#just chunk your children and their tags at me in the replies i can gather their refs uwu

[lyriumsings]

i don’t actually know when i’ll get around to this but i would Like To Do It i keep looking at it and part of my excuse for not being able to do it is idk which mutuals would be ok with it fksjdj sO baSICALLY if it’s cool and you don’t care if or when it ever gets done pls donate your children to my pathetic little hands

[zeltricstudio]

'CANNIVALE CARNIVAL'

“Let’s go for the Ferris Wheel first, that line will no doubt be the longest” Maria said

“For sure, I just hope it doesn’t take up most of our day” Becky replied

“What about you, mum?” Maria asked

“I’m going to stay on the ground, because I don’t like heights” the Mother replied

“Same here, haha” the Father chimed in, with a nervous chuckle

The Avry family and Maria’s best friend Becky were all heading to the Cannivale Carnival, advertised to be a spectacular lightshow filled with tons of free food and rides for everyone. Maria and Becky, as well as most teenagers at her high school were all attending this carnival they thought was too good to be true, because how could it be? As the family pulled up into the parking lot, Maria and Becky finally got a good look at it was even better than the pictures they saw. Despite it being 7:00 pm, the whole area was illuminated by the bright neon spotlights of red, blue and yellow, with mixtures of purple and green as well.

“Okay, you guys go ahead and I’ll join you, I’m going to see if I can find a closer parking spot” the Father said as the family exited the car.

“This looks incredible” Becky squealed as they walked

“It really is stunning” Maria gleefully said as well

Maria looked around and saw thousands of children, mostly teens like herself all walking and cheering with glee towards the entrance of the carnival. As they got closer, they started to hear that classic carnival showtunes, with lots of chatter and happy laughter. Maria looked and noticed her Mother had a worried expression on her face.

“What’s wrong, mum?” Maria asked

“Oh nothing, just that I won’t find a place to sit and relax” her Mother said and quickly put on a weak smile. The Mother, Maria and Becky got in line and finally reached the cashier. The cashier was dressed as a Jester, complete with the hat and make-up as well.

“Hello there! Who do we have with us today” he said in an overly enthusiastic tune

“1 adult and 2 teens” the Mother said

“Excellent. Here you guys go” the cashier said as he handed them paper bracelets to wear. The Mother got a green one, while Maria and Becky got red ones.

The trio pushed through the turnstile and they were finally inside the carnival. Their senses immediately got overwhelmed by the lights noises and sounds, but they quickly adjusted.

“This is incredible!” Maria said as she took in the scenery.

Giant tents were set up in rows, each one offering different kinds of games, as well as trailers selling food out of and people dressed up, performing all kinds of acts.

“Okay you two, I’m going to be hanging around the Coffee place, if you need me you know where to find me” the Mother said and left to get into line.

“Where to first?” Becky asked as she looked around

“Let’s find a map first” Maria said and took the lead as Becky followed. Thankfully the two didn’t take long before they found a giant map

“According to this, the Ferris Wheel is on the blue trail, so if we follow it we should eventually come across it” Maria reasoned as she pointed out the trail

“Makes sense to me” Becky agreed and the two went off, following the blue line. As they continued to walk the trail, they took in their surroundings. Lots of children were having fun, running around and trying out different games. Most of the staff all seemed to be dressed as clowns, jesters or variations of them.

“Free glow bracelets! Come and get your free glow bracelets!” an Employee was shouting and handing out those glow-in-the-dark-bracelets. Maria and Becky went and got a few. Maria noticed they had a lovely fragrance to them and ended up putting on 5 bracelets on the one arm. “At least I won’t have trouble trying to find you” Becky laughed as she put a necklace around her. The two girls continued following the blue trail and stopped by a few attractions. They saw a few people try knocking bottles using balls, others trying to pop balloons with darks and even some trying to throw metal rings onto hooks. One attraction that did get their attention was a High Striker.

“Which one of you, is mighty enough to wield this thunderous hammer and send the shuttle high into the skies!?” the ringmaster announced, with a high and might voice you would expect from such as colorful character. “How about you young man? Please, come up!” the ringmaster asked and pointed to a classmate Maria and Becky knew, Jason.

“Please, tell the crowd your name” the ringmaster asked

“Jason” Jason said, slightly nervous but also excited

“And do you think you are worthy enough to wield this hammer?”

“Yeah, I think so”

“Good, let’s see what you got” the ringmaster said and handed Jason a giant sledgehammer. “Come on, everyone give him SOME encouragement!” the ringmaster bellowed to the crowd. The crowd that gathered began cheering on Jason as he lifted the sledgehammer, lined it up and winded the sledgehammer back, before lifting it and striking it directly down onto the target. The moment the sledgehammer hit the target, the bell immediately went rising through the tower and hit the bell at the top, making a satisfying ding noise. “WE HAVE A CHAMPION!” the ringmaster announced and held up Jason’s hand as the crowd applauded. The ringmaster lead Jason to a small table and Jason walked away with a stuffed alligator and returned to his small group of friends.

“I have to admit, he has some charm” Becky said to Maria as the two continued their path

“All the workers are overly happy, I like it. Better than those deadpan ones at the laser tag place” Maria agreed.

As the two continued walking and looking around, as well as participating in small games. After a while, the two stopped and got something to eat. They decided on a hotdog stand and after getting their meals, they finally sat down and ate.

“This hotdog is insanely good” Maria commented

“Really good. I still don’t know how they are giving this all away for free” Becky wondered as she ate

“I mean, I’m not going to complain” Maria chuckled

“Same. I’m happy not knowing the mystery” Becky said as well.

As the two finished wrapped up eating, Maria’s Mother approached her. “Hey you two” she said

“Hey mum, what’s up?” Maria asked

“Just wanted to know what you two were up to” the Mother replied

“Just getting a bite. We were about to go onto the Ferris wheel” Maria said and pointed in its general direction

“Okay, well your Father wants to head back home before it gets too late, you know how he is. Come find me when you’re done” the Mother said

“Sure thing” Maria and Becky both said

“Okay, bye sweeties” the Mother said and gave them both a quick hug, before quickly running along.

“That was… weird” Maria said to herself

“Why?” Becky asked

“She’s never hugged me before leaving, this is odd”

“Maybe she is feeling extra lovely. My mum could go from normal to super clingy every other hour”

“Yeah I guess so. Anyway, Ferris wheel?”

“Hell yes”

The two girls quickly finished up and threw their rubbish in the bin, before running over and getting in line at the Ferris wheel. Surprisingly, the line was short and after 5 minutes they were immediately on a carriage. The machine made a sound and soon the wheel began spinning. Maria and Becky managed to get a good look at the carnival as it got higher, before eventually stopping at the very top. The view was magnificent. They could see the entire sea of people going about their business.

“This is one hell of a view” Becky said as she looked around

“Fuck yeah it is” Maria agreed and the two sat in happy silence, just taking in the moment. After a few minutes, the machine began rotating and they slowly began lowering down. As they began lowering, Maria noticed the Employees were putting on gas masks and slowly disappearing. The tents were being covered up and metal gates were being set up around the area.

“Hey Becky?”

“Yo?”

“What are they doing?”

“I, I don’t know. What the…”

Soon the two got off the ride and the operator quickly directed them out of the fencing area. Once everyone was off, the operator put on a gas mask and left, locking the gate behind him and disappearing. As Becky and Maria looked around in confusion, Maria noticed that there were no more parents around, only the teens. All the cashiers and staff were also gone. Lots of murmuring and questioning was being asked around as the kids were confused. The entrance was locked and no other exit was present. The happy show tune music suddenly stopped and a voice came on.

“We’ve hoped you enjoyed your time at the Cannivale Carnival, but the time has come to an end” the voice was that of the ringmaster, but he no longer had the enthusiastic announcer persona, but rather a much more brute and sinister tone this time. The neon lights illuminating the carnival immediately went off, shrouding the crowd in darkness. Immediately, panicked screams went off and the only lights were the glow bracelets and small cellphone lights some people had.

“Maria, what the fuck is happening?!” Becky asked, holding onto Maria’s hand in fear

“I, I don’t know!” Maria responded and looked around, trying to make sense of her surroundings.

The darkness soon ended when the lights came back on, but this time a dark shade of red. The speakers came to life, blaring a loud siren. The tension and panic was setting in as the teens began running around, trying to tear down the thick metal gates, but to no avail. From one corner of the carnival people began to hear a loud roar that didn’t sound like a normal animal. Then a bunch of extremely loud thuds began hammering on the gates, before eventually the gate popped off it’s hinges and crushed several bystanders, unfortunate enough to stand near it. The crowd lost it and everyone was sent into a frenzy as a giant, dark creature suddenly entered the carnival. This creature was nothing anyone had seen before, it was on all fours and it’s body was made of metal scales, covered in blood. The creature let out a screech that summoned a breathe of fire, setting a good chunk of the crowd on fire. Bloody screams were heard as people desperately trying to run away from this creature. Maria and Becky were fortunate enough to be on the other side of the creature and immediately began running away. The creature began running and soon more and more followed, each other looking similar to the first one. The creature used it’s hands to impale people through their chests, before ripping their guts out and eating it. Others simply go on their hind legs and used their entire arm to decapitate people. Lots of lifeless bodies began falling down and piles of blood soon filled the grounds of the carnival. The fires began to spread, igniting the entire outside of the area. Maria and Becky ended up hiding behind a trailer, with a small group of other people. Maria peered out and saw two of the creatures both pulling a person in opposite directions, before eventually ripping him in half. Maria quickly turned around and had to stop herself from screaming at what she saw. Soon the screaming and panic eventually died down, as all that was heard was now the blaring alarm and heavy thuds of the creatures. A thick cloud of smoke clouded their vision, making it hard to see where anything is. Maria could just make out Becky’s shadow and the two sat silently, not daring to breathe in fear of alerting the creatures.

“AHHHHH!” a random man nearby screamed as a creature stabbed his leg, before dragging him towards it and eating him. Becky and Maria immediately got up and began bolting anywhere but where they were. In the confusion, Maria and Becky got split up. Maria was considering going to her, but she was forced to abandon the idea when the upper half of a body was thrown violently past her, just narrowly avoiding her. Maria quickly began running as she heard the creature rush past her, to the body it had thrown. Maria managed to reach the other half of the metal gates, and began following it, very quietly. The intense smoke and silence made her heartbeat insanely fast and she made her way, but eventually she reached the broken gate the creatures had made. Maria made on final turn towards the carnival, hoping to see Becky but she never showed. Maria regretfully leaves the carnival, trying not to make a sound. As Maria walks through the dense forest, the sounds of fire and heavy thuds grows quieter and quieter, Maria then hears the sounds of twigs snapping but before she can react, she is hit in the head with a metal bat, immediately falling to the ground. One of the masked employee grabs her foot and begins dragging her back to the carnival. Maria offers no resistance, as she is struggling trying to stay conscious and focused. Soon, Maria is taken back to the broken gate and left in front of it, the employee winds up the bat and hits Maria in the head again, knocking her out. The employee runs away as one of the creature notices her and grabs her by the foot, before dragging her back into the carnival.

After a few more hours, the creatures leave the carnival and return back into the forest. A firefighter crew arrives and begins hosing down the carnival. A few days later, a news report is aired. “For the fifth year in a row another terrible tragedy has occurred. This time a machine malfunctioned, setting this year’s Cannivale Carnival on fire, killing hundreds of teens and injuring several. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s families” the reporter announces.

WRITTEN BY: @xxminie

[dani-ellie03]

Fic: Wednesday’s Child (17/?)

Title: Wednesday’s Child Summary: The next time Emma Swan wanted magical help, she was on her own. Because now they were stuck with a pint-sized savior who clearly had an attitude problem and a terrified but pretending not to be pre-pirate. Spoilers: If you’re current, we’re good. Rating/Warning: PG-13, mostly for safety. Family angst/fluff, as per usual. Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time and its characters were created by Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and are owned by ABC. I’m just borrowing them but I’ll put them back when I’m finished!

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{1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6} {7} {8} {9} {10} {11} {12} {13} {14} {15} {16}

At ff.net and below.

Tagging @shealivedarnit (If anyone else wants to be tagged, let me know!)

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Since Henry had made homemade pasta with Regina and with his grandparents enough times that it no longer fascinated him, he volunteered to keep little Neal occupied at the kitchen table and thereby out from underfoot. "At least that way you won't have a baby covered in flour by the end of the lesson," he said through a laugh.

Charming sent the boy a grateful smile. No, they wouldn't have a baby covered in flour but they probably would have two ten-year-olds who'd need a good cleaning up.

"You guys are joking, right?" Emma asked, a somewhat uncertain lilt in her voice. "It can't really be that messy, can it?"

Charming's heart caught in his chest. His little girl's hesitant tone spoke volumes about the life she'd led up until now, a life of being afraid to make waves. A life of having to keep to herself as much as she could out of self-protection and self-preservation. A life of trying to remain as unobtrusive as possible both to make good impressions on potential families and to keep the negative attention away.

He wanted so badly to reassure her that she could relax and be herself here but when Charming opened his mouth, he found he couldn't speak. This world had been so cruel to his little girl, so damaging, so brutal and all he wanted was to make it better but no sound would come.

Snow met his watery eyes with her glistening ones before giving him a tiny nod, telling him to let her handle the reassurance for now. She knelt down in front of the children and took Emma's hand in her right and Killian's in her left. "Making homemade pasta is an activity that makes a mess even when you're purposely trying not to make a mess. It's an easy enough mess to clean up, though, and we know what we're getting into so I don't want either of you to worry about it, all right?"

"All right," Killian nodded.

A little bit of the tension in Emma's shoulders eased. "Yeah, okay."

Charming's own tension relaxed as well. After sending a grateful smile Snow's way, he grabbed the eggs from the fridge and brought them over to the counter where the container of flour already lay in wait. While he got the children set up, Snow dug into the pantry to retrieve the hand-crank pasta machine. No automatic pasta makers for this lesson; the children were going to learn the old-school method of mixing the dough themselves and rolling it out and cutting it with the press.

"That's really all that's in pasta?" Killian asked with a frown at the flour and eggs on the counter.

"We'll add some water, too," Charming answered.

"It just seems like it would be more … involved."

"Nope, just these three ingredients. Sometimes getting the proper proportion of wet ingredients to dry can be a little tricky but making the dough itself is pretty easy. You two ready to start?"

The eager smile on Emma's face warmed Charming's aching heart. The little pep talk Snow had given her seemed to have worked its magic. As soon as Killian saw that Emma was okay, he nodded in agreement.

Although Snow was the teacher by trade, she had no problem letting Charming lead this lesson. Homemade pasta was his specialty, for one and for another, she'd led the baking session with the children the day before. With tender instruction, he showed the children how to portion out the flour, press their little fists into the flour mound, and crack eggs into the resulting well. "It's so cool that these eggs were in the chicken coop this morning and now we're using them to make dinner," Emma observed as she added her second egg to the well.

"Wait, where do eggs come from here if they don't come from chickens?" a perplexed Killian asked.

Charming and Snow bit back touched grins at both Killian's innocent question and Emma's patient explanation. "Oh, eggs still come from chickens here. I'm just used to buying them from the store instead of getting them right from the chicken coop."

Seeming to gather that a store was the Land Without Magic version of a market, Killian nodded in understanding. "Oh, okay."

After Charming instructed the children to add water to the eggs, he said, "All right, now it's ready to mix."

"But you didn't give us any mixing thingies," Emma pointed out.

Once again, Charming sent an amused smile to Snow over the children's heads before addressing his daughter. "On the contrary, Miss Emma, you have two 'mixing thingies' already in your possession." When Emma frowned at him, her confusion apparent, he held up his hands, palms out.

"We get to mix it with our hands?" Killian asked, his eyes lighting up in excitement.

It never failed; all children adored doing messy things with their hands. "Have at it," Charming laughed.

He showed them how to incorporate the flour into the egg and water, a process that little Emma didn't seem to care for in the slightest. "It's sticky," she said, her nose wrinkling as she held up her egg-and-flour-caked hands.

Snow stifled a laugh and helped her little girl strip the dough clumps from her fingers. "We warned you that it would be messy."

"This isn't that bad," Killian spoke up, mimicking Snow's motions to remove the dough clumps from his own hands. "If you want messy, you should try cleaning and deboning fish."

Emma wrinkled her nose in earnest. "Ugh, no thank you."

Once the children worked the dough into something that could conceivably be used to make pasta, Charming showed them how to use the hand-crank pasta machine. "These rollers flatten the dough out into sheets and these rollers cut the sheets into spaghetti. Want to try?"

Both children definitely wanted to try. Since he was not about to hand the sharp knives to two small children, Charming himself sliced chunks of dough off for them to flatten and cut. As Killian was turning the crank to cut his spaghetti, Emma reached underneath the machine to retrieve a small raw noodle that had gotten lost in the shuffle. Before either Charming or Snow could stop her, she popped it into her mouth.

Judging by the disgusted face she made as she swallowed the raw dough down, it was an action she clearly regretted. Snow coughed to muffle a laugh. "Doesn't taste how you expected it, does it?"

"Not at all," Emma huffed. "Spaghetti officially tastes much better when it's cooked. This is like, the total opposite of cookie dough."

"Then I'm definitely not trying it," Killian said with an air of finality. It was all Charming could do not to laugh out loud.

After they cut enough spaghetti to feed a small army, Charming popped the pasta in the freezer to chill until dinnertime. "The only thing left now is the cleanup."

Killian looked down at the floor and chuckled. "It looks like it snowed in here."

The boy spoke the truth. The floor surrounding the counter was covered with the white stuff. Clumps of flour shaped suspiciously like footprints made Emma lift up her foot and sure enough, the bottom of her sock was caked with it. "Ugh!" This time, though, she was fighting a giggle.

"You think that's bad?" Snow chuckled. "You two should look in a mirror."

The children glanced at each other, grinned, and as one crowded around the stainless steel toaster to check their reflections. Sure enough, they both busted out laughing at the streaks of flour running across Killian's forehead and the dusting on Emma's cheeks and nose. "All right, maybe this is as messy as cleaning fish," Killian laughingly allowed.

"So what do you think, Miss Emma?" Charming asked, smiling as he stood behind the children. "Is making pasta everything you hoped it would be?"

"It's weird and messy but it's fun."

"I'll take that as a yes."

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Homemade pasta instantly became Emma's new favorite meal. She gushed about it from the moment she popped the first bite into her mouth and insisted that she was never going to eat spaghetti from a box ever again. And when she exclaimed that they absolutely had to make all their spaghetti from scratch all the time from now on, Charming didn't think his heart could be any lighter or fuller.

Here was this lonely little girl, a little girl who'd spent ten years longing for a family, and she'd finally found somewhere she wanted to belong. This was a little girl who hadn't spent more than a few months at a time in one place since she was three years old and here she was, planning future dinners with the people in this new home.

Here she was, planning future dinners with her family.

It was all Charming could do not to leap out of his seat and wrap his little girl in the tightest hug imaginable.

After the children cleared the table, Snow and Charming shooed them into the living room. Cleaning the kitchen would go much faster without the children underfoot. As they headed out of the kitchen, Neal in Emma's arms, Killian asked Henry, "Could we play that cartoon racing game again? That was really fun and I was just starting to figure out how to make the cartoon do what I wanted it to do."

"Yeah, sure," Henry replied, swallowing a laugh at the boy's description of video games.

"Just for a little while," Snow allowed. "We'll think of another activity for all of us after the kitchen is clean and Neal is down for the night."

"All right," the children chorused in unison.

Just as Snow plunged her hands into the soapy dishwater to wash the first plate, her phone toned. "That's a text," she said to Charming. "Will you grab my phone for me and just see what it says?"

"Sure thing." Charming slung the dish towel over his shoulder and retrieved Snow's phone from the table. It was indeed a text from Regina and the second Charming read the message, his half of their shared heart skipped a beat.

We think we have it figured out. Testing phase now. Hopefully will be able to give the potion to you in the morning.

How three simple sentences could make him both so unbelievably relieved and so utterly devastated was beyond him.

"Charming? What is it?"

Only then did Charming realize that he had frozen in place. By the time he turned around, Snow was already drying her hands on another dish rag, her brow knitted in concern. He held up the phone so she could read the message and watched the conflict flicker across her face.

On the one hand, they were probably only eighteen or so hours from getting their baby girl and their son-in-law back. On the other hand, that also meant they only had another eighteen or so hours left with the children.

"How can something feel too soon and not soon enough at the same time?" Snow murmured.

In an instant and without a single word, Charming drew his wife into a strong embrace. He felt her body shudder from a restrained sob, causing tears to leap into his own eyes. "It's all right, Snow."

"Like hell it is. I want them back so badly, Charming, but I don't want to give them up. I know it doesn't make any sense but–"

"It makes perfect sense, Snow. I don't want to give them up, either, but I miss our Emma and our Killian, too. I completely understand what you mean." He pulled out of the embrace and held her at arm's length, his hands keeping a comforting grip on her shoulders. "But look at it this way: we may have only had a couple of days with them but it's a couple of days more than we should have. And in that couple of days, we've given them so much love and so much comfort and we've helped them more than we could have ever thought possible."

Sniffling back the rest of her tears, Snow nodded. "I know. It's just … hard." She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked him in the eye. "If this is the last night we have with them, we need to make this time count. We need to make sure they know beyond a doubt how loved they are."

Charming nodded in agreement, a gentle smile on his lips. "Sounds like a perfect plan."

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Chapter Eighteen