#playcastle

[helreginn]

@omnipotenceisoverrated booped the doot.

"Do you think they know we can see them?" Hel leaned over to ask, an amused half smile on her pale lips as she stared across the horizon to two small dots. Or they would be dots, if she were human and her eyes couldn't match the distance. She laughed breathily to herself as she watched the two teens lunge about on an abandoned wood playcastle, acting out what she was sure was some grand and epic tale of piracy and mayhem.

[exergame]

💥 One of our recent installations of the Obie projector gaming system. The Obie introduces a new fun and interactive attraction to Play Castle (Rotherham), and one that's especially popular with younger kids. Contact Exergame for further info:  📞 +44 (0)20 3488 4757  ✉️ sales@exergame.co.uk

[alex-citfun]

#outdoorplayground #plasticslide #playcastle https://www.instagram.com/p/B07aW8lgGrq/?igshid=xpcy850nvqmk

[dress-up-haven]

Tried a new app! Not a lot of customization yet, but really cute I hope it grows!!

[play-castle-blog]

https://youtu.be/4hmkax5XUiI Follow the link to see Katie building the Disney Moana Lego Playset! Fun easter egg at the end of the video! #moana #maui #disney #disneysmoana #lego #playcastle

[vickyvicarious]

For the ask game: Regina, Emma, and Killian from Once Upon a Time?

Three, huh? All right, can do. I’ve done this game for at least Emma and Killian before, a long time ago... hopefully I won’t be repeating anything!

(Once again, these are based on pre-Camelot, since I stopped watching fairly early on into that arc.)

Adding a readmore partway through Regina since this got long...

Regina

Headcanon A:  realistic

Being Mayor of Storybrooke was a really good learning experience for her. Sure, she had been a queen for a while before that, but based on the flashbacks I would say she was not paying much attention to the day-to-day duties of being a ruler. No trade deals, no study of the law of her country, no effort put in to learning what kind of taxes might be reasonable, or coordinating aid efforts to help with that drought/illness/bad crops, etc. She was very focused on herself at the time, and just didn’t pay much attention.

But in Storybrooke, while everything came pre-set in the way she wanted, she was still Mayor of an actual town for a long time. Not only was it more expected in this world, but there’s also just upkeep that has to happen. The magic kept people from getting older, but not Henry’s playcastle on the beach, for example. Regina had to be in charge of keeping the town functioning, and there’s only so much magic could do. So she actually learned how to do the right paperwork, a bit of how to allocate a budget, etc.

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious

Regina was all ominously proud of her apple turnover in S1. Obviously, this was actually about the poison apple thing, but I think it would be really funny if she’d made that joke before. Like, Storybrooke probably got kind of boring at times when she was the only one who remembered. Add in the fact that it’s definitely the kind of place that had an annual baking competition or something...

Regina got the idea once to make an apple-based dessert and submit it to the competition, after ensuring Mary-Margaret was a judge. It wasn’t poisonous, but it made her very amused to see her once again just willingly eating the apple, so to speak... however, Regina lost the competition horribly that first year. Her dessert did not taste good at all. This did not sit well with her, and so she practiced and practiced (full on training montage) until she has pretty much mastered several apple-themed desserts, specifically to win the competition every time and make Mary-Margaret have to eat them for her own private amusement. She also definitely did the “give an apple to your child’s teacher” thing multiple times as well.

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends

When she was a little girl, Regina used to write letters to an imaginary friend. She couldn’t send them to anyone, since she didn’t actually have any close friends (closest she had were polite acquaintance of similar social class or nice servants/staff in whom she knew better than to confide), so she just collected them. They were a sort of diary for her. At first, she was really friendly and optimistic about her home life, but this soon devolved into lying fantasies about what it would be like if she had a happy family. She wrote about a mother who loved her deeply and wanted to spend time with her, about messing something up and no one scolding her, about her father defending her from some mean lady who’s clearly a stand-in for Cora (since letter-Cora is perfect), and all that sort of thing. It wasn’t all about her family, letter-Regina also had a super special horse who she rode to win a race, and the cook always made her favorite treats, etc., but the family stuff was the majority of it.

Her father found the letters one day, and thought they were sweet. Meaning well and absolutely missing the context, he showed them to Cora. She called Regina in to watch as she burned them, scolding her for wasting time daydreaming when she should be focusing on bettering herself in order to make a good match down the line.

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own.

Regina was not able to give Henry a TLK. I have talked about this in the past (here’s the link to the TL;DR, which itself has a link to the longer rambly thoughts), but I don’t think their relationship was such that she could, despite wanting to. And that’s not even taking into consideration that she lacked a heart at the time.

In my ideal world, Regina secretly hoped to be able to give him a TLK, and her failure to do so was kind of a wake-up call. It could easily go the other way into feeling like the whole world is against her, but this time it didn’t. She thought about her relationship with Henry and when he was saved (through whatever other reason), she realized just how badly she never wanted this to happen again. She wanted to change - and this time, she was willing to put in the work. Of course, it took time and there were probably backslides and stuff, but Regina began to really put in the effort to repair her relationship with Henry, to actually treat him as important and to value him outside of herself. This didn’t magically repair her relationship with anyone else (the whole point of this headcanon is effort vs magical change!) but treating Henry with respect and care meant not starting stuff with the other people he loves, and in general it became easier over time. Emma supported Regina a lot too, mostly for Henry’s sake in the beginning, but it did help.

Basically, the failed TLK led to a more realistic ‘redemption arc’ where Regina was kind of shocked out of being selfish or taking Henry for granted, and this eventually led to a much healthier outlook on her part where she felt less persecuted and accepted her responsibility for her actions, without feeling too overwhelmed to keep on trying for a better future even if not everyone can/does forgive her. She and Henry would be so much happier, despite it taking a while, and it would feel earned to me. Plus, it means that she wouldn’t succumb to the temptation to blame everything on the Author, a storyline I really hated.

.

Emma

Headcanon A:  realistic

She’s very smart, got a good sense for when people are lying, and is good at noticing and following up on relevant details. Emma never finished high school, though she did later get her GED, and definitely never went to college. While she was doing pretty well for herself as a bail bondsperson, she actually had been thinking about getting a private investigator’s license and starting her own business. There’s a fair bit of overlap between the two careers, and Emma liked the idea of not having to work for anyone else, and also being able to hopefully be a little more choosy about the clients she chose.

She was still in the process of researching the requirements and debating over taking some local college courses in that field before trying to actually make any big changes, when Henry showed up at her door.

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious

I really love the idea of Emma bipiddy-boppedy-booing about once she gets better with her magic. Just using it for little, silly things that no one else really uses magic for. (Maybe the reason is that most people don’t have that much magic to use for frivolous stuff, or the magic always has a price makes them way of depending on it too much.) But Emma doesn’t depend on it, she only just kind of plays with her magic, pretty much only in private, but she finds it really fun. So she will sneakily change the color of her dress while spinning in the mirror, or she will animate all the socks to race one another into the laundry machine, or whatever. Just small things, only sometimes, but it’s really cute and she always gets a little giddy/silly about it.

At one point, Killian catches her pretending to have an argument about dishes that don’t want to be washed because they’re scared of the overzealous sponge, and he can’t help laughing. Emma is super embarrassed and makes him swear never to ever tell or even hint to anyone, ever. He eventually agrees but teases her about it, saying he’s rooting for the sponge, or whatever. It’s just fun and cute and very silly. :)

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends

Emma’s first memory is of her first ‘parents’ giving her back. They were the Swans, they took her in when she was very cute and small, but then when they had their own kid they basically said they couldn’t support multiple kids and couldn’t keep Emma. Either they had already finished adopting her, and now gave her up for adoption again, or they were still in the middle of the process and just stopped it. But they kept her until their child was born a healthy baby, because they had already had multiple miscarriages or something. Emma obviously doesn’t remember all the details of this, but she has a vague first memory of the parents she loved leaving her behind and never coming back, which for a long time she secretly thought might be about her bio parents despite knowing she was a literal newborn when she was abandoned.

As an adult she researched her own past, and learned about this whole situation as well as the ‘left on the side of the road’ thing. She visited the Swans secretly/looked them up, and they were living happily with their biological kid, showing all signs of being great parents and having a close-knit family. Emma never confronted them, and doesn’t like to admit her complicated feelings about them, or even that this ever happened to her. But she absolutely has conflated her issues with them/her birth parents, and yet she’s clung to the last name ‘Swan’ since it indicates someone loved her enough to make her theirs, even if only for a little while.

I wrote a short little ficlet about something this once and ever since it’s been my headcanon.

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own.

Probably some of the others already contradict various moments in canon, but whatever. Here’s the one I’m going with:

I firmly believe in bisexual Emma who absolutely fell in puppy love with Lily, please and thank you. (I wrote a fic about it, even.) Also, I quite like the idea of her wanting to have a one-night stand with Ruby to stop thinking about could-have-beens and feelings after Graham died. However, things were happening pretty quickly, and in such a small town she didn’t want to get involved in anything else potentially messy at this point. Add in that she saw Ruby almost every day so there would be no avoiding her, and fearing Mary-Margaret would try to either help her find love or give her some kind of intervention about Graham if she found out, and Emma never went beyond thinking about it. (After the curse was broken and she learned that Ruby had been her mother’s close friend, she was pretty glad about that choice.)

.

Killian

Headcanon A:  realistic

Killian gets phantom pains sometimes in his missing hand. He’s been missing it for much longer than he ever actually had two hands, but that doesn’t make a difference as far as those go. (It also doesn’t change the way he sometimes forgets he only has one hand when he is half-asleep. Only ever for a moment, but long enough to reach for something and not be able to pick it up.) He has various things that tend to trigger the pain (when he’s thinking too much about the time he lost it, it always pulses with a strong pain that he just determinedly ignores whenever he’s around Rumple; heavy rain can trigger it; if he does too much work with his left arm, like carrying something heavy with his hook or something, often that night or the next day will hurt), though sometimes it seems to come on randomly. Likewise, he has a few different methods to deal with it, from painkillers to getting drunk to putting the stump in a warm bath to trying to imagine stretching out his hand, that all help sometimes. Other times, though, he just kind of has to wait it out because nothing works.

One time, Emma notices he’s bothered and finally gets him to tell her what’s going on. At the moment, there’s nothing she can do (it’s a ‘wait it out’ day), but she looks up other methods of helping, and the next time she notices Killian going through it, she gives the mirror box a try since it is relatively easy to do in the moment. It actually helps, and after that she and Killian are able to figure out a couple other ways that can help reduce his pain.

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious

Killian gets motionsickness on long car rides or roller coasters. He’s perfectly fine on a boat that is swaying all over the place in the harshest of storms, but for some reason riding in the Bug for more than thirty minutes will make him feel sick to his stomach. He finds this deeply ridiculous and does not like to acknowledge it in any way. Emma find this deeply ridiculous and loves to tease him about it.

The issue with roller coasters was a complete surprise - again, because he’s usually fine with high-adrenaline activities, they both thought it was only cars that bothered him. When Emma first took him and Henry to a roller coaster park, he was actually most interested in all the fast rides, only to be disappointed and have to sit down in the sun and drink some water while Emma and Henry were completely fine.

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends

Killian has been alive for a long time, and most of the people he loves have been dead for the vast majority of that time. Even as a child, he could barely remember his mother - a vague impression of her voice, of the way her hair would sway... After Liam died, Killian was left without any kind of memento of what he looked like. When they were together, Milah drew several portraits of herself and Killian bother separately and together. She also drew her son, determined to keep him with her and not forget what he looked like. Killian thought about asked her to draw Liam for him as well, but he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to describe him well enough and that the portrait being only a half-likeness or something would just bother him more, so he never did.

He deeply regretted this later, when after nearly two hundred years in Neverland he realized that he could no longer remember what his older brother looked like. Sometimes, kind of, but nothing clear or reliable. He still remembered how much Liam meant to him, what they did together, of course all of that - but he couldn’t recall exactly what his brother’s voice sounded like when he was angry, or the particular shade of his hair, or whether he ever had freckles. Over time, Killian forgot most concrete details about Liam, no matter how much he tried to cling to them. He was terrified of losing Milah’s memory in the same way, or Emma during the year apart, and would often try to think of them as clearly as possible, to linger on specific memories and indelibly etch them into his mind. Still, he couldn’t help but notice that (particularly with Milah) some things were slipping away despite hims best efforts. Small things, like not remembering how Milah took her coffee, but he is still terrified of losing even the smallest of memories.

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own.

My mind is blanking for some reason. Maybe I’ve just been doing this too long... How about, Rumple was lying when he said Killian’s briefly restored hand was never cursed. I can’t remember if that was implied to be a lie or not, but I’ve always thought it was. Maybe not a deliberate “curse” exactly but I have always liked this idea that the hand is frozen in time in more ways than one (and Rumple would’ve known that).

[katedrakeohd]

The Lake (B)

Author's note:

**Dear Reader, if you have come across this post accidentally on your dashboard out of context I apologize. This is one of two possible endings for The Lake, so feel free to start at the beginning or totally skip this conclusion post and read something else.

If you followed the link to get here then 'keep reading' and enjoy**

...

Kate is startled awake from her nap by the sound of Bartie's cries as he rushes back into the playroom, "Auntie Kate! Auntie Kate! Auntie Kate!"

Wiping her sleepy eyes, Brooklyn snuggles into her Mother's side and pops her thumb into her mouth. She looks at Bartie with wide eyes, wondering what's going on.

Kate pulls her Little Beanie onto her lap and kisses her on the head, "My goodness Bartie! What's wrong?"

Bartie is gasping big gulps of air as he tries to answer amid his mounting hysteria, "The Lake...Uncle M..Max...monster! Un..Uncle Drake in the..w..water! Boat sm..smashed!"

Kate shakes her head trying to make sense of what she's hearing, "Hold on, slow down Honey, explain to me again what you saw."

Bartie climbs into the playcastle and grabs Kate by the hand and tugs to get her to climb out with him, "At the window, Charlie and I watched a monster in the lake knock Uncle Drake and Uncle Max out of their boat!"

Kate's phone buzzes in her pocket.

….

Drake was unprepared for how cold the water was, and managed only a ragged gasp of air before he was dumped into the lake. He was grateful for his lifejacket keeping him afloat as his head popped up above the surface. He floundered through the water amidst the debris from the picnic basket and their fishing supplies until he reached the overturned remains of his boat.  Drake was an excellent swimmer most of the time, but his leg injury and his heavy wet clothes and rubber boot full of water weren't helping. Holding onto the boat he kicked off his boot and searched his surroundings. The shore looked so far away, and Maxwell was missing. Why hadn't he worn the lifejacket that Drake had offered him? What the hell had flipped the boat?

He could feel the water move around his legs as if moved by a current, which didn't feel right. Looking toward the shore again, he contemplated making a run for it, but the idea of leaving Max behind made him feel queasy. Desperately searching the surface of the lake in all directions he shouts out to him,

"Max! Where are you? Max! Can you hear me?"

Something brushes against his bare leg and he yelps with surprise. Kicking furiously at the water, his heart pounding in his chest so fast he could barely breathe, he searches the floating debris around him for a weapon. One of the wooden oars is nearby and he stretches out his arm and grasps for it, but it floats out of his reach. 

"Shit!"

He didn't want to let go of the boat, knowing it was the biggest visible landmark on the lake. But he had a sinking suspicion he was no longer the biggest predator in the water. The water swirled around his legs again, and this time something solid floated up to the surface nearby. Maxwell.

"Oh God! Oh God! No, no, no, no! Max!" Drake chokes out, overwhelmed by the sudden grief and shock constricting the air from his lungs. 

Pushing away from the boat he swims over to his friend's body. Maxwell is facedown and there's a deep gash on the back of his head. Treading water, Drake struggles to roll Maxwell over and pulls his body back with him to the overturned boat. 

"Come on, Buddy. Everything's going to be alright. Help will be here soon." Drake tries to reassure the silent, still body of his friend. 

Maxwell's eyes are closed and his body is limp. His left arm appears to be dislocated at the shoulder, and hangs at an odd angle. Drake chokes back the bile rising in his throat. He hoped the torn arm happened after his head injury, because it looked like it would have hurt like hell. The added weight of Maxwell threatened to drag them both under and Drake searched desperately for something to keep him afloat. He grabs the anchor rope still attached to the boat and tries to loop it around Maxwell's chest, but only manages to loop it through his arm and tie it at his shoulder. 

"I'm so sorry Max. I should have believed you when you said there was something creepy about the lake."

Drake's whole bottom half was quickly growing numb from the cold water and his teeth were starting to chatter. We need to get out of here before I'm a Drakesicle, and we're both fish food.

He really hoped one of Maxwell's help messages went through. Looking at his longtime friend, dangling like a soggy piece of bait, Drake suddenly felt the sting of hot tears.  He grabs Max by the shoulders of his shirt and shakes him. "Come on Max, wake up! Please don't be dead. Don't leave me out here by myself!"

Max wasn't answering, and his skin was going more pale as his body cooled. A breeze rippled the water, making Drake shiver some more. Behind him he hears a splash and the unmistakable sound of something breathing. Drake squeezes his eyes shut, desperately hoping it's his panicked mind fueling his imagination. Then he hears a hissing sound and realizes he has to turn and look. Sucking in a deep breath, and slowly letting it out, he turns around.

Drake had never come face to face with an alligator before, and he never imagined he'd share the water with one. He'd often wondered what had happened to the alligators of Valtoria, and now he knew. It was like a giant floating dinosaur out of Jurassic park, with bulging dark eyes, mouth full of teeth, and a long spiky tail. And it was coming straight for him and Maxwell.

Drake grabbed one of the oars floating nearby and prepared to defend himself. He was hoping to at least get in one hit before it pulled him under. 

But just as he was raising his arms out of the water and readying himself to smash the leviathan across the nose, it sank under the water and lunged for Maxwell's legs.

 "No, no, no, you motherfucker no! Leave my friend alone!" Drake roared, ramming the end of the oar down into the base of the alligator's neck, if it had one. But the monster whipped out with its powerful tail as it grabbed Max, and 

smashed into Drake.  

Rammed up against the side of the boat, Drake felt the crunch of his ribs cracking, followed by searing hot pain before he blacked out.

….

The cold wind whipped against Preston's face as he sped across the water in his rescue boat. He was headed toward the mass of floating debris he saw in the distance, his eyes scanned the water for the Duke and his friend. His heart smashed in his chest painfully, and his stomach felt like cold lead in his gut. Preston had rushed to the boathouse once the S.O.S had been received, but he feared for the worst. 

Cutting the engine as soon as he spotted the body of Drake off by himself, he steered carefully over to him. He was on his back, floating limply in the water. 

"Mr. Walker! Your Grace! Can you hear me?" Preston called out, as he reached for the back of his lifejacket.

Drake didn't stir as Preston scooped him under the arms, hugging him around the chest and dragged him into the boat. But the bodyguard was reassured by the fact that his body was still slightly warm. Laying him down in the boat, he checked for a pulse and leaned in to listen for breathing. He felt the faint tap of his heartbeat against his fingers, and the weak rattle of air escaping his lungs. The Duke was alive, barely, and there was no time to waste.

Preston breathed a quick sigh of relief and then sat back to assess Drake's injuries. His leg was seeping blood, but the rate was very slow. Preston unknotted the strip of denim that Drake had used, and tied it tightly around his leg at the top of his knee as a tourniquet. Leaning in again to check his pulse, and to listen to the slight wheeze of his breathing, Preston grabs a warm blanket to tuck around Drake. 

"You're going to be alright, Your Grace. Let's get you out of here."

"Maxwell.." Drake whispers, and then coughs painfully and moans. His face grimaces and then his eyes open.

Preston sits back on his heels, "Try not to talk, Your Grace. Just focus on moving what little air you can to keep yourself breathing, and alive. Just move your head to answer my questions, OK?"

Drake swallows, dipping his chin in a slight nod.

"Is Lord Maxwell still alive?"

Drake squeezes his eyes shut, shaking his head and gasping for air. 

He hears the sound of Preston restarting the motor, and feels the sway of the boat as it's turned around and driven back to shore. As unconsciousness reclaims him, his last thought is of Maxwell's face.

......

//So what did you think of this ending? If you're curious you can try the other. The Lake (A) Or you can go back to the original post to leave your comments. //

Thanks for reading. 😊

[ask-operation-cobra]

No. No. No. No!

Emma was busy most of the time, especially with her new role. David wasn't busy though. David was there and was interested in getting to know him. He was going to play video games with him, they were going to work on Operation Cobra together. David was his grandpa, and he was his grandson. This wasn't fair.

"Why does she ruin everything?" 

He liked the warm hugs David gave and the head pats. It was playful. This is what having a grandfather was like. David accepted him for who he was, unprompted. Even Emma needed a little push to first come to Storybrooke. She was reluctant. When David first found out, he wasn't reluctant. In the short amount of time that Henry had David, he already learned how to lean and depend on him. 

Henry crouched down into himself, feeling cold. He left the house immediately after David left, taking shelter underneath the playcastle. He wrapped his jacket and scarf closer to him, but the warmth he was looking for couldn't be fixed that easily. He breathed in sharply, as if he was in pain. "It's okay. I'll believe for the both of us. I'll believe for all of us."

Just like always. Only himself, believing. Hanging onto the dream.

Why is his mom like this. Why does she have to ruin everything. Doesn't she understand that it's not just her life anymore? It's his life too. It's theirs together. 

Every move, she ruins everything. It was the only thing that made sense. His Evil Queen of a mother had to be the one that made David recover his memories. And that made David not believe in Henry anymore. 

He hasn't cried in days even though things were strained with him and Regina. He hasn't needed to because he could rely on others for strength. He has Emma. He has Davi-- He had David. Henry in his heart knows that he had David, and it won't be the same anymore. 'It's okay. He said that I could still see him... But now he's freaked out. He thinks I'm wrong too.' Scrunching up his eyes, he could feel tears forming. "I just want to break the Curse already." He whispered to himself. 

His mom was the caster for the Curse, but he was the son of the saviour. There couldn't be a happy ending with her in his life. It was so funny that David's apparent 'memories' made him happier with Kathryn. That everyone in the town were so complacent with their false memories. Because of Henry, his memories burned him from the inside. Every time his mom came up in conversation, every time he had to think about the curse, he always thought back to some memory of his mom. She was always there for him. To kiss his forehead when he was being bratty, to hush him to sleep with wondrous stories, to ask why he was scrapped up after he was playing a bit too hard. 

He wanted to cry out for his mom, to feel her arms wrapping around him. Then she'd tuck his head into her neck and soothe him with the words he constantly was aching for, 'I'm sorry for everything. I never meant to hurt you. We can move on. We can be together and it’ll be just us with no more games. I love you, little prince.' Things would be good and they'd be okay. But right now he doesn’t have her. Things have been strained ever since he got the book. He couldn’t even look at her without feeling guilty. Guilty that he loved his mom despite the suffering she’s inflicted.

Letting out a sob out, he curled up further into his crouched position to bury his head into his knees. The thought of his mother's nickname for him pushed him to the edge. 'I hate the Evil Queen.' As he felt the tears dampen his knees through his jeans, he wailed, “Mom.” Mainly because he didn’t know what to do since he was hurting so much. It was a reflex, to call out for his mom when he was scared or hurt. In this instance, he was both.

@ask-thelostgirl

[dilatorysloth]

My inktober 2019, day 13; The Lady Ripley, belonging to @sylencia. Looking like many a cat tend to do when it should be sheet changing time, but turns into PLAYCASTLE! 

Tabby cats are a challenge. 

(Bottled china ink from lefranc&bourgeois, with random nib I found in a bag while cleaning up in a wardrobe today) (Available at my redbubble in source link)

[wilsworld]

The newly remodeled Children's Garden is equipped with various stations for learning about working with plants, ranging from illustrations with talking points, self-gardening stalls, large leaf #sculptures for shade, sensor-aided hand washing station by the fig tree to the fascinating overhead misters that everyone loves! *Adults allowed with supervision 😃 #community #instafun #instacool #dmv #discoverdc #thingstododc #BotanicGarden #childrensgarden #playcastle #playtime #playground #planteducation #learntogrow #creativeart #Urbanart #dmv #Washingtondc #wilworksdc (at U.S. Botanic Garden)

[eclypseaf]

Day 18 - Snowball fight? It’s war

For @notfunnydean’s SPN Advent Calendar

My masterlist for this thing.

A/N: This is based on a looong snowball fight I had years ago, except it didn’t last more than an afternoon u.u (I hope they act like kids tho... I can’t really write children)

—=+=—

Many of the older inhabitants of Lawrence, Kansas, remember the Great Snow of ‘93. For an entire week most of the roads were blocked, the schools stayed closed and only the bravest dared to fight the hostile cold weather.

Fewer of them remember an event that took place exactly in that same week, in the playground near the school, where all the kids (due to closed schools) met to fight in what passed down in chronicles as the War of the Seven Snows. A really creative name, you might say, but it was Balthazar who came up with it. I’m sure you can easily understand.

As said before, only the bravest dared to defy the polar weather outside, and -as everybody knows- when it comes to this kind of matters, children are the bravest of all.

In the playground took place a war like no others. There was no mercy for enemies, nor prisoners. Allies were made and betrayed. From morning until dinner time, the kids fought each other, intereupted only by some worried mums that didn’t want them to play outside for too long. But some of them escaped from the window and rejoined their army.

There were two opposing fronts: one of them was led by the Winchesters, Sam and Dean; the other was commanded by Castiel Novak and Charlene Bradbury. Those names became legends in the school for the following months.

At 14 years old, Dean was one of the older kids and the leader as well. Despite that, he was always fighting in the front line, decided to win for his brother Sam and the other friends that were fighting with them, Benny, Kevin and Jo. Cas and Charlie, instead, had recruited some of Castiel’s siblings.

Now, with seven days of battling, it would be crazy to try and narrate all of them. Certainly, the most important events happened during the last day of war, some hours before the Snow Armistice.

Charlie, Castiel and Gabriel were planning the next move. Hannah -Cas and Gabe’s sister- was held as a “prisoner” by the Winchesters and they had to free her.

The only problem was that Sam, Dean and their allies had previously taken control of the playcastle, forcing Castiel to set his HQ in the jungle gym. Between the two structures they had built, during the previous days, various walls made of snow as shelter from enemy’s fire. But now they had to attack first, and regain control of the playcastle.

“Hannah is here,” explained Cas, pointing on a rough map of the area. “They’re keeping her near the slide. If we come from up here, going up the climbing walls, we should be able to take them down from above.”

“But what about Kevin and Jo? They’re already there!” Charlie had a point, at which Cas simply nodded.

“Me, you and Gabe are gonna do as I said before, while Balth and Raph will cover our backs. Agreed?” He looked at his brothers and his friend.

“But I wanna come with you too!” Protested Rapahel.

“Maybe next time, okay?” Proposed the dark haired kid. Raphael was the youngest of them and Cas didn’t want him to accidentally get hurt. And so, they started sneaking towards the playcastle.

On the other front, Dean was nervous. Not only was Cas one of his best friends (except when at war like now) but it started to feel like something more. Whatever that was, though, he couldn’t think about that now.

“Dean!” Kevin shouted his name and rushed to him. “They’re coming, I’ve seen them!”

“Everybody get ready!” He announced. He took a couple of snowballs from a pile they had made and so did the others.

Soon, it started. All the plans and strategies that had been made by both sides didn’t matter, there were only snowballs flying through the air. Balthazar succeeded in hitting Benny in the face, who tried to do the same but hit Sam instead. Charlie and Gabe were fighting side by side against Jo and Kevin. Hannah was trying to protect little Raphael, who had started crying when Dean launched a snowball that missed him only for a few inches. Castiel saw that; and he wasn’t pleased.

“Take this, assbutt!” He shouted, and threw a snowball. Right at Dean’s face.

Dean turned around. And that was the wrong thing to do.

All he saw was a flash of white and then snow covered his view, blinding him temporarly.

He moved around a bit, trying to touch something to use as a guide, but he slipped and fell onto the ground.

In the exact same moment, a voice echoed down the street. The words weren’t really understandable, but it was clear from the tone that it was Kevin’s mother. It was time to go back home and stop playing.

Kevin groaned and waved goodbye. Soon, Benny, Jo, Balth, Gabe, Hannah and Raph left too, leaving Sam, Charlie and Cas in the presence of a soaked Dean who was trembling like a twig during a storm.

“Dean, we should go home too.” Stated Sam. He was the younger, but probably the more mature too.

“But we didn’t finish the fight!”

“We could make a truce, or an armistice. Like a deal for peace.” Proposed Charlie, “What do you think.”

Sam nodded. “Nice idea. But how do we do that?”

Castiel squinted his eyes, thinking. His father was very religious and he had said something about deals once.

“In ancient times, deals were sealed with kisses. We could do that too.”

The three boys turned to look at Charlie, like they were expecting something from her.

“Don’t look at me like that! I’m not gonna kiss any of you just because I’m a girl!” She paused for a moment, before continuing, “In fact, I think I’m never gonna kiss a boy.”

The three boys turend to look at each other, like they were expecting one of them to talk.

Sam took a step back. Cas and Dean stared.

“I guess a kiss on a cheek can work as well, right?” Said Cas.

But he was soon interrupted by Dean’s lips pressing on his own. They were warm and a bit screpolate because of the cold. It lasted only a few seconds, and then the boys pulled away from each other and stared. Again.

“No more war, then?”

Castiel smiled shily. His face was red and his big blue eyes sparkled. Dean found that adorable.

“No more war.”

[blogmarareactions]

1K special scenario prompts

Band: GOT7

Member: Jackson

Genre: Comedy

Warnings: None, only Jackson being a kid xD

Prompts: 7 “Sir, this is for children only”

Date Night, Play Night

You and Jackson were having your weekly date night. They were never super over the top as you two just wanted to have a bit of fun together and enjoy a bit of time alone. That`s why your date nights either consisted of movies at home on your couch or going out to a club or arcade, simply letting go of all the stress. 

Today was one of those days. You had been out all evening, dancing and drinking in a club you often went to, and now the hunger was gnawing at your stomachs. Jackson had suggested you go to McDonalds to eat and you had agreed. 

So now you were sitting at a table, haven eaten and honestly feeling a little tired. Jackson however had the energy of a 10 year old in a candy shop.

“Can we go home now? I`m tired.” you asked but Jackson only shook his head.

“No way! The night has only begun!”

And before you could say anything else he had stood up and made his way to the playpen for the children. You followed after him standing on the outside as he crawled into the playcastle. Honestly he wasnt that drunk to do stuff like this, but he had this thing where he became extra childish after drinking even just a little bit. The next five minutes were filled with both your laughters as he "swam” through the ballbath, throwing a few at you and making funny faces. It wasn`t before he was at the top of the playcastle sitting down and pushing forward to slide down that you heard a female voice behind you.

“Sir, this is for children only. I will have to ask you to leave the playpen.”

“I`d love to,” came his answer, “but I can`t. I think I`m stuck.”

Needless to say that your stomach was aching from laughter and you two weren`t allowed back into the restaurant after he finally made it out of the slide after almost an hour and the help of 4 employees.

[blogfoggystudentdreamer-blog]

Nastya builds a playcastle and prevents papa from working 5e3b05847a615 https://newkidsvideo.com/nastya-builds-a-playcastle-and-prevents-papa-from-working/?feed_id=618&_unique_id=5e3b05847a4f7& Newkidsvideo 5e3b05847a597

[newkidsvideo]

Nastya builds a playcastle and prevents papa from working 5e3b0567c6fc4 https://newkidsvideo.com/nastya-builds-a-playcastle-and-prevents-papa-from-working/?feed_id=617&_unique_id=5e3b0567c46b0& Newkidsvideo 5e3b0567c6f12

[play-castle-blog]

https://youtu.be/y5bRYptLDkA Follow the link and do a fun, educational puzzle with Katie! This Melissa and Doug Pets puzzle is perfect for little hands...plus it has sounds as well! #puzzle #pets #preschool #melissaanddoug #woodenpuzzle #playcastle #puzzlepiece #animals

[katedrakeohd]

The Lake (A)

Author's note:

**Dear Reader, if you have come across this post accidentally on your dashboard out of context I apologize. This is one of two possible endings for The Lake, so feel free to start at the beginning or totally skip this conclusion post and read something else.

If you followed the link to get here then 'keep reading' and enjoy**

--

 Kate is startled awake by the sound of her phone buzzing and the chime of a notification. Next to her Bartie is curled up into a ball and whimpering, his face is wet with tears. 

Kate sits up and pulls her drowsy two year old into her lap and kisses her on the head before reaching over to rub Bartie on his back. "What's wrong, Bartie? Why are you crying?"

Bartie wipes his tears and turns his face to peer over his shoulder at his Aunt. "I..I had an accident. And a really bad dream."

"That's ok Honey, accidents happen, and don't worry the dream is all gone now."

Bartie sits up, hugging his knees to his chest, "But the dream was so scary and it felt so real."

Kate's phone buzzes again and she glances at it, "It might help to talk about it? Make it a little less scary."

They climb out of the playcastle and Bartie looks up at Kate with wide eyes as he takes her hand, "There was a monster in my dream! A monster in the lake!"

Kate gives his hand a gentle squeeze,  rubbing the back of it with her thumb. "Oh sweety, monsters aren't real. They only put them in fairytales to make the story more interesting, and to give the hero something to do." 

She leads him to the bathroom nearby to get cleaned up. "But are you sure monsters aren't real? Uncle Max told me.."

Kate chuckles as she stops in the doorway, "Your Uncle Maxwell is a big silly guy, and likes to tell make-believe stories just for fun. Never take them seriously unless he can show you pictures to prove it."

Bartie glances up at Kate with a sheepish expression, trying to sound brave and forget the scary images in his head, "Yeah.. they're just stories. Silly Uncle Max."

Kate waits outside the closed door while Bartie gets out of his wet clothes. She smiles as she watches Brooklyn toddle over to play with her toys. Thankfully the monster talk didn't bother her.

Her phone buzzes again and she picks it up with a sigh. She's surprised to see the text is from Maxwell. 

>> Help! Our boat has sprung a leak and we're sinking! 😱

Kate shakes her head, feeling that Maxwell is being over dramatic. She responds back,

>> Oh Max, what did you do now?

She's just dropping her phone down to watch Brooklyn move onto something new to play with when her phone starts ringing. Frowning with concern, she realizes the call is from Preston, their head of security. She answers,

"Preston, what's going on?"

"There's been an incident out on the lake and we're mobilizing a rescue. Stay with the children and we'll update you when we have more details."

Kate feels her heart sink down into her stomach, realizing that Max's text was serious. "But Preston.."

He doesn't respond because he's already hung up.

"Mommy, why do you look so scared?" Brooklyn picks up her stuffed unicorn and hugs it. "What did Mr. Preston say?"

 

Kate rushes over to the window and pushes open the curtains. Through the trees she can just make out the sight of Preston in the speedboat as he exits the boat house and then disappears from view.

…

Like a few hours earlier, Kate and the children are standing in the courtyard. But this time they're watching the speedboat arrive at the dock with the three men in it. Kate feels a tremendous sense of relief at seeing both of her guys looking mostly dry. But her relief fades when she sees Maxwell and Preston help Drake get out of the boat. 

His denim shirt is in tatters and covered in rusty looking stains, and his right leg is streaked with fresh blood. He leans heavily on Preston as he limps forward, scowling at Maxwell and shoving him away. "I've had enough of your help today. Now go on you silly bastard."

Kate scoops Brooklyn up in her arms as she hears her start to cry.  She hides behind her hands and turns her face into her Mother's shoulder as she whines and sobs, "What happened to Daddy?! Why is his leg all red like that?"

Preston helps Drake over to a wooden deck chair.  He sits back and lets Preston take over first-aid as he tends to his bullet wound. Undoing his ruined shirt, he tosses it aside. The pain etched on his face is all too familiar.

Kate aches to run over to Drake to give him hugs and kisses, seeing the pain he's in, but holds back for Brooklyn's sake. She can't help the tears that burn at her eyes though as she looks between Drake and Maxwell.

"Maxwell what happened? What did you do?"

Bartie runs over to hug his uncle's legs, "I'm so glad you're okay Uncle Max."

Looking down at his feet, Maxwell mumbles, "I..brought a..pistol with me on our fishing trip."

"You did what? But why?!" Kate gasps with horror.

"For protection, right Uncle Max?" 

Bartie looks up at him and smiles as Max lays his hand on his nephew's head and looks down at him sadly, "That's right little Buddy, but I wasn't smart about it. I should have told Uncle Drake before we got into the boat."

"Ya think?" Drake grumbles and hisses as Preston wipes the blood off with an alcohol wipe and then wraps a gauze bandage around his leg.

"Protection from what?" Kate asks, getting more and more impatient at the lack of details.

"This will have to do, Your Grace. Until we can get you to the hospital." Preston insists.

Mara moves from Kate's side to stand next to Maxwell. She looks down at Bartie and then back up to Maxwell, "I'm sorry, Lord Beaumont, but I must ask your nephew to step aside."

"But why?" Bartie cries, as Maxwell kneels down to his level to give him a hug.

Maxwell looks between Drake, Preston, Kate and Mara. "They need to take me into custody, Bartie."

Bartie cries harder as Maxwell stands up again. Mara steps closer and grips him firmly by the arm and leads him away. 

"But he was just protecting Uncle Drake from the monster in the lake!" Bartie cries out indignantly, stomping his foot. "He didn't mean to shoot the wrong one!"

Kate walks over to try to console Bartie, but he backs away. "No! Uncle Max was brave, he was supposed to be the hero."

Drake sighs, shaking his head, "I'm sorry, Bartie. There was no monster, but Max was scared enough to think there was. He dropped the pistol and it went off accidentally. I got hit in the leg and the boat ended up with a hole in it too. He should've been brave enough not to take the pistol with him. Now he has to face the consequences."

Off in the distance, a siren can be heard. Bartie covers his ears, and runs back toward the manor. 

 "Kate," Drake says, waving her over to him.

Kate looks between Drake and the retreating back of her distraught nephew, she rushes over to give her husband a hug and kiss. Brooklyn wraps her little arms around his neck and hugs him too, before Kate has to pull her away. 

The flashing lights of the ambulance wash over everyone as it pulls into the yard. Drake looks between the ambulance and Preston and then nods to him. The security guard turns to Kate,

"Please go back to the manor, Your Grace. I'll go with the Duke to the hospital and report to you on his condition. He's in good hands, he'll be fine." 

Kate gives Drake one last kiss, and then carries a whimpering Brooklyn back inside. She finds Bartie sitting on the bottom step of the grand staircase, his little face in his hands, crying. When she sits down next to him he doesn't pull away as she wraps her arm around his slim shoulders. 

Through his sobs, Kate hears him ask, "Is Un..Uncle Drake...go..going to be okay?"

Kate nods, "I think so. He's been shot, stabbed and wounded many times and keeps on going. He's made of tough stuff, your Uncle."

Bartie wipes his eyes on his sleeve, "And Uncle Max?"

"Well, for now, he'll probably be kept in his room under armed guard until Preston gets back with your Uncle Drake. And then we'll contact your Uncle Liam, the King and ask his advice on what happens next."

"Real life is so much scarier than fairytales sometimes," Bartie mumbles.

Kate leans down to give him a kiss on the forehead, "That's very true, sweetheart."

...........

//So what did you think of this ending? If you're curious you can try the other. The Lake (B) Or you can go back to the original post to leave your comments. //

Thanks for reading. 😊