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gamerwoo · 5 years ago

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Seventeen headcanons: Seventeen as Disney Characters’ Kids

a/n: you can thank my cousin forcing me to listen to the descendants soundtrack for this. may or may not do oneshots for these at some point so uh,,,,,,we’ll see

Seungcheol, son of Kovu and Kiara

a lot like his parents

is a little infamous because some people still see his dad as “evil” anyway

does whatever he thinks is right even if it’s not traditional

heir to be king and he takes that seriously

honestly he is lowkey trying to prove himself to everyone

hangs out with wonwoo a lot and usually goes to him for advice

also best friends with soonyoung since they’re kind of in the same boat

doesn’t want to be sheltered by his parents even though he has mixed reactions from the public

even if his entire kingdom doesn’t like him, he wants to be a good prince and future king

Jeonghan, son of The Cheshire Cat

sly and sneaky and mischievous lil shit

you don’t think he’s there but he’s there

he hears and sees everything

his favorite thing to do other than nothing is eavesdrop

he’ll be hanging out with his friends and as soon as someone is like “let’s go do this” he disappears without saying anything

often found lounging about with his tail swaying and flicking

typically up to no good but his seemingly sweet face always fools people

but those who know him know he’s typically anything but sweet

whenever he appears, you always see his smirk first

Joshua, son of David & Nani

surfer dude

i mean, come on, look who raised him

hangs out with seokmin a lot

he’ll sit on his surfboard out in the ocean and seok will swim up and rest his arms on the board and they’ll just talk or swim and stuff

he is a little ‘odd’ but his aunt is lilo and he was raised around aliens so can you blame him

but he really just wants to be normal because people have been judging him for his entire life

sometimes he’s a lil judgy just to make himself feel less weird

*insert that gif of him making that face in the going svt episode that everyone uses as a meme now*

but like he also keeps experiment 002 as a ‘pet’ after mrs. hasagawa couldn’t take care of her ‘cats’ anymore

so he still is a lowkey strange boi

Junhui, son of Thomas O’Malley

smooth as heck

a little goofy but that’s his charm

he comes from one of thomas’s many one-night-stands, so he lived on the street and was only raised by his dad for a long time

when he was brought in to live with duchess and her kids, she treated him like one of her own, and he got along well with her kids

would throw hands for his sister without question

still a flirt like his dad though

but he drinks his respect women juice i promise

usually playing around with his brothers or sometimes going off to help hansol

even though his family is loaded now, he still acts like he’s an alley cat lmao

kinda stays away from jeonghan because he finds him scary

can be found hanging around with soonyoung though

Soonyoung, son of Shere Khan

he wants to be a tiger so badly so

despite his dad being kind of yknow an asshole

soonyoung is a huge sweetheart

some people may think it’s an act or whatever but it’s just how he is

and his dad is trying so hard to get him to be less kind but the boy can’t help his fat heart okay

he hangs out with seungcheol a lot because the two can relate on being misunderstood

soonyoung is basically kovu

came from a shitty family but is just here for a good time

but if you fuck with him he can and will rip your throat out

hangs out with jun quite a bit because he makes him feel more upbeat and kind of grounded i guess???

because he doesn’t want his status or his father’s words getting to his head

honestly highkey worried he’ll become like his dad

Wonwoo, son of Milo Thatch & Kida

literally the perfect mix of his parents

the curiosity and shyness/awkwardness of his dad

mixed with the beauty and grace of his mom

he’s the prince of atlantis since kida became queen after the king died, and everyone absolutely adores him

has girls lining up to marry him but because he’s awkward like milo, he’s not really that interested in getting married anytime soon

hangs out with seungcheol and tries to give him helpful advice

pretty much always reading and learning about other cultures and kingdoms

has never been outside of atlantis and he’s highkey curious about what’s out there

but he’d never sneak out behind his parents’ back because he’s a good boi

Jihoon, son of Elsa

he’s a lot like his mom (from the first frozen i havent even seen the second one ok)

he also has powers like her which he doesn’t use often

even as a child, he preferred learning how to use and control it rather than just use it for fun

but now when he has to go out for royal things, he will sometimes make a little ice rink for the kids or create little flurries and dancing snowmen just to see the children laugh

and if you look at him, you can see the hint of a smile

spends most of his time in his room reading or sleeping because that’s just how he chooses to spend his time

tbh he doesn’t want to be a prince he just wants to do what he wants

but elsa is a single mom and he’s her only heir so he doesn’t want to let her down or stress her out

but if he could just,,,,,,not be a prince, he would love that

Seokmin, son of Ariel and Eric

everyone always sayin this boy looks like prince eric anyway so

he’s a mermaid like his mom so he can spend time in the water and on land

often goes ‘surfing’ with joshua but it’s basically josh surfing while seokmin swims in the waves and watches

sometimes he goes to visit wonwoo in atlantis but not often because it’s kind of hard to get to

spends 50% of his time singing whatever song is stuck in his head or just making up his own

he really is more like his mom personality-wise lmao

and of course more like his dad when it comes to looks

likes being on land and in water equally you can’t make him choose one

his best friend (other than josh) is a dolphin that goes on adventures with him and stuff, and an octopus that clings to him like a backpack

Mingyu, son of Eugene and Rapunzel

big clumsy but kind idiot

also does that weird smolder thing like his dad

honestly he’s kind of the perfect mix of his parents

very kind and curious

but he’s not nearly as trusting as his mom

he may be kinda dumb sometimes (he got the braincells from his dad ok) but he makes an excellent prince

he loves his kingdom and his kingdom loves him

he’s got so many suitresses but he put his training to be king first

however he highkey in love with the girl who sells flowers and planters at the market

Minghao, son of Cruella De Vil

like his mom, he’s very into fashion

unlike his mom, he prefers to find cruelty free ways of achieving fashion

he actually left home when he was 16 and has nothing to do with her

he’s become an anonymous fashion designer because he knows nobody would give him the time of day if they knew who his mother is

as a designer, he goes by the8

he designs all of seungkwan’s clothes too

he usually just stays inside and works on his clothing because people are mean to him when he goes outside

Seungkwan, son of Charlotte La Bouf

just wants to be a prince so heckin bad !!!!

likes to dress up in nice clothes and go out a lot

only wears things designed by minghao though

he’s boujee okay

honestly would give up his prince dream to help minghao make a new name for himself

he wants to be a prince more than anything but his friends and those he loves come first

but seriously can a princess just marry this poor boy already

Hansol, son of Robin Hood & Maid Marian

hands down the sweetest boy ever

he’s pretty well off so he typically just gives away his own things

but he will steal from the rich if he has to lmao

pretty much friends with everyone because he’s just so likeable

the only people who don’t like him are rich assholes lmao

may or may not have been arrested a few times but it was for good reasons i swear

sometimes has chan tag along on his adventures to steal from the rich

Chan, son of Mulan & Li Shang

he’s not a prince but damn he looks like one

the strongest warrior in his kingdom

his family is also very highly ranked so while he’s not a prince he’s still an important dude in the kingdom

girls swoon over him and men want to be him

can we blame any of them

if he’s not training/practicing, he’s off with hansol

often donates to the poor but also loves to eat the rich lmao

has also wound up in jail a few times but his parents are fine with it because it’s for a good cause

but if he’s not practicing or with hansol, he’s just fucking up assholes

those are basically his hobbies lmao

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dwellordream · 3 years ago

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“Jeanne Boydston’s study of housework suggests another possible explanation for the tendency of parents to withdraw their daughters from domestic employ: the devaluation of housework itself as an activity of any economic value. The introduction of a cash economy into the interstices of post revolutionary American life meant that activities that did not customarily generate cash—including those myriad duties of domestic maintenance—became ‘‘invisible,’’ defined as something other than work both by those who did housework and by those who did not.

Women themselves increasingly devalued the importance of their own work, as evidenced by Lydia Almy of Salem, Massachusetts, who ‘‘wove, attended to livestock, made cider, carted wood, tanned skins, took in boarders,’’ but nonetheless, recorded in her diary that she was disturbed to know that she was ‘‘in no way due any thing towards earning my living,’’ unlike her mariner husband. The increasing tendency to define housework as hardly work at all, because of its unwaged (or low-waged) character, influenced the calculations of parents as they made decisions about their daughters’ lives.

Mary Virginia Terhune’s advice explicitly attributed a cash calculation— and an invidious distinction—to the attitudes of both daughters and their fathers toward daughters’ work, especially when girls had received educations. Fathers, she felt, imagined that ‘‘the labor of an educated woman,—especially if that woman is his child, and her scholastic education has cost him thousands of dollars—should . . . command a better market-price than that of an illiterate Celt, whose schooling cost nothing.’’ Daughters themselves might have adopted a wage theory of value to assess the value of their own labor, Terhune speculated. A middle-class daughter’s ‘‘time and strength are worth more than a seamstress’s, or chambermaid’s or cook’s wages. The world teems with seamstresses, chambermaids, and cooks, clamoring for the very work she abhors.’’

Frances Willard’s book of advice to girls put a different spin on the situation, based on a similar hierarchy of class. She urged middle-class daughters to aspire to higher work than housekeeping, arguing that opening a place for a domestic servant in their homes created a place for a destitute young woman who otherwise ‘‘might be tempted into paths of sin.’’ (Prostitutes themselves often compared the two vocations, to the disadvantage of housework.) Writing in the 1880s,Willard and Terhune did not lament the graduation of middle-class girls from housework; they seemed to agree that middle-class girls either had priced or should price themselves out of the market for domestic labor.

…One of those who worked for her living was Ann Ware Winsor herself, who ran a school from their home and sought other ways to eke out the family’s subsistence. In a letter to her daughter the previous summer, she informed Annie of several schemes she had for making money; for one, the boys would raise chickens. ‘‘While they make money out of hens, I expect you girls to make it out of small fruits, and I have engaged a lot of plants to be delivered here in the Spring for you to cultivate!’’ Ann Ware Winsor assured her daughter that not only would it provide a welcome contribution to the family coffers, but ‘‘That’s the way out of head-aches and other ails. Read some books on the subject and you will grow enthusiastic.’’

Despite the economic worries of the Winsor family, however, only one child, a middle son, actually worked at a paid job outside the home in 1880: seventeen-year-old Paul was a clerk at the railroad office. The eldest, Robert, was in college, and all the rest were in school, including nineteen-year-old Mary and fifteen-year-old Annie. Presumably the ‘‘opportunity costs’’ of educating the girls were low enough that it weighed against sacrificing their education. Family calculations also suggested that the daughters’ extra energies would be better used in assisting in teaching in their mother’s school than in doing housework. For the 1880 census indicated that the Winsor family employed three female servants. (Annie’s private journal recorded cryptically, ‘‘Maids are an abomination for children.’’)

…The growth of the market economy during the course of the nineteenth century meant that girls as well as their parents felt the need of cash. Those without access to cash sought strategies to make some, whatever their attitudes toward women’s wage work as a social development. Away at school in the cash-poor South, and largely abandoned as well by her father, Mary Thomas fantasized about alternative lives. In one of them she sold things, ‘‘for I mean to work a patch next year and make some money, if I don’t have to come back to school; and then at Christmas, I will have a right good lot of money to do as I please with, I think I shall get a watch with it.’’ Despite her clear disdain elsewhere in her diary for the notion of working for a living, Mary Thomas was willing to countenance work for wages in order to be able to participate in a consumer economy.

A fourteen-year-old subscriber to the youth magazine Harper’s Young People reported that she had earned the money for her subscription herself ‘‘by sewing for the black people.’’ She reported that she had to sew ‘‘very cheaply, because they are so poor’’; presumably her low wages also reflected her low level of skill. A correspondent to St. Nicholas also reported that she and her brother had earned the money for their subscription themselves—in this case by selling hickory nuts and onions. Elite girls came late to money earning. Mary Virginia Terhune charged late Victorian parents with discriminating against girls in their differential training in the basics of money management.

‘‘Jack raises chickens and sells the eggs and ‘broilers’ to Mamma. Willy splits kindling-wood for the kitchenfire and draws his lawful wages from Papa as would any other laborer. Mamie comes down to breakfast, as gay as the morning, hair bound with a blue ribbon that matches her eyes, waltzes up to Papa, in a gale of affectionate glee, throws her arms around his neck and begs for a kiss. She gets two and a gold dollar, fished up from the vest-pocket nearest the paternal heart—‘because she looks so pretty today.’’’ Terhune’s charge that girls were not given experience managing money had some basis.

Women were not paid wages for housework; instead, their work was supposed to come ‘‘from the heart,’’ and to be inspired by devotion to the family good. To the extent that girls shared in their mothers’ lots, they too were encouraged to dust, to make beds, and to shell peas not as entrepreneurs but as part of their responsibilities to womanly service. However, just as housewives made some cash through the nineteenth century for a variety of home manufactures, girls too might learn to work for profit in performing those home tasks still considered ‘‘productive.’’

…Good parents saw to it that daughters had some skills in handling their own money—and because few urban girls had the money-making possibilities available to Margaret Tileston on her family’s farm, some of them began to receive small sums in the form of a regular allowance. An 1897 study on ‘‘Children’s Sense of Money’’ found that 7 percent of all girls were given a regular allowance. Jessie Wendover, the daughter of a prospering Newark grocer, was one. At the age of nine in 1881, she received ten cents a week allowance, which was raised to twenty-five cents by the time she was fourteen. She kept a careful account of every expenditure.

At fourteen, her expenditures included an occasional soda water (ten cents), ice cream, Sunday school donation (five cents), a variety of school supplies, carfare, ribbons, music. Although she was not usually responsible for buying her own clothes, she also recorded paying twenty-five cents several times for a bustle, perhaps because it was not encouraged by her mother, or more likely because it was one of the few ready-made items in her wardrobe. She paid for her own magazine subscription to St. Nicholas, $2.75, or nearly three months’ allowance. As befitted her regular habits, Jessie Wendover customarily carried a balance of $5 or so from month to month, except when depleted by the Christmas season.

By 1887, when Wendover was fifteen, she was receiving fifty cents a week, and recorded paying twenty-five cents ‘‘to see picture ‘Christ on Calvary.’’’ At sixteen, she developed a taste for milkshakes, a habit of occasionally eating lunch out, and a preference for having her bangs cut by a salon. Chewing gum, peanuts, and marshmallows made their appearance in her accounts in the summer of 1888, but so did regular contributions to the missionary box, and in the fall, a donation for yellow fever sufferers. The following year she noted frequent small outlays for hokeypoky—ice cream—and she once spent seventy-five cents to have her hair shampooed.

But in October of that year she was sufficiently ahead to deposit $3.00 in the bank, and in September of 1892, her twentieth year, $20.00. Clearly Jessie Wendover’s ample allowance and her own prudence allowed her early to learn not only how to spend money and account for it but also how to save it—all important lessons for bourgeois helpmates. Another pattern though seemed to be gaining currency at the same time. Increasingly, household chores began to creep in as part of the way that parents justified giving money to youth.

…Occasionally, and unevenly, girls’ diaries began to suggest that they themselves were beginning to expect and to receive wages for work done for their families. Marian Nichols reported receiving wages for family sewing. ‘‘Worked on some drawers for Margaret. Mamma is to pay 30 cts a pair for them.’’ The next year she reported that she was even getting paid for exercise. ‘‘Went to school. Walked in and out by myself. Rosy doesn’t like my getting money from walking out. I get 3 cts.’’ Jane Addams’s father paid her for every volume of Plutarch she read and reported on, as well as for every volume of such things as Irving’s Life of Washington, ‘‘after the manner of Victorian fathers,’’ according to Anne Scott.

The custom of paying daughters for their work in the bourgeois family suggested a new approach to girls as well as to family economics. The same study that tracked the development of the ‘‘allowance’’ also discovered that fully a quarter of all girls reported making money for doing housework. It is no wonder that girls increasingly began to resist doing housework as part of their womanly lot that others were getting paid to do. Giving girls allowances was good Victorian practice—encouraging regularity of habits, responsibility, careful accounting, and prudence.

Yet in its tendency to evolve into a quid pro quo for performing household and other kinds of chores it contributed to a radical new notion well expressed in the economic writings of Charlotte Perkins Gilman—the notion that daughters, if not their mothers, were autonomous economic beings in control of their own labor, and able to exchange it for currency. When Victorian fathers paid their daughters wages for housework, they were laying the seeds of turn-of-the-century rebellions against conventional notions of female self-sacrifice as woman’s natural lot.”

- Jane H. Hunter, “Daughters’ Lives and the Work of the Middle-Class Home.” in How Young Ladies Became Girls: The Victorian Origins of American Girlhood

#jane h. hunter #history #american #victorian #class #how young ladies became girls

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russianredassassin · 5 years ago

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Dating Huntress and Meeting the Birds of Prey + Cass (Full Fic)

This was requested by Anonymous - can I request reader meeting the BOP and Cass bc reader and Helena are dating? Can you make it a full fic and it just be crazy, cute, fluff and chaos? thank youuuuu - I hope you like this fic and is what you wanted.

Also sorry I haven't written a fic this long in a long time but hope you enjoy it nevertheless :) One final thing, for the person who requested this I didn't put Harley Quinn because you didn't specify if you wanted her included or not. So I just left her out.

Word Count - 1702

Warnings - A few swear words, but that's it

I was in a relationship with Helena Bertinelli and it was amazing, but what most people didn’t know is that she is also the vigilante Huntress. You would think that being with a vigilante would be amazing, and it is apart from the times where she gets called away for hero business. Now, of course, you couldn’t blame her, this was what she wanted to do, but Helena started to feel a little bad, so she decided to treat you with a romantic dinner. The idea of making you dinner sounded great to her, but it turns out making the perfect romantic dinner was harder than it sounds. You arrived at your apartment to the smell of smoke and the sound of an alarm. My mind immediately thought the worst, so I burst through the door, ready to take on whoever foolish enough to try and fight my girlfriend. Except when I got inside, the only person there was Helena. Who was standing in the middle of a smoky kitchen leaning over the oven, then she leaned back upright holding a tray of what looked like food but if I’m being honest, it didn’t much resemble food. “Grrr, FUCKING HELL!” Helena shouted as she smashed the tray down on to the counter, she then looked up and saw me and jumped slightly. “Oh, hello Y/N I…I thought you didn’t finish work until another hour,” Helena said pushing the tray to the side, trying to badly hide the disaster of dinner. “I got off work early, so I thought I’d give you a nice surprise with take-away,” You said, putting the food down and turning the alarm off and opening all the windows “What happened?” “Well, I started feeling a little guilty because of me out every night fighting criminals and therefore not able to spend enough time with…with you” Helena said while grabbing a tea towel and fanning the smoke away “and I wanted to make you a romantic dinner as a way of an apology, but as you can see I have very clearly Fucked. It. Up” Helena said, clearly frustrated so I helped her get rid of the smoke out of the apartment. Afterward, me and Helena relaxed in the living room, with a movie we decided to be Robin Hood and a take-away. It may have not been the perfect romantic night Helena had in mind, but you were together and that was all that mattered. That was until Helena’s phone went off. “Hello?” Helena said standing up to answer the phone “What?!” I glanced at Helena as she raised her voice “No, I’m sorry I can’t not tonight” I tried mothing to her what’s wrong, but she just gave me a smile “Look I’m sorry but I am busy tonight. Goodbye,” Helena ended the call and put her phone away in quite a huff, sat back down and continued as if nothing happened. “Who was that?” I asked, looking up at her. For a few seconds she didn’t reply, just kept staring at the movie on the telly until she finally spoke up “Just a…friend of mine,” Helena said with a pause “Needed my help” “With what?” I asked her, After another long pause and breath, she finally replied “Vigilante business” Helena replied taking a bite of her food. “And you’re not going to help?” I asked, getting more and curious, and Helena simply shook her head “Why?” “Because…Because it's supposed to be our special night” Helena said turning to face me “Yeah, but your friends need your help,” I said looking her in her eyes “Go on, go and be a hero” “Are you sure, I mean…” Helena said but I just leaned over to give her a comforting hug “Go. And. Be. A. Hero” I said, “And I’ll be right here waiting for you to continue our special night” After a few seconds we released each other from the hug and Helena stood up and went to our shared bedroom to get her uniform on. A few minutes later, she came out of the room in her full Huntress get up. Even though I have seen her in her full uniform at over a hundred times it never fails to amaze me. She walks over to me while giving me a look of sorrow and cups my cheeks and kisses me. “I’ll be back as soon as possible” Helena said, stopping at the door I gave her a comforting smile and waved her to go on, “You will leave me some of the food won’t you?” “I can’t promise anything,” I said with a sly smile. She simply smiled back then left to do her work. I just sat back and watched the rest of the movie while eating the take-away. Nearly 2 hours later there was a sound of a knock at the door, I got up and went to the door and opened it, expecting it to be Helena. And it was. But with some friends. “…Erm, hello?” I said to all the Helena, who was with two other women one of them with long dirty blond dreadlocked hair who I didn’t recognize, but another I did as Renee Montoya, the GCPD detective, and oddly were joined by a kid no older than 12. “The hell are you?” the woman with the dirty blonde hair questioned to you. “HEY” Helena shouted at the woman then looked at me “Sorry about this Y/N but can we come in” I quickly stepped aside to let Helena in and everyone else inside. I watched as Helena and the others walked around my apartment. “What’s wrong?” I asked Helena since this wasn’t exactly a common occurrence “Are you ok” “Yeah, we ran into a little trouble,” Helena said “Yeah, that’s a fucking understatement,” the woman with the dreadlocks said who was given side-eyes by Helena “Yeah, all we need to do is to stay here for a few hours until whoever is after us gives up, I hope that’s ok,” Helena said “So…” The dirty blonde-haired woman said turning me and repeating her previous question “who the hell are you?” “For god sake…” Helena said turning to the other woman with wide eyes, filled with rage “I’m Y/N” I said before anyone got hurt. I love Helena but she isn’t exactly the most peaceful person in the world. “I’m Dinah, this is Renee Montoya and Cassandra Cain” she said pointing to each of them, then she raised her eyebrows as she glanced between you and Helena “Are you two dating?” I tried to cover a smile, Helena meanwhile just groaned and stormed out. Presumably out of embarrassment. “Does anyone want a drink or…?” I asked trying to break the ice “Got one thanks” Renee said standing at the windows and taking out a flask and taking a swig of whatever was in it. “Anything with alcohol for me,” Dinah said sitting on the arm of my couch “I’ll have a…” the little kid says but Dinah cuts her off “Cassie will have juice,” Dinah said “Hey, I’m not fucking 5,” Cassie said “Juice!” Dinah said staring at Cassie who just huffed and slumped on the couch. Meanwhile, I go to get a glass of champagne and a glass of orange juice and gave them to Dinah and Cassie. Dinah gave me quite thanks whereas Cassie didn’t say a word. About a minute of silence passed before Renee spoke up “So you and Helena?” Renee said from the corner window. “Yeah,” I said with a polite smile “No offense, but how the hell did that happen?” Dinah said trying to conceal a laugh “Did Robin Hood come swooping in to save her Maid Marian” “I heard that!” Helena shouted from the other room and I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well it’s a long story,” I said “We’ve got time,” Dinah said with a huge grin on her face “Did swing down from a rooftop and swoop you up in her big strong arms and carry you to safety as your saviour” I was now effectively blushing with that particular idea causing Dinah and Renee to chuckle, but luckily my saviour Helena came out from the room “Heyyy, here’s the saviour,” Renee says quietly to herself causing us all to chuckle and causing Helena to give side eyes once again. “Right, when your all quite fucking finished,” She said raising her voice slightly “Renee, what’s the situation” “Well I can’t see anyone out there,” Renee said moving to the couch “Best to wait here for another hour or so, then it’ll be safe enough to leave” Helena simply nodded. An hour later of talking, moaning, one too many robin hood jokes such as where’s your green tights and Cassie’s stealing attempts which ended up with Dinah having to follow Cassie everywhere. Toilet included. Renee decided that is was safe to leave, so while everyone was getting ready to leave Helena walked over to me “Hey, we’ve just to make sure the ghost is clear and then I’ll be back in about 10 minutes,” Helena said smiling to me while moving a strand of hair from the front of my face then softly placed a kiss on my cheek. “Wa-Hey! Go On Bertinelli!” Dinah said causing me to blush, Renee and Cassie to laugh and Helena to groan out loud. “Right, that’s it!” Helena said as she ushering everyone out of the apartment “Everyone out” 10 minutes later Helena came back to the apartment and immediately fell onto the couch, so it was just her and me. “If you were wondering why I never told you about them, that’s why,” she said pointing to the door “You weren’t embarrassed were you?” I asked her with a big grin across my face “No…,” she said as she looked at me when a grin grew on her face leading to laughter “OK maybe a little, sorry” “Aww, the big bad assassin is blushing,” I said as I saw Helena’s cheeks blush and she gently knocks me before cuddling into each other “You’re lucky I love you,” Helena said as we continued our romantic night in peace. Just the two of us.

#Huntress #huntress imagine #helena bertinelli #helena bertinelli x reader #helena bertinelli imagine #bop #Birds of Prey #Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)#headcanons #helena bertinelli headcanons #huntress headcanons #dc #dc comics

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jana-hallford · 6 years ago

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Baby Boomer Memories: Liddle Kiddle Dolls

I was a girly little girl, and loved dolls. (I still do.) Most of my favorite dolls were by Mattel, including Barbie, my beloved Sister Belle, and my last childhood doll, Dancerina. Mattel was a major, major toy maker for the Baby Boomer generation.

Elliot Handler, founder of Mattel (and husband of Ruth Handler, inventor of the Barbie doll!) wanted a line of dolls representing small children in neighborhoods across America. Famed doll sculptor Martha Armstrong Hand, who sculpted other popular dolls including Drowsy (1965) and Cheerful Tearful (1966), made the first ten Kiddles in 1965. They were soft vinyl, with bendable wired legs, painted facial features, and rooted hair that could be brushed and combed. Each came with accessories and a little illustrated “komic” or story booklet.

Florence Niddle (1966 - 1967), one of the first 24 Liddle Kiddle dolls.

Bunson Burnie (1966 - 1967), one of the original 24 Liddle Kiddles.

Rolly Twiddle (1967) the only African American doll of the first 24 Liddle Kiddles released. She is highly sought after, especially with her original clothes, wagon, pail and shovel, and Komic booklet.

Freezy Sliddle (1967), one of the first 24 Liddle Kiddle dolls.

Liddle Kiddles were introduced at the New York Toy Fair in 1966. The Toy Fair is a buying show, not open to the public, so the dolls hit the market a little later.

I was the fourth grade and turned nine years old in 1967, the perfect age to discover Liddle Kiddle dolls. They were about three inches tall -- much smaller than most dolls of the day -- with playful accessories and outfits. I had so much fun with them!

I had the Storybook Kiddle Liddle Biddle Peep doll (1968), and two Lucky Locket Kiddles. Liddle Biddle Peep was, of course, Little Bo Peep, complete with a chenille sheep and a little shepherd’s crook, a pink dress with paniers, and a matching bonnet. Like all the Storybook Kiddles, Liddle Biddle Peep came with a storybook. She was played with until wires started poking out from her limbs.

Liddle Biddle Peep from the Storybook Kiddles collection. I loved her.

Sleeping Biddle Storybook Kiddle. I wanted this one so much!

Lucky Locket Kiddles were about two inches tall, and came in wearable plastic lockets with “jeweled” frames and clear plastic bubble fronts. There was a stand on the back that could be pulled out, allowing the locket to be displayed like a picture frame. Unlike their larger siblings, Lucky Locket dolls were not wired, and their clothes were sewn on.

This excellent collection of Lucky Locket Kiddles includes some from the original “Gold Series,” plus some later issues.

My first Lucky Locket Kiddle was Lois Locket, the sole black doll in the Lucky Locket series. I loved her. The summer between fourth and fifth grade, when I was ten, my family drove to San Francisco for a rare vacation. Lois went with me. While we were in San Francisco, we visited a Russian family we had befriended in Japan. When we arrived, we met the newest addition to the family, a darling little girl named Lana but called Kinka. She was five and spoke only Russian, but language was not a barrier. Kinka saw me and immediately pulled me away to play with her. The first thing she did was show me her big sister Tanya’s room. I could tell she attached special importance to Tanya’s make-up and View-Master. I gave Kinka a coin purse from a set I had shaped like dolls. (I was in my “It’s a Small World” phase, and the coin purse dolls represented various nations.) Kinka liked my Lois Locket, and my mother encouraged me to give it to her when we were leaving, so I did. I was not able to replace Lois.

Larky Locket.

My next and last Kiddle was Larky Locket, a sweet blonde baby. I still have her, sans locket, in an ornate, Rococo-inspired little doll cradle. Lois and Larky were both in the first set of seven Lucky Locket Kiddles (1967), known as the “Gold Set,” since the frames were gold. Lois was the only doll repeated in the second set of seven Lockets called the “Pastel” set, (1968) due to the difference in frame colors. I’m almost certain my Lois was from the second set, as I recall her locket frame as pastel green, but I could be wrong. Her clothing was the same in both.

The cover of a Lucky Locket Kiddles set of paper dolls shows photos of the actual dolls inside illustrated frames. Larky Locket, in the center, was the baby of the bunch. I still have her. Lois Locket, just to her right, was the only African-American Lucky Locket Kiddle.

Carrying cases were sold for the dolls. Some of my friends had them. There were also tie-in coloring books and paper dolls.

Liddle Kiddles Klub carrying case, exterior.

Liddle Kiddles Klub case, interior.

Pink train case-style Liddle Kiddle carrier.

Liddle Kiddle and hat-box style case. Sailor doll Lola Liddle (1966-1967) came with a sailboat. (She is not missing her shoes -- her feet were bare.) The picture on the case shows her with Howard "Biff" Boodle (1966). Lola Liddle and Biff Boodle were among the original 24 Kiddles released. Each was sold with a Komic book that featured them both together.

Mattel released many additional Kiddles, including Kola Kiddles and Kiddle Kolognes. These were two-inch dolls, much like their Locket sisters, but in clear plastic bottles that looked like soft drink bottles and perfume bottles. The tiniest Kiddles were Jewelry Kiddles, from just under to just over one inch high. The largest, four-inch Skedaddle Kiddles, were able to walk, ride vehicles or wave thanks to an internal mechanism. Five Holiday Kiddles (1968 - 1969) representing Christmas, Easter, and Valentine’s Day, had soft bodies and vinyl faces. They could be worn as pins, and the Christmas dolls could also serve as tree ornaments. Four Kiddles n’ Kars dolls (1969 - 1970) wore old-fashioned dresses and drove cars based on early automobiles.

Rosebud (1968 - 1969) from the Kiddle Kolognes collection. The Kologne Kiddles were scented.

Apple Blossom (1968 - 1969) from the Kiddle Kolognes series, shown outside of her bottle.

Some of the other later releases were four tiny (two inch) dolls in animal costumes with yarn hair, the Animiddle Kiddles (1969-1970) that could be worn as pins, and four Zoolery Kiddles (1969-1970). Zoolery Kiddles were four plastic animals (panther, lion, chimpanzee, and bear) rather than children, in plastic circus cages, each attached to a bracelet. The cages could be combined to form a circus train.

Robin Hood and Maid Marion from the Storybook Kiddles Sweethearts Collection.

Never opened Lady Crimson from the Tea Party Kiddles series (1969).

From 1968 to 1970 the Storybook Kiddles Sweethearts, tiny but well-detailed pairs of Kiddles portraying star-crossed lovers, such as Romeo and Juliet, and Robin Hood and Maid Marian, were released, along with the Tea Party line in 1969, featuring girls in beautiful gowns, each with a teacup and saucer large enough for human use. This was also the year of the wonderful, whimsical Kozmic Kiddles -- glow-in-the-dark space aliens in flying saucers. I remember Kozmic Kiddles from the Sears Christmas Catalog. How I wanted one of those!

Kozmic Kiddle Greenie Meanie (1969). The Kozmic Kiddles fetch some of the highest prices.

Six Sweet Treat Kiddles with ice cream and lollipop motiifs came out 1969 - 1970. Three Playhouse Kiddles, one set in a kitchen, one in a parlor, and one in a bedroom, were sold only in 1970. Four Liddle Baby Kiddles were also released in 1970. (I was glad to see one of the Liddle Baby Kiddles was African American. For the time, the representation was significant.) I was aware of the Sweet Treats, but otherwise don’t remember most of the later Liddle Kiddles.

A story I read as a child compared growing up to going through a magic door. It closes behind you, but a new door opens. When I was 12, I gradually stopped playing with dolls the way I had before, even though I still liked them. I felt profound sadness for leaving my childhood, but understood it was inevitable, and looked forward to what was ahead. I vowed not to forget what it was like to be a child, and like many creative people, I do remember.

Coincidentally, as my childhood and the 1960s came to a close, so did the heyday of Liddle Kiddles. The rising price of petroleum was bad news for makers of vinyl and plastic products, including toys. Mattel made drastic cuts, and the last Kiddles were released in 1970. ln 1971 production discontinued. (The iconic and perennial best-seller Barbie endured.)

There were a few postscripts in the late 1970s. Lucky Locket Kiddles were reissued 1976 - 1978 with bright color frames, then some final ice cream theme Sweet Treat Kiddles were released in 1979, but otherwise the Liddle Kiddle series was no more. Their influence remains. Liddle Kiddles paved the way for other small dolls, including a Kiddles-like series by Uneeda in the 1980s.

Liddle Kiddles remain very popular with collectors, and there are many on-line resources and collector groups. For quite of few of us, these dolls are a treasured memory.

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deesselouvre · 5 years ago

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Tagged by @v-v-e-g-a !!! ♡♡♡♡♡

Tag #1

1. Icon: Beehunter from Arknights

2. My content: This is my main/personal blog so it's mostly just reblogs of funnyman jokes, Helpful References/Tips, and interests I'm either too lazy or not enough into to make a sideblog for (JJBA, Animal Crossing, Castlevania [debatable], etc.)

3. Letter colour: I'm assuming this is blog title color so--white.

4. Header: a screencap of Invader Zim saying "PHASE TWO" but instead it says "HOES MAD". I need to change it tbh but idk to what.

5. Url: I love vampires AND thigh high socks,,,,Could I Make It Anymore Obvious

6. Blog title: From one of those phrase/word generators I forgot why I used it, but I really liked the phrase even though I'm really bad at poetry...

Tag #2

Who were you named after?: I Vibed(tm) with Maid Marian from the Disney Furry Robin Hood Movie as a kid but I wanted it to be more gender neutral so now I'm Mr. Mosbey ☆ Ellis is similar enough to my deadname so I can get onto family and the like for "forgetting"

Last time you cried?: I don't have a concept of time so I don't remember so,,,,,maybe a week or two?

Do you like your handwriting?: I guess? It's pretty a looking blend of print and cursive but it can be hard to read if you're reading it for the first time :(

What is your favorite lunch meat?: FRIED BOLOGNA. If cooked doesn't count idk honey ham or turkey I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Longest relationship?: 2 years. Don't Ask.

Do you still have your tonsils?: Yup.

Do you bungee jump?: Nope!

What is your favorite kind of cereal?: Honeycomb, w/ French Toast Crunch as a close second. But tbh as long as its not bland like cheerios or corn pops/puffs I'll live.

Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?: I DESPISED tying my shoes as a kid idk why so I always slip mine off.

Do you think you’re strong willed?: Not particularly, I think? I'm a people pleaser but I'm also stubborn as hell so....

Favorite Ice Cream?: Birthday Cake!!! French Vanilla or Wedding Cake is good too--anything really REALLY vanilla-y is top notch.

What is the first thing you notice about a person?: Their smile and I guess like...idk how to put it....their Build? Like if they're lanky with broad shoulders or tall 'n buff or short 'n stocky, stuff like that.

Football or baseball?: I only attend football games for the Marching Band halftime shows

Favorite donut?: Anything filled with cream or custard tbh. Maple-flavored dunkin donuts donuts are good too, though.

What are you listening to?: A lot of Vouge Remixes/Music apparently? Like DJ Boyfriends and stuff. I like high-energy beats.

If you were a crayon, what color would you be?: A deep jewel tone that's labelled "peacock" but you can't really tell if its a green or blue until you use it.

What is your favorite smell?: Vanilla Bean Noel from Bath and Body Works, Honeycomb, and Harry's Pomegranate-Spice Blend Soap (really specific I Know). Hairspray always smells really sweet to me idk why people say they hate the smell???

Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?: My D&D group (5 HOURS!)

Hair color?: Too dark to be blond, too light to be brown. I wanna dye it either that jewel toned blue again or black, but I don't feel like buying hair dye rn.

Eye color?: Brown brown brown! FUCK what anyone says brown eyes are the BOMB my entire family has either green or blue eyes so I've spent TOO LONG self-depreciating over that shit.

Favorite food to eat?: Lemon Cake w/ mascarpone is soooo good. Nothin tops Hoppin' John with Wild Rice though.

Scary movies or happy ending?: Happy Endings. I'm not (that) much of a sap but Scary Movies sometimes really work up my anxiety :(

Last movie you watched in a theater?: Once Again, time is an illusion but I think Frozen 2? NO it was Birds of Prey! Loved it.

What color shirt are you wearing?: A black State Marching Band Championship hoodie.

Favorite holiday?: Halloween by default since a good 80% of holidays are boring.

Beer or wine?: I've only had (dessert) wine but I didn't really like it so neither I guess. I don't see myself liking beer anyways.

Night owl or morning person?: Night Owl but God likes to punish me so I always wake up at 6/7/8 even when I don't need to anyways.

Favorite day of the week?: Tuesday or Friday? Time isn't real, dude.

Favorite animal?: BATS BATS BATS!!! I have a plushie of a Mariana Flying Fox I got from the zoo as a wee kid and I WUV THEM their name is Mango :3c. I also like peacocks because of their colors, & hummingbirds because they remind me of my grandmother and how they zip around!

Do you have a pet?: 3 cats (Meimei, Rico Suavé, and my dearest darlingist loudest witch cat Mina) and 3 dogs (Emmy, Jake, and Gucci "Chupi" Chupacabra).

Where would you like to travel?: Japan (b/c I'm a weeb and I've wanted to since middle school), but tbh visiting just about anywhere would be cool, especially in Europe just because I keep slacking on language learning. My family vacations for Food mainly so anyplace with good, different grub than Southern Landlocked USA is 👌👌👌👌.

♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡

I never know who to tag in these ddgdkddjkskabcksbals uhhhhhh @binch-im-stressed @screamingredpanda @6fangs @foolishrats @wondertainment & any mutuals or ppl who constantly interact because I'm writing this in my notes app and never use desktop tumblr so I can't really keep track of my mutuals like everyone else (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`)

#DON'T WORRY @ MUTUALS I SEE YOU I JUST HAVE SHIT MEMORY #There's also ppl who constantly like/rb stuff from me and idk if i follow their sideblog or somethin' & I'm too nervous to tag you all #BUT I SEE YOU #persephone-boi.....ratarcade............zozzles.....I See U and tag u but like.....telepathically....lowkey...only if u wanna

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mustangshelby04 · 5 years ago

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Boston Boy - Chapter 3

A/N This chapter is pure fluff. Enjoy!!

“So what’s on the agenda today?” Kate asked as Chris walked into her hotel room.

“I thought we could hit up some museums. Maybe check out the aquarium.” Chris said, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“Someone’s excited today.”

“Yeah. I have good reason to be.” He grinned at her and she couldn’t help but smile back.

“Do you have something planned?”

“Nope. I’m just spending the day with you.”

She chuckled. “Your enthusiasm is appreciated, but I keep telling you that I’m not that exciting.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. Besides, the first day I met you, you ended up in dog shit. The next day, you ended up with a broken tooth.”

“I’m hoping that particular pattern doesn’t continue.”

“Well, if it does, I’m here to make sure you’re ok.”

“My hero.”

“Maybe if you’re lucky, I’ll sweep you off your feet later.”

She laughed. “I doubt that. I’m heavier than I look. It’s all in the boobs and butt.”

He shrugged and suddenly swept her up in his arms. She clung to his neck as her eyes widened and she realized he was actually holding her up. “I lift a lot of weights.” He kissed her cheek before setting her down. “And you’re not that heavy.”

She laughed. “That’s the first time that’s ever happened to me.”

“No one’s ever swept you up in their arms before?”

“Not since I was in my early teens. It wasn’t so much a sweep-me-off-my-feet thing. It was more to get me up on doctor’s tables or put me back in my wheelchair or on my crutches. I was in a leg brace for a while after breaking my kneecap and tearing my ACL.”

“Ouch! What happened?”

“I was practicing a sit spin and I was too close to the boards. I travelled into them and my knee bent the wrong way before I sling-shotted back around and hit my kneecap hard enough to crack it in three places.”

“Fuck!” He shook his head. “What’s a sit spin?”

“Did I fail to mention that I was a figure skater from age six till age thirteen?”

“Yes.”

“I was a figure skater from age six till age thirteen.” She laughed. “And a sit spin is where you spin on one blade in a crouched position with the other leg extended in front of you.”

“Oh! I didn’t know what it was called. So, can you still skate?”

“Not at all like I used to. It’s not like riding a bike. I can still go forwards and backwards and sideways and do some spins and stops, but no jumps or fancy footwork or anything really cool. I still go skate every now and then.”

“Nice. It’s good you didn’t leave it completely behind.”

“If I hadn’t busted my knee, I would’ve continued in competitive skating. I loved it. A lot. For a while it was my escape from everything bad in my life. It still kind of is sometimes. There’s nothing in the world like turning on the music and having the ice all to yourself while you feel the cold air flying past you. It’s my form of meditation, I guess. Nothing else exists when I’m on the ice.” She sighed. “I did get one thing from my busted knee, though. I can tell you when rain or snow is coming. And neither of them are going to bother us today, so let’s go enjoy the day, shall we?”

He laughed. “We shall.”

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Chris and Kate made their way through the aquarium side by side. They’d strolled through two museums before making their way to the aquarium. They’d been there for the last hour and a half just enjoying each other’s company. At the moment, he was enjoying her reactions to the penguins. She laughed when one penguin tried to jump from one rock to the next and failed, splashing into the water.

“I love penguins.” She said. “I think they’re my spirit animal.”

“Yeah? How come?”

“They’re klutzy and adorable. I want one.”

He laughed. “I’m not sure they’d make a great pet.”

“Are you kidding me? Penguins love humans. I imagine they’d be like puppies.”

“How would you house break them?”

“Good question. Maybe just like a puppy? Positive reinforcement. Give them an anchovy whenever they piddle on the puppy pad.”

“Well what about their climate? They need cold.”

“Not all penguins.” She pointed at the little African penguins. “They don’t live in the cold all the time. They’re from South Africa.”

“You’ve got this all planned out, huh?”

“Not entirely. It’s mostly just a long shot of a dream.” She turned and began to walk. He caught up with her and she said, “Dolphins.”

“What about them?” He asked.

“They’re my favorite animal. Ever since I was a kid. One day I want to go swimming with them. There’s this place in Florida….”

“Discovery Cove. Yeah, I’ve heard of it. Never been, though.”

“Me either. But I want to go.” They walked into the gift shop and started browsing. “When I was little, I wanted to be a dolphin trainer. I wanted to be able to work alongside these beautiful animals and help take care of them…. I still wouldn’t hate it.”

“Then why don’t you go for it?”

She laughed. “I’m much too old to be a dolphin trainer now.”

“You’re only 30.”

“Hey. I’m 29. I’ve got a couple of weeks left before I hit that particular milestone birthday.”

“It’s not bad.”

“Oh, I know. In fact, I’d like to celebrate it. Lauren and I always talked about going to Disneyworld for our 30th birthdays, but she’s not seeming so interested in it now. We were supposed to start planning this year, but every time I bring it up, she has an excuse.” She sighed. “One day I’ll go to Disneyworld.”

“Wait, you’ve never been?”

“Nope. It’s a thorn in my relationship with my mother.” She laughed. “That woman has been telling me she’ll take me to Disneyworld for almost 30 years and I still haven’t seen the inside of the most magical place on earth. For someone who has lived and breathed Disney most of her life, it pains my heart.”

“Why haven’t you gone?”

“Not enough time or money…. Or anyone to go with. I told mom that even if I had a family of my own, when I do go to Disney, she’s paying for me.”

He laughed. “So you’re a Disney fan, huh?”

“Of course! What, you couldn’t tell by the Merida costume?”

He laughed. “I probably should have. It was fairly elaborate. Right up there with Merida from Disneyworld.”

“I know. My niece went to Disneyworld this summer. Thank god the woman playing the part was a good actress because Hailey wanted to talk all about the time Merida came to visit for her birthday.”

“It’s pretty impressive that she remembers it.”

“I know! She was only two!” She looked around. “I’ve got to use the restroom. I’ll be right back.” She lightly touched his arm before rushing off. When she came out, Chris was waiting for her with a fluffy stuffed penguin in his arms.

“I know it’s not a real one, but I thought it was a start for your long shot dream.” He handed it to her. “And a way to remember our visit.”

She laughed. “I think I’ll name him Cap. He looks like an honorable penguin.” He laughed. “Well, what about you? What’s your favorite animal?”

Chris paused to think for a minute. “Probably an elephant. They’re such majestic, peaceful creatures.”

Kate smiled at him. “Good choice.”

“Thanks. Are you hungry? I have an idea for dinner.”

“Oh, you have an idea, huh? I didn’t know you could have those.”

“Ha! Come on, blondie. Let’s go.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and smiled to himself. He was glad they were able to pick on each other without either of them getting offended. It meant, at least to him, that they were getting comfortable with each other.

“You’re not going to tell me your idea?”

“I’m pretty sure you’ll figure it out kinda quick.”

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Chris pulled into the parking lot of Whole Foods and she looked at him suspiciously. “I make a mean chicken carbonara. Unfortunately, I don’t have everything I need, so I have to make a pit stop.”

“Wait…. You’re going to cook for me?” She asked. “Where?”

“At my place.” He smiled at her shocked face. “I just thought a night in away from the hotel would be nice. I know it can start to feel cramped in a hotel room even after a couple of days.”

“You want to take me to your place?” “Why not? Afraid I’ll give you food poisoning?”

“No. I don’t know why not. I was just…. Surprised that you wanted to show me your place.”

“Technically this is our third date.” He got out and came around to open her door for her.

“Well, it’s our first if you’re counting the fact that you didn’t ask me to see where this goes until last night.”

“True. But that’s just a technicality.” He stopped and she turned to face him. “I mean it when I say that I’ve never felt so comfortable with someone so quickly. Usually I have a problem with the English language and I sweat profusely and it’s never a good thing, but….” He reached out and took her hands. “I like you. You’ve got this light that I’m just drawn to.”

“Like a bug zapper?” She laughed, trying to brush off the seriousness that had descended upon them.

“Only if you choose to keep your guard up.”

The seriousness in his voice stopped any jokes she was about to make. “I don’t mean to, Chris.”

“I know. You’ve been hurt bad by multiple men in your life. One of them you were supposed to be able to trust not to ever hurt you. So, I know that it might take some time for you to completely grasp that I like you and I’m willing to keep trying until you trust me.”

“They’re just stories, though.”

“What?”

“Fairytales. They’re just stories.”

“This feels like a fairytale to you?”

She shrugged. “Three days and the handsome prince is star struck by the peasant girl. If only we’d met in the woods and gone dancing, maybe this would sink in better. I don’t know.” He chuckled. “Well, you are blonde like Sleeping Beauty and just as pale.”

“And you’re just as handsome as Prince Phillip. Who was my first crush, by the way.”

Chris took her hand and they walked into the store. “You had a crush on a cartoon?”

“Don’t judge.”

“Oh, I’m not. My first crush was Maid Marian from Robin Hood.”

“The Disney version?”

He blushed slightly. “Yeah.” “I thought Robin Hood was cute.”

That made him laugh. “What was it about Prince Phillip that you liked?”

“He was dashing and brave and very well drawn. And he talked to his horse like he was a person. I’ve always talked to my animals like that.” He grinned. “What was it about Maid Marian that you liked?” “She was spunky. I thought I could have fun with her. I used to run around pretending to be Robin Hood. I would say all of his lines for him when the movie was on. Which would make my sister Carly come after me.”

“You’re the second oldest child, right?”

“Yup. Carly, then me, then Scott, and then Shanna.”

“What are they like? Well, besides Scott, because I met him and he’s a pretty cool guy.”

Chris smiled as he picked out the cheese he was planning to use that evening. “Carly is your typical older sister. Bossy, slightly overbearing, used to be a bully to her younger siblings, but you never fucked with her family or she would come after you like Jason Borne.” She laughed and followed him down the next aisle. “Scott and I were always close growing up. I would usually get us in trouble and he would always take the heat for it because he was too nice. And Shanna…. She’s your typical younger sister. She’s the baby, you know. Bratty, kind of annoying, but not loud. She’s one of the quiet ones. Definitely prefers to keep to herself. I can’t say I blame her with a family as loud as ours is. But she’s my baby sister and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.”

“What about your mom?”

“She’s insane.”

She laughed. “Isn’t that description of most mothers?”

“Probably? Is yours?”

“You have no idea.”

He laughed. “Ma is…. She collects anything and everything I’ve ever done. Every newspaper or magazine that I’m in, she collects it. She has a shelf with nothing but DVDs and Blurays of my movies and even the TV shows I’ve done. She’s so proud of me that she’s bursting at the seams with it. And she’s one of my best friends. I tell her everything. I always have.” She smiled. “She sounds great. Your whole family does.”

“What about yours?”

“Uh…. Mom is definitely insane. We don’t always get along, though. She has very strong opinions and isn’t afraid to shove them on you. Sometimes I get the feeling that she thinks I’m still a misguided kid that she needs to guide by the hand. Though she’s never really had to worry too much about me because I’m boring. I’ve never done drugs. I didn’t have sex until I knew I was ready and it was with someone I’d been with for a really long time. The first time I skipped school was senior year the day before prom to go shopping and like a bad episode of Saved By The Bell, I got caught by a news crew doing interviews with teenagers about the new program they were implementing at the mall. And much to my surprise, mom wasn’t mad. She was excited that I had done something semi-bad.”

Chris had finished getting everything he needed and they headed for the checkout counter. “So you were a goody two shoes?”

“Yeah, I guess. I did go through a goth phase for a while. Drove my mom bonkers because all I wanted to do was shop at Hot Topic, listen to rock music, and read vampire novels. I even dyed my hair blonde on top and blood red on bottom.”

Chris looked her up and down. “I cannot see you as a goth. Please tell me there’s photographic proof.”

“Unfortunately there is. But, fortunately, I don’t have any with me. It’s all back home in photo albums.”

He gave her hand a quick squeeze. “I can’t wait to see them. I feel like I’m going to have the best blackmail on the planet.” They stepped up to pay and before he could get in his wallet, she ducked under him and swiped her card. “What are you doing?”

“Paying.” She grinned up at him as she put in her pin. “You’ve gotten dinner the last two nights. At least let me get this since you’re cooking.”

“I don’t think I have a choice now.” He playfully bumped her with his hip as she took the receipt and he picked up the bags. The girl that had rung them up was staring unabashedly at Chris and giving Kate the stink eye from the side of her stare. Chris seemed completely oblivious as he dug in his pocket for his car key. Kate smiled politely at the girl and followed Chris out.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

“Well, this is it.” Chris said as they walked back into the living room of the spacious apartment. “I keep it for when I need some time to myself.”

“Or when you have a girl over that hasn’t made it to family meeting level yet?” “Uh, I guess so. I haven’t actually had any girls over here since I got the place. You’re the first.”

She blushed and walked over to the windows overlooking the city. “It has a great view.” They were at the top floor of a fourteen story building.

“The roof is mine, too. I’ve got a little patio set up there with a grill.”

“Nice.” She turned back around to see him in the kitchen getting everything ready to cook. Walking over to the island, she slid onto a stool and watched him work for a moment. He shot her some smiles as she sat there.

“Oh! Would you like something to drink? Fuck, I’m a moron for not thinking of it.” He opened the refrigerator and rifled around. “I have beer, beer, water, beer, and oh look…. A bottle of white. No idea how that got in there. I’m blaming Scott.”

“Well, whoever it was, I’ll thank them later.”

“White wine?”

“Sounds good to me.”

Chris rummaged through the drawers till he found a corkscrew and opened the bottle. He pulled down a wine glass and poured her a generous amount. “I have no idea what kind it is.”

She grabbed the bottle and tilted it. “Oh, yum. It’s a Riesling. I love Rieslings. Busch Gardens in Williamsburg has this shop in their Germany section that sells a bottle from this winery called…. I think…. Zeppelin. It’s all in German and has a picture of a zeppelin on it. And the lady at the store said that it was served on the Hindenburg. But I love it. I get a bottle pretty much every time I go.”

“Busch Gardens? The amusement park in Florida?”

“Well, there’s two of them. One in Florida and the one near me in Williamsburg. The one in Florida is more Africa themed, I think. I’ve never been. I know they have a lot of wildlife there. The one in Williamsburg is called Busch Gardens Europe. It has different sections that are different countries. Kind of like Epcot, but not.” She chuckled. “I have a season pass. They’re doing Hallowscream right now.”

“Cool. Do you think we can go?”

“I don’t know. I mean, I think this weekend is the last before they start setting up Christmastown.”

Chris stopped what he was doing and turned to her. “Christmastown?”

“Yeah. They turn the entire place into a Christmas wonderland. There’s lights everywhere! One section of the park has snow. And there’s hot chocolate for days! The Santa they have looks like the real deal. They have different Christmas shows and some of the rides are open. It’s really neat. And I’m extremely excited because Elvis Stojko has a show this year.” At his blank look, she elaborated. “He’s a pretty famous figure skater from the 90s. Kinda known as the bad boy of skating.”

“Oh. That’s really cool. I’d like to go to Christmastown. It sounds awesome.”

“Well, I may know someone who can get you in at a discounted rate.”

“Yeah? You may need to call her up and tell her to make plans for a date one evening.” He winked at her and got back to work. She blushed and looked into her wine glass. Three days in and he was talking about making future plans with her. What was happening? “So, tell me more about your family. You said your sister is a long story.”

“Ugh! Where do I even begin with her?”

“Well, generally the beginning is a good start.”

“Ok. I’m three years older than her and she’s not supposed to exist. My mom got her tubes tied when she had me. She didn’t want another kid. But somehow, one of the tubes came untied or something and my sister was conceived. She was six weeks early and had all kinds of problems. We didn’t find out until about three or four years later that she’s partially deaf. My mom babied her and my father loved her. He never hurt her like he did my mom and I.” She took a long sip of wine and he turned to look at her. “I had a lot of anger when my parents split up and my mom moved us to a different state and she married someone new and I broke my knee and couldn’t skate anymore…. I took it out on Janice. I turned into my father. My mom sent me away to my grandmother’s house. My father was living with her, but Memaw was sort of my protector. He didn’t really mess with me. And then my father decided he wanted custody of us both and fought my mom. He won and my sister stayed in Kentucky with us. Then my grandma died and I was front and center for the mental and physical abuse. Jan was completely oblivious to it. When my mom found out I had planned to kill myself, she brought me here for spring break and told me that when I finished my freshman year I would be moving back with her. She wanted to bring my sister, too, but Jan chose to stay with our father. She was going to a school where she wasn’t getting the help she needed and our father didn’t give a shit about her, so she just…. Wilted. My sister is a 73 year old woman stuck in a 27 year old body. Lara is going to school for her masters in psychology and she’s pretty sure Jan has Asperger’s. All of her little quirks made sense once I read up on it. But the damage is done. Jan and I don’t get along that great. I love her. She’s my sister. I will defend her with my life and have a couple of times. But we spend a lot of time at each other’s throats.”

Chris turned back to his cooking before he burned anything. “It’s a sibling thing, maybe?”

“She’s a stick in the mud. I’m a…. Well, the word vivacious gets thrown around a lot. She doesn’t have a sense of humor, I’m kind of a sarcastic jerk like the rest of my family. She’s the black sheep of the family.”

“Every family has one.” She took another long sip of her wine and realized she had drank it all. “Here,” Chris grabbed the bottle out of the fridge and poured her some more. “What about your brother? Where was he in all that?”

“Uh, my brother is actually my step-brother. It’s very rare that I distinguish that. He’s been in my life since I was really young. He’s had a tough childhood, too. His mother was a raving lunatic and forged his dad’s signature on papers that signed his parental rights away so Killi could be adopted by her new husband. My step-dad is an alcoholic, so he was too drunk to know what happened until much later. He’s been sober for the last sixteen plus years. January will be seventeen years. Anyway, Killi lived with his mom in Tennessee and came out to visit more and more. He went to college in Alabama and while he was in his junior year, his mother committed suicide and blamed it on him. Left him a note saying it was because he left her and went away to college. He was really messed up about it. It’s only recently that he sought help.”

“Fuck! Poor guy. You’re closer to your brother, then?”

“Oh yeah. Bad childhoods make instant connections.” She chuckled. “He’s my big brother and he acts like it. We pick on each other and we share things that no one else knows. He’s the one that convinced my mom not to lose her shit about me getting a tattoo. When the asshole cheated on me, my sister in law said she had to beg and plead with Killi not to grab his gun and drive up to ‘take care of things’. He was incredibly proud of me for giving the asshole a nice shiner.”

Chris laughed. “I’d say he deserved worse than a shiner.”

“Well, yeah. He probably would’ve gotten it too if he hadn’t run off like he did.” She took a deep breath. “It smells great.” “It’ll be done soon.”

“Where did you learn to cook?”

“Watching my family. We’re part Italian, so there’s always someone cooking something. I just watched and learned. Truthfully, this is about as skillful as I get on my own.” He checked the bread in the oven before leaning his arms against the island in front of her. “What about you? Can you cook?”

“Uh, yes and no. I can cook, but I’m much better at baking. I love to make bread. It’s a lot of work, but the payoff is usually worth it.”

“Where did you learn?” “My mom. She and my father were both chefs for a while. Well, my father still is. Mom cooks almost every night. There’s a bookshelf in the corner of the house that’s filled with cookbooks. Everything you’ve ever wanted to make is probably in that bookshelf.”

“What’s your favorite food?”

“Oh god…. Uh…. Do I have to choose just one?”

He laughed. “A foodie, huh?”

“Lately, yes. I’ve decided to try new things. I was a picky eater for a long time. While I was skating, my diet was pretty strict. So was the regimen. I’m pretty sure that it would’ve made your training for Cap look like child’s play.”

“Try me.”

“Ok. I was up about 4:30 every morning, went to the rink to train, came home, ate breakfast, did whatever studying I needed to do for that day, then it was off to school. After school, depending on what day it was, I would go to ballet class, or pilates, or gymnastics, or weight training, then it would be back to the rink to work on choreography before going home and doing homework, eating dinner, and then going to sleep before doing it all again the next day. I was a machine. At the age of twelve I could leg press 375 pounds.”

“Fuck! Every day?”

“Every day. I got started kind of late age-wise. I trained like crazy to catch up and be the best I could be. And all the while, I had to maintain no less than Bs in all of my classes or else mom would make me stop skating.”

“Yeah, I just eat healthy and lift weights every day. Lots of protein shakes.”

“Ugh! I always hated those. I didn’t need them much, though. The curse is trying to put on muscle without putting on weight. Just a couple of pounds could throw off your center of gravity and that leads to all kinds of badness. The list of injuries I could give you that I’ve been through is as tall as me.”

“Oh, then that’s not that long, then.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah, yeah. I’m short.”

He laughed and went back to finish the chicken carbonara. “So, you’re trying new things, huh?”

“Richmond is full of restaurants. It’s a very bohemian city, so there’s lots of different types of food offered there. I’ve started trying new restaurants and new cuisines.”

“Ok, so what’s the best thing you’ve ever put in your mouth?”

“Um…. There’s a place in Williamsburg called Le Yaca. It’s a French restaurant that actually came from France. I think the original is still in France. But their food is sinfully good. Their bread is amazing. I love their French Onion Soup and their house salad. But they have this dish called la crêpe au crabe. It’s fresh crab meat and béchamel sauce with Swiss cheese and sometimes there’s vegetables all wrapped in a crêpe. It’s so good it’s made my eyes mist just thinking about it.”

“I think I might have to break my diet for that next week.”

“I think you might have to, too. It’s not my favorite restaurant, though. That title belongs to Pattis in Grand Rivers, Kentucky. I’ve been going there since I was a baby. I always get excited when I see the signs for it on the interstate.”

“It’s funny. You really don’t strike me as someone from a small town.”

She laughed. “Well, I am. I almost fell into the small town life. Like a good small town girl, I had a boyfriend from seventh grade all the way until the summer before senior year. At Christmas in our junior year, he proposed to me and I said yes because I did love him. But a year and a half before that I had moved to Virginia and it was definitely changing me. When I went back home in summer, I broke it off because I didn’t want to get married at eighteen. I really didn’t want to move back to a small town with bad memories and he wouldn’t move away because he was inheriting his parent’s very successful real estate company. But if I had chosen to go back, I would’ve been a really young mother with a white picket fence and a dog.”

“Do you regret giving that up?”

She smiled. “Not in the slightest. If I had, I wouldn’t be sitting in Boston with someone I admire cooking for me and wanting to spend a ridiculous amount of time with me.”

Chris smiled brightly and she fought the urge to get up and pin him against the counter with a fiery kiss.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

After dinner, which had been delicious, they relaxed on the sofa. The bottle of wine was nearly empty now. It was sitting on the coffee table next to her wine glass. The conversation between them had flowed easily and the silence that was surrounding them now was peaceful. They had tried to find a movie to watch, but nothing had really jumped out at them. Her legs were stretched out in front of her and resting on Chris’s lap where he’d placed them. His hands ran lightly up and down her jean clad shins absentmindedly.

It was Chris who finally broke the silence. “So, what should we do tomorrow?”

“The whale watching trip sounds like fun. I’ve never done that. And I’d like to visit the U.S.S. Constitution.”

“Sounds like fun to me.”

“Chris, do you want to go to the game with me Thursday? Since I have the extra ticket.”

He smiled at her. “Yeah. I’d love to go to the game with you. Let’s make sure the people in front of us don’t have a cell phone, though.”

“Good idea.”

“Hey, nothing crazy happened today.”

“I thought for sure I’d end up at least tripping and falling into the penguin habitat.”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t have minded.”

“Nope. I’d have found a way to sneak one of them out.”

“Cap would’ve had a friend.”

“Well, it’s ok. He’ll have plenty of other friends at home.”

“You have lots of stuffed penguins?”

“I have lots of stuffed animals. He’ll probably end up with Captain Bearica.”

Chris laughed. “Captain Bearica?”

“When I was back home this past June, my best friend Amanda and I took her son David, my ‘nephew’ to the Zoo and to the Science Museum in St. Louis. They have a Build A Bear on the bottom floor and he begged to go in there. He wouldn’t make a bear until I’d picked one out for myself. They had one Captain America bear left, so I grabbed him and I named him Captain Bearica. He hangs out with Thumper from ‘Bambi’.”

“Awe! I love Thumper.”

“Me too. My Thumper is old. I’ve had him since I was a baby. He’s been thoroughly loved.”

“I have a stuffed Copper from when I was a baby.”

“From ‘Fox and the Hound’?”

Chris smiled brightly. “Yeah! Good guess.”

“I told you I’m a Disney fan.”

“I’m getting that.”

She smiled and noticed that the tattoo on his chest was peeking out from his open henley shirt. Without thinking, she reached over and ran a finger across it. “What does it say?”

“My tattoo?” She nodded. “‘When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself. When you lose touch with yourself, you lose yourself in the world.’ It’s a quote by Eckhart Tolle.”

“Pretty. And very insightful.”

“Thank you. It’s just a little reminder to myself.”

“I have one of those.” She lifted her left leg and pulled the leg of her jeans up, twisting it to reveal a tattoo on the lower part of her shin just above the ankle. Around a four-leaf clover, it read “Tomorrow is another day.” “It has different levels of meaning to me.”

Chris traced the tattoo with his finger. “‘Gone With the Wind.’”

“It’s my favorite movie. I try to watch it at least once a year. I got to see it on the big screen for the first time ever last year and I completely lost my shit. I didn’t even make it to the opening credits before I started sobbing. The music swelled and I was lost. My mom thought it was hilarious. It’s also the very last line of the book, which I love, and a way to tell myself to be as strong as Scarlet was. Because she was right. It may be hard and you feel completely hopeless today, but there’s always tomorrow to deal with it.”

He looked up at her and was smiling brightly. “You’re incredible.”

She smiled back. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

Tag List:

@joannaliceevans-fanficblog @jamielea81 @southerngracela @kelbabyblue @introvertedmouse @tfandtws @sullyosully @deidrahouseofpain @lovinevans

#Chris Evans #Kate Allen O/C #Chris Evans/Kate Allen #chris evans fanfic #chris evans fanfiction

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troublewheeler · 5 years ago

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three times he thought he fell in love.

SIX YEARS OLD.

it’s 1977 and karen wheeler is bound and determined to appear like the perfect suburban family. cookouts every other weekend, bringing casserole to neighbors who need cheering up, etc. she’s ticked almost every box she can possibly think of. even going to church on every sunday.

and mike hates it.

however, it doesn’t seem so bad when he runs into catherine on his way to the bathroom. if mike likes anything about coming to this dreadful place, it’s her. in fact, he tells his mom at least every fifteen minutes that he has to go potty so he can sneak out and meet her. they’ve made it a routine. if one leaves the room, the other follows closely behind.

most of the time, they don’t even make it to the bathroom. they just talk and share candy with each other. mike has asked her to come over several times, but she never follows up with an answer from her own mother. it’s fine, though. he’ll cherish their brief moments of sneaking away if he has to.

because of catherine, mike is more excited to wake up early on sunday mornings. jumping out of bed, putting on his best clothes and even checking his hair in the mirror. this is the first time he’s liked a girl—like, really liked a girl. according to the movies he’s watched with nancy, he’s most definitely falling in love! they’re just like robin hood and maid marian, meeting up in secret. they’re sweethearts!

then they stopped going to church, because everyone got bored with it. especially ted, who usually has the biggest say in things given that he’s the ‘man of the house’. mike is absolutely crushed. their sunday meetings were ended so suddenly, but mostly, he’s upset because he never got to tell her how he felt.

EIGHT YEARS OLD.

mike’s got a new babysitter, because nancy isn’t always available. in fact, she hardly ever is. not since she’s been running off to barb’s every weekend for sleepovers or whatever. probably talking about boys, and doing each other’s nails. gross!

but the new babysitter, carol, is all right. kind of rough around the edges, but totally fun. actually, she’s the coolest person mike’s ever met. when nancy babysits, she hardly lets him do anything, but this girl will let him do everything. in fact, she’ll let him stay up late, and eat ice cream, and throw firecrackers into the neighbor’s yard.

they can’t tell mike’s parents, though! because it’s their little secret. mike knows what they’re doing would be frowned upon by anyone, especially parents, so he’s good to keep the secret. he loves that it’s something that only they share. it’s like they’re bonnie and clyde!

mike has never felt more smitten for a girl in his entire life. this is it, he thinks. i’m really in love this time.

but then she invites her new boyfriend, tommy, over. they always send mike to his room so they can sit on the couch and make out. it’s gross! and unfair! carol was his girl first, and now this tommy guy just swoops in and steals her away. it’s absolute total BULLSHIT!

now they’ve grown apart over the years, but she’ll always stay close to his heart, no matter how much it hurt to lose her to someone else. and... maybe she wasn’t his first love, not really, but he did love her. he does love her, because she’s carol. so, how could he not?

TEN YEARS OLD.

debbie gilmore. man, oh man. mike doesn’t even know where to begin when describing that girl. debbie is, by far, the prettiest girl he’s ever seen. actually, she’s the first girl he’s ever thought was pretty, because now he’s older, and that’s something he notices.

he meets her in science class when they’re paired up for some stupid assignment. they’re supposed to build a volcano together, but mike is more interested in spending time with her. she’s cool, and funny, and also likes star wars. which, isn’t really surprising, because star wars is amazing.

once the project is finished ( they get a b because mike accidentally overdid it with the baking soda ), mike still hangs out with debbie almost everyday. his friends are getting frustrated, and his mom is constantly giving him the third degree.

they’re watching willy wonka and the chocolate factory when she tells him. “ my family is moving.” what? but... they’ve only just met! she can’t leave. he hasn’t even gotten around to telling her how he feels—which is... like he’s in love or... something.

it doesn’t matter now, he figures, because she’ll be gone no matter what. they have a fight, a big one, and mike will always regret leaving it on bad terms. but, it’s not as if it was meant to be, anyway. it’s not like he was really in love. debbie was just a girl who seemed amazing, and he let his mind run away with the idea that he could fall for her.

mike will never forget her, though. it only lasted for two weeks, but for a ten year old, two weeks can feel like a lifetime.

and the one time he did.

TWELVE YEARS OLD.

at first, he thought maybe she was a boy, but she isn’t. she’s a girl, scared and alone and confused. mike doesn’t know where she came from, or what she’s been through, but he wants to help. in any way that he can, and he builds her a fort in the basement, and gives her food. mike teaches her about friends, and family. and he gives her a name—el. but it’s not enough. she can’t stay cooped up in the basement forever.

so, he ditches school to hang out with her. to briefly let her out of hiding so she can take a breather. he shows her his family’s tv, boasting about how big it is. he explains the pictures on the mantle, naming all his family members. then he shows her their la-z-boy. “ just trust me, okay? ” he tells her softly before pulling the handle on the side and unfolding the footrest. the chair launches backwards and she’s startled at first, but then she giggles.

“ see? fun, right? ” he pulls the chair back into it’s original position, locking it into place. “ now you try. ” watching her closely, el copies exactly what he did, giggling again when the chair folds out. it’s amazing how the most mundane things excite and amuse her. that smile, too—mike will do anything to see that smile over and over and over. there’s bubbling feeling in his chest, the reason he can’t stop grinning. his entire body feels light, and happy.

this time, he’s going to tell the girl how he feels. but—how? he’s never done it before. quite frankly, these emotions feel so much stronger than all the other times combined. he fumbles over his words, failing to explain it to her. hell, he can’t even really make sense of it himself. so, in a moment of panicked desperation, mike kisses her.

and then she’s gone.

he loses her for three hundred and fifty-three days, and it’s the most devastating thing he’s every had to experience. it’s like his whole world has been shattered, and he spends almost an entire goddamn year trying to find all the pieces. trying to find el, to reach out to her somehow.

finally, she comes back to him, and she’s been listening this whole time. every single day. mike stares down at el, completely dumbstruck by the fact that she’s been longing for him as much as he’s been been longing for her. then it hits him. now this... this is what love feels like, and he doesn’t even have to question it. because it’s not a crush, and it’s not infatuation.

mike is in love with el, and he has been from the moment he first saw her smile.

#this is just to showcase mike's hopeless romantic nature #because i love him or...... whateva #also ngl the carol one made me tear up a lot #the debbie one was inspired by little manhattan #which... i .... may have taken a quote from #oops #anyway this is a mess but it's been in my drafts for........#over a week #it needed to be done #wish we could turn back time to the good old days — headcanons ツ

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valiantroyalty · 2 years ago

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It wasn’t as often that Maid Marian traveled but she had some errands to run, and it was by herself. No accompany with Clucky today. But she found herself in the farmers market, browsing for little trinkets when she noticed an h familiar rabbit.

“Oh hello,” the fox greeted, “do you see that wooden box up there? Can you hand it to me?” She pointed to a little trinket box near Oswald in the stall closest to him.

@tournesolette

#more than a maid: maid marian ic #tournesolette #for Oswald?

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searchingwardrobes · 6 years ago

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Christmas in Storybrooke: 6/11

I know the number of chapters keeps getting lower, but usually I have the opposite problem. So when I outlined this, I underestimated how much I could fit in each chapter, so they keep getting combined. But it's been working out since posting a chapter each day has been more difficult than anticipated.

I'm a little nervous about this chapter because it and the next one are the reason for the M rating. And, well, it's Henry. Just remember - he's an adult. Andrew J. West. Andrew J. West. Repeat that mantra. It isn't smut, but Henry is definitely acting like a grown man. Having said all that, I love this chapter so much and hope you enjoy it too!

The title of this chapter comes from the song by Kelly Clarkson. I've been listening to her Christmas album a lot as I write this and my CS Secret Santa fic, and this song is so perfect for Henry and Evie!

Summary: My Hallmark Christmas movie fic in which flights get cancelled and Henry’s “best friend’ gets snowed in with him in his quirky hometown for Christmas. Only with magic and fairy tale characters.

Rating: M for suggestive scenes and adult situations, not smut

Trigger warnings: Henry is an adult. Read that again: Henry is an adult. Look at the picset: that’s Andrew J. West. If Henry actually behaving like an adult makes you feel icky, the don’t read this.

Can also be read on Ao3

Tagging @snowbellewells @kmomof4 @jennjenn615 @kday426 @bethacaciakay @teamhook @whimsicallyenchantedrose @snidgetsafan @delirious-latenight-laughs @winterbaby89 @yohoyohoafandomlifeforme @distant-rose

Chapter Six: Wrapped in Red

The day Henry met Evangeline Crawford, he knew they had at least one thing in common. He had been staring down at his phone, not looking where he was going, when he smacked right into her. She was struggling to carry a box of paperbacks as she moved into the apartment across the hall. When he knelt to help her collect them, he teasingly asked her what grade she was in.

“Is that some sort of sick pick up line?” she had snapped with clear disgust.

He had rubbed the back of his neck, distressed that she had misunderstood. He had waved the book in his hand around. “I can tell you’re a grown woman. It was a pitiful joke about your taste in literature.”

She had snatched the copy of Ella Enchanted out of his hand and stuffed it back into her box as pink stained her freckled cheeks. “Lots of people read YA lit these days. Ever heard of The Hunger Games? Divergent?”

But the box she clutched defensively to her chest wasn’t filled with dystopian novels. Instead, they were all written by Gail Carson Levine, Shannon Hale, Melanie Dickerson, and Marissa Meyer. They were all fairy tales.

Henry really hoped in this moment that Evie’s reading tastes meant she had the heart of a true believer because what he had to tell her was incredibly difficult to believe. Of course, she’d almost fallen through a portal, so there was that.

She clutched a mug of hot cocoa in her trembling hands. His mom sat across from them at the kitchen table. His siblings had been sent outside to “practice their magic” on clearing the walk of snow. Hopefully, there would be no Frosty impersonations along the way.

“So,” she said, setting her mug down slowly, “you said let’s go inside and sit down. Well, we’re sitting. Now care to explain to me how a hole opened up in your parent’s shed and almost swallowed me?”

Henry let out a long, slow breath. “Okay, I don’t really know how to ease into this, so I’ll just say it. Storybrooke wasn’t on the GPS because it’s not supposed to be here. It was created by a curse that my mom – Regina – cast the day my other mom was born.”

“Seriously?” Evie’s voice was halfway between incredulous and hysterical.

“My mom,” Henry continued, pointing at Emma, “is the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. I introduced them to you as my Uncle David and Aunt Mary Margaret, but they’re really my grandparents.”

Evie scowled at Henry. “You must really think I’m stupid. Those people are nowhere near old enough to be your grandparents.”

Henry swallowed nervously. “They are if time was frozen in Storybrooke for 28 years.”

“This is . . . this is . . . “

“Impossible?” Emma finished for her softly, putting a hand gently over hers. “I understand how you feel. I felt the exact same way when Henry first brought me here. But It's all true.” She tugged on Evie’s hand. “Come here, let me show you something.”

Evie seemed to be in a daze as she followed Emma to the front door. From the doorway, they could see Hope with her hands outstretched, sending bursts of magic to clear the snow from the front walk. By the side of the house, Leia and Charlie were supposed to be doing the same with the driveway. Instead, they were using magic to hurl snowballs at each other.

“Leia Snow and Charles David!” Emma shouted. “Is that what you’re supposed to be doing right now?”

“No mom,” they grumbled, turning reluctantly back to the driveway.

Evie swayed slightly on her feet. “Am I dreaming?”

Henry put his arm around her and guided her back inside. But instead of steering her to the kitchen table, he sat her down on the sofa. He took both of her hands in his; they were cold as ice.

“I know this is a lot to take in,” he said hesitantly.

Evie shook her head. “So, you’re saying that this town is magical?”

Henry nodded.

“And you’re the grandson of Snow White and Prince Charming?”

He nodded again.

“So, that makes your adoptive mom, who? The . . . Evil Queen?”

Henry squirmed a bit. “Um, yes, but she’s given up her evil ways.”

Evie nodded, staring down at the floor. “Are you telling me that fairy tales are -”

“True? Yes, that’s what I’m saying.”

Her brow wrinkled as she lifted her gaze to his. “Your book. That was all true?”

He chuckled. “I like to say it’s inspired by real life. I did get kidnapped and taken to Neverland like the character Elias in my book. And Peter Pan was an evil demon. But the rest? I made up.”

“So Tinkerbell and Tiger Lily aren’t co-captains of a an all-female crew of pirates?”

“Um, no. As a matter of fact, you met Tinkerbell yesterday. Tina?”

Evie dropped her head between her knees for a moment, then sat up and massaged her temple. “Who else have I met?”

“Well,” Henry began hesitantly with a glance at his mom, “my stepdad is Captain Hook.”

Evie rolled her eyes and let out a wry laugh. “Of course he is. He’s missing a hand. What? Did he hide is hook because I was coming?”

Emma shrugged apologetically. “We didn’t want to freak you out.”

Evie surged to her feet. “So instead you let me stumble around in the shed and . . . and . . . I don’t even know what happened in there!”

“It was a magic bean -’

“A magic bean?” Evie shouted, hysterical now. “What the hell?”

Henry stood, reaching his hands out tentatively to rest upon her shoulders. He was relieved when she didn’t shrug him off. “They open portals,” he explained slowly. “They used to be rare, but Tiny has cultivated fields of them on the outskirts of town. People use them to travel between the realms.”

“We keep a bag here and in the sheriff station in case of an emergency,” Emma spoke up. “I’m sorry we didn’t keep them in a safer place.”

“I’m . . . I’m . . . ,” Evie’s eyes looked panicked as she pressed her hands to her cheeks, “I need to go lie down.”

“Evie -” Henry started, but this time she did shrug him off when he went to hold her.

“Give her time, Henry,” Emma encouraged him, reaching out and squeezing his hand.

He looked up the stairs and hoped she wasn’t going up there to pack her bags.

************************************************

Henry tried to give Evie space, but after almost an hour, he couldn’t take it anymore. He made his way upstairs, opening the door of his old room as slowly and quietly as he could. The room was dark, and Evie was curled up on the bed in the fetal position. He couldn’t see her face as he eased down on the bed, wondering if he should say something to her. He reached his hand out twice, but both times, he snatched it back, unsure if she wanted him to touch her.

“Who’s Tiny?”

He startled as she rolled towards him. “I’m sorry?”

“Tiny,” she repeated, sliding up to lean back against the headboard, “you said he grows the magic beans.”

“Oh, um, he’s a . . . giant.” He winced, knowing how crazy it sounded.

She arched a brow. “As in Jack and the Beanstalk?”

He nodded. “Yeah, but Tiny wasn’t the bad guy, Jack was. And . . . um . . . Jack was a woman.”

Evie blinked. “Okay.”

Henry slid up to lean back next to her, swinging his feet over the edge of the bed. “The true stories are a lot different than the ones you heard growing up.”

She nodded, and they were both quiet for a really long time. Finally, she shifted closer to him and nudged his shoulder.

“I just have one question.”

He took her hand. “Anything.”

“How did you manage to hide a giant from me all this time?”

He laughed in relief, relinquishing her hand to envelop her in a tight hug.

****************************************************

Evie looked nervous as he opened the passenger side door for her. She stood on the sidewalk, staring up at the mayor’s mansion, her eyes wide.

“You grew up here?”

Henry cleared his throat. “Yeah. It was quiet and boring, though, trust me.”

She reached for his elbow and clutched it as they made their way down the walk. “I’m even more nervous about having dinner with them now that I know who they really are.”

“They can come across as a little . . . intense,” Henry admitted, “but they aren’t the Evil Queen and the Wicked Witch of the West anymore.”

“And Robyn’s Dad was Robin Hood.”

“Yes, but my Aunt, she . . . kind of tricked him into thinking she was Maid Marian.”

Evie stopped abruptly, and he turned to see her shaking her head incredulously. “Don’t take this the wrong way Henry, but your family is really screwed up.”

He sighed and rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to tell me that. I lived it, remember?”

“And your other grandpa is Rumplestiltskin who married Belle, also making him the Beast, but he also is the one who took your stepdad’s hand, so he’s also the Crocodile?”

He gave her an admiring grin. “You catch on quickly.”

She shrugged, seeming pleased. “Well, they don’t exactly want idiots on the FBI.”

They had reached the door now, and before Henry could even ring the bell, his mother had opened the door and embraced him. She then turned tentatively to Evie.

“Henry called and said he told you everything?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Evie replied, “and though my head’s still spinning a little bit, it’s also kind of . . . an adventure.”

Something about Evie’s expression seemed to make Regina relax her stiff posture and release a breath. “I’m so glad you’re taking this all in stride. I was a little worried . . . “ she trailed off as she ushered them inside.

“Just as long as you don’t serve her any apples,” Zelena teased as she came out into the foyer to join them.

“That’s not funny,” Regina hissed.

Zelena rolled her eyes and winked at Evie. “I’ve always been the one with a better sense of humor.”

Evie laughed as Zelena threaded her arm through hers and escorted her into the dining room. As they passed the stairway, Henry noted that heavy plastic still hung from the ceiling.

“Was the upstairs heavily damaged?” Henry asked his mom.

Regina waved her hand in irritation. “No, it’s just that the work crew isn’t too keen on putting a lot of work into it with the holidays and all. The three of us are going to have to camp out in the den tonight. I apologize for the state of my home, Evie.”

“No need,” Evie assured, as they all took a seat, “I’m honored that you had me over under the circumstances.”

“Well, you need something besides burgers at Granny’s and Pop Tarts,” Regina snarked.

“Mom!”

“Well, it’s the truth,” his mother huffed.

Henry dropped it as Robyn bounced in with a basket of rolls. “Hey, Evie!” she said as she plopped down beside her mother.

“Hey isn’t the proper greeting,” Regina corrected her.

“And don’t slouch, dear,” Zelena added.

Robyn sat up straighter, though she let out a huff as she did so. “Be glad you don’t have two moms,” she told Evie.

“I second that,” Henry laughed, giving his cousin a fist bump.

“Okay, you two, enough of that,” Regina scolded mildly. Then she picked up a spatula and started cutting into the dish in front of her. “I hope you like lasagna, Evie.”

“I love all Italian food,” Evie replied, accepting a helping from Regina. “One of the things I love about New York are the restaurants – especially the Italian places.”

“Well, I hope you like my recipe. It’s famous here in Storybrooke, but this isn’t little Italy.”

Henry had never seen his mom so nervous about her lasagna. She was usually downright cocky about it. Now she was holding her breath and watching as Evie took her first bite.

“I can see why,” Evie told her with a genuine smile, “this is really, really good Ms. Mills.”

“Thank you, and please, call me Regina.” She rose from the table to get the wine, and as she walked past Henry she whispered, “I really like her.”

Henry wanted to clarify to his mom that he and Evie were just friends. He wanted to roll his eyes when Regina winked at him. But honestly? He was pretty sure his feelings were obvious to everyone in town. But were they obvious to Evie?

***************************************************

“So, how bad was it?” Henry asked as they got out of the car at Emma and Killian’s house.

“Not bad at all,” Evie told him. ”Your Aunt’s a little . . . “

“Insane?”

Evie chuckled. “I was going to say eccentric.”

“How polite of you. Or are you doing that thinly veiled insult thing you say southern women are so good at?” Henry nudged her. “Should I call you Scarlett?”

Evie backed away from him with her hands behind her back, her winter boots leaving tracks in the snow. “Please, if I were a southern literary character I would never in a million years be Scarlett O’Hara.”

“Oh?” Henry asked. “Who would you be then?”

“Scout Finch, of course.”

“Ah, the tomboy.”

“Mhm, and Scout is way more fun. Scarlett would never do . . . THIS!” She punctuated the final word by attempting to throw a snowball at Henry’s head. He doubled over laughing when the snowball burst into a small flurry before it made an impact. Evie’s disappointed pout made it even funnier.

“And like both Scout and Scarlett, you know nothing about making snowballs. Have you ever even been in a snowball fight?”

“Yes!” Evie grumbled, putting her hands on her hips, “We do get snow occasionally back home, for your information.”

Henry gathered up some snow in his mittened hands. “Okay, and how did those go for you?”

Evie glanced away from Henry. “Kind of . . . the same way that first snowball I threw. But I thought it was just because the snow was . . . mostly ice and mud.”

“That’s pitiful, Scout Finch,” he said as he continued to work the snow in his hands, “because the key to a good snowball is to pack it really well. See?”

He waited until Evie had drawn close to see his snowball, then he grabbed her and shoved the snowball down the back of her shirt. She drew in a sharp breath at the sudden cold, then screamed as she danced around to dislodge the snowball.

“You are going to so pay for that fairy tale boy!”

“That’s a horrible nickname,” Henry laughed nonchalantly as he worked at another snowball. Evie was gathering up snow, but he wasn’t worried. She still wasn’t packing it hard enough as she ran for him. But instead of throwing a fistful of loose snow like the last time, she leapt towards him and smashed it in his face. He sputtered to get the snow out of his mouth and blinked his eyes. Evie was already sprinting away from him as she laughed, and he took off after her. Soon they were slipping and sliding all over the snowy lawn as they threw snowballs and stuffed other ones down each other’s shirts. By the time they made it inside, they were breathless with both exertion and laughter.

They stomped as much snow off their boots in the mudroom as they could, then peeled off their snow encrusted coats, hats, scarves, and mittens. Henry found a drying rack in the laundry room, and they draped all their wet outer wear over it.

“My clothes are soaked too!” Evie said with a half moan/half laugh.

“Me too,” Henry said, rubbing at his wet hair. His nose and ears were numb too.

Evie shivered as she rubbed at her arms. “I want nothing more than my warm pajamas.”

“And a pile of blankets,” Henry added as they made their way towards the stairs. The house was quiet, and his parents had turned off the Christmas lights. It seemed everyone else was already in bed.

They made their way as quietly as they could to the attic, and then Evie grabbed her pajamas from the end of the bed and dashed into the bathroom. Henry peeled off his wet shirt, then struggled out of his soaked jeans. Even his boxers underneath were wet. He hurried into fresh ones as well as a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt. Then he draped his wet clothes over the radiator. He had just finished up when Evie came out of the bathroom. He turned towards her, and what he saw caused the breath to rush out of his lungs.

It took his mind back to that summer. Evie had come across the hall in a tight little black dress, the back half undone. She was red-faced and irritated that she couldn’t reach the damn zipper. To say it was a little dress didn’t really convey how short it was. It was for work, some undercover thing, and her legs had been on gorgeous display.

Just like they were now. She was standing there, the light from the bathroom spilling around her, in nothing but her pajama top. It was the same button-up flannel thing she had been wearing all weekend with the little snowflakes all over it, and it hit the top of her thighs. Nothing overtly sexy, but a complete turn on all the same.

“I - uh – forgot to grab the bottoms,” she explained, tugging at the hem of the shirt. He moved towards her, unable to speak. “Henry?”

Her hair was down, the ends slightly damp and curling slightly. It was hanging over one shoulder, and the side of her neck that was exposed drew his attention. He reached up and tucked a stray hair behind her ear, then drew his finger down the skin just behind it. She drew in her breath a little, but didn’t speak or pull away.

“Do you remember that day you came over and asked me to zip up your dress?”

She nodded. His gaze shifted to her eyes, which were watching him intently.

“You turned away from me, gathering your hair up off your shoulders. I felt like I was some bumbling teenager as I worked the zipper. I noticed this freckle here,” he bent and kissed the one behind her ear, “and the one here,” he kissed another on her neck, then he pulled back, his nose brushing hers. “I saw freckles on your shoulder blade, right next to the strap of your bra. I even noticed a cluster on the back of your right knee. And I wondered just how many you had and what it would be like to count them all and kiss every single one.”

She still didn’t speak as he pressed a kiss to the freckles on her nose. “One,” then he kissed each cheek, “two, three,” he kissed her forehead, chin, and each eyebrow, “four, five, six -”

“Henry,” she breathed as his lips hovered over hers, “there are a lot more than six freckles on my face.”

“Oh, you’re right. I missed one here,” he brushed a kiss against a freckle just below her lower lip.

He grinned when her breath hitched. He wasn’t sure who moved first, but then their arms were around one another as their lips moved together. He cupped her face as he swiped his tongue across the seam of her lips, and she parted for him on a sigh. Evie slipped her hand up the back of his shirt, running her fingertips along his spine. He broke away from her lips and kissed the freckles at the hollow of her throat. She let out a moan as his lips drifted lower, his nose nudging aside the neckline of her shirt. Then he was undoing the buttons, and he glanced up to see her eyes closed, her head tilted back. He took his time kissing each and every freckle as he undid the first button, then the second. He felt her tremble slightly when he exposed her breasts.

“Henry,” she moaned, “maybe we should . . . “

Her words were contradicted by the way she dug her fingers into his hair. And maybe they should have paused and considered what this meant for their relationship, but by the time Evie’s shirt hit the floor, neither of them were considering anything other than the way their bodies reacted to each other’s touch.

#cs ff #ouat ff #henry-centric fic #henry mills #christmas fic #christmas in storybrooke

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thepelagoislands · 6 years ago

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Indoor Carnival (Leuda) || January 20th - 27th, 2019

What happens when it’s practically freezing outside with too much snow on the ground? Why, you hold a carnival, of course! The island of Leuda has transformed the inside of the island’s sports stadium into an Indoor Carnival for all residents to come in an enjoy! Come for plenty of games, booths, rides, and, of course, all of the delicious carnival food that is sure to be offered!

There are several things to enjoy during the carnival!

General Carnival Chat and Threads

There will be a general IC Discord channel open in the OOC Discord! This will be for any general interactions during the carnival, such as mingling around the food area, finding someone to ride a carnival ride with you, or anything else that you may think would happen in a carnival setting!

Threads for the Indoor Carnival will be able to be created at any point during the festival! They do not need to be completed by the festival’s end, but starters must be made before the event ends!

Carnival Minigames

During the Indoor Carnival, there will be multiple booths you can visit to potentially win prizes! These aren’t necessarily the only booths available to visit during the carnival for RP purposes, by the way!

Dunk Announcer-Chan:

The fabled Announcer-Chan is sitting in the dunk tank, dispensing profanities towards any who try to dunk him into the water. Do you have what it takes to dunk Announcer-Chan? You may roll this line three times during the event!

Roll: t!choose HIT | HIT | MISS | MISS | DUNK

HIT: You hit the target, but it seems like the game’s rigged! Announcer-Chan isn’t dunked at all!

MISS: You completely miss. Wow. The target was right there. Congratulations.

DUNK: You hit the target just right and Announcer-Chan is dunked into the water. There’s no official prize, but the friendly employee running the booth slides you 1,000G.

Test of Strength:

Testing your strength with the seasonal tournament is so 2018. You know how you really test your strength? Hitting something with a hammer. So come grab a hammer and whack this here carnival booth to see how high you rank on the strength scale! You can roll this line once during the event!

Roll: t!choose NOODLE ARMS | WIMPY | AVERAGE JOE | BEEFY | STRONK

NOODLE ARMS: You’re the weakest of the weak. A light breeze could send you flying. The booth runner looks at you with pity and gives you a flyer for the local gym.

WIMPY: Not the worst, but certainly still a wimpy strength you have. Go do a few push-ups before coming back, tough guy.

AVERAGE JOE: Not a pushover but also not impressive in the slightest. You’re completely average.

BEEFY: Wow, look at those nice budding muscles you have there! Just a bit more training and you’re a certified stronk person!

STRONK: You’re the strongest of them all, a true top fighter! For hitting in the strongest category and ringing the bell at the top, you win a free weapon of choice from Steel Edge Blacksmith’s!

Roulette Wheel:

Spin the wheel and potentially win a prize! Who doesn’t like winning free things? Take a look at the prizes and pray for whatever you truly want! You may spin the wheel two times during the event to see what you get!

Roll: t!choose 100G | 1,000G | POTION | STONE | MOTORCYCLE | 100G | 1,000G | 5,000G | VOYAGE | 1G | 10,000G | 100G

POTION: Roll to see which potion you get!

t!choose LOVE POTION | TRUTH POTION | PERSONALITY SWAP | MEMORY POTION | SLEEPING POTION

STONE: You get a Whisper Stone! These are small stones that are able to record a message for one person by speaking the message while holding the stone and thinking about the recipient! Once recorded, the recipient can listen to the message anytime by touching the stone. Only one message can ever be recorded in a Whisper Stone, so it’s a one time use! Once a message is inside, that will be the only message it will relay to the recipient.

MOTORCYCLE: You wanna be a cool guy? You really want to be that one cool dude on the block with a motorcycle. Well, congratulations! You have now won a motorcycle to woo all the men and women. I hope you’re excited for some fun motorcycle activities...like obeying traffic laws! Yea! So bad-ass!

VOYAGE: One free voyage, courtesy of the Explorer’s Guild!

Ring Toss:

Toss some rings around sticks to earn points and win prizes! Simple, right? Let’s hope you have the skills to be a master of the ring toss! You may play this game two times during the festival!

There are three different colored sticks on the board! Green means one point, Red means two points, and Blue means three points! Roll the following line three times to get your score!

1-3 POINTS: Choose one of the following stuffed animals!

Smol Kappa

Smol Corgi

L M A O

4-6 POINTS: Choose one of the following stuffed animals!

Let’s Get This Bread!

Shark Friend!

P O T A S S I U M

7-9 POINTS: Choose one of the following stuffed animals!

Giant Sheep Friend

Giant Panda Friend

H I M

Bazaar

In the Indoor Carnival will have a small bazaar going on near the outer edges of the stadium! Citizens of the region are encouraged to sell their wares, especially any wares that fit in with the carnival theme! As a reminder, bazaar booths can only have 5 items, with each item having a maximum stock of 5. The stock can have variants, but must fit into the same general category (e.g., you’re selling books as one of your items, but each book has its own description).

Once you have your bazaar booth posted, please put a link into the designated channel on the OOC Discord!

Bazaar Booths:

White Capsule Booth (Ford)

Amber’s Booth (Amber)

Starry Sky Cafe Booth (Sonja)

Mist’s Booth (Mist)

Unbearably Cute (Agate)

Danny’s Booth (Danny)

Animal Lovers (Georgia & Neil)

Oh Wait I’m A Bard (Mikhail)

Nunya Services (Aurelia)

The BETTER White Capsule Booth (Marian)

Everybody in Da Club Gettin’ Tipsy (Eve)

More Fun Than a Box of Rocks (Lloyd)

Hearty Lyla (Lyla)

Maid Cafe (Vishnal & Felicity)

Cat Got Your Tongue (Alicia)

Flower Booth (Shara)

Elysian Six Laboratories Booth (Gelwein)

#pi:events #pi:event #pi:indoorcarnival

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britesparc · 2 years ago

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Weekend Top Ten #556

Top Ten Couples Costume Ideas for Halloween

Well, it’s that time of the year again! Time to hang up flimsy plastic spiders, Sellotape spooky messages to the door, and spend the GDP of a small Eastern European nation on Haribo and Cadbury’s Heroes. It’s Halloween!

I do love a bit of Halloween, mostly because I like any excuse to dress up. Unfortunately I don’t really get much of an excuse to dress up nowadays. My kids do: they get to do the whole trick-or-treating thing. But I don’t get invited to many Halloween parties, and I always worry that walking around with my kids whilst dressed as one of the weird Nazi demons from American Werewolf in London might feel like it was trying a bit too hard. Or maybe I’m too self-conscious. Who knows?

In my day – by which, I mean, when I was a kid – Halloween was already very popular, but nowhere near what it is now. We’d all dress up, of course, but generally speaking in very cheap vinyl capes and plastic masks, looking like a parade of tiny Draclears. Today’s costumes are much more elaborate and, in many cases, genuinely very good. Kids also, I think, like to put in the effort to make their costumes individual; my eldest is crafting her own Death costume this year (by which I mean the Grim Reaper, not Death of the Endless or anything; she’s not quite got round to Sandman just yet). And often People will want to complain about the Americanisation of Halloween, of us importing what is on some level a colonial interpretation of a pagan holiday. But sod that, it’s cool to dress up, sweets taste nice, and carving pumpkins is fun. But one of the big things that’s happened as time has moved on and, I’d argue, the influence of America has grown, is that it’s more common for people to dress up as stuff that’s not scary.

Halloween was always a ghosts-and-goblins, spooky kind of thing. This is reflected in most media: Halloween specials are creepy and kooky affairs. Films from The Nightmare Before Christmas to Hocus Pocus to Casper to The Addams Family all hew very closely to stereotypical depictions of all things grisly and macabre. But what’s probably the earliest representation of “American Halloween” that I came across also illustrates the desire to just dress up as whatever you want which is becoming more prevalent over here too: I mean, of course, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The famous Halloween scene there has cowboys and Yodas and, well, terrorists in amongst the ghouls and zombies and everything else. All of pop culture, all of human history, is fair game now it seems. And that’s been the biggest import over the last thirty years I’d say; dressing up as something Not Scary.

With this in mind, I present some ideas for those still young enough or cool enough or popular enough or awake enough to be invited to a Halloween party. Ideas that aren’t necessarily scary or creepy or ghoulish. But costumes that would be fun! And what’s even more fun than just plain old dressing up is dressing up in pairs. Matching costumes! How cool is that? I did this once, funnily enough; not for Halloween, though, we were just invited to a costume party. My now-wife and I went as Robin Hood and Maid Marian. I walked through Newcastle town centre in tights. At night. I got cat-called by a bunch of Geordie women. I survived, and despite not having had the opportunity to get dolled up in something ridiculous since, it’s not put me off. I’ve been thinking long and hard about what else it’d be amusing to dress as. Which is what I present to you now! A bunch of suggestions of costumes for couples with a better social life than me. I mean, it’s gotta be more original than Gomez and Morticia, right?

Farmer Hoggett and Babe from Babe: one person wears mutton chops, wellies, and a flat cap; the other, presumably, a pink onesie. The romantic connotations of it are best left unexplored, however. That’ll do, pig.

Max Shreck and the Ice Princess from Batman Returns: whilst they don’t really have that much direct contact in the film, who could resist an excuse to dress up as Christopher Walken, with his crazy hair and lush coats? Meanwhile, the Princess could have a bloodied batarang sticking out of her chest. Now let’s go bring joy to the masses!

Anthony Hopkins’ Corky and Fats the dummy from Magic: look, there has to be some horror here, and what’s creepier than a ventriloquist’s dummy? Channelling pre-Lambs Hopkins, with his dowdy jumpers and dodgy hair, is possibly easier than looking like a terrifying and possibly possessed wooden puppet.

Lord Flashheart and “Bob” from Blackadder II: who wouldn’t want to dress as Rik Mayall? All pelvic thrusts and entendres that are less doubled than halved (I think that’s how it works, right? Anyway, he’s filthy). Bob – aka Kate – is a funny recurring character who blurs gender lines, and this episode ends with her in britches and Flashheart in a dress. Perfect!

Gonzo and Camilla the Chicken from The Muppets: sometimes you have to offer up a proper couple for the romantics among us, and what could be more romantic than a hook-nosed alien-weirdo-whatever and his chicken bride? Just don’t ask if he’s a leg or a breast man.

Cat and the fish-headed lady from Red Dwarf: veering into the realms of the needs-a-bit-of-explanation, one person is Danny John Jules’ Cat – hopefully recognisable – and the other is the mermaid he hooks up with in the episode “Better Than Life”, who’s human on the bottom half and fish on the top half, because that makes more sense. Best not to think too hard about it.

Nanny Plum and the Wise Old Elf from Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom: couple goals! Pre-school’s favourite bickering pair of old-timers are back, making a triumphant return to my Top Ten lists after, well, ages, basically. No tricks or jokes here, just a dry, sarcastic fairy and an exasperated elf. Try not to make a jelly flood.

Jacques and Mindy from The Simpsons: okay, so this might be getting too niche. Jacques was Marge’s bowling instructor, Mindy worked with Homer at the power plant; both were set up as temptation for our heroes, but – of course – nothing can ever really come between Homer and Marge. So what better, for Halloween, than a couple cosplaying as a pair of adulterous temptresses?

The Tenth Doctor and the Fourteenth Doctor from Doctor Who: spoiler alert? I guess? If you’ve somehow managed to avoid the news being, well, everywhere. All you need is a brown suit and a blue suit and two different pairs of Converse, and you’re good to (I don’t want to) go! What?!

Arcee and Daniel Witwicky from The Transformers: it’s not a list if it’s not got a Transformer somewhere, and short of doing actual couples or, like, Blackrock and Circuit Breaker (Google them), what about this – a romantic couple comprised of a big pink robot lady and the small boy who turns into her head? Actually, y’know what; this one’s too creepy even for me. Maybe stick with Powerglide and Astoria.

#top ten #halloween #costumes #couples costumes #batman #transformers #babe #doctor who #nanny plumb

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rayne-storm · 3 years ago

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AUgust 24 - Gangs

Title: NEW BOOKS BURNING

Fandoms: Arthurian Mythos, Robin Hood, Alice In Wonderland (mentioned)

Guin/Lance/Arthur, Marian/Robin

Honestly this all started because I headcanon both Guinevere and Maid Marian as Tall Strong Badass redheads who enjoy shooting bows, and then it spiraled out of control. Enjoy!!!

Everyone who was anyone in the streets of New Books knew that you didn't mess with Sherwood or Camelot. Especially not in an attempt to start a gang war between them.

And extra especially not trying to start that war by leaving a crippled Sherwood kid half-dead with forged Camelot signs on him.

Cause see, something that no one outside of the actual members of those families (and even then only the higher-ups) knows is that Marian and Guinevere are sisters. Not just in the "besties 5 ever teehee" way, but are actual blood-related siblings. Twins. Identical if you don't know any better, can't see that Guin's eyes are greener, or that Marian has more freckles on her body.

So when Marian's 13-year-old turns up with an Excalibur carved in his chest, you just have two furious, hellfire-and-bloodlust mothers ready to burn the entire world to find out who's done this, and profaned their families.

You better hope that you're just hearing through a grapevine three miles down south, or you're dead before you can even think about why the two "rivals" are always on the opposite corners from each other, but never start anything, or why the spaces between territories are considered a neutral zone and not no-man's-land.

There was hell to pay, and every other under-world land of suffering, and New Books had never been more united than in the anger and fury of the following days.

The family of the damn fools who had committed the atrocity were left only cremated remains, if only to spare them from having to identify bodies based on what little was left when Arthur and Lancelot and Robin finally tore their wives away from the carnage.

The heads of the family had no idea what had happened, they claimed, but they were on thin damn ice for decades after. Some of them just left town all together.

Rival doesn't always mean enemy. Pays dividends to pick that quick up in a place like Books, or you suffer through learning the hard way.

The kid ended up being okay for the most part. Won gold in four paralympic events when he was older. Everyone cheered, and somehow no one bothered mentioning that the heads of three different families (one of the kids from Hightopp-Under was engaged to our Sherwood boy) were there together in one vacay-home for the whole time and yet not one drop of blood was spilt intentionally (drops of blood spilt after a violently competitive game of uno never count).

Marian and Guin remained twins, and best friends, and would privately admit the incident had only strengthened the family ties, though both wished it hadn't ever happened.

Robin, Lance, and Arthur still keep a weekly appointment to take some of the underprivileged kiddos out bowling, and their heirs have started a bunch of tutoring programs, to no one's surprise that knows them at all.

But everyone still remembers the months that New Books Burned.

#my writing #rayne writes #au-gust #au gust 2021 #fanfic #hmsg au #his mantle so green au #arthurian #robin hood

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somewhereapart · 7 years ago

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There's No Such Thing As A Free Ride (Ch 1/2)

Regina makes a discovery about her sister that changes the course of 4A. For OQ Fix-It Week Day 2.

Pregnancy does things to magic.

Changes it, makes it play tricks. Makes it flutter and short out.

Regina knows this, she has felt it. Both her pregnancies had been brief, failed affairs, but she had known, had felt the difference in the way magic buzzed and flowed through her veins.

And Rumple had known, too.

She’d struggled more than usual, had found her fireballs guttering out, or flaring hot, turning pinky-purple for the first child and a cool blue when she briefly carried the second. She’d tried to pull a heart from a tavern maid and gotten her fist stuck behind ribs and muscle for a brief but terrifying half-minute.

“It’s the bairn,” Rumple had told her. “It plays tricks, reaches its little fingers into the middle of you and twists everything all up. It wants your energy all for itself.” He’d leaned in with a conspiratorial whisper: “It feeds off the magic, dearie, sucks the power from inside you, around you.”

Her little ones had learned to share before they’d even learned to kick.

The first, she’d lost, barely six weeks in. The second, she’d snuffed out almost as soon as she’d missed her cycle, with a potion from Rumple that made her double over and writhe for days. Neither time had been a heartbreak for her – they’d been the King’s, and she hadn’t wanted them. She hadn’t wanted to be a broodmare for heirs, hadn’t wanted to give Leopold the satisfaction of a fruitful end to his careless use of her. She’d hoped one day he’d decide that it wasn’t Queen Eva who’d been to blame for their lack of children, but him, and leave her alone.

She’d wanted vengeance, not… love, or softness, or children. Love was weakness, and she couldn’t afford weakness for what she’d had to do. (She couldn’t give Snow a sibling and then rip them so cruelly apart, or worse – watch them form a tight, loving bond, and not be able to stomach her vengeance after all.)

So she’d chosen revenge over love, as always, and she’d let go of those little lights inside of her. Her red-blue flames had become glowing orange once again, hearts burst through bone and gristle as they were meant, she stopped appearing one room too close or too far from where she’d intended and instead arrived exactly where her mind had set.

So she knows. Regina knows.

Pregnancy does things to magic.

And thank God for it, because that bitch of a sister of hers really has some nerve.

She’d noticed it first when she’d gone to visit Marian’s body. It’s kept away from camp, away from Roland, in a safehouse guarded by three of the Merry Men. She visits, now and then, trying out a new potion or incantation over the frozen form to no avail.

Her last visit before the curse of Shattered Sight, she’d spotted it. She’d thought it was a trick of light, of… something. But now, now she knows.

There’d been streaks of red through the black of Marian’s dark locks – visible even through the blue-ish layer of ice that encased her. It wasn’t the lighter streak of silvery gray the curse had caused, but something brighter. Sharper.

Regina had blinked, and it had been gone, but now…

Now she’s gone to fetch Marian’s not-quite-frozen heart from its careful storage in her vault, and it’s… changed.

Where once it was glowing, pulsing red, pure and heroic as the woman from whom it had been yanked, now it’s mottled with black streaks.

A glamour, is all Regina can think. A spell to mask the truth of who lies beneath, for “Marian” has done nothing but cool her heels, so to speak, for months. There’s no way her heart could have grown so dark while she’s been basically a popsicle.

And whatever this glamour it, is has magically stopped working.

The heart in her palm flickers between light and dark, like a lightbulb screwed in not quite tightly enough. Regina thinks of blue flames, and potions that tasted like ash and death, and she wonders. What if…

Maybe it’s foolish, maybe it’s overly hopeful, maybe she’s been spending too much time with Snow.

But what if it was all just this easy…

Robin isn’t due for another thirty minutes – Regina had transported Marian here herself with a wave of her hand and purple smoke.

She has time. Time to check, time to… time to see.

This body that looks so much like Marian isn’t covered in ice anymore, the spell that turned her cold is gone – all that’s left is for her traitorous heart to be returned to wake her up.

But there’s still magic here, magic that isn’t her own.

Regina can feel it now that she’s looking for it.

This place always has a hum to it, a low buzz of the power held in its depths, a pulsing beat from her wall of hearts, and a scent, like ozone, like the air after a good rain. But something is different, now, today.

Regina licks her lips and tastes something sweet-tart, tries to push her magic out into the room and feels it resonate against something oh-so-subtly different.

She’d have noticed it before if it was anybody else. Would have noticed it earlier if Zelena was awake, stronger, in possession of her own heart.

But Regina feels it now.

It pushes back against her own energy, gives it a little hello, that telltale flickery flutter of instability underneath, and that bitch, that bitch, how dare she.

Regina stands above this fake Marian with her hand clenched and shaking around this warm, flickering heart and mutters accusingly, “I gave you a second chance and this is what you did with it?”

The heart beats, beats harder, Marian’s hair goes red all over, all at once, and then black again, and Regina chuckles darkly.

“Oh, I’m on to you, don’t bother trying to hide it,” she chuckles, her fingers squeezing, squeezing as she leans in and hisses, “That baby wants every bit of your energy for itself.”

She should stop; she might kill her if she goes much tighter.

“Regina?”

It’s Robin’s voice at the bottom of her stairs; she’d been so distracted by her little epiphany that she hadn’t heard him coming, but now that he’s here her hand goes slack with another, much more unwelcome revelation: the baby could be his.

Regina’s hand goes slack around the heart as Robin asks a cautious—no, suspicious—“Is everything alright?”

She’d be angry about that if he hadn’t walked in on her standing over his wife’s body squeezing her heart half to death.

But right now all she can feel is her own heart pounding hard against her breastbone, a dreadful, sick feeling in the pit of her stomach that Zelena might have managed what she’d promised all those months ago – to take everything Regina had ever wanted for her own.

She swallows thickly around rising nausea and ignores his question for one of her own: “Have you had sex with her?”

She looks at him, finally, and Robin’s brows shoot up nearly to his hairline. “Have I what?”

It’s an odd question, isn’t it? She should... She should be more clear.

Regina clears her throat, tells him, “Please, it’s important. Since she’s been back, have you been with her?”

Robin frowns, scowls even, and tells Regina cautiously, “No, I haven’t. It didn’t feel right, with my heart belonging to you. I told her I wanted to take things slowly, rediscover each other after so long apart – for me, at least.”

Well, thank God for that.

He shifts awkwardly on his feet, raising a hand to scratch at the back of his neck as he grimaces and admits, “I thought with more time, I might… be able to… get over…”

He can’t bring himself to push all the words past his teeth, and knowing what she knows now Regina regrets ever having pushed him away. She should have pulled him down into her weak will sooner, should have climbed on top of him over Zelena’s frozen fucking body in that office that isn’t hers anymore on that very first night.

Would have if she’d known.

But it doesn’t matter now.

All that matters is the way she reaches out a hand to Robin, squeezing his in her own before turning it over and plunking that flickering heart on it as she tells him, “Good. Because that—” she points to the body behind her “—isn’t your wife.”

Robin’s suddenly slack jaw is no surprise, nor is the way he peers over her shoulder at the body he knows so well.

“Look at the heart,” Regina urges, pulling his attention back to where it belongs. He obeys, and that look of shock turns to one of utter confusion. It flickers and pulses, wars with itself, glowing red and then streaked with black, red again, mottled again.

“I don’t understand,” he says, and Regina points a thumb back at the body lying prone.

“That isn’t Marian. That’s my sister. And I’m pretty sure she’s pregnant.” She plucks the heart from him again, holds it up between them and says, “Whatever glamour she’s using, whatever charm or trick, it’s beginning to fail. Not an uncommon side effect of carrying a child – the baby is trying to grow, they need all the energy they can find, and it leaves less for the mother to fuel her magic. It starts to short out – like this.”

“But didn’t she end herself? In the prison cell?” Robin questions, although he doesn’t seem to doubt her claims, not with the way he’s looking at the body now with disgust. “You said she’d used the last of her magic to do so.”

“Apparently, I was wrong,” Regina sighs. “She’s more powerful than I’d imagined. Luckily, I have a cure for that.”

She passes the heart back to him and seeks out that cuff she so reviles, locked away down here behind a blood lock, a prick of her finger enough to open the little box hidden behind a loose brick.

“A cure for magic?”

“A block,” Regina tells him, carrying the cuff back over to Zelena’s body much the way one would carry a live grenade. She hates this thing; it makes her palms sweat, makes phantom shocks run through her temples, her arms, her ankles. But it has a purpose, it has its uses, and she takes advantage now. “She’ll still have her magic, but she won’t be able to access it – and the wearer can’t remove it. She’ll be powerless.”

“That’s handy,” Robin remarks, as Regina reaches down and slips the cuff into place.

She expects the glamour to end, then, for it to be turned off like a switch when the magic stops running, but it doesn’t.

She’s still in Marian’s clothes, still has Marian’s face, Marian’s hair.

There’s no sudden shift, just a soft thunk as the pendant on her necklace rolls back and disappears into her hair.

“This isn’t right…” Regina worries, shaking her head, as Robin mutters something about a conniving witch and reaches forward to fish the necklace from dark locks. “She should have changed; the spell should have ended.”

“It did,” Robin tells her, holding the pendant up for her perusal. “She wasn’t concealing herself, she was concealing this.”

Another glance, and she realizes he’s right. Marian’s necklace had been delicate, just a small charm, but now… now it’s a heavy stone. A barely-there glamour, something little she must have had just enough strength for.

“It’s one of the six-leaf clovers of Oz,” he explains, and Regina finds herself impressed that he knows about a magical artifact she doesn’t. But then, he is a thief, he’d have an interest in valuable artifacts. And as for this one in particular, “I have one of the others. It’s a glamour charm, it can make you appear as anyone you like.”

“Well, well…” A charm. The perfect thing for a witch starving for magic – and a tantalizing source of magical energy for the little one inside her. “Let’s turn it off, then, shall we?”

Robin gives the stone a turn and it glows bright green, and then fades again, the body before them melting from Marian’s to Zelena’s, her skin growing pale, her hair finally doing what it’s been so desperate to do and turning to those bright ginger curls.

And there lies the truth.

Robin yanks the chain from Zelena’s neck and pockets it, offering up the heart to Regina (it’s not flickering anymore, its true colors shining through).

“Why don’t we wake your sister,” he mutters darkly, “And find out just how long she’s been parading as my wife.”

Regina sinks that darkened heart right back where it belongs, and watches as Zelena comes awake with a gasp, icy blue eyes popping open.

She looks from Regina to Robin, then pushes herself from the cot and moves as if to embrace him, gasping his name – she still hasn’t realized the jig is up.

Robin takes a step back, away from her, just as Regina drawls, “Hello, sis.”

Zelena freezes then, looks down at herself, lifting a hand to finger a lock of telling red hair, and when she turns to Regina, it’s with a look of angry surprise.

“How?” her sister demands, and Regina simply smirks and points to Zelena’s still flat belly.

“A little bird told me,” she whispers conspiratorially, crossing her arms and telling Zelena, “Congratulations, by the way.”

Zelena's eyes pop even wider and she waves a hand—instinct, Regina knows, an attempt to flee in a swirl of smoke.

It doesn't work, of course, and Regina casts a satisfied glance back at Robin only to find him staring at the back of Zelena's skull with a look that could scorch.

Right.

This isn't a moment to gloat.

So she tells Zelena, “That won't work. You may be the stronger sister, but I'm the smarter one.”

Zelena growls, “Hardly,” but Regina doesn’t give her the satisfaction of thinking her insult has landed.

Instead, she simply smiles, gestures to the cot beside them and invites with a veneer of faux-politeness, “Why don't you have a seat, Zelena.”

Regina reaches for Robin, then, taking a step closer and squeezing his hand, a united, galvanized front.

It feels like another win, like tucking that pendant of Zelena's power into its box, when Robin squeezes her hand in return and she hears him tell her sister, “I think it's high time for some answers.”

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#outlaw queen #OQFixItWeek #somewhereapart writes

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