is delicious. Rich, but not over the top, I also like the chunks of chocolate."

"Only one thing would make it better," Mia said, taking another bite.

"What's that?" the chef asked.

"Ice Cream. Make it ala mode" she said covering her mouth as she spoke.

Wooyoung nodded a small smirk on his lips. "I knew I would like you. Yunho this one is a keeper." Wooyoung commented as he walked back into the restaurant.

"Seriously though, can we take the rest of these brownies to go? They are delicious" Mia said, turning to Yunho.

"Of course, but they are coming home with me!" Yunho teased.

"I guess that means I'll be coming over for brownies" Mia smirked as she shrugged.

"I'd like that." Yunho said, stepping forward and enveloping her in his arms once more.

Thursday came quickly, and Yunho picked up Kai and Nami. Kai was dressed in his prince costume from the previous Halloween. It was a bit short but the white outfit with the red sash and cummerbund made him look very sharp. Nami was wearing a perfectly blue Cinderella style dress with her plastic glass slippers of course.

"You dressed up too!!" Nami squealed as she ran into Yunho's arms.

"Of course. There need to be more princes and knights in this world"

"I wish mine looked as cool as yours!" Kai grumbled, as he compared his white outfit, to Yunho's black one. Yunho's slacks paired great with the black straight neck jacket. Gold filigree adorned the shoulders and cuffs, complete with gold trim. Yunho did feel princely, aside from his crown.

"Hey yours looks great little man! I wish mine was red, plus you have a real crown. Mine is paper." Yunho gestured to the paper crown from a fast food place. "Now your majesties, your carriage awaits."

When they got to the bookstore they discovered a cardboard castle leaning against the bookshelves in the story area, and a cardboard throne placed over a chair instead of the beanbag. Yunho smiled as he saw the children all dressed up as princes and princesses. He sat in a hidden corner of the shop, wanting to surprise Mia. Mia entered wearing a full Renaissance dress, the cream bodice was paired nicely with the forest green kirtle which was corseted with green ribbon. The long sleeves flowed behind her with embellishments around the elbows on the sleeve. A small circlet crown of silver leaves sat across the top of her forehead. Yunho felt she looked like she stepped out of one of the many fantasy novels surrounding him. She truly looked like a princess. "Hello" she smiled as she sat upon her small throne. "It is like the royalty from around the world has joined me today, you all look fantastic." She looked overjoyed, as she smiled at each child around her.

"What princess are you?" One of the girls dressed as Snow white asked.

"I am my own princess today. Because I want to read you guys a book my mom used to read to me." She lifted the small book. "The Princess and the Pea." She started reading the tale of a prince who couldn't find a suitable princess. He would find them lacking in princess ways. Until one night a terrible storm came through the land, and a young woman claiming to be a princess sought refuge. The queen was leery of the newcomer and set a pea under many mattresses. The queen did this because surely a princess could tell. When the girl awoke the next day she claimed pain from something in the bed, that made her not sleep well. When the prince saw she noticed such a small thing he decided to marry her. As Mia finished the short story she smiled. "Can someone tell me why I wanted to read that story today?"

"Because you found your prince!" Nami said excitedly.

"Well, I might've." Mia winked as she felt her cheeks flush. "I wanted to read that to you guys, because I feel you can all be princes and princesses."

"But why? Do you want us to sleep on peas?" A small prince asked.

"No. I don't want you to sleep on peas" she laughed. "I feel you can all notice the small things. To me being a true prince or princess is noticing something small, and being willing to change it. You can all do something, it doesn't have to be big. A small change can make a big difference." Her eyes sparkled as she spoke. Yunho could see her passion in her eyes.

"How can I do something though. I'm not big" a girl in a beautiful green gown said.

"A pea isn't very big, but it changed a lot of life's. Maybe start doing something good, like picking up trash when you go for walks. Being kind to a sibling, or even just giving a hug to a parent. Small things make big changes. Like a ripple in a pool. Remember that as the school year starts. Be kind, have courage, and make a difference" Mia's small speech seemed to spark something within the kids. They seemed excited. "OK princes and princesses, we've got a cupcake for each of you. So make sure to grab one before you leave. They are up at the front counter. "

That is when Yunho it was time to surprise Mia. She was watching the kids converse as she stood next to her throne. "Princess, from an admirer" Yunho lifted a small bouquet of cream colored tulips, as she turned to look at him. Her eyes grew big, as she looked him over.

"Yunho, you dressed up!" Mia's eyes shone as she took the flowers with a courtesy. "You make a lovely prince"

"Thank you. So, I heard Nami ask if you found your prince." He smirked, as he pushed his hair back from his forehead. Knocking his paper crown to the ground. "She did." Mia smiled as she set the tulips on the chair. "Well have you found him" he asked as he softly wrapped his arms around her, bringing her close.

"I think I have. Though his crown might need an upgrade." She chuckled as she looked toward the ground. "I think that can be arranged." Yunho lifted her head to look into her eyes.

"I hope so" she lifted her arms to his shoulders, pulling him down slightly. His eyes closed as her lips met his.

#ateez imagines #ateez fan fiction #ateez fanfic #ateez fluff #ateez angst #ateez yunho #yunho fluff #yunho angst #yunho fanfic #yunho x oc #yunho imagines #happy birthday yunho

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imnotwolverine · 4 years ago

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The marriage pact - Seedlings

Henry Cavill x OC Alice - multi-chapter

< Part 23 | Part 24 Seedlings | Part 25 >

Disclaimer: Bit of angst

Author’s note: It’s 6 AM and I’m posting this story live from a submarine ship. I kid you not. This is one crazy Sunday. A photographer friend had an assignment to make a photo report for a newspaper special and she needed someone to model for her. So, here I am. Here we are. Submarine ship Sundays. 😂

Word count: 1.840

(Link to my Masterlist)

Dear readers,

We are back on the island! And just in time. Winter is coming to an end and oh how incredibly happy I am to feel sun rays on my skin as I am working in my garden. Your garden? Oh yes, dear readers. I have, as of now, a garden. A house, a garden, a man. Ain’t life funny? Anyways. With spring soon coming our way it is time to get cracking. Or better yet; shovelling.

In other good news; I am pleased to announce that my book ‘The Tea Party’ will soon hit book shelves near you. The Tea Party is a collection of smaller adult stories which are just long enough to read before bed and exciting enough to spruce up your boring lunch break. Meet a number of mysterious and comedic characters as they go about their daily business, their lives intermixed with a sprinkling of magic and English frivolity. And if you happen to stop by my garden, I’ll be sure to autograph it for you, too.

With her hands in the dirt,

Ali

‘Ali Ali Ali!’ An excited voice bounced behind me and Henry as we strolled through the interior design shop, our hands interlinked. Both looking over our shoulders we didn’t see much, until we looked down. Little Alice! With a smile I turned and greeted her. ‘Hello dear princess! How do you do?’

‘And Swupermann!’ She squealed, looking up at Henry. He chuckled and winked at the little girl. ‘Don’t tell anyone! I’m in disguise!’

The girl stopped bouncing up and down and blinked, then asked: ‘What’s a disbois?’

‘Disguise.’ I sniffled, then reached down to pick her up and settle her on my hip like I always did, my eyes tracing around the shop, but not seeing her parents anywhere - which was understandable as the shop was absolutely PACKED with furniture. ..Oh cheeky..princess.. ‘A disguise is something you wear to hide who you really are. Like..’ I pulled a strip of hair before my nose. ‘See..such wonderful moustache I have! You cannot recognise me now..HON HON!’

The little girl chuckled and pulled away the lock of hair from my nose, scrunching hers in turn. ‘Noooo!!’ She shook her head. ‘That’s superman!’ She pointed at Henry, then nodded as if it was decided. Henry shrugged. ‘Well, guess I am Superman then.’ - ‘AND you are going to have bwabies with Ali.’ She nodded with the same decisive tone. Henry blinked and I near choked.

‘Oh..why do you think that?’

‘Mommy told me.’ She looked back at me and smiled, pleased with herself. I felt a little uneasy diving into this topic, so I remained silent and just raised my eyebrows. ‘Hmmm..’ I hummed, looking at Henry in hope that he would help. Unfortunately, though, he was equally surprised. And then little Alice continued: ‘You have to love like..THIS!’ And then she smooched her hand like there was no tomorrow.

Henry and I both started to grow red with embarrassment, both our mouths falling slightly agape as the little girl explained how you had to kiss. ‘And then you cuddle…’ She looked me dead in the eye. ‘A LOT.’ - ‘Did your mom tell you that?’ - YES! And then..’ She clapped her hands as if finalising her magic spell. ‘You get babies.’

‘Ali! Hey!…HEY you cheeky monkey! What are you doing here?’ Another voice behind us introduced an exasperated looking Maddie. I chuckled and hoisted up Alice a little higher - darn she really was getting heavy now. ‘Hey Mads. Lost something?’ I laughed, being welcomed in a warm hug from Maddie. ‘Oh you are back! It’s so good to see you. And thanks for catching our little princess.’

Next to us Henry was waving at someone and it became clear only moments later that he had waved at Frank, the dad carrying a large box with, by the looks of it, a new lamp. ‘Hey y’all.’ He cheered, putting down the lamp and giving a warning look at little Alice, who quickly folded her hands over her eyes, as if by that act alone she could disappear from her dad’s warning gaze.

‘Yep. We got a house, like you know. And, well, need a bit of furniture. So..you know..buying chairs and catching baby monkeys.’

‘BABIES!!!’ Alice cheered.

‘Yes..and ..babies.’

Maddie widened her eyes. ‘Oh…she did not just tell you the..-’ - ‘She just explained in fine detail how babies are made.’ I laughed, making Maddie run red with embarrassment. ‘Alice..’ Maddie warned.

The little girl shrugged again, folding her arms around my neck as if wishing me to protect her from her father’s and mother’s exasperated gazes. And then, from the crook of my neck she retorted to her mother: ‘But they pacties a lot.’

Henry near choked on his breath, making everyone laugh even louder, the first one to calm down being Maddie as she gave me a curious glance. All I could do was nod. ‘Yep.’ I bit my lip, making Maddie turn her questioning eyes towards Henry, who shrugged. ‘And perhaps with Alice’s good advice..who knows…’ He winked again at the little girl who squealed with excitement, her legs kicking out a bit.

‘Really? You mean..?’ Maddie looked back at me. I sighed and smiled, honestly this time. ‘Yes. Really really.’ - ‘OHHH ALI!!!’ Maddie flew back into my arms, the toddler in between us laughing giddily. ‘Ohhhhh…’ Maddie kissed my cheek, then gave Henry an equally big hug. ‘Oh I’m so happy. OH Oh ohhhh.’

We all laughed and made quick plans for a shared dinner to get Maddie and Frank up to speed - it had been months since I had last actually seen them after all. And Henry? Henry couldn’t be more happy, his face practically beaming as we drove home, having ordered a huge amount of furniture to somewhat fill up the empty house that we now called our home.

And home it was.

—

‘ALI? You up there?’ Henry’s voice sounded from the bottom of the stairs and I quickly swallowed a sniffle. ‘Yes. Here.’ I took a shivery breath and wiped away some tears.

It felt so stupid to cry. I was happy, right? I was probably the happiest I had ever been in my life. I had found someone who was not only my best friend, my buddy, my fellow cook during large dinner parties, my personal coach when I didn’t feel like exercising. No, he was Henry. A sweet, caring, gentleman with a tinge of dorky cheekiness thrown in the mix. He was perfect.

So why, oh why, was I crying?

‘Hey.’ Henry moved through the door way and stepped in beside me, his eyes trailing down the reddened skin beneath my lashes. ‘Are you okay baby?’

‘Yea..yea..it’s nothing. It’s..’ I sighed and sniffled back another tear, my eyes looking around the final and last room to be decorated. We both knew what could come here. What hopefully would come here. But it wasn’t here now. And I couldn’t help but feel the impending doom that it would never come. That this ship had sailed. That we had failed. That we would never fill..the nursery.

Strong arms wrapped around me and soft pillowy lips pressed away the two languid tears that rolled down my cheek. ‘What’s the matter, dear?’ He asked quietly. A question he full well knew the answer to, but he asked it all the same, his fingers tangling more tightly around the weft of my sweater. Locking me in, keeping me safe and leaving no way to run. I couldn’t keep up any walls even if I wished to. Henry knew my every worry. As he knew this one right now.

‘I’m just scared that it won’t..that we won’t..’ I slowly shook my head and held my breath. He pressed his forehead against mine and sighed. ’Time will tell. And if you want, we can get help. You know I don’t care about that. I don’t care about anything. I just want to be with you, okay?’ - ‘I know.’ I muttered, looking down on his day-old scruff, his neck, the slow rise and fall of his chest with every calming breath.

Breathe in. Puff, puff, puff.

The fun little memory of our plane ride here bubbled back up to the surface and I giggled quietly. Henry nuzzled my nose, silently asking me to share the fun. And so I did; I took a deep breath in, then looked him dead in the eye and puff-puff-puffed out. He got the reference and shook his head slightly, laughing. ‘You know what they say; practise makes perfect.’

I nodded and sniffled back another tear, closing in the last of the distance between us and moulding myself to his large chest, feeling his strong arms envelop me like a warm heavy blanket. ‘I love you so much. I just..pray and pray and pray that it will happen. I want the pitter patter of children’s feet in the hallway. I want to have them jump up on our bed and beg us for pancakes, even though it’s only like 5.30 in the morning.’ Henry laughed and I continued: ‘I want the tantrums, the pouting faces, the big fat crocodile tears, the scabbed knees, the cute little drawings that look like absolute shit. I want that.’ I said softly into the crook of his neck, his head slowly nodding, hands drawing slow circles over my back.

‘Marry me.’ He whispered. And then my heart dropped. In a good way and a bad way at once. I choked and grasped onto his long sleeve shirt more tightly, my tears now making place for a new expression. A mix of hope and worry lacing my features.

Not hearing or feeling any response from me, Henry slowly leaned back, studying my dumbfounded face. He rubbed a thumb over my cheek and I looked back up in those stormy blue eyes of his, full of longing, promises, desire. ‘Marry me, please Ali. We can take on any storm. Any challenge. And heck..if we have to adopt, we’ll adopt.’ He picked up my hand and brought it to his lips, pressing a kiss there without losing eye contact. ‘I just want you to know that you are all what truly matters to me. The rest will come.’

I struggled for air and my throat went dry.

Did I want to marry him? Yes. Now? I didn’t know. Why? I wanted to tackle this dream first. Kids couldn’t wait, the clock was ticking. And marriage? We could always get married at a later point.

‘P-please ask me again after..after..’ I rubbed my tummy and swallowed. ‘Let’s..let’s first see if I can even ..get..’ I broke into a new storm of tears and the silent question that was afloat in the air remained unanswered, Henry’s arms pulling me back tightly into him, his face also breaking into one of agony.

‘I’ve got you Ali. I’ve got you. It’s okay.’ He whispered into my hair and long minutes went by as we just stood there.

In our home. The nursery echoing our desperate desire to become a mom and dad. To have a baby of our own.

General tagsquad: @harrysthiccthighss @tumblnewby @magdelen69 @thereisa8ella @mary-ann84 @darkbooksarwin @summersong69 @madbaddic7ed @luclittlepond

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#henry cavill fanfiction #henry cavill fanfic #henry cavill x oc #henry cavill x author #the marriage pact #gardening #furniture #empty house #seedlings #romcom

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6fofficeph4 · 3 years ago

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Corduroy The Bear Stuffed Animal - Chaplains, Therapists Provide Comfort For Local Families During String Of Shootings Involving Children

“The ones who stroll away are very, very fortunate,” she defined. Click here to subscribe to WAVY Breaking News Email alerts. Edmondson tells mother and father to get therapy and counseling and don’t be ashamed about it. For his or her kids, she advises parents to make the most of college counselors, and get the little one involved in activities and sports to help them thrive. Garren says 90% of his job is listening: being a sounding board for fogeys whereas their baby is in important care. “We assist them push that emotion out to talk about it, to assist them understand the process of what’s occurring with their baby,” Garren said. In a trauma state of affairs, CHKD will set up a chair proper outside the room for folks, to allow them to see what’s going on with their child’s care. “If the family’s religious, loads of instances we’ll pray with them. We’ll say a prayer together,” Garren stated. And when a baby dies from a capturing, Garren will get the toughest of all questions: How could God let this happen? “Normally what I say, and that i can’t speak for each chaplain on the market, is ‘I don’t know. I don’t know why this happened and how it happened this way,'” he mentioned. CHKD has a workers of 10 chaplains, and one is specifically certified in bereavement. The hospital has another source of consolation when a younger baby dies in a shooting called the Heartbeat Bear. It’s a stuffed animal with a microchip that has a recording of their child’s heartbeat that they'll keep as a reminiscence.

In case you have seen your mother and her buddies having tea or a luncheon in their best clothes, or you will have watched a tea celebration on tv, you might need thought how fun it could be to have your one in all your individual. Perhaps you were inspired by Alice's visit with the Mad Hatter in "Alice in Wonderland", and you'd now prefer to have tea to your teddy bear in an analogous trend. Hosting a tea social gathering is an fulfilling task for a rainy day, in addition to courteous factor to do in your beloved stuffed buddies. Perhaps you can invite your mom for a special lady's day. You might invite your father and your siblings as well, for a more informal occasion, and even some actual life mates if you happen to or one among your bears is having a birthday. A tea occasion is a giant accountability though, so that you might want to plan forward before the large day.

Why not fold the napkins into fancy shapes to add a contact of elegance to your tea desk? There are many ways to fold cloth napkins. If you don't have cloth napkins, attempt folding handkerchiefs as a substitute, or rigorously folding paper napkins? Your table will be the focal level of the celebration. Special care ought to be taken to ensure it seems to be its greatest. A nice tablecloth will really help set the mood. Ask big stuffed animal bear your mom if she has a spare tablecloth or if she canmake one particularly to your party. Take good care of the cloth and it can be used for a lot of parties to come back! Additionally, you will need a tea set. You might need one already, otherwise you might should borrow one. Make sure that it is clean and that all the pieces are current in order that the settings look right. You will also want some pretty trays for appetizers and other treats. Whether it is the appropriate time of 12 months, a vase of minimize flowers would look lovely on your desk.

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Now that you've your outfit/s arranged, you want to deal with the social gathering. No less than an hour of uninterrupted time. Be sure you politely ask your visitors to turn off their telephones and different distractions throughout the celebration. An optional contact could be to buy crepe paper to decorate the room. Use white, pink, pale blue, or different delicate coloration so as to add elegance. You may match the crepe paper to the flowers. Paper doilies-these pretty doilies are wonderful for lining the cookie tray or for using as placemats. Your invitations should set the temper of your social gathering. Will it's informal? Or formal? If the affair will be casual, you can make invitations out of heavy, colored paper or cardstock. Use a stencil to trace a shape, such as a heart or bear onto the paper. Cut around the edges with paper shears for a reasonably, scalloped impact. More formal invitations may be purchased, or made from small clean playing cards.

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thatssokatsuki · 5 years ago

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Welcome To Wonderland || Dad!Denki Kaminari x f!Reader

Pairing: Denki Kaminari x Female Reader Song: Anson Sebra - Welcome to Wonderland Summary: Denki is a new dad, and he can’t wait to have an adventure of a lifetime with his daughter Warnings: Fluff,, so much fluff in fact that i cried writing it; Pregnancy/birth Word Count: 1,454

A/N: This doesn’t mention quirks, mostly because its not all that relevant to the story,, I hope you all enjoy though!

Welcome to Wonderland, we've got it all Potions and pastries that make you grow tall Forests and cottages, castles and cards that can talk

It had taken hours, but your little girl was finally out and cleaned and ready to be held, and needless to say that your husband was sobbing as you held your newborn daughter close to your chest. You had to feed her before you could let your darling husband hold her, which also gave him a bit to relax long enough to stop shaking in pure excitement. He meant well, yes,, but you also didn’t want to run the risk of the new-dad jitters to cause anything to get.. sparky. Once he was finally calmed down, and your daughters tummy full, he had reached out to grab the tiny bundle in your arms so that you could finally rest. As you drifted back off into slumber, you could hear your other half cooing at the small bundle of joy in a hushed tone as to not disturb you.

Welcome to Wonderland, look where you're at Maddest of hatters, the Cheshire Cat Magical cabins and lovely white rabbits with clocks

A few short years pass, and your both teaching little Rui how to read. You all had fun reading her stories, and having her trying to read them to you, however she always loved when her daddy was the one to read. He would always get up and act out the story for her as you would hold her in your lap. Sometimes he would even rope you into his story telling antics, to Rui’s delight. Her favorite story to watch you both act out was Alice in Wonderland, and as a way to teach her, you would have her read a scene aloud, and act out what you had heard her say, which sometimes she would use to her advantage.

Dancing through a dream underneath the stars Laughing 'til the morning comes Everyone that leaves has a heavy heart, oh, Wonderland I love

Little Rui is now 5 years old and is becoming very.. independent, for lack of a better word. She can talk and read and walk and dance,, oh and dance she did. She absolutely loved disney princess movies, and whenever the prince and princess would dance on screen, she would drag an enthusiastic Denki to dance with her. Sometimes he would hold her on his feet and they’d dance around that way, and sometimes he would get down to her height. Her all time favorite song to dance together, though, was Married Life from Up. The amount of times you all got to do that, though, was cut short when she had to start attending school. And on her first day of school, you both cried and danced to her favorite songs before getting ready to spend the rest of the afternoon with her when she got back.

Welcome to Wonderland, I'll be your guide Holding your hand under sapphire skies Let's go exploring or we could just go for a walk

Rui is now in middle school, and Denki is starting to jokingly threaten to scare off any boys she brings home, and she laughs along with him knowing its all in good fun. You, however, are left with the responsibility of talking to her about puberty and its affects on the body, although you weren’t too concerned because she was a smart cookie who was also very responsible. It was time you started moving forward, and truly guiding her on her path to being a wonderful woman,, although You and Denki both sometimes cried with eachother looking over photo albums in the privacy of your own room, remembering her childhood as if it were just yesterday.

Welcome to Wonderland, where should we go There's a tea party along down the road Make an appearance and maybe they'll sing us a song

Your baby girl is now 16, and is as passionate and theatrical as she was back when she was 6. You and Denki had both decided to throw her the sweet 16 of her dreams, coordinating everything with her friends who were all more than enthusiastic to help. The party was going to be based on her all time favorite story, and you had helped make everyone’s costumes. You had dressed up as the White Queen, and Denki, The Mad Hatter. Once the enormous rented area was set up with iconic areas and decor, including croquet, you had placed the replica of the dress you had made in a small blue box with a tag saying “Wear Me”. Once she had arrived, she tightly hugged both you and her father, tears of joy in her eyes.

Dancing through a dream underneath the stars Laughing 'til the morning comes Everyone that leaves has a heavy heart oh, Wonderland I love

Your little baby isn’t a baby anymore, shes a full grown woman settling into her newfound career, and has asked you to help her to choose the perfect wedding dress. You browsed some bridal shops, but nothing really stood out to you, or the beautiful bride to be. A day or so more goes by in search of the perfect dress, and its finally found and you both couldn’t be more overjoyed. You couldn’t wait for both your husband, and her future husband, to see how stunning your little girl looks on her wedding night, as everyone agreed you were to be the only one who would see it until then. Months came and gone after that, and the night was finally there. You had waited to be seated until after Denki had seen his daughter in her wedding dress, wanting to see his reaction in real time. Needless to say, he had sobbed and it took him a moment to catch his breath and recover. You then sat down in the front row, Denki’s seat next to you remaining vacant until he walked your daughter up the isle. The ceremony came and gone, and was filled with many tears. It was now time for the dances at the reception, and Denki was getting ready for the dance he was to share with his daughter. You both felt a pang in your heart hearing the all too familiar start of the song you all held in your heart dearly but hadn’t danced too in years, and it couldn’t have been more fitting a song for her wedding day.

Nothing around here is quite as it seems Not sure if anything's real or a dream And the only thing sure from the start Is the song that's inside of your heart Don't let it leave

Rui and her husband had been married for about a year or two before they were finally welcoming their own little bundle of joy into their lives, and you couldn’t be more happy. You and your beloved husband were reaching the ends of your lives, and all you both wanted was to see your little girl start a family of her own, and neither of you could be more delighted as she presented you both with a little bundle, one blue and one pink. If someone had asked you what your life was being built up too, what all of this was for.. you would’ve shrugged and said you didn’t know, or maybe you would’ve said that it was to have the best career or to be with the love of your life for the rest of you life,, but now that you were nearing the end of your own, next to the man that had held your heart since the moment you had laid eyes on him, each of you holding a twin that your very own daughter had made.. your grandchildren, you knew deep in your heart that this was it.

If this was a dream, then at least I've got Memories for when morning comes Now that I must leave with a heavy heart oh, Wonderland I love

Many hours pass and you find yourself waking up in a hospital bed. You sit up, blinking your eyes a few times to get readjusted to the bright lights of the hospital room. The nurse comes in and checks your vitals, and brings you something small to eat, informing you that you and your baby will both be able to leave in just a few more hours. You smile brightly at her and nod, thanking her before starting to eat. Little *insert name* coos on your sleeping husbands’ chest, causing you to giggle careful to not wake the sleeping man on your bedside as you reach out to grab the greatest little human you’ve ever had the pleasure to meet.

#bnha x reader #mha x reader #kaminari x reader #bnha fic #mha fic #denki kaminari #bnha imagines #mha imagines #denki kaminari imagine

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7-wonders · 5 years ago

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Blame It On My Youth

Summary: You’ve seen enough of Michael’s world to last you three lifetimes. Now, it’s time to show him some of your world.

Word Count: 4907

A/N: Did that sound a bit like the Little Mermaid? Yes. Do I care? No. Hope you guys enjoy, feedback is always appreciated and, if you feel so inclined, I would love if you reblogged, liked, and commented.

Out of all of the fantasy books that you read as a child, none was more frustrating than Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland. It was a fine book, filled with whimsy and adventure, all things that a child can devour like candy, but one particular passage captured your attention and warranted your problem-solving abilities for an entire week after you first finished the book. The famous question of “why is a raven like a writing desk?,” posed by the Mad Hatter to young Alice at their tea party, drove you nearly as mad as a Hatter in trying to solve it. It’s not as if there was an answer; the protagonist, herself, declared that “I think you might do something better with the time than wasting it in asking riddles that have no answers,” but you were determined to be the first to solve this unsolvable riddle. Obviously, you didn’t solve the riddle, and the answer still eludes you to this day. You haven’t thought about that old riddle for quite some time, but your current predicament, and the amount of time spent thinking about it, gives you an odd sense of deja vu and reminds you of Lewis Carroll’s question with no answer.

It’s been two weeks since your trip to the Murder House, and your mind has spun with hundreds of questions that seem to have no answer. Michael, of course, hasn’t been any help at all. The man seems to be a walking paradox; when you don’t need him, he’s impossible to get rid of, and on the rare occasion that you do need him, he can’t be reached. You’ve been able to talk to him, your weekend visits to his mansion forcing you to make some conversation, but Michael has diverted every question you’ve shot at him. He doesn’t get mad that you’re constantly coming up with questions that, to you, have no answers, which only confuses you even more. Although you shouldn’t be pushing your luck after his show of mercy at his childhood home, you feel that you’re entitled to some answers.

Michael, the infuriating, confounding, caring husband that he is, has patiently reminded you time and time again that your finals are more important than any questions you may have. You hate it when he’s right, especially when he pulls out the contract and points out that it was you who made it a point to refuse dropping out of school. Your questions, he tells you, can be answered after you’ve finished the semester and gotten the grades you know you’re capable of. If you’re being honest, at this point you would take a year of being trapped in the Murder House over a week of finals (“Your dramatics truly never get old,” Michael commented dryly when you complained to him during a study break on Sunday). Finals week, you’ve decided, is certainly the work of Michael’s father.

Regardless of your opinions on the week of tests that largely decide your grades, the feelings of joy and relief that flood through you upon walking out of the classroom in which your last final of the semester was held. You have a high enough grade in the class to be able to keep your ‘A’ even if you flunk and, if you were brave, you would have just completely skipped the final. Worst-case scenarios, however, prevented you from doing so and made sure that you actually studied for this test. No matter how you did on the tests, you walk across campus feeling like you’re floating on air. No more school for an entire summer! The bliss that accompanies a last day of school does not, thankfully, fade with age.

Part of you wants to literally put the school in your rearview mirror and stay at least a mile away for three months straight, but you’re also a good person who promised to meet her friends for lunch and isn’t about to back out of a commitment. College dining halls, contrary to popular belief, are not nearly as clique-y as high school lunch rooms. Although there’s a few tables that everyone knows the athletes sit at, the rest of the tables are up for grabs. This can make things difficult when you’re one of the last to an already-packed dining hall and you have to awkwardly stand in the middle of the room while you search for your ‘group.’ Having friends like yours makes this move a lot easier, waving at you to get your attention once they notice that you’re looking around for them.

“You had finals today, right? How’d they go?” Kate and Brennan sit across from you, a bowl of cucumbers sitting between them. You grab at one when you take your own seat, deciding a water-based vegetable is better than nothing.

“They went okay, especially considering they were my last finals,” you reply, glancing around the table to catalogue who is and isn’t here. It’s the usual crew, but you take note of a new face. Shooting Kate a glance, she quickly picks up on your question.

“Oh yeah, you two haven’t met before! (Y/N), this is Mallory. She’s in my Russian Lit class, her other friends have already left for the summer so I invited her to come sit with us today.”

Mallory’s beautiful, her large doe-like eyes and golden leaf headband nestled in her brown locks giving her the appearance of some sort of angel. She’s wearing a black dress that’s cinched with a belt that matches the headband, her outfit looking like it costs as much as a couple of textbooks.

“Hi, I’m (Y/N),” you smile warmly, Mallory returning your smile and waving at you.

“It’s really nice to meet you, (Y/N),” she says.

“Why haven’t I seen you around campus before?” Although it’s a large and populated college, you’re sure that you would have remembered seeing someone as unique as Mallory.

“Oh, we must just run in different circles.” The buzzing of your phone draws your attention from the conversation, sending Mallory an apologetic look before checking the notification.

“How did your tests go?” You can’t help the smile when you see Michael’s message, thumbs flying across the keyboard to type a reply.

“I think they went really well, thanks!”

Barely thirty seconds pass before Michael’s responded, and you stifle a laugh at the mental image of Michael sitting at his desk and just waiting for you to check your texts.

“You should call me when you get a chance, maybe we can go out and celebrate?” After the Murder House escapade, you had become a lot more lenient with your “two phone calls a week” rule. Sometimes it’s actually you that calls him first, much to the shock and surprise of both of you.

“Wow, our second date? Amazing, maybe we can even go steady after this lmao,” you can’t help the sarcasm, especially not when the opportunity is right there.

“-and--(Y/N),” Kate whines, drawing your attention back to the people in front of you.

“I was listening!” You unconvincingly insist.

“Really? What was I talking about, then?”

“Um...Brennan?”

“No, but nice try. I was talking about the end-of-year party at Colin and Noel’s.” Colin and Noel are two best friends who live together and, at least once a month, throw the type of parties that are the stuff of legends. The first, and only, time you went to one, Noel got so drunk that he body slammed himself onto the pong table, somebody tried to crowd surf, and multiple people ended up in the hospital with alcohol poisoning.

That was on a regular Saturday in January.

“I don’t know, Kate, I’m still trying to recover from Thirsty Thursday at the Stadium House.”

“That was almost a month ago.”

“That’s the point,” you say jokingly. “But really though, I don’t like crazy parties, and I’d rather not deal with the cops.”

“They’ve scaled their parties back so much since the last time you came to one! No hospital visits related to events at their house, even!”

“Really?” You can’t help but be skeptical at her claim.

“Really. Listen, you don’t even have to stay for long, but I’d really like to hang with you one last time before I go back home for the summer.” Kate smiles when you sigh, knowing she has you. A good chunk of your friends are all going off to the far corners of the country for the break, and this will probably be the last time that you’re all together for three months.

“Alright, let me talk with, uhh--yeah, I should be able to swing by for a bit,” your friends don’t know about Michael yet, and you’d prefer to keep it that way.

“Yay!” Kate squeals, drumming her hands on the table in excitement.

“I should get going.”

“I’ll see you tonight though, right?”

“...Right.”

“Are you going to the parking lot? I’ll walk with you if you are,” Mallory says, a twinge of guilt running through you at the realization that you practically forgot about the poor girl.

It’s impossible for you to say no, and you find yourself walking side by side with Mallory towards the parking lot. It’s a bit of an awkward silence, as it usually is when two people who don’t really know each other are left alone.

“Seriously though, how have we not met before? Are you a freshman?” You ask.

“No, but this is my first semester here. I transferred from a school in New Orleans.”

“Oh, I love New Orleans! I went there for a week last year, it was amazing.”

“Yeah, I, uh,” Mallory looks down towards her heeled shoes, nodding, “I miss it a lot.” Your heart aches at the sudden look of homesickness on your new friend’s(?) face, causing you to lay a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Well, at least the school year’s over and you can go home now.”

“Actually, I think I’m sticking around for the summer. My aunt thinks it’s good for me to get out of New Orleans and out of my comfort zone. My best friend Coco’s letting me stay with her.” Mallory’s phone starts to ring, and she laughs when she looks at the caller ID. “Speak of the devil; it’s my aunt.”

“I’ll see you at the party tonight?” Mallory nods.

“See you tonight, (Y/N).” Mallory watches you continue towards the parking lot, only answering her phone when you’ve rounded the corner. “Hey, Cordelia...Yeah, it’s her alright.”

////////////////////////////

Michael, as per usual, is in his office when you arrive at his home. Even though he has no logical way of knowing that you’ve arrived, the opening of his office door before your hand even makes contact with the knob gives you the sneaking suspicion that his Antichrist powers give him an advantage. You stroll in, Michael looking a little too nonchalant as he reads through some papers on his desk.

“Some serious Cooperative business?” You ask, falling into a chair on the other side of his desk.

“You could say that,” he looks up at you, smiling. “How was your last day of the semester?”

“It was fine, finals were fine, it’s all fine, fine, fine.” You spin yourself in the chair, head falling back as you watch the blur of the ceiling above you.

“That’s a mood.” Stopping suddenly, you look at Michael in surprise before laughing loudly.

“Look at you, catching up on your slang!”

“Figured I’d try and actually learn what you were talking about.”

“Speaking of ‘moods,’ I might have something that would help to raise both of ours.” Michael raises an eyebrow, urging you to continue. “Some...friends of a friend are throwing a huge party tonight for the end of the year. Would you wanna go? I know you had talked about celebrating, but maybe we could celebrate this way?”

“You want me to go to a...college party? The same type of party that you drunk-called me from and where I had to get you from?”

Your face heats up at the reminder. “I’m not even going to be drinking at this party, I learned my lesson last time. Look, I know that you didn’t have the most normal upbringing, so maybe this could be your chance to experience some of the things you missed out on. You can’t tell me that you’re perfectly fine with going from a child to running your father’s army and planning the apocalypse practically overnight.”

Michael’s thinking about what you’ve said, which you’re not sure is good or bad yet. You know that you’ve made some good points, and he knows that you’ll go to the party even if he doesn’t. Maybe this is a question with no answer, like so many that you’ve encountered lately. Michael and parties don’t seem like they’d mix, and it’s impossible for you to read his mind like you can read his.

“Will I be out of place there?”

“Michael, there’s going to be so many people there that nobody will even look at you twice.” A lie; Michael’s far too beautiful for just one look.

“What time?” You aren’t even aware that you were holding your breath until he sighs and looks at you again.

“Really?” Michael nods. “Uh, probably nine or ten?”

“Is there not a set time for these parties?”

“Not really, just whenever people show up.” You stand up, smiling widely at Michael’s sudden apprehension and choosing to leave before he can change his mind. “I’ll leave you to your work!”

The good thing about being at the home of your Antichrist husband is that your wardrobe is limitless. A red satin top and a pair of black jeans (tightened with a Gucci belt, because how are you not going to take advantage of that?) is dressy, yet casual enough to be worn at a college party. When you trek down the stairs at a quarter to nine on a quest to scrounge around the kitchen for a quick meal, you’re not at all surprised to see Michael standing at one of the counters.

“You haven’t gotten dressed yet?” You ask, hopping up on the counter next to him and tearing apart a bread roll before popping a bite in your mouth.

“I figured I could just wear this to the party.” Michael’s expression sours when you laugh.

“I’m sorry, I promise I didn’t mean to laugh! It’s just--if you don’t want to attract a bunch of attention, then I wouldn’t suggest wearing a cloak, a suit, and a pair of red bottoms.” He looks down at his outfit, as if suddenly realizing how overdressed he is.

“But...I don’t know what else to wear?”

“C’mon, I’m sure we can find something in your closet for you to wear.” Michael hesitates when you grab his hand, obviously unsure of what to do next. “Kind of need you to lead the way, since I’m assuming your closet is in your bedroom that I’ve never been to before.”

“Right! Let’s go.”

The uncertainty that you feel at the threshold of Michael’s bedroom holds you back like a tether. It’s not as if anything unscrupulous is going to be happening, but the idea of invading the sanctity of your husband’s private bedroom is a little jarring. Peeking into the room, you’re reminded of a conversation you had with Michael during your first weekend here.

“Does every room look like this?” An unspoken question dangles in the air: does your room look like this? Michael grins widely, but it’s devoid of any of the emotions that a regular smile would accompany. It’s the smile of the devil.

“Guess you’ll have to find out for yourself, won’t you?” He chuckles at the withering glare you give him, loping back towards the door and resting a hand on the silver handle.

“So, every room does look the same,” you comment with a smirk, finally getting over your sudden fear and following Michael into his room.

“I had to have a little mystery surrounding me.” Michael smiles. “Are you going to help me or not?”

////////////////////////////

“Everybody here is in khaki shorts and printed shirts,” Michael hisses in your ear. Your hand grips Michael’s firm bicep, and you give it a teasing squeeze.

“Yeah, and you look a thousand times better than them. You always do.” Cars were already inconspicuously-but-not-really parked up and down the block, and you have to maneuver through at least fifty people just in the entryway and the living room. “College guys don’t really have a sense of style.”

“So I won’t lose you to one of these ‘boys,’ then?” Michael’s style, in your opinion, is timeless. You managed to work with his formal wardrobe, finding a white t-shirt and pairing it with an unbuttoned black shirt. The sleeves are rolled up to his elbows (although that part may be totally self-serving), and his black jeans are cuffed into a pair of boots. He still looks more formal than everyone else, but it’s way better than him showing up in a goddamned cloak.

“You never even had me in the first place,” you chuckle, shooting Michael a playful wink. “C’mon, let’s see if we can find any of my friends around here.”

There’s coolers set up in the kitchen to keep the different cans and bottles cool, as well as an array of liquor on the kitchen island. Michael looks like a fish out of water, standing around awkwardly while you start peeking into the coolers.

“I thought you said you weren’t drinking,” Michael comments.

“I’m not, I’m just trying to find some soda or water.”

“(Y/N)!” You turn around, smiling when you see Noel standing before you.

“Hey, bud.” Noel, one of two party throwers of legend, is a shorter guy who makes up for his lack of height with his absolute insane stockpile of never ending energy. His black hair is always carefully gelled and combed into place, and he dresses like a middle-aged rich dad who’s going boating for the weekend.

“Who’s your friend? If he’s a part of Sig Tau, he needs to get outta here before Colin sees him, because Colin still has a huge problem with--”

“No, don’t worry, he doesn’t go to our school.” Noel nods, drumming his hands on the table and picking up a bottle of tequila.

“In that case, can I get you two some shots?”

“I don’t know, Noel, I wasn’t really planning on drinking tonight.”

“C’mon, (Y/N), one shot’s not gonna get you fucked up. I’ve seen you drink before, you’re barely even gonna get buzzed.” He winks, already knowing that you’re going to say yes when you sigh.

“Two shots, then.”

Noel expertly pours two shots, sliding them your way with a friendly “enjoy” before leaving to continue his hosting rounds.

“What’s Sig Tau? Is that some sort of a cult?” Michael asks once Noel’s gone.

“It’s a fraternity, so close.” You slide a shot to Michael and pick up your own, downing it with a grimace. Michael just stares apprehensively at the clear liquid in the shot glass. “Are you not going to drink that?”

“What is it? It looked like you were drinking gasoline.”

“It’s tequila, which is kind of the same thing.”

“If I die, I’m holding you responsible.” Michael throws his own shot back, coughing and hacking as you cheer. “Satan, that was terrible. Why do people drink that?”

“I dunno,” you shrug, grabbing two bottles of water from a cooler and tossing one to Michael, “quick little buzz, palate cleanser, there’s a million different reasons.”

Michael grabs your hand and pulls you out of the way when a girl, clearly already drunk, nearly bumps into you on her search for another drink. She mumbles an apology, choosing to take the whole bottle of Jack Daniels with her instead of pouring it into one of the hundreds of red Solo cups stacked on the counter. His blue eyes meet yours and you both chuckle, silently agreeing to move out of the cramped kitchen and somewhere with less people. While the living room’s not any better, you do manage to run into Kate and Mallory.

“You made it!” Kate exclaims, pulling you from Michael to hug you. Her eyes are wide while also managing to droop at the same time, and you can almost guarantee that she’s crossed.

“I told you I would be here,” you say, giggling when Kate affectionately boops your nose. Mallory’s standing awkwardly to the side, eyes flickering between you and Michael. Kate also seems to pick up on her friend’s sudden change in demeanor, and smirks when she notices the man trailing behind you.

“And just who is this, (Y/N)?”

“Oh, this is my--uh, my friend Michael.” ‘Friend’ seems like a good term to settle on; you can’t explain your true relationship, Michael is not your boyfriend, and ‘acquaintance’ would be weird to say. Kate wiggles her eyebrows at you, sticking her hand out for Michael to take.

“Helloooo, (Y/N)’s friend Michael.”

“So, do you two have the same classes?” Mallory asks politely.

“No, Michael isn’t in college. He...well, he does--”

“I work for my father,” Michael interjects, smiling down at you. “I’m learning the ropes before I take over for him.” It’s technically not a lie, and you’re impressed until you remember that this must be one of his Antichrist powers. Mallory nods, but you can see a hint of something--doubt, or maybe suspicion?--in her eyes. Kate gasps before anymore words can be exchanged, grabbing yours and Mallory’s hands excitedly.

“I love this song! Dance with me, please!” You don’t really have a choice, the small woman amazingly strong when she wants to be. You look back at Michael apologetically, but he just smiles and gestures for you to go with.

The familiar bass that underlays all hip-hop songs thumps loudly through you, acting as some sort of an electric charge. Where you had once been bored and ready to quietly slip out of the front door, you’re now controlled by the beat of the song. The congregation of partiers who have also decided to dance grows larger with each passing second, enveloping your trio in the middle. While the dancing isn’t so much dancing as it is bouncing in time with the rhythm, it’s carefree in a way that you didn’t know you needed until now. Mallory takes your hands, both of you laughing as she spins you in a circle.

Michael leans against the wall, head tilted as he watches the dancing college students. More specifically, he intently watches you dancing with your friends. He’s intrigued, the corner of his mouth tilting up in a smile as you move in a way he’s never seen you move before. While you’re more relaxed around him now, you’re still so reserved in your mannerisms. Here, Michael sees a glimpse of who you once were before he dragged you into his life. You smile widely, singing the lyrics at the top of your lungs along with everyone else in the group of dancers. Your hair flows freely around your face, and he finds himself enraptured by the movement.

Would things have been different between you two if Michael wasn’t the Antichrist? Maybe, in another life, or another universe, you both would have attended the same college. The image pops into his head like it’s burned there; Michael sitting next to you on the first day of some nameless class, becoming friends with you first. Slowly but surely, your bond would only deepen, and from friends would spring lovers. Michael shakes his head imperceptibly: a fantasy. He can’t dwell on these silly theoretical questions that have no answers. It’s a fruitless pursuit, and nothing good will come out of fixating on the ‘what if’s.’

Michael jumps in surprise when you’re suddenly in front of him, being too wrapped up in his thoughts to notice the song ending and you making your way back over to him. You laugh, obviously delighted at finally catching him off guard.

“I let you startle me that time,” he jokingly argues.

“Uh-huh, if that’s what makes this crushing defeat easier for you. Anyways, do you wanna get out of here? Kate and Mallory are the only ones I really came here to see, and if we’re not going to drink there’s not really any reason to be here.”

“I’m ready to go home if you are.”

“Actually, I might have a little detour for us…” you trail off, smiling conspiratorially.

“Oh?” Michael’s not sure if he should be excited or nervous for idea of yours, something that you easily pick up on.

“I promise you’ll enjoy it.”

Twenty minutes later, you’re sitting on opposite sides of a booth in a small diner that you frequent with friends during the school year. A basket of french fries sits in the middle of the table, two tall glasses that are already beading with condensation standing guard next to the food. Amidst the fluorescent lighting, scratchy country music, loud ceiling fans, and run-down booths, you’re struck by how out of place Michael seems here, in your world.

He had stuck out like a sore thumb at the party, his uncomfortable posture and expensive clothing practically screaming that he did not belong in that small house. Here, in a restaurant with patrons ranging from a young family to an elderly couple, a middle-aged businessman to a homeless woman, he looks like some far-away traveler who landed in the wrong town. He’s a Renaissance piece of artwork, something far too beautiful and celestial for the eyes of these mere humans who couldn’t begin to comprehend the masterpiece that is Michael Langdon.

“Just what are we doing here?” Michael asks after the waitress, an older busty woman with red hair straight from the box, sets your order down and leaves.

“We’re enjoying a late-night snack,” you say simply, grabbing at a fry and savoring the first bite into the just-fried food.

“A late-night snack consisting of french fries and--are these milkshakes?” Michael picks up one of the glasses, investigating its contents.

“Uh, yeah? Have you never had a milkshake before?”

“(Y/N), my grandmother hid me away and refused to let me out of the house. Of course I’ve never had a milkshake before.” Your face falls, proving that you’re still not good at hiding your emotions like Michael is. Pushing the other glass towards him, you lace your fingers together and place them under your chin.

“I’m honored that I get to be a part of your first milkshake experience, then. There’s vanilla and chocolate; try them both, and then you can have whichever one you like best.”

Michael looks uneasily between the two glasses, as if trying to decipher if one is poisoned. “Which one do you prefer?”

“I like them both,” you shrug.

Finally, he takes a cautious sip of the chocolate. You’re mildly disappointed when he doesn’t have any sort of reaction, silently cataloguing his opinions on the flavor before taking a less-cautious drink of the vanilla. Without any fanfare, he pushes the chocolate back towards your waiting hands.

“They’re both good, you’re right, but I like this one better.” You smile, sliding the glass towards you and sipping the shake that he’s rejected.

“Um, Michael…” you trail, not sure how to phrase what you’ve been thinking of for the past week.

“Yes?”

“Would--is the offer to move in with you still on the table?” Michael smirks widely, and you rush to explain yourself. “It’s just that my rent is going up next month and it’s not worth it at this point, and your place is closer to campus. Plus, my cat likes you better than she likes me.”

You’re not sure why you’re nervous, since he’s obviously going to say yes to your request. You living with him was one of the only things he desperately wanted during the contract negotiations. When you think about it, you just don’t want him to get the wrong idea. It seems as if you’ve finally reached a comfortable relationship with Michael, a place where you tolerate him and could even see him as one of your friends. But an actual romantic relationship is so far down the list of things that you and Michael are, and you don’t want him to think that you’re finally going to be the loving wife that Satan wanted you to be. For lack of better wording, there’s no way in hell that will happen.

“Only because I like your cat better than you, and I wouldn’t want her to go homeless.” Your mouth drops and you laugh, picking up a fry and throwing it at Michael who, of course, deftly catches it in his mouth.

“You jerk!”

“You said it first, not me!”

“Fine,” you sit back against the booth and cross your arms over your chest, trying to keep your best poker face on, “but you should know that we’re a package deal.”

“Hmm, I suppose I can cope with that.”

“Do we have a deal, then?” Yet again, you’re struck by the irony of making a deal with the Devil (well, the Devil’s son, but close enough). Michael picks up his glass and waits for you to do the same, clinking your milkshakes together in agreement.

“We, my dear, have a deal.”

////////////////////////////

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cesabutterflywrites · 5 years ago

Text

The Duke of the Bay: Part 4

If you want to be put on a taglist for this please let me know!

[Spotify Playlist] [Youtube Playlist]

First Part, Ao3 Link, Next Part

Story Warnings: Guns, threats, alcohol, homosexual slang used pejoratively and positively, internalized homophobia, ask me to add any if need be

Chapter warnings: mildly implied prostitution, ask me to add any if need be

Chapter Word Count: 2042

Summary: Patton O’Hearty was a great detective. Most people didn’t take him for one at first glance, especially when he dressed casual. He was abnormally chipper; he thought everything was the cat’s pajamas. He had a smile for everyone he met. He was always tipping his hat at the dames and gents when he walked the streets of the Bay Area.

The only person he could never catch was the leader of the planted mob in Emeryville, nicknamed The Duke. The Duke was good at hiding his dealings and joints well, and he rarely had a snitch in his ranks. The few who tried, well, somehow they disappeared before they could give the police any substantial information. He was well hidden, but popular among the residents of the town. People talked boldly of his rambunctious parties, never revealing the locations though. He was hard to catch, to say the least.

So what happens, when instead, the detective is the one that’s caught?

Mr. Doris was standing outside the small diner, holding a young brunette girl by the elbow. He was obviously struggling to hold her still. There weren’t many people in the street to witness, though a few eyes in the diner were peeking through the blinds in the front windows.

The lady was a firecracker. She was putting up a fuss for sure. She was spewing profanities that would make a sailor blush. Her brown hair was falling out of it’s pins, and her tan coat was ripped at the shoulder seam.

She paused her fighting when she turned and saw the detectives. Her eyes grew large as she recognized the men.

“Alice!” Logan called. He ran up to Mr. Doris, holding his arm up to sucker punch him in the face. Patton was lucky to pull him back first.

“Detective!” he scolded, “Backup up is on it’s way, don’t lose your cool.”

Mr. Doris’ grin was sinister. He had straight teeth that made his smile seem dangerous. He was a handsome man, objectively. His narrow eyes were almost hypnotic. They were such a light hazel that in the daylight they were almost golden yellow. His scar gleamed in the sunlight.

The detective and Mr. Doris stared at each other, both waiting to see who made the first move. When the sirens of the backup were heard, the man in the bowler hat threw Alice forward and turned tail. Alice cursed as she stumbled.

Patton pushed her into Logan’s arms, “Get her to the station!” he called as he ran after the sneaky, sinister snake of a man.

Mr. Doris was fast. The soft-spoken man clearly had many tricks up his sleeves that Patton would need to catch up to. His body was short and stocky, yet he practically glided through the streets as he was chased. Patton once again was struggling to keep up with a criminal because he underestimated them. He underestimated the entire gang, it seemed.

The detective’s heart pounded as he chased the spy through the streets. He barely noticed the pedestrians moving out of his way. He couldn’t let himself get distracted again. His lungs burned, yet he pushed. His legs were aching but the fury he held edged him forward. He shed his jacket behind him, not letting himself get over heated as he ran.

Slithery Mr. Doris turned into an alleyway, so Patton followed- only to see a car barreling towards him. He jumped back, watching with disbelief at the vehicle. Without a thought he found himself chasing the black Rolls Royce on his own human legs. It may have been futile, but the detective didn’t care at that moment.

He looked at the license plate, trying to make out the figures through his own sweat. He stopped running as the car got further and further ahead.

He couldn’t run any more. He threw his hat down and cursed. He paced in the road, cursing at himself for once again not being able to keep up with a criminal. This was the third time not being able to catch up. He felt tears well in his eyes but held them back. Crying would do him no good, now.

A loud horn interrupted his episode. He looked up and saw Logan behind the wheel of their Ford police car. He bit the inside of his cheek, meeting Logan’s glare with his own through the window. He leaned down to pick up his hat, then trudged to the passenger seat.

Alice was seething in the back seat, “Either of you gents want to tell me what the hell is going on?” she yelled. Her voice wasn’t scared. If Patton weren’t so upset, he would have been concerned by her lack of fear.

“Watch your tongue, we’ll explain it when we get to the station,” Logan ordered through grit teeth. He glanced at Patton, an unspoken question in his eyes.

What the hell is going on, indeed?

Patton scrunched his face in worry. He didn’t understand what was wrong with him, himself. He wasn’t usually so careless. He always had a clear head when on a case. He never had such intense feelings on the job. He was meticulous in his dealings with people. He was steady, he could stay objective no matter how sensitive the matter. He was a good cop. He was good.

Wasn’t he?

He internally cursed himself for letting himself get too attached to the Duke. Not just as a victim of seduction, but as a policeman. He was so antsy to set the head criminal behind bars. To see what the man looked like without the backing of his operation. He was craving the satisfaction in putting an end to the madness before the madness even began. He was so damn anxious to go to the party when he found out Logan got that tip.

Anyone would have known the damn note was a trap. Why did he fall for it? Even Logan had warned him. He thought it was just an anonymous do-gooder. He had blind faith in the goodness of people. Patton cursed himself again for being so gullible.

He felt bitter, with a million questions forming in his mind. If the trap was so obvious, what caused him to disregard it? Why did he need to be lured in that way in the first place? If it was clear as day, why the hell did their captain approve the mission? Why didn’t the captain even pause when he was told the plan the morning they got the tip?

Patton remembered he had smiled in satisfaction. There was a memory of the captain’s blue eyes grinning in triumph that flashed across Patton’s mind. At the time he dismissed it as confidence in the plan, but what if...

His eyes widened in disbelief at the connection. The captain…

He looked to Logan, panicked. “We can’t take her to the station, Logan!”

“Are you nuts? Why not?” Logan asked incredulously. “You’ve been acting like a loon for a month, Pat. Why should I trust your judgement now?”

“Because the captain is in on it! Please,” he softened his voice, “trust me this once.”

“I agree with...whoever you really are,” Alice piped up from the back seat.

“Patton. Patton O’Hearty,” he introduced, half paying attention to the kid. He was staring at Logan. “Logan, please. She’s a kid. I can’t endanger her.”

Alice crossed her arms and huffed. Logan’s knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel. He set his jaw in consideration. It was a moment before he spoke again. He looked at Patton once more, and saw that Patton resembled a puppy begging for scraps at the dinner table.

“Alright, alright.” He pulled over to the side of a lake. He turned his torso to look at his passengers. “Where do we go, then?”

----

They walked into a dirty apartment located in the ghettos of Oakland. The place was small. It was cramped with the three people occupying the space. There were still beautiful decorations despite that. Pieces that showed Alice’s determination to not be deterred by her circumstances.

Patton’s heart broke for Alice. She was only sixteen. She lived alone, braving the world on her own.

Alice had drawings covering the wall by her small vanity to the right of the doorway. There were little notes she had stuck to the mirrors, and there were perfume bottles that glittered in the dim lighting. The clutter was beautiful. It told a story of a girl who kept as much beauty in her life as she could. Patton admired the strength Alice had.

“Sorry about the mess, usually the visitors I have don’t care.” Alice remarked. Her voice was masking her panic well. Patton had barely caught it.

“Don’t worry, Miss. We’ve got bigger things to worry about than the cleanliness of your home.” Logan replied for them. His face betrayed him, though. He and Patton shared a look of concern for Alice’s well being.

Alice walked to the stove in the far corner of the room. “Could I interest you two in some tea before we start our discussion?”

The two men shook their heads. Logan made his way to sit down on the pillows on the ground. They looked like the type of pillows Indians used for sitting on the ground, Patton thought. Logan looked awkward, as always. Patton walked to the mirrors to read the notes.

“Hold on, Alice.” “The future is bright.” “Only a few more years to go.” “I love you - Lola”

Patton shook his head. He was so enraptured by his curiosity that he jumped when Alice spoke up behind him softly, “I try to keep my head up when things get bad.”

“Why is Mr. Doris after you, Alice?” Logan asked. He stared at the two with curiosity.

Alice turned to look at him. “I borrowed some money from the Duke. I needed to pay rent. I had lost my job, and I couldn’t lose this place,” her eyes shined. She looked at the wall, but her face told the men that her mind was in another place.

“I’ve been in between jobs before. Usually I can handle it. I have a backup. I have friends who help me. Well, more like acquaintances. I tried to reach out to them.

“They’re all married now, or engaged. They didn’t need my trade anymore,” she blinked away tears. “I knew borrowing the money was risky. The Duke has a reputation for a reason, you know?”

Patton had tears of his own shining in his brown eyes. Logan seemed sympathetic, as well. Alice was being careful not to admit about her other crime, and they let it slide. The implication was enough. She was a desperate kid in a desperate situation. The detectives discreetly nodded to each other, silently agreeing to help this girl get her life in order.

Patton laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. He looked into her eyes. He saw her strength, her passion. She hadn’t let her circumstances kill her will.

“Let us help you,” he requested. His voice was gruff with intense emotion. “In return, you can help us catch the Duke.”

Alice turned her face to look at the vanity. She looked at the framed picture of Lola and smiled.

“Sure,” she agreed enthusiastically. “Let’s put the bastard behind bars.”

“If you work with us, you’re going to have to watch your language,” Logan chastised. His voice was still kind. “Now Patton, what’s this about the captain being in on this?”

Patton took his hat off to run his hand through his messy brown hair. He was nervous. Implying the captain being dirty was serious. If he was wrong, he could get suspended for making a false report. That, or worse, get fired.

If he was proven wrong, the captain could have that implication follow him for life. The man had a wife. He had a baby on the way. Patton admired the leader, he truly did, but could that admiration be misplaced? He’d been misplacing his trust a lot lately.

He took his time to figure out his words. He wasn’t aware that he started pacing. He felt nearly manic. He couldn’t explain why he thought the captain was in on it. In fact, his thoughts were telling him he was being irrational. It was his mind who was telling him how ridiculous he was for questioning his faith in the captain.

His gut told him something else entirely. There was something missing. It was a jumbled up puzzle. Which is why he needed to tell Logan. Logan was good at puzzles. He still trusted his partner. He looked at Logan eyeing him warily. Patton was aware of what he looked like to Logan; he was going mad.

Alice sat at her vanity to brush her hair. It had become untamed in the chaos of the afternoon. She still looked at the nervous detective through her mirror, also curious about the theory Patton had. She kept her mouth shut, though, aiming to fix up her appearance with the chaotic mess of beautiful, cheap makeup.

Patton sucked in a deep breath, and began to tell Logan everything he had so far.

Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist for this story!

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advernia · 5 years ago

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fic: a beginner’s guide to waltz

— is it really just a simple art of stepping forward and moving backwards? - the mad hatter & alice the second.

1) stand facing your partner, shoulder distance away from them

This, apparently, has become some sort of routine; heavens above bless his soul:

once or twice a week Alice the Second would visit the White Rabbit’s home (his home too, as he’d like them to recall), and she is welcomed warmly despite his constant refusal and attempts to let her in past the doorway,

the two morons end up sipping their tea while talking over incredibly mundane things that only serve to make his eyes roll, and his carrot-munching-idiot-of-a-housemate expects him to contribute and participate,

for some reason he and the little girl end up playing tour guide and tourist, adamantly unwilling and awfully inquisitive respectively: they walk around and about the Central Quarter only to stop when the sky has stripped itself of its blues and dressed itself in oranges and reds, and before she heads back to Black Army territory she never fails to;

say her thanks and bid him farewell in the form of the press of her lips - the pressure light and kind - on his forehead.

In hindsight the last one is absolutely unnecessary and incredibly inappropriate for they are man and woman and simply just acquaintances, but he can’t exactly fault her for still thinking that he’s just a child because that’s what he physically looks like in her eyes (some ill-tempered young boy who's actually sweet enough to accompany her on walks around town), and in the end -

- it’s not that horrible of a sensation, really.

2) leads, always take a step forward, guiding your partner

There are many possible reasons as to why one would hold another’s hand, such as:

a social interaction or event requires it, such as when greeting another or when dancing,

a show of agreement, friendship, or affection (because actions certainly speak louder than words and what else spoke possibly louder than physical contact), or;

person in question has no notion or respect for the concept of personal space and propriety, or even worse, has no common sense and just decides that ‘hey, I wanna hold that person’s hand!’

None of the above really apply to their situation or to them both for that matter, unless one would count their walks to be a form of social interaction: he spits out once that touring her around Cradle is a waste of time considering that she’s been whining every single day about wanting to go home, to the London where she belongs; but she’s as stubborn as a mule could ever be and rather offended that he thinks that she’s been whining every single day when it’s quite the contrary.

The argument goes nowhere but it still ends up with them wandering about Cradle on occasion, so all’s well that ends well - for her, at least. He’s still kind enough to remind her that her days are numbered and while she claims that she hasn’t forgotten, the sparkle of curiosity that dances in her eyes whenever she sees something that strikes her fancy doesn’t get past him.

And when she does find something fascinating, she pulls him along for the ride, quite literally and figuratively so - with their hands linked together and bubbling enthusiasm as her strength, he’s dragged along to follow her footsteps; to be swept into her pace with little room for escape.

People wag their tongues as they frequent the streets of the Central Quarter and some of them boldly ask sometimes whether they’re siblings. The mere thought of that concept is enough to make him contort his face into expressions unimaginable but she’s all smiles and white teeth as she laughs; hand and fingers lacing themselves a little more securely in his, eating what little space that was modestly left in between their palms.

And he wonders for the umpteenth time, if those people actually take time to realize that after asking the question they want answered -

- her laughter doesn't follow with a validating response.

3) perform to a 3-count tempo

The day she’s exposed and informed of his curse is the day that she rues all those kisses that she had planted on his forehead - she buries her face into her hands and deeply onto the wood of the White Rabbit’s dining table, but her ears that poke out from the heavy mass that was her hair spoke volumes of her embarrassment.

Victory always felt so exhilarating, especially after when one has been played around with like a fool - or rather, like a child.

Their relationship shifts shortly after that, for she has gradually come to terms that he truly is not just some kid - he is an adult in his own right, albeit stuck in an unfortunate predicament - her words towards him become more straightforward and less cherry-picked (for she believed that there were things that children shouldn’t hear), gone is the ‘little’ she adds before his name and so is her doubt for his actual ability as an inventor.

Their walks still continue, and while she insists on holding hands with the reason 'to ensure that they don’t get separated by a possible madding crowd in the market', she manages to stop herself from kneeling down and pressing her lips on his forehead by the day's end.

Still, it doesn’t stop him from mercilessly teasing her about it -

- and her face would bloom brightly with a striking red, always, without fail.

4) move in a circle with your partner

They end up having dinner together once, and it leaves the White Rabbit and the Black Army figuring out the so-called intriguing mystery of who asked who first, then it escalated to the question of who does the asking the most of the time when their dinner engagements increase in frequency.

Seven dinners later, both parties still draw blanks.

Perhaps to repay her henpecking kindness whenever they go about their walks (surprise, they nearly did get separated from each other once if not for her vice grip on his hand) and for the baked goods she would offer to him as snacks when he would dive into long periods of work, he escorts her well throughout the night like any proper gentleman would - albeit the fact that she could be so positively air-headed and inelegant in demeanor, she was still first and foremost a lady and her dressing up like one for their appointments only serves to remind him further of that: lengthy honey blonde hair styled neatly into modest up-dos, light touches of rouge and powder meant to accentuate natural facial features and not flaunt them, smart-looking blouses paired with graceful skirts, dresses with manageable layers and tasteful designs to boot, simple shoes that would always end up complementing the sole piece of jewelry she wore for the night; either a pair of earrings or a modest necklace.

He had to hand it to her, she knew how to dress the part of the ideal London woman: a minimal, practical look; meant to turn heads through its unassuming elegance.

He's never said so straight to her face without a single trace of sarcasm or scorn, but if she would insist or ask -

- he certainly had no qualms in calling her beautiful.

5) do an underarm turn

You're going back.

Are you asking me if I am, or are you ordering me to?

Their hands are linked together, elbows held up to her shoulder height - she squeezes his lightly, fingers lacing themselves even further into his; and he squeezes back, as light as he could muster.

It was a statement. You're old enough to make your own choices, and I'm not interested in asking you about a decision you've made since you arrived here.

... Fair point.

Her heels click on the cobblestones as she takes a step back, his boots thump softly as he takes a step forward. The humble space in between their bodies remain, unassuming and undisturbed.

... Will everything turn out alright?

... How should I know?

The hand she had set gently on his right shoulder developed a trembling weight - with a quiet sigh, the hand that he had set on her shoulder blade now slid down to her waist.

Silence begins to creep in, a skittery wind doing small pirouettes by the movements of their languid feet. The night says nothing either, with its darkness blanketing the skies and dotting it with twinkling stars - it just watches wordlessly from above, streaming down faint brilliance that gingerly illuminates the path they stood upon.

A minute later and without warning, she rests her lowered head on him; her forehead meeting his shoulder. Seconds later and without warning, his arm now wraps itself around her waist and pulls her closer to him, his chin resting itself kindly on top of her head.

Their hands are still linked together so they continue to sway along to the wind, like the leaves of the trees that surround them: wordlessly going back and forth, back and forth -

- and when the clock strikes midnight, there they continue to be.

1: this was a nearly finished draft last month with a formatting i liked + a plot nonexistent but eyyy fe3h arrived and my soul is consumed by fe hell... again... i knew i should've finished this before the game's release date (٭°̧̧̧ω°̧̧̧٭) 2: i’m neutral with oliver, but i totally can’t deny that his colorful verbal abuse is a big mood. plus, that one scene in fenrir’s ‘say i do’ route always comes to mind - i found him to be rly sweet, wiping away mc’s tears. 3: step 5 went along the lines of 'this could be romantic if only he/she wanted it to be', thus the word turn... plus, this is me implying that for this fic's purposes, mc returning to london means never going back to cradle at all. honestly speaking, the drama factor of 'different worlds' became pretty minor to me once i learned that mc can just... go back pretty easily... what a shame, methinks (๑•̆૩•̆) 4: i do hope his route gives a rly interesting explanation about his curse + origin... i mean, its hinted that he used to be from london himself, so i'd like to know what makes his circumstances different from the alices. i could play the jap ver itself or just look up spoilers... but... (*´σー｀)

#ikemen kakumei #ikemen revolution #ikerev fanfic #oliver knight #ikerev alice

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lewiscarrollsocietynorthamerica · 5 years ago

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CHAPTER VII. A Mad Tea-Party

There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house, and the March Hare and the Hatter were having tea at it: a Dormouse was sitting between them, fast asleep, and the other two were using it as a cushion, resting their elbows on it, and talking over its head. ‘Very uncomfortable for the Dormouse,’ thought Alice; ‘only, as it’s asleep, I suppose it doesn’t mind.’

The table was a large one, but the three were all crowded together at one corner of it: ‘No room! No room!’ they cried out when they saw Alice coming. ‘There’s plenty of room!’ said Alice indignantly, and she sat down in a large arm-chair at one end of the table.

‘Have some wine,’ the March Hare said in an encouraging tone.

Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea. ‘I don’t see any wine,’ she remarked.

‘There isn’t any,’ said the March Hare.

‘Then it wasn’t very civil of you to offer it,’ said Alice angrily.

‘It wasn’t very civil of you to sit down without being invited,’ said the March Hare.

‘I didn’t know it was your table,’ said Alice; ‘it’s laid for a great many more than three.’

‘Your hair wants cutting,’ said the Hatter. He had been looking at Alice for some time with great curiosity, and this was his first speech.

‘You should learn not to make personal remarks,’ Alice said with some severity; ‘it’s very rude.’

The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all he said was, ‘Why is a raven like a writing-desk?’

‘Come, we shall have some fun now!’ thought Alice. ‘I’m glad they’ve begun asking riddles.—I believe I can guess that,’ she added aloud.

‘Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?’ said the March Hare.

‘Exactly so,’ said Alice.

‘Then you should say what you mean,’ the March Hare went on.

‘I do,’ Alice hastily replied; ‘at least—at least I mean what I say—that’s the same thing, you know.’

‘Not the same thing a bit!’ said the Hatter. ‘You might just as well say that “I see what I eat” is the same thing as “I eat what I see”!’

‘You might just as well say,’ added the March Hare, ‘that “I like what I get” is the same thing as “I get what I like”!’

‘You might just as well say,’ added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, ‘that “I breathe when I sleep” is the same thing as “I sleep when I breathe”!’

‘It is the same thing with you,’ said the Hatter, and here the conversation dropped, and the party sat silent for a minute, while Alice thought over all she could remember about ravens and writing-desks, which wasn’t much.

The Hatter was the first to break the silence. ‘What day of the month is it?’ he said, turning to Alice: he had taken his watch out of his pocket, and was looking at it uneasily, shaking it every now and then, and holding it to his ear.

Alice considered a little, and then said ‘The fourth.’

‘Two days wrong!’ sighed the Hatter. ‘I told you butter wouldn’t suit the works!’ he added looking angrily at the March Hare.

‘It was the best butter,’ the March Hare meekly replied.

‘Yes, but some crumbs must have got in as well,’ the Hatter grumbled: ‘you shouldn’t have put it in with the bread-knife.’

The March Hare took the watch and looked at it gloomily: then he dipped it into his cup of tea, and looked at it again: but he could think of nothing better to say than his first remark, ‘It was the best butter, you know.’

Alice had been looking over his shoulder with some curiosity. ‘What a funny watch!’ she remarked. ‘It tells the day of the month, and doesn’t tell what o’clock it is!’

‘Why should it?’ muttered the Hatter. ‘Does your watch tell you what year it is?’

‘Of course not,’ Alice replied very readily: ‘but that’s because it stays the same year for such a long time together.’

‘Which is just the case with mine,’ said the Hatter.

Alice felt dreadfully puzzled. The Hatter’s remark seemed to have no sort of meaning in it, and yet it was certainly English. ‘I don’t quite understand you,’ she said, as politely as she could.

‘The Dormouse is asleep again,’ said the Hatter, and he poured a little hot tea upon its nose.

The Dormouse shook its head impatiently, and said, without opening its eyes, ‘Of course, of course; just what I was going to remark myself.’

‘Have you guessed the riddle yet?’ the Hatter said, turning to Alice again.

‘No, I give it up,’ Alice replied: ‘what’s the answer?’

‘I haven’t the slightest idea,’ said the Hatter.

‘Nor I,’ said the March Hare.

Alice sighed wearily. ‘I think you might do something better with the time,’ she said, ‘than waste it in asking riddles that have no answers.’

‘If you knew Time as well as I do,’ said the Hatter, ‘you wouldn’t talk about wasting it. It’s him.’

‘I don’t know what you mean,’ said Alice.

‘Of course you don’t!’ the Hatter said, tossing his head contemptuously. ‘I dare say you never even spoke to Time!’

‘Perhaps not,’ Alice cautiously replied: ‘but I know I have to beat time when I learn music.’

‘Ah! that accounts for it,’ said the Hatter. ‘He won’t stand beating. Now, if you only kept on good terms with him, he’d do almost anything you liked with the clock. For instance, suppose it were nine o’clock in the morning, just time to begin lessons: you’d only have to whisper a hint to Time, and round goes the clock in a twinkling! Half-past one, time for dinner!’

(‘I only wish it was,’ the March Hare said to itself in a whisper.)

‘That would be grand, certainly,’ said Alice thoughtfully: ‘but then—I shouldn’t be hungry for it, you know.’

‘Not at first, perhaps,’ said the Hatter: ‘but you could keep it to half-past one as long as you liked.’

‘Is that the way you manage?’ Alice asked.

The Hatter shook his head mournfully. ‘Not I!’ he replied. ‘We quarrelled last March—just before he went mad, you know—’ (pointing with his tea spoon at the March Hare,) ‘—it was at the great concert given by the Queen of Hearts, and I had to sing

“Twinkle, twinkle, little bat! How I wonder what you’re at!”

You know the song, perhaps?’

‘I’ve heard something like it,’ said Alice.

‘It goes on, you know,’ the Hatter continued, ‘in this way:—

“Up above the world you fly, Like a tea-tray in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle—“’

Here the Dormouse shook itself, and began singing in its sleep ‘Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle, twinkle—’ and went on so long that they had to pinch it to make it stop.

‘Well, I’d hardly finished the first verse,’ said the Hatter, ‘when the Queen jumped up and bawled out, “He’s murdering the time! Off with his head!”’

‘How dreadfully savage!’ exclaimed Alice.

‘And ever since that,’ the Hatter went on in a mournful tone, ‘he won’t do a thing I ask! It’s always six o’clock now.’

A bright idea came into Alice’s head. ‘Is that the reason so many tea-things are put out here?’ she asked.

‘Yes, that’s it,’ said the Hatter with a sigh: ‘it’s always tea-time, and we’ve no time to wash the things between whiles.’

‘Then you keep moving round, I suppose?’ said Alice.

‘Exactly so,’ said the Hatter: ‘as the things get used up.’

‘But what happens when you come to the beginning again?’ Alice ventured to ask.

‘Suppose we change the subject,’ the March Hare interrupted, yawning. ‘I’m getting tired of this. I vote the young lady tells us a story.’

‘I’m afraid I don’t know one,’ said Alice, rather alarmed at the proposal.

‘Then the Dormouse shall!’ they both cried. ‘Wake up, Dormouse!’ And they pinched it on both sides at once.

The Dormouse slowly opened his eyes. ‘I wasn’t asleep,’ he said in a hoarse, feeble voice: ‘I heard every word you fellows were saying.’

‘Tell us a story!’ said the March Hare.

‘Yes, please do!’ pleaded Alice.

‘And be quick about it,’ added the Hatter, ‘or you’ll be asleep again before it’s done.’

‘Once upon a time there were three little sisters,’ the Dormouse began in a great hurry; ‘and their names were Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie; and they lived at the bottom of a well—’

‘What did they live on?’ said Alice, who always took a great interest in questions of eating and drinking.

‘They lived on treacle,’ said the Dormouse, after thinking a minute or two.

‘They couldn’t have done that, you know,’ Alice gently remarked; ‘they’d have been ill.’

‘So they were,’ said the Dormouse; ‘very ill.’

Alice tried to fancy to herself what such an extraordinary ways of living would be like, but it puzzled her too much, so she went on: ‘But why did they live at the bottom of a well?’

‘Take some more tea,’ the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.

‘I’ve had nothing yet,’ Alice replied in an offended tone, ‘so I can’t take more.’

‘You mean you can’t take less,’ said the Hatter: ‘it’s very easy to take more than nothing.’

‘Nobody asked your opinion,’ said Alice.

‘Who’s making personal remarks now?’ the Hatter asked triumphantly.

Alice did not quite know what to say to this: so she helped herself to some tea and bread-and-butter, and then turned to the Dormouse, and repeated her question. ‘Why did they live at the bottom of a well?’

The Dormouse again took a minute or two to think about it, and then said, ‘It was a treacle-well.’

‘There’s no such thing!’ Alice was beginning very angrily, but the Hatter and the March Hare went ‘Sh! sh!’ and the Dormouse sulkily remarked, ‘If you can’t be civil, you’d better finish the story for yourself.’

‘No, please go on!’ Alice said very humbly; ‘I won’t interrupt again. I dare say there may be one.’

‘One, indeed!’ said the Dormouse indignantly. However, he consented to go on. ‘And so these three little sisters—they were learning to draw, you know—’

‘What did they draw?’ said Alice, quite forgetting her promise.

‘Treacle,’ said the Dormouse, without considering at all this time.

‘I want a clean cup,’ interrupted the Hatter: ‘let’s all move one place on.’

He moved on as he spoke, and the Dormouse followed him: the March Hare moved into the Dormouse’s place, and Alice rather unwillingly took the place of the March Hare. The Hatter was the only one who got any advantage from the change: and Alice was a good deal worse off than before, as the March Hare had just upset the milk-jug into his plate.

Alice did not wish to offend the Dormouse again, so she began very cautiously: ‘But I don’t understand. Where did they draw the treacle from?’

‘You can draw water out of a water-well,’ said the Hatter; ‘so I should think you could draw treacle out of a treacle-well—eh, stupid?’

‘But they were in the well,’ Alice said to the Dormouse, not choosing to notice this last remark.

‘Of course they were’, said the Dormouse; ‘—well in.’

This answer so confused poor Alice, that she let the Dormouse go on for some time without interrupting it.

‘They were learning to draw,’ the Dormouse went on, yawning and rubbing its eyes, for it was getting very sleepy; ‘and they drew all manner of things—everything that begins with an M—’

‘Why with an M?’ said Alice.

‘Why not?’ said the March Hare.

Alice was silent.

The Dormouse had closed its eyes by this time, and was going off into a doze; but, on being pinched by the Hatter, it woke up again with a little shriek, and went on: ‘—that begins with an M, such as mouse-traps, and the moon, and memory, and muchness—you know you say things are “much of a muchness”—did you ever see such a thing as a drawing of a muchness?’

‘Really, now you ask me,’ said Alice, very much confused, ‘I don’t think—’

‘Then you shouldn’t talk,’ said the Hatter.

This piece of rudeness was more than Alice could bear: she got up in great disgust, and walked off; the Dormouse fell asleep instantly, and neither of the others took the least notice of her going, though she looked back once or twice, half hoping that they would call after her: the last time she saw them, they were trying to put the Dormouse into the teapot.

‘At any rate I’ll never go there again!’ said Alice as she picked her way through the wood. ‘It’s the stupidest tea-party I ever was at in all my life!’

Just as she said this, she noticed that one of the trees had a door leading right into it. ‘That’s very curious!’ she thought. ‘But everything’s curious today. I think I may as well go in at once.’ And in she went.

Once more she found herself in the long hall, and close to the little glass table. ‘Now, I’ll manage better this time,’ she said to herself, and began by taking the little golden key, and unlocking the door that led into the garden. Then she went to work nibbling at the mushroom (she had kept a piece of it in her pocket) till she was about a foot high: then she walked down the little passage: and then—she found herself at last in the beautiful garden, among the bright flower-beds and the cool fountains.

#mad tea party #mad hatter #Alice In Wonderland #alicesadventuresinwonderland #Lewis Carroll #march hare #dormouse

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