#location: arendelle

[a13thprincefora13thprincess]

The 13th post: More than a Disney Prince

“Hans is a prince. He is a Disney Prince, but he’s more than a Disney Prince. He is many things. And there are a lots of secrets and twists and turns that we take with Hans.” "A lot of the scenes I recorded did not end up in the movie" Santino Fontana on Hans.

From Admiral Westergaard to Prince Hans of the Southern Isles

As you will already know, Frozen is an adaptation from the tale “The Snow Queen” by danish author Hans Christian Andersen. Disney had been trying to adapt “The Snow Queen” for decades. Different ideas were developed and a lot of changes were made in the process (you have a really interesting post about Frozen’s development by @greatqueenanna here).

We know that at some point, when Elsa still was a villain, the idea for Hans’ character was a nameless “Admiral Westergaard”, who was Anna’s love interest.

Evil Elsa deleted scene

Elsa was then changed, from a villain to a villain who had a redemption thanks to Anna, while Admiral Westergaard became a surprise villain.

Fast-forward to the final act: Elsa creates an army of snow monsters to attack our heroes while Kristoff has “a Han Solo moment” and comes to help Anna. To halt Elsa’s attacking army, the two-faced Prince Hans triggers a massive avalanche — not caring that the avalanche also puts Anna, Elsa and all of Arendelle in jeopardy. Anna realizes Elsa is their only hope, so she convinces her to use her powers to save the kingdom (...) Elsa’s heart is then unfrozen allowing her to love again.

At some point, Admiral Westergaard was changed to Prince Hans of the Southern Isles. This is a strange change for a villanous character if you ask me: they not only made him a Disney prince by birth, but also gave him the first name of the author of the original tale. Besides, keeping in mind that the names of the main characters in Frozen are meant to be a Hans Christian Andersen reference (Hans Kristoff Anna Sven), prince Hans would somehow be the most important, because he’s the one who was given the author’s first name. Makes sense, doesn't it?

Oh, but maybe it's just a coincidence.

Besides this, there is the fact that the kingdom’s name, Arendelle, is based in the norwegian town of Arendal. The isles located south of Arendal are, in real life, Denmark. And Hans Christian Andersen was danish. So they gave prince Hans not only the name but also the nationality of the author.

Also a coincidence?

Disney gave us a huge, very important clue with the Frozen Fever map.

This picture was originally posted by @wrath-of-zirro. A lot to analyze here.

On the top left corner there is a map of real Arendall with Denmark on the south; and the Frozen Fever map on the right. It is clear "The Southern Isles" are the danish isles of Fyn and its surroundings.

Map of real life Denmark with Fyn (Funen) in red from Wikipedia. Compare to The Southern Isles in the Frozen Fever map.

Hans Christian Andersen was born in Odense, capital city of Fyn.

In the bottom of the picture we see the Egeskov Castle in Fyn, whose tower reminds of the one we see in The Southern Isles in the Frozen Fever map. It looks like it the castle was still under construction in the Frozen Fever map (there are 13 princes, so they need a huge castle I guess!). It's quite hard to me to think all of this is just a coincidence.

But that is not the only Andersen reference. Hans having twelve older brothers reminds of Andersen's tale The Wild Swans. That tale is about a princess who has eleven older brothers. The princess is named Eliza, which reminds of Elsa and, not unlike her, she is taken for a witch and is almost killed for that reason.

It is also known that Disney planned to make a movie about the danish author's life which started developing in the 1940s (the same time period in which they started trying to adapt The Snow Queen).

That project was later abandoned. Nevertheless, Disney has adapted many of the danish author's tales.

So... could it be that when Frozen was finally made, the creators decided to pay homage to the danish author by making him a Disney Prince?

But wait... there is more.

Thanks to @thelittlehansy I knew Hans Christian Andersen himself appeared as an animated character in an episode of The Little Mermaid animated series, called "Metal Fish". So, if Disney already had an animated character design for H.C. Andersen, and Prince Hans was a tribute to the author, it would make sense they would look alike, wouldn't it? They just had to redesign the character to make him look young, regal and handsome. Let's have a look at how did the animated version of the danish author look like. I found the episode in swedish language on Youtube:

Part 1

Part 2

They look pretty similar to me. Ginger, big nose, large chin, with sideburns, wears a vest and, in the last scene, a tailcoat. Even the fringe is similar. If you still think all of this is a coincidence I have to disagree. As the Duke would say: The can be no doubt now.

Frozen Fandom: But that's not posible! Making the author a villain, not very important for the story, and the center of silly jokes?! That would be so disrespectful!

Well, I have spent two years trying to prove Frozen makes perfect sense withouth Hans being a bad guy. Santino Fontana said a lot of the scenes he recorded weren't finally included in the movie, so it's safe to think we miss a lot of information about the character. The movie is not badly written; it's too well written in fact: the plotholes are part of the plot.

Frozen Fandom: But Hans is the villain!! He plotted a whole plan to take over the kingdom, took advantage of Anna's vulnerability, leave her to die when she needed him the most and let's not forget almost decapitate Elsa after lying to her about her sister's death.

*Sighs in frustration* All you can accuse Hans of is being a jerk to a dying Anna, being in a very stressfull, life-or-death situation. But let's deny these accusations one by one.

Lying to Elsa about Anna's death: Technically, he wasn't lying, as Anna was dying because of ice magic and Hans though (because of Anna's own words!) Elsa willingly attacked her.

Almost decapitated Elsa: Already explained in the 11th post of this analysis.

Leave Anna to die: Hans was sure there was nothing he - or anyone else - could make to save Anna, and let's not forget the overall situation: people in the kingdom was in inminent risk of dying because of the winter (remember the Duke's words: if we don't "do something" ( = kill Elsa) soon, we all will freeze to death), and he was really shocked (see 9th post of this analysis) to know Elsa had attacked Anna.

Plotted a whole plan to take over the kingdom: The only evidence for this is his own "villain monologue", which I don't think we should take seriously for reasons already explained in the 9th and 12th posts. Telling Anna he wanted to marry her and then arrange "a little accident" of Elsa is more him being a jerk than confessing an evil scheme.

Took advantage of Anna's vulnerability: I have to disagree. I think he manipulated her a bit, but not all of the time. If we look at their "date" from an objective point of view, we realize that for the most part he was just being friendly. Dancing, taking a walk, eating something is not something particularly romantic.

There were not ardent love expressions, he didn't even tell Anna he loved her. Can we really say he "seduced" her? The shoulder bump is romantic? It's more a friendly gesture, that is coded later in the saga as a "sibling thing".

We are led to see the scene in a subjective way, through Anna's eyes. But if we rewacht the scene from an objective point of view, all we see is a friendly interaction.Things don't get really "romantic" until "Love is an Open Door". And let's not forget it's Anna who begins it and this is Hans' first reaction:

Then he basically plays along with her, and at the end of the song - when he proposes to her - that's where the manipulation begins.

Another reason against Hans being a villain would be his facial expressions. He only has facial expressions that could be labeled as villainous in a few scenes (already explained in previous posts). I find it very telling that when he sentences Elsa to death, creators chose to give us a close-up of his face expressing sadness - when a smirk would be more fitting, since this happens after the betrayal scene. It's like they wanted to tell the audience: "No, Hans is not happy to sentence Elsa to death; he is devastated".

Frozen Fandom: He`s faking to the Duke and the dignataries.

It could be, but it's unusual for Disney characters to fake to the audience. Gaston makes villanous expressions since he first appears, so the audience can easily identify him as a villain... but everyone in the town think he's a great guy!

And Mother Gothel... think how interesting would it be if the audience wasn't given the backstory at the beginning of Tangled. But still in that case, we would be able to analize her expressions and realize they are different from those of a worried parent.

Frozen Fandom: well, so who do you think is the villain then?

Simple: there is no real villain in Frozen. But there are two fake villains. This pair.

Before we continue we have to make the following question: who is this Elsa?

But was she the cursed princess to be saved, or the wicked witch to be vanquished? And what was his role in this story? (A particular understanding, by @fasadi)

Elsa: A witch in distress

While most of the audience identifies Elsa as a princess, making Frozen a "two princesses movie", this is only half truth. Anna is "the princess" and real protagonist in Frozen, while her sister shares some traits with other kind of classic Disney characters. Let's see: Elsa...

Is older than the princess

Has magical powers

Lives isolated

Has a position of power (she's the princess heir and becomes the Queen)

Wears heavy make up

Wears purple clothes (her coronation cape) and uses purple eyeshadow

Curses the princess and the kingdom

Her actions have a huge impact on the plot

Has a great (villain) song

Is (almost) killed by the prince

The 13th Disney princess shares these characteristics with these ladies:

From my point of view, the Evil Queen from Snow White is the one that has had the biggest influence in Elsa's look. I found the following description of the Evil Queen on the Disney fandom wiki very fitting for Elsa:

"From the outside, the Queen appears to be calm, regal, and sophisticated, but in reality, this collected and stately facade hides an extremely sadistic, hateful, cold and sinister person" (Elsa's facade is similar and also hides her real self) "The Queen is an icily beautiful woman with a serene, unfeeling face and a slender figure. She has pale skin, red lips, green eyes, and seemingly penciled-on eyebrows"

They both wear a long cape with a pendant. You can't really blame the Duke for thinking Elsa was "a wicked witch conspiring to destroy us all", can you? After all, this is a fairy tale. There has to be a witch!

(Full comic here. A very fun comic showing Hans has all the traits of a classic Disney Prince. I'd love to see something similar with Elsa as a classic Disney Witch!).

At the end of the day, Elsa mortally attacked her sister and almost killed her whole kingdom because she had a massive anxiety attack. But even if she is, technically, a Disney witch and the villain of the movie (in the sense her actions are those of a villain) Elsa is not evil. Her thoughts, feelings and motivations are very different of those of a villain. She can't control her powers and feels unable to cope with the problems she has created, so her response is to run away.

This learned helplessness makes her another classic character: the damsel in distress. Elsa has to be saved from those who want to kill her to end the eternal winter and save the winter. She is first saved by Hans, who risked his own life entering the Ice Castle to save her from the Weselton guards and was able to stop her with a sentence that basically meant "I trust you" (whole analysis in the 7th post) and later saved by Anna. And, just like Hans saved Elsa from killing two men, Anna saved Hans from killing Elsa.

But, just because the audience "knows" Elsa they fail to identify her as the witch of this tale. They fail to understand that the Duke's reaction and prejudices against Elsa were, in fact, quite logic and understable. They fail to understand that (almost) everyone in Arendelle feared Elsa and wanted her dead, so the curse disappeared. The audience has all the information they need to realize Elsa meant no harm but... do the audience has all the information they need to understand Hans' character, and his sudden change at the end of the movie? I'm pretty sure we miss essential information.

Remember my interpretation of the gloves parallel in the analysis of the betrayal scene? One glove off = fake villain reveal. Now look at the Hans and Elsa dolls. "Hero and villain" series, and there are TWO sets of dolls. The first one: Elsa as the Snow Queen (hero), Hans in his fake villain reveal clothes (villain). The second one: they are in their coronation clothes, Elsa as a Queen who is secretly a witch (villain), Hans as the perfect Disney prince (hero). And the looks of complicity are very obvious.

And if Prince Hans' inspiration was the danish author himself, is there some real life woman behind Elsa?

The answer is Yes.

Hans Christian Andersen's inspiration for the Snow Queen was the most important of his (long) list of imposible loves.

Jenny Lind

Johanna Maria "Jenny" Lind (6 October 1820 – 2 November 1887) was a Swedish opera singer, often called the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she performed in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and across Europe, and undertook an extraordinarily popular concert tour of the United States beginning in 1850. She was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music from 1840.

Yes, I know she doesn't look like Elsa. But still, she was the inspiration for the Snow Queen, and Elsa is inspired on the Snow Queen, so... she somehow "is" Elsa.

From Wikipedia:

She toured Denmark where, in 1843, Hans Christian Andersen met and fell in love with her. Although the two became good friends, she did not reciprocate his romantic feelings. She is believed to have inspired three of his fairy tales: "Beneath the Pillar", "The Angel" and "The Nightingale".[4] He wrote, "No book or personality whatever has exerted a more ennobling influence on me, as a poet, than Jenny Lind. For me she opened the sanctuary of art."[4] The biographer Carol Rosen believes that after Lind rejected Andersen as a suitor, he portrayed her as The Snow Queen with a heart of ice.

One of his stories, "The Nightingale", was written as an expression of his passion for Jenny Lind and became the inspiration for her nickname, the "Swedish Nightingale".[46] Andersen was often shy around women and had extreme difficulty in proposing to Lind. When Lind was boarding a train to go to an opera concert, Andersen gave Lind a letter of proposal. Her feelings towards him were not the same; she saw him as a brother, writing to him in 1844: "farewell ... God bless and protect my brother is the sincere wish of his affectionate sister, Jenny".[47] It is suggested that Andersen expressed his disappointment by portraying Lind as the eponymous anti-heroine of his Snow Queen.[48]

So, to sum up this very long post:

Hans and Elsa

Who people think they are

Who they really are

Conclusion

So... if I'm on the right track, and Disney created Prince Hans' character as a tribute to Hans Christian Andersen, wouldn't it make sense they planned to give him the happy ending he did not have in real life?

Time to analyze the Helsa hints...but that will be in a next post.

First post of these series here.

#frozen #disney #frozen analysis #hans analysis #hans #prince hans #hans of the southern isles #prince hans of the southern isles #hans frozen #let's redeem hans #my theories #who is this hans #disneyfilms #santino fontana #frozensource #elsa #queen elsa #elsa frozen #elsa disney #who is this elsa #elsa is a disney witch #frozen fever #the southern isles #fyn #fyn denmark #denmark #funen #funen denmark #egeskov castle #frozen disney

[frozen10fanzine]

Frozen Through the Years

Yearly Spotlight: 2019

Written by @toriofthetrees

After six long years, 2019 saw the release of the long-anticipated sequel, Frozen II.

The lead-up up to the release was intense to say the least.

The first teaser trailer premiered in February, opening with Elsa on a black-sand beach stripped down to her bare essentials, barefoot, ready to take on a raging sea. She attempted twice to cross the torrential waters before the trailer turned to Anna’s shock of hundreds of diamond-shaped glass covered in strange symbols, taking over Arendelle. Following closely behind were several moments of Elsa, Olaf, Kristoff, and Anna taking on dangerous challenges, and a show of strange, foreign magic. All of this was centered around this new, mysterious setting known only at the time as an autumnal forest.

It gave just enough of a preview to hook millions.

The trailer was viewed and downloaded several million times on Twitter and YouTube within a short amount of time. In the fandom, a storm of news, posts, speculation, and discussions broke out over several platforms, too chaotic to keep track of. The months that followed the teaser were absolutely brimming with excitement! Across cinemas, television, and the internet—both in the US and internationally—came many trailers, sneak peaks, and posters about the upcoming movie. Alongside this came leaks as well, all of it sparking speculation in the fandom over what the plot of the movie could be.

Countless books about Frozen II came onto the market before the film was even released, notably without the end of the film printed within their pages. This lead to fans in many locations to protest the shops selling these books, wanting their money back.

Most of these protests lead to no results.

Success for Disney Studios, specifically. contributed to the exposure for Frozen II. ~In March, Disney invested billions of US dollars in company acquisitions across the film and TV industry, creating the most powerful media company in the world in the USA. ~This was the year of the 6th Disney D23 Expo, the biggest Disney fan event of the year! It was held on August 23–25 at the Anaheim Convention Center in California, showcasing news and pictures around all the new Disney parks, resorts—and movies! Including Frozen II! ~On November 12, 2019, Disney launched its streaming platform Disney+ in several countries ~2019 ultimately proved to be Disney's most successful cinema year to date, regardless of which new film was released!

All of this led up to the release of Frozen II on November 20, 2019 in most countries (unfortunately some countries had to wait until the beginning of January).

This new installment to Elsa and Anna’s story saw the sisters and their found family making a long trek away from Arendelle… in order to save it. Mysterious magics send them up north to the Enchanted Forest, that is covered in an impenetrable mist. Yet, it parts for them. The deeper they go into the forest, the more they discover about themselves, their family, the spirits, Arendelle… so that only one thing can be said for certain: Nothing will ever be the same again.

This film was polarizing.

In the cultural zeitgeist, it was a massive success like its predecessor, exceeding Frozen as the highest grossing animated film of all time. It received mostly positive reviews and it would go on to be nominated for multiple awards, including an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. The Disney merchandising machinery was running at full speed and earned the company many more millions within a short amount of time. The limited edition dolls were sold out on the same day as release! However, it notably did not have the same cultural reach that its predecessor had. “Into the Unknown,” to many, was not comparable to “Let it Go.” And the film was nominated aplenty, but never actually received any awards.

However, it was within the fandom that this polarization was seen the clearest.

Frozen II made good on its promise that nothing would ever be the same for these characters. The sisters, though still as close as ever, no longer lived under the same roof by the end of the film. Elsa abdicated her crown for her duties as the Fifth Spirit and Guardian of the Enchanted Forest, while Anna took over as Queen of Arendelle. This separation, whilst to some was a step-up for the sisters, others saw as a step back. This debate rages in the fandom to this day, and many, many fans on Tumblr, Reddit, and other social media prefer Frozen to its sequel.

The fandom did gain some new content, including the addition of multiple ships. There were two that were rather popular. The first was Agduna (Agnarr/Iduna), which came about because of the major focus Frozen II had on them, the sisters’ parents. The second was Elsamaren (Elsa/Honeymaren), which came about because Honeymaren had a minor, but important interaction with Elsa in the film that sent her on the right path to Ahtohallan.

Just as Frozen II’s main theme—change—impacted the sisters, so to it did the fandom. The polarizing effect of the film lead to quite passionate arguments over its content. However, the fandom did not get any smaller or lose any passion. People continued to create, debate, discuss, and post about Frozen and Frozen II. In interviews, the cast and crew said that Frozen II was made to grow up with the audience who were there when the first film was released in theaters. With that in mind, the fandom no longer looked like it did when Frozen first came out.

Things change.

But we can still all agree on one thing: We love Frozen 💕

Stay Tuned For More

👆🏻 Click above if you want to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Frozen. The due date is April 12, 2024.

We look forward to seeing your memories ❄️

#frozen #frozen10 #frozen 2 #anna #sven #elsa #olaf #olaf's frozen adventure #ofa #water has memory #frozen fever #frozen 10th anniversary #for you #fyp #tumblr fyp

[frozensunflowersandlilies]

Arendelle Castle Rooms: Part 6 | Analysis

Frozen Fever rooms covered in part 5. So now we move to Olaf's Frozen Adventure. We begin with Kristoff's barn, then the council chambers and next, Elsa and Anna's parents room.

1. Kristoff's barn

(ref: Kristoff making stew in 'Olaf's Frozen Adventure' | End of 'Frozen')

It's really lovely to see Kristoff having his own barn in his future wife's or at this stage, current girlfriend's home. It's really sweet and welcoming bearing in mind it's been only 5 months since the events of Frozen. And this barn is on the left side of the castle because as Kristoff leaves the barn, you can see the view of the entrance of the main castle building and the inside right hand corner as seen above.

And now we can finally move onto the rooms featured in Frozen 2.

2. The council chambers

(ref: Concept art | Hans lies to the council about Anna's death in 'Frozen' | "Into the unknown" in 'Frozen 2' | "I am with you" on YouTube | End of "Into the unknown" in 'Frozen 2')

The room where council meetings and the Queen's formal parties take place. The room where Hans lied to the Duke of Wellington and the others about Anna dying in his arms.

In Frozen 2 we see the return of the room when Elsa sings "Into the unknown". However there are major furniture changes to it, most being barely any. Also new paintings of the new family and of her old family have been hung up in the room.

In a song on YouTube, there's a song released 3, years called "I am with you" where Olaf writes to Elsa showing us how much he misses her. And when Olaf sends his letter to gale to give to Elsa he steps on the balcony - But! - There is an error here because the balcony is of the room below, not of the conference room. The concept art of the conference room above, shows what the balcony of the room looks like. We can also see the two paintings featured on Frozen 2 behind Olaf, of the room he's in.

At the end of the song when Elsa unleashes the crystals of the four elemental spirits waking them up (along with the rest of Arendelle lol), Anna wakes up and looks out to witness these crystals in the air. But there seems to be a continuity error somewhere. The background behind Anna, brightened up, is of the bedroom they were in but the balcony doesn't match as I analyse is below. Instead the balcony looks more like a combination of the one in the conference room and their parents room; the structure/ length and the panels of the window of the balcony matches their parents room and and the pillars on the side of it match that of the conference room. Animators probably wanted to show Anna looking out from their parents bedroom window because she was sleeping in that room but they probably forgot the pillars in front of the balcony lol.

So swap Olaf's and Anna's balcony and rooms and they'll match up.

Then we have the balcony Elsa in on, in "Into the unknown" (due to the image limit I can't show you in this post unfortunately - see part 9/ the final part for full construction of it all). The balcony windows look different and the pillars aren't identical but in general it's very close. So I believe that the design of that balcony is a continuity error and that it's actually the same balcony we first see Elsa on in the second (full length) movie. There's a particular painting behind them in both balcony scenes that match up. That painting and the two new paintings of the family are hung up in the council chambers room. Other evidence that shows the two balconies are the same room is that on Elsa's right side when standing on the balcony, you can see the cliffs of Arendelle.

I have located where the council chambers room is in the castle, and it's on the east side of the castle.

3. Elsa and Anna's parents room

(ref: "Some things never change" in 'Frozen 2' | Elsa and Anna in their parents room in 'Frozen 2' | End of 'Frozen')

About this room, we know that Elsa and Anna's room have one triangular window and that their room structures are the same as each other's. Yet this room has the same door pattern and wallpaper pattern, even the bed heading pattern as Elsa's. Yet the location of this is the east side of the castle and the windows are rectangular. So I've come to the conclusion that this is their parents room but Elsa moved to their parents room. This is the first time we see Agnarr and Iduna's bedroom so we don't know if the patterns of their room were always the same as Elsa's. At the beginning of Frozen 2, we see Elsa on the balcony and the room seems to be the same given the door so we can say this balcony with the triangular roof goes with their parents room. The windows also match up. And seeing close-ups of the front of the castle, the balcony structure is exactly the same as the one in the circled image the windows also match up too. That would mean that their parents room is directly below Anna's room. However, the back of the castle is almost identical to the front. It could be that the parents room is at the back but I don't think so because one, as king and Queen they wouldn't want a back view of Arendelle but rather the front where they can their people too, two because when Elsa was born her room was made below theirs and when Anna came along she was in that room too and finally, because when Elsa looks out in "Somethings never change", she sees the bridge between her castle and the kingdom which is at the front of the castle.

In a book, it confirms that Elsa was living in her parents room instead of her own one. In 'Olaf's Frozen Adventure (OFA)' , it doesn't show either one of the sisters rooms, except for Anna's but very briefly and with continuity issues as explained in part 1 of these breakdowns. In 'Frozen Fever', which despite releasing before 'OFA', is canon to be set a year after 'Frozen', we do see Anna's room in a better view. In the Short, we learn that Anna still sleeps in her room, and at the end of the short we see Elsa does too as Anna feeds her a cold remedy. But in 'Frozen 2', Elsa is in her parents room so it's probably that after Anna's birthday she felt something was missing, and missed her parents more and moved to her parents room. Though I don't think she would have moved her bed or changed the wallpaper or the door but I think that it was just to make it clear to us, the viewers that she's in that room now.

Now for the other rooms in part 7.

#frozen 3 #frozen 2 #frozen #ofa #olaf's frozen adventure #frozen fever #olaf #gale #I am with you #disney frozen #disney

[beautiful-basque-country]

hating on a black character just for being black is the clearest definition of racism

See, that's why I wanted to actually stop answering anons about Disney and Wish and whatnot. Because I made my point perfectly clear and everything else is accessory and misunderstood, like this case.

I don't hate on Asha or any character. She's not real, she's part of an animated movie that I don't even wanna watch at this point.

I don't care if she's white, black, or afro-latina, or afro-Spaniard. I just agreed with anon because I think they have a point: Disney includes black, white, asian, etc people and a mix of this and that because Rosas is a fantasy land! At the same time, they sell Rosas being somewhere between north Africa and south Iberia, but still they decide to make room to every color and culture by removing brown people's presence and identity. Not cool. You know what's worse? That it's brown people the ones chosen to leave their place to multiculture, not white people eg. Arendelle was also a fantasy land but hey, that time Disney thought it was cool to actually be accurate to the land it was supposed to be located in and leave it populated just by the whitest of people. So knowing black people exist in both places, let's be clear on that, it's interesting that they chose to experiment with fantasy cultures and inhabitants when the location is set in a region of brown + tanned caucasian people.

I hope Disney make an animated movie set in black Africa, make it a mix of all those beautiful colorful cultures and stories and beliefs. Give us a whole black cast, with black voice actors, and black writers that understand what they're talking about. I definitely would watch because it'd be truly different by Disney's standards. We all know it's not happening anytime soon, though.

Now it's over. You can send in whatever you want but I will answer no more Wish questions.

#wish disney #walt disney #animated movie #animation #representation #personal #racism #anons #sigh

[pirate-of-the-southern-isles]

I am a professional pirate, so I tried to escape. You are professional guards, so you caught me.

The first time, you are terrified. The eighteenth time, you are pretty much used to it. - Hans at some point.

Being pirates, Hans and his friends find themselves under arrest quite often and in various locations - they even keep a log with ratings for every jail they visited (Arendelle was given 4 stars, the Southern Isles have 1). The Republic gives simple directions for those situations: keep calm, know your surroundings, know your wardens, befriend everyone you can, gather intel, remember to alert your mates and your crew (and your lawyer), don't make it harder than necessary for anyone involved but don't forget your wits and your Attitude™. Besides, if it seems like you will be behind bars for longer, you should at least try to escape, for the sake of tradition.

Also - it is considered good manners to tip your executioner!

#frozen #hans of the southern isles #prince hans #hans westergaard #fanfic #fanfiction #westergaards #pirate hans #frozen hans #disney hans #pirate #pirate's life #you can always be a pirate #the republic of pirates

[sweet-caress-of-twilight]

Going off of one of my previous reblogs, i attempted to make a list of where in the world every Disney Animated Canon movie takes place

Antarctica:

Pablo the Cold-Blooded Penguin (The Three Caballeros) (Pablo starts out living in the South Pole and then he goes to Chile, Peru, and Ecuador)

Africa

The Lion King

Tarzan

Asia

Aladdin is set in a mishmash of Middle Eastern countries. It was supposed to be in Iraq, but because of the Persian Gulf War, Disney said no, so it takes place in the fictional country of Agrabah, which is inspired by Baghdad in Iraq.

Raya and the Last Dragon is set in a mishmash of Southeast Asian countries, but takes the most inspiration from Vietnam

China: Mulan

India: The Jungle Book

Europe

England: The Wind in the Willows (The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad), Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, 101 Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone, Robin Hood, Winnie the Pooh, The Great Mouse Detective

France: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Aristocats, Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Germany: Snow White, Tangled

Greece: The Pastoral Symphony (Fantasia), Hercules

Italy: Pinocchio

Norway: Frozen (Arendelle is heavily inspired by Norway)

Russia: Peter and the Wolf (Make Mine Music)

Spain: Wish (Rosas is inspired by Spain and located off the Iberian Peninsula)

Turkey: Pomp and Circumstance (Fantasia 2000) is about Noah's Ark, and many people believe that the ark landed at Mount Ararat in present-day Turkey

Ukraine: Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria (Fantasia) (the real Bald Mountain is Mount Triglaf, near Kyiv in Ukraine)

Wales: The Black Cauldron

North America

Mexico:

Las Posadas

Mexico: Pátzcuaro, Veracruz and Acapulco

You Belong to My Heart/Donald's Surreal Reverie (all from The Three Caballeros)

United States:

Different towns in Massachusetts and California have claimed to be the Mudville that Casey at the Bat (Make Mine Music) takes place in, but the author of the original poem said it has no basis in fact.

The Legend of Johnny Appleseed (Melody Time) - the real Johnny Appleseed (real name John Chapman) planted apple trees in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Ontario, and West Virginia

Lady and the Tramp could take place somewhere in New England

The Fox and the Hound looks like it takes place in Appalachia, so maybe Pennsylvania or Virginia

Home on the Range is somewhere in the Old West

Bolt takes place across America: starts out in California, the title character ends up in New York, visits Ohio, and is back to California by the end

Alaska: Brother Bear

California: Wreck it Ralph (Ralph Breaks the Internet reveals that Litwak's Arcade is in California), Big Hero 6

Florida: Dumbo

Hawaii: Lilo and Stitch

Louisiana: Blue Bayou (Make Mine Music), most of The Rescuers, The Princess and the Frog

Maine: Bambi (the forest was based on Maine and the animators traveled to Maine for reference)

New York: Johnny Fedora and Alice Blue Bonnet, The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met (Make Mine Music) (the Metropolitan Opera is in NYC), Little Toot (Melody Time), The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad) (the real Sleepy Hollow is in New York), The Rescuers (the Rescue Aid Society headquarters is in NYC), Oliver and Company, Rhapsody in Blue (Fantasia 2000)

Texas: Pecos Bill (Melody Time)

Virginia: Pocahontas

Washington, DC: Atlantis: The Lost Empire (Milo works at the Smithsonian

Oceania

The Rescuers Down Under: Australia

Moana: Polynesia

Pangaea

The Rite of Spring (Fantasia)

Dinosaur

South America

Argentina: Pedro, El Gaucho Goofy (Saludos Amigos)

Bolivia: Lake Titicaca (Saludos Amigos)

Brazil: Aquarela do Brasil (Saludos Amigos), Baia (The Three Caballeros), Blame It on the Samba (Melody Time),

Chile: Pedro (Saludos Amigos) (The title character delivers the mail in the Andes, between Santiago, Chile, and Mendoza, Argentina), Pablo the Cold-Blooded Penguin (The Three Caballeros)

Colombia: Encanto

Ecuador: Pablo the Cold-Blooded Penguin (The Three Caballeros) (Pablo goes to the Galapagos Islands, which is an archipelago in Ecuador)

Peru: Lake Titicaca (Saludos Amigos) (the lake is at the border between Peru and Bolivia), Pablo the Cold-Blooded Penguin (The Three Caballeros), The Emperor's New Groove

Uruguay: The Flying Gauchito (The Three Caballeros)

Unknown/does not take place in our world

Any of the package film segments not mentioned here

The Little Mermaid seems like it takes place in the Mediterranean Sea, but it could also take place in the Caribbean, which would explain Sebastian's accent

Fantasia 2000: "Pines of Rome" is set in the Arctic, so it could be anywhere from Canada to Alaska to Finland to Russia

Most of Atlantis: the Lost Empire, since the city of Atlantis is completely made up

Treasure Planet

Chicken Little

Meet the Robinsons

Zootopia

Strange World

#disney #snow white and the seven dwarfs #pinocchio #fantasia #dumbo #bambi #saludos amigos #the three caballeros #make mine music #melody time #the adventures of ichabod and mr. toad #cinderella #alice in wonderland #peter pan #lady and the tramp #sleeping beauty #101 dalmatians #the sword in the stone #the jungle book #the aristocats #robin hood #winnie the pooh #the rescuers #the fox and the hound #the black cauldron #the great mouse detective #oliver and company #the little mermaid #beauty and the beast #aladdin

[frozen-snowflakesandsunflowers]

World of Frozen: Disney Parks | Analysis

Part 1

We have gotten our first official look at the Frozen resort in the Disney Park in Japan in a short promotional video on Instagram. It's so beautiful and gives me a mix of Frozen and Frozen Fever vibes - The two of my favourite Frozen movies!

Let's break it down and see what we have because sometimes big attractions like Disney Parks tease upcoming things for future stories like how we have the upcoming podcasts soon and then Frozen 3 later on.

We open the video to a painting of Elsa and Anna similar to that shown in Frozen 2, in "Into the Unknown". Same attire but different setting and pose.

Then we get closeups of Arendelle and a glimpse of the Ice castle in the distance too. All around Arendelle, are buttings of the official Arendelle flag as they are most year round. The foundation is frozen in big snowflakes just like in Olaf's Frozen Adventure.

And the cutest part of how they've designed Arendelle is that they added the Elsa and Anna figures on the clocktower from Frozen Fever!! They're exactly the same except they added details to the bottom of Elsa's dress. Presumably, that means that since Anna's birthday in Frozen Fever, those giant dolls in the Clocktower of Arendelle have stayed there for two years!

Next, we get a look at the roll of a proclamation for an official 'Summer Snow day", which is the event that is taking place in this Park. We see a citizen of Arendelle putting the roll up but we only see the back of her head. She can be seen wearing a ribbon with 3 sunflowers on the bow, very similar to the one Anna wears in Frozen Fever. Sunflowers are Arendelle's symbol in the summer because it's Anna's birth month and season and favourite flower too as we learn in Frozen Fever.

We get a close-up of the latest newspaper from the Arendelle Daily Press. On it, it headlines 'Arendelle Set To Celebrate Summer Snow Day'. For those who can't read the articles featured in this newspaper, I'll write it all out below from top to bottom, and left to right.

"Citizens have finished preparations for Summer Snow Day festivities across the kingdom, and they are expecting this to be the largest celebration yet

Everyone from Arendelle's Royal family to entrepreneur of the year. Wandering Oaken, will be hosting an array of events taking place in the village and forest.

Villagers appear to be the most excited about a royal tour of Elsa's Ice Palace.

In an official statement released early today, Elsa stated that she and Anna wanted to do something truly special for the people of Arendelle.

Through the power of Elsa's ice magic, visitors will be transported to the top of the North mountain and treated to a performance filled with music and fun. This annual celebration marks the day that Anna sacrificed her life to protect Elsa. Anna not only saved her sister with an extraordinary act of true love, but also saved the kingdom from the most severe ice storm on record."

"Local Entrepreneur Builds Sleigh Slide

Wandering Oaken, owner of Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and Sauna, is inviting everyone to ride his Sliding Sleighs as part of the annual Summer Snow Day celebration. From the comfort of his sauna, Oaken said, “I was having a steam when an idea popped into my mind, what if we all could ride sleighs in the summer? Wouldn't that be a hoot!”.

After sharing that his attraction is reindeer powered and snowman operated, Oaken spoke a great length about the “big summer Snow Day blowout” at his Trading Post and Sauna. Members of Oaken's family finally stepped in after an extensive pitch for a sun balm of his own invention, and they insisted that he, “Let it go”."

"Northern Delights

Sweets to brighten your days and nights

Across from friendship fountain"

"Tick Tok Toys & Collectibles

Beloved gifts from anytime

Conveniently located in the Clock Tower Square"

"Wandering Oaken's Sliding Sleighs

A real hoot and a half!

This Summer Snow Day

Across from the Fjord in Arendelle Forest

And while you're there, be sure to step inside Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and Sauna for the big Summer Snow Day Blowout!"

"Golden Crocus Inn

The Finest Dining in the Kingdom

"We will treat your like royalty” "

"Weather Forecast

Warm and sunny with a chance of scattered summer snow"

"Elsa Seeks to Improve Relations with the Southern Isles

Elsa has invited the Royal Family of the Southern Isles to enjoy Summer Snow Day celebrations in Arendelle. The King, Queen and twelve of their sons were seen entering Arendelle Castle after their ship arrived late yesterday. “It's a lovely display of peace between the two kingdoms.” said local candy shop owner. “I think the gesture is sweet”.

The relationship between both kingdoms has been viewed as chilly following a dramatic attempt by Prince Hans of the Southern Isles to overthrow the Royal Family of Arendelle. It is no surprise that the imprisoned Prince is the only member of the neighbouring Royal family who will not be visiting. Prince Hans is currently recovering injuries from a giant snowball, the details of which remain unclear.

Official Ice Master And Deliver of Arendelle

Summer Ice

New Available "

To summarize this newsletter, Elsa and Anna have created a new annual celebration called, the Summer Snow Day, to mark the day that Anna sacrificed her life to protect Elsa and saved the kingdom from enteral Winter in the first movie or in other words the anniversary of the great thaw. This storyline is set before Frozen 2 and after Frozen Fever. Bearing in mind that Frozen Fever is (just a month under) a year after Frozen and was set around the events of Anna's birthday, June 22, summer solstice, Summer Snow Day is exactly a year after Frozen and a month or so after Frozen Fever. Elsa and Anna also created this celebration as an urge to do something truly special for the people of Arendelle. But the interesting thing is that it also states that the sisters, particularly Elsa given she's the Queen, want to improve their relationship with the Southern Isles by inviting them to their first Summer Snow Day celebration. But although the royal family of the Southern Isles attended, Hans didn't because he's recovering from injuries from a giant snowball (of which details are unclear). When they mentioned a giant snowball we immediately remember when Elsa blew the birthday bugle horn and shot a massive Snow ball to the Southern Isles, specifically right on Hans. The giant snowball went unnoticed by everyone in Arendelle when Elsa accidentally threw it but I'm pretty sure Hans knows exactly where it came from - because there's only one person he knows with ice powers! 😆 But I think the King and Queen of the Southern Isles told Elsa and Anna about Hans injuries to answer for his absence so by doing so, that's how the sisters learn about the giant snowball being from when she blew the horn in Anna's birthday (because I'm sure they wouldn't believe a giant snowball hit Hans out of nowhere with no snow around the Southern Isles either). When the Paper says he is the imprisoned Prince, I believe that his parents must've imprisoned him in his castle with chores to be done etc as punishment and whenever his family have to go anywhere else be it in the kingdom or to another, he isn't allowed to.

Moving on, we have another look at Arendelle and we see Elsa and Anna in their epilogue attire of course, (cosplay versions of course for the Parks) greeting at a local citizen.

We have a closer look at the sisters and a fist look at Arendelle castle. What we see here is the back of the castle but also west of the castle.

Then we get another look at the iconic Clock Tower behind a lamp post.

And finally we see the sisters walking by the Clock Tower and by its side we can see another glimpse of Elsa's Ice Castle.

So that's the whole promotional video for the 'World of Frozen' in the new Disney Park in Japan. Though the storyline is set a year after Frozen and a month after Frozen Fever (given Frozen was set in July), Elsa and Anna in the Parks are in their Frozen 2 epilogue attire for promotional purposes of Frozen 2 and all other media set after, I believe. So that means the Southern Isles and Arendelle are on good terms now. As for Hans, we don't know what he's up to. I'm certain he has recovered from his injuries and his punishment must be over a month or two from the Summer Snow Day. Since then, we have heard nothing of where he is or what he's up to. So his current status is unknown.

But a theory goes that he is Wolfgang in disguise 🥸 But I'll save that for another post. For now, here's the breakdown to the video of the 'World of Frozen' attraction in Japan's new Disney Park.

Part 2 ft more Easter eggs in another snippet of the Arendelle park here...

#disney frozen #frozen #frozen 2 #frozen 3 #elsa #anna #elsa and anna #disney #hans #hans of the southern isles #prince hans #helsa #anna of arendelle #Queen anna #elsa of arendelle #the snow Queen

[true--north]

Some notes on Forces of Nature

At the beginning of each chapter, Anna rejoices at the new adventure, Elsa moans "oh no", Krstoff urges them to stay together.

Queen Disa helped to fix a broken mill. She boasts about science and how she uses it everywhere. Anna loves science. Disa loves reading and is very well-educated. She lost her parents several years ago.

Anna doesn't completely trust Wolfgang. He is like the young kind version of the Duke. People are not exited about him because of the past of his family and his weird behavior. He invents some copper steam boilers(If I understood correctly, I'm not a native spkr) and other mechanical stuff. They constantly break down or catch fire, but Wolfgang is striving to sign a contract with Anna about copper mining and persuade her to purchase some of his things. "Copper sourced from Southern Isles prepared in Weselton and is here in Arendelle for your pleasure." He constantly speaks about copper and promotes the inventions. Also he complemented Disa and her knowledge of science, they are close in this.

They didn't say about the causes of the flood that perished the kingdom of Disa, maybe it's a geographical location of the kingdom (Arendelle had helped them once to rebuild anew after "the land slide") or maybe the consequences of the fact that the water from Arendelle(when Elsa saved the city) went that way. Anna only said "but magic affected all of us and the people of [the kingdom of Disa with the unutterable naming].

Olaf said that Kristoff needed time to thaw out to him, but now they are best friends. Olaf is cute here, he tries to befriend Disa though she feels somewhat uncomfortable about his magical nature, he tells some funny stories and jokes, as always.

Disa knows Elsa as the Snow Queen. Seeing her powers in action, Disa said Anna "your sister is amazing."

"Elsa doesn't like show-offs" Anna said.

Disa said she would like to be prepared for "the future random acts of Nature" and would like to know more about magic. That is, in their world, magic and Nature are closely related in meaning, almost synonymous.

Anna easily let Disa into the secret room of Iduna and Agnarr (then, because of Wolfgang's faulty inventions, it almost burned down. He apologised). Elsa doesn't like it. They argue that Anna is too open, that the castle is full of strangers, that she is not allowed to reveal all secrets to strangers because not everyone embraces and appreciates magic like the royal family.

"A few boundaries won't hurt."

"But actually, boundaries were a problem in the past. I like helping people. I'm just doing what you told me to do, being queen!"

"Ugh, you're right."

"You trusted me to step up as a queen, I trust you to be an [ambassador/representative]of magic. Wait, what? You said I'm right?"

"I did. I'm just used to being alone in this. But you're right, and that's why you're the queen. You're smart and kind and knowing what you're doing."

#forces of nature #frozen podcast #frozen 3

[kmomof4]

Cave Cruises, Cabin Capers, & Cracked Craniums A fic collaboration between @kmomof4, @jrob64, @snowbellewells, and @whimsicallyenchantedrose

What happens when four fanfiction writer fandom friends go on vacation together? A fic collaboration, of course! We knew from the start we wanted to have a collab sprint involved in our vacay, but it wasn’t until we were in the thick of it that we decided we wanted our story to essentially be a fanfic version of our trip itself. Sadly we did not meet any hot pirates, but it was a lot of fun all the same. All of the pictures in the post were taken by one of us on the trip and the cabin in the picset above is where we stayed.

Shoutout to @motherkatereloyshipper​ for her manip of the Lost Boys Cave sign at the beginning of the fic! You’re the best, babe!

This is a long one y’all, over 16k, so be sure you have snacks and drinks to enjoy while you read!

Summary: When Emma Swan and her friends go on their annual girls’ vacation, they meet a group of guys who seem to keep turning up in the same places. Pranks, yearning looks and romance ensue.

Rating: T for some strong language and a suggestive hot tub scene.

On ao3

Under the cut, unless Tumblr ate it.

A collaborative story by @snowbellewells​, @whimsicallyenchantedrose​, @kmomof4​ and @jrob64​, based on our very own girls’ trip (without the guys, sadly)

Emma Swan and her girlfriends–Mary Margaret Blanchard, Ruby Lucas, Regina Mills, Belle French, and Elsa Arendelle–were on the first day of their yearly, week-long girls trip. The friends had been vacationing together since they’d graduated college three years before and all went their separate ways–some to graduate school, others to their chosen career fields. Regina had just graduated from Harvard Law School at the top of her class, and she had job offers in Chicago and Knoxville, so the friends made plans to help her decide on a location by booking this year's trip to Kentucky and eastern Tennessee. The group met in Bowling Green, Kentucky for the Lost Boys Cave tour, and later that day, they would drive to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee to the cabin they’d rented for the week. Not only was it near one of Regina’s possible job locations, but Ruby’s grandmother – “Granny” to them all – ran a diner and lived in Pigeon Forge as well.

Regina had been born and raised in New York City and was already complaining that the fresh pine smell in the air was getting to her.

“How much farther is it to this cave that we apparently have to see?” she groused. “My feet hurt already. I didn’t sign up for blisters.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “If you’d taken my suggestion to actually break in your new tennis shoes beforehand, you wouldn’t have that problem.”

Regina was on the verge of what Emma was sure would be an excessive amount of snark, when they heard footsteps approaching them on the walking path.

“Good morning, ladies,” an accented voice said from behind them. Emma turned around and nearly lost her breath at the handsome man who had spoken to them.

His deep blue eyes sparkled in the morning light, and the slight smirk and raised eyebrow on his face sent her heart racing. He had artfully tousled black hair and trimmed scruff the same color, with just a hint of ginger peeking through that became noticeable when the sun filtered through the leaf canopy over the path where they all walked.

A chorus of good morning resounded in response to Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome’s cheerful greeting, but Emma couldn’t find it within herself to speak to him. His good looks left her completely speechless.

“Are you ladies joining the 11 o’clock tour?” he asked.

Emma nodded– still completely tongue tied– while Mary Margaret answered in the affirmative for all of them.

“Wonderful!” he exclaimed exuberantly. “You’re with me then.”

He was walking beside Emma by this time and turned toward her, waggling his eyebrows. “Cat got your tongue, Lass?”

Emma could feel the blush spreading down to her neck as she tried once more to force her mouth to work properly. She wet her lips and took a deep breath, determined to say something.

“Lass?” she asked saucily. “You fall through a time portal or something? What century are you from anyway?” She cocked her head at him challengingly as she lobbed the verbal ball back into his court. She was a bit surprised to find herself anxiously awaiting his reply.

That blatantly expressive eyebrow of his practically leapt into his hairline, and a smirk slid over his mouth at her sassy response. “Let me assure you, Love, though there is nothing wrong with speaking as a proper, dashing gentleman of old, I’m from the same time as yourself, and as you can clearly see, I have quite the youthful glow.”

Someone should register those blue eyes of his as deadly weapons, Emma thought to herself. She was suddenly aware that all of her friends were beginning to take much too curious an interest in their verbal jousting match, so she moved away from him with a rather dry, “Not your love, Buddy.”

He chuckled knowingly but did back up a step. “As you wish then, Darling. Perhaps you will grant me your name instead, so I shall know what I may call you?”

“Her name’s Emma, Handsome,” Ruby interjected, a bit too eagerly in Emma’s opinion. “I’m Ruby. This is Regina, Mary Margaret, Elsa, and Belle.” She gestured to herself and each of her other friends in turn. “And what may we call you? And when? Oh, and how often?”

The man in front of them grinned before answering, “Killian Jones, at your service, ladies.” He gave a small bow and directed a wink at Emma.

Ruby saw it, but she was pleasantly distracted when a tall, curly-headed guy with scruff defining his strong jawline joined them on the path. His eyes quickly took her in as well, before turning his attention to Killian with the message he had come to deliver, “Liam and I’ve got the other boat.”

“Thanks, Graham,” Killian said to the newcomer.

“The other boat?” Ruby asked. “There are two boats?”

“It depends on the size of the group,” Graham answered, a soft smile touching his lips as his eyes lingered on hers.

“How big does the group have to be?” she asked, propping her hand on her hip. “Because I can go flag down some cars on the road, if necessary.”

“Oh, I don’t think that will be a problem, Love,” Killian said as they crossed the footbridge and reached the assigned meeting place, noting the large group of people waiting for them.

Emma leaned back against a large rock and enjoyed the view as Killian greeted the gathered groups–people hailing from Florida, Michigan, Colorado and even California–and began his spiel about the caves, the local ecosystem, and legends and lore of the area. He was good at his job, and it was clear he loved it.

“Be sure to stop me with any questions you have,” he finished.

Ruby groaned. “You have no idea what you’re asking, Killian. Mary Margaret is a school teacher and will definitely take you up on that.”

He gave her a good-natured smile, before turning his charm back to Emma as they began walking toward the cave. “And what about you, Love? Do you have any questions for me?”

“Depends,” she answered with a smirk, “do they have to be about caves?”

He leaned in and gave her a saucy wink. “You may ask me as many questions as you like…perhaps over a few libations after the tour.”

Emma wished very much she had a witty comeback for that, but his low drawling voice, combined with the flirtatious wink left her not only speechless, but unable to remember what words even were.

He gave her a knowing grin, before turning back to the group as a whole.

“To your left, here, you’ll see what we call the Blue Hole,” he said, gesturing toward a small, round body of dark blue water. “Legend has it that if you dive too deeply within its depths, Peter Pan will grab you and drag you to Neverland. It was deterrent enough to keep the locals from exploring it.”

Elsa scoffed. “Neverland? Isn’t that supposed to be a place of wonder and magic? Why would anyone be afraid of someone like Peter Pan?”

“The child is a bloody demon,” Killian answered, completely serious. “I wouldn’t test him.”

After passing beside the Lost River–called such, because no one knew where it began–they finally reached the cave itself. Two other men waited for them, and Killian promptly introduced them as his older brother Liam, and Will Scarlet.

“Some of you will have the honor of riding with Graham Humbert and myself,” Liam explained, “while the rest will be in the nearly-as-capable hands of Will and my little brother.”

“I think you mean ‘younger’ brother,” Killian muttered under his breath.

Mary Margaret turned to those in their group. “Any preferences about which boat we take?”

Ruby grinned broadly. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I know which one I’m choosing. Graham’s hot, and I certainly wouldn’t mind spending a little extra time with him.” She tossed the woman next to her a knowing look. “And from the way Elsa’s eyeing that new guy, Liam, I’m guessing she wants to join me.”

The woman in question blushed a pretty pink, but didn’t contradict her.

“I’ll stick with Killian,” Belle said. “He seems quite knowledgeable, not to mention more than a little smitten with our Emma.”

Emma rolled her eyes and shrugged. “He’s a shameless flirk,” she asserted, her countenance turning confused the moment the word was out of her mouth.

“A what?” Elsa asked.

Emma waved her hands around aimlessly. “Oh, I meant to say a flirty jerk,” she explained, “but what’s the harm in having a little fun? After all, this is a vacation.”

Regina groaned, stepping next to Ruby and Elsa. “No thanks. If I have to spend a twenty minute boat ride with Captain Guyliner, with his yearning looks and doe-y eyes, I may vomit.”

Mary Margaret, for her part, took her place beside Emma for no real reason other than balancing out their group.

With the seating arrangements made, it was time to step into the boats docked side by side at the entrance of the cave. Emma took Killian’s hand as he helped her in. The moment her hand touched his, it was as if sparks went up between them. Emma gasped, pulling her hand back and meeting his equally startled eyes. For a moment neither moved, eyes locked, chemistry sizzling between them.

“Oi! What’s the hold up?” Killian’s co-guide, Will, complained.

It broke the spell, and Killian stepped back, scratching at a spot behind his ear. “Right, if you will, please take your seat.”

After Killian and Will helped the rest of the passengers onto their boat, Killian leaned over to tie the rope mooring back to the dock and Emma blatantly stared at his backside. The man was entirely too hot for anyone’s good. He glanced back as he finished and caught her staring.

“Like what you see, Love?” he asked with a saucy grin.

“You better believe it,” she tossed right back at him.

Killian laughed heartily as he hopped up onto the raised platform between the two rows of seats in the boat. “If you liked that, you’ll love this. Here is the part where I practice for my next job–as a runway model.”

Emma snorted a laugh as he walked, exaggerating his movements as though he were modeling the latest in haute couture, complete with sound effects.

“If you’ll look to the ceiling directly behind me,” Killian said, a moment later as the boat began to slowly glide through the cloudy water, “you will find our first attraction, the Wishing Stone.”

“Oh, that sounds mysterious and magical!” Mary Margaret said. “Why is it called that?”

Killian gave her a grin, having expected the question. As Ruby had warned, she had, indeed peppered him with a steady stream of questions throughout the entirety of the tour to that point. “Because if you don’t duck your head, you’ll wish you had.”

Emma groaned at the corny joke, but obediently ducked her head, turning it toward the back of the boat, where Will seemed to be so intent on something he was saying to Belle that he’d missed his co-guide’s warning. One second he was talking, and gesturing animatedly, and then, with a crack, his head came in contact with the low hanging cave ceiling.

“Bloody hell,” the man exclaimed, as he tumbled backwards and landed with a tremendous splash in the shallow water behind them.

“Oh, for the love of…” Killian said, shaking his head in disgust. “Would someone in the back kindly give my git of a co-guide a hand up?”

Always eager to help no matter the circumstances, Belle offered a very soggy Will assistance as he climbed back in the vessel. The man gave her a grateful smile. Belle returned it hesitantly before turning determinedly away from him. Emma gave her a sympathetic smile. Belle had only recently gone through a very painful breakup, and feelings or flirtations of any kind were the last things she wanted right now.

The boat tour lasted around a quarter of an hour, Killian and Will each pointing out structures of interest.

“If you notice,” Will said at one point, directing his flashlight to the ceiling, “the occasional floods that pass through this area tend to leave the ceilings smooth, but we’ve got a few baby stalagmites forming up ahead.”

“I think you mean stalactites,” Belle answered. “Stalactites hold tight to the ceiling, while you might trip over a stalagmite at your feet.”

Will tossed her a delighted smile. “Right you are, my sweet! When I cracked my cranium I must have lost my good sense.”

Emma saw Killian roll his eyes and mutter. “Said as though he ever had any to begin with.”

When the tour came to an end, Will and Killian hopped onto the docks, secured the boat, and began helping their passengers out. First on, Emma was the last off, and when she took Killian’s hand, it was like before, but this time even more. It was as though an electric current ran through her at the touch and she audibly gasped, her eyes fixed on his. She couldn’t look away, not as she stepped up onto the edge of the boat, nor when she stepped toward the dock. Her foot landed on a rope, and with a pop, it twisted to the side and she fell on the ground with a quick curse.

He was at her side in a moment.

“Emma. Love, are you okay?” he asked, reaching to steady her.

“I’m fine,” she bit out, feeling the intense embarrassment of her tumble far more than the pain of the sprain. “Just…don’t hover,” she said, waving her arms about. “Let me up!”

“Nonsense, Emma, you must let me attend to your injury,” he said, hand on her shoulder holding her still. “Allow me to wrap it for you.” He called for Will to bring him the first aid kit from the boat.

Emma shivered at the thought of his hands on her, even for something as innocuous as wrapping a sprained ankle. She should refuse; she really should, but it was, after all, a bit of a hike back to her car, and she knew her twisted joint could use the extra support.

“Fine, just hurry up with it,” she grumbled. “Mary Margaret has our vacation planned out to the minute, and she’d give me hell for messing with her precious itinerary.”

He laughed. “I think you'll find my ministrations to be both quick and efficient.”

Quick and efficient they might have been, but Emma felt every second of it with a swoop of her stomach as Killian gently cradled her foot on his lap, carefully removing her sock and shoe, and then expertly wound a long bandage around her foot and ankle, before restoring her footwear.

The swoop intensified as he offered to fetch a golf cart and drive her back to the car. These were dangerous waters she was treading in, and she’d best put a stop to it. The flirtatious rogue, she could deal with. The sweet, genuine man, she couldn’t.“Thanks for the offer, but it’s just a little sprain,” she said, a bit more harshly than she’d intended. “I can hobble back to the car on my own.”

He looked as though he wanted to protest further, but the expression on her face must have deterred him. He took a quick step back and glanced aside. “As you wish.”

“Thanks though,” she said, not wishing to give him the impression she was upset with him. “You know, for the tour and everything.”

He sketched an exaggerated courtly bow, “It was my very great pleasure, Love. And should you ever find yourself in the area again, feel free to look me up.”

While she couldn’t say the idea wasn’t tempting, Emma merely gave him a quick smile and then limped over to her friends who were waiting for her. No point in getting her hopes up. After all, once she left the park, she’d never see Killian Jones again.

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

Once they arrived at the cabin and unpacked all their belongings, the ladies made a trip into town to buy groceries they’d need for the week. Emma’s ankle was still very tender, but she wasn’t willing to be left behind, just to sit and be bored while the rest of them were gone. So she promised Mary Margaret and Elsa, the designated moms of the friend group, she’d use a motorized scooter to do her part of the shopping.

When they pulled into a parking space at the local market, Belle ran in to collect a scooter for Emma, who felt herself both blushing and scowling despite being touched by Belle’s thoughtfulness. She knew that the way she was beginning to hobble unsteadily to deal with the pain in her ankle would require her to use the scooter, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. It made her feel either ancient or like she was blowing a minor sprain completely out of proportion. “Thanks,” she muttered dryly, with a sidelong glance at Belle’s smiling face. “This is so embarrassing.”

“Now, enough of that,” Elsa broke in matter-of-factly, taking Emma by the elbow with little ceremony and guiding her right up to the scooter and into its seat. “You just sit yourself down and stop worrying over how it might look. The sooner we get what we need, the sooner we can be back and you can get off that ankle to elevate and ice it.”

There was no comeback to offer for such sensible reasoning, so Emma nodded, zipped her lips, and steered toward the door, the rest of the ladies following in her wake. They paused only briefly in the chilled grocery air to organize who would grab what and where they would reconvene in twenty minutes. Once each had their short list, they split up to complete their mission.

Emma grabbed most of the dairy essentials she had been assigned quite easily, then motored over to the ice cream freezer to finish up. She could nearly taste the creamy, chocolatey Rocky Road melting on her tongue already, and she was leaning in the case to grab the last carton of it off the shelf before she even noticed there was anyone else nearby. In fact, she wouldn’t have noticed at all if the carton hadn’t been taken from her grasp by another hand grabbing it at exactly the same moment she’d intended to lift it herself.

“Hey, that was mine!” she accused, darting a withering glare to the left at the interloper, only to find their unfairly sexy tour guide from earlier in the day.

Wearing an all-too-smug expression, Killian Jones nodded in greeting with a lazy, crooked grin that Emma wanted to punch - or kiss - off of his face. “Are you sure about that, Lass? It would appear that the Rocky Road is in my possession.”

“Only because you took it out of my hands!” she argued. “And what are you even doing here, anyway? Are you following me now? Crippling me at the start of my vacation wasn’t enough?!?”

Tilting his head to look at her, Killian kept his mouth shut. Even if her assessment was completely unfair, he rarely got himself in trouble for things he didn’t say. Instead, he waited a moment, thinking she might calm down and take back her accusation. When Emma crossed her arms over her chest in a huff and instead looked as though she might happily run him over with the scooter she rode, he realized that was not about to happen. Perhaps a bit of well-placed smolder would be in order?

“Come now, Darling,” he soothed, lowering his voice and purposefully allowing the lilt in his words to become more pronounced. “You know as well as I that your unfortunate fall at the cave was no fault of mine. And I did patch you up as best I could, did I not?”

“Don’t you bat those pretty eyes at me,” she warned in a defensive snarl. “I’m not about to fall for that. And I believe I’ve already told you that I’m hardly your anything - lass, love, darling or otherwise.”

“Very well, Emma,” he enunciated the name ridiculously. “And to answer your earlier query, no, I am not following you. We’re on our way to a vacation rental, and are picking up groceries before we get there. And if I’d known how much you abhor my company, and that you were such a vexatious lass, I wouldn’t have even flirted with you.”

“Well, if I had known you were such a self-righteous prick, I wouldn’t have flirted back,” she snarked, unable to help the little flare of regret that curled in her gut at Killian’s statement of finding her so difficult he would not have even engaged with her had he known. It was the one chink in her armor, ever since she was a child - too guarded, too prickly, too much. It had always been the same when she found herself alone again. Quickly, she shook that regret away and focused back on the current challenge standing before her.

“You want to talk about a self-righteous prick, that would be my brother.”

“Huh?” Emma asked dumbly, not quite following his logic.

Killian gestured down the row nearest them to where the tall, curly-haired captain of the other tour boat–Jones’ older brother, she remembered now–was reaching up to the very highest shelf in the cereal aisle, where Elsa had been trying to grasp a box of her favorite cereal that had toppled over and fallen hopelessly out of her reach. The little tableau took only seconds, but was unarguably sweet, and the bright adoration that lit up Elsa’s face as she turned to thank the elder Jones brother, gave her aspect a stunning beauty the likes of which Emma had never seen from her friend before. When Liam offered what almost looked like the smallest of formal bows to Elsa before continuing on his way, Emma looked back to Killian with a grin, and added, “What, you’re both stuffy and old-fashioned beyond belief?”

He seemed to sense that the mood had shifted and allowed a gentler smile to cross his lips as well. “Aye, something like that, I suppose.”

They had begun to move back toward the front of the store side-by-side, almost without consciously realizing what they were doing. Emma was more than a bit flabbergasted when they reached the front of the market and Killian easily plunked the ice cream into the basket of her cart.

She looked up at him from her seat, surprised and ready to argue again, only to find him looking back at her with a softness that warmed her, even as it discomforted her at the same time. “While it can hardly be deemed my fault that I am so devilishly handsome you couldn’t keep your eyes off me and tripped out of your tour boat, I am always a gentleman. The Rocky Road is yours, Emma.”

Floundering for a moment, and out of her depth, Emma finally settled on a simple, Thank you, before coyly adding, “Maybe you would enjoy something like Rum Raisin more anyway.”

“Think nothing of it,” Killian offered gallantly, and moved to saunter back toward his brother and his group of friends. However, just before he turned away, the more proper facade slipped once more as he teased, “And as a matter of fact, I prefer my rum undiluted…and shared with you, if you’d allow it.” Then, with a wink and a waggle of his eyebrows, he was walking away.

By the time Emma, Mary Margaret, Elsa, and Regina were loading their purchases into the back of Mary Margaret’s Traverse, Emma was getting worried about the state her ice cream would be in when they got back to the cabin. She wondered how Ruby and Belle could have both gotten held up in their shopping when Ruby emerged through the doors of the grocery into the parking lot, walking close enough to Killian’s friend Graham for her arm to brush against his with each step.

The lean muscles of his forearms were on full display as he carried both his own purchases and Ruby’s, and she looked up at him with her red-painted lips curved into a satisfied smile. She clearly appreciated his chivalric efforts as Graham placed the meats and cheeses Ruby had been assigned to gather in the back with the girls’ other shopping bags and stood back to his full height. His eyes already gazed at her with puppy-dog devotion as Ruby allowed her fingernails to trace over his shoulder and down his bicep. What most might not see beyond the overt flirtatiousness – they hadn’t known her as long or as well as Emma had – was just how over the moon the striking brunette already was for this scruffy gentleman as well.

They finally heard Belle coming to join them even before they saw her come through the exit. She was carrying a plastic bag with the condiments and spices she’d had on her list, but she was also brandishing a jar of Polaner All Fruit in her free hand and ranting with her intense librarian’s dedication to facts about just why she had indeed needed to purchase the pricier topping.

“...and it’s all natural, lower sugar, and has a purer taste,” she was saying. Will nodded along with utmost attention, even as the mischievous gleam in his eye could only remind their audience of a junior high boy on the playground who lived to tug on the ponytail of the girl he liked. “Not to mention the fact that the company grows and harvests their berries organically, and that the glass jar is recyclable and more environmentally friendly than plastic.”

“Oi, right ya are,” Will exclaimed, clearly not about to set her off any further. “I only asked if ya needed to buy the ritziest jelly on the shelf. Clearly ya do, so I’ll not say anymore about it.”

Belle startled visibly when they arrived at the Traverse, their friends’chuckles finally registering through her lecture of Will. “Oh, hey guys,” she added almost dazedly with a flattering pink staining the apples of her cheeks.

“Hey yourself,” Ruby simpered with a wolfish grin, “looks like you might have found a rather large extra during your shopping.”

Will’s burst of guffawing laughter set them all off again, and Belle couldn’t help but join in, even at her own expense, before they were all finally on their way to the cabin at last.

*********

Emma was out on the deck enjoying the cool night breeze. She sat in a two person glider, ice on her ankle, after returning to the cabin following the grocery run. It was so quiet and peaceful, Emma could feel her eyelids drooping. It had been a very long day, after all.

Suddenly, the pleasant silence was broken by the slamming of a car door and a familiar voice reaching her ears from the parking area of the cabin next door.

No. Way. She thought, rising from the glider and hobbling to the railing. Looking down, she saw the unmistakable backside of Killian Jones as he reached into the back of a black SUV for a suitcase. As soon as he set it on the ground, Emma backed away from the railing, hoping against hope it was dark enough that if he were to turn around and look up, he wouldn’t see her.

He reached back in, and Emma returned to the railing just to get another glimpse of him. She’d deny it to her dying breath to anyone who asked, but she wasn’t enough of a self deluding fool to lie to herself. The man was breathtakingly handsome and the thought of living right next door to him for an entire week was enough to send her pulse into overdrive.

She hobbled back into the house, drawing everyone’s attention as soon as she came in the door.

“Killian Jones is next door!” she exclaimed. There was a chorus of Whats, but Emma didn’t miss the way Ruby, Elsa, and Belle all either lit up or blushed furiously, realizing immediately that their respective guys were probably going to be at the same cabin. Mary Margaret was just suggesting they go next door and say hi, when she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Regina was closest, so she opened the door to find a tall, huskily built man with light brown hair and a mustache and closely trimmed scruff on his jawline. Regina’s heart rate picked up, but she quickly schooled her features. It wouldn’t do to swoon at the feet of a stranger.

“May I help you?” she asked. His smile lit up his face when his eyes landed on her. Yep, it was a good thing she could slip into her queen persona-–an affectionate nickname the girls had given her back in college and that she’d continued to hone during law school–at the drop of a hat.

The man stepped into the room with his hand held out in front of him. Regina looked down her nose at the offering, her eyebrows raised nearly to her hairline. He cleared his throat and dropped his hand, his gaze going around the room.

“Good evening, ladies,” he said, congenially. “I’m Robin Locksley, owner of Sherwood Forest Resort and I just wanted to say welcome and to see if everything was in order for you.”

“Oh, yes, Mr. Locksley,” Mary Margaret said enthusiastically.

“Please, please,” he interrupted. “Call me Robin.”

“Of course, Robin,” she replied. “I’m Mary Margaret.” She then continued introductions around the room, motioning to each of the ladies in turn.

Robin nodded to each one before coming forward and shaking their hands. He greeted Regina last, and with a mischievous smirk on his face, he lifted her hand to his lips. “Milady,” he murmured before brushing them across her knuckles.

Regina couldn’t help the way her heart thundered in her chest at his boldness, but she’d be damned if she let him see it. She lifted her chin slightly and raised a single eyebrow at him, a move that would have lesser men shaking in their boots, but didn’t seem to phase him at all, his smirk widening just a bit.

“If I can help you with anything,” he said, his gaze still firmly on Regina, “please don’t hesitate to ask. My cabin is the one on the other side of your neighbors.” He pointed to where they knew the guys were staying.

“Thank you so much, Robin,” Mary Margaret replied. “We certainly will. We were just going to go next door and say hi. We met the guys staying there this morning at the Lost Boys Cave Tour in Bowling Green before driving here this afternoon.”

“Did you really?” Robin asked, his eyebrows rising in surprise. “What a small world. They’re all friends of mine. Liam and I were college roommates, so I’ve known Killian since he was a teenager. Graham and Will work with them at the cave and so a few years back, they started joining Liam and Killian when they’d come here for a visit a couple of times a year.”

“Wow!” Ruby exclaimed. “A small world, indeed. Tell me, Robin,” she continued, glancing at Belle and Elsa before she spoke, “Are all the guys single?”

Robin smirked again and his eyes twinkled. “I am unaware of any romantic attachments for any of them.”

Ruby’s grin was brighter than the sun at his words. He bowed his head slightly and gave a small two fingered salute as he wished them a good evening and departed.

As soon as he was gone, Mary Margaret shot Regina a serious look.

“There’s that wall again, Regina,” she said, shaking her head slightly.

Regina’s head whipped around so quickly, she was surprised her neck didn’t crack.

“What are you talking about?”

Mary Margaret came over to her friend and put an arm around her shoulders. Regina stiffened but didn’t pull away.

“That wall you put up to keep out pain,” Mary Margaret continued, “can also keep out possibilities.” Regina scoffed. “He was very handsome and obviously interested in you.”

“He smells like forest,” Regina said. “If you think he’s so handsome, why don’t you go after him?”

“Because he didn’t look twice at me,” she replied, exasperation coloring her words. “Just keep it in mind, please, Regina,” she urged her friend. “I know you have a wonderful future ahead of you no matter where you decide to go, but love is a part of all happiness, and Pigeon Forge is less than an hour from Knoxville.”

Regina rolled her eyes. “That would probably be a strike in the Knoxville column instead of a plus, just so you know.”

Mary Margaret squeezed her shoulder. “Promise me you won’t rule it out altogether, Regina. Just see what happens.” Their friends around the room were nodding and voicing their own agreement to Mary Margaret’s words. “But for now, let’s go next door and say hi.”

She let Regina go and led the way out the door and across to the cabin next door. Once they were all on the porch, Emma being helped by Belle and Elsa, Mary Margaret knocked firmly on the door.

It was opened by a tall, well-built blonde man who immediately stole Mary Margaret’s breath.

“Uh… I’m so sorry…” she stammered, looking around at her friends, her eyes wide like a deer in the headlights. “We were… ah…”

“What she means to say,” Ruby interjected, when it became clear Mary Margaret was at a complete loss for words, “is we were looking for Killian and Graham.”

The man smiled and Mary Margaret was afraid her knees would buckle. He opened the door wider, inviting them all in. “Of course,” he said. “I’m David Nolan and I don’t believe we’ve met…” he trailed away, his eyes never leaving Mary Margaret’s as he offered her his hand.

“Mary Margaret Blanchard,” she breathed, putting her hand in his to shake it.

“Lovely to meet you, Mary Margaret.” He turned to the other ladies still standing on the porch. “Please come in.”

The ladies filed in to see all the other men they’d already met around the room. Liam was in the kitchen and when he turned toward the door, his blue eyes immediately softened when they landed on Elsa. Graham and Robin rose from their seats in the living room at the entrance of the ladies, with Will remaining in his seat and looking at the others with a confused look on his face. Graham smacked him on the side of the head, jerking his own head toward the women at the door. Will scrambled to his feet as Killian came down the stairs to a much fuller room than what he’d left a few minutes before.

Everyone squirmed a bit in the awkward silence, until Ruby sauntered over to Graham and looped her arm through his.

“Is this a small world or what?” she asked. Her question broke the ice and all the men invited the ladies to take a seat. Regina remembered Mary Margaret’s words but wouldn’t meet Robin’s eyes when she moved to sit down at the bar separating the kitchen area from the rest of the room. Killian couldn’t take his eyes off of Emma as he approached her.

“Here, Emma,” he said, his hand hovering by her elbow, “let me help you to a chair.”

“I don’t need help,” she insisted, hobbling toward the nearest armchair. Once she was seated, she couldn’t suppress the sigh of relief from being off of her ankle.

“May I bring you an ice pack to put on your ankle?” he asked.

Emma sighed resignedly. She knew she was being short with him, but she just couldn’t get past the embarrassment of the accident in the first place, and then his conciliatory actions at the grocery store earlier. She knew she needed to try a little harder with him, even if it was annoying her in the extreme to have to do so.

“That would be great. Thank you, Killian.”

Once everyone was settled, conversation flowed naturally among the friends. The connection between the men was more fully explained and when David told them he was the booking manager for Sherwood Forest Resort, Mary Margaret exclaimed excitedly, “I thought your voice sounded familiar! You’re the one I talked to when I booked the cabin!” David grinned.

“Where’s Roland tonight, Robin?” Liam asked. “That’s Robin’s five year old son,” he explained to the ladies.

“He spent the day swimming and nearly fell asleep in his spaghetti tonight,” Robin explained, glancing at Regina to gauge her reaction. “I put him to bed before coming over to meet and welcome the ladies to Sherwood Forest.”

“So will we get a chance to meet him and your wife sometime this week?” Regina asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

The light dimmed a bit in Robin’s eyes. “Actually, I’ve been a widower since Roland was just a few months old.”

The girls murmured words of sympathy, but Belle couldn’t mask her shock. “You left a small child asleep in the house all by himself?”

“This is a gated community, my dear,” he assured her, “if you’ll remember from when you arrived this evening. He is also a very heavy sleeper. A tornado siren a mile away won’t wake him.” He pulled out his phone, tapped an app and displayed the screen, which showed a grainy picture of a room with a dark-haired boy sleeping in the bed. “But just in case, I use this app if I’m called away at night for some reason. He can talk to me and he can hear me through it, too.” He looked across the room at the clock hanging on the wall. “But it has been about twenty minutes since I put him to bed, so I’d better be heading back,” he said, rising from his seat.

Everyone took that as the signal that the evening was drawing to an end. The ladies all rose and bid the men goodnight. Emma couldn’t hide her smirk at the longing looks between Ruby and Graham, Elsa and Liam, Mary Margaret and David, and even Belle and Will, though she was a little more circumspect than him. She had a feeling this was going to be a fun week.

*********

“Good morning, Granny,” Ruby greeted, giving her grandmother a tight squeeze upon entering her diner.

“ ‘Bout time you graced me with your presence,” the old woman grumbled, though they could clearly hear the affection in her voice. “Couldn’t bother to come see me when you got into town yesterday?”

“We were otherwise occupied,” Ruby replied, glancing around at her companions, who looked a bit sheepish at the admonishment from their beloved matriarch.

Mary Margaret hugged Granny. “We’re sorry. We were busy unpacking, deciding on sleeping arrangements, and getting groceries,” she apologized.

“And meeting our annoying neighbors,” Emma added, limping over to take her turn for a hug.

“What did you do to yourself?” Granny asked, concern coloring her normally stern exterior.

Emma shrugged. “Just twisted my ankle on the cave tour. It’s nothing.”

The rest of the girls shared a hug with Ruby’s grandmother and settled in at a table close to Granny’s famous breakfast buffet. They were just placing their drink orders, when they heard several boisterous and familiar voices coming from the entryway of the restaurant.

Emma looked over her shoulder to check out the commotion. “You’ve got to be freaking kidding me,” she groaned.

The others turned to see the group of men and a little boy they assumed to be Roland waiting at the hostess stand. Ruby gave a squeal of happiness, while Elsa and Mary Margaret sported soft smiles.

Regina rolled her eyes. “Are they stalking us? There are literally dozens of restaurants that serve breakfast around here.”

“None as good as Granny’s, though,” Ruby said, her eyes lighting up as Graham looked up and noticed her.

As the ladies watched, Granny greeted each man with a hug and picked Roland up for an affectionate squeeze, kissing him on his dimpled cheek.

“Wait a minute,” Belle said, a puzzled tone to her voice. “How does Granny know them?”

“Liam did say they come here a couple of times a year to visit Robin,” Elsa said. “Maybe they make a habit of eating at Granny’s.”

David approached their table, his eyes trained on Mary Margaret. “Good morning, ladies. Mind if I join you?” he asked, reaching for a nearby chair.

As Mary Margaret gave her approval, Ruby jumped up. “You can have my seat. I’ll sit with Graham. I’m sure he won’t mind.”

“As if he has a choice,” Emma muttered.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Will grinned, stepping to the end of the table to scan the occupants, his eyes settling on Belle.

“Granny is Ruby’s grandmother,” she explained.

Will’s thick brows shot up. “As in Granny of Granny’s Diner?”

“Can’t put anything past you, can we?” Regina snarked. “Why are you here?”

“Robin discovered this place when he inherited the resort from his parents many years ago, and he recommends it to all of his guests. We eat here every time we visit. Granny loves us,” Will proclaimed.

“I honestly thought she had better judgment than that,” Emma said.

“Hello, Love,” Killian greeted her, as the rest of the men said their hellos. “Excuse me. I meant, hello, Emma.”

Despite her admonishments to the contrary, Emma found she really didn’t mind him calling her his love, but she wasn’t quite ready to admit it to him. “Hi, Killian. Sleep well?” she asked, mentally facepalming over such a trite question.

He smirked, seeming to read her mind. “Aye, in spite of sleeping alone, and having to listen to Will’s snores coming through the wall.”

She covered her giggle with her hand, then pushed her chair away from the table. “I’m going to the buffet before all of you get there and demolish it.”

He stepped aside to let her pass, brushing the small of her back with his hand as she did. Trying not to shiver at his touch, she threw him a small smile and proceeded to the buffet.

When everyone’s plates were full and they were eating, Granny busied herself keeping everyone’s drinks filled and directing the busboys to clear the tables of dirty plates. Carefully watching the people at both tables over the top of her glasses, she made several observations. She had known Robin’s friends for nearly a decade, and Ruby’s group of friends for almost as long, so she was good at reading all of them. What she saw made her heart swell with happiness. Some of them may be fighting it, but she could see some interesting developments going on.

Ruby sat as close to Graham as possible without actually being in his lap. Granny had witnessed her granddaughter’s interest in many boys and young men as she raised her, but she was confident that she had never seen a more smitten look on the brunette’s face before. Ruby looked at Graham as though he’d hung every celestial body in the Heavenly realms, and Granny was very pleased to see it. The sandy haired Irishman was always such a gentleman and made Granny’s own heart speed up a bit when he looked at her with those deep blue eyes and curled his accent smoothly around every word he spoke.

The old woman smiled, sensing the bubble of mutual attraction surrounding David and Mary Margaret. Ever since he came to work for Robin three years ago, Granny had been trying to set him up with her favorite waitresses, to no avail. Now, she could see why. If he had been waiting for his soulmate, he seemed to have found her in Mary Margaret, whose sparkling green eyes looked adoringly at the handsome man beside her.

Granny saw much the same look on the faces of Liam and Elsa. Both of them were the oldest sibling in their family and tended to be quite serious and responsible, allowing little time for romance. Judging by their side-eye glances and shared smiles, Granny was sure they would be able to find the time now.

Something whizzed by her line of sight and Granny looked over to see Will getting ready to throw another chunk of potato in Belle’s direction. Marching over to him, Granny whacked him on the back of the head. “Go pick it up and find a better way to flirt,” she demanded.

“Me poor head,” he groaned, rubbing it as he stood up to do as he was told.

Granny shook her head fondly, taking in the shy smile Belle gave Will when he bent to pick up the potato which had landed behind her chair. They chatted for a while and Granny was pleased to hear Belle’s genuine laugh again. Granny never liked the man who previously dated the auburn-haired beauty. He treated her shabbily, and Granny wasn’t at all unhappy when she finally broke it off with him, although she knew Belle was heartbroken. Perhaps Will, in his own clumsy but endearing way, could help mend her heart.

When she was refilling Regina’s mug of coffee, Granny caught the glance she was slyly sending Robin’s way. “He’s a good man, that one,” she said quietly.

Regina quickly averted her eyes and straightened in her seat. “I’m sure he is, but he’s not my type. I’m not into mountain men.”

“Scoff all you like, Miss Priss, but you’re not gonna meet a better man than Robin Locksley, I can guarantee you that. He’s a hard worker and a good father, and I don’t think I’m stepping out of line by saying that he seems more than a little interested in you.”

Regina folded her hands on the placemat in front of her, her expression giving away nothing, but her cheeks reddening. “I don’t even know where I’m going to end up living.”

“Well, I’d say Robin would be in the pros column for taking the job in Knoxville,” Granny said, then moved on to refill Emma’s coffee. “And what about you, young lady?” she asked.

“What about me?” Emma questioned, her brows drawing together quizzically.

“Don’t think I haven’t seen those looks you’ve been giving Killian Jones, and that he’s giving back to you. It’s a wonder this place hasn’t gone up in flames from the heat of ‘em.”

Emma blushed furiously. “There’s nothing between me and Killian.”

“Huh, never known ya to lie to me before,” Granny harrumphed. “You wanna look me in the eye and try that again?”

Slumping in her seat, Emma chewed on her bottom lip, before quietly admitting, “Maybe I am just…a little attracted to him.”

“If that’s a little, I’m interested to see what’s a lot,” the old woman chuckled.

Leaving the ladies’ table, she passed by the men’s, ruffling Roland’s curls along the way.

The little boy turned to grin at her, then popped up out of his seat. “I’m gonna get another pancake, Papa,” he declared. Robin started to rise from his seat to help him. “I can get it, I’m five now,” Roland told him proudly.

Robin kept a protective eye on his son, even though there were few patrons in the diner besides the two tables of cabin neighbors. Roland was just tall enough to reach the tongs in the tray of pancakes, standing on his tiptoes to grab one and put it on his plate. His father held his breath as Roland dipped the ladle into the syrup and dripped it across the edge of the buffet to pour it on his pancake, turning to give Robin a gap toothed grin when he succeeded.

After breathing a sigh of relief, Robin’s eyes drifted to the other side of the buffet to see Regina filling a plate with apple slices. She returned the tongs and started to walk back to her seat, when she stopped in her tracks. Roland was peeking around the end of the buffet at her and Robin felt a lump in his throat when the lovely, raven-haired woman smiled sweetly at his son and bent down to say something to him. Then she stood up and looked his way, giving him a demure smile before walking past him.

Roland carefully carried his plate back to the table, dimples flashing. “Guess what that pretty lady just said to me,” he beamed.

“What did she say?” Robin asked.

The little boy puffed out his chest proudly. “She said I must be a very big boy to be able to get my own food, and I am, right, Papa?”

Robin put his arm around his son’s shoulder and kissed the top of his head. “Yes, you are and you’re growing up far too fast.”

“That’s right, Rolly Polly,” Will said, reaching across the table to pinch his cheek. “Yer practically ready to start datin’!”

Roland’s giggle drew Belle’s attention and she smiled softly at the exchange between the flirty Brit and the adorable little boy.

From her spot by the drink counter, Granny’s gaze swept over the group of people seated at the two tables and she folded her arms across her chest, a smug smile on her face.

********

Later that same afternoon, just about the time to begin fixing dinner, David called the rest of the guys into their shared kitchen, where he and Robin stood waiting until all of them had gathered. When the other five men were scattered around the room and listening, David began earnestly, his eagerness all too clear, to explain their plan.

“Guys, I know this is a retreat where we plan to spend time together and reconnect each year. Life isn’t easy, and real friendships are few and far between. I’m not denying the importance of that at all, but Rob and I, well,” he said, glancing at his friend and boss, “we’re more than a bit anxious to see if the lovely ladies next door might fit into our lives beyond this week… and….well, I guess we’re trying to see how the rest of you feel about including them in our cookout tonight for instance.”

“Or if they might be game for taking a stab at the escape room on the Island when we go at the end of the week,” Robin added helpfully.

Graham didn’t immediately speak, but he flushed from the top of his head to where his skin was hidden by the collar of his shirt. Killian realized from where he stood to Graham’s right that the other man appeared to have a rather interesting bruise just nearly, but not quite, hidden by the material where his neck met his shoulder. Shaking his head in defeat, he knew that was one definite vote for Dave and Rob’s suggestion.

Will’s cheeky grin and enthusiastic agreement with their proposal was no surprise either. “Sounds great, lads! Wish I’d thought of it meself!”

Even Liam, who could be standoffish and whom Killian had thought would be at least one other person in his corner, seemed uncharacteristically in favor of the idea. “That does seem like a good and neighborly suggestion. In fact, it’s about late enough to get the fire started, and then I’ll go next door and see if they’re interested in joining us for hot dogs and s’mores.”

All of them, except Killian, were in agreement, and their short meeting was adjourned. It wasn’t that he disliked any of the ladies in the adjacent cabin, and his heart thrilled at the prospect of seeing–and flirting with–Emma again, but he wasn’t at all sure his attentions were welcomed. He wasn’t the sort to force himself on a lady, not when she clearly had her reasons for remaining aloof. However, he was grossly outvoted and it seemed this joining of their groups was happening, whether he climbed onboard or not.

*********

Some minutes later, Elsa wandered across the grass behind her and her friends’ cabin as it sloped into the adjoining space occupied by the men they kept running into. She could see the broad-shouldered elder Jones brother just starting preparation for a bonfire, and though she wasn’t at all sure it was wise, Elsa quickened her step to reach him and offer him a hand. Though she could never be as outspoken or as wildly enthusiastic as Ruby, there couldn’t be anything wrong with offering her assistance. That was what she told herself anyway as she drew near enough to capture the intriguing man’s attention.

“Why, hello, Lass,” Liam greeted heartily, straightening to swipe his forearm across his damp brow and offer her a twinkling smile. “Pleasant surprise seeing you here.”

Elsa felt the grin that stretched across her lips in return, surprised by how easy he was to speak to, despite his powerful manner and imposing stature. None of the usual tongue-tied uncertainty seemed to trouble her in Liam’s company, and it was a genuine relief to experience. “I was enjoying the view out here and taking in the evening air when I saw you. Can I help?”

Undoubtedly he would have been just fine on his own, but Liam happily showed her how he was making a domed bed of the small kindling to start the fire effectively, and as Elsa carried on from where he left off, Liam made three trips back and forth up the gentle rise to the back of their cabin, where already cut firewood was stacked, bringing enough back to keep what would hopefully be a cozy blaze for roasting hot dogs and marshmallows going all evening.

Once the fire was truly started, Elsa found herself hesitating five minutes, then fifteen, and eventually half an hour, before going to tell the rest of the girls that they were welcome to join the guys’ cookout if they wished. She was entirely too comfortable there on the log beside Liam, feeling his leg and hip pressed against hers, and enjoying the rise and fall of his voice as he spoke about his and Killian’s upbringing, how they had both come to live in America, how he’d met and ended up rooming with Robin in college, and hilarious stories from his time working the cave boating tours.

It was only once the other guys began to make their way out to the now-crackling bonfire with roasting sticks, hot dogs, buns, and fixings, that she finally stood and went to see if she could find her own cabin mates. She could almost envision how that would go anyway–Ruby would be there before she could get the invitation out, Mary Margaret practically skipping after her with her besotted heart eyes glowing, Belle would join readily enough as well, surely anxious to educate Will Scarlet on some aspect of camping, outdoor cooking, or hot dog manufacturing of which he was unaware. Emma and Regina would trail along, trying stubbornly not to seem overeager. Regina would probably try to claim she didn’t want her clothes to smell of woodsmoke, and Emma would swear she was only joining in because she wasn’t about to turn down melty chocolate and marshmallow sandwiched in cinnamon-y goodness.

Finishing the evening some hours later, Elsa looked around the fire in the starlight at the relaxed and happy faces of her dearest friends, and the attentive gazes each of them was drawing from a handsome and worthy man, and she couldn’t feel anything but gratitude. She would never have thought that two days into their annual girls’ trip she would be leaning her head on the shoulder of a handsome tour guide whose voice was tickling the fine hairs near her ear as he whispered added commentary to the rousing ghost story Will was regaling the group with. That sensation combined with his arm going round her sent shivers skittering all the way down to her toes in the most pleasant of ways. If this was what being a bit more forward got her, she would have to make more of a habit of it.

*********

On their third day of the trip, various members of their groups paired off to accomplish different things they had hoped to see and do. Liam, Killian, and David helped Robin with some simple cabin maintenance jobs against his protests, as a sort of thank you for his providing them such a perfect place to stay virtually free of charge. Graham had been willingly pulled along with Ruby as she went shopping for clothes and souvenirs along the main drag of the tourist town, and Will had just as happily tagged along with Belle as she set out to fully explore the “Original” Book Warehouse.

Mary Margaret and Regina were upstairs on the cabin’s second story deck, taking in the fresh air and the view as they caught up with each other. Emma was the only one essentially stuck inside as she didn’t really feel like limping along and slowing down any of the others as they made their excursions. She was sitting in a chair in the main living room of the cabin, ankle propped up on a footstool, distractedly perusing the same magazine page repeatedly. They had left the door open between the room and the deck so that she could call out to Mary Margaret and Regina occasionally, and they to her, and so that she could at least enjoy the mountain breeze and feel part of the conversation, but it had been fairly quiet from her friends for several minutes, and Emma could admit that she was feeling bored and sorry for herself.

Just then there was a startling sound of wings beating, and Emma ducked instinctively even as she felt the sensation of something swooping wildly over her head. To her dismayed surprise, a frantic bird had flown in from outside and was now sailing from one corner of the room to another in a confused effort to find its way back to freedom. Emma almost jumped up and made for another room, before remembering the swollen ankle hampering her and screeching in alarm as the bird sailed right over her head once more.

“Out! Get Out!” she yelled, flailing, trying to steer the winged creature back the way it had come.

By the time Mary Margaret and Regina came in from outdoors, Emma had managed to stand and was hopping on one foot as she tried to reach for the broom propped in the corner to swipe at their uninvited guest. Moments later, they heard the front door below fly open and heavy footsteps came pounding up the stairs as David barrelled into sight, having heard Emma’s cries from down on the drive between their houses.

He grasped the situation more quickly than the rest of them had, taking in Mary Margaret’s pleading, “Oh Emma, don’t hurt it! It’s confused and it’s only a baby!” Regina standing in one corner, slightly behind the coat rack and out of the bird’s range, watching the mayhem with a bemused expression, and Emma swiping a broom around ineffectually as off-balance as she was, trying to herd a terrified warbler toward the open door while yelling at her friend, “Enough! I don’t want it taking a crap on my head!”

Thankfully, the jostled songbird finally lit on a bear figurine atop the mantle. With it no longer fluttering over their heads, the ladies calmed down significantly, and David stepped over Emma’s dropped magazine and displaced chair cushion to carefully snatch the bird with practiced stealth, pinning its wings to its sides without harming them, before it could take off again. It wasn’t the first misguided creature he’d removed from someone’s rental in the time he’d worked with Robin, and it wouldn’t be the last, he thought wryly as he opened his hands outside the door, letting the bird make its escape.

He’d never received such a pleasant reward for his efforts though, he thought, as he turned back around to see Mary Margaret Blanchard gazing up at him as if he had given her the stars from the sky. Emma offered him a sheepish thanks and flopped back into the chair she had vacated with a winded thump, while Regina brought the pillow to her and helped her resituate her foot, but David really only had eyes for the tiny pixie haired beauty before him, her sweet smile wrapping him all up in knots and ever more tightly around her little finger.

“Thank you,” she murmured, coming to stand so close in front of him that she had to tilt her head up to look him in the face, the tips of her cute little canvas flats touching the toes of his scuffed work boots. “My hero, as well as that poor little bird’s.”

Just then, with her twinkling green eyes drinking him in like that, David really did feel like he could take on the world.

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

The following morning was pretty quiet. Both guys’ and gals’ groups were cooking their own breakfasts and lunches that day and staying around their cabins; there was plenty to see right within the Sherwood Forest Resort. Graham had gotten Robin’s advice on the best scenic hiking trails, which he was anxious to show Ruby. Robin was taking Roland down to the pool on their premises, and David, Mary Margaret, and even Regina, were tagging along with them to take a dip and do some sunbathing.

Belle, meanwhile, was having a bit of quiet time to herself. She loved her friends and looked forward to the time they spent together each year, but she was also dying to make use of the gorgeous view of the Smokies outside the huge window in her room to curl up for just an hour or two with a good book. She had thrown so much of herself into her failed relationship, that when it fell apart, it felt like her whole world went with it.

She set her book down unopened, suddenly realizing that she hadn’t thought about Robert once this week. Maybe, just maybe, she was finally starting to heal…and a lot of it was courtesy of Will Scarlet. There was no doubt he could try her patience with the best of them, but he was honest and funny and there was a genuinely sweet side to him. She never would have thought it when they first met at the beginning of the week, but she honestly thought he was a man who could be depended upon.

Her musings were interrupted by the sound of rustling leaves and something that sounded like a grunt of exertion. Belle froze. Someone or something was climbing the tall tree that stood just outside her second story bedroom window. What should she do? Should she call for help? Should she hide?

No. She had always read stories of heroes facing their fears to defeat the villains. It was about time she did the same. Looking around, she grabbed the first weapon-like item she could find–a large, bronze candlestick that sat on the mantle above her room’s fireplace.

“Alright, Lumiere,” she muttered, “let’s put the fear of God into whoever is trying to break into our room.”

Taking one more deep breath, she opened the blinds and took a look outside. She was greeted with none other than Will Scarlet smiling like an idiot as he dangled…something from his outstretched hand.

Belle looked closer and saw what appeared to be the wriggling body of a big, hairy spider, just before he dropped it on her window sill. Screaming bloody murder, she jumped back, feeling as though she was about to faint. If there was one thing in the entire world she could not stand, it was a spider. With their eight legs and multiple eyes, their affinity for biting and trapping their prey in their webs, they were more than scary. They were terrifying.

“Hey, Belle,” Will said from the other side of the window. “I didn’t mean anything by it; it was just a harmless prank. I’m sorry I scared you! I’m sorry I–AAAAGH!”

Belle rushed to the window, her heart nearly stopping for an entirely different reason as she saw Will lose his grip on the tree branch and go plummeting to the ground, landing with a thud.

Belle screamed again.

“What? What is it? What happened?” Emma demanded rushing into the room, looking around as though she was expecting an intruder.

“It’s…it’s Will!” Belle said, gesturing to the window.

“It’s…what?” Emma asked.

Belle looked out the window again and breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Will groan and get to his feet, rubbing the back of his head. Immediate crisis averted, Belle’s heart rate went back to normal, and her senses returned. In a few short sentences, she told Emma the entire story–from hearing the noise, to seeing Will dangling the spider (which she could now see was just a very convincing fake), to Will plummeting from his perch.

Emma’s face darkened as she heard the tale, and when it was at an end, she scooped the fake spider into her hands and marched out of the room muttering something under her breath about shoving it down Will’s throat.

Belle watched as Emma confronted the prankster. “What the hell were you thinking?” she asked. “She’s terrified of spiders. Like, hyperventilating, fainting terrified. I get that you like her, but stop acting like a fifth grader!”

She growled once more, and then slapped him upside the head.

“Ow!” he complained. “Lay off the noggin!”

“Why?” she retorted. “From the way you act, I’d swear there’s nothing in it anyway!”

Belle grinned, as Will stalked back to his cabin, muttering under his breath all the way and Emma shook her head and went back inside.

An hour later, there was a knock at the girls’ cabin door. Belle opened it to find a single, thornless, red rose accompanied by a small note card that said simply ‘Belle, I’m sorry I’m an idiot. Will’

*********

On the fourth day of their vacation, Emma ventured out onto the front walk about midmorning, finally feeling her ankle was strong enough to take a short stroll and enjoy the gorgeous weather they’d been having all week. She could still feel a twinge of the sprain, but she was tired of being cooped up, and she wanted to enjoy at least a little of the trip before it was over.

Before she could get started, Regina came out.

“Where are you going?”

“I thought I’d take a short walk. You want to join me?” she asked.

Regina looked torn, and it wasn’t hard for Emma to guess what she was thinking. It was clear to all the ladies in their group that Regina really liked Robin, but she’d been essentially raised by a series of nannies and sitters because her rich parents couldn’t be bothered to actually be parents for their only child, or to spend any amount of time with her, and so she’d learned early in her life to keep her heart well protected from those who could hurt her. It had taken years for Emma and the others to get behind that formidable exterior she showed most of the world, to really get to know and love the woman underneath. And now, not knowing where she was going to end up beginning her career, she didn’t want to open herself up to possible heartbreak with the handsome owner of the resort.

Emma smiled, looped her arm through Regina’s, and pulled her along.

“Come on,” she cajoled. “Getting outside will do you some good, too.”

Regina rolled her eyes and acquiesced. They started walking down the hill toward the resort pool until they could see Robin’s cabin. As they got closer, they could see him around the corner on his knees, his hands buried in the dirt of a flower bed. Regina stopped and Emma stopped with her, her heart hurting at the anxiety on the face of her friend.

Emma took her hand. “Regina,” she said quietly, “I know you’re apprehensive, and don’t want to get attached, but we’ve gotten to know him a little bit this week and you have Granny’s endorsement as well. You should spend some time with him and just see. Even if you don’t end up in Knoxville, you can keep in touch with him and take things slow, just to see where it might lead. Life is unpredictable, and you have so many years ahead of you, you shouldn’t close the door on an opportunity like this when it could lead to something truly wonderful.”

Emma watched her friend and could see the indecision in her eyes. But then her gaze turned cunning and a slow smile lifted the corner of her lips.

“Alright,” she said. “I’ll go say hi and see about spending some time with him, but only if you promise to do the same with Killian.”

Emma pressed her lips together in a thin line. She’d walked right into that one and no mistake. There was nothing for it though, so Emma nodded.

“Fine,” she said.

Regina nodded with a self-satisfied smile and walked over to where Robin still dug in the dirt. As she got closer, she noticed Roland on the other side of him copying everything he was doing.

Regina’s smile turned genuine when Roland looked up and saw her.

“Hi, Miss Gina!” he exclaimed excitedly.

“Hi there,” she replied. “What are you guys doing?”

“We’re planting begonias,” Roland said proudly. “Want to help us?” Robin sat back on his haunches and beamed up at her.

Regina’s cheeks heated. “Oh, I really shouldn’t…” she began.

“But, why not?” Roland asked at the same time as his father said “You’d be more than welcome.”

Regina cut her eyes to Robin and smiled shyly, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “Are you sure? I don’t know anything about plants.”

Robin’s grin softened a bit and he patted the ground next to him. “There’s nothing to it. Here, let me show you.”

Regina knelt next to Robin and thought about Emma’s and Mary Margaret’s words at the beginning of the week. Growing things took time and effort and at the end, you had a lovely flowering plant that brought beauty, happiness, and joy. Perhaps she was ready to invest some time and effort into a relationship. She had nothing to lose and everything to gain–perhaps love and true happiness with someone who wouldn’t leave her. Regina turned to Robin and gave him a real and happy smile as she joined them in their gardening.

Emma watched as Regina knelt next to Robin and smiled to herself. She had a really good feeling about them, and the job opportunity in Knoxville. She only hoped that Regina would follow where her heart was clearly leading.

Emma turned around and pondered whether she wanted to continue walking down to where the pool and playgrounds were located at the resort entrance, or if she wanted to meander up the drive a ways and see if there were any different views further up the road, when she caught a glimpse of a figure sitting alone in one of the Adirondack chairs which lined the guys’ front porch. It was Killian, looking pensive as he cradled a coffee mug and stared out at the hilltop and sky panorama before him.

Emma nearly turned in the other direction, not wanting to disturb him if he wished to be alone, but then reconsidered. First of all, she’d just made a promise to Regina. Secondly, she’d given Jones an awfully hard time this whole week. And now he looked rather lonely and as though he might welcome some company. Tentatively, she moved toward the boys’ cabin, greeting him quietly when she reached the first step. “Morning, neighbor.”

With a little start, Killian turned away from his perusal of the sky, to meet her gaze and return her smile with one of his own. The crooked curve of it sent ribbons of awareness curling inside her, all the more disarming because he seemed less aware of its power in the stark morning light. “Permission to join you?” she asked playfully, as if asking a captain to board his ship.

The jest seemed to work as she had hoped, the blue of Killian’s eyes twinkling as he nodded and gestured to the seat next to him, “Permission granted.”

Settling in next to him, they both enjoyed the comfortable quiet for a few moments more. However, Emma couldn’t stay that way for long; she was too aware of his presence beside her, his very nearness feeling as though it tingled along her nerve endings deliciously. If her physical reaction to him wasn’t quite so visceral, she wouldn’t have been fighting so hard to shut down all the attempts at genuine friendship he had offered her these last few days. Finally, she drew in a deep breath and gave voice to her swirling thoughts. “Hey, Killian? You’ve probably figured out by now that I’m not exactly very trusting, or even especially welcoming to people I don’t know all that well. I know you didn’t intend for me to get hurt at the end of the boat tour, and you were only trying to help me as much as I would let you afterwards. I was enjoying the flirtation we had going, and I was embarrassed–badly.” She sighed, looking down at her fingers twisted together in her lap. “I didn’t handle it very well, needless to say. But that wasn’t your fault. I think I’ve been taking my disappointment out on you, and I’m sorry. I hope you can forgive me.”

A moment later, Killian’s hand reached over to cover her own warmly, giving it a gentle squeeze as she looked up only to be captured in his overwhelming gaze. “Emma,” he said her name as though savoring each letter of it on his tongue, “no apologies are necessary. We all have our stories and scars, and the beginnings that have made us who we are. Perhaps, if you’ll allow me, I may know more of yours in time.” He paused briefly, eyebrow quirking as if asking permission to go on, not wanting to push too far against the barriers of their newfound truce. “I’m only glad to know I haven’t turned your opinion against me permanently.”

Emma’s grin spread across her face of its own accord, her happiness suddenly infectious and spreading out to engulf her completely. Returning the pressure of his hand on hers, she replied. “I think we understand each other perfectly.”

***********

That evening the two groups gathered at the gentlemen’s cabin for a loudly competitive game night. The next day would see them exploring the shops and attractions of The Island before their planned attempt at the escape room. Several pleasant hours flew by before Elsa found that as much as she was enjoying the company, she could hardly keep her eyes open any longer.

Bidding those still playing a ‘good night’ and telling the rest of her cabinmates she would see them in the morning, Elsa stood and gathered her things to head across the lawn and to her own bed. She didn’t mind at all, however, when Liam stood as well and followed her to the door. “Are you sure you don’t need an escort in the dark, Milady?” he murmured slightly, pressing a close mouthed kiss to her temple.

Elsa savored the press of his lips and the cozy glow of comfort that came with them, but she couldn’t help snickering at his question all the same. “I think I should be alright,” she returned, wrapping her arms around his solid torso for a moment in a parting embrace. “It can’t be more than 15 feet over to our cabin.”

“All the same, flick the porch light once you’re safely in the door, and I’ll flick the light over here in return.” The protective elder brother was showing through again, but she found his concern endearing all the same, and it warmed her heart knowing her safety and well-being were at the forefront of his mind.

Once she had reached the porch, signaled Liam, and gone inside, Elsa made her way slowly across the main room, tidying up things which had gathered on the table and counter, and moving over to the door onto their deck to be sure it was locked. Before she could do so, she heard a noise that caught her attention. She also thought she saw a flicker of light, though she didn’t know who would be out there. She didn’t remember who had left the other cabin before her; she’d really been too sleepy to take much note. But now she was grumpy, tired, and just wanted to make sure things were secure for the night, so when she heard a sort of low groan followed by a breathy giggle, things finally clicked into place in her mind, and she wasn’t feeling a lot of patience for the couple she now realized must be out there making use of the cabin’s hot tub.

Swinging the door open, Elsa stepped out onto the deck, thankfully very barely lit by the moonlight and a single candle, with a stern look and her other hand on her hip. Sure enough, there was a wet and entangled Ruby and Graham in the tub, Graham’s eyes darting around everywhere to avoid meeting hers and Ruby grinning back at her unapologetically. Elsa wasn’t sure if Graham was flushed from the heat of the tub, their activities, or embarrassment at being caught, but the poor guy looked mortified by her presence. Ruby just looked like she wanted to devour him whole. Elsa found herself relieved more than anything, that though it wasn’t much, she could still see the vibrant red ties of her friend’s string bikini showing beneath the dark hair streaming down her back.

“Look, I’m too exhausted for this,” Elsa admonished, slicing her hand through the air to halt the words when Ruby started to interrupt. “You need to take that somewhere else, because others would still like to use this hot tub–for less amorous purposes.”

Ruby just grinned at her shamelessly before quipping, “That’s what the filter’s for. We’ll be done in a little while. Now go away.”

Growling in consternation, Elsa threw up her hands and left them to it. She was not about to lose sleep, or the pleasant buzz she’d been feeling after her goodnight from Liam, over those two and their shenanigans. Ruby was a big girl and could take care of herself. Elsa just hoped Graham would survive.

**********

The day for the escape room had finally arrived. Everyone was up early to eat breakfast before going to The Island on the Pigeon Forge strip. The large entertainment venue was home to amusement park rides, hotels, shopping–lots of shopping–food, and The Escape Game–an escape room that Ruby had found online during the planning phase of the trip. Although the girls hadn’t made definite plans to go, when the guys had mentioned their plans earlier in the week, it was an easy decision to team up.

Instead of all the ladies in one car and all the men in another, Ruby and Mary Margaret suggested that the couples pair off–three in one car and three in the other. Belle and Elsa agreed, so when they all got outside to the vehicles, David, Ruby and Graham, and Robin and Regina all rode in Mary Margaret’s SUV and Elsa, Emma and Killian, and Will and Belle rode in Liam’s Expedition.

The cabins were quite a ways up the side of a mountain and the grade going down into town was steep enough and had enough blind curves that they both followed the 25 mph speed limit and kept a safe distance between them. After Mary Margaret, leading the way, went around a sharp curve and disappeared from sight, a wild turkey suddenly took off flying, only about ten feet away from Liam’s vehicle. Elsa and Emma both screamed at the bird’s proximity, but Liam kept his head and the SUV under control.

It was only a few seconds later that he caught up to Mary Margaret who had stopped in the middle of the road.

“What’s going on?” he asked, turning and looking at Elsa riding shotgun.

“That’s a bear!” exclaimed Will, pointing in between the front seats excitedly.

Sure enough, from where he sat, Liam could just see a black bear climbing up the embankment on the side of the road and into the trees. It took a moment for him to close his mouth and start following Mary Margaret again, who’d started moving as soon as the bear was safely off the road.

Once they all met up in The Island’s parking area and started making their way to the escape room, everyone was talking over each other trying to discuss the bear and wild turkey sighting.

“You must have been driving too fast, Mary Margaret,” Elsa scolded lightly. “The turkey took off and almost hit us after you’d already passed it.” She looked up at Liam next to her and the adoring gaze on the face of her friend made Emma’s heart happy. “But Liam didn’t startle at all; he kept the Expedition completely under control.” Liam preened under her praise.

“I never would have expected to see a live bear,” Mary Margaret said excitedly.

“I didn’t expect to see any bear asses on this trip,” Regina snarked.

David waved his hand around in a dismissive gesture. “You get used to them when you live up here. Not that we see them often, but that’s why we keep locks on the outdoor trash bins to keep the bears out of them.”

By this time, they were at the escape room. They entered the rather nondescript lobby and were welcomed by the attendant.

“What’s the name, please?”

“Jones,” Liam said, stepping up to the counter. “Party of twelve for ‘The Heist’, please.”

“I have you right here, Mr. Jones,” the attendant said.

Once the entire group had signed their waivers, they were ushered to the back and into a decently sized room lined with replicas of famous paintings.

Ruby’s eyes widened comically as she took in the decor. Her background in art had her immediately recognizing every painting in the room. “This is gonna be so great,” she whispered to Graham.

With everyone now gathered in the room, they all turned back to the door. The attendant explained what would happen next and the rules of the escape room. Belle was relieved that if they got stuck, they could ask for help as many times as necessary with no penalty. Will waggled his eyebrows flirtatiously at her.

“We’ll be out of here in no time, me lass,” he declared. “As brilliant as you are, we’ll set the record for the shortest escape time ever.” Belle rolled her eyes at him but could still feel the heat on her cheeks at his praise and belief in her, something that had been in very short supply in her previous relationship.

The attendant left them and they all turned their attention to the screen above the door.

“Hello, Team!” The screen was filled with the face of a man with wire frame glasses and curly red hair. He looked around anxiously for a moment before staring back at the screen at them again. “I only have a few moments to brief you on your assignment. The bypass signal we’re using to speak to you is only good for ninety seconds.” He took a breath and looked around before speaking again. “You’re in the outer office of Dr. George Spencer. Known to most of the world as an art historian and philanthropist, we know the truth. He is nothing more than a black market art thief. He has stolen a priceless Monet from the Louvre. He is out of his office at the moment speaking at a nearby college and will return in exactly one hour. You must be out of his office when he arrives back. Collect the clues and solve the riddles to find the priceless painting. Good luck, Team.”

The screen faded to black and everyone looked at each other. Liam and Elsa, Graham and Ruby immediately moved to the paintings lining the walls of the room looking for clues.

Killian noticed the door they needed to get through had two small cutout doors in it near the top and bottom. They were both locked. The top door had a padlock on it, while the bottom had a combination lock. Suddenly he heard a clattering sound near the entry door. Emma stood in front of a marble bust in the corner, staring down at the floor dumbly.

“What happened, Emma?” he asked, as everyone else’s attention also turned to her.

She bent down and picked up a small, gold metal box from the floor, holding it up for them all to see. “I turned the bust and this fell out,” she explained, popping off the lid to find a key inside.

He took the key from her and moved to the padlocked door. It was a perfect fit and the lock popped right open.

“Well done, Love,” he praised, his smile lighting up his blue eyes as he opened the small door. Emma felt a surge of satisfaction inside and smiled back. From where she was standing, she could see something hanging down in front of the small door they’d just opened, inside the second room, but she ignored it for the moment.

Meanwhile, Mary Margaret was busy checking the frames of the paintings for clues when she gave a little squeak. “It opens!” she exclaimed, swinging the framed painting away from the wall.

“OW!” Will shouted, as the painting connected with his head. Everyone in the room burst into laughter, while Belle tried to soothe him.

“Your head certainly has taken a beating this week,” she said, trying to suppress a laugh herself.

“Look, there’s a numbered keypad here,” David said, “to open this safe.” He pointed to the spot on the wall revealed when the painting was moved.

“Try these numbers,” Graham called out. “7-1-4-3.”

David punched them in and a green light flashed. Mary Margaret twisted a black knob and pulled open the door of the safe. “A mirror!” she cried, holding the object aloft.

Emma took the mirror from her and put her hand through the small upper door to see if she could see anything obviously important in the other room.

“How did you figure out the numbers?” Belle asked Graham.

“We followed the clues on the description of the paintings,” Ruby explained, “and we were able to find hidden numbers in them.”

“There’s more numbers on the back of this door,” Emma cried out.

“Let’s hear them, Love,” Killian called from where he knelt below her, ready to put the numbers into the combination lock on the other small locked door.

While Emma and Killian were working on the combination lock, Will was crawling around on the floor, his nose nearly touching the baseboard.

“What the hell are you doing?” Regina asked, after stepping backwards and almost falling over him, only Robin’s quick reflexes and strong arms keeping her from hitting the floor.

“I’m looking for clues, what do you think I’m doing?”

“I think you’re being an idiot. Now get up before you make someone else crack their cranium.”

Emma was adjusting the mirror to see the numbers better. “8-3-6-4.” Killian entered the combination and the lock opened. He reached up and took the mirror from Emma. Angling it toward the door, he could see arrows on the backside of it pointing up toward some sort of button near the door jam.

“The cane inside the upper door, will it reach the button?” Killian asked.

“I’m not sure,” Emma answered.

“Try it,” he suggested.

“I can’t see what I’m doing,” she said. Everyone’s eyes were on her and she was beginning to get frustrated.

“Would you like for me to try, Lass?” Liam asked.

“Yeah,” she said, “your arms are longer.” She stepped aside and let Liam reach through the door.

“Hold that mirror still for me, Emma,” he said, trying to maneuver the cane to hit the button. He finally did and the way he was leaning against the door caused it to open suddenly, nearly making him fall to the floor.

Everyone cheered and rushed into the other room. It was a little bit larger with a huge bookshelf opposite the door. On it were various knick knacks in addition to books stacked artfully on the various shelves. On the wall now behind the open door, hung a terribly faded world map. To the right of the door they’d just entered was a work table with an in-progress Scrabble game board on it. Over the game board on the wall hung a wooden elephant head.

As soon as they had a good look around the room, Belle glanced up at the video screen over the door and announced, “We have forty-two minutes left.” The couples split up to begin scouring the room for clues, calling out directions to one another as they found them.

Robin lifted a scarf out of a bowl, revealing two puzzle pieces, which he held up. “Anyone else find more pieces to the puzzle?”

Soon, Robin and Regina were busy trying to assemble the numerous pieces handed to them. Meanwhile the other couples split off and began gathering different clues from around the room — from elephant tusks, to stone tablets, books, and keys. They solved several puzzles, but it seemed each answered riddle revealed another question to unravel.

Time was ticking away when they got a small fountain on the bookcase flowing which caused the bookcase to slide to the side, revealing a much smaller room containing the Monet painting. A loud cheer went up from the group until the bars in front of the painting deflated their exuberance a bit.

With only fifteen minutes left on the clock, they were getting desperate. Regina noticed there were lasers near the bars and started tracing where they landed within the office. Belle and Will had found a makeup mirror on a pedestal earlier in their searches, so she took the mirror and set it down on a ledge angling it to another mirror hanging on the wall, which directed the laser back to the painting. The word FAKE was emblazoned in the corner of the painting behind the bars.

Regina huffed out an exasperated exhale. “Are we ever going to get out of here?”

She felt Robin grab her arm and spin her toward him, planting a firm kiss on her lips that was completely unexpected. It only lasted a moment, but that moment was enough to thoroughly steal her breath away. He pulled back and stared into her eyes before he spoke.

“That was a stroke of brilliance, Darling,” he said. “Of course we’re going to get out of here, and we’re one step closer thanks to you.”

Regina felt her cheeks heat at his praise. The friends in this room were the only ones who’d ever believed in her like that and she could hardly believe this man that she’d met only five days ago thought that highly of her, too. She didn’t know what to say in the face of such affirmation, so she grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him to her for a passionate kiss, much longer than the first.

“Oi,” called Will, “stop with the smoochin’. We have a Monet to find. The real one!”

Elsa suddenly noticed a small drawer on the book shelf that popped out slightly with the angling of the mirrors. She pulled the drawer open and found a small and very heavy magnet. She held it up with a questioning look on her face.

“Anyone have an idea of what to do with this?” she asked.

“Here!” Will called. He was crouched down next to the bookcase, fingering a small indentation that looked like it was just big enough to hold the magnet. Elsa handed it to him and he put it in the opening. He could feel the magnetic attraction take hold, so he grabbed the end of the magnet and pulled. A full panel opened on the side of the bookcase revealing a hole just big enough for a hand to reach in.

Will knelt on the floor and reached inside, his face scrunched up in concentration. “Don’t get your arm stuck,” Belle advised.

“Aha!” he shouted triumphantly, pulling out a rolled canvas. “It’s the real Monet!”

“Or rather, a replica of the real Monet,” Mary Margaret corrected.

“What do we do with it?” Elsa asked, watching as Will handed it to Belle, who unrolled it and held it up.

“Hey, there are numbers on it!” David shouted, drawing attention to the four bold, black numbers written on the back.

“There’s only one keypad we haven’t used yet,” Emma pointed out. “In the other room.”

They all quickly made their way back to the first room and Emma punched the numbers into the keypad. As soon as she did, the original entry door swung open and the clock on the screen came to a stop with 8 minutes and 15 seconds left.

As the group celebrated with high fives and hugs, Killian turned toward Emma, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her against him. “I don’t mean to upset you, Emma, but I think we make quite the team.”

“With some help from our friends,” she grinned, enjoying the feeling of being in his arms.

“And one hard-headed git,” he added.

She giggled and leaned in closer until they were nose-to-nose. “And by the way, I’m not upset at all, but…” She paused, her tongue darting out to lick her lips.

“But what, Love?” he asked, searching her eyes.

“But I really want you to kiss me right now.”

His smile lit up his face, before he whispered, “As you wish,” and pressed his lips to hers.

*********

Granny wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand and blew out a tired sigh as the last of the breakfast rush crowd finally left. It had been a long day already, and it wasn’t even noon yet.

The bell above the door chimed again, and Granny bit back a curse–until she saw who it was filing into her diner two-by-two and looking extremely happy together.

Ruby led the way, her arm around Graham’s waist and so close to him it was almost obscene. They were followed by Mary Margaret and David, holding hands and looking as though they didn’t realize there was anyone else in the world. Elsa and Liam followed along, shooting each other shy, smitten glances. Will spoke animatedly about something outrageous, judging by the way Belle rolled her eyes and playfully smacked him in the back of the head. Granny noted the librarian couldn’t keep the smile from her face. Granny’s smile grew yet wider when she saw Regina and Robin walking together, little Roland holding Regina’s other hand, his dimples in full view as he smiled happily. Last of all came Emma and Killian, her head on his shoulder, his arm around her waist.

“Table for twelve,” Ruby said with a broad smile.

“Thirteen!” Roland piped up.

“Coming right up!” Granny said, grabbing a stack of menus and waving the group to follow her. The urge to say I knew it! was strong, but Granny was wise enough to refrain from saying it. It was satisfaction enough just to see how happy everyone was.

The future looked bright for Ruby and her friends, and Granny couldn’t wait to watch that future unfold.

The End!

Notes: You made it!!!! We hope you enjoyed reading our not-so-little story!! Below are the real-life adventures on which our story was built.

–Our first stop was in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The park in question was called Lost River Cave rather than Lost Boys Cave. And yes, we met our tour guide (not hard on the eyes, but no Killian!) as we were making our way to our meeting place for the tour.

--Krystal, rather than Mary Margaret, was the one who became known for asking all the questions.

–The Blue Hole was a real thing–only the legend was that it was bottomless rather than that it led to Neverland.

–Yes, our female tour guide really did a runway walk down the center of our boat.

–The Wishing Stone was real, and we had to duck when going under it, but Will’s mishap was entirely fictionalized.

–The guide in our boat did point out the difference between stalactites and stalagmites, although she didn’t mix them up.

–Jen was the one who made an itinerary–although it wasn’t scheduled to the minute and it did end up being rather flexible.

–No twisted ankles, cracked craniums, or any other injury occurred on our vacation, thankfully.

–Our venture to the supermarket was completely ordinary. Maybe if we’d purchased ice cream, it would have gotten more exciting.

–Yes, our cabin truly was in a place called Sherwood Forest Resort. There were no sightings of Robin Hood, though.

–We never met our neighbors, although we certainly HEARD them on the last night we were there. They chose to pretend the resort’s nightly noise ordinance wasn’t a thing.

–‘Granny's’ was based on a pancake house we visited on our first full day in Pigeon Forge. The potato flinging incident was real–although completely accidental on Marta’s part. And an adorable little boy did peek at Joni around the end of the buffet, although it was his freckles and not his dimples which were so cute!

–No birds flew in through our open door–although the bird landing on the bear figurine’s head was an homage to a storefront we saw on the main strip. Three large bear statues, one with a bird atop its head, stood over a “Jesus saves!” sign. It was so random and ridiculous that it became a running joke all week. Likely Marta is still giggling about it!

-The wild turkey and black bear incident really happened, but as we were all in the same vehicle, we all got a front row seat to the resident wildlife.

–Our free day at the cabin was spent entirely in writing this story. We had no Will character show up to play pranks.

–We did, indeed, have a hot tub, but no one made any use of it, and certainly not the kind of use Ruby and Graham did, lol.

–Finally, the escape room scene was based on our own experience on the first full day of our time in Pigeon Forge, and it was indeed called ‘The Heist’. The clues, descriptions and puzzles are accurate to what we did in our own escape room (which Joni found to be the best part of the vacation). We made it out with 6:05 to spare! 

Can you figure out why the group in our story had 8 minutes, 15 seconds left?

–There might be more to come in this universe. Some of the other attractions we enjoyed in Pigeon Forge we know would also be enjoyed by these characters, so they might get written sometime in the future.

#vacay fic #fic collab #cave cruises cabin capers & cracked craniums #krystal writes #art by krystal

[paschameleon]

After much research, I finally found out where all of the princesses are from. Here are my notes…

Snow White: Snow White was first published in Germany by the Brothers Grimm, in 1812, in their book Grimm's Fairy Tales. Because of this I assume the Disney version is from Germany. 

Cinderella: Cinderella takes place in France and it is based on the French fairy tale by Charles Perrault, it says so in the credits. More proof is that all of the the women at the ball have French names and Cinderella’s house is referred to as Château. 

Aurora: The French symbol the Fleur-de-lys can be found everywhere in the castle and in the credits. Plus, in the credits it says the movie is based on the Charles Perrault version of Sleeping Beauty. 

Ariel: Ariel is from Atlantica which is a kingdom that is located somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea. This is confirmed by Disney and the creators of the Little Mermaid even stated that Eric’s kingdom takes Mediterranean countries as inspiration for the setting. Though it is not specified which Mediterranean region inspired it, Disney Wiki says possibly Southern Mediterranean basin. They did mention on the official Disney Princess YouTube channel that it takes place in Italy though. 

Belle: France. It says so in the movie. 

Jasmine: Ron Clements and John Musker, the directors of the film said that the movie was originally intended to be set in Baghdad, Iraq. However, it was changed to the fictional city of Agrabah during production due to the Gulf War of 1990–91. Agrabah is an adaptation of Baghdad. 

Pocahontas: USA... says so in the movie “In sixteen hundred seven We sail the open sea For glory, God, and gold And the Virginia Company”. 

Mulan: China. Says so in the movie. 

Tiana: The movie says that it takes place in New Orleans. 

Rapunzel: The movie is based on the Brothers Grimm version of the fairy tale. Rapunzel’s dress is loosely based on the traditional German dress "dirndl", but with a longer skirt. For these reasons I decided on Germany, even though it does take inspiration from other European countries, especially Mont Saint-Michel in France. 

Merida: Scotland. Says so in the movie. 

Moana: I guessed Samoa because she wears a Samoan-inspired ceremonial dress at one point in the movie. The song “We Know the Way” features more lyrics in Samoan than other Polynesian languages, and Motunui, the fictional island of the film, mostly drew inspiration from elements of the real-life island nations of Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga. 

Anna and Elsa: Arendelle was based on multiple locations in Norway. The team behind Frozen visited Norway to gain inspiration, and you can see Nordic influence all throughout the movie. 

Raya: It's difficult to figure out one specific country since Kumandra is based on multiple Southeast Asian countries.

#disney #disney princess #snow white #cinderella #snow white and the seven dwarfs #sleeping beauty #nationality

[priestessofcreation]

I will remind everyone

That

We have a third location in Frozen that is impacted by Elsa’s magic. Arendelle and the Enchanted Forest are all fine and dandy. But there is also the village of snowmen living at the top of the North Mountain. That is where Marshmallow is as well as the Snowgies.

What if a little village of snowmen form up there? 🤔

#frozen #frozen 2

[princess-of-the-corner]

Fic Snip from Kingdom Hearts - Destiny Vault:

--

    The old man scoffed and adjusted his glasses.  “To think I crossed the Misty Stream to attend a trade partner’s royal’s ascension only to be trapped in a mystic curse,” he grumbled.

    Sora blinked, picking up on the mention of the space sector they had just passed through.  “Wait, what was that?”

    “Sora!” a familiar voice blurted from several feet away.  He turned to locate the source of the voice when a brunette in a purple dress ran up and wrapped him in a bear hug.

    Kairi and Mickey gasped as they recognized the girl.  Sora pulled her off to get a look at her face, and he was just as shocked as them.  “Rapunzel?”

    The princess of Corona laughed.  “It’s good to see you,” she said.

    Sora chuckled nervously.  “Uh, same.  But what are you doing here?” he asked.  “This isn’t anywhere near Corona.”

    “Well, the same thing that the rest of us are doing here,” the old man said.  “This kingdom has guests from many different kingdoms and nations spreading far and wide.  I am the duke representing Weselton, Arendelle’s closest trading partner.”

    Sora crossed his arms as he processed what he was being told, his confusion visible on his face.  “You… crossed the sea between worlds?”

    The Duke of Weselton nodded.  “As we have done several times in our many years of international relations,” he added, as if it should have been obvious.

    “M-Many years?” Sora parroted in bewilderment.  “But I thought the worlds were supposed to be separate, and people weren’t supposed to know that there were other worlds beyond their own.  ‘World Order’, Donald keeps telling me.”

    “That would be true for the common gentry,” a man dressed in a Colonial British naval uniform interjected.  “But governments and blue-blooded houses have known of the greater World for centuries, and have engaged in international relations with many of the other lands since we have been able.”

    Sora and his companions were taken aback.  People have been traveling between worlds long before them?  If so, then what was the point of the secrecy that Donald always used to give him grief over?

    Goofy leaned down to whisper into Mickey’s ear.  “Did you know about this, your Majesty?” he asked.

    Mickey shrugged.  “My experience with external relations was mostly related to my responsibilities as a Keyblade Master,” he replied.  “Though I guess that explains how Minnie and Scrooge understood it well enough.”

    “Kingdoms and nations that make business in commerce cannot well trade or profit much if their reach is a world border that stops two meters from the edge of their dominion,” the British merchant added.  “Were that so, the East India Trading Company would not exist.”

    “East India Trading Company?  I feel like I’ve heard that somewhere before,” Kairi mused.

    “Oh, there you are, Rapunzel.  I was wondering where you’d run off to.”  The party turned to the new speaker and recognized him as Eugene Fitzherbert, accompanied by one of the Kingdom of Corona’s royal guards.  He was dressed in more formal attire, donning a black suit with a purple vest marked with the sun-shaped sigil of Corona.  Sora smiled, putting his confusion to one side as he was simply happy to see his friend.  “Oh, hello there, Sora, Kairi, Mickey, Goofy.  Fancy seeing you here.”

    “Hey, Eugene,” Sora greeted.

    “Hang on.  The worlds had barriers separating them until a few years ago.  How have you been able to sail the Lanes Between before that?” Kairi asked.

    The trading company merchant smirked.  “We have our means,” he said cryptically.  “Although I’ll admit, we did enjoy the lack of barriers in the last few years, even while our business locations were being lost.”

    “But how do you reinforce your ships against the darkness of the Lanes Between?” Mickey asked.  “Especially for the crew members out in the open.”

    “Really?  I didn’t feel a thing,” Eugene remarked.  “Then again, I don’t really understand what you’re talking about.”

    “A-hyuck.  I guess you could say the same thing about Captain Hook’s pirate ship,” Goofy said, recalling how the vessel sailed around the Gummi Ship to ambush and capture them.  The trading company merchant frowned at the mention of pirates.

    Rapunzel shivered and did an erratic jig.  “Brrr…  My feet are freezing!” she complained.

    “Say, maybe we should find you some shoes,” Eugene suggested.

    “And a cloak, too,” Hans added.

    “It’s that blasted queen’s curse,” the Duke spat.  “That monster and her wretched sorcery.”

    Eugene was incensed at the Duke’s remarks against magic, as Rapunzel used to have powers and Sora and company had their magic, and they would by extension fall under his “wretched monsters” categorization.  He stepped up close to the Duke and glared down at him.  “Do you have something against magic, pal?”

    The Duke gulped in reaction to his threatening tone, then quickly composed himself and cleared his throat.  “As a matter of fact, I do,” he replied sternly.  His bodyguards gently nudged Eugene to take a step back.

    Eugene shrugged.  “I’ll admit, I’m not sure what answer I was expecting.”  The Corona guard rolled his eyes.

--

Yeah, I threw off the whole established understanding of the worlds here. (Though, honestly, at times it feels like this makes more sense.) And Eugene is really fun to write.

GOD THOUGH LIKE

I know there's probably a reason for it in-universe but they really should let the characters interact between worlds

[greatqueenanna]

Are the Southern Isles confirmed to be south of Arendelle?

Yup! In Frozen Fever, they featured the map below, showing where it was located in comparison to Arendelle. Nothing has directly contradicted its location as far as I know, although the map of Arendelle itself has slightly changed I think.

#frozen #Hans #Prince Hans #The Southern Isles #Frozen Fever

[frozensunflowersandlilies]

Arendelle Castle Rooms Part 3 | Analysis

Part 2 continuing from the rooms shown in Frozen, I breakdown the courtyard, the right side castle exit, Hall and spiral stairs locations...

1. The courtyard

(ref: Elsa is confronted by the crowds after she bursts out ice in 'Frozen' | Elsa leaving the castle in 'Frozen' | "Ring in the season" in 'Olaf's Frozen Adventure')

As I was explaining where the throne room led out to, I found out that it was to the courtyard and that the opposite end leads to the great hall where tie Coronation takes place. The courtyard is where celebrations are held including for the people of arendelle such as the coronation, the holidays and Anna's birthday.

2. Right side castle exit

(Ref: Elsa leaves the castle through a different exit in 'Frozen' | Anna follows Elsa in 'Frozen' | "Into the unknown" in 'Frozen 2' | After the flashback in 'Frozen 2' | "Making today a perfect day" in 'Frozen Fever')

Elsa doesn't go out through the other main gate but instead turns left and heads for an empty exit with no people because she doesn't want to hurt anyone by mistake. From this exit she runs alongside that wall on the left to head to the North for the North mountain where she builds her iconic Ice castle. That's also the same exit she uses in her first solo in 'Frozen 2', in "Into the unknown". Turn right from the door in the last image above, you reach this right side castle exit.

@lovewillthaw-j explains this exit in detail in this (linked) post.

Really hope we see this exit in 'Frozen 3 ', given it's been in the two full length movies.

3. Hall and spiral stairs

(ref: "For the first time in forever" in 'Frozen' | "Making today a perfect day" in 'Frozen Fever' | "For the first time in forever" in 'Frozen')

After she slides through the throne room, Anna runs and slides down the rail of the same sets of spiral stairs she rode her bike down in "Do you want to build a snowman?". The knights are in the same place too. The only error here is that the lamps are missing on the wall. We also see the same spiral stairs in 'Frozen Fever' when Elsa takes Anna bike riding down the halls. In between these stairs are a few floor levels and you can see above. Go to the top of the spiral stairs, you will reach the place where Hans and Anna dance on in "Love is an open door, which I go over in part 8.

These stairs are located on the left side of the main castle building where it features rounded structures. Thanks @lovewillthaw-j for helping me find this location! 💕 (See part 9 for the full view of each room with their locations in the castle)

Room locations to be continued in Part 4.

#frozen 3 #frozen 2 #frozen #disney frozen #anna #elsa #elsa and anna #olaf's frozen adventure #ofa #frozen fever

[ericmicael]

Another moment of Anna, Elsa and Olaf in the Enchanted Fores-, I mean, in the Arendelle Forest in “World of Frozen”. Yes, this location is being called Arendelle Forest.

#frozen 2 #disney park #world of frozen #the enchanted forest

[fairytale-nonesense]

My map for the descendants universe:

Everything labeled is tied to a Disney movie. Any letters repeated with a numeric value are locations mentioned/inferred in their respective movies.

Not pictured: Agrabah, China, the Americas, London, Isle of the Lost. Incorporating real places is hard and so is making maps, and I didn’t have the space. The grey section on the left is a land bridge that would connect the fictionalizations of these locations. (Also I couldn’t decide where I wanted the Isle.)

Locations:

A. Snow White’s Kingdom

A2. Prince Florian’s Kingdom

B. Cinderella’s Kingdom

C. Aurora’s Kingdom

C2. Prince Phillip’s Kingdom

D. Camelot (The Sword in the Stone)

E. Prydain (The Black Cauldron)

F. Prince Eric’s Kingdom

F2. Atlantica

G. Belle’s Kingdom

H. Fictionalized France

I. Fictionalized Greece

J. Corona

K. Fictionalized Scotland

L. Arendelle

L2. Southern Isles

M. Auradon

Stars= Capitols/Castles

X= relevant movie locations

A X1: home of the 7 dwarves

A X2: the gem mines

B X: the Tremaine estate/Cinderella’s childhood home

C X: Forest where Aurora was in hiding

G X: Belle’s village

J X: Rapunzel’s tower

M X: Auradon Prep

Xa: the horned king’s castle

Xb: YenSid’s tower

#descendants #descendants rewrite #snow white #disney descendants #my map #H was supposed to be fictionalized france with Paris and notre dame #but I made G belle’s kingdom so idrk #the whole comtinent is sandwiched between two Frances? #it’s all france #even Scotland and Greece #the whole thing is just France #after madam this is france! he says in greece lol #I Franced myself #just wait until my next map #France 2 Electric Boogaloo: London Edition!