#Pumpkin Party Pandemonium

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: West Coast Avengers #27: STAR STRUCK!

December, 1987

I don’t know but give me a rainy rooftop and a gun and I’ll shoot whichever one doesn’t suggest I shoot them both.

It tends to work!

Anyway. Last time on West Coast Avengers, the thrilling spinoff: stuff. Stuff happened.

A lot of stuff. Stuff just keeps happening forever. I just realized that the Master Pandemonium plot thread is just flapping in the breeze. But it was never a timely plot point.

Anyway, the most immediate last time, in the previous issue Zodiac killed Zodiac and took over as Zodiac. Since I don’t have any affection for either Zodiac, I’m mostly annoyed they didn’t kill each other off. But now there’s a team of Zodiac-themed robots, led by the robot duplicate of Nick Fury’s brother and they’re all doing Zodiac-themed crimes like they’re Batman villains.

Taurus of the not-robot Zodiac has teamed up with the Avengers to fight the robot Zodiac and is using his Zodiac special interest to figure out where the Zodiac robots will strike next.

During an interrupted robbery of a cattle auction, Hawkeye accidentally shot and “killed” the Sagittarius Zodiac robot.

Robot Zodiac leader Scorpio has decided that his team of Life Model Decoys will finally look like specific people and makes a new Sagittarius robot that looks like Hawkeye.

And as Hawkeye casually strolls down the road after watching Wonder Man’s movie for the fifth time, he’s being stalked by the entire Zodiac team as they wait to ambush him.

I want to mock him for this but it turns out Zodiac sucks at ambushing. They all jump out like its a surprise party and introduce themselves. Instead of just cold cocking him.

Scorpio: “Good evening, Avenger! The sign of Scorpio is just setting in the west -- a fit time for you to confront me!”

Hawkeye: “You I’ll be glad to confront, Scorp! It’s all the other androids I can do without!”

Scorpio: “I’m so sorry, but I can’t! When I weild the Zodiac Key, all twelve signs are represented!”

And then, because he’s holding it above his head dramatically, Hawkeye shoots it out of his hands and quips “Then don’t wield it! That’s why they made me Avengers chairman, pumpkin-face! I’m good at solvin’ problems!”

Taurus (the LMD) tells Hawkeye that Sagittariuses are always upbeat but she and Aries are gonna kick his ass and hold up, Hawkeye confirms that he is a Sagittarius. WHY. He’s an archer so he was born under the archery sign? Fuck you.

Also, apparently either the Zodiac LMDs also suck at fighting or there’s some conservation of ninjutsu going on here.

Hawkeye, by himself, embarrasses Zodiac.

He catches Taurus and Aries with a net arrow. When Gemini, Pisces, and Aquarius try to flank him, Hawkeye shoots the electrical cord on Aquarius’ electrical gun and electrocutes Pisces’ mist while the three LMDs are in it.

Hawkeye seriously takes out about half of Zodiac before they bring out someone who is a match for him.

Him.

Hawkeye and Sagittarius then engage in perfectly symmetrical violence. Hawkeye’s every arrow - even the gimmick arrows - are perfectly countered by Sagittarius.

Hawkeye: “Even sounds like me! But I’m still the real McCoy! I’ve got my experience!”

Sagittarius: “We’ve both got your experience, thanks to the Zodiac Key!”

Hey. That’s cheating.

But does explain why he’s perfectly countering Hawkeye.

Anyway, the eternal struggle of Hawkeye versus Hawkeye Player 2 could go on forever or at least until Hawkeye wears himself out. But Scorpio blasts Hawkeye from behind with the Zodiac Key and knocks him out.

Leo asks why he didn’t do that sooner but Scorpio explains he wanted to see the new Sagittarius in action. Probably to make sure he could convincingly measure up to Hawkeye.

Sagittarius the Hawkeye LMD starts his infiltration by crashing Hawkeye’s sky-cycle outside the West Coast Avengers Compound.

Everyone rushes out to see if he’s okay and criticize him a little when his excuse is that the sky-cycle ran out of gas. But Wonder Man picks up the sky-cycle to carry it inside and everyone walks Sagittarius in.

And just like that, he’s inside the Avengers’ security. I guesss the defenses would have detected him if he tried to come in by himself.

Sagittarius is surprised to find Taurus the not-LMD hanging out with the Avengers and more surprised when Taurus starts explaining to who he thinks is the team leader that he based on Venus squaring Saturn on a Friday, that the Zodiac will try to rob the Denver Mint.

Sagittarius Hawkeye excuses himself so he can flip open his wrist and report Taurus’ involvement to Scorpio.

Sagittarius Hawkeye’s excuse is that he’s shaken up from the crash and wants to lie down. Mockingbird offers him a massage but he tells her “I’d rather be alone!”

BECAUSE: a massage would give away his LMD nature since he doesn’t feel like meat.

I feel like this is a shitty design flaw for something that’s supposed to be a Life Model Decoy. A decoy that you can’t touch still has its uses but c’mon.

Tigra notices that Hawkeye is walking the wrong direction if he’s going to his own bungalow. But she shrugs it off.

Anyway, Mockingbird gets upset because Hawkeye has never turned down one of her massages. She drags Hank Pym off to his lab and asks him to use his SCIENCE powers to hack into Nick Fury’s private frequency.

Hank is like ‘well geez they’re a security agency and are bound to have tough security but also yeah give me a bit.’

Mockingbird gets Hank to give her privacy and whoops, when she calls Nick Fury’s private number, she gets him right when he’s in the shower.

Maybe don’t have a vidscreen pointed right at the shower, dude.

Also, he smokes in the shower. Is that normal or is he a maniac?

Anyway, Nick isn’t thrilled that a) anyone called him when he was in the shower and b) that Mockingbird is the caller. But after being ghosted by him so much, she’s in no mood and demands he solve her problems for her.

When Mockingbird says that only Nick Fury Advice can help her now, dude does agree to give her five minutes.

Mockingbird considerately uses the first part of her five minutes to ask if he’s having trouble with Zodiac too but no. His problems are unrelated. Maybe.

Mockingbird: “Here’s the situation -- I let a criminal die when I could have saved him, and I didn’t tell my husband because Avengers have a code of fair play! More than that, I lied to Clint about it! I’ve never lied to him before, and I think he senses that I’m lying now -- and I don’t know what to do!”

Nick Fury: “Lissen, Barton -- this is a bizness o’ lies -- but I’ve never been comfortable with that! Gimme a foxhole an’ the Howling Commandos any time! My advice, fer what it’s worth, is tell the guy the truth, an’ quit poisonin’ the atmosphere!”

Mockingbird admits that this was the advice she didn’t know she wanted until she got it.

She offers once again to help Nick with his SHIELD problems and once again he tells her no.

Mockingbird: “You know, Nick Fury, you’re not as tough as you pretend to be!”

Nick Fury: “I told ya, this is a bizness o’ lies! Now get off the line so’s I can get the code changed!”

Meanwhile, in Zodiac’s secret base, Zodiac discusses the news that human Taurus is guiding the Avengers.

LMD Taurus and some of the others criticize Scorpio for letting Taurus get away in the first place. Leo goes as far as suggesting maybe new leadership is needed.

But Scorpio tells him he has the key, so he makes the rules. He brought them into the world etc etc.

So what to do about the fact that their plans have been predicted. Going where expected is dumb but not going tips the Avengers off that Zodiac knows about human Taurus.

And Libra points out that they really should rob the Denver Mint on Friday due to Venus squaring Saturn on a Friday.

Virgo: “Libra’s right! As the Virgo here, I feel an overpowering attraction toward those mounds of coins -- !”

God, Zodiac is so dumb. I hate them.

I have to mention that they’re constantly mentioning each other’s or their own names and I appreciate it because otherwise I’d have no clue who is who.

But it kind of underscores the problem that they don’t have distinct personalities and aside from some obvious ones, I can’t always accurately remember who is who.

Scorpio tells everyone to shut up because they can debate the issue up and down but the only voice that matters is his. He’s made the decision and they’re going to precede according to his plans.

Leo: “Then I want to know why the devil you keep us around, Mr. Big Shot. You run this group like it was your private army, you never tire of telling us how you made us -- but we represent eleven different signs, and we have eleven different points of view! We --”

Scorpio: “One more word, Leo -- one more word and I’ll replace you -- and you know I can do it! It’s decided! This conjunction is terminated!”

And then Scorpio sulks away from the meeting thinking about how the Zodiac Key has a special bond with only him that Leo just wouldn’t understand.

WHICH THE KEY PIPES UP TO CONFIRM.

They have an unbreakable bond formed when the Zodiac Key saved Jake Fury’s human spirit from death one of the times he tried to kill Nick Fury. And it put it into a new body modeled after a SHIELD LMD.

So that explains that, I guess.

The Zodiac Key also takes this time to recap its backstory. I’m pretty sure Scorpio already knows it but hey, villains love to exposit.

Zodiac Key: “It is my nature to ensure conflict, for I was created in a dimension where conflict is prized about all else. Except conflict had waned there over time, so I was sent to this realm! For here, power can be had without vision, and conflict still enthralls -- and I appeared to you because your hatred for your brother is so ripe with potential!”

Scorpio tells the Zodiac Key he’s troubled by these stupid LMDs he created as backup dancers and asks for advice.

Zodiac Key: “Remember, Scorpio, to every door which seems to bar you from your goals, there is a... key...!”

God dammit. How long were you sitting on that one, you abstract symbol.

Anyway.

In the woods outside the West Coast Avengers Compound, Moon Knight strolls around in moonlight, thinking to himself how the night is his time. When the rest of the Avengers are asleep and all is quiet.

He also thinks about how not far from here is where he fought Jack Russell, Werewolf by Night, for the first time. And considers hey maybe he should look Jack Russell up some day. Social visit. Whennnn the moon isn’t full, though.

Moon Knight sees some shape darting around the forest and since the Moon IS full, he thinks its the Werewolf and chases after.

He loses the shadowy figure and then gets tackled from behind.

Annnnnd its Tigra!

She has aesthetic appreciation of every dude and hey, the Moon is for levers. So... wanna be?

Tigra makes out with Moon Knight a little, as thanks for saving her during the battle with Leo.

After getting kissed a little, Moon Knight declines her attentions because he’s dealing with so many changes already. But... maybe sometimes later?

He’s not not interested, y’know? She’s a flirty catgirl.

Tigra: Strange guy -- but a new guy! Now that I have it together, I don’t want to run around with every man I meet any more -- but I want to run around a little...!

Never change, Tigra.

Elsewhere, Mockingbird finds Sagittarius Hawkeye shooting arrows in the training room.

Mockingbird thought he was going to have a lie-down but the LMD says shooting arrows is how he unwinds. So Mockingbird asks if they can talk but Sagittarius Hawkeye says they can talk later because shooting arrows is just a grand time. Mockingbird says its important but Sagittarius Hawkeye insists “later, I said!”

So Mockingbird glumly walks off, sure that she’s screwed up her marriage.

In the science lab, Dr Pym and Iron Man are messing around doing science stuff together. Despite Moon Knight assuming that the Avengers are all asleep, these two weren’t able to.

They both feel uneasy. That something around the West Coast Avengers Compound is wrong, somehow. 

Dr Pym attributes it to a sort of sixth sense for trouble that you get for being Avengers for so long. Which sidetracks Tony right into talking about how glad he is that Hank is superheroing again.

Dr Pym: “You’ve gone out of your way to make me feel accepted again, Tony! I think I can say you’ve succeeded! I am an Avenger again -- but what I didn’t know until I opened my mouth was, I’m beginning to feel like I always have been -- that my time away was just... time out!”

Iron Man: “You’re a founding member, Hank -- you can’t get away from it!”

Aw.

Anyway.

Wonder Man comes to interrupt the “mutual admiration society” because human Taurus just came up with a hot new astrological insight.

After everyone assembles, he tells them that he was thinking too west coast (nonsense, dude. Look at the title of the book) because there are other mints that Zodiac might strike, like in San Francisco or Philadelphia.

Iron Man points out that Philadelphia is East Coast Avengers territory and that the West Coast Avengers should give them a heads up about a possible mint robbery.

But Sagittarius Hawkeye insists that they not get the East Coast Avengers involved because dangit this is the West Coast team’s case!

Of course, I can think of other reasons why a robot imposter would not want another team of superheroes called in.

Sagittarius Hawkeye also decides to himself he’ll tell the team to focus on the Philadelphia possibility, send the West Coast Avengers cross-country so Zodiac can do their themed crime in Denver without interference.

Mockingbird comes after Sagittarius Hawkeye and insists that they talk. He takes her to the workout room and tells her to spill.

Content warning: Mockingbird is gonna be discussing Phantom Rider sexually assaulting her, albeit in a pretty PG way.

Mockingbird: “Honey, I’ve got a confession to make! You may not like it. But I know now I have to tell you -- so please, hear me out completely before you judge me!

Sagittarius Hawkeye: “Shoot!”

Mockingbird: “Clint, the Phantom Rider -- he drugged me -- did who knows what else to me while I was in that state. When I got clear of him, I hated him -- and when I fought him, I knocked him backwards, over the edge of a cliff! He was hanging by his fingertips -- I could have pulled him up -- but I didn’t! I let him fall to his death! I know it’s against the Avengers’ code! That’s why I lied to you! But I thought it was best at the time! Can you ever forgive me --?”

Sagittarius Hawkeye: “That’s your big deal? No sweat, honey! These things happen!”

Mockingbird: “Wait a minute! That’s all you’ve got to say, after I pour my soul out to you?”

Sagittarius Hawkeye: “Whaddaya want me to say?”

Upset, she hauls off and punches him.

And the punch goes clunk.

BECAUSE THE LMDs AREN’T GOOD AT BEING DECOYS, FFS

Between punches clunking on him and also him punching her back, which the real Clint probably wouldn’t do after clunking, Mockingbird realizes that this isn’t the real Hawkeye.

Sagittarius Hawkeye threatens that she’s not going to be able to tell anyone but he clearly expected she’d be more intimidated or at least more winded from getting walloped.

Instead, she jumps right at him and starts hitting.

He fights back and we’ve got a little action sequence of it.

But Sagittarius Hawkeye gets the upper hand, walloping Mockingbird with his bow and then shooting a gas arrow at her while she’s prone.

Mockingbird criticizes him for fighting from a distance, so he walks up and smacks her with his bow again.

But the sound of fighting aggroed Tigra and she asks the real question of why Hawkeye is beating the crap out of Mockingbird. Doesn’t seem like a lovers’ quarrel to her...

Mockingbird yells that Hawkeye is really an LMD. Hawkeye counters that Mockingbird is crazy but Tigra believes women. Alsooooooo, (Sagittarius) Hawkeye was standing above her with his bow and Mockingbird was on the floor.

So Tigra jumps right on him.

Sagittarius Hawkeye manages to fend off Tigra with an ultrasonic arrow but Mockingbird smashes the arrow. Then Tigra and Mockingbird take away his bow, his arrows, and his limbs.

Alas, Sagittarius Hawkeye.

You weren’t long for this world but also you weren’t good at your job.

Mockingbird thanks Tigra for showing up and then speculates where the real Hawkeye could be. She goes off to go tell the rest of the team while Tigra stays behind with the trashed Sagittarius.

AND REVEALS

She’s also an LMD!

Scorpio made good on his threats and replaced Leo with a new design. A new Tigra decoying design.

And she did the thing that you can do in Mafia Werewolf of helping take out another member of the Werewolf Mafia to make yourself seem trustworthy!

Leo Tigra: “It was a brilliant plan to grab Tigra in the woods and make a second substitution! The Avengers have discovered Sagittarius, but not me -- so now they’re right where we want them!"

Of course, the second anyone punches Tigra for whatever reason, she’s going to clunk and the game will be up.

Follow @essential-avengers​ and learn more about spy-checking people in your life with random punches. Well, actually, that about sums it up in its entirety... Like and reblog anyway?

[rosesinspirationandreference]

1. Pacifier 2. Package 3. Pact 4. Padlock 5. Pages 6. Paid 7. Painful 8. Paint   9. Palace 10. Paladins

11. Pampered 12. Pancakes 13. Pandemonium 14. Panic 15. Paparazzi 16. Papercut 17. Paradise 18. Paradox   19. Parallel 20. Parallel 21. Paranoia   22. Paranormal 23. Parasite 24. Parenthood 25. Park 26. Parking 27. Parlour   28. Parodies 29. Particular 30. Parties 31. Parting 32. Partner 33. Passenger 34. Passing 35. Passion 36. Passive 37. Password 38. Past 39. Patchwork 40. Pathetic 41. Pathology 42. Pathways 43. Patience 44. Patient 45. Patrolling 46. Patronage 47. Pattern 48. Pause 49. Paved 50. Pawn 51. Payback 52. Payment 53. Peaceful 54. Peach 55. Pearl   56. Pedal 57. Pedestals 58. Pedigree 59. Peeping 60. Pegasus 61. Penalty   62. Pendulum   63. Pentacle 64. Peppermint 65. Perception 66. Perchance 67. Perfectionist 68. Performance 69. Perfume 70. Perish 71. Periwinkle 72. Perks 73. Permanent 74. Permission 75. Persistence 76. Personal   77. Perspective 78. Persuasion   79. Perversion 80. Pessimistic 81. Pestilence 82. Petals 83. Petitions 84. Petty 85. Phantom   86. Pharaoh 87. Phenomenon 88. Phoenix 89. Phone 90. Photograph 91. Physical 92. Piano   93. Picnic 94. Picture 95. Piece 96. Piercing 97. Pilgrimage 98. Pillars 99. Pillow 100. Pinch 101. Pinpricks 102. Pirate 103. Pity 104. Pivot 105. Pixel 106. Pixie 107. Pizza 108. Plague 109. Plain 110. Plane 111. Planet 112. Planetarium   113. Planning 114. Plastic 115. Plateau 116. Platform 117. Player 118. Playful 119. Playground 120. Pleasant 121. Pleasurable 122. Plenty 123. Plight 124. Plotting 125. Plucked 126. Pocket 127. Poetry 128. Point 129. Pointless 130. Poisonous 131. Poke 132. Polaris 133. Police 134. Policy 135. Polished 136. Ponder 137. Pool 138. Poor 139. Popsicle 140. Popularity 141. Porcelain 142. Portal 143. Portrait 144. Positions 145. Positive   146. Possession 147. Possibilities   148. Postcard 149. Poster 150. Potato 151. Potential   152. Potion   153. Powerful 154. Powerless   155. Practical 156. Practice 157. Praise 158. Prank   159. Precarious 160. Precious 161. Precision 162. Precursor   163. Predator 164. Predestined 165. Predictability 166. Preference 167. Premise 168. Premonition 169. Preparation 170. Presence 171. Present 172. Pressure 173. Prestige 174. Pretence 175. Pretend 176. Pretty 177. Prevail 178. Preview 179. Price 180. Priceless 181. Pride 182. Primal 183. Primrose 184. Principles 185. Priorities 186. Prism 187. Prison 188. Prisoner   189. Private 190. Privilege 191. Prize 192. Problem 193. Proclaimed 194. Procrastinate 195. Prodigal 196. Professor 197. Profile 198. Profit 199. Prognosis 200. Programming 201. Progress 202. Prohibited 203. Project 204. Prom   205. Promiscuous 206. Promise   207. Promotional 208. Proof 209. Property 210. Prophecies 211. Proposal 212. Proposition 213. Protagonist 214. Protect 215. Prototype 216. Proud 217. Prove 218. Providence 219. Proximity 220. Pseudonym   221. Psyche 222. Psychic 223. Psycho 224. Publicity 225. Puddles 226. Pulled 227. Pulse   228. Pumpkin 229. Punching 230. Punctuality 231. Punished 232. Puppet 233. Purgatory   234. Purify 235. Pursuit   236. Pushover 237. Puzzle 238. Pyjamas 239. Pyramid 240. Pyromania

[swynlake-rp]

Do you remember? The 21st night of September?

OTMS

MUN: P! Quite a few of our members wanted to shout P out for jumping right in, even after being away from the RP game for a while. We couldn’t agree more! We loved to see P embracing the chaos of the PanDEMONium event, even giving Bruno a major injury in his first event. And we always appreciate P’s friendly check-ins on main. 

CHARACTER: WILLOW! Willow took some big steps in her journey this month, and we loved to see her epic battle against the demons and how it affected her relationship with Amity. We’re not crying, you’re crying!!

THREAD: THE DARLINGS/ALICE ELFHAME ARC! The Darlings and Alice’s battle with the faery queen and its resulting fallout came to its epic conclusion this month. There were tough goodbyes, there were beautiful new beginnings, and there was not a dry eye in sight :’)

Honorable mention: EVERYONE’S DEMON BATTLES! We loved to see how game members were to jump into the action, and a big shoutout to Belle and Snow for bringing it all about. We’re excited to see what’s next!

TASK: ASHLEE’S LAST SUMMER IN SWYNLAKE! This was such a beautiful tribute to Ashlee’s journey and a great way to celebrate her growth. As one member put it, “She's come so far and seeing that made me incredibly emotional.”

BOARD UPDATES 

THE FOREST IS CLOSED: No one may come and go from the forest without a permit, or you will be charged a fine. Permits can be requested through the mayor’s office. If you would like your character to illegally enter the forest, please contact the admin.

NO BOARD ELECTIONS: This is OOC for now, but just a reminder as discussed in the original Irontown plot pitch: there will not be Board elections this year, while the Board is under review. More information will come shortly. Your characters don’t know about this just yet! We will have a condensed election season in the new year, if your character is interested in running. 

APPLICATIONS FOR SHERIFF: As many of you saw, our sheriff has skipped town, oh no. It will be up to the interim mayor to find a new one with the help of the Board. In the meantime Errol Woolf will act as interim sheriff. If you are interested in having your character apply to be sheriff, please just message the admin! Character must be 25+ and a Mundus (closeted Magicks also may apply). Applications close at the end of September. 

TASKS

REQUIRED AUTUMN PAIRED THREAD: The air is getting cooler, the days are getting shorter, and we’re bringing back paired threads, this time with an autumn theme! Some ideas to get you started: the start of the school year, raking leaves, carving pumpkins, PSL season, the annual fall carnival! Getting this thread started is REQUIRED if you would like a new character this month. 

SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENT: Your character is assigned to read, annotate, and give a presentation on a poem or a passage of writing for school. For this task, write your character’s annotations of the poem or passage, OR share their slideshow presentation that they gave the class (or do both, if you’re looking for a challenge!) Minimum 200 words + graphic. 

EVENTS

SEPTEMBER 6-13: FRESHERS WEEK PARTY! Kick off the start of the university fall semester with an epic rager!!!!!!! Let’s go! Canonically on Sept. 8

SEPTEMBER 10-16: FALL CARNIVAL! Swynlake’s annual fall carnival is back! Rides and games and treats, galore! Happening on Discord – but also we encourage dashboard shenanigans. Canonically runs through the same dates.

SEPTEMBER 20-27: BOARD MEETING! Are you upset about the forest closing? Concerned about the pause in elections? Let your voice be heard! Canonically on Sept. 21

SEPTEMBER 27-OCTOBER 4TH: BUILD A BRAND NETWORKING EVENT: In line with their mission to connect Pride U students with their dream careers, Phineas and Pip are hosting a networking event with lots of prospective employers invited. Canonically October 2nd 

BIRTHDAYS

Characters:

Gregory Eeyore – September 1

Dian Morey – September 3

Vishaka Chakraborty – September 8

Lucian ‘Lucky’ Doyle – September 12

Anastasia Tremaine – September 13

Kiig'nc 'King' La'ornh – September 14

Babette Durand – September 20

Su Qin – September 20

Mazhar Morey – September 21

Alana Triton – September 23

Willis Tibbs – September 29

PLOT ROUND-UP! 

DnD Arc featuring Mirabel, Dipper, and Eilonwy: Mirabel, Eilonwy and Dipper are putting a DnD party together! Eilonwy teaches Mirabel about DnD and helps her build a character. They ask Dipper to DM. Eilonwy has also suggested getting a few more friends involved... 

Tiana and Hatter try to invent a new food that Seb can eat! featuring Tiana, Hatter, and Sebastian: Ever since Tiana found out that Sebastian Morey can only eat an extremely limited number of foods, Tiana has been on a mission to invent an allergy-friendly version of one of her restaurant's dishes. She's enlisted the help of Hatter, a kitchen witch, and while their first attempt was unsuccessful, they're committed to keep trying!

Catfish Cyrano featuring Tanya, Penny, and Jenny: All summer, Penny has been messaging Tanya as "Charlotte," her online alter ego that she uses to escape the assumptions people make about her as a famous actress/pop star. When Tanya wanted to see a photo of her face, Penny panicked and sent Jenny's face— creating a very complicated love triangle! Tanya has fallen for Penny, but only as "Charlotte," and with Jenny's face, who's just trying to help out and be a good friend. After the showcase, it looks like it all may come to a head….

In The Dark Of The Night featuring Holley, Gil, and Clayton: The RAS saved an owl bear… but Holley got shot in the leg! In a moment of clarity, Gil decided to go and save her instead of chasing down Clayton, so Clayton got away…

[one-lucky-clover]

Clover: *YAWN* Really though, what could be so important that Rue has to bribe me with my favorite breakfast.

[coyotesongwriting]

May The Best Turkey Win

Avengers - No pairing, just happy fluff of the team

Story Summary:  When you get put in charge of Thanksgiving, you're excited to make a fried turkey. Steve doesn't take it very well, and the two of you end up in a cookoff to see who can make the better turkey!

Author’s Note: Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you enjoy this little bit of fun with the Avengers!

Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters so don’t sue me please. I just really like them haha

Tag List (if you want to be added or removed let me know!):  @he-is-chaotic-she-is-psychotic @queenoftheunderdark @redfoxwritesstuff​ @brokenthelovely  @collinsstanharbour  @rorynne​ @proudhufflepuff77​ @darthhayber​ @alwaysadreamingoptimist​ @kaelyn-lobrutto24​​ @carissime72​ @gatorgal94 @samsgoddess

~~November 1~~

Thanksgiving was coming up quickly, and you’d managed to convince Tony to let you plan the family gathering for everyone. Steve, Bucky, Clint, Bruce, Nat, Tony, Peter, Thor, Loki, Wanda, Vision, Sam, Scott, Hope, everyone was going to be there and you were insanely excited. Thanksgiving had always been one of your favorite days of the year - good company and great food? What more could you want out of life?

You’d forced Tony to give up control of the party to you when he started talking about caterers and party planners. Thanksgiving isn’t about having perfectly cooked meals or a big bash, no. You just want to spend the day with your family, eat too much and watch some movies. Steve and Bucky had been quick to back you, and they were looking forward to a more relaxed celebration with you in charge.

You were seated at the kitchen table, working on the menu. You’d need to pre-make anything you could, so you had to get a move on and make the grocery list too. Tapping the pencil against your cheek you stared down at the list in front of you. It always frustrated Tony that you still kept lists like this on paper, but living around so much tech, it was sometimes nice to have something so old school.

Deep-Fried Turkey Salad Mac-n-Cheese Mashed Potatoes Sweet Potatoes Gravy Cranberry Sauce Green Beans Rolls Stuffing Pumpkin Pie Apple Pie

You were too caught up in planning to realize Bucky, Steve, and Sam had taken over the kitchen and you only looked up when Bucky grabbed the list from in front of you. You’d tried to grab it back but he’d quickly jumped back and now all three were looking at the list.

“[Y/N]” Steve cocked an eyebrow, “You can’t deep fry a turkey for thanksgiving.”

“Um, excuse me, but yes we can?” you huffed playfully, “Fried Turkey is superior, and that’s what we’re having.”

“It’s Thanksgiving! You can’t have a fried turkey. It’s just wrong!” his voice was determined as he crossed his arms over his chest.

You mimicked his posture, a cocky grin lighting up your face, “It’s not the dark ages anymore, Steve. Fried Turkey or bust!”

“It’s a classic and it’s traditional to cook it in the oven. Thanksgiving is all about tradition, you can’t go messing with that! Not with the turkey, [Y/N]. That’s a line.”

“I’m team Fried Turkey!” Clint announced as he and Nat strolled in fresh from training, they’d overheard the tail end of Steve’s argument and it was clear they were ready to take sides.

“I have to side with Steve here, there’s a reason the oven-roasted turkey is a favorite” Bucky shrugged, grabbing a water bottle out of the fridge.

“I’ve been watching a lot of Food Network, we could spatchcock it?” Sam suggested.

“No!” you and Steve both cut him off quickly.

A slow smirk crept onto your face as you turned back to Steve, “I propose a cook-off. We’ll both make the turkeys we want for Thanksgiving, and everyone can vote on which is better.”

“Oh, it’s on!” Steve smiled, “But what does the winner get?”

You pursed your lips, fingers drumming on your arm as you thought, “I’ve got it. When I win, you’re going Black Friday shopping with me. You can carry my bags and distract people.”

He blanched slightly, you’d been showing him the videos of the pandemonium from the last few years yesterday and the idea of willingly venturing into that pit of crazy was not sitting well with him, “What do I get when I win though?”

“Dealer’s choice. You can pick whatever you want since we both know I’m going to win it doesn’t matter” you grinned.

“Deal, what are the rules?”

You shrugged, thinking for a moment before looking at Sam and Bucky, “You can’t just vote for him because you like him better. You have to vote for the better turkey!”

“But can we vote you just because we like you better?” Nat asked, laughing.

“Well, duh. Just make sure to let me know that’s why, so I remember to thank you properly later” you winked.

“Well that’s fair” Steve huffed, “How about no cheating? We have to cook it ourselves. No help, no buying the turkey. A good old-fashioned cookoff.”

“Of course you’d want it to be old-fashioned” you teased. Steve rolled his eyes, but otherwise ignored your teasing, “Is that fair?”

“May the best turkey win,” the two of you shook hands, and you immediately began to plot.

~~ Thanksgiving Morning ~~

You guys had gotten back from a mission yesterday afternoon, and you were exhausted. You’d remembered to apply the spice rub yesterday before you passed out thankfully. Unfortunately, you’d barely had a couple of hours of sleep before you had to get up and start cooking. Pepper, Clint, and Bruce were all in the kitchen helping you. You’d decided to go all out when cooking, and wanted to make sure there was something for everyone, and that meant there was a lot to do. You’d been unable to premake anything like you’d wanted, missions had been keeping everyone running, so there was a lot to do and so little time.

The day was flying by, and you’d barely even noticed when Steve prepped his turkey and placed it in the oven you’d left available for him. Finally, it was time for you to fry your turkey. Martha Stewart’s recipes had never steered you wrong, and you could only hope she wouldn’t this time either. You carefully lowered the turkey into the hot oil, careful to splash any out and sat by to wait anxiously.

When the timer went off and you were sure the turkey was cooked to the perfect temperature, you pulled it out and set it on a rack so the excess oil could drip off. The turkey looked absolutely perfect, a rich golden brown and the smell was pretty amazing too. You carefully picked up the turkey and brought it inside. Steve was the only other person in the kitchen when you got there, everyone else had finished what they needed to do and had (wisely) decided to get out of the way of you two.

It looked like Steve had just pulled his turkey out of the oven, and set it out to rest when you walked in. His turkey was a lighter gold than yours, but it smelled amazing too.

“How’s it going Rogers?” you grinned.

“It’s almost the moment of truth, so I guess we’ll know then” he shrugged, smiling.

“I guess we shall” your nerves were beginning to grow as you waited anxiously. Tony and Clint had been harassing you all month, telling you that if you lost they would make sure you paid dearly, and you really didn’t want to see what they’d come up with if you lost.

You carved your turkey, relieved to find it wasn’t bone dry, and when you snuck a piece you were pleasantly surprised. Having never made a turkey before in your life, you honestly hadn’t had too high of hopes. Apparently, even you couldn’t screw up a Martha Stewart turkey, and now it wasn’t just arrogance that had you smiling, it was actual hope. The food was arranged around the serving table, and the turkeys were placed on opposite ends of the table.

When you announced that dinner was ready, you’d made sure to stand back, and for good reason. Clint, Scott, and Peter were the first to the table and you were glad you’d gotten out of the way because they arrived much like a stampede. The others soon followed, and once everyone else had grabbed their plates you grabbed yours and joined them at the dining table.

During dinner, you pushed the turkey competition out of your mind, enjoying the little moments like this. Who knew how long it would be before all of you were gathered here again, between missions and living in different places with families and friends and outside lives, it was never a sure deal when you’d all be together.

Tony, Bruce, and Vision were all caught up talking about the latest experiments they were working on in the lab. Their eyes lit up as they spoke, new ideas flying back and forth like a ping pong match, and you didn’t understand half of the words they were using.

To your left, Steve, Nat, and Hope were talking about movies again. You and Nat had been helping him catch up on more movies, and he was enjoying it. Lately, though you’d made it your mission to show him some cult classics, and it was always so much fun to see the look on his face. The last movie you’d made him watch was Rocky Horror Picture Movie, and you weren’t sure you’d ever laughed so hard at someone’s face before. He’d banned you from picking movies after that.

Peter, Clint, and Loki were your trouble makers, always, and tonight was no exception. Any hope you’d had that they would mind their manners today quickly went out the window when you saw the green beans discreetly flying towards Tony. You softly cleared your throat and when they turned to you look at guiltily, you merely cocked an eyebrow. Peter shot you an apologetic smile, but Loki and Clint quickly returned to whispering plans. That was never a good sign, but you’d find out what they were up to later when they pulled some insane prank on everyone, like always.

At the opposite end of the table, Bucky and Sam were in another heated debate. To anyone outside the team, the two looked like they hated each other's guts with the constant teasing and trying to one-up each other. It hadn’t taken you long to realize though that that was merely their friendship. Some days you half wondered if Sam had replaced Steve as Bucky’s best friend considering how often the two were together. Tonight it appeared that they were busy arguing over who would be able to take down a Kree faster.

Wanda and Thor were listening to Scott’s latest story about Cassie (she had convinced her parents to let her go on a trip over Thanksgiving, and it was clear he was missing her today). Apparently, Cassie had taken a lesson or two from her parents. Last week she’d gotten in trouble for threatening a kid at school, and everyone had been horrified until they found out she’d been standing up to a bully who had been picking on some of the other kids.

Sitting here in the middle of our family, everything felt right, and you couldn’t imagine being anywhere but a part of this group of mismatched people. Soon enough, dinner was over and after the plates were piled in the sink - Clint, Scott, and Peter would be doing the cleanup tonight since they’d insisted on sending so many green beans flying tonight - you eagerly turned to the others.

“Well?” you asked, bouncing up and down lightly on the balls of your feet.

“Well, what?” Tony asked, smirking. The asshole knew what you wanted to know and wanted to tease you about it a bit first.

“Oh my god, Tony if you guys don’t start telling me which turkey is better I’m going to lose my mind! I need to know if Steve’s coming with me in the morning” you snorted, grinning at the super-soldier.

“Fried!” Clint and Peter cheered, and you grinned widely.

“Sorry [Y/N], I’m sticking with the good old-fashion roasted turkey” Bruce apologized with a shrug.

“Fried is obviously better” Tony smirked.

“I have to agree!” Nat laughed

“I’m sticking with the traditional” Sam explained.

“That’s because Steve’s your best buddy” you teased, playfully frowning.

“No, it’s not!” Sam argued.

“So… you’re saying you don’t like my cooking” your eyebrow raised.

“That’s no- This isn’t fair!” Sam huffed, causing Clint, Bucky, and Steve to burst out laughing at their friend

“I’m going with the classic as well” Loki shrugged.

“I preferred your creation” Thor grinned, clapping you on the shoulder hard enough you stumbled forward half a step.

“I don’t know how this is even a question, anything fried is the better option. Think about it, deep-fried twinkies are even better!” Scott argued.

Vision and Wanda shot you a small grin, “Sorry, we have to go with Steve here.”

The only two left to vote were Bucky and Hope, and your nerves were growing. You figured that Bucky would end up going with Steve, so you needed Hope to side with you if you had any chance of winning or even tying. Steve looked just as nervous as you, and you weren’t sure if he was just excited by the idea of winning or terrified of going Black Friday shopping.

Hope thought for a long moment before speaking, “Sorry [Y/N]. Yours was delicious but I have to go with the good old-fashion oven roasted.”

All eyes turned to Bucky, and he blanched as his thoughts raced. He didn’t quite enjoy being the center of attention, but he was busy debating each one. Everything came down to him, and he needed to make sure he made the right choice.

“Sorry, I have to say the best turkey was the…” Bucky paused, and you were about to throw a leftover roll at him before he continued, “Fried.”

Loud cheers and groans echoed around the room, and you quickly swept Bucky up into a brief hug before high-fiving Tony and Clint. Steve sighed and as he accepted defeat, giving you a congratulatory hug. Before anyone could begin to debate, Friday interrupted to let you all know that a mission was incoming and everyone needed to head to the briefing room.

You smiled softly as you all headed there, the movies would have to wait for another day, but today had been perfect and you wouldn’t trade it for the world.

[cupids-flight]

Spooky Santa 2019 - Gift

Good afternoon! This is my Spooky Santa present - I was lucky enough to get @minibattlehero​ and they requested... basically anything! Unfortunately, I have the artistry skills of a brick through a windshield, so what I can offer my writing skills.

It’s one hundred percent Izuocha - and I hope you like it! It’s under the cut, as it’s somewhat longer than I expected.

Story Information:

Title: “🐝 To say there were too many bees was an understatement. 🐝” Pairing: Izu/Ocha Word Count: 2082

🐝 To say there were too many bees was an understatement. 🐝

It was not often that Ochako wished revenge on someone that didn’t have it as part of a greater goal, but it did happen. And – in her eyes – pranking her classes Secret Santa party with a box full of angry bees was taking things far too far. She didn’t know who had sent the cursed present but seeing the smirk on Monoma’s face at the sight of her many stings was enough in her mind.

She had stepped forward, about to give him a piece of her mind, when an angry force of nature sped forward with an anger that seemed unsuited on his frame; the green sparks flared over him. Whatever he was feeling, it was not going to be pleasant for Monoma.

🐝 🐝 🐝

It wasn’t so much a party as it was a gathering; the class coming together to exchange gifts; not unlike a Secret Santa, but for the most legendary of holidays. Halloween.

The names had been drawn, and the only rule for present purchasing was simple – not too expensive, and something spooky or related to the season.

Some of the presents had been oddly fitting – Mineta receiving a pumpkin that had been made to look like his head, while Tokoyami received a rather sizable book on eldritch mythos – and some had been... odder. Izuku receiving a full vampire costume (save that it was in magenta) and Shoto receiving a full campfire and smores kit. (Mina had gotten particularly defensive when he opened his present, leaving no one to doubt who had gotten Shoto in the draw.)

Everyone had switched presents and the party was winding down. Kirishima was the first to notice the elephant in the room; two final packages. One of them was clearly marked for Koji, but he had not been able to attend. The other was untagged and unadorned, lay in the remnants of the original gifts. It’s wrapping was a plain metallic gold, adding to the mystery.

Kirishima glanced around, before shrugging.

“Hey, anyone going to claim this present or should I open it?”

His classmates, having been roused from their merriment, turned their attention to the package. Jirou, taking the initiative, placed one of her ear jacks carefully against the box. Within a moment, she turned back towards her friends with a single eyebrow raised and an apprehensive look on her face.

“It’s buzzing. Whatever is in it, it’s buzzing.”

The reactions were mixed; Denki looked almost abashed (his mind having rapidly drifted toward the impure) while Shoto looked on with a stoic gaze, seemingly unfazed. He sighed, before walking towards the mystery present.

“I am going to open it. Does anyone object?”

Everyone looked on, curiosity now roused; even if there were misgivings, none would announce them. Izuku (in a case of extraordinarily good judgment) gently stepped back, pulling Ochako as he did.

Shoto opened the lid, and pandemonium ensued.

An unreasonable (almost improbable) number of bees poured from the box, having been freed from their prison; and to say that they were (as a collective) angry bees was an understatement. Their rage could only be surpassed by Bakugo; who to his credit had sprung into action, the sparks from his hands proving more than enough to send the bees flying off, desperately avoiding him.

🐝 🐝 🐝

Ochako was panicking; she was not a fan of bees in any capacity and being confronted with a frankly preposterous number of bees was – to her – far scarier than any threat posed by a villain. Izuku very quickly caught up on this, stepping forward; doing his best to shield her from the incessant buzzing.

It was just a shame that she had chosen today, of all days, to wear a shirt with a floral design. The bees were homing in on the promise of nectar from the flowers on her shirt, almost trying to swarm her.

The first sting went unnoticed by many, but they continued.

The bees, to their credit, weren’t trying to intentionally hurt anyone; but they were scared insects who were desperately trying to get out of the room. (All the windows had been rapidly opened, and they were pouring out of the windows.) In the excitement, no one was aware that the number of bees pouring from the box were vastly more than it could hold.

It all came to a sudden, sweltering stop when Torodoki, stung to hell and back and fed up with the entire situation, let loose a torrent of flame that incinerated any luckless bee in the area that was still flying, adding to the pile of dead bees on the ground. He also successfully singed a lot of hair, but most of them were accepting of this fact if it solved the bee problem.

Bakugo, naturally, was the first to start swearing.

🐝 🐝 🐝

Most people simply tuned out the unending stream of profanity emanating from the angry blond, instead focusing on the stings and the countless remains of bees.

Kirishima took a moment – sting-free, due to his hardening – to glance at his friends. Hakugure was somehow giving off an air of displeasure despite not saying a word nor having any capability for expression in any form. Mina was crying, Jirou carefully patting her on the arm avoiding the many stings laced across it. Ochako was nowhere to be found; nor was Izuku (which lead him to smile, mentally).

Denki was passed out on one of the couches – he had let loose an ill-advised burst of electricity to try and shock the bees, which had simply made them angrier.

He sighed, before sitting down himself, the quiet they found themselves in only disturbed by Bakugo’s profanity; he was still going and had not yet even managed to repeat himself. (Kirishima would privately note this as impressive, despite everything.)

🐝 🐝 🐝

Ochako hissed as the cool liquid splashed onto yet another sting, Izuku’s hand carefully on her shoulder as he applied it. She had been one of the worst off out of the stung; it was with no small measure of extraordinarily good sense that had Izuku quickly get her out of the room before the bees swarmed.

(He did wonder why no one else considered leaving the room and just allowing the bees to leave through the window; or why someone didn’t think of calling Koji and seeing if he could intervene.)

His face was contorted with concentration as he applied the final bit of anti-sting lotion he had, the final drips of the blue liquid leaving the bottle. He put on a cheerful face for Ochako, even as she looked up.

A cheerful face would not disguise the fact he was similarly covered in stings.

“That should do it.” A nod from the green-haired boy. “It’ll still hurt for a little bit, but they should go down soon.” His face turned grave for a second. “It’s really lucky none of us were allergic…”

Ochako looked up at him, thinking for a moment.

“Why did you not use any of the lotion on yourself, Deku?”

And hearing her voice say his name slammed into Izuku’s train of thought like a lead weight, throwing all other thoughts out of his mind. His crush on her was (to everyone but the pair) common knowledge, barring Ochako herself.

“I- I wanted to make sure you were taken care of.” He held up a depleted first aid kit, some of its contents long since consumed. “I only had a little bit left.” Ochako looked at him with a level gaze for just a moment, before sighing.

“…thank you.” Her voice was a bit more subdued, the cheerfulness that was often in her tone making its absence known. She seemed to shrink into herself at Izuku’s speech.

Izuku frowned a little at that, before standing up – ignoring the omnipresent discomfort from the bees – and offering a hand to Ochako. She looked up towards it, almost hesitant.

She took it.

��� 🐝 🐝

They were walking down one of the many streets; having made a hasty exit from the ‘restarted’ gathering. The fact that dead bees now covered many surfaces (and the discomfort from stings sending many people to bed early) made it fruitless endeavour.

Izuku had bought Ochako an ice cream, but she still looked somewhat uneasy. Izuku, to his credit, had not forced the issue. He simply let her enjoy her ice cream in companionable silence, focusing as best as he could on his own.

(If he kept glancing to his right to catch a glimpse of her face, that was his business and his alone.)

The silence continued on, as the final touches of the day passed on leaving a starlit sky in its wake.

“Izuku-kun.”

Her voice was quiet; not as subdued but lacking the normal boundless enthusiasm she put into everything she did. Izuku turned his head, ice-cream long since finished, and looked at her.,

“Why did you jump in front of me when the box was opened?”

Izuku barely hesitated in answering, conviction in his voice.

“…because you looked like your worst nightmare had come true when the box opened. A-and…” A moment to pause, as Izuku considered his next words; whatever he said next would have to be poignant. (Or so it had been drummed into him, as a life lesson in talking to girls.)

“…well, I never want to see you look like that again if I can help it?” A nod, as he felt emboldened. “I fully believe in you as a hero, but everyone has something they don’t like… like… like bees.” His voice lowered a notch. “…I don’t like them either. They scare me.”

Ochako’s face seemed to shift at that admission, just a little.

“But… if it was anyone else, I’d have… I don’t know. Probably not jumped in front of a swarm of them.”

A moment passed between them, a moment that seemed to pass for an age.

Ochako spoke next, equally as quiet.

“…thank you. It… did make me happy, in a way, to see it was you who had jumped in front of them.” A soft smile, the ever-present blush enlightening her face.

This, once again, sent Izuku’s thought processes sideways, even as she continued to speak.

“It was really stupid. I had this whole plan to talk to you, and then I didn’t get a chance before the bees…”

A nod. Izuku did not want to consider the bees.

“…I was actually going to tell you something.”

This caught Izuku’s attention even as he was reeling from the unexpected turns of phrase she had used; his analytical brain desperately trying to figure out what she was going to say. It could have been anything, to him – an invite out with her and some friends, a question about homework-

“I like you, Izuku.”  

-and his mental processes slammed to a complete stop for the third time that day. He watched down, nervous (and in a state of shock) as she took his hand, holding it in her own. It had been something he had often considered (alone, obviously, because he was not about to mention it in any way that Bakugo could find out) but he had long since cast the idea aside.

He – almost in autopilot – reaffirmed her grip, the tip of his finger making contact with one of her pads; she giggled, a little bit, at that. The small tremors in his hands, the callouses and marks from constant training and the sheer damage he had caused to them, all fading into the background under the simple touch; the gentle feeling of her hand pushing everything else aside.

He looked at her; gazed into her eyes for just a moment, before speaking. It was a simple sentence he said in return, but it held a lot of meaning.

To them both.

🐝 🐝 🐝

It was with little fanfare that Izuku, Monoma and (having followed along in a fret of concern) Ochako found themselves sitting in front of Aizawa, his gaze as level and tired as it ever was.

“What, precisely, led you to believe that using your quirk to intimidate Monoma was a good idea, Problem Child?”

A small nod from Izuku; a well-rehearsed answer.

“It was when he upset my girlfriend by sending our party a box of bees.”

And that caught everyone’s attention. It was back to their classmates within the hour.

[vex-bittys]

Maybe you remember the ask about the favourite heros/villans of the bittys so.. me and my papyton Sirius planed something for the bitties in the shop~

We prepared some of the Cosplays in wich we want to visit the lamias in the shop on Halloween!  We have different cosplay so we could change to show as much as we can and play a bit with them. at the end Sirius could show up as the Pumkin King Jack Skellington to give some Candys to the bittys. I really hope they will enjoy this little surprise~

(submitted by @lyranekota)

Link to the ask about favorite heroes and villains

It is Halloween Day, and the Lamia Bittybones Adoption Center is in complete chaos. Edgar is allowing the older hatchlings to take part in the festivities, but the little beepers and peepers are safely tucked away in the nursery with the door firmly closed to keep them from being frightened.

Vex keeps putting up decorations in an attempt to create a Halloween mood, but her efforts are thwarted at every turn. She placed a line of fake rats along the windowsill, but the Mambas hunted them to extinction along with the bats dangling from the ceiling. Fake cobwebs were quickly swept away by neat and tidy Papythons.

Vex tried hanging Halloween-colored lights in orange and purple, but they inexplicably ended up inside of the Commander nest. Vex asked for them back, but since she wasn’t on the guest list for the exclusive Commander Gang Halloween Party, Belle refused to let her in. Exasperated, Vex hung up last minute crepe paper streamers, but Corals couldn’t resist the texture of the crinkled paper, and the decorations were quickly torn away and hidden in various hoards around the shop.

Fortunately, Vex didn’t have to worry about the candy for the party. Decoy candy bowls had been placed throughout the shop that morning to lure the lamias away from the real stash- locked away in Vex’s filing cabinet drawer. Sure enough as the day progressed, brightly colored Japanese candies vanished into the Commander nest. The Laffy Taffy bowl could be seen upended near the anti-venom fridge.

Corals feigned indifference, but every few seconds a quick little hand darted into a bowl of salted caramels and pocketed a few. The Mambas eagerly collected their bowl of super sour candies, looking forward to the puckered mouth and swollen tongue sensation only to find that some prankster Cornies had removed all of the sour candies from the wrappers and replaced them with rocks!

Even poor Honey the Pappy puppypapri has been tricked! The older hatchlings convinced him that he needed to restock the filing cabinet, and when he unlocked the bottom drawer, they absconded with the candy! Now they are all in the infirmary with tummy aches being tutted at by the Nurse Papythons for eating too many sweets!

The holiday seems destined to dissolve into pandemonium when you show up to save the day with your Papython Sirius and a series of entertaining and impressive cosplays. The shop falls silent, and lamia bittybones crowd around when you come through the door dressed as Toothless and Hiccup. Mambas cheer to see their favorite dragon hero and his human friend paying them a visit.

Edgar peeks out of the nursery and sees that your outfits are very hatchling friendly, so he leads the baby lamias out of the nursery to watch the show. Adult lamia move aside to give the little ones the best viewing spots. Larger full-sized Kings let the smallest babies perch atop their heads. 

Even Butter is allowed out of the nest to participate in the festivities. He’s not entirely sure what’s going on because it’s his first Halloween, but he yells BOO! a lot since it seems like the thing to do. Each time he BOOs, the Kings flare their hoods in mock fright, making baby Butter giggle. You take advantage of the distraction to change outfits in a room in the nursery, emerging next as Lilo and Stitch.

The Corals go crazy. They point and cheer, completely forgetting that they are supposed to be too cool and tough to enjoy cosplays of their favorite character. Several of them hold up crayon drawings showing their badness levels which they estimate to be unusually high for lamias of their size (claims of badness are greatly exaggerated).

All of the lamias are impressed by the Coco character cosplays; they love skeleton characters. Of course every Honey Bo in the shop recognizes Miguel and Hector. Despite the lamias not having feet, the Honey Bos have found a collection of slippers and flip-flops to shake at Ernesto. After Ernesto’s “retreat” (for an outfit change), the Honey Bos slither around proudly.

The sight of the next characters- Sonic and Amy- sets off a flurry of activity in the shop. A whirlwind of Pygmies zoom in excited circles around their heroes, showing off their own magnificent speed. A friendly and helpful Chain tosses some gold-colored rings into the air, and the Pygmies leap and backflip to catch them, presenting them to Sonic (and a few, blushingly, to Amy).

The grand finale makes the crowd go wild. Of course every lamia bitty has seen The Nightmare Before Christmas! Kings, Papythons, and Mambas alike all love Jack Skellington’s impeccable style. A whisper of “pretty” travels through the crowd as they admire your Sally cosplay. Hearing all of the cheering, Butter slithers forward to insert himself into the commotion. The crowd goes silent, wondering what he will do.

“BOO,” shouts Butter at Sirius. Apparently he wants to challenge this strange skeleton lamia in the only way he knows how. Always a good sport, Sirius crouches down to Butter’s eye level.

“It looks like we have a new Pumpkin King,” he declares to deafening applause. Sirius glances quickly at Syrup, who nods. Sirius scoops up baby Butter and holds him high while the other lamias chant “Pumpkin King!” Butter wiggles with joy at the attention and ends up falling asleep in Sirius’ arms, tired out from all of the excitement.

Happy Halloween!

[mistysworldboutique]

Another early 20th Century Halloween postcard. Four pumpkin-headed hoodlums are causing mayhem. Imagine the pandemonium the next morning when all straight things will be out of kilter and people will be walking across forbidden grass.⁣🙀 ⁣ I did a post a few weeks ago about scarecrows being brought to life, but I couldn't find records of any other creatures of that time who had pumpkins as heads.🎃 Except possibly the Headless Horseman from Washington Irving's 1819 story, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow".⁣ ⁣ In that story, set in 1790, residents of Tarry Town, New York told of a ghost of a Hessian soldier who lost his head to a cannonball during the American Revolution. According to the legend, he haunted a little glen outside of town called Sleepy Hollow, where he rode in search of his head.⁣ ⁣ The story centers around a superstitious school teacher named Ichabod Crane who had recently moved to Sleepy Hollow. He competes with handsome local mischief-maker "Brom Bones" for the attention of Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter of a wealthy Dutch farmer.⁣ ⁣ A harvest party was held at the Van Tassel farm with most of the village in attendance. Stories of the headless horseman were told, and Brom added that he had raced the horseman one night through Sleepy Hollow, only to have the horseman vanish in a flash at a wooden bridge near a church.⁣ ⁣ After the party, Ichabod had to ride home alone through Sleepy Hollow. There in the dark, he met a silent rider. When Ichabod saw that he carried his head on his saddle instead of the customary place on his shoulders, he took off at full gallop with the headless horseman giving chase.🐎 Upon crossing the bridge, Ichabod looked back to see the horseman hurl the head towards him. It struck him, knocking him from his horse. ⁣ In the morning, Icahbod was gone. Only his borrowed horse, his trampled hat and a shattered pumpkin remained at the bridge. ⁣ With Ichabod gone, Brom married Katrina. The old Dutch wives said that Ichabod was taken away by supernatural means. Irving never said directly what happened to Ichabod, but he does say that Brom "was observed to look exceedingly knowing whenever the story of Ichabod was related."😉🤭🤫

Please click https://mistysworldboutique.etsy.com to visit my store. The Halloween postcard image shown here, plus many other images and artworks are available on magnets, stickers, etc.⁣⁣🎃

[suckitsurveys]

P

The P Survey by joybucket

What is your passion? TV haha. How often do you pray? Never. What’s your favorite flavor of Pringles? Cheddar. When was the last time you wrote a poem? In high school I’m sure. Do you like the color pink? Yes.

Do you like to wear pink? I don’t own much of it. What was the name of the first pet that you loved? Featherbrain and Lucky. Two parakeets. What’s your favorite pizza topping? Pepperoni and black olives. Have you ever had a parking ticket? Yes, a couple. Do you own a plaid flannel shirt? Yes, a couple. What’s something you have pondered recently? Life? Have you ever taken Physics? Yes. Do you own a Polaroid camera? No. Who’s your favorite Disney princess? Moana. Do you enjoy looking through old photo albums? Yes. Do you like… pickles? peas? Pepsi? Pringles? pie? potatoes? porridge/oatmeal? The Princess Diaries series? ponds? pants that have pockets? poetry? prancing? puppets? the music group Play? piano music? playing piano? Polaroid photos? parties? paper? using a planner? parkas? city parks? theme parks? parallel parking? posters? Have you ever… had your palm read? taken piano lessons? been to Panama? been to Palm Springs? been to Pennsylvania? listened to Prince? owned Polly Pocket toys? been a puppeteer? owned a puppet? burnt popcorn? called the police? had the police called on you? been to a wild party? been to prom? proposed to someone? been proposed to? had a paper cut? made a paper airplane? True or False The big parachute was your favorite gym class activity as a kid. You’ve been given a promise ring. You don’t believe in palm reading. You’ve taken a Poetry class. You grew up in a house with a swimming pool. You grew up poor. You are currently poor. You want to help the poor. You are petite. You are a pastor’s kid. You know what show Plankton is from. You know what show Penelope Tait is from. You were taught in school that Pluto was a planet. You like Pixie Sticks. You think pickles are disgusting. You’ve taken a pole dancing class. You’ve had a pen pal before. You love to praise Jesus. :) You haven’t parallel parked in years. You’ve been in a parade. You had a stuffed Pooh Bear when you were younger. You’ve watched Puff the Magic Dragon. You like palm trees. You live in an area in which there are palm trees. You like to paint. You are a very patient person. You’ve had a pregnancy scare. You’ve been pregnant. You’ve competed in a beauty pageant. Would you say you are… patient? poor? petite? pretty? perky? popular? passionate? poetic? prickly? prissy? easy to please? a perfectionist? pale? persistent? pleasurable? a promise keeper? a poet? a pumpkin spice lover? a pet lover? a people person? prayerful? proud of yourself for how far you’ve come? petty? able to resist peer pressure? poisonous? a pizza lover? poised? worried about the pandemic? playful? Do you know anyone named… Polly? Patrick? Patricia? Portia? Priya? Promise? Primrose? Pat? Palace? Passion? Parody? Peri? Paige? Phantom? Preston? Prescott? Parker? Palmer? Posie? Pilgrim? Patience? Final Q’s! Did you read the Harry Potter series? No. Do you like the color periwinkle? I do. Do you know what color periwinkle is? Uh, yea. How many of these words do you know the meaning to: phantom, potion, potter, parsley, platypus? All of them. Do you like the word “pandemonium”? Sure. What is your favorite theme park that you’ve been to? The Wilderness, an indoor waterpark in The Dells. Do you drink pop? Yes. Do you call it pop, soda, cola, or something else? I switch between pop and soda, only because we call my dad Pops and it feels weird to call it pop now for some reason. Have you ever played with Pop Rocks? I didn’t play with them, I ate them. Have you ever painted pottery? Yes. What are three of your favorite pastimes? Watching TV, hanging around a bonfire, this. Have you ever owned a parrot? Nope. Have you seen The Passion of the Christ? I have, a long time ago. What is something you keep in your pocket? My phone. Which print do you prefer: plaid or polka dots? Plaid. Have you ever been to Portland, Oregon? No, but that is somewhere I’d like to visit. Do you prefer pencils or pens? Pens. Do you have any paper plates in your cupboard right now? Yes. Do you use a planner? I use the notes and reminder app on my phone. Did you say the Pledge of Allegiance in school? Yes. Do you own anything with paisleys on it? Yes. That’s all for now- have a pleasurable, pleasant day! :)

[anthony-kate]

***Nearly 3 weeks into the hiatus and I am missing Magnus and Alec desperately. Matthew Daddario voice: *When is it gonna end?” Siiigh. But well, what better way to spent the hiatus then reading some great Malec fanfics, right? Right. Because I have read a lot of amazing fics incl. discovering some great new authors. And now that autumn is coming.... the perfect time to read more.

Also, I am overwhelmed how many notes the last rec post got and how much you all enjoy(ed) it. So I hope this 5th edition will get a lot of love, too. Again, let me know if you liked this and if I should continue doing this. But now, have fun reading, pumpkins.***

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Volume 4

FALL WITHOUT WINGS by @notcrypticbutcoy [ M | 144k | WIP ]

Alec has been told the same stories all his life. He's been taught the same lines, over and over again. Downworlders are reckless, impulsive, demonic. They're not to be trusted.

And Magnus Bane is the epitome of everything evil about Downworlders.

At least, that's what people keep telling him. Alec's not quite so sure anymore.

Or: In which the Nephilim have wings, are taught to loathe Downworlders, and Alec is presented with a conundrum when Magnus Bane saves his life.

HOLDING THE STICK by @baneismyexistence​  [ M | AU | 80.3k | complete ]

Alec Lightwood has dreamed of hoisting Lord Stanley since he was eight. It's in his blood. He's spent the last five years trying to make that dream a reality, only managing to fall short each time.

Until a scandal leads to a multi-team trade that sends Magnus Bane his way. One of the top performing wingers in the league. An up and coming star.

And the most handsome man Alec has ever met.

He's doomed.

STRANGE LOVE by arandomfan91 [ M | AU | 46.6k | complete ]

Alec is in love with Magnus. Magnus needs Alec to be his fake boyfriend. What could possibly go wrong?

STRANGE LOVE - EXTRAS by arandomfan91 [ T | AU | 13.8k | complete ]

Missing scenes and chapter re-writes from Strange Love, all told from Magnus' POV.

These extras are tied in with the fic Strange Love. You should read that story first before reading this!

FOOLS RUSH IN by @m-aleciseverything [ M | AU | 85.2k | complete ]

Alec, Jace, and Simon go to Vegas for Jace's bachelor party and things get a little bit ridiculous.

Alec wakes up the next morning and...wait a minute, who's that in his bed?

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... by @lecrit  [ E | AU | 21.5k | complete | Stars Aligned #1 ]

Working for Magnus isn’t easy. Magnus is out of control and Alec has to yell more often than not to get him to listen to him. He hates everything formal because it means he has to watch his mouth. Most importantly, Magnus is an incorrigible flirt.

Which would be alright if Alec wasn’t utterly, irremediably, unfathomably in love with him.

IT’S ALWAYS YOUR MOVE by @lecrit  [ E | AU | 15.5k | complete | Stars Aligned #2 ]

Maryse Lightwood is fierce, determinate and she is standing right in front of Magnus, on the threshold of his house, the scowl on her face announcing nothing good.

Magnus hasn’t seen her since the Oscars ceremony three days ago. To be fair, he hasn’t really seen anyone, too busy that he had been catching up on lost time with Alec.

Magnus thought he could be tranquil forever after winning an Oscar and finally confessing his feelings to Alec. Magnus was wrong.

WALK OF FAME by @lecrit  [ M | AU | 13.5k | complete | Stars Aligned #3 ]

Alec is fairly certain he is the luckiest man in America. On earth. Possibly in the entire universe.

He slowly started to convince himself of the now indisputable fact when Magnus and him started dating a year ago after the ceremony that crowned Magnus as King of the World (or Best Actor, but Alec isn’t always objective when it comes to his boyfriend). A lot happened in a year, and Alec knows eventually the wheel is bound to spin and his luck might dim and vanish but as of now, he still feels like the luckiest man on earth, and he is going to make the most of it for as long as it lasts.

CATCHING THE LOVE BUG by @daddariossmile [ M | AU | 3.5k | complete ]

In which the Lightwood siblings always end up in the hospital, Alec spends a lot of time waiting around, and the charming Dr. Bane is more than a little attractive. 

SYMPATHY FOR THE PRINCE by @ketzwrites [ M | AU | 31.9k | complete ]

Prince of Hell Magnus Bane, was tired of his life in Hell. Every day was the same; condemned souls being punished for their wrong doings, demons feasting on the worst humanity had to offer, two or three deals with a few greedy humans. It was dull, uneventful. Boring.

So Magnus packed his bags and moved to New York City. As the owner of the lavishing club Pandemonium at the heart of Manhattan, Magnus enjoyed a life without worries for five years, until the fateful night where a former client was murdered on the streets.

It was then that he met no-nonsense Homicide Detective Alec Lightwood, owner of incorruptible morals and the tightest ass Magnus has ever seen. Earth was fun, after all.

TODAY YOUR BARISTA IS... by @baneandgone [ G | AU | 2.4k | complete ]

alec works in a coffeeshop. one day jace hijacks the chalkboard out front

(aka one of those 'today your barista is' sign aus)

THIGH HOLSTER by @everydayisonfire [ E | PWP | 2.2k | complete ]

Magnus doesn't get distracted by a certain Shadowhunter, wearing a tight thigh holster. Nope. Absolutely not.

ON THE SUBWAY by The_Forgotten_Nobody [ G | AU | 1.4k | complete | On The Subway #1 ]

Confused, Magnus followed Rafael’s line of site to the opposite side of the train where a young man sat, pulling silly faces. However, the moment he realised Magnus was staring his face flushed and he stopped, averting his eyes as if he hadn’t just answered all of Magnus’ prayers. In more ways than one as well because not only had he calmed Raf down but he was gorgeous.

MR LIGHTWOOD, MR BANE by TruePlainHearts [ E | PWP | 2.2k | complete ]

"Lovely to see you, Mr Lightwood."

"And you, Mr Bane. Thank you for taking the time."

*****

The kinky, shameless smut that occurs right after the rest of the clan leaders leave. Magnus and Alec make excellent and creative use of Alec's new office and its expansive mahogany desk... and its sturdy door.

MR. LIGHTWOOD by @nanf1c​ [ M | 1.2k | complete ]

A ‘no kissing, looking at suggestively or touching’ rule was applied when it came to Magnus and Alec at the downworlder meeting. Magnus respected that, respected his man, and tried his best as soon as he walked through the doors of the institute. But now, back in his loft, with the night fallen and Alec returning through the front door from a demon attack, looking battered and exhausted, Magnus couldn’t help but keep the game going.

YOU HAVE ME by @hufflebee​ [ G | 664 | complete ]

They stay on the balcony for a while, listening to the sounds of New York at night. Alec noticed the glasses and the discarded pillows when he walked in, but he doesn’t want to break the comfortable silence they’ve fallen into. He looks over at Magnus, and by the angel, he looks beautiful, breathtaking. but the longer Alec watches him, the more he can see the makeup and hair and the clothes for what they really are.

An armour.

PARADISE IN BETWEEN by Teumessian [ E | 7.8k | complete | The Boundless Saga #4 ]

In the months following the loss of the Mortal Cup, anxieties run deep. It's no time for a vacation, and yet... Magnus has had a lot of years to practice the art of persuasion.

WITH MY BODY AND SOUL, I WANT YOU MORE THAN YOU’LL EVER KNOW by liamandzayn [ E | PWP | 4.3k | complete ]

Alec captures the defined line of Magnus’ jaw between eager yet clumsy fingers, tilting his face upwards as they gasp into each other’s mouths, exchanging fevered gusts of breath. Magnus seizes the swollen flesh of Alec’s bottom lip with gentle teeth, nipping gingerly, suckling with avid hunger and Alec’s groan resonates loud and clear throughout the room. By the angel, he wants this man desperately; his need has become a physical ache, pulsating through his nerve endings and coiling strictly around his burning muscles.

BEGIN AGAIN by ReneeWritesx [ not rated | AU | 21k | complete | A Light To Call Home #1 ]

Unpacking sucked. And Magnus had only brought like half of his things. Okay, maybe two-thirds. But whatever, it didn’t matter. What did matter was that Magnus was sweating from carrying boxes, the cottage had no air conditioning, and he was super close to packing everything back up and driving back to New York in about three seconds.

-

Or the one where heartbreak is a pain in the ass, Magnus is forced to spend the summer in a small cottage in the hopes of finding his passion for design again, and manages to piss off the cute neighbor after only being there for two days.

"The only real pain in life is between hanging on and letting go."

IN THE INSTITUTE by sarahrae5135 [ E | 6.1k | complete ]

Magnus stays at the Institute for the first time.

THE MORNING AFTER by @asexualalexanderlightwood​ [ not rated | 733 | complete ]

A small little post finale fic for anyone in need of more Malec loveliness

BETTER FOR YOU by @zrdu [ not rated | 9.2k | complete ]

Magnus' and Alec's relationship comes to a sudden halt when Maryse interferes. They both try to cope without each other.

WITH YOU WRAPPED AROUND ME, THE WORLD FEELS PERFECT by @matsdaddario  [ E | 3.6k | complete | Lovely Firsts #3 ]

Magnus is still asleep; Alec can feel the steady rise and fall of his chest against his own back, and Alec takes the few minutes just to enjoy being wrapped up in Magnus’s arms. He looks down at their hands threaded together, resting against his stomach. He loves the contrast between them; tan and pale, long and lean, deep red nail polish and short, bitten nails. There’s something comforting there too. How different they can be, but how well they fit together. Alec has a moment of feeling like they were made to fit together. It might be stupid, it brings a blush to his cheeks, but a warm feeling settles in his stomach at the thought. He likes that.

ONE DAY by @magnusragnor​ [ T | 1.3k | complete ]

“Do you -” Alec started, hissing his teeth in pain and looking up at Magnus. “Do you have any more of that free of charge warlock TLC?”

“What are you -?” Magnus asked, before the memory hit him full force and he tried not to laugh, because Alec was hurt, god damn it. But Alec was smiling up at him and his eyes were shining bright full of hope and love, so Magnus leaned down and kissed him.

MORNINGS LIKE THIS by @softmagnusbane​ [ G | 1.1k | complete ]

Alec feels all his love for the man in his arms bubble up to the surface looking at him like this. Sleep rumpled and peaceful, his hair is a soft mess that Alec almost can’t wait to run his fingers through when Magnus wakes up, his lips so kissable and slightly open. There is nothing better in this world than being able to wake up to this he thinks idly.

PLAYING WITH FIRE by Obsessivecompulsivereadr [ M | 3k | complete ]

Alec’s breath catches nearly every time he looks at Magnus, and it happens even during times they haven’t been on an official date. But tonight is different. Magnus isn’t his sedate and dignified self right now. He’s back to being flirty and relaxed, and he looks so good that Alec can’t stop thinking about touching him.

SO BRIGHT by @lemonoclefox [ G | 17.5k | complete ]

Alec has come out, but that doesn't stop his parents from their continuous attempts to set him up with a nice shadowhunter girl. So, what better way to finally get them off his back, than to say he has a boyfriend? Problem solved. Except they now apparently want to meet this guy, who doesn't exist. Thankfully, Magnus Bane -- who encouraged Alec to come out in the first place, and whose silent crush on Alec is just as bad as Alec's crush on him -- is more than happy to help. Even if the night doesn't end up going entirely as planned.

SLOW ME DOWN FOR A MINUTE by @abloodneed​ [ E | 7k | complete ]

They stared at each other for a moment, each beat of Magnus’s heart seeming to thicken the air again, pulling them back to the charged space they had fallen into on all of their dates. They’d fallen into this feeling here in the loft, out in the world, so many places where everything suddenly just felt intense and present. They were in this charged space where their bodies were saying one thing, and one thing only.

I want you so badly.

BLUE CHRISTMAS by Hobbit69 [ E | AU | 1.5k | complete | Blue Steels Series #6 ]

Just a quick fic to fill in a Christmas need I have for my Blue Steel Series. Takes place between "Blue Extravagance" and the upcoming "Blue Righteousness." Magnus and Alec "come" together for the first time since Alec's injury and the boys wake up for Christmas morning.

BLUE RIGHTEOUSNESS by Hobbit69 [ E | AU | 41.1k | complete | Blue Steels Series #7 ]

After returning from medical leave, Detective Alexander Lightwood-Bane catches his roughest case up to date. When one of his properties, a club called Kebebasan is attacked by two gunmen, Magnus Lightwood-Bane calls the best cop he knows. During the course of the investigation, Alec discovers that this shooting isn't an isolated incident, but the result of domestic terrorism; a group attacking what they consider to be amoral. Alec and his partner, Jace Herondale have to move quickly to stop this group before it causes wide-spread panic in the city and more loss of life.

LUNCHDATE WITH AN AFTERNOON DEBATE? by eenkhjin [ G | AU | 5.7k | complete]

Magnus Bane goes out to get lunch but comes back with a mission to prove someone wrong. Kind of...

TO LOVE A SHADOWHUNTER by Madalena [ E | 10k | complete | The Peacemaker Chronicles #1 ]

“Are you really going to risk your life for a Shadowhunter?”

Those were some of the last words that Magnus Bane had said to Dot before he stepped through his portal to his lair, protecting only the warlocks. Abandoning the rest of the Shadow World to Valentine and his Circle.

Dot wasn’t sure how long she had been under Valentine’s control, but now as she stood on Magnus’ balcony, hours after Magnus and Clary had portalled away to the Institute, to save both Shadowhunters and Downworlders, she knew something had changed.

Someone had changed him.

OBLIVION by @champagnemagnus [ T | 2.7k | complete ]

Alec stood up, keeping a careful distance and being sure to move slowly as he approached. “Magnus, I am so sorry. For everything you had to go through.”

Magnus’ eyes never moved from the spot on the floor he was staring at. He shook his head slightly, eyebrows furrowed deeply. “That agony rune…” He paused, taking a moment to swallow. His face was drawn in so much pain that Alec had to look away for a moment. He immediately punished himself by digging his fingernails into his palm. It was selfish to worry about his pain. He had certainly inflicted more than enough on Magnus that he had to atone for. “Made me remember things that I spent…centuries trying to forget.”

ONE SHOW ONLY by @gingersnapwolves [ E | AU | 29.4k | complete ]

It's hard to stay in the closet when the guy you had a one-night stand with two nights ago turns out to be your new partner ... but Alec will be damned if he isn't going to give it a try.

THE RED BUTTON by @ketzwrites [ M | AU | 38k | complete ]

After one black out too many, Ragnor and Catarina had enough of Magnus trying to drink himself to an early grave. It was time for an intervention and they had the perfect place in mind: The Institute, the best rehabilitation installation in the New York state.

Only Magnus wasn't exactly asked for his opinion on the matter. And if there is something Magnus doesn't like, is to be forced into something.

Maybe the Head of the Institute, Alec Lightwood, is enough of an argument to chance his mind?

[vgperson]

Vocaloid Highlights: October 2017

Fly me to the romantic (and spooky?) moon!

========== Stand-Outs ========== A Bouquet of Baby's-Breath Ordinary Golden Journey People Become Ghosts Steppër Affection Has a Bitter Taste See You in the Silent Sea Dramaturgy Positive Dance Time Flash Resurrection Ms. Afternoon Makes You a Fighter LOSER Dancing Bride, Fleeing Move B.B.F. Laplace Waltz Midnight Dinosaur defile Decode Alternating Parlante -high noon mix-

========== Worth Your Time ========== Sign of the Cat I Want To Be Your God. Murder Monster Gigas Midnight Crisis Clamorous Jealousy Inner Dark Tack-Heart Destruction Girl Uncertain Airline Darkness Orchestra Somber and Blank a chain of love If You Demnorth Kills If I Can Have One Wish Bright White Dog Alternation Nadeshiko Heart You're an Author, I'm a Listener. Prhythmatic Pseudonym Can't Even Sing a Breakup Song Mechanical Migratory Bird Null Null Null B.E.E.R. Degrade Love-Grief Story Show Me a Dizzying Sparkle Once More! Let it be Starry Sky Tears Overflow My Doll Tokyo Pandemonium Envy Dreams Just Your Voice Isn't Enough Tonight I Was Human Electronic Diva Dream-Mystic Paradise Crysta Maze Dark Forest Sad-Looking Cat-Ears Complex When I Watch a Movie Messing With the Breaker Over Natto, My Voice Cracked Doomed Resistance Ending Pierrot Not Enough Mishmash Pumpkin Night Camellia Complex in Word Lonely H Party Night Strain Girl Clock of Hallow's Eve

[monitorsscrawlings]

Jonathan’s Hair-Raising Halloween Adventure - Outline

Rough-up under the cut. Contains crazy-spoilers and a lot of notes and other jazz. Broken up into parts to keep things flowing and to help stay on track. Enjoy!

1.) In the midst of the October flurry of pumpkins, autumn leaves and the excited stirring of all manner of things dark and dreadful, the Sloan’s resident monsters are busy subtly helping get the house and grounds readied and properly decorated for Halloween, and eagerly spooking, scaring, haunting and playing with Jonathan, now seven (seven and three-quarters, as the little boy would excitedly insist).

2.) Grunk and Krolli overhear Jonathan’s parents debating–among other things–who will be setting aside time to be taking Jonathan trick-or-treating this year. Decidedly unimpressed by Mr. and Mrs. Sloans lack of holiday spirit, they decide right then and there that its time for them to have a turn! Skulking away the monsters soon gather together to make plans and pass the word along: attic to basement, in Jonathan’s closet and under his bed they gather and confer, eager to partake in a trick and treating, spooking n’ scaring spree with their human! And such a hair-raising monster-jamboree sounds likes just the thing! This years Halloween is one the people of this town will be talking about for years to come! Perhaps even the demons and spirits of the holiday will take notice and confer their favor? Oh, how delightfully gruesome! After all, who better than young Jonathan to celebrate the season with than his monsters? Because really, why should little JonJon’s mum and dad have all the fun?

3. ) Naturally it’s Grunk who approaches Jonathan, Drool in tow, as he lies awake in bed, scared, excited and restless, the underside of his bed and his closet particularly lively with monsters tonight, tentacles and claws creeping over his bed-covers, a host of familiar spooks and monsters keeping him company even as they ensure he doesn’t sneak out of bed and spend his night wandering about outside his room, getting into no end of mischief. Sparking their humans imagination, they growl and hiss, claws curled and teeth bared as they reveal their plans and entice Jonathan to spend his Halloween with them, teasing and tempting him with the prospect of all the candy they’d rake in, all the ghoulish fun they’d have to together, all the people they’d scare and all the pranks they’d pull! It doesn’t take much to win their human over, the child’s eyes alight with excitement as they wriggle under the covers and hug the pair close. They promise to make this October a fun-filled fright-fest, just for him. Jonathan giggles as Grunk gently boops him on the nose and ruffles his hair, while Drool gives him several slobbery lickery-kisses and snuggles up to him, before his high spirits damper as he recalls his parents with a guilty start: they did promise to take him trick-or-treating again this year, he can’t be in two places at once, and really, he doesn’t think his parents are ready to meet Grunk or the others, not really, so they can’t all go together! Adults have some weird notions about monsters after all, it would never work! Grunk let’s out a deep growling chuckle, eyes blazing as he displays a wide grin full of teeth, full of creepish glee as he gives his human a few lickery kisses of his own and tickles their feet, assuring them that they’ve got everything covered, just wait and see~!

4.) Practically vibrating with excitement, Jonathan is eventually persuaded to fall asleep, and over the next few evenings the boys monsters finally relent and reveal their plans, with a little pleading and prodding from Jonathan. They’re going to play a little Halloween trick on his parents: one of the monsters will dress up and switch with him, his double taking his place and trick-or-treating with his parents, while he spends this Halloween with them! A smallish-monster just his size, Horus Boogart, eagerly volunteers themselves, and proves their worth by giving a downright uncanny imitation of little JonJon’s voice. Course decided, the monsters help Jonathan choose costumes for himself and his double. Their boy stoutly insists that he wants to be something good and scary!

Ghoul? Vampire? Warlock? Zombie? Demon? Ghost? Werewolf? Banshee? Devil? Ogre? Mummy? Nope, none of these will do, not for him. Instead the boy eagerly proclaims he wants to be a scary boogey-monster, like Grunk and the others. Absolutely chuffed with their humans choice, and tickled by the idea, the monsters help put together a truly frightful costume for their human: lovingly assembled from old bits of fabric and odds and ends, spider-thread, and discarded horns, teeth, claws, scales, hair and fur.

Armed and forewarned with the knowledge of what his monsters are up to, Jonathan insists to his parents that he wants to make his own costume this year, and after a bit of wrangling they go shopping to pick up basic supplies and decorations; craft-paper and glue-sticks, candy and pumpkins. The clock ticks down to the big day in a flurry of excitement, school, decorations, and holiday cheer.

5.) Before long Halloween arrives, and at the crack of dusk Jonathan gets himself ready as he and his double dress up like mummies, before rushing to show off his handy-work to his parents. Sneaking up on his father he gives them a momentary unexpected fright before rushing off to grab his pumpkin pale and ducking into the bathroom with a hasty excuse, making a last minute switch with his double. His double takes his place, taking pictures, trick-or-treating with his dad dressed as a mummy and going door to door, all while pretending to be him.

Jonathan meanwhile quickly rejoins the rest of his monsters, and eagerly slips into his real Halloween costume with some help, bouncing about, waving his claws and letting out several practice growls, to Grunks pleasure and amusement. With the hood up and the costume zipped up and secured, the boy makes for quite a sight. Why, even his own mum wouldn’t recognize him, Krolli proclaims with delight. After a bit of clowning around the monsters gather their supplies and slip out of the house with their boy in tow, eager for a night of tricks, treats, and a wee bit of mayhem too.

6.) They make good time as they prowl through their neighbors pumpkin patch, romp and stomp through the woods while making a beastly ruckus and sending owls and bats into flight. Stopping at the crest of a hill overlooking one of the towns oldest and largest cemeteries Jonathan joins his monsters at howling at the moon together in celebration as he rides atop Grunks head, waking zombies, ghosts, ghouls from their naps and rousing them from their graves. Chortling and growling the monsters are soon on the prowl as they gambol into town to dole out plenty of tricks and treats.

7.) Doling out a few friendly scares here and there, Jonathan and his monster mix and mingle with other trick-or-treaters, chatting amongst themselves and showing off a little for their human, collecting plenty of candy and playing tricks on those few who are unprepared for the holiday season. Occasionally playing tricks on orscaring adults and trick-or-treaters alike for the fun of it, they hit neighborhood after neighborhood, their boy  carried or hitching rides as he’s rotated from one monster to the next so everyone can spend some time with their lad. Sack after sack is filled and loaded into a little red wagon one of the boogey-monsters requisitions after a particularly successful scare sends a flock of older children running and shrieking in fright. Letting out a contented sigh as he scampers along, one hand holding Drools claws, the other resting in Grunk’s beastly mitt as they stroll through the crisp autumn night air and crunching through the autumn leaves, Jonathan wishes to himself that Halloween could last forever.

8.) It’s when they mingle with a larger group of children in one of the busier neighborhoods and the hour begins to turn late, when they begin contemplating whether they should retire early or press onward, that disaster strikes. A group of masked teenagers armed with heavy-duty flashlights, eggs, stink-bombs, toilet-paper, firecrackers, and water-balloons crashes the party and sends trick-or-treaters running left and right shrieking and hollering in panic and terror in a  most unsporting fashion as candy-pales are snatched and people are pelted with rotten eggs and water-balloons, paper-toilet and stink-bombs being thrown about freely. The flashing lights and loud-noises leaving the monsters disoriented in the confusion as they try to shield their child while chasing and scaring the bullies away. The pandemonium only increases.

9.) In the general chaos Jonathan gets separated from his monsters, his hood eschew and his ears ringing as he hastily clears away the toilet-paper and silly-string from his person and ends up mistaking someone else for Drool from a distance, rushing to catch up. It’s only too late that he realizes his mistake and tries to play it off, quickly ducking away and reluctantly joining another group of trick-or-treaters as he tries to make the best of the situation and hopes he runs into his monsters again soon. Unfortunately this particular neighborhoods rubbish: the most interesting thing he acquires is a nice long rope of sausages from an old, eccentric and quite probably senile old man who moonlights as a butcher, which he reluctantly accepts. From there it’s down hill as he receives stale marshmallows out of the package, circus peanuts, toothbrushes, a feeble smattering of actual candy, and the worst insult of all: a good-sized rock dressed up in wrapping paper depicting grinning jack-o-lanterns from some masked weirdo.

Angry and disappointed by such a poor showing, Jonathan brightens up considerably at the prospect of what manner of ghoulish trickery awaits this neighborhood when he tells Grunk and the others all about this and shows them such a shameful collection of ‘treats’. Buoyed by the very thought, Jonathan continues on with a bit more pep in his step and nearly crashes into his dad and body-double.

10.) Jonathan hastily ducks away and escapes down an  alley before ducking back into the graveyard on the edge of the woods they’d passed earlier that night to avoid being spotted by the gang of older kids, who he can hear uncomfortably close by as they continue sowing mayhem and making a ruckus. Stumbling across a severed zombie’s head bouncing along in desperate search for its body, he reluctantly agrees to help. Grunk always told him never to trust dead things, but he didn’t say anything about undead things, and while the few skeletons and ghosts hanging about seem surprised at his boldness, they’ve been perfectly nice! Eventually they find its body aimlessly wandering in circles around a headstone. The zombie promises it owes him one after it thanks him. Jonathan waves goodby and delves deeper into the graveyard, more afraid of ransacking teenagers than ghosts, monsters and ghoulies as he tries to find another way out.

11.) Stumbling on more trouble in the form of three teenagers in animal masks playing keep-away with one of his school-yard chums from school, Jonathan decides to emulate Grunk and climbs up to stand on a headstone. He does his best to scare the trio away. While initially the three are startled into dropping the sack of candy and letting their victim scramble away, they don’t exactly run screaming in terror into the night. In deep trouble now, the leader tries to grab a hold of the little meddler. A scuffle ensues, and in his desperation he starts screaming his head off, kicking one of the trio in the shin, punches the other in the jewels, and finally bites the leader wearing a tiger mask in the fleshy place between thumb and forefinger as hard as he can when they grab him and try to cover his mouth to shut him up. Hard enough to leave a serious indentation and make them shout and cry a bit as they quickly let him go and push him away.

12.) Thrown to the ground with a gasp, he accidentally rips their handkerchief free and automatically hangs on to it it for dear life as he scrambles to snatch up his sack of loot and make a run for it. The trio of trouble-makers give chase, shouting and cursing as the rabid little freak that attacked them ducks between headstones and under low-hanging tree-branches, before crawling through a trough under the fence and escaping into the neighboring farm as they duck through the pumpkin-patch, before vanishing into the forest. The bullies giving chase the entire way. The trio end up crashing into each other as the one wearing the owl mask missteps and ends with their foot jammed good into a rotten pumpkin, losing any chance of catching him.

13.) Stopping to catch his breath as he keep walking and tries to find his way back into town, daring to hope that the worst is behind him, little JonJon runs afoul of a rather dim-witted and near-sighted ogre in the woods. Chased up a tree by the hungry fiend, thinking quickly he manages to eventually convince them that he’s not a human even if he smells like one, but a monster, and that if they’ll leave him be he’ll give them the human entrails he’d been saving for later. Disguising the rock by wrapping it up in the sausages, he feeds the whole mess to the ogre, who shatters more than just a few of their rancid teeth in their greedy enthusiasm. Quickly scampering out of the tree while the ogre is distracted, Jonathan runs, the sounds of their agony and rage spurring him on.

14.) On the way out of the woods they stumble into a dreadfully ghoulish looking zombie, who after nearly scaring the piss out of them, gets them to settle down and escorts them out of the woods, thanking Jonathan for helping his brother get ahead back there in the graveyard, really kind of him, while also gently chiding him for wandering around alone like that: no telling what weirdos or creatures are stalking the shadows! A young human–or a young monster for that matter–could get into a lot of trouble!

Fervently agreeing, as he thinks he’s had quite enough excitement for one night, Jonathan is eventually led back into the familiar embrace of his monsters, who are overjoyed to see him, and have been looking absolutely everywhere for him! Between bites of candy and sips of water he tells Grunk, Drool, Krolli and the rest of the gang everything. Their relief in having their human back is only rivaled by their pride and delight as they listen to their human excitedly tell his tale, energy and high spirits restored!

15.) It’s only when it’s brought to his attention that he’s still has the grimy and damp handkerchief from the leader of the graveyard naer-do-wells mixed in with the rest of his junk that Jonathan realizes he didn’t lose it. Letting out a grisly series of laughs, the monsters have an absolutely fiendish idea, and propose once last hurrah to conclude the night, with a little well-deserved revenge mixed in, that is if of course if their boy’s up for it? Jonathan eagerly agrees with an evil laugh of his own as the handkerchief is passed around, the the monsters picking up the scent, with Krolli in the lead this time.

16.)  After a few false starts they split up to track the scent. It doesn’t take long at all however for them to track the scent to an elicit Halloween-party in an abandoned haunted house on the very outskirts of town, flanked by the woods. Ah, and look, the parties in full swing! Perfect. The word is spread and the monsters gather together en masse: familiar boogey-monsters, ghoulies and beasties from basement to attic, closet to under-bed, with Grunk, and his human at the center as they plot and plan. They scope the place out before dispersing–this old place is just ripe with potential, with its dusty and disused rooms and and dark spider-web bedecked corners. And it would be such a shame to pass up on such a golden opportunity to show these upstarts how a good scare is really done, particularly since they recognize quite a few of the hoodlums that crashed their own trick-or-treating spree! Oooh yes, this is going to good.

17.) Jonathan is snuck inside and safely sequestered under one of the covered concession tables, with Sly there to keep him company and guard him as they sip on soda-pop, snack on popcorn, and sit back to watch the show.

18.) It smarts small enough. The lights gutter and flick, doors slam, the sound system starts acting strangely, playing a horribly distorted version of ‘This Is Halloween’ before dying out with a wet gurgling growl of static. Those small groups of party-goers who can be lured away, broken up or distracted are with subtle tricks. Just as the sound-system is plugged back in, the powers cut. The wind howls, shutters bang, the silence is deafening before people start raising a ruckus and start dispersing: a couple of people go down into the cellar to find the fuse-box. A few more hunt for candles or go off throughout the house armed with flashlights and start to explore with nothing better to do, or join the other kids up stairs for a snog or some cheesy party-games, bored with no music and little enough booze on hand. Worst Halloween Party Ever.

19.) Showtime! A series of scares unfold rapidly.

A quartet of teenagers wandering into the kitchen for snacks investigate the weird glowing and thumping noises emanating from the fridge, thinking its another of their friends shitty pranks only to receive the scare of their young lives as Krolli explodes out of the fridge with a dreadful snarl, teeth bared and face stretched into a grotesque leer, before with a nasty grin he belches forth a great shrieking flock of blood-eyed vampire bats that send them running while screaming bloody-murder out the back door and into the night, the bats chasing them for several blocks before they disperse, as Krolli moves on to his next victim.

Ah young love…A couple of teens close their eyes and lean in to kiss, silhouetted by the dim starlight coming through the unshuttered window in one of the upstairs bedrooms only to pause as they smell something funky. Quickly cracking open a window and assuming its just a dead skunk or the like, they resume where they left off, leaning in nervously, eyes closed, to kiss. Only for Drool to insert himself between the couple with a toothy grin, arms encircling his pair of victims as they jerk apart in horror and disgust after kissing him on the snout, eyes flaring open. He returns the favor with a thorough and slimy lickery-kiss of his own. With an evil braying laugh the scaring and the screaming starts.

Grunk corners the ring-leader and his twin brother for this dreadful charade down in the basement, dragging his claws with a sinister rasp along the floor before slowly looming up behind them, green ooze salivating from between his teeth to dribble upon his pair of unsuspecting victims heads as his tail slithers to encircle their feet with a gentle rasp, hot billowing breath washing over the backs of their necks as he lets out a deep growling chuckle. It’s been a while since he visited the Jones brothers. It’s going to be so fun to catch up on old times, and remind them of why they’re still afraid of the dark, even after all these years.

It’s the same story throughout the house as the air is soon filled with shrieks and screams of terror, horror and revulsion. Monsters of all shapes and sizes strike with ghoulish glee, no expense spared and no mercy shown as they have the utmost fun with a house of fresh victims ripe for the scaring. Bursting from wardrobes and out of closets, hulking from under beds, and in one notable instance several monsters making their entrance from a dumbwaiter. The lights flicker and dim before returning, as the monsters gather together to mop up the stragglers in group scares. Things reach a crescendo of terror as people knock down the front door or desperately start climbing out of the windows to escape as the monsters send each and every single one of the party-goers running and screaming into the night, racing off pell-mell in their cars or dashing down the road, more than one pair of pants soaked through with fear-urine.

The teens party has been utterly trashed, and whatever they tell themselves or each other, Grunk and the others will be very surprised and disappointed if they don’t all remember this night for years to come.

20.) Feeling quite self-satisfied they gather together, congratulating each other on their fine work and fetching their human–who’s beside himself with glee and still full of vim and vigor in spite of the lateness of the hour–a product of all the sugar and excitement no doubt–as he recounts his favorite scares and makes more than one monster blush with pleasure and pride. Playing games and chatting amongst themselves they slink through the night and return home, stashing the nights loot away least their boys parents start asking awkward questions. Jonathan and Horus update each other on how their nights went, and though his parents gave him funny looks at the dinner table, no one objected to his monstrous stand-in keeping his costume on, or seemed to notice anything odd.

21.) Deciding to play one last Halloween trick on their boy, the monsters wait until Jonathan is ready for bed and lights are out as they gather thickly under his bed, before with many a toothy grin he’s grabbing by his ankles and dragged screaming underneath into the monster-infested shadows with a shriek of fright and indignant amusement. Chortling and making all manner of beastly noises, well satisfied, they spend until the wee hours of the morning together with their human. Reading horror-comics, teasing and playing with him, and snuggling together as they snack on candy and enjoy the remains of their Halloween together, until Jonathan eventually succumbs to exhaustion and conks out. He wakes up in his bed the next afternoon, having completely slept through wake-up call, physically queasy, tired and sore, but mentally exhilarated. His monsters were right: best Halloween ever.

Author Note: Way way too fatty to be a proper outline, and it feels like this needs some work still, even before I (maybe) turn it into a full-scale short-story or whatever? Need to clean this up and tighten the plot-points and include more monsters by name, but I think this isn’t too bad, even if it’s probably a labor to read as is.

Special thanks to @mickeyjunk for inspiring this whole thing and giving me the creative boost I needed to write all of this!

[profanidad]

Hallows Eve

DATE ❦ October 31st. LOCATION ❦ Ashbourne, Nova Scotia. Pandemonium.   WORDCOUNT ❦ 5,000 TRIGGERS ❦ N/A SUMMARY ❦ Desmond attends the Halloween party at Pandemonium.

The club's lighting was dim as ever, but the usual purples and magentas had been replaced tones of orange to match the Halloween theme. Bats moved around the ceiling, fake ones, of course, spelled by the witch staff to make them seem alive, flying around above the patrons heads. A few giant pumpkins had been scattered around the room and the girls danced on the stages, fully clothed for the night. The drinks on the menu had been renamed to match the theme and all staff were in costumes, though a few didn't seem particularly pleased by that.

Adie sighed, not sure what she was doing at this party. She had only taken one whiff of the place and could already tell it was infested by vampires. She wanted nothing more than to leave but as long as Pearl was here, she couldn’t leave her sister alone. From the corner of her eye, she spotted a familiar face, a wave of relief hitting her knowing that perhaps she wasn’t that crazy for agreeing to come. She walked over to Desmond and tapped his shoulder. “Long time no see,” she greeted, a small smile gracing her lips.

Desmond decided to take a break from looking into reverting his current state for the night. The effort was driving him crazy and he felt like he hadn't slept in weeks. He'd never made as big a mistake as losing his magic before, not quite like this, and though he tried to put a façade and pretend he wasn't as crushed by it as he was for Cael's benefit, some days it was too obvious to mask. He wanted nothing more than to forget for the night. It was his first Hallow's Eve without magic and it hurt, which prompted him to grab a drink as soon as he arrived at the place. He'd never set foot in Pandemonium before, but it didn't look as bad as he'd imagined. Standing by the dance floor, he watched the various couples in costume dancing while nursing his drink. He softened his expression when he turned and found Adelynn standing next to him, offering the blonde a smile. "You'd figure in a town as small as this one, we'd have run into each other sooner." The smile on his face felt just a little less plastic than usual. He was fond of the wolf despite knowing her little. "How have you been?"

Adelynn gave a small shrug. “Good, I guess?” Honestly, not a lot had changed since Pearl’s attack. Adie was still the workaholic she’d always been, diving nose-first into her work and ignoring much else outside of it. However, there was one key difference, her being more involved in the pack, but she didn’t really know if that was something to be discussed. Desmond was a witch but she herself was a prime example of not really knowing much about the other kinds of people there were out there. “It’s strange… being so open about it. It's like no one's even trying to hide anything." She pointed up at the weird bat decorations on the ceiling to emphasize her point. "How have you been?”

Her answer sounded a little uncertain and a discreet wrinkle appeared between his brows just for a moment as he wondered why she wouldn't be sure about that, but it was gone as soon as it had appeared. Desmond was never one to pry, not into personal lives anyway. He lifted his sight to look at the ceiling when she pointed it out and a small smile bloomed from the corner of his lips when he recognized the spell on the plastic animals. It was a bittersweet feeling. "There are a lot of people in Ashbourne who know the truth," he said, turning his gaze back to her. "And humans usually see what makes sense to them instead of what's actually there. At least in my experience. The mind is a powerful tool... fills in the blanks when we don't have answers." Desmond tilted his head at the question. "I'm alright. Could be better, could be worse." Frowning, he asked, "Is Pearl with you?", then took a sip from his drink.

Adelynn stared at the ceiling as Desmond explained. Just a few months ago, she would have considered anyone crazy for believing in magic but this town had taught her otherwise. “I used to be one of those humans,” she confessed, looking back at him. “I didn’t believe in things I couldn’t explain.” She absentmindedly pushed up the glasses on her face. They were part of her costume but she had to admit she kind of missed the comfort of having a pair on her face (after Laila bit her, they were pointless). When Desmond quickly changed the topic away from himself, Adelynn didn’t question it. She similarly wasn’t much for prying into people’s lives and the man was probably more interested in having fun and forgetting. “I lost her the moment we got here…” She looked around, trying to spot her sister but she was nowhere in sight. “Are vampires brazen enough to attack in public? Will she be okay as long as she stays around people?”

Desmond wondered what it'd have been like to grow up as a human. He remember wishing, as a child, to be human. Belfast wasn't the best place for his family to live in, the move to Johannesburg was a necessary one. Still, he was never human and he'd always known what was out there - perhaps not so much vampires and werewolves, but of witches he'd known from birth. It was strange to try and imagine what it'd have felt like, not knowing. Impossible. "That's our burden as rational creatures, isn't it?" He widened his smile, lowering his sight to the S peeking through her shirt. "Supergirl?" Desmond had simply put on a striped red and white shirt and jeans on. The hat was missing from what he decided to call an attempt at a Waldo costume. "She'll be fine," he reassured her though there was no way of knowing. It seemed like there were rooms upstairs. Desmond had to assume Pearl was wise enough to steer clear from them. "Would you like a drink? I'm sure they have coke."

Despite working at the Sanatorium, a party was a party. Laila's costume was simple; a cheap outfit sourced mostly from the sad looking Party City in town, decorated mostly with a pair of glow in the dark fangs that made her voice lisp and a  tube of fake blood that smelled vaguely of crayons. She strolled into the club,  grinning at the immersion of theme in the decor. It was kitschy, but undoubtedly expensive and her first plan of action was to find either a drink, or a familiar face. She found both in Desmond's face, lined and tired, talking to of all people, Adelynn. The blonde sauntered by, swinging into the tail end of their conversation. "Coke? Sure, but if you're looking for the kind to drink, you might be out of luck."

Adelynn was just about to nod when she heard her beloved sister’s voice. Of course Laila would be here. It wasn’t like her sister to miss a party, especially not one that drew this big of a crowd. Maybe she really should have stayed home. Then again, she wasn’t sure she could trust Laila to look after Pearl (especially since Laila would always find a way to make it’s Adie’s fault regardless). “You would know, huh, Lai?” she retorted. She took a second to take in her sister’s costume, She would have called it ironic but she wasn’t sure her sister knew what the term meant. “Have you seen Pearl yet?”

Laila's voice caught his attention and the witch turned to look at the blonde, offering her a smile. "Well, they should have coke in case someone orders some rum with it, no?" It took Adelynn's answer for him to realize it was the first time he was in a room with the two of them. Desmond remembered Adelynn's animosity towards her sister, it didn't seem to have changed in the time it took them to run into each other again.

Late as usual, Pearl had spent too much time working on her costume to arrive at the club with Adie, the lashes painstakingly drawn on with a precise hand, her dress sourced from a local thrift store, and her hair slicked off to the side.  As she walked onto the floor, her cheeks were flushed, and her wide eyes were exaggerated by the makeup, making her look childlike, as she scanned the room for familiar faces among the crowd.

Adelynn turned back to Desmond and nodded. “Yes, I’m pretty sure they do. Thank you for remembering.” They had only met once and she appreciated that he seemed to remember such a minor detail about her. “I’m going to go get one. I’ll be right back.” Honestly, she was hoping Laila would get bored and wander off in the time it took her to get the drink.

Laila nodded, pointing ahead to where their baby sister had entered from. "Pay attention, Adelynn." The older of the two glanced over at Des, lifting a shoulder before he could say something in her sister's absence. "I'm going to find something to drink too, don't have too good of a time." The blonde squeezed his arm fondly, stepping away.

Desmond wouldn't forget such a detail, it stood out to him, who'd once owned a bar. "Of course," he answered easily, turning his attention to Laila next. She pointed out Pearl, who was dressed as - he wasn't sure. A doll? The girls excused themselves as they moved to get themselves something to drink and, for a moment, he stood there by himself, taking a drink. It felt strange to be alone in the corner all of a sudden and so he made his way towards Pearl, wondering where his own sister was that night. "I can't tell what your costume is," he said to catch her attention, smiling at the petite girl.

Pearl smiled, grateful for the company. She felt exposed in the place, as if everyone could tell she didn't quite belong there. She'd been invited, she told herself, a small technicality that was more of a half truth the whole thing, but it was an excuse to see a different, darker side of Ashbourne. "I'm Twiggy," the blonde explained, tugging at the bright pink shift dress. "What are you?"

"Twiggy," Desmond repeated with a slight furrow of his brows, "right." He had absolutely no idea who that was. Looking down at himself, he offered her a small smile. "I'm Waldo. You found me." He brought his glass half way to his lips, then said: "Your sisters went off to grab a drink. Ah - separately."

"Famous sixties model? She's sort of iconic Des, you really should know her," Pearl clucked, still fidgeting with the hem of her dress, her nerves showing through. "Both of them?" She asked, barely masking her surprise. She knew Adie was coming, she'd practically forced her to come, but with Laila, she had no idea of what her day to day was. "Were they fighting, or was there a Renaud family truce declared for tonight?"

His head dropped and his smile felt a little more natural. "I can't say I know much about fashion icons," Desmond admitted. Pearl's mood seemed to take a toll at the mention of her elder sisters being anywhere near each other. He knew Adelynn and Laila had some sort of problem with each other, Laila's words echoing in his head, 'she thinks I'm a monster', but he didn't know where Pearl stood in the picture. "Both of them. I think Adelynn left to avoid Laila," a fair observation given the way the blonde looked at and talked to her sister. "But they weren't fighting." His smile felt plastic again. He couldn't help but think of Quinn in that moment. Desmond took a drink, then dared ask: "Is it that bad?"

She looked down at her costume, details fussed over down to the white go-go boots. "Maybe you're right. I should've picked something more recognizable. You look amazing, of course," Pearl chirped,  pulling on the usual facade of a pretty smile, though the thought of Laila hung heavy in her heart, they hadn't spoken since the dinner. "If they weren't out right arguing, I'd say they're getting along better than can be expected." Her grin faltered momentarily, before stretching wide again. "I've never been here. It's quite surreal, isn't it?" She said, desperately trying to change the subject.

"Thank you. I like your lashes," he said, pointing out the ones she drew on. "I thought you were dressed as a doll at first." His words were followed by a soft chuckle. Desmond nodded at her hopeful words, but didn't add to the subject. Part of him wanted to ask whether she was aware of how Laila thought her sister saw her, but it wasn't his place to say anything. The Renauds seemed to have a tense relationship, but they ought to figure it out by themselves. He wouldn't get in the way of that, like he'd rather no one did to his relationship with his own siblings. "I haven't either," Desmond noted, following her sight to the room around them. The place was much unlike Sanatorium. "A strip club... Not really my scene. Though it looks like the dancers are keeping their clothes on," he said, catching a glimpse of a woman on stage dressed as an angel. Interesting choice.

Pearl tucked a piece of pale hair behind her ear, looking again out into the crowd. It was an array of different terrible and beautiful creatures, a feast of all that Ashbourne had to offer. "Really? I thought you might have a dark side," she said with a laugh. "It looks like the girls put a lot of work and thought into their costumes. They might not be too eager to tear them all apart." Standing taller, she tried to look up towards where the bar was. "I should try and find them, I'm sure Adie's wondering if I even made it. It was nice to see you again Desmond."

The mention of a dark side had his smile reaching his eyes for a moment. "Maybe." Pearl excused herself, to which Desmond simply nodded. "Yes. Yes, you should. It was nice seeing you too, Pearl," he said, watching as the girl walked away.

Cael coughed as a stripper got a little too close. Okay, sure, she was pretty but he didn't want a lap dance despite her insistence. Where was Laila when he needed her? The blonde had her hands on his chest, and Cael had to politely grab her wrists, trying to give her the hint, "Listen – Sapphire – I uh – my girlfriend is here somewhere and she'll get...jealous. Like she's psycho. Maybe you should go find someone else, yeah?"

Sandy Zuko slipped through the crowd, spotting the uncomfortable tall figure in leather. Cael's discontent seemed to radiate and like a homing beacon, Laila slid inbetween the pushy blonde to his side. "Yeah, I'm psycho," she parroted.

Cael felt relief almost immediately, the stripper giving up to walk over to a curly haired witch instead. He leaned his head back against the chair, looking up at Laila with a half smile, "Psycho saves the day. I told you not to leave me alone. It's like I'm a magnet for crazy. I bet they're vampire strippers, too. They want to take a bite for tips."

"Did you tell her not to use teeth?" Laila grinned wolfishly, fluffing up her teased out hair. "I had to get a drink, I don't think I could manage Sapphire  sober." The blonde glanced back at the party, "This looks like fun, but that might be the double tequila shot. I saw Des earlier, shouldn't he be beating the vampires away from your dick?"

Cael scowled, "Where's my shot? I don't want to be any more sober than you do," he pointed out, wrapping his arms around her waist as he leaned against her, "I think Sapphire just went over to pay Des a visit. Think I should hex her to make him think I'm jealous?"

"I think her very presence is a hex and you should leave the poor boy alone." Laila cooed, pressing a lipsticked kiss to Cael's cheek. The alcohol had her feeling warm, and as a result, overly affectionate. "You don't drink, you're supposed to be keeping this boat afloat." She straightened, "But, I did see that they have cocktails with little umbrellas in them and that's something I could approve of the both of us having right now."

Cael laughed, wrinkling his nose as his cheek was kissed, "Right, okay. He'll hate us later." He glanced at Desmond, watching as the stripper finally gave him her full attention. He couldn't get Desmond's attention first, so he settled for humming, "I want a drink with an umbrella. Are you gonna get us some with extra alcohol or what?"

"Unfortunately, I don't think I'm the bartender's type, so I won't be getting you extra anything." Laila stood, holding her hands out to tug Cael up-- "Come on, let's go rescue your man."

He was watching the crowd when a slender arm curled around her neck and a woman leaned into him. "Hi...?" Desmond started, blue eyes widening, but she cut him off, offering to take him to private room where she could 'get that frown off his face'. "I - think - I'm good," he answered, taking a step back to try and untangle himself from her hold, though she didn't seem to get the hint. "Yeah, no, I'm just - waiting for a friend," he insisted.

Cael laughed, letting Laila tug him up as she dragged him towards Desmond. He looked flustered, like he couldn't function properly as she basically offered him sex and then some. He was pretty sure he heard Sapphire offer "pegging" before Cael decided to step in with Laila, "Wait – he's really into roleplay. I think that'll be good for him." He grinned at the stripper, carefully prying her arm off of Desmond. He curled his fingers into the other witch's shirt, dragging him closer for a brief kiss, "Thank Laila. She's the one who wanted to save you."

Desmond must've looked mortified to hear her suggestions for when Cael showed up, he couldn't help but feel his whole face warm up with embarrassment. Luckily, his presence seemed to discourage the stripper, and once they broke off the kiss, she was nowhere to be found. He looked around and let out a relieved sigh. "I'll make sure to. God, I think she was on something." He turned his attention back to Cael, offering him a small smile as he took in the costume he wore. "You look good in that." The witch kept one hand on his waist. "Thanks for saving me... I was fearing for my life," he joked.

Laila snorted at the two witches, shaking her head. Corkscrew curls flew and the wolf straightened her jacket. "I think you owe him a drink, because I'm not going to carry both." Blue eyes glanced over Desmond's shoulder, at an unfamiliar broad figure. "I'm going that way." She grinned, "Text me or something, if you need a psycho on hand."

Cael looked at the other half of his duo, fixing one of her curls for her before she walked away, "Stay safe! Use condoms!" he called after her, remembering the day he'd laid out every possible STD for the wolf if she had decided to forgo any sort of protection. He turned back towards Des, "What, suddenly not into pegging?" he joked, looking at the striped sweater. "Want a drink?"

"Well this is the easiest game of Where's Waldo I ever played," the vampire commented with a smirk though the smile faltered when he saw his employee's companion. "Cael," he greeted in a curt tone, "enjoying the evening?" Damien didn't bother with a costume, instead donning an expensive all black suit and a mask reminiscent of the Phantom of the Opera.

"Carry? Who's talking about carrying anyone?" He arched a brow at Laila, watching as Cael fixed a curl of her hair. She seemed to catch sight of someone, however, and made a quick exit. He turned his attention back to Cael. His question drew laughter from him and Desmond shook his head. "She was definitely on something," he insisted. "I could use another drink." He was about to step away when a familiar voice caught his attention. Damien stood not far from them, commenting on his costume. Desmond smiled at him, but when the vampire named Cael, he frowned. "Nice mask. I didn't expect to find you here." He threw a look at Cael, trying to recall whether he'd mentioned he knew Damien before.

Cael leaned into Des, giving a half smile, "She's trying to get laid. God forbid I stay home tonight," he joked, sliding his hand down into Desmond's until Damien stood in front of them. The witch's smile slipped into a scowl, and he tried not to look too petulant as he looked at Damien, expecting him to just get out of the way.  "Damien," he greeted quietly, looking away from Desmond's look. "Shitty halloween costume, Damien. You're not supposed to dress up as yourself."

"Should I dress up as bitter tea shop owner then?" Damien replied pleasantly, "but that costume's already taken isn't it?" The vampire smiled at Desmond and told the witch he made a promise to the owner he'd drop by, "Speaking of which, how do you know Henryk?"

"You can stay at my place." The offer came off naturally, followed by a small smile. The bright expression on Cael's face soured the moment Damien arrived, however, and he looked between the two men, reminded of what Cael had told him about working at a vampire bar. Desmond frowned when the vampire called him bitter, but held his tongue. Bar fights weren't his style. "I think his costume is pretty obvious," he pointed out to Damien, but said nothing more on the matter. The question was a strange one. "Who's Henryk?" He didn't know anyone by that name - should he?

Cael only rolled his eyes, wanting to point out that Damien loved his tea, but he stayed silent instead. His threats were never very scary, anyhow. A gust of wind could knock him over at this rate. "Henryk?" his question was echoed with Desmond's, and he shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know him. Figured this was your kind of party, anyway. Anyone dying in another room yet?" he gave a half smile, still slightly annoyed that Desmond had to work for Damien of all vampires. He could possibly handle another, but not one that had gotten so close. His grip only tightened on the other witch's hand, and he grabbed a shot off a passing waiter's tray, handing it to Des. He also got one for himself, ignoring Damien as he downed it.

The immature response from the younger witch only made the vampire reconsider with the petty remarks, there had been a time after all that he was actually fond of Cael-- it feels like a lifetime ago now --despite his harsh stance against blood drinkers. The boy was also drunk and Cael was never pleasant when drunk, more like a blubbering mess. There was nothing to do, their friendship was a tragic one but he was going to keep his word and not harm him, whether Cael believed him or not. "Henryk is the owner," Damien told the pair, "and no, nobody's dead yet," he took a deep breath and smelled the air, "it still smells like liquor and sweat in here but I could let you two know in case you want to make a quick escape."

Twice that night he'd caught himself in between the tense conversation of others. Desmond accepted the shot Cael handed him gladly, and kicked it back. He wanted to forget his problems for the night. He supposed getting caught in other people's would do. "I don't know the owner. I just heard there'd be a party here and thought I'd check it out." He took a look around, everyone seemed to be having a good time. The dance floor was crowded, various strangers stood by the bar - it didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary. "Thank you, Damien," he said, wondering if he could make an escape from that conversation too. Desmond threw Cael a quick look. "Did you want to dance?"

Cael met Damien's gaze for a brief moment, opting to stay silent as Desmond did more of the talking. He wished he could shrink and hide behind the other witch, but alas he was stuck with the vampire until Des gave them a way out, "Yep. Dancing sounds great," he gave a tight smile to Damien, "Until next time, I guess."

Damien took the cue and nodded at the par, though his eyes mostly lingered on the taller male. "Until next time," he concurred and the vampire easily took a drink from a passing waiter as he watched the pair leave.

Desmond gave the vampire a nod, "until then", and lead Cael away from him, handing the empty shot glass to a waiter on the way. Damien had never given him reason to have a problem with him, but it seemed as though Cael hadn't been completely transparent about why he disliked his workplace and boss so much. Once they were far enough from the vampire into the dance floor, he turned around and planted his hands on his hips. "That was weird," he mentioned, wondering whether the witch would tell him about it if he didn't ask.

"Sorry," Cael grumbled out the apology before he could stop it, recognizing that it must've been even more awkward for Des who had to work for Damien. "I met him a while ago. When we first moved here. He scares me," he admitted, not entirely happy to be on the receiving end of any of Damien's stares. "I don't trust him." He fixed his jacket, looking down at the pair of them. Waldo and Danny Zuko. What a sight. "Where's the cute little hat you're supposed to wear with the outfit?"

"Don't worry about it." Desmond didn't feel like Cael owed him an apology, what he wanted was to know why Damien's presence bothered him so much. His grip on him was loose, though it tightened when the witch admitted to his fear. "What did he do to scare you?" A frown lined his forehead. Desmond was well aware of what vampires were capable of and while he was willing to look away when it suited him, this was Cael; what happened to him mattered. The question had him softening his expression. "I didn't have the time to find one. Plus," he wrinkled his nose, "you know I don't like hats. They mess up my hair."

Cael leaned forward, instead leaning his chin on Desmond's shoulder and wrapping his arms around the other male and swaying lightly to the music, "He's cold and goddamn calculating – I don't want any part of his shit." One hand came up to thread through the hair on the back of Des' head, idly playing with the curls there, "Are you having a good time?" he asked quietly, his grip tightening on the magic-less witch.

Desmond smiled, bringing a hand to rest on the witch's back. "I don't know him personally," he admitted in a small voice. "I didn't know you knew him." It still sounded strange, he wondered in what kind of situation the two had met, how Damien had showcased his coldness and, most of all, what Cael meant by calculating. He widened his smile a little at the question, though it was a bittersweet feeling. Desmond knew why he asked. "I am now that you're here." He tilted his head to plant a kiss on Cael's neck.

Cael gave a half smile, turning to rest his head in the crook of Desmond's neck before he sighed. "He wandered into Tranquilitea a while back. Really liked it and wouldn't stop coming. Took me to the Sanatorium before I realized what it was, so I left. Didn't end well," he said finally, still playing with the curls. "I told him that if anything happened to you I'd hex him for the rest of eternity," he said casually, a flush hitting his face.

Desmond thought it strange that Damien would like a place like Tranquilitea when it seemed to be the complete opposite of the Sanatorium; at least from the Epicure it was. The contrast was stark, one was a place of horrors, the other something of a safe haven. Tranquilitea was peaceful, light, full of chatter in the mornings and early afternoons. The Epicure offered sex, death and escapism. Desmond was attracted to the various possibilities that potion making brought him, he had a scientific mind for witchcraft, but the rest --- he did his best to ignore, and hoped to never see someone he loved in there. 

The confession had him tugging his lips into a lopsided smile and he pulled back to look at him. “Good to know you’re prepared to avenge me.” He gave his lips a peck. “You’re not going to lose me again. I promise,” the witch insisted, tugging him closer. Desmond tried not to think about his own vulnerability, or how he had yet to retrieve his magic --- until then, he'd be easy pickings. He’d be back to working on a plan to put himself back together in the morning though, for the time being he’d like to dance with Cael and forget everything else.

[one-lucky-clover]

Terra Lavee: What kinda Charlie Chaplin-@$$ world have you summoned me to?! ______________________ Terra Lavee is now (Temporarily) available for asks

[one-lucky-clover]

The panel with the butcher gang might be buried under some of Q&A penals....good luck trying to find it

((Goodness! This can’t be good!Can Terra Lavee be trusted? What chaos does she plan to cause with the Butcher Gang?!Find out in the next exciting installment of Pumpkin Party Pandemonium!))

[one-lucky-clover]

Terra Lavee: I mean... Terra Lavee: I guess this explains all the weird #@$% Terra Lavee: Thank you Box-Voice.