#that could easily pass as gaston jr

[idontliketomatoesleavemealone]

I DON’T BELIEVE IT-

Descendants but everyone has two parents

[asterinjapan]

At last I see the (sun) light

Good – morning this time!

Yeah, as predicted, yesterday ran very late, so I decided to leave writing my report for the next day and just go to bed already, haha. I’m starting my report in the morning while I’m trying to think of plans for today, so I might just drop the report and finish it later, but here we go – Tokyo Disneyland!

Pictures will be up later today!

It’s definitely not my first time to Tokyo Disneyland, although usually I take the subway to get there. Since I have my JR pass still active and I haven’t been using it much in Tokyo, I refused to take a mode of transportation I had to pay for, so I first went to Tokyo station with the Yamanote line. From there, it’s 15 minutes with the Keiyo line, but that’s all the way at the other end at the station, so you can seriously add another 15 minutes to the travel time. I wasn’t exaggerating when I called Tokyo station a separate city!

The Yamanote line came to an abrupt halt halfway through as the emergency brake had been activated, but it must be a false alarm or otherwise easily solved issue, as we continued a couple of minutes later. It was indeed quite the walk to the Keiyo line, but they put up signs every five steps, so at least it was a very easy road to follow.

And then Maihama station! The weather had turned out to be incredibly nice today, with blue skies so bright I could easily see the Skytree and – was that the snowy top of Mount Fuji? It sure was! That’s how clear the skies were, haha.

Anyway, the walk from the station was a bit different. I know they’re working on a new area inside the park, but apparently they’re also doing extensive redevelopments, because the main entrance was under covers and there were cranes surrounding the castle. After the entrance, the first Halloween decorations came in sight, and part of the fun: watching everyone’s costumes! It’s only during Halloween season that you’re allowed to dress up in Tokyo Disneyland as an adult, and lots of people make use of that opportunity. Some costumes are so good I had to blink and stare to realize they were not the official cast members (which is, incidentally, why it’s not allowed to dress up the rest of the year – you might confuse the kids). Also, it makes for fun situations, like Alice standing in line for lunch with the Queen of Hearts or Belle posing with the park version of Gaston while 5 other princesses watch with interest, haha.

I was inside a little after opening, so I lingered around to wait for the first parade: the Spooky Boo Halloween parade! It’s held twice over the day and thus a short one, but I love Halloween, so I was curious to see what they’d pulled. The parade mostly features the best known characters: Mickey and his friends. They taught us a dance and halfway through, the parade came to a halt for a dance performance. The dancing cast members had gorgeous costumes! They were really into it too, so that was a joy to watch, and I’m kinda sad I couldn’t get a good full view of them on my camera from where I was standing to show you guys, only glimpses in between people’s heads.

I was in for something sweet now, so I wandered into Fantasyland for what I thought was a churro, but ended up being a tipo torta, which – I’m not entirely sure what it is, but it was delicious! I got it in purple sweet potato flavor, because I felt obliged after Okinawa haha, and purple is a Halloween color here, so the sweet potato from Okinawa gets used liberally this time of the year.

I had chosen the Haunted Mansion as my appropriate first ride of today, because duh, Halloween. The wait was 40 minutes when I joined, which was okay if it weren’t for the hot sun, so I was glad to make it inside for the Nightmare before Christmas version of this ride. I really love it a lot – I think it was summer 2017 that I last saw the ride in its original form, oops.

After that, I went back inside again for another favorite ride: Mickey’s Philharmagic Orchestra. There was a small wait here, and a ton of kids who got really into the screening (it’s 4D, so the 3D effects are heavy and you get sprayed with water and scented air in between), so that was kinda cute, haha. They were all making grabby hands at the apple pie and Ariel’s gems.

Once outside, I stumbled upon some character meet and greets in Fantasyland, and then right into the Dreaming Up parade. It’s a lovely one, but I’ve seen it twice now fairly recently, so I wasn’t going to wait on the floor for it. Didn’t have to! I got an okay spot for the visually most impressive floats, so that was a nice little coincidence, haha.

Next up was Pirates of the Caribbean, which I love, but the drop is the scariest thing I do in Disneyland, so I wasn’t super pleased about being put in the front row, haha. I lived, but it took a while for my pulse to calm down. (I’m big on the thrill rides, you can tell.) It’s still super fun, and outside was a band of pirates playing! I think they were kind of trying to spread the crowds today, as it was probably a bit busier than initially expected due to the weather and a couple of rides that tend to draw crowds were closed for today.

After some lunch, wandering around for the views and some window shopping, I settled down next to Snow White’s wishing well to wait for round two of the Spooky Boo parade. About ten Snow Whites and other princesses showed up to take pictures by the well, haha. Sadly, the parade only made a quick round here without dancing in between, but I did get much better shots of the floats now!

And it wasn’t that bad, because I had wisely gotten a fast pass for Haunted Mansion at the same time as the parade, so now I didn’t have to rush as the parade was over quite quickly. I didn’t see the Haunted Mansion wait go down to under my 40 minutes anymore, so that fast pass had been a good call. (I think they’re connected to your ticket now, because I had to scan my entrance ticket and not the fast pass receipt to get in line.)

After that, the iconic ride: It’s a Small World! It’s still fun, and I think I’m mostly past my trauma over the song now, haha. I couldn’t help wanting to take pictures here and there, even though I have a ton already. Spotting the recently added Disney characters is quite fun.

It was getting dark quickly now, and I noticed I was getting a bit bumped out. I kept getting lost in the dark and with the covered parts of the park, so I eventually told myself to just get something sweet and then decide whether I was going to call it an uncharacteristically early day.

As it turned out I just needed food, haha. A hot dog for lunch wasn’t sufficient to get me through the complete afternoon, who knew! I got some ice coffee for the caffeine rush (bad, I know, but hey), bought a little gift for a friend, and was just in time to see the electrical parade Dreamlights. This one changed a little a couple of years ago, but overall it’s still the same one as the one I saw in 2010. It’s still fun, even though the song is even catchier than It’s a small world, haha. They added a tiny something that I spotted right away: Alice was riding a giant teacup on top of the Cheshire cat, rather than the cat’s back proper. I was a bit further away this time, so I got some nice shots of the full floats. I eh, have plenty of close-ups from earlier years, haha.

I then finally made the decision to just get the new Tangled popcorn bucket, which is shaped like the floating lantern from the movie with a little Pascal the chameleon to sit on your shoulder on the strap. There’s a light inside, so that makes for lovely sights in the evening, although the amount of popcorn (caramel flavor at this stand) that came with it was – worrying, haha. I did manage to finish it all though, despite not being the biggest popcorn eater, but whoa. (You can get the bucket separately from the popcorn so you won’t have to clean it, but the popcorn separately means you get two cartons of them, since that’s how much can fit into the bucket.)

Newly invigorated, I decided to get back to attractions. I went into the Enchanted Tiki room first as it was nearby and I love the songs and Stitch. It’s very much a kids attraction and I very much don’t care, haha. If anything, the line is non-existent here and you just have to wait for the next performance to begin.

I then found the ball game stand, which I suck at, but that’s okay, because you get to pick a really nice exclusive pin if you lose, so I got the Minnie one, haha. Making my way back to Fantasyland from there, I hopped into Philharmagic again, the line gone and just having to wait for the next performance to start. There’s a merit in staying late, haha. I rushed to Peter Pan next, where the wait was down to 15 minutes. It’s a fun ride, but it’s over so fast that I can’t justify standing in line for 50 minutes for it.

Finally, with ten minutes until park closure to go, I went to Pooh’s Hunny Hunt – and they closed the line after me, oops. Two more ladies came rushing in via the fastpass entrance, but that was it. Pooh’s Hunny Hunt is a fun and unique ride, but since I’m not a big fan of Pooh bear, I refuse to wait for him for 70+ minutes, haha. This worked, even though it was still about 10 minutes. Around park closure! Wow.

There were still surprisingly many people in the park as I made my way to the exit, some even still on the way into the park. I wonder at what time they can actually close the gates… Hopefully the park members work in shifts, yikes.

After a quick last look in the Bon Voyage store just outside the park I made my way to the station, where I had to wait for the next Keiyo line train as this one was… very full. At 10:30 PM. Ah, the Disney magic, haha. (The people from Disneysea also gather at this station.) Thankfully that got me a front row place in line for the next train, so I could sit (!) until the terminal station of Tokyo, where it was another brisk walk to the Yamanote line and finally, back to my hotel.

 So here I am now. I took a shower last night and fell asleep almost right away. Didn’t sleep through my alarm at least, but I did put it on snooze and only got up as late as possible to still eat breakfast at the hotel here, haha.

Today should be a little calmer. I might do some karaoke and find a café I read about opening some months ago, but other than that, I don’t really have plans. Sadly, the weather is getting bad again starting tonight, thanks to yet another typhoon making rounds. It should be gone by the time my return flight is scheduled, though.

Yikes, time flies. It’s Thursday and I’m flying back on Monday! Ack. Sadly I don’t think many of my Tokyo side tips can go through, if any. A bit of a waste of my JR pass, but it’s long since paid itself back and hey, I will still use it for the Narita Express to the airport if nothing else. I don’t want to over-exert myself or put myself into dangerous situations, so I might just stick to Tokyo until the last day (although Saturday should be alright weather wise, at least less rainy, but again, dangerous situations). And hey, I haven’t gone back to just Tokyo on 2 separate trips because I hate it here, haha. Although with all the things I’ve seen around here, I might have to cash in on that extra luggage… After that huge book I found the other day, I’m already nearing my limit, and the cost of overweight luggage is as much as an extra bag at Don Quijote would cost, so uh. I can still think about it until 24 hours before the flight, so that’s what I will do, haha.

Time to head out. Photos coming up soon, see you later!

[famousavenuefest]

Be proud of all the scars, the make you who you are

My scars are not something to be ashamed of.” Evie tells me every morning. They are a part of who I am, the scars made me who I am. And there’s not a single part of me, Evie says, that isn’t worthy of Auradon.

So I take off my shirt in the locker room. In front of everyone.

Nothing changes. Nobody seems to notice me at all, which is nice. It’s how I prefer my life - to be invisible to everyone - so I exhale slowly.

Then the voices fade away, one at a time until the room is quiet and I can feel the stares.

“Dude, who did that?”

I grit my teeth and swallow before answering Chad. “They’re from the Isle” and they are nothing to be embarrassed about, I am nothing to be embarrassed about.

“What, from some kid?” Doug asks, changing out of his band uniform. “Was it… Harry?”

I shake my head. I've seen Harry’s hook and I can’t imagine the level of bacteria on that thing.

“No, I bet those came from Clayton,” Chad says, matter of factly. “That guy looks like he could do serious damage.”

“It w-w-wasn’t Clayton,” I deny, finally pulling my shirt on. “Clayton’s a good guy. He joined the chess team last week.”

“Was it Gil’s brothers?” A kid in the back asks, staring wide eyed at my scar covered back. “Like Gaston Jr.?”

I shake my head and close my locker. “No! The Gastons are strong, but they wouldn’t do that.“ The Gaston twins had punched me more times than I could count (and I can count pretty high), but they had the hardest time fitting into Auradon. I didn’t want to undo all their hard work so easily and make them out to be, well, villains.

“Rick Ratcliffe?”

“No.”

“Zevon?”

“No!”

“Reza?”

I spin around and snap. “No! It wasn’t an Isle kid! Stop acting like they’re all secretly horrible and capable of terrible things! They stole and stuff, but they never hurt anyone!”

Chad scowls. “You said those wounds were from the Isle. You have to tell us who did it so we can avoid someone like that.”

“It was my mother. Okay? And she’s not coming to Auradon anytime soon.”

The silence in the room makes me sick. There are so many horrified looks and disgust and disbelief and trauma but my scars aren’t gross and I wouldn’t lie about this and none of these pampered Auradon kids had to go through his life.

I snatch my bag and bolt.

—

Mal’s phone buzzes so many times, it falls off her desk and onto her sketchbook. She’s lying on her stomach in the middle of her room, right where the sunshine peeks through the curtains and gives the perfect lighting for this picture of Evie. The caller ID says it’s Jay though, so Mal forgives the interruption and answers.

“Yo?”

“Carlos is in trouble.”

Mal is on her feet and out the door in less than a second, shoes forgotten and unimportant. “What happened?”

“He freaked out in the locker room, I guess. That’s what Doug said. I was still outside with Ben.” Jay tells her and it’s clear he’s running, but years of endurance keep him from being out of breath. “The guys saw his scars and accused other Isle kids, but Carlos said it was Cruella and then he ran.”

“Do you know where he is?”

“No, Evie’s in the library and checking it out to make sure he didn’t run there. I cleared out the tourney field.”

“Not his room?”

“That’s where we figured he would go, but we ruled-.”

“Ruled out the nearest locations, got it.” Mal exits her dorm building. “I’m on it, I’ll call you if he’s not there.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

She pushes her way past a bunch of boys before taking the stairs two at a time, barely acknowledging the cold metal on her feet. Take a left down the hall, pass the common room, and-.

“Open,” Mal commands and door obeys.

I am curled up, still on my bed. Things like this happen every once in a while - a fight or cigarette smoke or screaming - but it doesn’t make it any easier to see me like this, especially for Jay. I'm so small, so unresponsive, so similar to how I was on the Isle for years, basically a walking corpse.

“Carlos,” Mal breathes and dashes to the bed, fingers on my throat. She knows I am alive and fine and all, but she has to be sure.

“I’m okay.”

“Come here.” Mal pulls me to her, wrapping around me easily, letting me find safety in her hold. “What happened?”

Me, with my eyes closed, shrugs.

“Jay and Evie are on their way,” she says into my hair.

“You guys worry too much.”

“With our upbringing, too much worry is impossible.”

Mal holds me quietly, squeezing my hand and rubbing my back because, well, talking isn’t her strong point, but she can be here for me physically, show that she’s not leaving, until the door opens again.

It’s Evie first and she clambers onto the bed, right against my opposite side and kisses my cheek. She places her hand on top of Mal’s, still squeezing my hand.

Jay comes in less than a minute later and sits at their feet. “Pup?” He asks after a moment of silence. “What happened?”

“Why am I so embarrassed?” I mumble against Evie’s shoulder.

“About…your scars?” Mal asks.

“Everything.” I affirm and finally squeeze her hand back. “My scars and my life and my mother.” I shut my eyes tighter.

“We can’t change what happened to you or who you were,” Evie tells me softly. “Nothing that happened is your fault. Or any of our faults. And if the kids in Auradon don’t get that.”

Jay pokes her foot. “That’s not very princess like.”

Evie kicks him.

I laugh, soft and broken, but still a laugh. “I just felt so…” i sigh. “Like everyone could see me. Everything of me.”

“I hope they do,” Evie says. “You’re worth seeing.”

“I felt so exposed, though.” I curls closer on myself “Like every secret I had was out there.”

“It’s not a bad thing for secrets to come out.” Mal cuddles closer to me. “In the dark, secrets own you. In the light, you own them.”

“No one can use it against you,” Jay says, rubbing little circles on to my ankle. “You’re stronger for it and now they know. You’re not afraid of your past.” He reaches for my hand. “You’re not afraid of anything.”

I whisper, “ If so, then  why did I run?”

“Grief isn’t a linear process,” Evie sits up and moves to the pillows, placing my head in her lap. “Some days, we’ll regress, that’s normal. But we’re going to keep getting better and having less secrets and being less afraid of how different we are.”

“It’s okay to have bad days, Carlos,” Mal tells him. “It’s okay that not everyday is a good day.”

“And if you don’t want to leave our room for the rest of the year, we won’t.” Jay promises, sliding down to take Evie’s place on my side. “We’ll bring food back here, have a movie day or play cards or something.”

Ifinally open my eyes and look at them. “You’ll stay?”

“Until the end.”

“Of course.”

“forever.”

I kiss Evie’s knee in front of my face, then Jay’s cheek and then bring Mal’s hand up to kiss her knuckles. “Thanks.”

[theheadlessgroom]

Another Character Stats Thing

TAGGED:  No one! TAGGING: All who’d like to do it!

GENERAL

NAME: Randall Huit Pace ALIAS(ES): The Hatbox Ghost, Ol’ Hatty GENDER: Male AGE: 234 (still mentally 33) DATE OF BIRTH: May 9th, 1782 OCCUPATION: Former haberdasher, current ‘attic ghost’ at Disneyland’s ‘The Haunted Mansion’

APPEARANCE

EYE COLOR: Olive-green; now white HAIR COLOR: Black; now gray HEIGHT: 4′12 SCARS: One, wrapping all the way around his neck, as a result of being beheaded by Emily’s groom-to-be. It’s jagged and darker-colored than the rest of his skin, and is extremely sensitive to the touch (outside of himself, only Emily is allowed to kiss or touch it) BURNS: None OVERWEIGHT: No UNDERWEIGHT: Was slightly underweight in life

FAVORITE

COLOR: White-it always reminds him of Emily and her wedding gown HAIR COLOR: Blondes-Randall has been attracted to blondes since he was a boy, long before he met Emily, and always had an intuition that he always would be  EYE COLOR: Blue-again, this stems from Emily, and how entranced he always has been since he first looked into her eyes SONG: It’s probably a toss-up between Michael Buble’s Have I Told You Lately (That I Love You?) and Michael Crawford’s Music of the Night: He likes a fair amount of modern music, and he often (privately) sings them MOVIE: London After Midnight-it’s eternally his favorite Lon Chaney Sr. film, and he still fondly remembers seeing it for the first time  TV SHOW: None-Randall doesn’t watch too much television FOOD: Potato soup, hands down. It’s probably only rivaled by corned beef, but he generally only has that during the holidays, such as Saint Patrick’s Day  DRINK: Coffee, preferably black-Randall’s never been interested in many other types of drinks, though he never passes up a tall glass of lemonade, generously provided by the Mansion’s head cook, Lena Henshaw  BOOK: Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera, with only Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame rivaling it. He bought both books after seeing their respective adaptations (with Lon Chaney Sr. in the title roles, no less), and has lovingly taken care of them ever since then

HAVE THEY

PASSED UNIVERSITY: No HAD SEX: Yes HAD SEX IN PUBLIC: No GOTTEN PREGNANT: No KISSED A BOY: No KISSED A GIRL: Yes GOTTEN TATTOOS: No GOTTEN PIERCINGS: No HAD A BROKEN HEART: Yes BEEN IN LOVE: Yes STAYED UP FOR MORE THAN 24 HOURS: Yes

ARE THEY

A VIRGIN: No A KISSER: He’s very shy about this fact, and doesn’t like to do it if others are around/are watching, but yes, Randall is something of a kisser, as Emily could happily attest  SCARED EASILY: Not necessarily-being a ghost tends to lower your fears, but sometimes he loses it and gets scared (though it’s more like paranoia than outright fear) JEALOUS EASILY: Somewhat-he admittedly can be a bit hawkish at times, especially when it comes to Emily, and while he trusts her unconditionally, it doesn’t stop him from doing it from time to time TRUSTWORTHY: Yes: Randall dislikes sparking gossip or double-crossing others by revealing secrets and such, and is quite trustworthy. He’s a spook of his word, in short

DOMINANT: Flexible SUBMISSIVE: Flexible IN LOVE: Absolutely-even though his wife isn’t back in the Mansion just yet, he still loves her desperately, and has loved her since the day he met her SINGLE: Not anymore!

RANDOM QUESTIONS

HAVE THEY HARMED THEMSELVES: No THOUGHT OF SUICIDE: No ATTEMPTED SUICIDE: No WANTED TO KILL SOMEONE: No DROVE A CAR: No HAVE/HAD A JOB: Yes HAVE ANY FEARS: Yes-he’s afraid to be alone/abandoned by others, being banished again, and most of all, never seeing Emily again

FAMILY

SIBLINGS: None PARENTS: Wilhelm and June Pace nee’ Burke CHILDREN: None PETS: Five bats that have taken up residence in the corner of his room, whom he has christened Bela, Boris, Lon Sr and Lon Jr, and Elsa