#Samhain prep

[asktheravenclan]

Morgana hummed as she checked over the decorating and guest lists for this year’s Samhain ball. So far all the invitations had been sent out, with some of those invited already sending back their RSVPs… the palace was in the process of being covered top to bottom in decorations colored in deep reds, vibrant oranges, and a shade of black that looked as though it had been pulled from the void itself. All that seemed to be left was double checking the menu options and ensuring that her staff and family had their outfits ready for the big night.

[erosology]

just popping up here to let y’all know that i have the sweetest most beautiful most thoughtful most amazing girlfriend and every time i look up at the stars i see her face kthnxbai

[f4m0u5m0n573rzz]

I found a bunch of super old stuff I drew all over school papers should I post some? bc no one comes to my blog either way

Or should I just post my iron maiden and misfits collection

[authormarialberg]

Swamp Creatures

[somedaylazysomeday]

A Deal with a Demon - Part Seven

Things keep going missing at your house and at the shop. You finally decide to confront the most likely cause.

Demon!Beetlejuice x fem!witch!reader

Rating: M

Word Count: 4,050

Warnings: Hauntings, irritation, mentions of witchcraft and demonic activity (obv), descriptions of burnout, crying, hopelessness, and mentions of seasonal affective disorder, nonsexual intimacy. This part is a little more serious than the others have been - please mind the warnings!

Previous | Masterlist

---

If you didn’t know better, you would think that you were being haunted. 

It was ridiculous to even think that was possible… but there were a lot of things going on that you couldn’t quite explain. 

Weird noises came from the shop  - a low groaning that you had shrugged off as part of the building settling, until they had been offset by a higher-pitched whine that couldn’t possibly come from a reaction to the brisk nights. 

Certain items had gone missing from your personal supply at your house and the small workshop you’d eventually created in the basement of Sinful. That one had made you grumpy, far more so than the strange noises. You hadn’t wanted to leave materials at the shop for exactly this reason. It was dangerous to leave items used to perform magic around non-magical humans, even if you locked the door as carefully as you always did. 

But after you had gone back over the security camera footage and set special wards on every entrance to the basement workshop. When you were still missing supplies without catching intruders with either method, you were forced to consider other possibilities. Besides, there was no way anyone was breaking through the layers of stacked wards you had woven around your house. 

And that was ignoring the Presence. 

It came and went - never lasting too long, but each incident was randomly spaced and impossible to predict. You would be mind your business one moment and in the next, you would be seized by the creeping sensation of being watched. Sometimes, the feeling was so strong that you could find a way to sit with your back against a wall, if only to know that nothing was waiting behind you. 

Honestly, if your place and the shop weren’t warded to hell and back, you would think there was a ghost haunting you. 

Beetlejuice had been your immediate first guess for the culprit, but he had never been shy. You would have expected to see him lounging on your sofa or chatting with customers in the middle of the store - you had unexpectedly found him in both scenarios over the time you had known him. 

The only problem with that was that you hadn’t seen Beetlejuice in a while. You had counted the dates carefully when he still hadn’t appeared in the days leading up to Samhain, and the last time he had visited was in late August. So you were at a loss about what was going on. 

Samhain had come and gone, leaving you energized by your renewed closeness with the source of your gifts and the enjoying the temporary spike in ambient magic in the air. All witches could access that magic, but most had gorged themselves on it during the festival. You had done the same in the past, storing magic like a bear trying to fatten up before hibernation, but the shop changed things. Now, there was so much magic flowing out through your potions, charms, and spells that you were always hungry for a little more.

So you decided to take full advantage of that post-Samhain increase in magic to prep some potions. If you could get them ready over the next week, most of them needed to ferment over the dark days of winter. 

The memory potion you were working on was one of those brews, and it was almost ready. Now that everything had come to a boil, you just needed to add some rosemary and decant it quickly into an opaque glass bottle to ferment until the winter solstice. 

The large jar where you kept the sprigs of fresh rosemary - enchanted to keep them in a state of infinite freshness - was suspiciously light when you lifted it from the back of your pantry. When you pulled it out into the light of your workshop, your suspicions were confirmed: it was empty. 

No, not empty, you realized with a start. There was a single scrap of paper lying on the bottom of the glass jar, folded neatly in half. 

You stirred the potion with one hand while you unfolded the paper with the other, hoping to keep the pot from boiling over entirely while you read. 

I.O.U. - BJ

“What the hell?” you asked aloud, staring at the note. The potion let out an unhappy hiss, then a sour smell filled the air. When you ripped your gaze away from the paper, you found that the potion had turned. You grimaced, pulling the half-scorched spoon free as you repeated, “What the hell?!”

You crumpled the note in your fist, wheeling away from the stove. The smart thing would be to dump the remains of the potion before it solidified in the pot. Memory potions were known to be very sticky when allowed to sit in containers after they expired. 

All you could think about was getting an explanation.

“Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!” 

It was a trick you had figured out shortly after opening Sinful. If you skipped the rest of the demon’s summoning incantation in favor of using his name - the section with actual magical significance - you could call him without agreeing to make a deal. It was a workaround, a loophole. You had no idea how long it would last before someone in the demonic hierarchy figured out what was happening and ended that gap in contracting, but you would use it until then. 

Beetlejuice appeared as he always did. Instead of his typical friendly greeting, he scowled when he caught sight of you. You scowled back, but it faded when you caught a good look at him. 

The circles under Beetlejuice’s eyes were darker than normal and his hair was limp. His skin looked dull beneath the typical pallor. His expressions were subdued, like it was too much effort to be as dramatic as usual, and he was slumping slightly against a nearby counter. Even the moss on his face was a pale gray-green instead of the vibrant emerald you had grown accustomed to.

“You look rough.” 

Beetlejuice made a rude gesture in your direction, but there was no fire in it. “Like you look so great. Except that you do. Fuck. Why’d ya have to look nice today?”

You shook your head, choosing not to point out that your shirt was two washes from the rag pile and you were wearing a truly crusty pair of pants. If Beetlejuice was being sweet, you weren’t going to go out of your way to talk him out of it, but you really were concerned.

“Seriously, Beetlejuice,” you said, starting forward. 

He held up a trembling fingers. “That’s one already, babes. Ya gonna send me away? I could maybe use the break.” 

You stared. “You… want to go back? You never want to go back. What’s going on?” 

“Is it so hard to believe that someone would wanna leave the human realm?” he shot back. “Humans aren’t as great as you all pretend ya are. Now, I know ya didn’t summon me here to ask about my well-being, so what the fuck do ya want?”

It was a transparent attempt to make you mad, which made it extra embarrassing when it worked. All of your anger about the memory potion roared back to life. You glared at him, brandishing the burnt wooden spoon in his direction.

“What have you been doing?” you snapped. “You took all of my rosemary and left an IOU? Are you serious? What do you even need rosemary for?” 

“Halloween is a busy time of year for a demon,” he reminded you, tone so condescending that it put your teeth on-edge. “I needed the rosemary and some other stuff to keep my concentration while I made deals.”

“Concentra-?” you started, then thought better of it. You didn’t want excuses or circular explanations. “No, never mind. You need to refill all of the ingredients that you took. Starting with the rosemary! I was in the middle of a potion and now it’s turned.”

Beetlejuice’s lip curled. “Why don’t ya just magic some more?” 

You don’t know what made you the angriest: his careless tone or the way he wiggled his fingers when he said ‘magic’, but either way, you were seeing red.

“You had better be messing with me,” you seethed. “You came into my workshop, in my house, stole my ingredients! And you never bothered to even say hello. I haven’t seen you in months! You don’t talk to me unless I summon you, and now you’re being petty about replacing the items you used for whatever random bullshit you do when you’re making contracts and fulfilling deals. You need to-” 

“Fine!” he snapped. “I’ll go get more rosemary.”

He avoided making eye contact with you as he disappeared, but you couldn’t look away. 

When Beetlejuice left somewhere, he always disappeared with noise. It had been a pop for most of your early interactions, and you had theorized that it was the sound of the displaced air. When he was feeling ostentatious, that sound changed to a loud crack! You had even heard it turn into a rude noise when Beetlejuice was feeling cheeky. 

This time, the process was utterly silent. And it was a process. Every other time, Beetlejuice had simply disappeared from view, vanishing between one instant and the next. This time, he faded slowly from view, becoming a shade of his corporeal self until he was finally gone from your field of vision. 

You sat heavily on the stool at your workbench, letting the scorched spoon fall to the countertop with a clatter. Something was wrong. You had known something was wrong, but you let yourself get angry and overlook it instead of narrowing your focus on the problem and working to solve it. Or at least understand it. You had never seen Beetlejuice be anything but energized by signing contracts and doing deals. 

By the time Beetlejuice returned, you had managed to calm yourself down, fighting back both the anger and the guilt to keep a fairly level head. 

He held out a large bundle of fresh rosemary. It was what he had used and more - enough to cover all the memory potions you intended to brew for the rest of the season. “Thank you. I really appreciate this.” 

He just nodded, leaning against the wall and letting his head tip back against it. 

“How have you been?” 

Beetlejuice cracked one eye open, looking at you as if to gauge how sincere you were being. Whatever he found there seemed to reassure him, and he shrugged. “Fine.” 

You sighed. Rote platitudes hadn’t been what you were looking for. “No, really. I haven’t seen you in a while.” 

“Yeah,” he agreed caustically. “Ya said that.”

“I’m sorry,” you apologized, catching his eye so you could try to convey how much you meant that. “I snapped at you and I shouldn’t have. You took my rosemary, but you didn’t know I would be brewing today. Now I’m worried about you. Is everything okay?” 

Beetlejuice sighed, the harsh lines of his face falling into a more relaxed expression. “I’m just tired.”

“Do you have another open deal?” you asked, worried. “Do you need someone to meet their terms? Because I can try…”

That hadn’t happened in a while. Beetlejuice was still being summoned more than he had in hundreds of years, but more of those summonings were turning into actual deals thanks to your spell. It was just a prototype, but as long as it was working, it gave you a shorter list of tweaks it needed for any future versions you might cast. If someone summoned Beetlejuice and it didn’t result in a deal, it could end up putting him in a bad spot. 

To your surprise and minor horror, Beetlejuice pulled an expression of deep disgust and horror. You recoiled from him, trying not to be offended as your ego took a hit. “No, babes. Absolutely not. I’m good. In fact, I’m lucky my dick hasn’t fallen off from overuse. Yet.” 

“Gross,” you complained, recoiling for a different reason. “And… congratulations, I think? Being busy is a good thing, right?” 

“Sorta.” 

When he didn’t seem inclined to give any further explanation, you narrowed your eyes at him. “Have you been hanging around lately? I’ve had some weird things happening, even ignoring the missing ingredients.” 

Beetlejuice studied his shoes and you were fascinated. He wasn’t embarrassed as a general rule, and you were eager to find out what had made him shy now. 

“I’ve been droppin’ by here and Sinful, even when I’m too tired to fully manifest,” he admitted. 

So that was the presence you had felt. He had probably also been the source of those strange noises. In a way, you had been haunted, just by a demon you knew rather than some unfamiliar spirit who had managed to circumvent your wards. It was a relief, even if you were concerned by the idea of Beetlejuice being too tired to gain corporeal form.

“Why?” 

The question had slipped out before you could bite it back, and you guiltily watched the way it made Beetlejuice flinch. “You don’t have to answer tha-” 

“There’s always some residual magic where you’ve been workin’,” he said quietly. “It makes me feel better. I usually take a pinch of an ingredient or a little of whatever potion you’ve got goin’ so I can pull some extra magic from it. I took the rosemary to help me concentrate. I was gettin’ sloppy with my contracts. I was too tired to focus, but bein’ home always makes me feel a little better.”

You nodded slowly, trying to conceal how touched you were at the idea that he thought of your home as his home, too. 

“I dunno,” he shrugged off, forcing a smile. “Guess I’m just off my game right now. But don’t worry - I always come back. I’m like an infection.” 

“You know, most people don’t compare themselves- Actually, never mind. Sure, an infection,” you agreed eventually. “But you’re taking care of yourself, right?” 

“Sure,” he said, sitting on the stool you had abandoned. It put him closer to you and you were struck once more by how tired he looked. “I’m eating and catching some sleep when I can. I don’t need much of either, ya know.” 

“Yeah, demon stuff,” you waved off. “But what about other things? Activities you’re interested in, seeing cool places, eating something delicious just because you can. That type of care.” 

“I-” Beetlejuice frowned, looking disconcerted. “That’s not really… my thing. Not right now, at least. It used to be, but I kinda… stopped.” 

“Maybe you should start back up again,” you suggested gently. “Some of the experiences you’ve mentioned sound like depression.” 

“I’m a demon.” Beetlejuice’s grin stretched impossibly wide, showing off far too many sharp teeth to make his point. “I don’t get depressed.” 

“Just because you haven’t in the past doesn’t mean you can’t.” You crossed your arms, leaning back against the table with a thoughtful hum. “How long has it been since you spent this much time in the human realm?” 

He was silent for a long moment. “I’ve never spent this much time in the human realm. Not without being banished at least once.” 

You shrugged, letting the idea speak for itself. 

“Are ya saying that this place has infected me with depression?” 

It was hard to fight back a smile at that. For someone who had called himself an infection only a minute before, Beetlejuice sounded enraged at the idea of something else infecting him. 

“Probably not, but it might have some kind of effects that you’re not used to having. You aren’t interested in things that used to make you happy, you’re tired and irritable, and you’re having trouble concentrating. Has that ever happened before?” 

Now Beetlejuice’s silence was the one that spoke. You gave a small nod, avoiding eye contact so he wouldn’t take your point as a confrontation. “That kind of stuff can sneak up on you.” 

“Nothing’s sneakin’ up on me!” he bit out. 

You paused to gauge his mood and eventually decided to keep pushing. “I have seasonal affective disorder. I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned that to you. I don’t like the winter. Especially after Samhain. I know the darker months are better for witchcraft and there’s more time for light-sensitive workings, but I’ve always leaned more toward the warmer months. I get distracted easily during this time of year. It’s hard for me to focus, even on basic tasks. I forget to check whether I have all of my ingredients before I start brewing a potion. I sleep a lot and the world feels really empty. Just… you know, so you know.” 

The inelegant ending of that made you cringe, but you let it stand. 

“That sounds real shitty,” Beetlejuice admitted. 

“Yeah,” you agreed. “But I learned some coping mechanisms that help, and I know how to handle it if things get really bad.” 

He nodded slowly. “What, uh- What are they?” 

“There’s a few of them that work for me.” You watched Beetlejuice in the reflection of a glass pan you had left standing in the drying rack. From what you could tell, he was listening intently. “I make sure to have a routine, which helps me regulate how much sleep I’m getting. I try to eat healthy and get some exercise whenever I can. And I keep in contact with friends.” 

“Thought ya didn’t have friends?” Beetlejuice asked. Despite the directness of the question, his tone was mostly curious, so you didn’t take it personally. 

“I fell out of contact with most of them, but I reached out to some old friends I lost touch with,” you explained. “Plus, I joined a gardening group online. They were very helpful when I was trying to grow an indoor herb garden. I hit it off with one of the other group members and now we chat pretty often.”

Beetlejuice gave a wordless hum in acknowledgement. “What if ya didn’t have friends?” 

“I’d find someone to talk to, probably. Like you or some of the employees or even random people on the street. Any halfway pleasant interaction works, though it helps if you have enough history with them to talk about something deeper than weather or a late train.” 

You glanced sideways at him. “Plus, it helps to say nice things to yourself.” 

Beetlejuice snorted. “I don’t think talkin’ to yourself is a sign that you’re all there, toots.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” you countered. “Self-talk is common and even healthy. Especially when you’re saying things that you need to hear from someone. That’s helpful even if the someone is you.” 

“Whaddaya even say?” he asked. 

You shrugged. “Depends on what I think I need to hear. Usually, it’s something like…” 

You turned to face him directly, making full eye contact and putting on the soothing tone you’d used to talk yourself out of a panic attack in the past. “Hey. You’re doing fine. Actually, you’re doing great. I see how much work you’re putting in and I see how hard you’re trying. You’ve got this. Everything is going to turn out. Just keep going.” 

Beetlejuice blinked frantically, nodding too many times as he broke that eye contact to stare at the floor. “Yeah, I can… Can see how-” 

He cut himself off, swallowing harshly. 

“You know,” you said softly, “it’s fine if you need to hear those things, too. I’m sorry no one else has said them to you yet. And that it took me so long to say it. But I meant every word I said. You’re working hard and I’m proud of you. More importantly, you should be proud of yourself.” 

He was openly weeping by the time you finished your sentence, and it quickly escalated to heaving sobs. You abruptly found yourself with a crying demon wrapped around you, holding you as tightly as he could while you patted his back and murmured soothing nonsense. 

“I’ve been going contract-to-contract for weeks, and I haven’t had time to take a breath.” 

“I know.” 

“No one even says ‘thank you’! Then half the time, they pretend I tricked them into it.”

“I know, honey.” 

“And I didn’t even get to watch that video of the dancing guy in September!”

You bit your lip and nodded sympathetically. “You can watch that video now..?”

“It’s not the same!” he wailed. 

“Let’s go sit down on the couch,” you suggested. Beetlejuice nodded, following you like a lost child. 

The instant you settled onto the well-worn sofa, he flopped down with his head in your lap. The tears had slowed, but you stroked gentle fingertips through his hair. “That’s it. Everyone needs to blow off a little steam now and then. It’s a good thing. Completely natural.” 

Beetlejuice tensed, his expression shifting to one of apology. “Sorry, babes, but I’m really not interested in gettin’ down and dirty right now.” 

Your first reaction was amusement. Beetlejuice had sounded surprised by his own admission, even a little dismayed. But then you felt a little sad for him. If that was how he reacted to someone attempting to comfort him, it was really no wonder that Beetlejuice was so starved for positive relationships. 

“I’m not interested in sex right now, either,” you reassured him after a beat to collect yourself. “If this is making you feel better, that’s the entire point. There doesn’t need to be anything more to it than that.” 

He nodded, blinking slower and slower until he was lying utterly still with his eyes closed. You half-thought he had fallen asleep, but a tiny frown put furrows between his eyebrows.

“What am I gonna do?” he asked quietly. 

It was hard to tell if he was speaking to you or to himself, but when you made a soft, curious noise, he kept speaking. “I stored up some favors and freedom and magic, but we’re goin’ into the slow season. I won’t start gettin’ summoned until the solstice, then it’ll be dead again until early next year. I don’t like the cold, and I sure as hell don’t wanna sleep in it-”

You shushed him. “First, you need to get some rest. And when you’re feeling less tired, you can just stay home with me.” 

You put the slightest emphasis on ‘home’, trying to convey to him that you were okay with him thinking of your living space as his own.

“Ya mean I can stay here?” Beetlejuice’s eyes flew open to search your face. “Do ya really mean it?”  

“Of course,” you agreed easily. “I’ll need help with the potions since I’m so absentminded this time of year. Plus, you’re a good focus for when I stock up on the charms and spells for Sinful. I think we can get a lot done around your work schedule and mine.” 

“You’re really gonna put me right to work?” he complained, eyes twinkling playfully. “I guess I do owe ya a memory potion. I can start on it in a few minutes.” 

“I have a better idea,” you countered. “You take a nap and I’ll go get some dinner.” 

Beetlejuice beamed. “Can we have Thai?” 

“Sounds good to me,” you agreed, pulling your phone free from your pocket and typing out your usual Thai order with an extra pad kee mao for Beetlejuice. Once he had some sleep, you were willing to bet that his appetite came roaring back to life. 

Despite Beetlejuice’s loud complaints, you wriggled out from under him. “I need to change! I can’t go to the restaurant in these clothes – I’d freeze.” 

“Get it delivered,” he suggested, voice muffled with the way his cheek was pressed against the couch cushions. 

“Absolutely not.” You put on a jacket and hat, then headed back out to the living room for your boots. “They charge almost double for-” 

You stopped short, unable to fight back a grin at the sight of Beetlejuice sprawled - already sleeping - across your couch. By the time you put on your boots, he was snoring. You were still smiling as you locked the door behind you and felt the wards slide into place. 

It was startlingly domestic for a witch and a demon, but life could be strange that way.

---

Author's Note - I was so proud of myself when I thought up this chapter. I was going to write about Beetlejuice suffering through some sub drop after a night with our witch. But then everything was stressful, and I burnt out at work, and my seasonal affective disorder kicked in, and the election was a trainwreck...

After all of that, this fic is what I ended up with. A little too much relationship development and far too little smut, but I promise to write something truly filthy for next time. Thanks for reading anyway!

[nihildenial]

Per Aspera Ad Influenza by nihil-denial

Papa Emeritus IV/Dewdrop/Swiss

Warnings: None, For all Ages

Tags: Sickfic, hurt/comfort, sharing a bed, dorks in love

WC: 4,052

It’s not often that human illnesses affect the demonic entities that play in the band Ghost. They are powerful, elemental beings stuffed into carbon-based forms of meat and bones and blood, but even the connections to the Underworld doesn’t save them from the viruses of humanity.

Papa Emeritus IV, a.k.a. Copia to those closest, was only half-infernal and was much more likely to fall ill while Ghost toured the world.

Mountain Ghoul was always ready with herbal teas and salves for whatever caused the singer to feel sick. It bonded Copia and the Earth Ghoul closer together since Mountain was already the heartbeat of the band.

This time, Copia wasn’t the one who needed a caring hand.

“Dewdrop! Stop hogging the bathroom!” Swiss pounds on the tour bus door after the fourth time the Fire Ghoul had slipped out of the living area to lock himself inside the small room. “I gotta piss and if you don’t finish, I’m gonna pee in the kitchen sink!”

Finally, there was a flush and the noise of the sink running. The overhead vent turns off just as the long-haired Ghoul opens the door and slips under Swiss’ arm. “Sorry,” He grumbles.

Swiss watches him unsteadily climb directly into his assigned top bunk and quickly shut the curtain. An uneasy feeling climbs up Swiss’ spine. Unlike the other Ghouls, Dewdrop almost never discloses when he’s feeling under the weather.

He thinks that Dew is scared they’re going to see him as weak.

Swiss momentarily disregards his need to pee. He steps over to the wall of bunks and carefully pulls back one of the panels where Dew puts his head. The Fire Ghoul’s typical Fireball-esque scent is a bit sour, but what’s causing it is immediately apparent.

None of the Ghouls are due for their heats until the next month during the Samhain, and as far as Swiss can tell, none of their pack have noticed Heat symptoms despite them being stuffed together on a bus.

“Fuck off,” Dew immediately turns onto his other side to escape his view. A little cough escapes his tightly-shut lips.

“Hey, I just wanted to see if you were feeling alright,” The Multi-Ghoul moves a strand of pale, blond hair off Dew’s pillow. “Sorry I rushed you.”

Dew’s body curls up tighter under his blanket. “I’m just tired. I’m trying to sleep before the ritual.”

“You sure? It’s okay if you’re sick.”

Dewdrop just nods, pressing more into his pillow.

Swiss knows a dismissal when he sees one. He’s not going to get any more out of the Fire Ghoul without a fight erupting between them. He sighs and closes the black out curtain.

Copia appears in the hallway just then, opening the door to the small bedroom at the back of the bus. “Good morning Swiss,” He says softly. He’s always aware of the possibility of his Ghouls resting in the bunks.

“Good morning, Papa,” Swiss glances at the closed curtain before meeting Copia’s mismatched eyes.

Copia follows and quirks an eyebrow. “Everything alright? Did Dew kick you out of bed again?”

Swiss opens his mouth but closes it when he realizes how Dewdrop could hear them. That would definitely cause an argument. He shakes his head and allows Copia to slide past him in the hallway. “Everything’s fine…I think.”

-

The last handful of hours before the group’s destination was spent packing their things to transition quickly to the hotel after the night’s ritual. Nobody wanted to pack their bunk after a three-hour performance.

Dewdrop is quiet, staying to himself except for when Papa calls them all to the living room to prep them about the venue. He clears his throat in the way an old lady would, though black tendrils of soot and smoke come from under his fist.

Thankfully, tonight was a stadium most of them had played on while Copia was a Cardinal, so they only had to catch Phantom and Aurora up to speed on the backstage layout.

The tour bus pulls up behind the large venue and the group is ushered off and into the building as cameras and people try to get shots of them.

Copia lets out a steadying breath as they’re guided to the three dressing rooms. ‘Still not used to all the cameras, heh,” He says to Dew quietly walking beside him.

Dewdrop shrugs and flips a chunk of hair over his shoulder. He escapes into the green room before Copia begins his usual spiel of how long they have until curtain.

The singer looks to the Multi-Ghoul for an explanation, but Swiss can only answer with a shrug. “Please make sure everything is alright with him,” Copia says quietly to Swiss as the group disperses.

Swiss takes the words into his heart and ignores the setup area for him to apply his black face paint. He beelines for the locked bathroom door, seeing that Phantom, Rain and Mountain are still filing into the room.

He knocks.

“Just a fuckin’ minute!” Comes the annoyed call from inside.

The Multi-Ghoul sighs. He decides to take the vanity closest to the bathroom and begins the process of tying up his locs to fit under his helmet. He’s able to get dressed, apply makeup, and even put on his tall boots before Dewdrop is stumbling out.

The small Ghoul’s t-shirt and jeans are soaked in sweat. His scent has somehow soured even more than it smelled earlier, resembling a rotten cinnamon plant. He takes the last vanity open, between Swiss and Mountain. He doesn’t say anything and begins his usual routine.

Mountain notices immediately. It would be impossible not to be in this small room. “You usually don’t sweat this much Dew.” He reaches a hand out to press against the Ghoul’s gray forehead when Dew recoils like Mountain is a stranger.

“Hey! Watch where you’re fucking touching!” He snarls, fangs bared.

“I’m just worried—”

“Worry about your own damn self for once, Mountain! I’m not sick, I’m not sweating more than usual, and I’m fucking fine.” A small plume of smoke curls from his mouth as he coughs into his fist. He avoids their concerned gazes in the connected mirrors, mopping his forehead with his t-shirt and changing into his Impera uniform.

Swiss watches uneasily. He can’t watch too much, or the Fire Ghoul’s anger will be directed towards him, but if he doesn’t watch enough, he’s scared he’s going to miss a tiny detail that will explain why Dew is feeling this way.

Kevin sticks his head through the doorway and calls for them to head backstage.

Dewdrop is just finishing putting his hair in tight plaits and pulling his balaclava over his head. He’s the last to leave, his right shoe still untied.

Ashley meets them at the backstage entrance, her checks over Copia’s sparkly outfit already completed. She rakes a keen eye over the eight Ghouls, her gaze landing on Dewdrop’s disheveled appearance. She crouches before he can, tying his shoes with ease. She also tightens the strap under his chin for his helmet, pausing so she can get a look at his eyes.

His mismatched blue and red eyes are bloodshot, teary and he has a miserable expression visible even as his face is covered.

She shakes her head, pulling away. “If you need something, just head backstage where Papa goes,” She says as low as she can. Ashley is that close to them to understand all the strange rules the Ghouls have with each other, but she can tell when one of them isn’t up to snuff (especially a Ghoul that usually holds himself with the utmost confidence). Whatever it is, it’s too late to deal with now.

He nods, gives her a grateful smile, and heads out on stage behind his packmates.

-

Copia notices something is really wrong right before the encore.

The house and stage lights have gone down so Copia can slip into his red encore jacket, and he takes a quick second to meet the gazes of each Ghoul as they trade instruments for the last three songs.

Everyone is tired but has the usual glow of excitement. Except for Dewdrop.

Kevin exchanges guitars with the Fire Ghoul and Dew immediately goes back to his mark rather than passing by Copia.

Thankfully, Dew is the last Ghoul back on, so he can catch up with him. His mic is back on the stand so there’s no need to worry about if the crowd can hear them over their cheers as Rain holds a bass note over the arena.

“Dew, you don’t look so hot,” Copia has to shout. The Ghoul looks more sweaty than usual and the smoke around his helmet isn’t the usual white of Swiss’ joints. It smells acrid, like a wildfire taking over a vineyard of sour grapes.

He shakes his helmet. “I’m fine. Stop worrying.”

“Swiss looked like there was something bothering you—”

Dewdrop’s eyes are blazingly visible through the goggle lenses. “I’m fine, Papa. Let’s just finish the fucking concert and get to the hotel, okay?!”

Copia’s mouth snaps shut at the angry tone from his most beloved Ghoul. He wants to figure this out, but this is neither the time nor place for it. The crowd is actively getting louder in front of them as their eyes adjust to the lowlighting. “We’re talking about this after,” Copia squeezes Dewdrop’s shoulder before heading to center stage as the lights come back up.

Kiss the Go-Goat is first on set and Copia uses it to his advantage. When he saunters over to the Fire Ghoul to swing a hand between his legs and hug the Ghoul’s thigh, Copia focuses on his gut instinct to feel what’s going on with Dewdrop.

He smells like sweat (of course, they’re performing) and a soured, high smell far off from his typical scent. Copia doesn’t have enough time to ponder it anymore as he releases Dew’s legs and moves back to his position.

They finish the three encore songs and line up together for final bows. Swiss makes sure to press himself on Dew’s left when he puts himself on the end of the row.

They bow once.

They bow twice; and when their heads face downward, Dewdrop sneezes so hard his helmet shakes and the white covering for horn pops off.

An echo of ‘bless you’ and ‘gesundheits’ come from the fans at the barrier. Dewdrop uses his dirty guitar rag to wipe under his mask as the group makes their way backstage. It further smears the sweaty black face paint and rubs on the conditioning oil from the fretboard.

Mountain’s sharp ears detect the latest cough and suddenly there’s a large hand grasping Dew’s shoulder and stopping him from fleeing into the bathroom. “Dewdrop.”

“Let me go, motherfucker,” Dewdrop snaps nasally. It draws the attention of the rest of the Ghouls and even Copia. “I’m fine!”

“No you aren’t. You’ve been coughing, sneezing, and now even your voice sounds stuffy,” Swiss steps forward.

Dewdrop glares at him through his goggles. “Stop prying!”

Rain uses his most gentle voice, one that never fails to tame the Fire Ghoul’s brattiest episodes. Maybe it’s just their connection as Water Ghouls that makes Dewdrop fold so easily to his voice. “Droplet, we just want to make sure you’re okay. You don’t look healthy and I’m concerned you’re neglecting yourself.”

“Neglecting myself? Like a pathetic little kit? No way. Like I told this brute of an Earth Ghoul, I’m perfectly fine and strong.”

“I didn’t say anything about your strength,” Rain says.

Dewdrop’s helmet passes over all eight concerned gazes, even Ashley and Kevin standing a bit away with the rack of guitars. “Fine. I’ve been sick with some pathetic little human cold for the past couple nights and it hasn’t gone away and now I’m going to ruin the tour so thank you very much for exposing this.” His lower lip wobbles and the heartbreaking sound of a sniffle comes from under his mask.

Copia cocks his head, “Why would this ruin the tour?”

“I see those posts from artists that cancel shows because one of the players is sick. I see the disappointed comments from fans, the loss of revenue,” The Fire Ghoul snaps.

“Dew, we don’t have another ritual for three days. That’s plenty of time to use Quintessence and medicine to heal you. Not to say you should’ve worked through this illness without any help, but you’re a Ghoul. There are plenty of ways we could’ve given you rests on stage,” Copia rubs Dewdrop’s back.

Dew makes a noise close to a whimper. “Can we just get to the hotel already?”

Copia guides Dew back to the male Ghoul’s dressing room. Once seated, Dew bats away Copia’s hands. “Go pack up, Papa. I can do this on my own.”

The singer hesitates until Swiss and Mountain give him a nod. He leaves with one final squeeze to Dew’s arm.

Swiss takes a knee in front of the Fire Ghoul’s chair. “Give me your foot.”

“I don’t need to be babied just because I’m sick.”

He shrugs, “Maybe I just wanna suck your toes. Gimme.”

Dew can’t help the small laugh that comes at the tail-end of his smoke-filled cough. He lets Swiss quickly unlace and undo his boots, setting them aside. Socks, then helmet, hood, and wig cap are next. Rain steps up behind him and lets down the blonde braids, undoing them but tying a loose ponytail to keep the hair off Dew’s sweaty forehead. He wipes off the grease and makeup with a cloth while Swiss unbuckles Dew’s waistcoat.

He’s stripped and put in sweats, a shirt, and flip flops then ushered onto the tour bus without lifting a finger. Ashley and the Ghouls clear the dressing room and pack things under the bus.

With everyone packed up, the group settles on the bus for the two hour trip to the hotel. They would’ve gotten one closer, but this one is perfectly between this arena and the next stadium.

Dew accepts a to-go tumbler of tea from Mountain and retreats to the Earth Ghoul’s bunk for snuggles until they arrive.

-

Hotel rooms are usually split with three Ghouls to a room, with one of them sharing with Copia. This time the schedule was Swiss, Dew, Copia; Cirrus, Cumulus, Rain; and the last room being Mountain, Phantom, Aurora.

Copia doles out the key cards and looks to where Dew is sitting on a lobby couch with Phantom pressed into his side. “Mountain, would you come with me to the store to get some medication?”

“All of us want to come!” Aurora proclaims from her place between Cirrus and Cumulus. “We want to make sure we get the right medicine for Dew.”

The singer sighs, knowing he can’t resist the Ghouls’ puppy dog gazes, even while still helmeted. He waves them towards the elevators, “We need to change first. There’s no need to drag cameras and paparazzi around.” He eyes the waiting crowd by the hotel entrance.

They agree and pile into the mirror-encased elevator. Dew sags against Mountain’s strong grip, falling asleep standing up until he’s wracked with a smoky cough. Thankfully all of their rooms are grouped together on one of the higher levels, so there’s not many other guests that will bother them (or be bothered by a bratty, sick Fire Ghoul).

Everyone splinters off to unpack and change. Copia holds open the door for Swiss and Dewdrop, then wrangles their three suitcases inside. “I think a shower will do you good. That’s what helps me,” He nods to the spacious bathroom.

Dewdrop must be really bad off to not complain and simply walk in and start the shower.

Swiss shoots Copia a worried look.

Copia sighs, stepping into the bathroom, “Dew, what are your illness symptoms? Swiss will stay here with you while we go to the store.”

“You don’t need to risk the paparazzi for me--” He tries.

“Nuh uh, we’re getting you medicine. Symptoms, please.”

He can see the outline of Dew standing under the steamy spray through the frosted curtain. “Cough, sore throat, stuffy nose, body aches.”

Copia types them into the text field to send to Mountain. “Good, good. Do you like a certain flavor of electrolyte drinks?”

“Red.”

He pauses typing the next message. “What the fuck kind of flavor is red?”

“I don’t know the name, it’s just fucking red,” Dew snaps.

Copia sighs, “Okay, I’ll figure out whatever the hell that means. Anything else?”

It takes a moment, but just over the rustle of the shower and the sound of Swiss watching tv comes the timid request, “...Can I have some beef jerky?”

The Anti-Pope’s posture softens. He has to remember that through all the brattiness and backlashing is a scared Ghoul who believes he’ll be sent away if he’s too sick to perform. “Of course. I’ll change and then we’ll get you things to make you feel better, alright?”

Dew pokes his head around the shower curtain. “Thanks, Papa.” He looks like a pathetic, drowned rat.

Copia presses a kiss to his wet forehead. It leaves a smeared gray stain. “Oops. Good thing you’re in the shower,” He grins.

Those mismatched red and blue eyes cross as he looks up to his forehead. An affectionately pissed off frown crosses his lips. “Get out, you old perv. I’m trying to jack off.”

Copia laughs and shuts the bathroom door as he leaves. “I think the shower is helping him.”

Swiss looks over from where he’s sitting on the corner of the large king-sized bed. There’s a documentary about some type of ocean animal playing on the tv. “Snappy?”

“A bit, but less than earlier.” Copia hefts his suitcase onto the stand and pulls out one of his favorite red Adidas track suits. He changes and does his best to ignore the amber eyes hungrily watching him. He wipes off his papal paint with a makeup remover wipe. He pulls on his “Dad” sneakers and holds out his arms for Swiss to look him over.

“Congrats, you look like a douchebag father and not a compassionate Satanic pope,” Swiss snickers. The shower turns off. “Shoo, I want Dewdrop cuddles.”

Copia grabs his wallet and leaves with a smile on his face.

-

Tiffani has seen a lot of bullshit during her time as a night clerk at the CVS on Azalea Avenue. She isn’t fazed by anything anymore, and the police that would respond to her getting robbed are hanging out in the Bojangles parking lot next door. Tonight is another boring, muggy night at her part-time summer job.

She doesn’t even look up when the doors shuffle apart for a visitor. However, when she hears the large amount of chatter, she looks up just to see that it’s not a full group of gang members coming to hit this CVS like the one on the other side of town last month.

It’s a gang…but not one that’s going to rob her.

Coming through the doors are the weirdest group of people she’s ever seen. There’s a normal looking white dude in a tracksuit, then six people dressed in all black with steampunk-inspired goggle helmets. They vary in body size and height, but all of their helmets are identical.

They shuffle inside, looking around at the signs hung over each aisle.

Suddenly, they’re all looking at her as the normal guy approaches the counter. “Scusi , miss, where do you find illness medicine?”

Well, he looks normal until she sees that he has one normal green eye and one that is devoid of an iris, simply a black pupil in a sea of white. His nervous demeanor makes her a little less freaked out, but the odd name for cold medicine brings that feeling right back. Is this guy human?

“Like for the flu?” She asks dumbly.

The guy looks to the tallest of the cult members, who nods. “The Influenza, yes.”

She points to aisle ten, “It’s down at the far end.”

The guy waves his cult members in that direction. As they walk away, Tiffani can hear them chirp and chatter to each other in the same way cats do when they see birds out a window.

It takes them only a few moments before the group is heading back towards the counter, a pack of Sudafed and Mucinex medication in the tallest cult member’s hands. In two of the shorter, possibly female members’ hands are a total of eight different colors of Gatorade, then three large packs of beef jerky in the skinniest member’s hands.

Tiffani actually gets a bit excited because buying Sudafed means she’ll have to check one of their IDs. Maybe she’ll get a name and can look these guys up to see what weird cult they’re a part of.

The white guy takes the medication from the helmeted guy and sets them on the counter. The others set theirs too.

She scans them both. “Can I see a form of ID?”

His eyebrows furrowed together. “ID? Why does medicine require a driver’s license?”

“People use Sudafed to make meth, so the store requires us to make sure people aren’t buying too much,” She says and takes his offered identification.

STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS

Copia Samael Emeritus, IV

Born June 6, 1970

Height 5’11”

Eye color L BLIND, R GRN

So he’s not wearing contacts, he just has a blind eye. He’s just some dude.

He pays for the medicine with a credit card that has a design of an upside down cross with a semicircle around its intersecting lines.

“Do you want a bag?” She asks. It’s a lot of things for them to carry.

The tall cult member behind him coughs out an immediate, “NO.”

“Yes, it’s better to not use single-use plastics, no thank you, dear,” The human man says. He takes the two boxes of medication and the long receipt from her. The others come forward and grab their respective items, then shuffle off towards the exit.

Tiffani is immediately pulling out her phone texting her best friend as soon as the doors shut behind them.

Dude I think I just saw aliens!!!

-

“We’re back!” Copia calls as he opens the door to his shared hotel room. The Ghouls shuffle in and place their items at the foot of the bed, acting as if they were special offerings to an altar like they do at the Ministry.

Dew blinks awake from his spot pressed into Swiss’ collarbone. “Hey guys,” He croaks.

Mountain rounds the side of the bed, cracking open a Fruit Punch-flavored Gatorade and one blister pack of Sudafed. “Here, Firelilly. Sip carefully.”

“Shit we forgot tissues!” Aurora cries. “I was supposed to grab them! I’m so sorry, Dew.”

The Fire Ghoul gives her a weak smile after he swallows the pills. “It’s okay, Rory.”

Copia puts a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We can get them delivered to the front desk. No worries, it’s been a long day for everyone. Please rest. I’ll see all of you at breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant at 9:30am tomorrow morning.”

They all give some sort of comfort touch to the Fire Ghoul and separate to their own hotel rooms. Copia kicks off his shoes and strips down into just his VVLGARI shirt and briefs. He puts all the medicine and drinks on Swiss’ nightstand, then climbs into bed, sandwiching Dewdrop between them.

“Come here, piccolo,” He says softly. “I’m not upset that you’re sick, and you’re most definitely not going to be banished. Soon, we’ll be back at the Ministry and Aether will tell you how brave you are, just like I am right now.”

Dewdrop sniffles (whether from illness or tears, he won’t comment), and carefully nestles into Copia’s chest. Swiss brackets him from the other side.

Swiss’ connection to Quintessence will keep Copia from getting sick and his fireside will help the medication to sink into Dew’s Fire energy.

Tomorrow he should be feeling one step closer to his normal self, but for tonight, Copia enjoys the way Dew clings to him, safe and vulnerable.

“I love you, Papa,” Dew whispers.

A soft purr vibrates through his chest from the mingling contentment of his Ghouls.

“ Ti amo , Dew and Swiss.”

[herbz4spellz]

Prepping for Samhain🎃🧶🍁

hello yes hi!!! me personally this is my favorite sabbath! so i’ll be sharing what i usually do and how i prepare for it!!

Samhain lasts from Oct.31 till Nov.1, but please do not rush yourself to complete such activities, you can do it throughout the month :)

1.) Prep your altar! .•+*

- i clean up my altar with my homemade florida water and smoke cleanse it! then putting up pictures of my passed loved ones. I use white candles and white candles only just to be safe. I make a grocery list to buy ingredients so i can make food they loved. (Also, if ur putting up items of your loved ones, please avoid putting them next to ur candles!! tnx!!)

2.) Prep your Divination tools .•*+

- i used to do Tarot, i still do, but now my preferred method is bone-throwing. Doing divination during Samhain is the best time to do it, the line between the living and the souls of the passed living is thin, so use the time wisely and ask guidance from an ancestor or a spirit guide !!

3.) Have fun! .•*+

- cook some family meals, prank somebody, just genuinely have fun! this is a celebration, and your passed loved ones will be celebrating it with you! bring them food they used to love, converese with them by just talking to their pictures. Just know that you are loved, and they are still loved.

Bonus: Make a besom!

- i haven’t tried making a besom yet😭😭 but i’m planning to make one this year, and i’m so excited !!!!!

p.s pics above are mine, i took them, so if ur gonna use them pls credit me, ty :)

[prairiefirewitch]

I’m prepping early for Samhain and I don’t care if it’s too hot for mulled drinks. We need more Halloween season, not less. This is my mulling spices recipe and yep, it’s going into the Hekate ritual kit. When the first cool day of October rolls in, I’m making a batch of mulled apple cider in my slow cooker, spiking it with rum, and reveling in the only decent season we have in north Texas. It makes extraordinarily good mulled red wine too, and how could you not offer some up to Hekate during your autumnal dark half of the year rituals?

[socialistmothman]

Prepping for Dumb Supper for tomorrow. We're celebrating Samhain on the second night because it'll be easier on Friday. Checked all my ingredients and made a list of what I need for tomorrow.

The menu

Bread- Pumpkin Sourdough

Pumpkin puree in the dough lends moisture, sweetness, and pairs very well with whipped, cinnamon honey butter

Appetizer- Roasted Acorn Squash.

Split, cored, seeded, 2 tablespoons of butter are rubbed on the inside of each half, add cinnamon, brown sugar, a little cayenne if you're nasty

Main- Ratatouille Nicoise

French vegetable stew, rich, the onions give it sweetness, the eggplant has a creamy quality, and the tomatoes provide an acidity and umami flavor to bring it all together

Desert- Sage applesauce

Tart baking apples stewed with brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, Sage, and rum.

Asked my partner to make us mulled wine

Who's coming over for supper?

[localgirlbecomesobsessed]

The things you do for a date

Leo x Xena (established)

Part one

They deserve to be at the club, what she has to do to get them there, she doesn’t deserve.

Aka Hyde tasks her with something dangerous.

Chronic migraine Leo truther

Leo flopped onto the bed, arm covering his eyes as he dramatically groaned. Xena flopped next to him as he made grabby hands at her as she sighed rolling herself until she could reach him, she pulled herself up onto his chest and laid her head where his heart would be, smiling as the speedy thrumming echoed into her ears.

“I want to go ouuuuut.”

He whined at her, a golden eye peeking out as he lightly lifted his arm, they were both in uniform, both too exhausted to move and both…extremely bored of being enclosed in Darkwick.

They were meant to be in class, yet neither of them could handle going today, not that Leo went much anyway.

“Where would you go?”

Xena quietly asked fiddling with his necklace as Leo let out a strangled noise. The lights were dim, the black out curtains tightly shut together as the two relaxed together, a much needed break after weeks of strange annoyances.

“I’d go to the clubbb~”

Xena quietly huffed out a laugh as she sat up, Leo frowned at the loss of warmth but didn’t say anything about it. She grabbed a pillow, one of Leo’s pain meds and a bottle of water from the mini fridge next to the bed.

“You’re banned from a majority of clubs in Shibuya right?”

She tapped his arm as he removed it from his face, a sluggish moment revealing just how badly the migraine he’d been playing off as minor had cursed him. Despite the pain he still had a small smirk on his face as he gratefully took the meds and water, pride etched on his face at Xena’s statement.

“Yeah…if I’m lucky I’ll get banned from all of them.”

Xena snorted as she flopped back down, Leo joining her after he took his medicine.

“What about Vlad’s?”

She questioned, a small smile on her face as she remembered her favourite club, the only one she actually liked when she went out.

“What the fuck is Vlad’s?”

He was already searching it into TikTok, scoffing as the cliched vampire themed club dominated his feed.

“Really?”

He rolled his eyes showing Xena who just grinned.

“I take it you haven’t been banned from there yet…?”

He frowned as he rolled into her, dragging her closer to him as she just sighed at his dramatics.

“Yet…?”

They haven’t had any of their R&R permits approved in weeks, now with Samhain prep it seems it’s gonna be even harder to get around it. This short break (hiding) was only due to them promising to attend class today, it was only due to Alan’s insistence that they promised anyway…

“Hmmm you never know Darkwick might approve one of your requests…”

She yawned as she wiggled her way to the top of the bed, worming her way into the covers as Leo followed suit, neither have had much sleep the past couple of days, far too busy with missions or work to even have time for a small nap. Their planned date time now becoming a nap time as Leo wrapped his arms around Xena, pulling her close as they spooned, Xena hummed happily as she sneakily stole one of his hands clasping them together as she pulled it towards placing a sweet kiss to his knuckles as she sleepily devised a plan to get them that night of the club, thoughts interrupted as she could already sense Leo was crashing out behind her as he hid his face into the crook of her shoulder.

“Night mon Cher.”

———————————————————

Xena watched the fireplace roar as she blatantly ignored the annoying smiling man in front of her as she sipped at her tea in deep thought.

“It sounds dangerous.”

She finally said, interrupting the quiet that enveloped them as Hyde hummed in feigned thought at her statement.

“That’s because it is Xena!”

He clapped his hands happily as the floating hands brought over the paperwork for Xena for read over.

It was a simple acquisition job of an anomaly tool…it didn’t state what the use of the item was but it would’ve been pretty easy if it was just that…what doesn’t seem easy is the fact it’s in a massive mansion-on the night of a party-of some rich family who have a shady history…

“It won’t be just you either Xena! Romeo will be on this job with you too!”

Romeo…?

Of course that’s who he’s been in dealings with…

“Fine.”•_•

She sighed as she slammed her cup onto the coffee table, taking the files with her as she stormed out to meet with Romeo.

“Thanks XeXe~ I’ll approve the R&R for you once everything’s done!”

———————————————————

“Pay attention DD, we’ll only have 30 minutes to secure the goods, Now my EITS have alerted me they’ll be having a hypnotist performing at the party…”

Xena hummed in thought surveying the interior and exterior photos as she tried to figure out the best route to their prize.

It was located in a vault in the basement, it’s not heavily guarded in that specific area but the whole mansion itself was overloaded with guards. They’ve doubled the amount of guards for the party centralising around the mansions ballroom…the lowest of the aristocracy will be there, all with their honeyed hands in shady businesses.

“So…the best way to do this would be going in undercover, there’s three exits and I think our best shot would be the back garden, they have a hedge maze that-if we do get caught we could lose them in there…if we get a better layout of if?”

She handed the photos over to Romeo, who seemed almost pleasantly surprised at her competence.

“Yes, good choice CDD, I was thinking we could use the hypnotist as a distraction or a way to get them under control if I took over…it’d be easy.”

She snorted and raised an eyebrow, holding up the picture of the extravagant looking hypnotist, comparing it with Romeo who was deeply scowling at her as he snatched the sheet away.

“You’ll get wrinkles RoeRoe.” •_•

He slammed the picture onto the desk, looking at Xena in deep disdain.

“DRM! Urgh, obviously you can’t do it, you have the charisma of a straw hat.”

•_•

“I ooze charisma.” •_•

She kept a straight face as Romeo looked her incredulously, seeming personally offended by her declaration.

“YOU HAVE 0 CHARISMA ZILCH; RITSU HAS MORE CHARISMA THAN YOU, YOU POS.”

He pointed at her enraged as a small smirk spread across her face, she shrugged as she leaned against the table, only letting herself be slightly offended by his statement.

“I’m more charismatic than you though.”

The screech he emitted was worth it, he slammed the plans on the table next to her as she looked up at him in amusement.

“Urgh-Meet me at Mickey’s tonight, we have a week to plan…”

She rolled her eyes, agreeing as she caught one of his henchmen watching the two of them very closely, she narrowed her eyes at him and subtlety sent a text to Romeo about them.

“Right, well I’ll see you there…” •_•

She pushed passed him as a call from the chancellor came through.

What did Cornelius want?

———————————————————

The chaos of the inter squad did nothing to push back their plans as her and Romeo had to scramble to ensure everything goes according to their meticulous plan, meeting at Rui’s bar everynight much to Leo’s displeasure when he got told he couldn’t come join them.

She wanted it to be a surprise.

He’d been trying so hard to get an R&R request, so she wanted to surprise him and maybe go to Vlad’s…

She also fears he’d be livid with her for making a deal with Hyde; something he and Sho have warned her against repeatedly despite both making deals with him all the time.

She sighed as she made her way into the bar, slumping on a plushy velvet red chair at the back as she awaited for Romeo, who was chatting up Haru and Rui who both enthusiastically waved at her as she set up the map. She looked out the window, narrowing her eyes at the two idiots who were striding into the bar, Leo winking at her as they made eye contact.

“Well well well, is this where you’ve been hiding XeXe!”

He slid into her chair, lifting her up and placing Xena in his lap as Sho obediently went to the bar to get them drinks.

“Leo.” •_•

She’d missed him quite a bit, the two not being able to see eachother since she’d been on her missions, it’d nearly been a week and even before that they couldn’t see eachother much.

She sighed, turning to look at him as she shifted around to make it easier to wrap her arms around him. Taking a deep breath as Leo’s cologne washed over her, causing a small smile to grace her lips, something that got wiped off as Romeo approached them with disappointment etched on his features, a look directed solely at her.

“RoeRoe~ hogging Xena all to yourself? I’m hurt.”

Leo leaned back as he pouted at Romeo, who just rolled his eyes as he slid into his chair, crossing his legs as he leaned on the table watching the two of them with a careful look on his face.

“I see you’re easily pliable to his charms BB, is this really worth the WOE?”

Leo raised an eyebrow as Romeo looked at her unimpressed, Xena pressed a kiss to Leo’s cheek before sighing as she unwrapped her arms from him and properly faced the table, she stayed on his lap…she had no where else to sit after all as Leo stole her seat and Romeo insisted on always being in the back corner table and in the royal blue armchair that he claims highlights his good looks (it does but Xena refuses to admit it.)Sho came back with the drinks, noticing the odd energy at the table as he tried to swiftly walk back to the bar but Leo’s glare aimed at him made him sit down after he awkwardly dragged a chair over.

“Please im not the one blushing when Haru or Taiga talks to them, got a thing for red heads fico?” •_•

She gratefully took one of the drinks from Sho as she laid out the map more on the table, ignoring Romeo’s piercing gaze as he looked almost ready to kill her, Leo cackling from behind her as he wrapped her arms around her propping his head on her shoulder, looking curiously at the map of the mansion.

“Hmph…Kurosawa could be useful but for the BB endeavours its best you stay out of it, though…”

Romeo raised an eyebrow in deep thought as he evaluated Leo and Sho, he sipped at his wine as Xena rolled her eyes at his dramatics. She had told him how she wanted to surprise Leo and the strangely romantic Romeo had been stubborn in ensuring her pursuit and goal were met through merit and skill(and stealing a bunch more stuff from the mansion.)

Leo only frowned as Romeo trailed off, Xena’s endeavours? How would this even help with her curse…that’s besides the point, she’s spent more time with Romeo than she has Leo the past couple of weeks, not only that but she even went to the stupid cemetery that he’d been planning to take her out too (if they ever got an R&R request.) Not that she knew he was planning this, it was a surprise after all and it would’ve made a great TikTok series.

He wasn’t one to admit jealousy but the murmurs from students and the photos of Romeo and Xena together were all over the schools gossip channels fanned the flames within him as he stubbornly tried to figure out what could be so important that she had to leave his side, he gets for school missions but this was different and she didn’t come to him for help…

He clutched at her tighter, he had been listening in as much as he could despite Samhain prep, but all he got was that they were stealing from some old geezer?

“Leo.”

Xena poked his cheek as he snapped out of his thoughts, Romeo looked at him questioningly as he awaited his response.

“He asked if you could blackmail someone for him…they’re connected to our mission, the hypnotist…”

She whispered into his ear as Leo side glanced at her, shivering as her low toned voice sang into his ear.

“We can do that RoeRoe~ but after this mission, leave XeXe to me for a while before having her work again~she is mine after all!”

Xena looked at him wide eyed, a fond smile tugging at her lips as a light laugh slipped its way out as leo beamed at a grossed out Romeo.

She was his?

She sighed dreamily as she leaned back into his hold, she guessed she was his after all, she’ll spoil him as much as humanly possible after she gets this mission out of the way.

She just needs to get this mission out of the way….

She sighed with more exhaustion as Sho and Leo wandered off or more like Sho pulled Leo away as Romeo demanded privacy as they planned their backup route, they had Leo and Sho planning their blackmail to get the hypnotist to step down more easily.

Their mission will be starting tomorrow, Xena was terribly excited to get it over with…

[bitchybananabouquet]

I've been so late with Samhain prep this year. Literally just made my ancestor alter in the last 10 minutes, I usually have all this done a week before! Just more photos and candles to add.

[jazzstarrlight]

Got a few WIPs! Let me know if I should post more and if I should continue working on these ones. For some reason the post description disapears. Idk what's goin on, it's been like that for a while.

Anywho, consider supporting me on Patreon, and emergency halloween commissions are on sale for 35% off till Oct.31st. Get your own Jazper original before it's too late!

If not for yourself, I can do gift art for you to give to your best friend for their birthday or Christmas even! Not one for prepping for Christmas before celebrating Halloween (or Samhain for me) but it's still an option.

Send me a private message with details and I'll start work on it immediately.

[spookyserenades]

okayyyyyyyy I loooove the chapter (as usual) and I donno where to start or focus @ all asdfghjkl I mean Joon's birthdayy? Jimin's birthdayy? the whole fiasco in the brewery? the old hag being all bark no bite? the tournaments? sweet tae's handy work? and then halloween hit us like a truck and boom gotta say I didn't see that coming I thought they were done with being toddlers (?) different theories r already runnin wild in my mind abt that.. well the most plausible one is I have a feeling they fought about the u no paranormal stuff cuz that's what our joonie & jk bonded over and share a common interest in and our foxy had always been wary abt stuff like that not taking it seriously. And moving on (i hv so much 2 say asdfghjk) for a second I was abt 2 accuse u of being biased for our gothic style elk cuz his birthday got more exposure but then again can't say anything cuz a video camera didn't cost our girlie a fortune I'm ugly crying rgt now VESTAA omg I love horses and I'm soo looking forward to scenes with her and yayyyyyyy finallyyy fucking finallyyy our big bad wolf became sweet ( but now I kinda hv doubts aftr the cliffhanger lol) AND "he won, and the first thing he did was look for her"!!!!!!!!!! YOU DID NOT SAYY THAT OH MY GOD ( insert high pitched squealing) I am down bad for yoongi rgt now and I really love how all their relationships are slowly moving forward you need to win the trophy for best writer in the romantic/horror genre ASAP. Jinnie is a sweetheart and I'm happy his friend is fine and I'm so glad Tae is coming around again. The three note whistle of our foxy seems to hold some significance I'm intrigued but call me petty cuz I'm not gonna dwell on it, Foxy been getting on my bad side these days for some reason. but can't stay mad at Al cuz that's friendship goals right there Y/n has amazing friends. and the tarot interpretations were sooo cooool too. In conclusion lemme jst say the chapter gave me whiplash in the best possible way my love for Trouvaille is ever growing ig luv ya tc I'm already counting days for the nxt 🖤

fhdjakfsh YAY I'M SO HAPPY YOU LOVED IT!!!! There was so much going on in this chapter, and lots to discuss eeee.... Let's start! 🤭

The birthdays... I just love writing them! I can't wait to tackle the other guy's birthdays in the future, too-- (next up is Seokjinnie!!) And the brewery scene was a blast too. I like too add a little bit of tension between Alice, Hoseok, and Y/N, and Seokjin was so excited to eat at a restaurant and try new foods... then you have jealous Tae! And you're right, turns out that old hag is no match for Y/N, Jeongguk, and Namjoon when they join forces. (Luckily for them!)

Halloween... I might write a bonus scene for that closer to when the holiday is upon us! Like them decorating, prepping, more Samhain rituals. That could be fun, no? But the new fight that has been stirred up... they all need to figure out how to argue without it escalating. I suppose with so many male hybrids in the house, conflict is bound to happen, but they could certainly handle it better. I think you're onto something, with Hoseok's skeptical attitude towards the paranormal, he might have joked about something that offended Jeongguk, and Namjoon just happened to back him up... (Hoseok's still a little wary of Namjoon, too, keep in mind).

HEHE with the birthdays; Jeongguk's was quite a bit lengthier and more fleshed out. Since it was the first one to happen in the story, I wanted to demonstrate how Y/N is willing to plan these special days for her boys. While Namjoon and Jimin's birthday scenes are cut shorter, they also got special gifts that suited their personalities (also, if each of their party scenes were as long as Jeongguk's, I feared that they'd become a bit redundant, especially because those three's birthdays are so close).

Horses are so beautiful! I'm so happy that Y/N could reunite Jimin with Vista. Soon, he'll have even more horses to care for once they open up the stable for boarding, so that's something for you to look forward to! Also so heartwarming that Joon is beginning to trust and care for Y/N. As for Yoongi, he's just sooooo.... 🥵 he just wanted Y/N to celebrate his win with him (romantic!!!) Sweet Jin UGH I just wanna snuggle him, he really feels so close to Y/N. Next update, we'll hear more about his friend, Hannah. And thank goodness Tae is recovering from The Incident. 😩

I do get the Hoseok whistle question here and there! He's based off of Mr. Fox in Fantastic Mr. Fox. The whistle tone comes from the movie, you can hear an example of it HERE! Y/N does have some pretty solid friends, and I'm happy you like them too... if Alice knew about Y/N's feelings (she hasn't even decided them for herself, however) she wouldn't openly flirt with Hoseok. The Tarot interpretations were also super fun to research. The deck used in the story is The Wildwood Tarot. It exists IRL, if you're curious!

You're so sweet, and so kind-- thank you for such a wonderful compliment on my writing. I love sharing it with you all! I loved hearing all of your feedback, as well, thank you so much for sending it in. Love to you, and hope to talk to you during the next update! 💜🥰💜🥰💜🥰💜🥰💜

[jlilycorbie]

Happy STS! Seasons are changing. Tell me how one or more of your characters would react. Are they dressing cozy? Obsessed with everything pumpkin? Have they been prepping for Halloween since last year?

In the fantasy WIP, the seasons are different from here. The steppe, for example, goes through freeze, flood, flower, and fire. The community Aleksani lives with is nomadic. They move to the foothills of the nearby mountains for freeze and flood, then they move out on the steppe for flower, and depending on the year, go different places during fire. There are festivals along the way, especially at the end of flower when the huge city they erect every year comes down, and Aleksani cares in as much as it inconveniences her.

Zaya's part of the world has rain, flood, growing, harvest, and wind seasons. Since she's a monster hunter and her primary concern is making sure people and livestock are safe, she doesn't really help plan or participate in festivals, since they mean more work for her, but she enjoys them from afar, and her wife, Miyarki, loved the seasons and was all about helping plan and run festivals. Zaya might not keep good track by herself, but Miyarki always made sure she had fun, and Zaya was always happy to join in for Miyarki's sake.

In the Nyctine Mountains, they recognize flower, fruit, and sleep. Nidezda is taken by surprise with every single season every time.

Tsinte loves seasons. She loves festivals and holidays. She's been around much of the world and seen many different seasons and joined in a lot of different festivals. And then she's off to the next place.

Bad Fences takes place in our world. Barbara claims she doesn't much care for holidays. After all, no one cares about her, no one pays attention to her, she loves to give gifts and take care of people, but no one ever returns the favor. She decorated for holidays back when the kids were home for their sake, of course. She wouldn't let them go trick or treating, too dangerous, and every year she'd pick a costume for them and have them stay home to hand out candy. These days she'll put out some pumpkins, maybe, and leave out a bowl of candy for the neighborhood kids. There's usually still candy in the bowl at the end of the night.

The Wyldeborns, however, are all about Samhain. Tish cannot wait for pumpkin spice season, and she's ready to start making pumpkin and pumpkin spice everything. Robin, the professional baker of the family, doesn't hate pumpkin spice or anything, but also is a little tired of it. Give them cider and gingerbread and cranberry, please.

Wistie gardens and landscapes. Pumpkins and scarecrows and hay bales everywhere! She handles the decorations outside. Her favorite season is actually spring, but don't tell the other seasons. She loves them all. Ollie is always there to help with the decorating and building outside.

Blue always means to help and never quite gets around to it. He does always show up for the family horror movie nights even though horror movies make him uneasy. It's easier to settle in and watch them with all their family and friends there.

Kore used to go all out with decorations and making costumes. She's having a harder time this year, but she'll do her best for the sake of the kids, even though Trystin is officially too old to really be into the whole thing. Except the costumes, those are cool. And everyone likes candy, right? And he loves horror movies, so he's there for the family movie nights and fine, he really loves Halloween, too, ok?

Eden helps everyone with their costumes, and Melinoë is a little overwhelmed by the whole thing, but she cautiously likes it.

[a-vamp-and-a-half]

“She definitely knew how to unsettle a debate out of me” Neora light-heartedly chuckles, glancing at Dark “Do you have an Artificer in your city? I’d like to improve my calligrapher’s pen if I’m making runes for Samhain”

“No, but I can help with that. I got a kit in my treehut” Evan gestures “You really want to prep offerings?”

“Yes” she says with a bap of his arm as he snickers and mock defends himself “We’ll see who’ll laugh Sparky when the Fae turn your ears upside down”

“Oh Kal I don’t wanna imagine that” he laughs, touching his hearing aids

"She can't do that," Bim assures. "... As far as we and she knows."

[woolandcoffee]

Had a shockingly productive weekend (though not enough rest was had and I am ready to go home at 11 am, but that is beside the point).

Started on my annual autumn deep clean, wherein I try to deep clean my house before Samhain rolls around so that the house is cozy and snug for the winter season. On Saturday, I washed down all the kitchen cabinets, removed everything from the kitchen counters and gave everything a good scrub, went through the house washing down doors, baseboards, and all grimy-looking spots on the walls with TSP, then thoroughly went at the bathroom, including a tub and toilet scrub out. In total, it took about five hours, and knocked out about half of the tasks on my to-do list for the deep clean. Remaining chores involve sweeping and mopping all the floors in the house, including moving and getting under furniture, fixing the loose drawer in the kitchen, cleaning all windows and mirrors, and hanging up the framed prints and wall decor that have been kicking around for a few months. All perfectly doable by Samhain.

On Sunday, we took a slow start to the day (much needed after waking up sore from scrubbing). I (finally) had the chance to perform my Adoration of the Harvest King ritual. Next year, the goal will be to perform it weekly from the Crowning of the Harvest King at Midsummer to the Sacrifice of the Harvest King at Mabon, but for this year we're all going to have to be okay with it happening a few times leading up to Mabon.

In the afternoon, we went to pick up a barrister's bookshelf that we had purchased from a local vintage mart. Super glad we went and got it - we've had a problem with one of our cats pulling books off the shelves in our bedroom to get our attention during the night. Figured that a book shelf with class cabinet doors should cut that right out (though who knows what annoying thing the little monsters will cook up next once their access to books is cut off). We went to the used bookstore after that, where I managed to snag a copy of the Rodale Herb Book for $4. Stupid pleased about that. One of my big goals for this autumn/winter is to prep my yard for the spring. I'd like the front yard to become something of a cottage garden, ideally with lots of herbs and flowers throughout. I think the Rodale Herb Book is going to be very helpful with planning some of that.

Rounded off Sunday by going to a friend's 30th birthday party. It was fun (I had boiled peanuts), but I am very much incapable of staying out past 8pm on a work night so I am fairly tuckered this morning. Still worth it though.