#german disneyland

[deinbester089de]

Willkommen✔📣

[kartoshinki]

So I did some (internet) reading and turns out that the majority of my neuroticism and temperamentallity could very well just be ADHD

Which doesn't change anything but it sure is comforting to know that it's not some lack of effort or me being a bad person

And that keeping cool is genuinely harder for me than for many people who told me to do so

[samsdisneydiary]

Bonny Tones Direct from Munich Germany via the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival 2023

[l-just-want-to-see]

I think everyone should watch the clip of doc explaining how one time he was hanging out w mindcrack guys at a Disneyland bar and some guys started calling the barman the n slur and then Bdubs the f slur so doc “German suplexed them through the freaking table”

[yuri-alexseygaybitch]

What stood out to me on my rewatch of Midsommar is how obviously hokey and full of shit the cult is. Like, we kind of just take it for granted that they're some sort of ancient pagan commune leftover from pre-Christian times, but the thing is there's no actual evidence they are actually that old, and what we see of their beliefs and practices is fucking sketchy to say the least. The attestupa ritual and blood eagle? Both probably were never actually practiced, since accounts of them largely come from myths and tall tales of foreigners and bards. They have a maypole dance and a May Queen (a tradition from Britain) in fucking June. Their "scripture" is entirely made up and based on the fingerpaintings of a heavily inbred child. What little we're told about their theology seems like generic New Age tripe, complete with doing a shitload of drugs, rather than a continuation of ancient Scandinavian paganism. They're also obsessed with blood purity and eugenics, something that necessarily didn't exist in ancient times since we didn't even know what a gene is until less than 200 years ago.

You know who plays fast and loose with traditions, history, and culture of pre-Christian Europe? Nazis and other white supremacists. Constructing a bastardized Disneyland version of ancient Nordic/Germanic culture to ground their blood and soil bullshit in is kind of a linchpin of the entire ideology. The farthest back we absolutely know the cult existed (according to them anyway) is 90 years, when they last did their sacrifice ritual. Gee I wonder what was happening in Europe 90 years ago.

[trainsinanime]

The shapes of railway networks

A while ago @ariadsishereagain asked me about countries that have no railway networks, and what I think of them. That's a fascinating question that has been in my mind ever since, because the truth is you can tell a lot about a country and in particular it's history during the 19th and early 20th century by its railway network. So let's do that. And the best way to do that is by looking at the incredibly detailed open-source world railway map OpenRailwayMap, a part of the OpenStreetMap project. I really recommend it! And let's start with one of my favorite examples of how railway networks differ:

At this zoom level the site sadly only shows incomprehensible internal abbreviations rather than city names, so let me explain: What we have here are France and Germany, along with some of the UK and Italy, some of various neighbouring countries and all of Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg.

France and Germany are the ones that I find the most interesting, because the shapes of their networks are so different. Not only is the german one much more dense, but you can see completely different patterns.

In France, the job of railroads is to bring people to Paris (PLY, short for Paris Gare de Lyon) The lines stretch out into every part of the country, but almost all of them converge onto mainlines going into Paris. You can see some lines along the coasts and the borders, and there is a medium distances circle around Paris (passing MZ, DN, TO, short for Metz, Dijon, Tours). This whole pattern is known as the Legrande Star, after Baptiste Alexis Victor Legrande, the french government official who designed it. His goal was to provide great access to Paris, the nation's undisputed political, cultural and economical centre. A couple of decades later, Charles de Freycinet added plans to connect all departments to the railway network, but he still followed the idea that the ultimate goal of almost every rail line was Paris. And so it was, and largely remained. Even the high speed lines, in red, follow this pattern to this day.

A result is that you will have to go to Paris whether you want to or not. Lille-Strasbourg? You're going through Paris. Bordeaux-Dijon?

You're going through Paris, and get to make your own way from Gare Montparnasse to Gare de Lyon on the Metro (and it isn't even a direct metro, you have to change trains). It's a massive detour but it's not like you have a choice.

Even if there is a direct TGV or a connection outside the main stations of Paris, you're still ending up very much near Paris; the difference is just that you're not going via the city centre, but rather via Disneyland. Legrande wanted to bring people to Paris; he was less concerned about connecting other places with each other.

Now compare Germany, and you will see a network that is more dense, but most importantly, utterly chaotic. You can see hints of a France-like star around Berlin (BSPD, short for Berlin Spandau, which isn't the most important station but what can you do), but it's really only dominating its immediate surroundings, the region of Brandenburg. You can see vague hints of a similar star around Hamburg (AH; don't ask) or Munich (MH), but also a massive tangle around the Rhine-Ruhr industrial area (around KD), or around the Frankfurt am Main area (FF). Red high speed lines are essentially random. Some of them do go to Berlin, sure. But many, like the one from Cologne to Frankfurt (KD to FF) or the one from Hanover (HH) south, do not.

And that really reflects the history. Germany wasn't a unified country when railroad construction began, and even though it did unify shortly thereafter, there's no hiding that its different parts developed separately, with no central planning, ever since the middle ages. Germany doesn't have a single central city like France. Berlin is the biggest and most important city, but not by far. Hamburg has huge cultural and industrial influence, Frankfurt is the most important financial centre and airport, Munich is huge, and there are agglomerations like the Rhine-Ruhr region that used to beat all of them in terms of industry. And the rail network, with no single central focus point, reflects that.

That doesn't mean Germany doesn't have its own blind spots. Due to being split in two, the east-west links aren't great. Getting e.g. from Cologne (near KD) to Dresden (DH) is pretty painful. Ironically, Berlin is one of the places that really suffers from this. There are plenty of trains to it from Cologne but they take forever, and you can see why: A lot of the route isn't high speed, it's just more or less upgraded normal lines. If you have a single destination, then it's easy to build all the lines there. If you want high-speed connections between everything, that's more difficult. (Also, our government isn't investing anywhere near enough into the rail network, both compared internationally and on its own terms, but that's a different issue)

Other countries in Europe tend to be somewhere between the extremes. Spain is fairly centralised around Madrid.

The UK is just as focused on London as France is on Paris, but it has strong regional networks around Leeds and Sheffield, and the weirdness in Scotland (four different lines between Glasgow and Edinburgh and counting!).

Italy, especially south of the Po valley, almost looks like a ladder: Lines are either on the one side of the Apennines or the other, with a few brave ones crossing through.

This works overseas as well. Describing the continental US as "like Germany" is certainly going to raise some eyebrows, but the map doesn't lie:

It's all on a completely different scale, but it's also a federal country with no one single clear centre. Yes, New York and Los Angeles are big and important, but neither is an all-powerful centre of the nation. What's fun about the US is that it's almost gradient-like: The more west you go, the fewer the railroads get. You can also nicely see the Alleghenies by the shadow they cast: Just a few brave rail lines managed to make their way through or around. Other characteristic items are the huge tangle that is Chicago, the closest thing the US has to a railroad capital; and the many places where lines are almost duplicated (just count how many different ways you can get from Chicago to Memphis, or Chicago to Cleveland), thanks to different competing railway companies that all hated (and sometimes still hate) each other's guts.

So that's what's mostly considered the "western world" or "industrialised world". I skipped Japan, China and India because the post is going to get too long no matter what, but they're all fascinating as well.

But if we go away from there look at countries where the colonialism was less settlers and more exploit mostly from afar, we see another very odd pattern emerge, like here in sub-saharan Africa:

The selection is somewhat arbitrary because you can find the same pattern everywhere south of the Sahara, and in one case (Mauretania) even in the Sahara: A railroad that goes straight to the coast. (The isolated sections inland are due to issues with the map software, they're all connected to one of the lines to the coast)

This kind of railroad is designed to extract a country's resources, and not much else. In Mauretania (not in this picture), that's iron ore. Elsewhere it might have been other ores, precious metals, gemstones, but also very often agricultural products, spices, dyes. The railway line exists to take these things, and bring them to a port. The line is not designed to actually help the nation grow economically. Think about it: All things being equal, you're probably just as likely to want to go parallel to the coast as perpendicular to it.

Also, each of these lines were built because there's something interesting at the end of it, or at least someone suspected there might be. If you wanted to develop the area, it would make sense to trade the interesting stuff in Togo with the interesting stuff in Benin. But the railway lines are not set up for that at all. The goal is to get the interesting stuff to a ship, and occasionally soldiers to the place where the interesting stuff comes from.

These days, the area that I screenshotted here is actually massive, full of people. The city of Abidjan has more than four million inhabitants (more than Berlin), Lomé has 1.7 million, Cotonou and Porto-Novo come close to a million if taken together, and nobody's quite sure about Lagos, but it's at least 14 million, and the metropolitan region might be 24 million. This is a band of cities that researchers think might, in the next few decodes, become on par with Washington-Philadelphia-New York-Boston in the US, or the Tokyo-Osaka in Japan.

And the rail connections in this region do not reflect this at all. A high speed passenger line and/or a heavy duty freight line could allow all these places to do business with each other, allow people to move to or visit each other, and just spur a lot of economic development. But the powers that built the lines, the colonial powers, were not interested. They had their harbour, and the region behind it, and they just wanted to extract whatever was there.

To be clear, that does not mean the railroads are evil now. Selling natural resources is still better than bringing no money into the country. And there are a lot of places where railroad junctions and depots became the point where cities were founded, so in some countries these lines do end up connecting the most important cities, more or less by accident. It's just that other lines or more lines are sorely missing.

A simple example for how this could look like is provided by Australia, where the colonists were settlers and did want to develop the land economically:

You have the lines from the coast inland, and sometimes quite a lot of them. But you can also see a line along the east coast, connecting the cities, and you can see that someone said "we need to build a railroad across the entire continent. No, two actually". That is not to say that Australia does everything right with railroads, they have a lot of weirdness there. But you can see that the railroads had more jobs than to just move resources to ships.

(The big exception is the Pilbara region, in the north west, with its odd tangle of lines. Those are all just resource extraction lines, where the world's heaviest freight trains haul iron ore from various mines to various ports. The mines and ports are owned by different mining companies that don't like each other, so everybody has their own line from their own harbour to their own mine, even if a different line would have been shorter. That's why you get the tangle there.)

So, that's basically it. The railroad map of a country shows you a lot about how a country works, and more specifically how it worked during the late 19th and early 20th century, when most railroads were built. Where they lead to and where they don't reflects what planners thought of as important, and in turn, it has shaped the way these countries developed. And personally, I always find this endlessly fascinating.

[georgewashingtonhater76]

5 FACTS YOU DIDNT KNOW ABOUT GEORGE WASHINGTON

he killed a billion kittens and puppies

he donated really cool hats with lice to thrift stores

he caused 9/11 and they blamed it on osama

he is banned from Disneyland for sexually assaulting the animatronic Captain Jack sparrow

his teeth weren’t made out of wood they were made out of the bones of little german boys

Bonus fact: he would go to pet stores and blind small animals with laser pointers for fun

[verbotenlove33]

Welcome back Verboten!! I'd love to hear more about what's been going on with you and Adi while you were gone.

Thank you so much!!! It feels so good to be back 🤗 I missed everyone and also working on my photo albums and all my ongoing Adi research, but I think it was really good for me having a bit of a break. I spent 10 days out in California and had the BEST time pursuing my other interests like visiting museums, notable buildings and arboretums and botanical gardens. I especially love cactus plants 🌵 and I thought of how much Adi would enjoy seeing cacti from all around the world, being an avid collector himself. The Getty Museum had a huge collection of German and European medieval art 🖼️ so you know Adi would have been right in his element there too, you know, also being an insatiable art collector. 😅 Oddly enough he wasn’t much into Disneyland ��� I think that was the only day I’ve experienced in years I didn’t hear or see any references to H!tIer. But now that I’m settling in back home and gradually restoring my presence back online I’ll be working on my “Wolf’s Lair” stories again and creating some new photo albums for everyone to enjoy!!!

[ostensiblynone]

Shane: Let's get in there, baby! Let's get in there; let's get messy. Let's meet the German murderer! Let's meet the guy who slit his own throat! Let's meet those fucking smoke daddies, baby. [Shane points] We're gonna get in there — we're gonna meet them all! You're gonna get one of those little autograph books you get at Disneyland and you'll get all the guys to sign it. You'll be walking outta there being like, 'Look at all the ghosts I met!' It's gonna be INCREDIBLE, man. You excited? Ryan: no. Shane: okay

Ghostly Guests of the Magnolia Hotel • Ghost Files Season 2 Episode 3 Sep 22, 2023

[historia-vitae-magistras]

The 19th century is basically a shoujo drama and Kiku is the protagonist: Prussia and Japan have a very close linked history together, so much so that Japan adapted the German Civil law system into it's legal system. European, especially French painters adored Japanese art styles and adapted them in their own paintings to create the Japanonism art movement. Kiku basically could pick an choose.

Agreed! He's got the whole world in his pocket! And Kiku sampled. Monogamy, in my opinion, isn't how nations function in general. Kiku has deep ties and emotional attachments to a lot of countries. I just really like romantic relationships where I'm mostly looking at respect and mutual benefit with these eldritch dirt fucks and the Dutch fill that need lmao. Fuckng bastards.

The Dutch are shockingly loyal, and this cultural trust seems to have built up even after the end of Sakoku. Linguistically, Japanese dictionaries preferred Dutch over English loan words right up until post-WW2. In Nagasaki, the Dutch are seen constantly in the architecture and food culture. It's fascinating how we've discovered an English linguistic bias in sources. When we compensate for this, history decentralizes Britain and America for us and reveals a Japan whose ties, especially to the west, are much more complicated than the Anglosphere. Even after taking several courses on Japanese history over my university years, I found so much about Korea, Japan, Germany, Italy, France, Taiwan, Australia, etc. But the Dutch stands out to me. Physically Kiku's land is more formed by Dutch work than American or British. Water management, harbours, bridges, canals, drainage, agriculture reforms, erosion management. And these things started centuries ago and are still going.

And the art! Ah! The French and Japonisme... some art that makes me highly uncomfortable. La Japonaise is some of the least egregious but holy mother of orientalism. Monet's bridges are much more respectful. Van Gogh's works are primarily in that category. Starry Night was directly inspired by Katsushika Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Upon the birth of his nephew in the Spring of 1890, Van Gogh painted his famous Almond Blossoms, also inspired by Japanese nature prints. For Jan who would have grown up a medieval Christian, those almond blossoms would have as much significance as the sakura in Japan and I really do think there's at least a copy of it above their bed at some point. The first Dutch ship that crashlanded in Japan did so in April 1600. The entire relationship is 400 years of everything spring comes with

The Dutch gave Japan its first modern ship, the Kankō Maru. The Dutch Monarch and diplomatic corps write love letters, make super emotional speeches, and show affection for Japan in their official statements. Kiku might be slightly more reticent in his public affection, but I don't think it's any less profound. He built an entire replica of a Dutch city that is the largest in the country. Huis Ten Bosch is literally larger than Tokyo Disneyland. Idk, man; there's just a lot here that makes me emotional. Like, look at this piece from the poetry Basho, as translated by Jane Reichhold.

kapitan mo tsukubawase keri kimi go haru

even the captain bows down before the lord of spring

[samsdisneydiary]

Julia Scheeser | Epcot Festival of the Arts 2023 | Germany | Singing Voice of German Arial and Bell

[mindofcordyceps]

~ If you're getting this, answer w/ three random facts about yourself and send it to the last seven blogs in your notifs. anon or not, doesn’t matter, let’s get to know the person behind the blog ! ~

Since I did 5 boring facts about myself already I’ll make these ones interesting:

1. I’ve been playing violin for almost exactly 10 years

2. I like German Expression (and old movies in general)

3. I used to be a pretty good swimmer (now I can barely tread water)

Bonus one:

4. I’ve been to Disneyland twice this year

[walkawaytall]

To go with your evening of bourbon cocktail drinking: How was your trip to Disney World? Favorite ride? How was the Star Wars park?

It was really good! Definitely a tiring trip, but a fun one!

Favorite ride...okay, I have a hard time picking just one, so I'll do this by park I guess?

Animal Kindom: Avatar Flight of Passage and Na'vi River Journey are both great (those are the two rides in the Pandora part of the park). The animatronic in Na'vi River Journey is insane. When my mom saw it, she was like, "So, soon we just won't know what's a person and what isn't, huh?"

Magic Kingdom: Look, this is incredibly lame, but I love the PeopleMover and the Carousel of Progress.

EPCOT: We didn't ride much here, but Spaceship Earth is fun if you want to move at like 1mph to see a bunch of animatronics depict scenes from history while Dame Judy Dench narrates what you're looking at.

Hollywood Studios: I mean, Rise of the Resistance is incredibly fun, but I also enjoyed Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway and...this isn't a ride, but Muppets 3D is great. Love it. (I did not ride Smuggler's Run. I have ridden that ride at Disneyland, and, honestly, the thing I enjoyed most about it was the Hondo animatronic at the beginning. But, also, my experience was so surreal, that I don't think anything could top it. I was a single rider who got stuck on the ride with a family of five who yelled instructions to each other constantly in German because they had "winning" on that ride down to an absolute science -- they had pre-assigned stations to each family member before getting in line from what I could tell, and were incredibly into the entire experience -- and I just don't think any subsequent rides could possibly be as exciting and strange.)

Galaxy's Edge...okay, I love Galaxy's Edge. It's a very immersive section of the park, characters wander around regularly enough that you'll likely see someone at some point, the food is really good, Chewie patted my mom's shoulder as he passed by us...generally a great experience. Except the seating thing. I mentioned this in another answer, but Hollywood Studios in general suffers from a lack of shade and seating that Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom don't seem to. Galaxy's Edge has a decent amount of shade in some areas, but if you're wanting to just kind of hang out and enjoy the vibes...you're probably either going to be standing, or in direct sunlight, or both. It's one of those things that probably wouldn't annoy me if I didn't know for a fact that Disney can do better but...like...I was just at Magic Kingdom, where these things appear to have been taken into account, so...they can do better.

All in all, though, the trip was really great! Thanks for asking!

[hollywoodandstagebeauties]

John Banner (28 January 1910 – 28 January 1973), born Johann Banner, was born on this date 114 years ago and died 51 years ago today at the age of 63. He is best known for his role as Master Sergeant Schultz in the situation comedy Hogan's Heroes (1965–1971). Schultz, constantly encountering evidence that the inmates of his stalag were planning mayhem, frequently feigned ignorance with the catchphrase, "I know nothing! I see nothing! I hear nothing!" (or, more commonly as the series went on, "I see nothing, nothing!").

In 1942, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps, underwent basic training in Atlantic City and became a supply sergeant. He even posed for a recruiting poster. He served until 1945. According to fellow Hogan's Heroes actor Robert Clary, "John lost a lot of his family" to the Holocaust.

Banner appeared in over 40 feature films. His first credited role was a German captain in Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942), starring Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers. He played a Gestapo agent in 20th Century Fox's Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas (1943). His typecasting did not please him – he would later learn that his family members who had remained in Vienna all perished in Nazi concentration camps – but it was the only work he was offered. Banner himself was held briefly in a prewar-concentration camp.

Banner made more than 70 television appearances between 1950 and 1970, including the Lone Ranger (episode "Damsels In Distress", 1950), Sky King (premiere episode "Operation Urgent", 1952), The Adventures of Superman (4/5/57, The Man Who Made Dreams Come True.)Mister Ed, Thriller (episode "Portrait Without a Face", 1961), The Untouchables (episode "Takeover", 1962), My Sister Eileen, The Lucy Show, Perry Mason, The Partridge Family, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (episode "Hot Line", 1964), Alias Smith and Jones, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (episode "The Neptune Affair", 1964), and Hazel (episode "The Investor", 1965).

In the late 1950s, a still slim Banner portrayed Peter Tchaikovsky's supervisor on a Disneyland anthology series about the composer's life. This followed a scene with fellow Hogan's Heroes actor Leon Askin (General Burkhalter) as Nikolai Rubinstein. In 1953, he had a bit part in the Kirk Douglas movie The Juggler as a witness of an attack on an Israeli policeman by a disturbed concentration camp survivor.

In 1954, he had a regular role as Bavarro in the children's series Rocky Jones, Space Ranger. Two years later, he played a train conductor in the episode "Safe Conduct" of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, appearing with future co-star Werner Klemperer, who played a spy. He played Nazi villains in several later films: the German town mayor in The Young Lions {1958}; Rudolf Höss in Operation Eichmann (1961); and Gregor Strasser in Hitler (1962). The year before the premiere of Hogan's Heroes, Banner portrayed a soldier in the World War II German "home guard" in 36 Hours (1964). Although it was a non-comedic role in a war drama, Banner still displayed some of the affable nature that would become the defining trait of the character he would create for television the following year. By coincidence, during the final moments of 36 Hours, John Banner's character meets up with a border guard played by Sig Ruman, who had portrayed another prisoner-of-war camp chief guard named Sergeant Schulz, in the 1953 film Stalag 17, starring William Holden. In 1968, Banner co-starred with Werner Klemperer, Leon Askin and Bob Crane in The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz.

According to Banner in a newspaper interview, before he met and married his French wife Christine, he weighed 178 pounds (81 kg); he claimed her good cooking was responsible for his weight gain to 260 pounds (120 kg), as of 1965. This helped gain him the part of the kindly, inept German prisoner-of-war camp guard in Hogan's Heroes. Banner was loved not only by the viewers, but also by the cast, as recalled by cast members on the Hogan's Heroes DVD commentary. The Jewish Banner defended his character, telling TV Guide in 1967, "Schultz is not a Nazi. I see Schultz as the representative of some kind of goodness in any generation."

After Hogan's Heroes was cancelled in 1971, Banner starred as the inept gangster Uncle Latzi in a short-lived television situation comedy, The Chicago Teddy Bears. His last acting appearance was in the March 17, 1972, episode of The Partridge Family. He then retired to France with his Paris-born second wife.

Less than one year after moving back to Europe, while visiting friends in Vienna, John Banner died from an abdominal hemorrhage on his 63rd birthday. He was survived by his wife Christine; they had 8 children

Source: Facebook

Classic Retrovision Milestones

[schmergo]

I can't help but wonder, if the "Magic Kingdom" in Disney World is positioned as a real kingdom in which the royals come out for occasional parades and meet and greet/ photo ops, how the heck are they related to each other? Who are siblings, who are cousins, and WHAT is the line of succession? What is the proper etiquette for how to treat these different characters?

I'd say that based on the general vibes I get from the Magic Kingdom, Mickey is actually like the Prime Minister of the Magic Kingdom. He isn't royalty but seems to be the person really in charge (I guess Minnie's like the First Lady or whatever), whereas the real royal family are figureheads. Clearly they bring a lot of tourism, the main industry of the Magic Kingdom.

The central castle in the Magic Kingdom is the Cinderella Castle (as opposed to the Sleeping Beauty one from Disneyland), so I'm guessing Prince Charming (and by extension, Cindy) is first in line to the throne. Let's assume the weird old king from Cinderella is still technically on the throne but has some health problems and Charming serves as regent

.The Beast's castle also appears in the Fantasyland area of the theme park, and I just think it would be generally funny if he was Prince Charming's little brother and when he got cursed, the King and Queen were like, "Yeah, our son got killed by a witch and now we've permanently abandoned our summer castle because it reminds us of him, so if you hear any beast noises in that abandoned castle, don't go there!" Also they're both French tales. I imagine his relationship with his family is.... strained.

Some of the other characters have the names of their kingdoms mentioned in their movies. Jasmine and Aladdin are from Agrabah, Naveen is from Maldonia, Rapunzel's kingdom is apparently called Corona (awkward!), Merida's from DunBroch, and Anna and Elsa are from Arendelle. (Also they're loosely implied to be Rapunzel's cousins because of Rapunzel's cameo appearance in Frozen.) I'm guessing these are all visiting royals in the kingdom who may also in some cases be distant relatives.

We don't know the name of Snow White's kingdom, and here's where things get weird in terms of the family tree. Snow White's dad was the King of his own kingdom. But the handsome prince (who I think is officially named Florian?) is from a DIFFERENT kingdom. So Snow is implied to be heir to her own throne, but it never says Florian is heir to his. Snow White's kingdom looks German in nature (maybe she's distantly related to Rapunzel?), but again, we don't know about Florian. Therefore, I posit that Florian is yet ANOTHER baby sibling to Prince Charming and the Beast. Snow White is the youngest of the main princesses, so I'd imagine her prince is the youngest prince, too. But when he marries her, he's actually marrying UP because they're going to end up ruling HER kingdom now that the queen got smushed by a rock or whatever.

 As for Sleeping Beauty, Aurora is the daughter of a king and queen, but Prince Philip is also the son of a king and queen, and their kingdoms have an alliance. We meet both kings in this movie, so their parents aren't a mystery like some of the other ones. (Sidebar: this is possibly the most powerful Disney power couple for this reason; the two of them stand to inherit and jointly rule two kingdoms.) 

We also know the Sleeping Beauty castle is over in Disneyland, so presumably that is her kingdom and she's not part of the royal family of the Magic Kingdom. But what about Philip? I argue that his dad looks exactly like Prince Charming's Dad, so maybe the two elderly kings are brothers. That would make Prince Philip a first cousin of Prince Charming, the Beast, and Florian. 

We also don't know the name of Prince Eric's kingdom. It appears to be coastal-- but not so fast. What if it's the coast of a bigger kingdom and he has his own personal beachside palace? After all, there's no mention of a king or anything-- or any real political duties for Eric. In the stage musical, it's indicated that Eric's dad has died and Eric will ascend the throne when he's 21, but if I remember correctly, there's nothing like this in the original movie. So what if he is Prince Philip's younger brother? After all, Sleeping Beauty's Prince Philip was named after the real-life Queen's husband, Prince Philip, and he was from the royal families of Denmark and Greece, and Eric is implied to be Danish, too. 

Now you might tell me, "These movies are all set in different time periods?" Yes, but clearly this is not true in the theme parks themselves because those characters all interact with each other in the parks.

So to make a long story short, I'm ASSUMING that the royals that need to be treated with the most deference in the Magic Kingdom as the local royal family are as follows: Cinderella and her prince, Belle and the Beast (weird black sheep younger brother), and Snow White and her prince (who nonetheless have their own kingdom), with Aurora and Philip and Ariel and Eric being cousins who also have their own kingdom in Disneyland. Everyone else is visiting royalty from other kingdoms.

Simba, of course, is not related to anybody.

[thruheavenandhighwater]

Pairing: Eddie Munson/ Steve Harrington

Requested By: NA

Word Count: 2,932

Series Summary: Eddie left Hawkins in 1986 with no reason to ever return. But now, a few years have passed and life has changed. Eddie finally returns home and has to deal with everything he left behind, including Steve Harrington. This story starts in May 1991.

Chapter Summary: A peek into the Munson's future together. This takes place in 2008.

Stranger Things Masterlist

Steddie Masterlist

Series Masterlist

~~~~~

"We're gonna be late!" Eddie called up the stairs for the third time in five minutes. "Listen, I know I'm cooler than Dad, but you don't have to be exactly like me, Lu!"

Lucy bounded down the stairs with a smile. Her hair and makeup were done, dress on, shoes in hand. She sat on the bottom step and slid one tan sandal onto her foot, fussing with the buckle as she did her best to fasten it as quickly as possible.

"She's not exactly like you, babe," Steve said, rounding the corner to join them at the stairs. "Lucy's graduating on her first try."

"And you're not cooler than Dad," Lucy said as she stood from the step. "I just tell you that so you'll let me borrow the car."

"I've been doomed to live the rest of my mortal life in a family of really mean, not funny comedians."

As much as Eddie whined and complained when Lucy and Steve would gang up on him, he wouldn't trade it for anything. The past seventeen years with them had been the best of his life. Probably the best years ever, if he were to guess.

Eddie and Steve had become official two days after Eddie kissed him in front of his uncle's house. Three months later he and Lucy moved into Steve's apartment. Then, once Lucy was old enough to need her own room, into an even bigger apartment. And finally, in 2001, they bought their forever home. It wasn't anything fancy. Two floors, three bedrooms. But it was theirs. They were even able to get themselves a dog. Not a golden retriever, to Steve's dismay. But a big, hyper German shepherd that Lucy had named Sully. Their life was perfect.

Together they'd seen it all. Lost baby teeth and skinned knees. Lucy's first crush and school dances. Even a trip to California the year Lucy found out about "gay days" at Disneyland and absolutely insisted they all go as a family. "You guys are gay!" She said almost too excitedly, earning exhausted eyerolls from both of them. "It's like, meant for you!"

They'd only heard from Billie twice since that November day in 1991. Once, when Lucy was six she'd tried to take Eddie to court again. But when her lawyer showed up and she didn't, the case was dismissed. And then earlier this year she'd found Lucy online and wished her a happy 18th birthday, two weeks after her 17th birthday. It had hurt Eddie to see her so upset, clinging to Sully as she asked her dads why she didn't have a mom like everyone else's.

But through it all, their little family stayed strong. When Wayne fell at work and cracked a rib, Steve was there every morning to check on him. And when Steve's mom passed away from liver failure, Eddie had held him every night for eight months while he mourned a woman who had been out of his life by her own choice for nearly a decade.

"Call your grandpa and tell him we're on the way," Steve said as he opened the door to usher Lucy and Eddie outside. He loved both of them more than anything, he really did, but the Munson gene of being habitually late to everything was not going to work. Not today.

Once they arrived at the high school Lucy had just enough time to run inside and slip into her rented green robe. Eddie, Wayne, and Steve bid her goodbye and good luck, each of them giving her a hug before watching her walk through the glass doors of Hawkins High.

The ceremony itself was exactly the same as Eddie and Steve remembered. The principal led the faculty out onto the stage, where they all sat in a line of folding chairs behind him. He gave a speech, more or less the same speech he'd given at every commencement ceremony he'd ever done.

"And now," he said, the microphone cracking with feedback as he picked up the stack of note cards he'd been reading from. "The valedictorian of Hawkins High School class of 2008, Lucy Munson."

Eddie and Steve stood from their seats immediately. They both clapped and loudly shouted as they watched Lucy walk to the podium. Wayne clapped along with them, staying in his seat and tucking his cane between his knees. Eddie didn't even try to hide the few tears that were falling down his cheeks as he watched his daughters brown curls bounce over the shoulders of her green robe. He felt Steve's arm wrapped around his back. He leaned his head onto his shoulder, wiping his cheeks. The two sat down as Lucy cleared her throat, leaning away from the microphone just like Eddie had taught her. He placed his hand on Steve's knee with a sigh.

"How did we raise a valedictorian?" Steve asked. He could hear the pride in his voice.

"No idea," he answered quietly. "More importantly, how the fuck is Higgins still principal?" Steve giggled, pressing his cheek into Eddie's hair as Lucy began to give the speech she'd written.

"To all of the family and friends with us today, I want to say thank you, from all of us, for being here. It wasn't an easy road for any of us, and I think I can speak for everyone when I say that it means a lot to us for you all to be here."

"She's good," Steve sighed.

"She gets it from me," Eddie answered with a shrug.

Steve laughed just a little. He turned his head, his lips resting atop Eddie's head. He closed his eyes as he kissed Eddie's hair. It took everything Steve had not to cry. He listened to Lucy through the speakers, talking about her teachers and her memories of her time in school. But all he could think of, all he could see in his mind, was Lucy at six months old. The day he met her. The day he knew that he was going to love her for the rest of his life.

He heard her start to talk about prom and how it was the last time their class would all be together, hearing the smile in her voice. He remembered eight months ago when he took her to the small bridal shop in town. The way her eyes lit up just like Eddie's did when she found the perfect dress to wear, a baby blue strapless gown. He remembered the way he and Eddie had both shed a tear the exact moment her dates car turned the corner.

"And finally, before I hand the ceremony back over to Mr. Higgins, I want to take a moment to thank the men who raised me to be the person I am today." All three of them sat at attention when they heard her sniffle into the mic. Steve turned to face the stage just in time to see her reach up and wipe her nose before resuming her speech.

"My dads, Steve and Eddie Munson. The best dads anyone could ever hope to have. And my wonderful, funny grandpa Wayne." Lucy sniffled once more, taking a deep breath as she looked up to the stands, easily finding her family in the front row.

"I'm lucky enough to be loved by the three most incredible men in the world. I was raised in a house full of music, and fun, and terrible jokes, and love. From Sunday night football with my grandpa, to dinner time dance offs in the kitchen with my dad. Even having to listen to Anthrax while my daddy taught me to drive last year."

By now even Wayne was getting misty eyed. Eddie nudged him with his elbow, smiling as his own tears fell freely over his cheeks.

"They have always done so much for me. My entire life none of them have ever told me 'no.' Perks of being the only child and the only grandchild," she joked, earning wet giggles from the three of them.

"But the most important thing they've ever given me was my attitude. My adventurous and hardheaded spirit. They worked together for the last seventeen years to teach me that life… Man, life is though. But Munson's are tougher. And for that, I want to loudly and proudly say thank you. And I love you all more than words could ever say. Thank you."

There was not a dry face to be found among the Munson family as Lucy took a step back from the podium. Eddie's chest swelled with pride as he watched her walk across the stage, down the stairs and to her seat. Lucy was happy. She was healthy and thriving in a town that he had tried so hard to get away from.

The following afternoon was Lucy's graduation party. Steve stood at the grill in their backyard, burning hotdogs and burgers for their friends. Eddie was playing his favorite role, busy housewife. He was in and out the back door a thousand times. Bringing more meat to Steve for the grill, refilling drinks, opening fresh bags of Doritos.

"Daddy, relax!" Lucy called from the picnic table she was sat at with her friends. "Sit down and eat something before dad yells at you."

Steve clicked his tongs twice in her direction. She was right and everyone at the party knew it. Eddie rolled his eyes dramatically and picked up a green paper plate from the stack on the food table. He sidled up to Steve and bumped his hip into him.

"Scared of your daughter?" Steve asked with a smile as he turned a row of hotdogs.

"No," Eddie scoffed. "Scared of your daughter. She's mean when she acts like you."

"Sometimes you need to be humbled," Steve answered with a shrug. Eddie smiled as he wrapped one arm around Steve's waist. He turned to look over his shoulder. He saw Lucy surrounded by her friends, laughing as one boy snapped off pictures with his new digital camera - a graduation gift.

"She's a good kid, huh?" Eddie asked, his eyes still on Lucy. Though she was nearly grown, he had a hard time looking at her and seeing anything other than the half bald little baby he'd brought back to Hawkins seventeen years before.

"She's an awesome kid," Robin stated matter of factly, suddenly standing on Steve's other side. Eddie jumped higher than he thought was possible, muttering a string of profanity under his breath as he begged his heart to stop beating out of his chest. Robin laughed, shaking her head as she held her plate out in front of her. "Man, that never gets old. Honestly, though, you did a good job on her."

"What about me?" Steve asked, his mock offense almost seeming real.

"I watched her drink pickle juice out of the jar when she was nine," Robin told him, her voice suddenly very serious and monotone. "I have yet to be given a reason that that wasn't your influence at work."

Steve scoffed and dropped a burnt hotdog on her plate. "The only influence I've had on her is that she brushes her hair every day. Other than that, poor girl is all Munson." Eddie let out a small laugh, his smile bright as he looked down to his feet. Steve nudged his shoulder with his own, pulling his attention back to him. "But, I guess there are worse things."

Lucy's party spanned the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. All of her aunts and uncles made appearances, bringing with them hugs and cards and congratulations. Lucy spent most of her party alternating between spending time with her friends and running around with the kids who were, for lack of a better word, her cousins. Watching her play hide and seek with Max and Lucas's twins was nearly enough to bring a tear to Steve's eye.

Eventually, the sun began to set and their friends and family slowly started to trickle out. Lucy hugged Will and Jack goodbye, ruffling their daughters hair as they turned to leave. As they walked around the house to their car Lucy walked over to where her dads were standing with Robin, watching the last few embers of the grill die down.

She had her hands clasped in front of her as she walked. She ducked her head, revealing the best puppy dog eyes Roane County had ever seen when she finally looked up at Eddie. The picture of innocence.

"Daddy?" She started quietly. "Can I pretty pretty please stay the night at Lindsay's?"

Eddie looked over her shoulder to where the friend in question was sat on a patio chair, anxiously watching the interaction. "Dunno, kid," Eddie started with a sigh. "It's a Sunday. Don't you have school tomorrow?"

Lucy immediately dropped the innocent, pleading act and turned to Steve. "Dad? Please?" Steve looked from Lucy to Eddie, who was wearing the textbook definition of a shit eating grin.

"Oh, be nice," Robin admonished him, landing a soft smack to his shoulder.

"Fine," Steve relented. Lucy bounced on her toes, Lindsay stood from the patio seat behind her. The girls ran into the house, Steve calling out behind them. "We're doing thank you cards tomorrow!"

A few minutes later Lucy reappeared in the doorway. She stuck her head out and announced that she and Lindsay were leaving.

"Get your ass over here," Eddie told her. She rolled her eyes, set her bag by the door and walked towards her dads and her aunt. "Just 'cause you think you're grown now don't mean you can get out of hugs, young lady."

Lucy hugged each of them before retrieving her bag. She turned back to them, "Love you guys!" She called out, waiting for a chorus of the same sentiment in return before letting the door fall closed behind her.

Eddie leaned into Steve's side, hugging him close as they listened to the girls leaving for the night. Steve wrapped his arm around Eddie's shoulders, pulling him tightly to himself and placing a kiss to the top of his head. "We should make a new baby," Eddie sighed. "Ours is old now."

"We haven't had any luck yet, but I do love trying," Steve answered, his voice low as he purred the final words. Eddie lifted his head only enough to capture Steve's lips with his own.

"Disgusting," Robin gagged dramatically.

"Don't you have your own house you could be at?" Eddie asked, dropping his forehead to Steve's shoulder.

"But I wanna hang out with my husband," she whined. "And my husband's husband."

Eddie sighed, moving to hide his smile against Steve's shoulders. "That joke hasn't been funny for like, 15 years."

"It was actually never funny," Steve asserted. "It's always stupid. Can't believe you thought I'd marry her."

"It was funny for a little bit, baby," Eddie told him softly.

"It was kinda hot that you got all jealous on me," he relented. "I liked seein' ya get all squirmy on that stool when you thought you didn't have a chance."

Eddie smiled up at him as the sun continued its descent in the distance. He moved forward, kissing him softly. He heard Robin groan behind him. He felt Steve smile into the kiss. For a moment he considered putting on a show, just to annoy her. He moved his hands to the hem of Steve's old t shirt, his skin soft and warm against his palms. Just as he was beginning the move up towards his chest, taking the cotton with him, she spoke up.

"Okay, oh my god," she whined. "I'm leaving. At least wait until I'm out of earshot to start your nastiness, please."

Both men hugged her tightly before she rounded the side of the house. They listened, waiting for her usual send off. They heard her car door close, then the engine roared to life. "Peace out, husbands!" Before she backed out of the driveway and turned left towards home.

Steve and Eddie began to clear up from the party. Eddie followed Steve around with a trash bag, holding it open for him. They moved the grill back to its spot on the back porch. Eddie complained about having to eat leftover hot dogs for a week as they packed away the uneaten food. He was placing a plastic bowl full of Wayne's famous potato salad when Steve appeared suddenly behind him.

Steve placed his hands on Eddie's hips. His lips ghosted over the sensitive skin of his neck. His hand began to move, his fingertips dipping into the waist of his jeans.

"I got a hot dog for you right now," he whispered.

Eddie shivered against him. "I hate that I'm already in love with you," he sighed. "That was the worst fucking pick up line I've ever heard."

"But did it work?"

"Yes, but I'm homophobic now."

Steve chuckled, his lips curling into a smile against Eddie's skin. He pulled his hands away from Eddie only long enough for him to turn around. They heard the refrigerator door close behind them as Steve led Eddie upstairs. They both giggled as they almost tripped over Sully, sleeping at the bottom of the stairs. Once they were upstairs, in their bedroom at the end of the hallway, they were like kids again. Neither said as much, but both of them knew that no matter what, they'd always be those two early twenty-somethings who were hopelessly in love and trying to figure out life together some seventeen years ago.

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previous part

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Oh, how I've loved sharing this story with you all. I hope you've enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing this. Also! I used my own baby pictures for this because it felt weird to me to try to find pictures of random children online. Please appreciate how cute I used to be 😅

I'm going to make an official post in a few days, but I figured I'd let my loyal readers know first. I'm not at all ready to leave these boys and their little family behind. So I'm asking for requests for them! If there is anything you'd like to see the Munsons get up to, please let me know!!