#and then ending up as the most cozy loving cute merried couple in a cottage

[eyeofthebrainstorm]

Caleb, sitting on a cozy chair, having a snack with fresh tea and pastries while cuddling a cute cat: Essek, we're still spies, undercover agent working together for different sides of a war and dangerous powerful magicians, right?

Essek, knitting a scarf, laying on the bed, with a quilt on his legs: of course, dear.

[ducktracy]

114. little dutch plate (1935)

release date: october 19th, 1935

series: merrie melodies

director: friz freleng

starring: bernice hansen (dutch girl), billy bletcher (vinegar bottle), tommy bond (dutch boy)

not to be confused with any other cartoon that features a) a dutch figurine of some sort or b) anthropomorphic kitchen utensils. a little dutch girl on a plate and a dutch boy salt shaker are smitten for each other, but a villainous vinegar bottle plans to put a halt to their happiness immediately.

the cartoon opens with a lovely, warm, rich chorus of “the girl on the little dutch plate”. the sound is exquisite as always, full of charm and sentimentality. open to streets of holland, specifically a cottage along the canal. inside the “little dutch kitchen” on the “little dutch shelf” is the girl on the little dutch plate. she sighs, smitten with a salt shaker boy who reciprocates her infatuation. cute animation as the boy strolls over coyly to meet his sweetheart, a collection of plates narrating the event in song.

finally they meet, and the two engage in a fun clogging routine. the animation is solid, fun, and fluid, a joy to watch. elsewhere, other kitchen utensils contribute to the fun. two beer steins exchange alcohol, a pair of overalls does a clog dancing routine, and the singing women on the plates do a lovely dance number as well. a great bit of animation as they roll the plates around and hang upside down, their many layered skirts piling up one by one. they sink their legs through the exposed hole and pop right side up, back to normal. a gag difficult to describe, but certainly a must see.

interesting to note for the girl and boy clogging—animation was done by ken harris, legendary animator most commonly associated with chuck jones. according to animator greg duffell, harris made his debut by working with friz first. he wanted to assert that he could animate, and friz assigned him this scene as a test. harris worked his magic and impressed freleng, and the rest is history. harris worked for tashlin up until his departure in 1938, when jones inherited the unit, and harris stayed with him all the way until 1962, the longest time an animator has stayed with a director at warner bros.

anyway, enter the villain, a nefarious looking salt shaker who swats his way past a thicket of cobwebs. he spots the clogging couple and hatches an idea—to reach them, he fires a mousetrap beneath himself and rockets up a long, curving candlestick. his hat smashes against the candle holder as he reaches the top, and he struggles to get it off. wonderfully amusing animation as he (now on the safety of the shelf) gets on all fours, sitting like a dog scratching its butt across the floor and pops the hat off with the aid of his feet.

meanwhile, the boy escorts his sweetheart into her real home, a model of a windmill. he serenades her with a whimsical little love song, as the villain watches in disgust. he snags a paper from his pocket, adorned with a ribbon. must mean business! he saunters to the couple and wastes no time heckling them, insisting they have until 12:00 to pay their mortgage. a very similar premise would be reused in a tex avery cartoon, milk and money, where a mustachioed villain characterized by billy bletcher heckles porky’s father on the matter of paying mortgage, or else he’ll take the farm (and in a good bit of tex avery humor, the villain whips back to the camera and whispers “he’ll never make it!).

all of the characters speak in prose as the dutch girl begs for the villain’s mercy. the villain’s motives are revealed as he suggests the girl marry him, and the matter of the bill will be gone. the little dutch boy insists he’ll have the mortgage paid on time, met with a billy bletcher belly laugh.

a cuckoo clock reveals its cuckoo bird, who announces that it’s 11:30. a figure of a native american (??? odd choice?) is perched on top and whacks the bird in the head with a tomahawk, sending him back into the confines of his clock. the girl is clearly distressed, but the boy reassures her everything will be fine. he gives the a villain a nasty insult of “you old meanie!”, to which the villain terrorizes him in response.

time passes, and the clock hands reach 12. the cuckoo bird opens his beak, about to signal the demise for the couple, when the native american socks him on the head once more with the tomahawk and winds the hands back to 11:30.

the poor boy paces around, seeking the help of a piggy bank, but to no avail. no matter! he spots something much more intriguing. an amusing set up of dentures lined up on a shelf, labeled “PAW”, “MAW”, and “SONNY BOY”. paw’s dentures have a big cigar clenched between the false teeth, which the boy trades for a stick of dynamite. he strikes a match and the dentures explode, a shower of false teeth raining down. i love how random and interesting this is! dentures, the answer for everything.

once more, the cuckoo clock and the native american repeat their charade. the native american wallops the bird before he can open his beak (taking off the bird’s helmet), winding the hands of the clock back to 11:30.

elsewhere, the villain continues to pester the girl, proposing she marry him. she does the right thing by kicking him in the face multiple times and exclaiming “i hate you, i hate you, i hate you!” good for her! finally, the villain gives up his polite act and drags the girl along, right into the belly of a grandfather clock where he attempts to advance on her.

back to the boy, who has shoved all of the false teeth into a sack. he lugs the sack over his shoulder and runs to the rescue. we get a shot of the villain and the girl, and the mood has drastically changed. as archetypal as it gets as the girl is tied to a wooden plank, heading straight for a whirring saw. she cries for help, and the boy, who has been puzzled as to why she wasn’t in the windmill, hears her pleas and rushes to the grandfather clock.

the villain steps out of the clock to confront the boy. finally, we see the use for the perplexingly amusing bag of teeth—perfect for hitting. the boy slams the bag right over the villain’s head, the force enough to get the villain’s hat stuck on his head.

the boy is then able to rush inside and free his sweetheart from her peril. they both run outside hand in hand, just in time to see the villain get his head unstuck from his hat. he swings a punch at the boy, who ducks and returns the favor, this time hitting him in the face. the villain’s head spins and flies up and down with each punch he receives from the feisty boy. eventually, he receives a punch so hard the villain’s head flies towards the great unknown.

headless, the villain bumbles around, attempting to reconnect with his head. he stumbles upon a DIFFERENT head on a perfume bottle, a much more handsome and appealing head. just as the boy is about to sock the villain hard, the girl protests, saying “don’t you dare hit him!” i LOVE endings like these. she cozies up to the vinegar bottle, cooing “you handsome man!” they stroll away arm in arm as the boy is left to his own devices.

another great ending that would become a looney staple—random bursts of gunfire. the cuckoo bird pops once more out of its hole, and just as the native american is about to conk him on the head, the bird retaliates and pulls out a machine gun, blowing him to smithereens. iris out as the bird is free to cuckoo to his heart’s content.

very cute little cartoon! the quality of friz’s cartoons are getting much better. the song was fun, flighty, and endearing, and the dutch couple were very cute. the villain was entertaining (and archetypal) as always, and both endings—the girl falling for the villain and the machine gun wielding cuckoo bird—added a nice element of surprise. the choice of putting a native american on the clock was... odd, but for the most part comes off as relatively innocent. the story was archetypal but executed in a manner that makes it fun and intriguing. worth a watch!

link!

[killer-benhardy]

Winter Wonderland

Ben Hardy x Reader

Request: ben hardy x reader going christmas shopping together 😉❤️

A/N: I’m so sorry this is after Christmas but it’s so sweet and the love of my life requested it so...and I also kind of made the shopping slightly featured I’m so sorry but ;) this is actually the most cutest thing I’ve ever written. it’s just sweet and I love it and it’s also pretty long lol. Merry (late) Christmas everyone!! 🎄🎁

It was Christmas Eve, and Ben had surprised you with a little getaway. It meant a lot to you since Ben had been so busy with interviews because of the Bohemian Rhapsody movie.

It was going to be your second time spending Christmas with him. You were ready to have some time off with your boyfriend and to be able to relax for the holidays. 

“You ready, babe?” Ben asked, holding a duffle bag and suitcase. He was waiting for you to get all your things together.

You were running around the place since you had no idea where you were going with him. You rolled your suitcase towards Ben with a bright smile.

“Okay! I’m ready!” You were very excited and you couldn’t wait. The two of you put your bags into the back of Ben’s minivan and started to drive towards the unknown destination. 

Although during the drive, you had decided to download a load of Queen songs, despite Christmas just one day away. You played ‘Radio Ga Ga’ and Ben instantly started to sing along. It was like a musical experience for both of you.

“Ben, why can’t you just tell me where we’re going?” You asked with a big pout. He let out a slight chuckle.

“Well if I were to tell you, it wouldn’t be a surprise now, would it?” He responded. You knew he loved to make things more mysterious and he also knew that you couldn’t stay patient for long, so you decided to do what you did best.

Sleep.

“Fine, but I’m going to take a nap, alright? Don’t get too lonely,” you poked your tongue out and pulled the blanket from underneath you. It didn’t take that long until you fell asleep. 

You felt Ben lightly tapping your shoulder, which meant that the journey ended and it meant you were finally at the surprise location. It was just about past four o’clock and you felt a bit chilly, even though you were still warmed up by your blanket.

“Come one, Y/N, time to wake up,” Ben said softly, leaning close to you and kissing your forehead.

You looked out the car window and saw a range of shops along the street. As well as lots of Christmas decorations and fairy lights around every single shop.

“This place is beautiful, darling. All the shops look so adorable!” You turned towards Ben and planted a quick kiss on the cheek. He saw how happy you were, and it brought him so much joy.

“Thanks, babe, this is one of my secret locations I always go to during the Christmas season. And I wanted to make sure this year was special,” Ben smiled, reaching to hold your hand. 

“Thank you for sharing it with me then. Can we please go shopping?” You put on your best puppy dog eyes and he immediately nodded his head ‘yes’. You were just too adorable to resist. 

Not only were there streets full of shops, but it also seemed that there was a whole market square filled with freshly baked treats and homemade Christmas gifts. 

“Oh my goodness, look at those reindeer sugar cookies!” You held Ben’s hand and pulled him towards a market stall that was owned by an old lady. She looked very sweet and she obviously noticed that you two were a couple.

“Aren’t you both the cutest. Here for the holidays?” The old lady asked with a bright smile. 

“Yes, my boyfriend surprised me and brought us here,” you answered, picking up a packet of six sugar cookies and handing it over to pay.

“And we’re actually staying one of the cottages here,” Ben continued, handing over some cash to the lady.

“Wait, really?” You blurted. You had told him just two days ago that you’ve always wanted to stay in a cottage for Christmas, and you obviously didn’t expect it to happen already.

“You’re the best person on earth Ben Hardy,” you pulled on his hoodie to pull him into a kiss. It was short and sweet since you realised you just buying cookies. 

The stall owner smiled at the two of you and spoke, “you both are very sweet. You’re both lucky to have each other.” 

“That lady was telling the truth,” Ben held your hand and you started to blush.

You continued to walk through the market whilst holding Ben’s hand and bought more goodies for the cottage that you were going to be spending the next few nights. 

Ben led you towards a stall that had a bunch of children’s clothing and took a child-sized shirt and put close to you. “Aw, look babe. I think it’ll fit you,” he teased and for some reason, he was laughing historically. 

You rolled your eyes, “ha ha, very funny Ben.” And that’s when you started to walk slowly in the other direction.

“Come on, Y/N! Let’s take some photos!” Ben called you over while you were walking away. You decided to turn around, heading back towards him. 

Although before you followed him into the photo booth, you saw some Christmas themed headbands and accessories. You grabbed a few coins, put them into the donation box and grabbed a Santa hat and reindeer headband. 

“Here you go,” you placed the reindeer headband onto Ben’s head and you couldn’t help but giggle at how cute he looked. You slipped on the Santa hat and started taking the photos. 

Flash. You both smiled. 

Flash. You both made silly faces.

Flash. You winked at the camera. Ben looked at you in a loving way.

“Okay, what do you want to do for the last-”

Flash. Ben cupped his hands on your face and pulled you in for another kiss. This was another thing that you didn’t expect. And it lasted a longer than the one in front of the cookie stall. He pulled away from you, leaving you wanting more.

“Why don’t we go to our little cottage now?” Ben questioned. 

“Lead the way,” you whispered in his ear.

As soon as you got the cottage, you were in awe. It had obviously been snowing for a while which made the cottage look like there was icing sugar everywhere. You could tell that it was cozy inside, even by looking at the exterior.

“You’ve really outdone yourself, Ben,” you said and you were so impressed with everything you were seeing right now. You quickly took all of the bags from your shopping and headed inside the cottage. 

Immediately as soon as you entered, you saw a beautiful Christmas tree that was decorated with silver and gold. Along with a fireplace that had a wreath above it, as well as candles that were lit around the living area. 

You had placed the bags of goodies on the floor because of Ben lifting you over his shoulder and lying you down on the couch. 

“And what do you think you’re doing Mr Hardy?” You giggled.

He suddenly started coming closer and closer to your face, with his lips very close to yours. You closed your eyes and waited.

“Why don’t we watch some Christmas movies, have some warm drinks and snuggle up together?” He said backing away from your face. 

“Now that sounds amazing. And I’m hoping that I can get a hot chocolate?” Ben nodded and left you to go to the kitchen.

While he was making drinks, you started to set up a few Christmas movie classics and put down a bunch of blankets and pillows on the floor. You sat down with several blankets around you as you waited for Ben.

“You look so cute with all those blanket. Let me join in,” Ben placed your large mug of hot chocolate beside you.

He somehow also got into the bundle of blankets and planted another kiss on your cheek. You smiled and rested your head on his shoulder. 

“I love you, Ben. Merry Christmas”

“I love you too, Y/N. Merry Christmas.”

—

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