#an excuse to wear a bedraggled shirt and tie and for that to not be weird

[lab-gr0wn-lambs]

Man I need to remember that while I may not like the way I present sometimes, that doesn’t mean I look objectively bad. Like it’s ok to look fem and people noticing it doesn’t mean they don’t like it, even if I don’t like it.

[mass-piplup-outbreak]

What does Emmet think of Ingo's bedraggled (badass) appearance? His ripped coat and goatee?

Does he have a ghostly wound that shows how he died?

this is actually a good excuse to talk about ingo's appearance in general. his appearance is actually tied to his mental state, in a sense.

for a while, he looked like he did when he was alive with the pearl clan (how he looks in pla). usually, he doesn't have any visible wounds on his body, aside from any scars that he had before.

however, if ingo ever gets emotionally distressed, those wounds start tp reappear on his body. it's actually pretty scary if you're not expecting it! this happened quite a few times when he was alone at the grave.

after ingo started following emmet around and regaining some memories, his appearance then shifted to resemble how he looked when he lived in nimbasa. it's not completely right, it's more of a halfway between his pla and bw designs. his coat and hat are still pretty messed up, but he's wearing his dress shirt and tie from before.

he definitely still has the goatee though. and i kind of headcanon the twins sort of kept their appearances the same without realizing it, so it would be hilarious if emmet had one too. emmet's only reaction to the goatee is, "we still match!"

[justlookfrightened]

The Mayor of Halloween Town

This is filling an anonymous prompt for Bitty dressing up as Jack Skellington, and Jack’s reaction.

Bitty pulled the garment bag out of his closet and considered.

He’d brought this with him specifically for Halloween. He’d done the puck bunny thing last year – speaking of terrible life choices. He wasn’t sure who took the pictures that ended up on the Swallow’s website, but he’d had people making rabbit ears at him for weeks.

The year before that he’d been Mrs. Lovett because pies, but this year, he wanted something not so … feminine, maybe, not that anyone would consider Mrs. Lovett a sex symbol or anything.

But this year, he was the captain of this team, and the Halloween kegster came just after the season started, and he needed something that would demonstrate that he was in charge. Or at least not make him seem cute.

On a visit home before returning for the school year (and wasn’t that a change: his parents’ home was now a place he visited), he’d spent an afternoon helping Mama organize the attic, moving some of his old things out of his parents’ way and making room for Mama’s new sewing machine in the guest room.

That was what gave him the idea, really. The old things in the attic, both the collection of Halloween Town figurines and the rack with his old figure skating costumes.

There was the tiny statue of Jack Skellington, the leader of Halloween Town. And there was the black coat he’d bought for his last costume – he’d planned to skate to Phantom – but, well, that skate never happened.

The coat had been a bit big then, and it was more than a bit snug now, but that would work for what he wanted. He still had black tights that fit, and a dance belt. He could do this: Not a burly monster or a bedraggled zombie, but the spritely skeleton who was clearly in charge of the holiday.

With the bag stashed in the closet, Bitty had gone along with it when the frogs started talking about a Halloween kegster. The new baby tadpoles (what do you call a frog before it’s a tadpole?) had been around for two months, and they were ready to be exposed to the drunken debauchery of a real Haus party. As long as Bitty could make sure they ate enough and drank enough water.

Ollie and Wicks were eager to prove their version of tub juice was just as revoltingly strong as Ransom and Holster’s, and the rest of the boys were itching for some fun.

But when Dex and Nursey came up with the idea of a Haunted Haus kegster, Bitty had wanted to talk them out of it. First, because he wasn’t sure tub juice and jump scares were entirely compatible; second, because he didn’t want people losing it in his kitchen, and there was no way on God’s green earth that any of the boys would allow guests upstairs during a kegster, and a haunted Haus meant people would have to go somewhere; and third, because he wanted to be Jack Skellington, and that just wasn’t scary enough for a haunted house. Or maybe that was first.

But that was a selfish reason, so he agreed to the Haunted Haus party. All the haunting would be on the ground floor of the Haus, and guests would be escorted from the end of the spooky pathway through the kitchen and out to the back porch, where they could get more drinks (“Dude, everyone has to drink before they go in,” Wicks had insisted. “That’s not safe,” Bitty countered. “Not everyone can have alcohol, or wants to.” “They can drink water for all I care,” Ollie declared. “They just have to drink.”)

With Bitty on board, the new Haus mates started planning in earnest. Nursey called on his theater friends to offer props, Dex planned for creepy creaking doors and caskets, ghosts and spiders dropping suddenly from the ceiling, and bursts of mist and cool air. Nursey was creating and a soundtrack of screams and moans (“Sweet!” Wicks said. “That’ll reduce some inhibitions.”)

Even Chowder got into it, talking about the vintage goalie mask he could wear to portray a terrifying serial killer.

“He’ll have to wear it to scare anyone,” Bitty told Jack over Skype that night. “Chowder can’t be frightening unless he has a goalie mask on. Kind of eerie how that happens.”

“So what are you going to be?” Jack said. “How will I recognize you when I come up?”

“You’re not seriously going to come, are you?” Bitty said. “I mean, I know we talked about spending Halloween together since you don’t have a game, but it’s going to be a fright show up here. Literally.”

“It’ll be fine,” Jack said. “I’ll wear a costume. You won’t have to stay all night, right?”

“No, and we don’t practice until the next afternoon,” Bitty said. “I’m thinking of making my escape to Providence and let the boys handle the cleanup. I’m not sure I really want to do a haunted Haus anyway.”

“Not a fan, eh?” Jack said. “You don’t like being scared like that? We can go through together if you want.”

“You think I’m gonna want to cling my big strong boyfriend?” Bitty said, managing to hold it a moment before snorting. “Jack, honey, I’m always happy to get close to you, but I don’t think anything these guys come up with will scare me. Especially since we all are gonna have to help set it up.”

“Guess I’ll see you there then, bud,” Jack said. “Maybe I can cling to you.”

When the call ended, Bitty breathed a sigh of relief. He’d managed to distract Jack from pursuing his question about Bitty’s costume, and Bitty wanted it to be a surprise. He’d promised Jack he wouldn’t show as much skin as he had last year (“If you’re dressed like that, lapinou, I won’t be able to leave your room without everyone at the party knowing how I feel about you”), but he wanted the costume to be a surprise.

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

Jack waited until 9:30 to leave for the Haus. He’d promised himself he’d wait until 10, knowing kegsters didn’t really get going much before then and his arrival would be less likely to cause a stir if everyone was past their first cup of tub juice, but Bitty was there, so that was where he wanted to be.

He checked himself out in the mirror: plaid flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up, cowboy hat, bandanna that he could pull over his face if he needed to. He couldn’t do much about the jeans – they were one of his two regular pairs, since he had to have them specially tailored. Even if they didn’t look like he’d been riding the range, Bitty assured him they showed off his, uh, assets, to their best advantage. A costume store gun belt with plastic six-shooters completed the look.

It was Halloween, but it was also a Monday night, so traffic from Providence to Samwell was light and Jack had parked his car down the block and was making his way to the Haus by 10:15.

It seemed like most of Samwell’s student body was headed toward the Haus, with costumes ranging from zombies and witches to firefighters and cheerleaders.

He was just heading toward the front porch when he heard someone say, “Well, get an eyeful of you, Jack. I gotta say, that’s a good look for you. Helps make Halloween the wonderful holiday it is.”

Jack looked around to see who was talking to him. He thought he looked pretty good – better than with the lame cat ears from last year – but that was a little over the top. But no one seemed to have even noticed he was there. The guy talking was on the porch steps, addressing someone in the shadows of the hanging spiderweb.

Must be another Jack, then.

Then Jack heard Bitty’s warm laugh.

“So that means I’d best be happy with Halloween and not take over Christmas, too?” he said. “You’re too kind. I see you have your drink; step right in and see the frights! Don’t worry, there’s plenty of cookies and snacks to revive you at the end.”

Bitty had stepped into the light and was holding the door open for the guy, who was in a traditional Dracula outfit.

“How about a bite out of your neck?” Dracula said. “I vant to suck your –”

“Oh, there’ll be plenty of people back there to try that line on,” Bitty said. “But the only way to get to the party is through the Haus. Good luck! Try not to scream!”

And with Bitty’s hand firmly at his back, the guy was through the door and Jack could take a long look at his boyfriend, whose body somehow looked longer and leaner that usual. He was wearing a black suit – sort of. The jacket was nearly form-fitting, with tails in the back and a tie that looked like a bat. If the jacket was nearly form-fitting, the pants were – well, Jack couldn’t see any underwear lines under the glare of the porch lights, but the bulge at his groin was clearly apparent.

Jack forced his eyes back up. Bitty’s hair was slicked back and his face was white, with his features made up to look like black sutures. And the guy had called him Jack. Must be some character – not Jack Sparrow, although that look would be good on Bitty too, he thought.

“Howdy, partner,” Jack said, stepping into the light.

Bitty turned and caught sight of him.

“Jack! You make a great cowboy! Haus rules are that you have to have a drink to go in, but it doesn’t have to be whatever excuse for tub juice these boys have put together. There’s beer, or water.”

“Mmm, much like the vampire, I’d rather have you.”

Bitty made a face that made the drawn-in mouth twist. “Heard that, did you?”

“You did an admirable job of sending him to the demons,” Jack said. “You are something in that. Do you have to stay here?”

“Not really,” Bitty said, slipping his phone from a pocket Jack hadn’t noticed. “I’m the captain, remember? Let me get one of the tadpoles to take over the door. Then I will escort you through the haunted Haus with no interruptions.”

“You’re sure about that?” Jack asked skeptically.

“You forget, I am the mayor of Halloween Town,” Bitty pronounced.

“Really?” Jack asked.

“Jack, you don’t know who I am?”

“You’re the mayor of Halloween Town.”

“Jack! I’m Jack Skellington! From Nightmare Before Christmas? You must have seen it.”

“Skellington? Like a skeleton? That’s why you look so thin?”

“And move so gracefully,” Bitty said, pirouetting on the threshold as Tango arrived.

“The door is yours, my good man.”

Jack crowded up behind Eric as they entered the darkened living room.

“I don’t doubt the moves,” he said. “But I know there’s more than skin and bones under that suit. Let’s get through this as fast as we can and hit the trail, eh?”

“Sure thing, partner,” Bitty said. “Let’s see if those guns of yours fire anything but blanks.”

Then he giggled, and Jack laughed, and he was having the best Halloween of his life.