#((as will wilhelm and june; very appreciative of beau being there for their boy))

[theheadlessgroom]

@beatingheart-bride

"I can't blame you!" Randall had gaped as he listened to all of this, very grateful to have this moment of peace, spent venting with his bride-to-be and his best friend: He couldn't say he'd had nearly as long and embarrassing a day as they had thus far (at least, not when it came to discussions about having children), but it had been a very busy morning, with a lot of running back and forth, feeling like he was juggling at least twenty tasks at once.

"And here I thought I'd been having a rough morning," he laughed in exasperation, sweeping a hand through his black curls before saying, "But you two have me beat, oh, I'm so sorry you had to sit through all of that! I'm glad you were at least able to escape and come down here!"

"So are we," Dorian laughed tiredly, able to have a sense of humor about the embarrassing discussion earlier. At the very least, he was able to laugh it off, far more than he'd be able to laugh off the gossip, the only part of the brunch discussion he didn't bring up to Randall-he considered it, admittedly, but he didn't want his best friend to know what his parents were saying about his beloved mother...

[theheadlessgroom]

——— 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐓 !

▌𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋 𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄 : The park-going mortals know him as the Hatbox Ghost, but the spirits ‘living’ within the Mansion’s walls know he was born Randall Huit Pace. Just the same, however, Randall accepts the nickname ‘Ol’ Hatty’ with great relish, having initially been affectionately bestowed it by the Imagineers during the Mansion’s construction. ▌𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐍 : Happily married to the Beating-Heart Bride, as she is known to the parkgoers, but to Randall, she is his heart, his Mrs. Pace, and above all, his Emily. ▌𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐑 𝐏𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐒 : The ability to remove his head from his shoulders and move it to his hatbox and back again at will, invisibility, transparency (i.e. ability to walk through walls, doors, etc.), and limited flight (reduced to mainly floating a few inches off the ground) make up the bulk of Randall’s ghostly powers. In addition to those, he has been blessed with a unique sort of flexibility, taking the form of abnormal limb rotation, behind his head (which can move unnaturally if he so wishes; i.e. turn a fast 180 to look at somebody). ▌𝐄𝐘𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐑 : Olive green when he was a mortal; they’ve now turned a dead, milky white. ▌𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐑 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐑 : Once a thick jet-black, it has considerably lightened up into more of a salt-and-pepper shade. ▌𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐒 : His parents, Wilhelm and June Pace, were the only family he knew (Wilhelm’s family was back in Ireland, and June’s family were dead by the time her son was born), and even then, he lost his father when he was three, and his mother some thirty years later. Today, the only family Randall has is his wife, and even then, she is absent from the Mansion. ▌𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐒 : A quintet of red-eyed bats that took up residence in the attic prior to his return, and were subsequently adopted by him, and named Boris, Bela, Lon Sr. and Jr, and Elsa. Although they look unsettling, to Randall, they’re actually quite friendly, and he does dote on them quite a bit. ▌𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 : Constance Hatchaway is the first thing that comes to mind: The Black Widow Bride has been the only sour part of Randall’s return home, having been greeted with the sight of her rather than that of his loving wife. Constance delights in making Randall miserable (mostly out of jealousy, considering the hype surrounding his return), insulting his heritage, his family, everything she can think of, and if she could get the boot, Randall would be a much happier spook. ▌𝐇𝐎𝐁𝐁𝐈𝐄𝐒 / 𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐒 : Sewing, mostly if it revolves around hat-making (he was a haberdasher in life, after all). He also enjoys singing (albeit privately) and dancing (if Emily is his partner in said endeavor, naturally), and enjoys a good, classic horror movie, especially of the silent variety. He also used to enjoy climbing as a young man, and was pretty good at it too, but these days, his old bones don’t like such strenuous activity. ▌𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 :  Randall’s gotten into a few scuffles before (mostly notably, he tried to punch a man who was getting fresh with his mother, and got a tooth knocked out for it, hence the gold one), but as far as he knows, he’s never seriously physically hurt somebody. ▌𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 : Never, and he never wants to stoop to such an action-he himself is a murder victim, and doesn’t want to be like his killer, or Constance, even.  ▌𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌 : A bull, pure and simple: Given his bullheaded nature, it’s only natural that he’d be associated with such a hard-headed animal. It’s also very telling that Randall’s Zodiac sign is a Taurus i.e. a bull. ▌𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐇𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐒 : Randall is a cranky old soul, and can be at times misanthropic, isolating himself in the attic for long periods of time, though lately, he has been attempting to break out of his shell. That being said, he can be an ornery old cuss, and get snappy with people easily, whether he means to or not-and most oftentimes, he doesn’t, really. He’s just become something of a curmudgeon on account to everything that’s happened (banishment; loss of his wife, etc). ▌𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐒 : As a boy, Randall looked up to Beauregard Ghast, the Ghost Host himself, when the Host was once the majordomo of the Gracey household and de facto babysitter for Dorian Gracey and his best friend. Beau was always unflappable and cool-headed in even the most drastic situations, very paternal in his care for the pair, and thus, Randall silently latched onto him, and still thinks of him in a very paternal fashion all these centuries later. As a ghost, however, Randall found himself looking to the Man of a Thousand Faces himself, Lon Chaney Sr, as not only a ghostly mentor (he credits Chaney’s performances as being what taught him to be frightening in the first place), but also a father figure, admiring Chaney’s work ethic and compassion towards those considered ‘lesser’ by others, and still does today.  ▌𝐒𝐄𝐗𝐔𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 : Heterosexual   ▌𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐆𝐄 / 𝐊𝐈𝐃𝐒 : At one time, Randall believed things like ‘love’ and ‘marriage’ weren’t in the cards for him, as well as believing that something like ‘true love’/’love at first sight’ was the stuff of fairy tales-all of which vanished upon meeting Emily, his first and only serious romantic relationship, and even though their lives were cut tragically short, he and Emily maintained a happy, healthy, and very loving marriage post-mortem, and would be overjoyed to be blessed with children (and, in some of the many verses that have been penned on this blog, they do have children!) ▌𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 : Banishment/abandonment, never seeing Emily again. ▌𝐒𝐓𝐘𝐋𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐒 : Randall is very formal in his dress, still wearing the suit he died in, and he is most comfortable in said formality, but with that being said, he can go more casual by removing his cloak and jacket, even down to his vest, if he so wishes. The hat stays, though. ▌𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 : Randall’s love for his wife Emily is legendary: He is ridiculously devoted to her, and has been since even before they married, having fallen in love with her for her kindness and compassion, and wanting to help her leave the terrible arranged marriage she was in. That love and dedication did not waver even in death, and even though they are apart now, the distance will not keep Randall from leaving Emily with every fiber of his being. ▌𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐀𝐂𝐇 𝐓𝐎 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏𝐒 : Randall, suffice to say, didn’t have very many friends growing up-in fact, he just had the one, Dorian Gracey, and it wouldn’t be until he and Emily arrived at the Mansion that he would gain a few more in spirits like the Hitchhiking Ghosts and the Toombs family. That being said, Randall’s approach to friendship is an apprehensive one, wanting to be sure that this potential new ‘friend’ isn’t just playing him for a fool and plans on pushing him in the mud at the first opportunity. ▌𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐈𝐄 : Randall’s open to pie, in particular if it’s homemade-strawberry is his favorite, there’s no doubt (considering just about anything involving strawberries is his favorite), but he doesn’t say no to apple or cherry, either. ▌𝐅𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐊 : Coffee, preferably black-having developed a taste for it early on thanks to his mother, it is Randall’s go-to drink, generally speaking, but he also likes tea (both hot and iced) and lemonade. You’ll never catch him drinking anything alcoholic, though, in order to avoid falling into the bottle the way his father did, as well as avoid the old ‘drunken Irishman’ stereotype. ▌𝐅𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐀𝐓 : The attic is Randall’s home, and admittedly, he is the most comfortable there-he’s not totally smothered the way he is down in the ballroom, and yet he knows he’s not alone, thanks to being near both it and the graveyard, which is always packed with spirits. He can just comfortably doing some sewing or enjoying some music on the phonograph as well-if you want to catch Randall at his most open, the attic is the best place for it.   ▌𝐒𝐖𝐈𝐌 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐍 : The lake-Randall’s more accustomed to swimming in it than he is the ocean.

▌𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐓𝐘𝐏𝐄 : Randall has had a fixation for blondes ever since he was a boy-his first crush was a little blonde-haired girl, and he has long gravitated to them more than any other hair color. Being taller than him doesn’t hurt either, but most of all, he looks for someone compassionate and open-hearted, with an appreciation for hard work and the simpler things in life, and, thankfully, Emily meets all of these requirements. ▌𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐑 𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑𝐒 : Indoors-camping isn’t terrible to him, he doesn’t mind being outdoors, but he’d prefer to be indoors, personally.

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