#anyway i just thought the ghost costume would be cute and i wanted to draw her with leon soooooooooooooooo .

[downsteepy]

more lavie halloween things . (ghost voice) oooo

[sysig]

Oh my gosh, more Vargas, who saw that comin’

[hbprophetie]

"Lilies bloom first in the garden where ghosts appear often" - poem, Gôto Takashi.

Each night, there is this weird boy wearing an Oni mask, wandering in the scarlet bloomed fields like a drifting spirit. I won't be able to tell if he's an actual purifier or a demon himself. Not very tchaty, this boy is.

Inktober Day 1: "Gargoyle" 🎐

I'm back from the deads to try, this year again, to accomplish the Inktober challenge for the second time in a row...!

"Wait - why is the prompt of today "Gargoyle"? That's not Snapetober!" Arg, that is not indeed, and that's pretty unfortunate.

For that there is two reasons, so let me explain. Sadly, the Snapetober prompts arrived a bit late and until yesterday I was so convinced that there will be no Snapetober 2022 that I had already sketched my first entries...based on the official Inktober prompt list. The second reason is that for the time being, I don't feel like drawing angsty things, so the official list fits to my current mood better. For the time being, I'll stick to those prompts, so sorry if some of you are disappointed.

To be honest, I'm pretty anxious to post my new drawings as I basically want to try something I haven't posted a lot on my blog before: cute, chibi like Snapes. I really hope you will like this new approach, cause despite I drew some like those in the past I decided to not post them here cause I was affraid the style would rebuke some of you.

For this first entry, I was inspired by Japanese traditionnal costumes and Sev wears a "Oni" (litteraly "Demon") mask and horns. I thought it would fit the prompt "Gargoyle" just fine, as the mask has a pretty intimidating look. On his kimono you may reconize a pattern of "red spider lilies", a lily representing separation and grief. Lately, those have bloomed in Japanese fields and I've had the chance to be able to observe them myself.

I moved from France and now I've been living in Japan for one month, in order to continue my language studies abroad. That's a wonderful experience that I've been aiming for since childhood, and there is great chances my current environnement will influence the tone and imagery of my drawings. I truly hope you'll be ok with it. Anyway.

I'll do my best for this challenge this year again, hoping that I'll be able to go as far as possible! I don't have the best of equipement of course so please be forgiving with the "scan" quality. I'm honestly not sure that I'll be able to do 31 drawings, what sounds completely insane to me as the 16 drawings of last year already were my biggest drawing achievements.

Please, don't hesitate to give me your thoughts! 🍂

I apologize for the long time where I didn't post anything, I was pretty busy before moving to Japan, but I've missed exchanges with the community a lot.

Deeply hope you'll enjoy! ~

(And big Good Luck to all the artists who will try to take part in the challenge!)

[marauderundercover]

Maribat Halloween: Decorating

Marinette Dupain Cheng groans, dropping herself across her friend’s lap, hiding her face in her hands. 

“What’s up Pixie Pop?” Jason asks, his attention immediately on her. She just groans, trying not to think of the ways she had failed today. “Pix?” Jason prompts. She huffs and sits up, pouting. 

“I met a boy today.” She says, and Jason grins. 

“Didya say something embarrassing?” He teases, and she huffs. 

“Kind of.” She says vaguely, not willing to go into it. 

“Ya know you’re gonna tell me eventually. Might as well just tell me now.” Jason points out, and Marinette sighs, rubbing her hand over her face. 

“So he was super cute and instead of doing something normal like tell him he’s cute or ask him out or anything else, I volunteered to be his secretary for the month while his is on vacation.” She rambles out, groaning. Jason snorts, laughing loudly until he stops abruptly. Marinette glances at him, frowning at his sudden change. “What-” 

“Your meeting today, it was at Wayne Enterprises, wasn’t it.” He says, his frustration clear. 

“Yeah?” She draws out, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 

“Goddamnit Replacement.” Jason swears, shaking his head. 

“What?” Marinette raises an eyebrow, completely lost. Jason sighs. 

“Let me tell you a little about Tim Drake.”

---

Tim Drake was confused, as he walked into Wayne Enterprises on October 1st. And he didn't like to be confused. But all things considered, he felt that his confusion was valid. After all, when he left the building at eleven o'clock last night (long after everyone else, even his secretary, had left), the building looked like a normal office building. Now, though, there were spiderwebs and tiny pumpkins everywhere. Tiny plastic spiders and cloth ghosts hung from the ceilings. It was cute, but he had no idea how it could've happened. Or when. Deciding to check the security tapes, he walks swiftly over to the elevator, blinking in surprise at the change in music. Instead of the usual (boring) elevator music, an instrumental version of "This is Halloween" was playing softly. Honestly, it was impressive. Whoever had managed to do it had done so without Tim seeing them as he left, and without tripping any of the alarms. He'd just have to hope that whoever did it wasn't willing to use their powers for evil.

As the elevator stops at his floor, he mentally makes a note to ask Marinette, his temporary secretary, if she'd seen anyone strange when she left the night before. She’d only been his secretary for two weeks, and was only scheduled to do the job for one more. She had come in for a meeting with Lucius Fox, something to do with a fabric Lucius had developed, Tim was unsure on the details. But when she came in, she’d seen the absolute mess that the top floor had become since Tim’s secretary had left on vacation. She’d nearly insisted on helping out, and Tim honestly loved having her around. Marinette was funny, and cute and smart and- He frowns, shaking his head to clear it. Sure, he had a crush on her. But nothing could come of it. He’d seen Jason picking her up a couple times, and as much as he disliked his brother at times, he wouldn’t try to date the girl his brother was dating. Sighing, he watches as the numbers finally approach his floor.

The second he walks onto his floor, he's bombarded with even more decorations. More of the same from downstairs, but there were also skeletons (dressed in tiny costumes), plastic bags, and Marinette- for some reason- had a witch's hat on. Tim's eyebrow raises. 

"Feeling festive?" He asks, confused. It's not that Marinette was always serious. In fact, he'd seen her leap over a counter for a cup of coffee. But he'd never seen her in a hat. Especially not a witch hat. 

"Is it too much? We don't really do Halloween in France, not like this anyway." She says nervously, touching the hat.

"Well, er, it's definitely more than I'm used to." He says, before the pieces click together. "Wait a minute, did you decorate the entire building?" Tim asks, completely shocked. Though, he probably shouldn't be. The woman was a force of nature. Marinette blushes. 

"Yeah, I just thought- sorry, Jason mentioned something about it the other day.” She says and Tim sighs. Of course his asshole brother had something to do with this. Tim drops into the seat in front of Marinette’s desk and smiles at her gently. 

“What exactly did he say?” Tim asks, and Tim’s surprised to see that Marinette’s face can get even more red. She mumbles something, and Tim frowns. “Couldn’t hear you, Mari.” He says. She sighs, pushing a stray piece of hair out of her face. 

“He said that you love Halloween.” She says again, and Tim blinks in surprise. 

“Wait, what?” 

“You, he said that you like Halloween. And I wasn’t exactly sure how much would be too much and I’ve never been great at subtlety and so I decided that it wouldn’t be the end of the world to do the whole tower instead of just this floor but then I had to call Jason to help me change the music in the elevator because I didn’t have the clearance for that and-” She rambles, and Tim frowns, reaching forward to grab her hands to try and get her to slow down, to help her calm down. She takes in a deep breath and grins at him, making his heart skip a beat. 

“Sorry, I just, you were rambling.” Tim says, quickly releasing her hands. 

“I really like you.” She blurts out, her eyes widening. Tim’s eyebrows shoot upwards. 

“I-you-Jason?” He says and she frowns. 

“What about Jason?” She asks. 

“You, you and Jason. I can’t- you’re dating Jason, aren’t you?” He asks, and she laughs, which confuses him even more. Was she laughing at him? Or at the suggestion? 

“Jason is one of my best friends. And, like my friends Adrien and Nino, he’s also practically my brother.” She explains, her amused smile shifting into something else. Something softer. 

“So you aren’t dating my brother?” Tim asks, and Marinette shakes her head, giggling softly. 

“If I was dating Jason, I definitely wouldn’t have decorated the entirety of Wayne Enterprises to try and ask you out.” She says. Tim grins as her words register. 

“You want to ask me out?” He clarifies, and she nods.

“Coffee after work? I’ll buy.” She offers, and he smiles. 

“As long as I can buy next time.” He says with a grin. Who knew a couple of decorations could lead to something so great.

Permanent tag list (open): @stainedglassm @kittenmywaythrulife @laydeekrayzee @doll246 @maribat-october-rarepairs

[hexyourheartablaze]

Halloween treats for my Modern AU (that I need to talk about more to be honest)

I'm putting this under the read more cut because I rambled, so I don't want to have a long post in the tags. Sorry, I just think about Modern AU stuff too much and Halloween is my favorite holiday so it means a lot to me. One day I'll probably draw stuff for it, but for now I'll just post this and get embarrassed about it later.

Kamaboko squad ft Genya, Muichiro, and Senjuro:

The one who's probably most excited for Halloween is Genya and Inosuke. Genya loves anything horror and puts a lot of effort into his costumes. Usually Genya picks a famous horror movie villain and is very detailed when doing makeup and whatnot. Inosuke can never decide what he wants to be so he creates an unholy abomination of 5 different things, but he's going to lose bits and pieces throughout the night anyways so it doesn't really matter.

Genya is a horror movie fanatic. He brags that he has a collection of the most gory and graphic horror movies. However, if there's a sex scene he gets out his phone and pretends not to notice. Muichiro has probably watched all of Genya's movies with him. Mui WILL gently tease Genya about being too shy to even look at fake sex scenes/make out scenes.

Mui: "You can't even see anything, they're just breathing heavy or whatever. I don't know why you're so embarrassed." Genya: "I'M NOT EMBARRASSED." Mui: "Well they're getting killed now so..."

Tanjiro will discuss with Nezuko what costume to wear so they match. Best siblings ever hands DOWN. If Nezuko's going to a party Tanjiro will also go to make sure she's safe. In my head I just really enjoy the thought of Nezuko being mute, so Tanjiro gets a bit protective of her.

The matching costumes with Tanjiro and Nezuko will always piss Zenitsu off; HE wants to match with Nezuko, dammit. Zenitsu usually does non-scary costumes. He's not into gore and scary stuff. He will not do haunted houses and is actually hesitant to even watch horror movies or tell spooky stories. Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Zenitsu are fans of Halloween crafts/baking more than doing actual spooky activity. Sometimes Inosuke will join if there's baking involved but he is not allowed in the kitchen.

Senjuro usually stays at home during Halloween. Shinjuro is usually too drunk out of his mind and is sleeping it all off, so Senjuro stays out front in a simple, non frightening costume to hand out candy to the kids so they don't wake his dad up. Usually Kyojuro and him do festive stuff before or just throughout the week and before high school Kyojuro would stay home on Halloween night with Senjuro. But once Kyojuro started making friends with Tengen, Senjuro felt like his big brother was missing out on parties and socializing because of him, so he told Kyojuro to go have fun on Halloween nights. This didn't last for too long because when Senjuro started hanging out with the group, they ended up going to Senjuro's house later in the night to pick him up and go hang out. Usually it was late enough that no trick or treaters were left. Eventually Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Zenitsu made it tradition to go to the Rengoku house around the afternoon to start baking Halloween treats and they would take turns hanging out with Senjuro out front when it came time to give out candy. Inosuke would usually join up with them later, it's for the best because 1. he's so loud it's going to wake Shinjuro up and 2. It takes Inosuke so god damn long to put on all of his costume.

Costumes of choice:

Genya: Freddy, Jason, Leatherface, or Michael Myers Muichiro: Lazy costumes. A ghost usually. If Mui's got Genya's help they'll be a swamp monster. Senjuro: Wears the same thing every year. He'd probably pick a firefighter and also match with Kyojuro. Once they chose to dress up as Greek gods and that was super cute. Tanjiro and Nezuko: Toto and Dorothy, Alice and the White Rabbit, you get the idea. Zenitsu: Farmer, a scarecrow, or zookeeper/safari guide. Inosuke: Some Cthulhu horror we will never understand...

[sirensorisons]

ok as your resident english major i finally got around to watching the daisy ridley ophelia movie and i have thoughts. im on mobile so no read more, sorry! spoilers ahead

the premise of the movie was obviously a big draw. like wake up babes new feminist take on hamlet just dropped. but one of my biggest complaints was that i felt they didn't push it far enough? like i could totally see what they were going for but it felt like all the #girlboss moments were given to other women. that was kind of disappointing given that this is supposed to be ophelia's story. like yes please uplift other women in the film but...

it felt like the writers or director were torn on whether to focus on ophelia or gertrude. i think they did quite a bit of work offering a more nuanced take on gertrude, but ophelia was kind of. frustrating. like, ok, the one major change they made to the play (besides ophelia being alive) was gertrude killing claudius. super fucking loved that.

but a couple minutes before, i had been wishing they would let ophelia barge into the room and either A) stop the fight between hamlet and laertes by showing them both she was alive, or B) stop it by pretending to be a ghost like she almost did with gertrude.

ophelia's ending was such a letdown. i like the intention behind her telling this story to her daughter someday, and breaking toxic cycles by getting out of it. but she had no impact on the events of hamlet's story, which was irritating. like i wouldn't want hamlet to run away with her or have the evil claudius vanquished and everyone else lives happily ever after bc that's not the point. it's a tragedy.

the hopeful twist they put on it for ophelia was interesting, and i don't totally hate it, but it's just kind of baffling. like her father dies and she doesn't get to express much genuine grief over it, just scheming from there on out to save hamlet, and she doesn't seem to spare a single thought for her brother in all of this. like i said, she could've stopped their whole feud by revealing herself or pretending to be a ghost. or at least show her on the brink of doing that, but she's unable to do so before the norwegian forces charge in.

also, i didn't care for the gertrude twin plotline. shakespeare loves his long-lost twins (comedy of errors, twelfth night) so it's not entirely out of place, but it felt unnecessary. a little too convenient as a device to introduce the different poisons and bring the norwegians to the castle. plus, this version of getrude seems to genuinely love her son enough that watching him die would drive her to kill claudius, without the added motive of him fucking over her sister.

i like how hamlet and horatio first coming upon ophelia while she's in the water turned the whole fish/fishmonger thing into even more of an inside joke. it was cute. also, the tension introduced by comparing it to the myth of diana and the hunter was interesting

i felt like, starting from that scene with the diana myth when gertrude gets upset that hamlet insulted her likeness, there was an intriguing rivalry brewing between getrude and ophelia for hamlet's affections, as his mother and wife, respectively. all the "hamlet oedipus complex" truthers make me roll my eyes, but there's gotta be some sort of reverse of that where it's the mother who has a toxic obsession with her son. you definitely see it happen often enough irl with self-proclaimed "boy moms". anyway, it seemed like that rivalry was a major dropped thread. would've been interesting to see that pursued further

idk shit about medieval clothing or costuming in general but i thought the costuming in this was gorgeous. the hairstyles, the dresses, the cloaks. the way ophelia always stood out in the frame so our eyes would be naturally drawn to her

the setup and payoff for horatio's illegal bodysnatching was also quite good but im biased bc i love horatio and him and ophelia being bros

[iron--spider]

I woke up at 3am yesterday to watch The Devil All the Time and I’ve been thinking about it since. I’m gonna put my thoughts and feelings and a review of sorts behind the cut, because I am gonna talk about it freely, so there will be spoilers! So don’t click if you don’t wanna see. I’ll also be discussing the content of the film and I know that might bother people, so that stuff is in here, too! And it’ll be really long because you know I can’t shut up.

So, I loved it. I loved it loved it loved it. I read the book a long time ago when I first found out Tom was gonna be in it, and the only problem I had with the book was that the POVs would change in the middle of a paragraph lmao, but other than that I thought it was pretty perfect. I knew the movie was gonna be pretty brutal, because the book is brutal, so I was prepared.

-BUT I think the critics HIGHLY HIGHLY exaggerated how bad the content was. Like, seriously, they acted as if this was gonna be a Saw movie. I was preparing for blatant, horrific gore, but it didn’t live up to their dramatics at all. There’s blood and nasty situations, but every single episode of Game of Thrones is worse than this movie, as are most episodes of any crime drama on a paid network. I actually thought they were super, super tactful of all their horrific shit. The dog death was off screen and the shot of the body (described by the critics as literally traumatic) was so quick (enough to shut your eyes) and in the dark. I also argue that particular moment is extremely important for Arvin’s journey, because it’s the moment he truly turns on his father and turns on religion entirely, and he carries it with him his whole life (it’s what he flashes back to when he says “I know what my daddy did” because it’s the marker of all Willard’s mistakes) and it winds up being one of the last things he does before he leaves everything behind. Burying Jack’s bones. So, like, I despise dog death or any animal death in my entertainment, but it’s important here and handled well. And all the worst death scenes are either extremely fast (Helen’s and Gary Matthew’s) or shown in negative (all the photos). I think Bodecker’s headshot with Bobo is probably the worst and is also pretty quick. I don’t know if this means I’m a jaded bitch, but God the way they were all whining and crying, I thought it’d be a million times worse. It could have been, with the book’s descriptions, so it was actually pretty tame. Lenora’s death affected me the most and they cut away from that, too. I guess it’ll still bother some people, but there are many, many mainstream things that are far more violent and gory than this was.

-I thought it was a beautiful movie. I never mind films that are slightly slower but I love ones that use their time to lay things out and really show us what’s going on, build the ambiance and the relationships. I loved the narration (which I was worried about), and it really made me feel like we were visiting a moment in time that was important. Like something that was written and should be learned about. Rumors in a town you’re passing through. The ghosts of past trauma and transgressions looming over everyone that’s left.

-I liked the changes they made with Roy and Theodore because I thought that storyline kinda meandered in the book and I’m glad that Roy was actually gone the whole time and not just neglecting to come back to Lenora.

-The only real complaints I can make, I’ll get out of the way here: I wanted a little bit more time with Carl and Sandy. Carl was really creepy, but he could have been much creepier. In the book he was the one looking at the pictures constantly, Not Sandy, and that really showed that he was the one with the sickness, the one pushing them forward and orchestrating it all. I thought they did well with showing how Sandy deteriorated in her efforts with him through the years, but I would have liked to see a bit more of their personal lives together and her fear of him and her genuine feelings about what they’re doing, because the book goes into that a lot more. I also wasn’t a fan of Lee finding the picture early and knowing some about what they were doing, because I liked how it was a surprise to him in the book and yet he still did all he could to cover it up. And lastly, in the book there’s a scene with Arvin after he kills Sandy and Carl where he’s in a motel and he takes like 18 showers because he can’t get the grime of what he’s done off of him, and he looks at the picture and has a nightmare about killing Sandy, and I really would have loved if they’d kept it in. It would have been another ‘acting’ moment for Tom, and it would have been nice for us to see his direct trauma and reaction to everything that’s piling on top of him.

-BUT that’s it. I loved pretty much every single other thing and decision that they made. The cinematography was TOP NOTCH. You could tell they filmed on 35mm film, you could see the grain, and it really, really added to it. Antonio Campos is a very skilled director and I trusted him at the helm of this story. Everything looked so authentic, all the sets and the costumes. The soundtrack and score were AMAZING and enhanced the film. Technically it was just perfect in every regard to me.

-Acting! Acting! God this was like...a massive testament to the casting department and the talent of these people. Everyone was on their A game. Bill Skarsgård has been on my radar since Castle Rock (which I recommend to everybody, both seasons) and he was so natural and great in this role. Haley Bennet was absolutely adorable as Charlotte, I loved her cute face and her sweet relationship with little Arvin. Riley Keough was so great as Sandy with the limited amount of time she had, and Jason Clarke is one of my favorites but he was unrecognizable in this as creepy ass Carl. Harry Melling was a far cry from Dudley Dursley and he did a great job with his screen time, too. Same with Mia Wasikowska, who didn’t have much to do (same as poor Helen in the book) but she was able to garner our sympathy anyway. Seb Stan was slimy and gross but he pulled it off so well. Eliza Scanlen has been one of my favorites since Sharp Objects (another one that’s brutal as hell but I recommend it, she’s so scary) and she was so, so great here. Robert Pattinson was ALRIGHT, everybody talks him up over this but he felt a little hammy to me and a little too over the top, but there’s no denying his talent.

-Now, the reason we’re all here. Tom. My God. As soon as it was over I just didn’t know what the hell to do, I didn’t even know how to....go on, lmfao. We all know he’s talented, that’s why we’re here, that’s why we love him, but his performance in this is just BEYOND all that. Beyond comprehension. The man is only 24 years old and he’s out here outacting people who have been in the industry for longer than he’s been alive. He is SHOCKINGLY good. I knew he’d be perfect for Arvin as soon as I read the book, but he just completely embodied this role in a way that I couldn’t have imagined. He doesn’t show up in the movie until about 45 minutes in (which doesn’t hurt it because of the strength of the leadup, Bill’s performance and the performance of little Arvin’s actor) but God, as soon as he’s there the whole thing comes to life in a way that it hadn’t before. Tom is literally just a shining light, and he draws your eye in every single scene he’s in, and when he’s not there you’re wondering when he’s gonna come back. Arvin, to me, is a very complex character—he has been inherently changed by how his father twisted religion in his childhood, how deeply he betrayed him by his behavior, but he still has a kind heart and a protective streak and the need to be strong despite the pain nearly breaking him apart from moment to moment. Tom is just outrageously good at portraying all Arvin’s little nuances, how he clenches his jaw, how his voice breaks when he’s afraid or trying to convince someone of something or get his point across, how his hands tremble after he’s done something he wishes he didn’t have to do, how his whole body wilts when he realizes he’s emulating his father. And his eyes. Tom can do so, so much with his eyes that it’s unbelievable. He tells you so much with just a simple look, a glance, a wince, a long blink. I’m not exaggerating when I say he’s just an absolute revelation in this, he cements his place in Hollywood with a firm hand and a tender look, and I will not be forgetting what he did here anytime soon. There’s a reason that everyone called him out for being so stunning in this. He is magnificent. He has a gift.

-I wanna say, in particular, how much I love Arvin’s relationship with Lenora. Their lives were both marked by such tragedy and pain and Arvin just took up the torch of protecting her from the moment he said hello as a child. He wants so badly to be tough, and he IS, but there’s just miles and miles of love in this boy’s heart, and it manifests itself for his family—for his uncle, for his grandma, but for Lenora in particular. I loved how he just showed up when she was being harassed and just ran in there without thinking, and it’s purely devastating that he was out taking care of her bullies while a worse predator was cornering her. The scene where she was sick wasn’t in the book but it was a beautiful addition. Tom sometimes wears this very open, unguarded, honest expression, and this is the only scene in which he shows it, and it really expresses the love between them and how much she means to him. Arvin didn’t find Lenora’s body in the book, but it was the right change for them to make. Tom was devastating here, and that pain and that moment truly fuel every second of his journey through the rest of the film. “My Lenora”. The saddest siblings. Both Eliza and Tom did so beautifully with this relationship and I hope they work together again.

-Favorite acting moments for Tom: when he’s in the car in the rain after beating up the bullies, when he’s in the church crowd and realizes Preston is insulting his Grandma (the way his face changes oh my GOD), when he finds Lenora, when the cop comes to tell him Lenora was pregnant (this is just....so damn good), when he was telling his uncle to look after his Grandma, THE ENTIRE CHURCH CONFRONTATION (the way he trembles when he’s trying to get his attention, how he speaks the whole time, how he slowly gathers his strength), when he thinks Sandy has shot him, the moment where he’s over Lee’s body and just....pleading with his eyes for him to listen and realize what he’s done. And the last scene, in the car, all the emphasis on his face....once again, he can do so, so much with a look, with his eyes. Someone called out the beautiful last shot in the film, and of course, it’s Arvin’s sleeping face. And it was so beautiful (and devastating, to think of him enlisting. Tom draws so much sympathy that you just want Arvin to have a normal life so badly. He deserves it, he does, but will he get it?)

-Last thing I’ll say, I really loved how, despite turning his back on religion, that God seems to be protecting Arvin the whole time. He’s terribly afraid confronting the preacher and that could have easily gone badly, especially when he tosses the book, but Arvin was somehow able to get a shot off and get the upper hand. And with Carl and Sandy, he senses something is off immediately once they pull off the road, and he would have absolutely been killed had Carl not switched out Sandy’s bullets for blanks. And in the confrontation with Lee, he once again shoots at the same time as him, shoots without looking, and manages to come out unscathed and on top. A few spoiler reviews pointed out that the last person that picks Arvin up is supposed to be a Jesus-like figure, almost like he’s finally been saved. It hurts that everyone around him that he loved is almost forsaken by God, but he himself is protected. It’s such a complicated commentary on religion throughout the entire piece, but it’s so interesting and engrossing.

So I’d recommend this movie to anyone that loves movies, loves Tom, can deal with a gritty story that takes its time laying out all the chess pieces. It is definitely heavy subject matter but it doesn’t go overboard with the horror as it easily could have. Yes, there are triggers to look for, but the critics hugely over exaggerated how awful it was. I can probably go get time stamps for certain things if people wanna ask me after reading this, but if you can get through a Tarantino film or any HBO drama, you can do this. And Tom’s performance is one for the ages and not one that deserves to be passed over or downplayed. It is beautiful and heart-wrenching—a magnificent turn that displays his monumental ability to reach out and guide you into any world he decides to make his own.

I loved The Devil All the Time.

[starsbythepocketful12]

headcanons cause i’m in flarrie hours

they are THE couple when it comes to halloween costumes

all their outfits for big events (parties, gigs where dirty candy and/or jatp perform) are coordinated

carrie my femme queen & flynn my nonbinary lesbian darling

go to protests & marches together

flynn lends carrie books by her favorite Black female authors & carrie lends her books by her favorite sapphic poets

they make playlists about each other but the other doesn’t know they do it (julie & kayla are the only ones permitted to know of the existence of these playlists & have been sworn to secrecy, though julie has a strong suspicion carrie also makes playlists about flynn and vice versa)

have a joint pinterest account for their wedding moodboard

carrie adopted a tiger cub and named it flynn for their three month anniversary

they go to the mall together every other weekend and shop, which they both love to do and when they get home they always model the new outfits they bought

flynn squeals every time they see a dog in public and always runs over and asks if they can pet it and carrie always watches her with such a fond look that the owner almost always makes a comment on what a lovely couple they are or asks how long they’ve been together (something that has actually been happening since even before they were dating, and back then you can imagine the flustered ness it caused)

flynn often comes to watch dirty candy rehearsals, cheer them on, make sure they’re staying hydrated/taking snack breaks and that carrie’s not overworking herself

carrie is the first person that flynn tells she wants to DJ professionally and carrie gets her her first gig

eventually flynn gets into producing as well and ends up making a track for carrie, who writes lyrics to it and it becomes dirty candy’s most successful song to date

carrie says i love you first one saturday afternoon while they’re watching a movie on flynn’s computer in her room. flynn laughs at a joke and carrie looks over at her, her beautiful, incredible girlfriend, and simply can’t resist the urge to say it

flynn’s shocked into silence so carrie panics and leaves and doesn’t answer flynn’s messages

that night flynn shows up at the wilson mansion and throws rocks at carrie’s window until she comes out

flynn is upset with carrie for running out and ghosting her and carrie’s trying to defend herself so they argue but then flynn interrupts carrie by kissing her and breathlessly saying, “i love you.” carrie kisses her and not another word on it is said

carrie steals flynn’s hats

they’re not really PDA-y, they just happen to engage in a lot of unconscious, casual affection, like flynn often absentmindedly intertwines their pinkies and carrie doesn’t realize her arm is around flynn’s shoulders until she’s doing it

even after months of dating will still flirt like they’re in their enemies who are secretly very attracted to e/o era

flynn really loves art, particularly murals, so she drags carrie to a lot of gallery openings and museums

at one point when flynn’s going through a hard time carrie enlists all their friends for help making a giant mural full of drawings of things that make her happy

flynn happy cries when she sees it and is pretty much always seen hugging carrie for the rest of that night

only really cuddle when one (or both) of them is sleepy, though flynn does often sit on carrie’s lap

before starting to date, carrie would tease flynn for having stuffed animals during their sleepovers at flynn’s until they started dating and flynn started spending more time at carrie’s and flynn discovers that her girlfriend’s a little hypocrite

flynn has a younger sister and brother (sister is six, brother is four) and they absolutely ADORE carrie and think she’s the coolest and carrie thinks they’re the cutest

flynn’s like no they’re little demons and carrie’s says who says demons can’t be cute? you once called me a demon right, and im cute, aren’t i? and flynn rolls her eyes and fights back a smile

flynn also has a college aged older sister who she looks up to a lot, like that’s her hero and absolute role model, so naturally carrie’s terrified to meet her, and though she tries to appear intimidating at first, she can’t keep up the act for long and starts being friendly with carrie pretty much right away

one day they’re supposed to go on a date but carrie’s sick and forgot to text flynn telling her not to come so flynn shows up at her house but stays anyway to look after her

flynn reads to her and makes her soup

trevor & flynn play video games while carrie naps

flynn makes jewelry in her free time and consults carrie for her thoughts on every piece (in junior year she starts selling them at school & turns out to be quite the entrepreneur)

they have an inside joke about cosmo and wanda

a couple of the dirty candy members sometimes jokingly flirt with flynn and are like “watch out! we’re gonna steal your girl!” and carrie gets possessive and apologizes for it pretty quickly but flynn thinks it’s hot so it works out pretty well

will watch bad rom coms to make fun of straight people and throw popcorn at the screen when they get together

pet/nick names: care, baby, babe, love, (from carrie to flynn who shuts down upon hearing it) honey, (flynn to carrie, who becomes very giddy the first time flynn says it in a text message) sweetheart

if you couldn’t tell before they ofc have an enemies to friends to lovers arc

move in together after graduating, neither planning on going to college (julie goes to berkeley and nick some other place in california where they have lacrosse cause that’s the sport he plays right) and their parents think it’ll be a disaster but it actually goes really well

the first couple of weeks they fight more, all petty arguments mostly out of the stress of moving, but they always talk it out

it doesn’t take long for them to be happy they’re living together and feel really glad they took that step

two years after graduating flynn gives her a promise ring

carrie cries her eyes out and replies “of fucking course, you dumb fuck” when flynn asks if she’ll take it

ten years later carrie’s a successful pop star/choreographer & flynn’s a record breaking producer/DJ and they’re about to buy a house when they realize they never got married

it’s just a moment where they’re relaxing together on the couch and suddenly are like. oh

and proceed to burst out laughing

it’s a small ceremony, thrown together in just three weeks

carrie wears a short, light pink dress with a heart cutout in the back that would probably be more suited for a high school sophomore’s spring fling but no one cares

flynn wears a suit, and is walked down the aisle by her older sister

they both tear up upon seeing each other and sob through the vows (the traditional pre written ones, they wrote vows for each other but they recite them to the other when they’re alone, so it’s something special only they can share)

julie & kayla are the maids of honor, nick and alex are the best men

julie & luke’s five year old hernando is the ring bearer & alex and willie’s three year old umi is the flower child

trevor, flynn’s older sister and parents cry

even flynn’s now teenage younger siblings, who as of late have often been stereotypically cynical and moody shed tears

jatp perform at the reception (they have also become a hit band at this point)

when they get back from the honeymoon the first thing they do is get a dog

they adopt a golden doodle rescue named stella

a couple years later they start talking about kids and look into getting a sperm donor

because they love being competitive they do little games to decide who will be the one to carry the baby

it’s all jokes though, they decided at the start of the process that it would be flynn for the first kid and carrie for the second

but then SURPRISE flynn has twins

a boy and a girl named tyler and ollie (who’s who i won’t tell you cause fuck gender)

they don’t even talk about carrie getting pregnant now cause they’re busy with the babies and trying to manage their careers but one night, when the kids are eight, and flynn has just flopped onto the couch with a dramatic sigh after putting them to bed, carrie puts down her kindle and quietly says that she wants another kid.

they talk for hours because while flynn wants another kid too, when you’re both celebrities with demanding jobs and people constantly trying to peer into your life, that decision involves even more factors

they decide to have another kid and carrie chooses to take a step back from her career for now-she’ll return to it eventually but for now she wants to be able to just be a parent without worrying about work and not have to deal with the guilt that comes with working when she feels like she should be being a parent

though the kids have always been their main priority and they have done quite well dividing their time between work and being with them, and have done decently shielding them from the public eye (majority of the pictures of ollie & tyler that the public has are blurry candids, and the few high quality ones are from when they were three and they no longer look like that anyway so it’s all good)

it’s a harder process for carrie to get pregnant as she’s almost 40 and flynn was 31 when she had tyler and ollie

but it happens though they’re careful about choosing the sperm donor-even briefly consider asking reggie or nick-because with this kind of thing there’s always the risk that other parent could track down where their kid ended up and want to be a part of that kid’s life later on which is uber complicated for many reasons so they get those scary possibilities out of the way by just finding someone who they know wants to be in the child’s life

preston choi, a thai & korean american mathematics professor ends up being their guy

he’s immensely genuine, sweet, respectful, polite, and gentlemanly

when he came out at fifteen his parents kicked him out of the house

it was a long and difficult journey but they’re in a decent place now

but it’s not the family he wants to have and he’s tried but has yet to find a partner

but doesn’t want to wait to have kids so here he is, more than happy to co parent with flynn and carrie

so that’s what they do! tyler and ollie become big siblings to miles wilson-choi on december 10th, 2044

miles grows up in the most multicultural home ever, being fluent in 4 languages (English, AAVE, Spanish thanks to their tia julie, Korean, and Thai) all their life

tyler & ollie welcome preston and miles into the family with open arms, as well as the addition of korean and thai cuisine to the already amazing dinner tables they had of soul and caribbean food

when miles is seven carrie goes back to work full time, with preston’s assurance that he’s got this when her and flynn are busy and tyler and ollie (who are now fifteen) promising they’ll help out as well

at that point the long awaited julie and the phantoms/carrie and flynn wilson collaboration FINALLY happens

flynn wins her 28th grammy for it, leaving her tied with beyoncé for most grammys won by any woman ever (its julie’s 14th, luke’s 6th, and carrie’s 12th, and the band’s collective 10th cause alex never did any solo projects and reggie released one country album but it didn’t win any grammys rip though it was nominated for 2 CMAs)

[frankmillerturnonyourlocation]

all of the halloween asks for anyone you like!!!! (kittyandco)

:O ALL of them!!!!!! Thank you so much! I'll pick... Lucy!!!

1. do you & your f/o decorate your house? if you have an idea of what it looks like, show us!

Lucy and I end up renting a place together that's big enough for two adults and five pokémon even though I keep saying how much more space-efficient it would be if the ryme city officials could just give me the means to keep my team in pokéballs– a nice empty nester looking to get out of the city but needing to break even on the utilities for the old place, that sort of thing. So we have like, so much room to decorate for Halloween. Litwick candles, Pumpkaboo string banners, at LEAST one bowl of ghost-type-shaped candies. We take pictures and send them to Tim like look!!! look what we put up!!!!! and he's like guys i'm coming over after work. i'll see it in person in like two hours. But we're excited about it, and having a space that's truly ours to decorate :P

2. is your f/o from a horror movie/game/series? if not, would you make an AU where they were (like a vampire AU or something similar)?

Holy shit in a horror movie, Lucy would ab-so-lutely be the heroine in danger. I don't watch a lot of horror, so I can't namedrop, but I know tropes– she's the girl investigating the slasher murders around town, the bright-eyed young woman wandering the manor halls in a white nightgown, the last girl splattered with blood. And she ALWAYS gets to live because I say so.

AH WAIT while we're on the subject, her actress was in this really goofy/campy, kinda self-aware horror movie called Freaky and oh my god it was such a fun watch. They literally said let's do Freaky Friday but with Kathryn Newton and Vince Fucking Vaughn and let's make it slasher teen horror-comedy. Iconic. So anyway, I do have a picture in my head of what Lucy would look like as a serial killer.

3. does your f/o even like halloween, or do they like one of the other holidays?

Lucy is a Christmas gal through and through. She goes all out for Christmas and would be decking the hall in SEPTEMBER without my influence.

4. what would be your f/o's favorite horror/halloween themed film?

😂 Okay so. Canonically, within the Detective Pikachu (movie) universe, that fake gangster movie from Home Alone is also? a real movie. Angels with Dirty Faces. So like, because that's *hilarious*, I think I'm going to headcanon that all movies in the universe are fake movies from other movies? Despite every question that rises from that. So anyway Lucy's really into the Stab movies from the Scream franchise.

5. what is your f/o's costume this year? tell us yours too!

:D okay this is the first one I did because it excited me. I wanted to have us do a cute little couples costume, but I wanted to think of something Lucy would be interested in... and I, a Known Hoenn Stan in both my self-insert and in real life, immediately thought of my favorite reporter-cameraperson dynamic duo, Gabby and Ty!!

She's Gabby, of course. :P I had so much fun drawing this omg

6. do you and your f/o attend any parties/festivals/other events? this can be either for halloween or just for celebrating the fall season!!

CNM Halloween party yesss!!!! Okay this one's really funny because, though I don't know a lot about office holiday parties, I feel like it's not normal to bring more than one plus one, you know? But I can't have Lucy bring me and not Tim. I could go the route that like, oh, Tim saved the entire goddamn city and also Roger Clifford's whole ass so he gets a free invite... but I'm not sure Roger's the type of guy to extend his gratitude to this sort of thing, lmao. Do I crash the party? My s/i would be all for that, but if it could get Lucy in trouble, they'd definitely have second thoughts.

So HOWEVER that shakes out. We definitely have a night with myself, Lucy, Tim, and Harry where we just get together, eat candy, and watch spooky movies and stuff. Warm, lowkey, and my absolute favorite thing ever. <3

7. what's your f/o's favorite candy? are they the type to share or keep it all for themselves?

Lucy likes hard, fruity candies– her favorites are Tootsie Pops! The only lollipops she doesn't like are the green apple-caramel apple lollipops (which is heresy) because they're shaped in such an awkward way that they don't fit in your mouth well (which is fair). We'll trade our candies with each other to make sure we get enough of our favorites!!

8. if your f/o is from a series that has a special halloween episode, please tell us about it and how your s/i fits into it!

Not quite a series... but if you take a look at the Pokémon series as a whole, there are plenty of halloween episodes! One that comes to mind immediately is the episode(s) where Ash and co. are struggling to defeat Sabrina (because in the anime, she's full-blown Scary Psychic Child With Dolls) and head over to Lavender Tower to catch Ash some ghosts to help with the fight. It's honestly such a fun arc of episodes, and I think Lucy would fit right in– she's curious about the psychic master and wants to nab her for an interview spot, she gets herself into a spot of supernatural danger and is rescued by someone who then, faced with her persistent questioning, gives her the information she needs. She heads right into danger again, gets pranked by some ghosts, maybe gets her own soul pulled from her body for some more mischief... yeah, I can picture it pretty well. little miss "im gonna grab the wire cutters from my car to break into this government science lab to snoop around and then almost die"

9. freebie question if you want to say anything else about how you and your beloved spend the season!

Lucy prefers warmer weather, so when the days start to get darker and the temperatures begin to plummet, her energy and moods tend to drop with it. To help her out with it, I go out of my way to make the autumn as cozy as I can– making her lots of hot chocolate, buying her a really soft blanket for us to cuddle under in the evenings, going out to pumpkin patches and getting warm cider on her days off. I want to make her associate the turning of the seasons with comfort and excitement <3

[pixiegrl]

Everybody Make a Scene

I wanted to write a Muke Halloween prompt and @reveriesofawriter suggested “muke as the couple behind me in the drive thru earlier, the one in the passenger seat was in full costume face paint and everything to look like a creepy doll, my window was rolled down and so was theirs and I heard them arguing about how "the dog can't wear that costume, it's not the right vibes" 

So it’s now November but I write this anyway so here it is. Enjoy!

Also as a bday gift to @thenervousduck. Darling you own my heart you always have such nice, wonderful, insightful things to say about the things I do and you’re always so encouraging and wonderful and I hope you have the best day!

On ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27355099

“I don’t know why we needed to go get coffee at Starbucks. We have perfectly good coffee at home and we have to set up for the party,” Luke says. Michael huffs. Luke doesn’t have to look to know Michael’s rolling his eyes at Luke. The line of cars in the drive through inches forward. 

“We were already all decorated for the party; you didn’t need to put anything else out. Besides, getting out of the house and getting some coffee could be good for you. You’re so tense today.”

Luke grips the steering wheel tighter, refusing to look at his boyfriend in the passenger seat. Luke will not be the first one to break in this argument. He’s always the first one and he refuses to let it happen this time. He doesn’t want to deal with Michael today, it’s Halloween.

“Luke, come on, you have to look at me at some point,” Michael says. Luke glances to his side, making eye contact with Michael. He’s in full costume already, makeup done to look like some kind of creepy doll. It’s well done, looks like a cracked porcelain mask, but Luke’s too blinded by rage to truly appreciate it.

“No, I don’t. First you decide against the couple’s costume without telling me and now you don’t even want to dress the dogs correctly.”

“There’s no correct way to dress the dogs! I think putting them in cat ears would be funny!” Michael says, voice raising in aggravation. 

“It’s the wrong vibes!” Luke yells. They’ve been having this argument since September, when the topic of Halloween costumes was first mentioned. Luke had been insistent that they do a couple’s costume that involved the dogs as well. Michael has offered a half hearted agreement to this, but he clearly hadn’t taken it too seriously. When Luke had decided on woodland creatures (he claimed deer and Michael was supposed to be a fox), he thought it would be cute if their dogs were similarly themed. He even went and bought a bumble bee costume for Petunia, a ladybug for South, and a mouse one for Moose. It was all fine and excellently planned, until this morning, when Michael had walked out of their bathroom with his makeup done and holding cat ears. They’ve been arguing since, about Michael’s costume, about their failed couple’s costume plan now, about the dogs. 

“There are no vibes! How can there be vibes for dog costumes? Having them be cats is funny!”

“The dogs can't wear those costumes, it's not the right vibes!”

“What does that even mean? It’s a Halloween party!” Michael snaps. Luke can see the girl in front of them turn slightly, like she’s listening to them but trying not to make it obvious. Luke forgot that their windows are rolled down. He’s a little embarrassed that the people in a Starbucks drive through are witnessing them fight about this, but Luke also wants to be right about this whole situation.

“And we have a theme! I decorated the whole apartment to look more forest-like. I have the deer antlers. I was going for a whole thing and you messed it up now.”

“Luke, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s just a party and no one is going to be paying attention anyway,” Michael says. He visibly rolls his eyes now. Luke grips the steering wheel harder, knuckles going white. It’s so stupid of him to get so worked about this, it really is just a party. It feels like more than that, that Michael’s just disregarded Luke’s opinion and what he wants to do. Luke loves Michael and he knows that Michael loves him, but sometimes it just feels like Michael doesn’t listen.

“It’s just that this is the first Halloween we’ve been able to spend at home, together, where we get to dress up and have people over and celebrate. I put alot of work into planning and decorating and I wanted us to have a good fun time. I know it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it is to me,” Luke says. Michael’s quiet. Luke can tell that he wants to say something, from the way he’s glancing down at his lap, twisting the bracelet he’s wearing. He doesn’t get a chance to, since it’s their turn to order. Luke orders his usual iced vanilla coffee, Michael’s dragonfruit refresher, and 2 cake pops because he thinks they deserve them. Michael’s quiet through the whole order and doesn’t say anything until they’ve gotten their drinks and are already driving home.

“I didn’t realize it was that big of a thing for you. Halloween’s just a dumb holiday, the whole purpose is to dress up and be goofy. I didn’t think you were serious about the couple’s costume, it’s never been a thing before.”

“Well, I wanted our first Halloween at home to be special. I thought it might be fun. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. I just thought it might be fun,” Luke mumbles. 

They spend the rest of the drive home in silence. Michael keeps picking at the label on his drink, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Luke doesn’t want to push it. He’s tired of arguing with Michael about this and he doesn’t want it to ruin the whole party worrying about this. 

Luke ends up in their bedroom when they get home, deciding he needs the space to get ready. Their house is already decorated, strings of fairy lights and fall leaf garlands hanging around the downstairs of the house, mixed in with the pumpkins, bats, and ghosts they’ve set up. Luke doesn’t particularly like Halloween being scary and had wanted to make it more fall themed over anything else. Michael had agreed, as long as he was allowed to put one scary decoration in the house (a skeleton that dropped from the ceiling specifically designed to scare Calum and Ashton when they showed up). Luke’s proud of the work he’s put in, creating a woodland fantasy. Michael teased Luke for ages that he was trying to live out his dreams of being a fairy, poking fun at Luke’s love for all things magical and rustic. While it’s not Luke’s usual choice of decor, he appreciates the vibes it gives off. Maybe Luke does want to be a fairy. Would certainly be less responsibility. 

Even though Michael’s messed up Luke’s plans, it doesn’t mean he isn’t going to stick to his original idea. Luke sets himself up at the vanity mirror, putting his coffee down on a coaster and grabbing his makeup. He can hear Michael playing music downstairs, hears the dogs barking, and Michael trying to shush them. It fills Luke with fondness, that even though he and Michael are having a disagreement, nothing in their house has changed. It fills Luke with warmth and comfort, the certainty that everything’s okay. 

Luke shifts through the makeup he has, pulling out his golds and browns for his eyes and the special gold lipstick he saves for special occasions. It feels like it’ll look nice with his deer look. He starts painting his face, sweeping the eyeshadow colors over his lids and winging out, snorting when he realizes that Michael’s playing Monster Mash downstairs. Michael enjoys the song immensely, to the point that he starts playing it on September 1st and carries on all the way to October 31st. If Luke’s in the room with him when he plays it, he usually ends up pulling Luke into a badly choreographed dance to it, just to see Luke laugh along to it. It brightens Luke, seeing Michael enthusiastic and gleeful about something. 

Luke goes about the rest of his makeup, drawing on a little deer nose and some white freckles on as well to complete the look. He pulls back from the mirror, admiring the look he’s created and satisfied with it. He gets up, draining the last of his coffee, and goes to the closet, pulling out the flowy, floral dress he’d bought specifically for this costume. Michael had teased him, called him Stevie Nicks and everything, but had told Luke to buy the dress when he’d hesitated at the last minute (he’d kissed Luke too in the dressing room, darting behind the curtains to press his lips to Luke’s, trying to shush him when Luke wouldn’t stop giggling even though Michael was clearly trying to stop laughing too). He puts on the dress, zipping up the side, and pulling on his glitter gold boots. He snags the headband, with a small set of flowers on it and deer antlers, from the bed and slides it onto his head, adjusting it to sit nicely in his curls.

“Babe, are you done yet? I have something to show you,” Michael yells from downstairs. Luke rolls his eyes, grabbing his phone and empty cup from the vanity and venturing out of the bedroom. 

“If you rearranged anything that I set up, I might have to…” Luke starts, stopping mid sentence when he reaches the bottom of the stairs and notices that Michael’s standing in the living room, wearing the fox ears. He’s managed to get all 3 dogs into their costumes too, convincing them to sit nicely at his feet. Michael grins when he sees Luke’s shocked face. 

“Michael, how did you manage this,” Luke asks, slowly making his way over. Petunia notices him, making her way over to him, little bumble bee wings swaying as she walks. Luke drops down to crouch in front of her, rubbing her ears gently.

Michael shrugs, “Well I thought about it and you were right. Putting the dogs in cat ears was a little dumb. They’re cuter like this anyway.”

Luke smiles gently up at Michael, “Mikey, that’s really sweet.”

Michael rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling widely, clearly pleased that Luke’s happy. Luke starts to straighten up, when his fingers bump against something hidden in Petunia’s wings. Curious, Luke looks down and pulls out a ring box. His heart stops, clutching the box in his hand. It can’t be what Luke thinks it is.

“Michael?” Luke asks, pitch going up as he stands up, holding up the box and turning to Michael. Michael’s down on one knee between Moose and South, holding his hand out.

“I can’t do it properly if you don’t give me the ring Luke,” Michael says. Luke hands the box over, watching as Michael takes it and pops the box open. The ring is beautiful, a blue stone set in a gold band. Luke’s still too stunned to do much more than stare at Michael’s earnest, open, adoring expression.

“I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to do now,” Luke says. Michael laughs, clearly nervous.

“Well, I believe I’m supposed to give a big speech to you and then you’re supposed to tell me yes.”

“Go on, tell me all about how much you love me.”

“God you’re incorrigible. Maybe I won’t,” Michael says, pretending like he’s going to close the box.

“No, you started, now you’re contractually obligated to keep going,” Luke insists, grinning when Michael opens the box again.

“Luke Robert Hemmings, you’re a pain in my ass and you will probably continue to be a pain in my ass, but I love you. I love you so much that sometimes I forget how much I love you because it’s just part of me. I don’t know what I’d do without you and your big ideas and all of your love and joy and happiness. I want to continue letting you annoy the shit out of me and wake up next to you everyday and deal with your terrible cooking just so I can see you pout when I try to correct you. Will you marry me?”

“That’s the worst speech ever. Of course I will,” Luke says. His hands are shaking slightly, vibrating with excitement as Michael scrambles to stand up. He tugs Luke into a kiss, holding onto his face tightly for a few moments, until he remembers the ring and pulls back to put it onto Luke’s finger. 

“Sap. You did this so you wouldn’t forget our anniversary.”

“No, that would be me asking to get married on your birthday so I definitely never forget our anniversary,” Michael says. His lips are covered in gold and Luke huffs, raising a hand to wipe it off.

“Dork.”

“Your dork.”

“I can still reject your proposal.”

“Nope you said yes. You’re contractually obligated to marry me now.”

“Who says?”

“I do,” Michael says, grinning widely. Luke huffs, fond and full of love and happiness. Maybe Halloween isn’t so bad after all.

[writingbakery]

Happy Halloween, You’re The Only Sugar I Need

[i didn’t have a lot of time to come up with halloween ideas, so have these cute lil hc’s about what it would be like to trick or treat with the bnha babies!💓]

*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ

Izuku Midoriya

did someone say couple costumes?

plans his costume out in july, and has it perfect by august

he knows all the best routes and houses like the back of his hand - nothing but full size candy bars for his baby (you💓) duh!

no haunted houses for him, he just wants to hold your hand as you walk through the neighborhood

he’s the most fair when it comes to candy negotiations, offering up two skittles bags for one set of jelly chew jolly ranchers and making sure the butterfingers were evenly divided

since he’s an expert on trick or treating (your words not his, he blushes for a full thirty minutes after you tell him) you’re both home fairly early, only out a little under an hour

which means: halloween jammies, takeout, and all your halloween candy piled up on the table while you watch spooky godmother together <3

and perhaps there’s a heated makeout session that ends with your hands down the front of his onesie ;)

Katsuki Bakugo

he always wants to go as something horrifically extra - he pretends it’s all your idea, but you know he’s been pinterest scrolling it for a solid month

his goal is quantity over quality here; the more candy he has the better, so you’re both hitting every neighborhood till the streetlights flicker on

he also wants to do every “haunted house” he spots along the way, dragging you in to suffer with him

he likes the spook

you’re out the latest, but it’s still fun - mainly because you’d convinced him to piggy back carry you home after

he’s fair but strict in his candy negotiations - he won’t let you cheat him out of a full sized kitkat bar just because you’re adorable his s/o. he requires at least three kisses and two mini crunch bars in exchange

you watch endless slasher films and bad horror classics, and cuddle under the biggest fluffiest blanket you own

somewhere during the “scary movie” series he’s got you pinned, kissing a hot trail up your neck and there goes the movie session ;)

Hanta Sero

hanta 1000% wants to do meme couple costumes, and you’re whipped for his smile, so-

plans his costume out a while back, but procrastinates getting it together until two days before (and yet, it still looks amazing?)

doesn’t really have a route or plan in mind, he just wants to wander around holding hands and kissing every time you see a pumpkin (like punch buggy but sweeter <3)

he’s honestly probably the most confusing with his candy negotiations - “how does a mini snickers and a bag of pretzels equal a york patty, hanta?”

the boy has weird candy tastes but you love him anyways

you’re out a decent amount of time, a little over an hour & change

he wants to watch every cult classic horror film ever, so prepare not to sleep

halfway through he’s too busy smiling with his tongue in your mouth though, so its a win in your book ;)

Hitoshi Shinso

hitoshi always wants to go as some super obscure film or literary pair

he’s not too early in his planning, or too late. he finishes his costume with time to spare but he doesn’t rush, either

he’s not keen on being out too late but he indulges you for a bit, sneaking kisses here and there

he’s not big on candy either, so he ends up giving you most of his basket anyway - although there’s certain things he won’t part with.

“you’re serious? i cant even have one?”

“no. all the reese’s cups are mine, & that’s final.”

you’ll get smooches because he feels bad

you’ll spend the rest of the evening with your head on his chest, listening to him read you Poe snuggled under a blanket with tea.

and halfway through lady ligeria his hands will creep up the back of your sweater, and suddenly you’re doing much more kissing than reading ;)

Yaoyorozu Momo

momo definitely wants to do something elegant and fancy with you for costumes

she gets everything tailored and ready weeks in advance, duh

momo’s house is the one giving out full sized candy bars, so is trick or treating even necessary? yes it is

you spend about an hour giggling and sharing a candy basket, everyone awwing over the pair of you

there’s no candy negotiations because you share <3

you play board games with the charlie brown halloween special in the background

she wins every time that girl’s a menace

“since i’ve won twenty four of our twenty six games, i’ll be claiming my prize now.”

her prize is kissing you senseless on the floor, smiling into each other’s mouths with wandering hands ;)

Tsuyu Asui

dorky costumes? dorky costumes. think dorothy and the tin man, but cute

she plans both your costumes in advance cause she’s just that amazing

you’re out almost as late as possible only because tsu gets excited everytime she sees a decorated house and you’re soft for her

candy negotiations with her are tough; she plays hard to please and you both like too many of the same candies

you end up sharing anyways

halloween movies with tsu are a big mess of funny to scary to animated to wholesome - she loves all of them and you love her, so you’re watching everything

you’re cuddled up in a blanket fort, snuggled into a heap of blankets and it’s so comfortable that you almost fall asleep halfway through poltergeist

until tsuyu starts kissing her way up the sensitive skin of your back, and suddenly kissing is the only thing on your mind ;)

Ojiro Mashirao

he always wants to do a cutesy/romantic couples costume, he’s your prince charming without fail

the two of you work on your costumes together well before halloween - he calls it couple bonding like the cutie he is

you’re not out too late, mostly because you have too many activities planned for when you’re back home

there is no candy negotiation with ojiro; he gives you your favorites and steals your pretzels and m&m’s without a word

you carve pumpkins even though you already have six, make candy apples, and finally snuggle together on the couch to watch some cheesy halloween hallmark specials

he makes you both hot chocolate with plenty of mini marshmallows <3

by the end of the second sappy film you’re licking the chocolate out of his mouth, and he’s only complaining a little

“but (y/n), she’s about to leave it all behind for the lovestruck farmer!”

Eijiro Kirishima

kiri loves halloween, so he’ll gladly be the counterpart to any costume you choose

he’s definitely a procrastinator though, only finishing it the day of

he’s so excited and hyper that you spend nearly two hours trick or treating, being dragged by holding hands with kiri as he marvels at the tiniest of things

he’s the worst at candy negotiations - he’s so soft for you that he’d give you anything you asked, and he’s a sucker for all types of candy so he’s way too easy to please

“sure baby, you can have my crunch bar and my twix for the nerds.”

“eiji those are both full size candy bars-“

“so?”

he wants to watch the scariest of movies because he’s manly, of course, and he promises to protect you from anything too frightening

he ends up curled into your arms, peering at the screen through his fingers and you’re trying really hard not to laugh

distractions come in the form of kisses, though, and soon he’s too busy nipping at the son of your neck to pay attention to the terrifying film ;)

Tamaki Amajiki

tamaki definitely wants to do cheesy pop culture costumes with you - he spends most of his time reading or watching it

his nerves about the whole thing make him finish his costume way too early, but it’s cute

once he’s in costume though, he gains a sort of confidence - he’s somebody who’s not him for a little while, and he boldly holds your hands and kisses your cheek as you wander

tamaki loves candy, so negotiations are difficult - but he loves you a lot more, so he parts with some of his precious stash

you decide on reading scary stories to each other, sitting with your back against his chest in the big armchair, by the fireplace

it’s warm and cozy and you could almost fall asleep like this, until tamaki’s voice wavers as you shift in his lap

the book is quickly forgotten about as you make out softly, and maybe the costume gets a little shredded. oops ;)

Mirio Togata

mirio will literally dress up as anything as long as you match with him

he insists you plan together, takes all of your thoughts into consideration; this is a team effort!

he doesn’t want to be out too late but he can’t help himself, he wants to show you everything

plus he keeps running into people he knows and he wants to show you off

he splits all his candy evenly with you; you’re his baby, he’d give you his kidney if you asked

he’s one for paranormal movies, he gets so wrapped up in the plotlines it’s almost funny

“okay but if i were a ghost, i’d haunt people in the fun way. like, we’d play games or something.”

“you’d make a very nice ghost, babe.”

he gets so caught up in the movies though that he doesn’t even realize when you pounce, tickling him to draw his attention again

it quickly turns from tickles to kisses and kisses to nibbles and suddenly he’s not thinking about ghosts at all ;)

Nejire Hado

the poor baby’s so excited she can’t even choose a costume, so you end up deciding

she’s very involved in the process though, helping out any way she can

trick or treating with nejire is like going with a hyperactive six year old, but it’s adorable. she drags you around for hours

“look! that pumpkins as big as my head! let’s take a picture!”

she’s a candy addict, good luck trying to negotiate any sort of trade. she steals yours when you aren’t looking

you totally notice but you indulge her

you’re watching a movie, making cookies, and playing a board game all at once when you get home

she’s so excited she can’t even sit still, bouncing from activity to activity until you give up and pull her in for a kiss

you get so distracted you forget all about the cookies ;)

“NO! MY PRECIOUS SUGAR PUMPKIN BABIES!”

Uraraka Ochaco

she’s had your costumes planned since last halloween

“but we’ve only been dating four mo-“

“shush and try this on.���

she’s running around the neighborhood with you for hours, isn’t even tired

another big candy thief, shamelessly digging in your basket but she’s cute so you allow it

wants to watch all the sappy halloween movies and compare you guys to the main characters

“that’s so us, oh my god.”

“he’s a baker. and she’s in real estate.”

“it’s us!! im the baker though.”

drinking lots of spiced cider and giving out leftover candy to the few stragglers, she’s got a soft spot for them

lots of cheesy, silly kisses as you cuddle

she’s easily distracted though, kissing down your cheek to your jaw, neck and oops! the movies long forgotten ;)

Denki Kaminari

another meme costumer, but he also wants to look cool. it’s a tricky balance

he keeps putting off getting his costume together, and then he forgets, and then he’s calling you frantic the night before for assistance

he’s a little more relaxed as you walk through the neighborhood, but that’s only because he’s waiting for everyone to discover the pranks he’d set up beforehand

needless to say, trick or treating ends early before he can be murdered

denki’s a candy whore, but he’s willing to make negotiations with you as long as he gets kisses out of it - which you take advantage of to get all his good stuff

you’re curled up together watching nightmare before christmas, a tradition between you because you’d argued for a week straight about whether it was a halloween or christmas movie

the compromise is that you watch it on both holidays

he gets bored after twenty minutes though, restless like always and before you know it he’s kissing wherever he can reach

the movie’s ignored for the rest of the night as the pair of you kiss and giggle and get a little carried away ;)

Mina Ashido

she’s all over the place with her planning but she definitely wants to do something complicated - she loves going all out!

she needs your help to stay on task but your costumes are finished in a decent enough amount of time

first you’re trick or treating, then you’re pulling pranks with denki, then you’re chasing the neighborhood kids around in a silly game of tag - you’re doing so much that you don’t even realize how late it’s gotten

at home she’s still got all that wild excited energy so you make pumpkin pie together despite the hour, making stupid jokes and flicking flour at one another

“if this sticks in my hair you’re dead, (y/n)!”

“love you too, princess.”

somewhere between baking and eating the pie you start making out against the counter, and there’s definitely flour handprints all over the both of you ;)

Mezo Shoji

shoji likes halloween, but he lets you pick out the costumes - he wants you to have a good time!

he’s very helpful throughout the entire process of getting the costumes ready, and you’re done in no time

he lets you drag him all around, using the majority of his arms to carry extra candy baskets - it’s not cheating the system because everyone thinks it’s part of his costume, and there’s six times as much candy now!

he gives the majority of it to you once you’re home again to see you smile - it has been his plan all along to drown you in excess candy, and you’re not complaining

he gets an equal amount of kisses in return

you spend the evening helping the local kids collect as much candy as they can, and shouji makes it his job to escort all the children that are scared up to every house so they don’t miss out

he gets a whole lot more than kisses for that, but who can blame you? your boyfriend was just too sweet for his own good

“i think you’re the only sugar i need, (y/n).”

“you flirt. kiss me again.” ;)

Tokoyami Fumikage

whenever halloween comes around, he goes big. all out. ridiculously detailed, amazing costumes

you help as much as you can, but he’s in his element; he handles most of it himself

his excitement isn’t obvious, but you can see it in the way he slightly pulls you along as you wander. it’s downright adorable

dark shadow is also having the time of his life, popping up to make snarky comments at passrersby and steal candy whenever possible

“god, did she pull that costume off of last years clearance rack?”

“dark shadow, enough.”

he’s not wrong though

candy negotiations are done through dark shadow - your boyfriend would’ve given you all the good stuff without questioning it, and his counterpart can’t have that

you end up sitting outside to watch the stars, tokoyami cuddled into your chest and all it takes is a few well placed kisses to his plumage to have dark shadow sweep you up and take you right inside for some evening fun ;)

[i tried to write as many as i could, i hope you all enjoy bbs! happy halloween 🎃 🧡]

[komahinasecretexchange]

Title: Traditions

Author: @dailyservingofhope

For: @hiddenkamukuraproject

Rating/Warnings: PG-13 (A few vague sexual references, Nagito joking about death, alcohol mention)

Prompt: Going out on Halloween and having fun

Author’s notes: AU where the tragedy didn’t happen. 100% pure organic fluff.

“You’ve never been trick-or-treating?!” Nagito smiled and raised his hands in a placating gesture, “Sorry, I had no one to take me when I was a kid. But it’s fine! It ended up being good luck!” “‘Good’?” Hajime asked pointedly as he rested his coffee mug on their kitchen counter. Nagito had a way of twisting things to fit his strange worldview. “I gave out candy instead. Since I could afford full bars of chocolate for all the other kids, I became sort of popular for a little while… at least until they got to know me better.” “That’s not the point,” Hajime said, “I just get upset when I think about your childhood. It’s not fair that you missed out on so much.” He felt robe-cloaked arms wrap around his waist and a soft peck on his forehead. “Don’t worry. I’m fine, promise,” Nagito reassured him. Hajime grumbled in response, wondering if it was okay to be annoyed at his partner’s cute attempt at deflecting. Sometimes Hajime felt that he was more bothered by Nagito’s troubles than Nagito himself. 'Fine’ to him often meant 'Not in the hospital’. How much disappointment and grief did he suffer in his youth before the bar lowered that much? This wasn’t about some silly holiday tradition, this was about making him feel included, and giving him access to experiences that most people took for granted. “You shouldn’t feel sorry for me, you know,” Nagito gently chided him. “I don’t,” Hajime said, worried that Nagito noticed his increasingly pitying expression during their conversation. “Good. Because I secretly switched your coffee with decaf.” “What?! Nagito!” “I’m just kidding. You always look at me like I’m a kicked puppy when I tell you about my past. I prefer it when you’re annoyed with me. Your voice gets this adorable lilt to it.” “No, it doesn’t! I… think?” Nagito chuckled. “Look, it’s not pity,” Hajime sighed, “I’m just worried you feel like an outsider because you had such a different childhood experience than many of us. It’s important to me that you feel welcome and have lots of happy memories. And if I have to take you trick-or-treating this weekend to make that happen, then I’ll do it.” Nagito’s face lit up, “You want to go trick-or-treating with me?” Aware that he just invited Nagito on a date involving an activity generally enjoyed by children still in the single digits of age, Hajime backpedaled, “Wait! I-It’s okay if you don’t want to! I know we’re too old for it, and we told Ibuki we’d be at her Halloween party, so we’ll get to dress up, anyway. There’s no pressure-” “I would love to! We can pick out costumes this afternoon!” Fear of embarrassment ranked high on Hajime’s list of top motivators, but it was nothing compared to Nagito’s sweet face. He couldn’t back out now. “O-okay! Sounds great!” ___ Hajime pulled a scarf around his mouth to warm the crisp, fall air flowing into his lungs. Yellowed leaves danced on the sidewalk with every breeze as he and Nagito strolled through the city. Their destination was a costume shop located in a quaint, less-trafficked district, popular among the dating crowd for its restaurants and shopping. They found it nestled between a cafe and a boutique clothing store. Walls painted black and covered in wheatpasted underground band adverts gave an eccentric touch that made it stand out from the conservatism of the surrounding businesses. Through the windows, there was a display of the typical bats and pumpkins, along with more unnerving props like costumed mannequins covered in fake blood and gaping wounds. Cosplayers and street fashionistas were the store’s year-round clientele, but nearing the holiday, they widened their selection to include Halloween costumes. Hajime pulled open the door for Nagito, “Have any ideas about what you want to be?” “Dead?” Nagito offered. “I really wish you wouldn’t joke about that.” “Aren’t ghosts popular this time of the year?” With a deadpan expression, Hajime poked Nagito in the belly. He then turned his attention to the racks and shelves, not wanting to take the bait. As they perused the aisles together, Nagito suddenly snatched a large package off a rack and hid it behind his back, “I’m going to try something on. No peeking!” Hajime continued to browse while his partner thrashed around in the fitting room. A rather seductive vampire costume caught his attention, and he briefly lost himself in a daydream involving Nagito and lots of sexy nibbling all over his body until he heard someone walk up behind him. He glanced over his shoulder. The glance turned into a double take. To say that Nagito was dressed up as a dog was about as true as saying The Big Bang Theory was a comedy. There was an element of objective truth to it, but it failed spectacularly to articulate that everything else about it was an abomination. The costume was like a long fuzzy tube, white on the belly and black and tan along the back, indicating it was probably intended to be a corgi. The head perched on top of Nagito’s head, its mouth gaping around his face as if it were a python swallowing its prey whole. His feet, which were only just visible from the bottom of the tube, were adorned with paw slippers. The hand-paws were so padded and fluffy that they appeared useless for any practical purpose other than being cute. “How do I look? Wanna be my owner for Halloween? I’ll let you walk me on a leash and give me commands! I know how to beg and lay down!” Nagito said as he shook his rear to make the stubby tail wag. Hajime blushed, looking around to see if anyone overheard, “Shhh! There will be kids around, so nothing… kinky!” “I would never do something I thought was weird around impressionable youth!” “That’s the problem, what you think is weird is a whole world away from what everyone else thinks is weird…” Hajime looked him up and down, “So why this, of all things?” “Most of these costumes aren’t really appropriate around children. What did you think I’d be? A sexy demon? A sexy cat boy? A sexy werewolf? A sexy…” “I get the point… they are a bit provocative, aren’t they?” “Don’t use big words like 'provocative’. I’m just a silly little dog!” he whined, covering his face with his paws in mock shame. “God, Nagito, can you be normal for like one second?” Hajime said, turning away to hide his laughter. Nagito closed the distance, picking up his hand and kissing it. He looked down into his eyes with a charming smile and whispered, “But this is what you like about me, right? There’s no way someone would ever go out with me for any rational reason. Doesn’t that make you abnormal too?” Hajime shivered at his touch. Even dressed in the most absurd getup he’d ever seen, Nagito was still hot, and when he cranked up the charm, he had a terrifying ability to render Hajime as helpless as a fawn. He pushed Nagito away, hoping he didn’t notice, “I-I guess I just don’t know how you do it. You can be so confident sometimes. I’d be afraid of wearing that in public.” “There’s a difference between confidence and being so resigned to loss that you stop feeling anxiety over the little things,” he said, a bit sadly. “Besides, it’s fun!” He waved his paws comically to accentuate the point. “Now we have to find something fun for you to wear.” “Okay, but let’s go by MY definition of fun.” “Whatever you say, Hajime,” Nagito beamed. His eyes darted around, then settled on a mustache and beard set which he handed to Hajime, “How about this? You can go as a grumpy old man. Bonus! You won’t have to be seen with me.” “Oh, come on.” Hajime said, snatching it from him. He looked it over then held it up to his face in front of a mirror. “Hey, I could go as Izuru Kamukura,” he joked, referencing their old high school’s founder. Nagito folded his arms and side-eyed him, “Don’t get all full of yourself now, Hajime.” He then backed away as Hajime approached him with a toy sword taken from a rack. “Wait! What do you plan on doing with that?!” ___ “Happy Halloween!” Hajime, who had been sleeping quite peacefully until then, would have fallen out of bed in fright if a heavy weight had not subsequently landed on him. He opened his eyes to find Nagito sprawled out over his lap. “Sorry, I missed you. I couldn’t wait any longer,” Nagito said. Hajime slammed Nagito on the back of the head with his pillow, “Being cute won’t save you this time.” “Noooo, don’t kill me! I’ve never been kissed!” “Yes, you have.” “Could you remind me?” Nagito said, puckering his lips. Hajime played along and kissed him, “There, now I can kill you.” Moments later, Nagito flew through the air from a good whack from the pillow. Their day went on with the two enjoying horror movies playing in the background as they enjoyed a peaceful afternoon together. After the sun set, they prepared themselves for the night ahead. Hajime had settled on being a black cat, largely because it worked as a couple’s costume, but also just looking at Nagito’s cumbersome outfit made a simple and light costume seem more appealing. The set consisted only of ears and a tail, with a fluffy black sweater and black jeans from his closet to complement it. There was also ancient makeup in the back of a drawer from his scene kid phase which was totally just an ironic experiment and definitely not anything he ever took seriously. He leaned over their bathroom sink to get a better look in the mirror as he used an old eye pencil to draw whiskers, a nose, and thick eyeliner with wings that swept out half an inch. “Who said scene was dead?” Nagito said, as he smirked at him in the mirror. “Hey, I can’t help it that I can do a perfect cat-eye.” “Can you do my makeup sometime?” “Oh please, Nagito, you don’t need it. People would kill for your lashes.” “You know, you’re starting to sound a little… catty.” Hajime groaned at the pun. He reached an arm behind him to blindly swat at his partner, only succeeding in stirring the air around as Nagito dodged the attack, “Is being sarcastic the only thing you’re good for? Why aren’t you dressed yet?” “I will, it’s just hard to move very well in it and I wanted to bother you more effectively.” Nagito draped his arms over Hajime’s shoulders and leaned in. “Actually, I’d like to thank you. I know you get scared of embarrassing situations, so for you to take someone like me out doing something meant for kids, knowing people will look at us funny… It’s sweet of you.” “Why do you think I’m putting on makeup? If all goes well, I won’t even recognize myself.” He chuckled, “But in all seriousness, you know I’d do anything for you.” Nagito buried his face into Hajime’s neck and said nothing. ___ “Everyone looks so happy!” Nagito said, gazing at the lively scene. Costumed kids flocked together at doors or ran around screaming and laughing in excitement. With jack-o’-lanterns on every porch and fake spider webbing drooping from trees, the neighborhood oozed Halloween spirit. Hajime caught himself staring at his adorable partner, “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself. Are you ready for some trick-or-treating?” “Tell me what to do! I’ve never done this before!” “Come on, you know what to do. Here, try this house.” “What if they yell at me because I’m too old?” “In that case, we threaten to egg their house, then run away.” He responded, hoping Nagito wouldn’t take it as a serious suggestion. Nagito’s eyes swirled. “I wonder if we’ll get chased. That would be exciting,” he said breathily. “You seem a little too excited by that…” Nagito wasn’t listening, he was already halfway up the driveway of a house. Hajime remained by the street to watch while Nagito knocked on the door. An old woman appeared. She looked him up and down as his outstretched arms presented her with a wicker basket ready for filling. “Trick-or-treat!” She gave a tactful, patient smile, “You’re so cute, but aren’t you too old for this?” “My boyfriend is forcing me to do this,” Nagito said, “He’ll be angry if I don’t come back with anything.” “Oh my… well, here…” She dropped a few pieces of candy into his basket, “You look like a sweet boy, you should get away from that awful man. Good luck, dear.” “Yes ma'am! Thank you!” Nagito chirped as he skipped back to the street, somehow managing not to trip over his slippers. “I couldn’t hear you guys, but it seemed to go well?” Hajime asked. “She wasn’t going to give me a treat, so I tricked her.” “Nagito, she was like… 80.” “It’s the Halloween code. I don’t make the rules.” “What did you say to her?” “Nothing to worry about. Let’s go on to the next house!” ___ “Really? You’re trick-or-treating at this age?” “I’m dying of lymphoma, it’s my final wish to trick-or-treat one last time.” “Oh my goodness, of course! Have as much candy as you want!” “Thanks!” Nagito said graciously as he took a few pieces. Hajime looked at him askance when he returned. “Wow, you’re getting a lot of candy. I… honestly wasn’t expecting this…” he said, gesturing at Nagito’s nearly overflowing basket. It seemed like every house in the neighborhood was eager to give him everything they had. “Yeah! Everyone has been so nice!” “I’m glad you’re having a good time, but what are we going to do with all this candy? You don’t even like sweets.” “I had no intention of keeping the candy, Hajime, this was all just for fun.” Nagito’s smile transformed into a grin. “But now that you’ve brought it up, there’s something I’ve wanted to do all night.” Hajime watched as Nagito trotted towards a group of teenagers. Sneaking up behind them, he reached into his basket and tossed a chocolate bar over their heads. They jerked back in surprise, and as they turned to see where it had come from, they were immediately pelted with handful after handful of candy. The next minute was pure pandemonium. Children ran from across the street to join in the fun, grabbing as much candy as they could while it rained down on them. And somehow in that moment, with the kids cheering and Nagito laughing joyfully among that beautiful chaos, Hajime swore his boyfriend never looked so handsome. Yeah, even despite the costume. ___ Ibuki’s Halloween party was well underway by the time Hajime and Nagito arrived. Blaring music greeted them at the door before she did. “You made it! Look at Nagito, so cuuuute! And Hajime, Ibuki loves your makeup! Meowwwww!” Being a world-famous musician, she could afford the finer things. Her house, which better resembled goth night at a club than a habitable dwelling, boasted enough space to host a party with room to spare for dancing. Witch-house played from an expensive sound system that cost more than Hajime and Nagito’s annual rent. It went without saying, Ibuki threw the best parties. Hajime hardly had a minute to take in the surroundings before Nekomaru had him and Nagito locked in a crushing hug. “Hahaha! We’re all here now!” Nekomaru beamed. “You made it, I am so happy!” Sonia said. “Yay.” Chiaki added in her trademark 'not sure if sincere or not’ tone of voice. “Look at you losers wearing a couple’s costume.” Saionji sneered as she eyed them up and down. Mahiru cleared her throat, “We are too, Hiyoko,” remarking on their Sailor Moon outfits. Saionji pouted, “But it’s cute when we do it!” “It’s too bad Teruteru died in that freak accident involving the helicopter tour over that active volcano, he would have liked to be here right now.” Souda said, idly scratching his head. Tsumiki dropped a piece of food on the floor and bent over to pick it up, showing her rear to everyone, “I’m sorry I’m so clumsy! I’m ruining everyone’s good time! Don’t worry about me!” “It’s okay, no one is worrying about you. No one is thinking about you at all!” Saionji cheered. “Waaaaaaaaah!!” Byakuya shook his head in disdain at Hajime and Nagito. “You’re late for the party, you missed out on donuts. Where are your priorities?” Akane’s mouth was too stuffed to respond, so she waved the last donut at them in greeting instead. Gundham held out his arms, letting his hamsters crawl up into his hands. “My Four Dark Devas are enraged at your tardiness for the most evil night of the year. Now the ritual can begin in earnest. Count yourself lucky that they have chosen not to kill you where you stand.” Peko had the eyes of a predator fixed on Nagito’s fluffy animal costume, while Fuyuhiko grinned and raised a shot glass containing an orange liquid, “Hey guys, come drink up! I brought juice!” Ibuki squealed, “Baby gangster is so adorable, only drinking mixer!” “I don’t need to drink alcohol to be cool!!” Amid all the shouting and arguing, Nagito turned to Hajime, “You know, this might be the best Halloween I’ve ever had.” “Same here. And I think you actually taught me a thing or two about the spirit of giving. Wrong holiday though.” “Yeah, too bad it doesn’t count.” Nagito grinned. “I’ll just have to fill up a stocking for you when Christmas comes around.” “I’d love that, Hajime! I’ve never had a stocking for Christmas before!”

[hongism]

Taehyung Scenario: Date Night

BTS Drabble

Requested

@dae-bakk-pop said:

“19,31, 95with Taehyung please. I love when you do this. You are awesome!!!”

           Prompts:

                       19: “You’re Satan.”

                       31: “I haven’t slept in ages.”

                       95: “Have I mentioned, I fucking hate Halloween.”

thank you so so much bb for the sweet message ;-; 

Genre: Fluff

Taehyung Centered

Words: 1038

Warning: language

Summary: When Taehyung suggested a date night, you weren’t expecting him to take you trick or treating on Halloween. Nor were you expecting him to pick the most ridiculous costumes for you two to wear. It’s enough to make you question why on earth you’re dating him.

“Y/N~” Taehyung sings out your name as he enters your apartment. He peaks over the edge of the couch where you lay and beams at you. The warmth of the smile catches you off guard. A blush rises to your cheeks, and you’re thankful that his eyes are closed so he can’t tease you about it.

“Yeeeeeees?” You draw out your response, dropping an arm over your eyes.

“Time to get up! We gotta get ready for date night!” Taehyung pokes your nose before holding your wrist and pulling it away from your face.

“What are we doing anyways? You never told me.” Excitement lights up his eyes, and Taehyung whips out a plastic bag from behind his back. You blink between the bag and your boyfriend, not sure what kind of reaction he is expecting to see from you. “Uh…playing guess what’s in the bag?”

“No, Y/N, it’s even better than that. Do you know what today is?” Taehyung lowers the bag, staring at you with wide, expectant eyes.

“The 31st?”

“…And?”

“Of October?”

“…and?”

“It’s Thursday?”

“It’s Halloween! Y/N, c’mon, were you trying to be slow?”

“I didn’t think Halloween had anything to do with date night!” You protest. Taehyung tsks and shakes his head, leading you to stick out your tongue at him.

“It has everything to do with date night! Because now’s our chance to go out in public, and no one will know who I am.” Taehyung pushes his shoulders back and lifts his chin, looking proud for having come up with an idea such as this one.

“Tae, I thought we agreed not to worry about that?”

“This is a brilliant chance, Y/N. We can’t pass on it. Because today is Halloween, and you know what that means?”

“No,” you say, feeling that Taehyung will explain it no matter what you say.

“Trick-or-treating!” Your jaw drops at his words.

“Or we could take a nap,” you suggest as you sit up. No way is he gonna get you in a costume. Nope. That’s too embarrassing. Your boyfriend pouts at the suggestion, and you respond with a sigh. “Tae, I haven’t slept in ages! I’m so exhausted and all I need is my dearest boyfriend to cuddle me so I can sleep well.”

“You slept until noon today! Y/N, it’ll be so much fun.”

“Won’t we look a little old to be trick-or-treating?” You reason, cupping one of Taehyung’s cheeks with your hand. “You’re a bit too tall to be inconspicuous.”

“You’re short enough to look young under a costume,” he teases. “I can act like your dad or something!”

“Excuse me?”

“Ah, no, sorry! Not like that! I mean, no! Sorry! Nevermind, I won’t do that.” Taehyung struggles to recover, and his ears begin to turn scarlet as he realizes the ulterior meaning to his words. “Okay, okay, okay. We can act our age! You’re never too old for trick-or-treating. Besides, the fun in it is going out and seeing all the adorable children running around in their costumes. They’re always so cute, Y/N.” He flashes those undeniable puppy dog eyes your way, and you know you’ll never win this fight.

“You’re Satan,” you mutter as you stand up. Taehyung cheers immediately, ignoring your insult (because he probably knows that you aren’t being serious about it anyways). He leans over the couch and lands a quick kiss on your lips in thanks.

“I got us matching costumes!” He lifts the plastic bag again, his rectangular grin wiping away any irritation you had with the idea.

“Please tell me it’s not sexy cops.” Taehyung hesitates, eyes nearly bulging at your words, and you worry that you may be right. “Taehyung!”

“Woah, it’s not! I wasn’t expecting you to say that, I promise. No, it’s much cuter.” He digs around in the bag, starting to rant about his difficulties in choosing the perfect costumes. “It was hard to find one that would fit someone my height, especially since I wanted ones that were cutesy like you.”

“Now you’re just trying to flatter me.” You huff, crossing your arms over your chest and trying to hide the redness crawling up your neck. Taehyung giggles as he sees your blush, then whips out a white sheet. “And that is?” You question.

“We’re gonna be ghosts!” You deadpan. “A cute ghost couple!”

“At least it’s better than sexy cops,” you sigh as Taehyung moves around the couch to drop the sheet over your head.

“That’s the spirit, Y/N. Positivity! I cut out the eye holes already, but I had to use Jimin to measure where the eyes would be. I’m sure your eyes are about the same distance apart, so it should be fine.” All you see it a white haze as Taehyung tries to fixate the sheet over you. Eventually, his face pops into your vision. You’re actually impressed with how accurate he was in cutting the eye holes, because you can see fairly well through them. “And…” You hear him rustling around in the plastic bag some more. “I got a cute pink bow to put on your head too.” His excitement is almost too infectious, and you can feel a smile trying to find its way onto your lips.

“Have I mentioned, I fucking hate Halloween.”

“No, you don’t. I know you love it.” Taehyung pokes your stomach, and you groan in retaliation.

“Nope, hate it. Christmas is my favorite holiday. Always has been.” You lift the sheet so Taehyung can see your whole face, eyebrows raised.

“But?” Taehyung pouts his lower lip out.

“But I love you more than anything. If you want to go trick-or-treating, then I’d love to go with you.” You offer a soft smile. Taehyung stands stunned into silence for a moment.

“You do?”

“Of course I do. If you didn’t know that, then I’m not doing a good enough job as a girlfriend.”

“You always do a perfect job, no need to worry about that.” Taehyung leans close to you, lips centimeters from yours. “I love you more than anything too,” he whispers before kissing you. When he pulls back, you drop the sheet back over your face.

“Okay, let’s focus. I need my cute ghost boyfriend now.”

 written by: jungtaeyoongles

gif belongs to its original owner

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

S.T. REWRITE - S2:E3; Chapter  Three, The Pollywog - [Pt. 1]

A Will Byers x Reader Series

Dustin adopts a strange new pet, and Eleven grows increasingly impatient. A well-meaning Bob urges Will to stand up to his fears while Y/n’s powers grow stronger, bringing to light many questions about her past.

A/N: Long chapter ahead. Idk it’s been a while since I’ve written so it might seem longer to me. The reason I’ve been gone, if you haven’t heard already is I’ve been depressed, but I assure you, it’s nothing life threatening, just something I’m working through and I appreciate you guys waiting for me. I’m not over it yet, no one really gets over it magically, but just being able to sit down and find the inspiration to write again is a huge step and I’m just as excited as you are that this is happening. Anyways I’ll let you get to reading!

||3rd Person POV||

With timid steps, Dustin crept into his living room, hoping not to draw any attention to himself or the creature he just captured. He closed the front door quietly and began making his way towards his bedroom. His heart leapt up to his throat when he heard the sound of his mother.

“Dusty!”

He froze in place and plastered on a smile, turning to his mother who came up anxiously to greet him home.

“Dusty, what happened? What was that?”

Dustin’s mouth ran dry. How could she possibly know already? She couldn’t, could she? Dustin tried his best to brush it off.

“W-hat? What, what was what?”

Mrs. Henderson frowned, tilting her head and gesturing down the hall.

“Your poor sister. She came in crying, and she won’t answer me. Won’t even say a word, now what happened tonight Dusty?”

“Oh, that, yeah, um, she uh…” he looked down at the homemade ghost box he had in his hands and felt anxiety creeping up. “Well you know, boy drama I guess,”

Dustin immediately felt a pang of guilt for that remark but he was beginning to panic. He could feel the creature begin to shift around in the box and he knew his mom would keep asking questions if he didn’t cut straight to the chase.

“Well, what happened? Is there another girl?” She asked sadly.

“What?” Dustin asked dumbfounded. “No! Well, I mean, technically yes, but she has nothing to do with-”

“Did he reject her?”

“No! Mom!”

Dustin began shifting on his feet, getting increasingly more uncomfortable, and it was impossible to tell if it was from the conversation or the fact he was hiding a secret, unidentified species in the prop of his Halloween costume.

“Dusty? Are you okay? You’re acting weird.”

“I’m not acting weird!”

Without warning, the ghost box in his hand shook, making several audible thuds. Mrs. Henderson jumped back, letting out a small yelp in fear.

“Woah!” Dustin burst out into a fit of uncontrollable and nervous laughter as he looked from the trap to his mother.

Mews, who had been standing at Mrs. Henderson’s feet, hissed harshly at the box.

“Awesome, right? Yeah… I-I rigged the trap with, uh, a motor to make it look like I caught a ghost. Just like the movie.”

Mrs. Henderson let out a forced and nervous laugh. “Oh, Dusty.”

“Yeah,” He laughed forcibly, the trap begins to shake violently. “Funny. Look at that. Look at that.”

Dustin seized the opportunity, and quickly left for his bedroom. Quietly, he tiptoed past his sisters room. He figured he could tell her when he told the others, given she clearly needed the space.

Closing his bedroom door and locking it behind him, he brought the trap close to his face.

“I told you to keep quiet.” He hissed. “All you had to do was stay still for one minute. One minute.”

He temporarily rested the trap on his bed, as he grabbed his turtle out from his tank and set him on the ground. “Sorry, Yertle. Temporary eviction, buddy.”

He picked up the trap and opened it, dropping the small chittering creature into Yertle’s tank. Dustin leaned down to get a better look, and marveled at it as it began moving about the tank, and immediately crawled under the log and into the shade.

“What are you, little guy? What were you doing in my trash?”

The small creature, slowly and cautiously stuck it’s head out from under the protection of the shaded log, almost as if it was listing to Dustin.

Dustin’s smile grew. “You hungry?”

Dumping the nights earnings of candy onto his bed, he didn’t have to rifle through the pile long before spotting a Three Musketeers bar. He grabbed it and quickly unwrapped it.

Returning to the tank, he broke off two or three pieces of his favorite candy and proceeded to drop the bits of nougat into the tank. He watched, as he took his own bite from the candy bar, as the critter attempted to leave the log, only to retreat.

“Too hot?”

He reached for the heat lamp and turned it off. He looked to the critter,who looked visibly more relaxed.

“Sorry about that, little guy.”

He eagerly crawled out from under the log and began nibbling on the small chunks of nougat, seeming very satisfied. Dustin smiled at this.

“You like nougat, too, huh?”

It looked to Dustin and gently hissed in response.

“You’re pretty cute, you know that? I’m glad I found you.”

Realizing he needed a name for the creature, he looked to the candy bar in his hands in thought.

‘The Three Musketeers. And their trusted ally, D'Artagnan.’ He thought.

He smiled knowingly.

“D'Artagnan. I’m gonna call you D'Artagnan.”

+++

A few hours, and several pieces of candy bars later, Dustin had fallen asleep on his bed while reading ‘Reptiles and Amphibians’ in an attempt to out any information on d'Artagnan. Unbeknownst to the sleeping boy, only a few feet away from him, d'Artagnan had began to grow.

+++

[FLASHBACK]

HAWKINS NOV. 1983

Hopper shivered against the harsh winter air. He kept telling himself he wasn’t crazy for doing this. Leaving stashes of food and a few Eggos in a lockbox out in the woods on the off chance this girl was still alive.

But that police report of a dingy looking girl in the woods who “made that damn squirrel fly” could not have been a coincidence. And he remembered her taking a liking to Eggos and well, he didn’t want her to starve. Or have to cook any more squirrels by the sound of it… So he thought it was worth a try.

Eleven watched the man carefully. She recognized him from that night. He was the same man that saved her and her friends from the bad men. And here he was leaving her food. Right in front of her. But he was walking away. Her breathing increased and she knew she had to make a decision.

Take a chance on him and let herself be known, or continue to try and scrape by out in the woods. The more she thought about it the less it seemed like a choice. Before she knew it, her feet had carried her to the man. He had stopped just before he reached his truck when he heard her.

They both seemed equally shocked she was there, and they said nothing. He slowly took off his hat, showing her he wasn’t a threat.

[END OF FLASHBACK]

“Rise and shine,” Hopper called from the doorway.

El’s eyes fluttered open and the memory of the night before came rushing back to her. Huffing, she turned on her side, her back facing Hopper.

“So that’s it, huh? You’re still not talking?”

El only glared at the wall in silent protest.

Hopper feigned a sigh. “All right. I guess I’m just gonna have to, uh… enjoy this triple-decker Eggo extravaganza on my own.”

El’s eyes became as wide as saucers, and without turning her head she looked in the direction of the doorway, knowing she had already lost.

The pair sat at the table, Hopper happily digging into the stack of Eggos and whipped cream, making noises of approval.

“Mmm-mmm! Good, right?” He asked, wiping a bit of whipped cream off his face as he tried to pry a conversation out of El. “Know the great thing about it? It’s only 8,000 calories.”

El only stared at him. A mixture of not understanding, and not amused. Hoppers lips pressed into a firm line, realizing he had forgotten who he was talking to for a moment. As he cut another slice of the triple-decker Eggo extravaganza, he glanced around the room and spotted the TV cord leading all the way into El’s room.

“You visited him again last night?”

Her eyes trailed from the cord to Hopper’s gaze, and finally down at her lap, knowing she had been caught.

“He says he needs me.”

“Want me to go check on him”

Not meeting his eye, El sadly shook her head.

“I know you miss him, all right? But it’s too dangerous. You’re the last thing he needs right now. You’re gonna see him. Soon. And not just in that head of yours. You’re gonna see him in real life. Y/N too. I feel like I’m making progress with these people.”

Blinking, she leaned forward. “Friends don’t lie.”

“What?” He asked, taken by surprise.

“You say ‘soon’ on day 21. You say 'soon’ on day 205. You now say 'soon’ on day 326?” She demands, voice rising.

“What is this?” Hopper asks, quickly growing agitated. “You’re counting down the days now like you’re some kind of prisoner?”

“When is 'soon’?”

“'Soon’ is when… it’s not dangerous anymore.”

“When?” She presses.

Hopper, who is visibly uncomfortable, and is fiddling with his pockets, continuing to avoid eye contact. “I don’t know.”

“On day 500?”

“I don’t know.”

“On day 600?”

“I don’t know.” His own voice rising.

“On 700? On day 800?”

“No!”

“I need to see him! Tell me!”

“I said I–”

Before Hopper can finish, El throws his plate of Eggos on his lap with a single flick of her head.

“Oh! Shit! Shit!” He yells, standing up in surprise.

El stands up and glares at Hopper, fire in her eyes. “Friends. Don’t. Lie!”

She marches into her room, throwing her arm behind her, and the door slams itself shut.

+++

That very same morning, on the first of November, the Byers household was in a scramble as they moved about the house, getting ready for the day.

“Jesus. Have you seen them?” Joyce asked.

Joyce had misplaced her keys, and she had been digging through the couch cushions while her sons searched the other rooms.

“We’re looking, Mom.” Jonathan reasoned, discarding the coat he had previously checked the pockets of.

Will walked by him, resting his mother’s purse on the kitchen table, and began rifling through it.

“Yeah, we’re… we’re looking,”

“A-ha!” Cried a voice from down the hall. “Found 'em!” Chuckled Bob, triumphantly waving the keys.

Joyce sighed in great relief.

“Hiding under some jeans, sneaky little buggers.”

“Thank you. Thank you. You’re a life saver.” Joyce pulled Bob close and gave him a quick kiss.

She pulled away, and began gathering her things from the kitchen table, and turned to Jonathan.

“Can you take Will to school today? I cannot be late again.”

Jonathan quickly lowered his voice while his mother was still in close proximity.

“He’s staying over now?”

She ignored his question, not wanting to discuss it while Bob was present, and lowered her voice to match his. “Can you just take Will, please?”

“I can take him,” Bob shrugged.

“Will you make sure he gets in okay?” She asked timidly.

“Yeah, of course.” He grinned. “What do you say, big guy? Wanna go for a ride in the Bobmobile?”

Will was taken aback and looked to his mother for confirmation, she only smiled at him.

He wasn’t expecting Bob to offer to do that. It was a nice thing to do. And Will guessed it wouldn’t it hurt.

After all, what the worst that could happen?

…Right?

||Reader’s POV||

“I don’t know mom, he just… he’s been acting different. They all have” I sighed into my cereal bowl as I ate.

Well, to be fair, I was mostly just frowning at it.

“What do you mean, honey?” Mom asked, hands curled around her mug as she sat opposite from me.

I let out a frustrated sigh and looked around, it became to talk, a lump in my throat was forming.

“I just-” I sighed, composing myself, and selected my words carefully knowing I had to be cautious with what I told her. “All I want is for Will to be okay. And I’ll do anything to respect that. But lately, I can’t help but feel like I could really help him, and now that things are getting bad again, Mike is getting crazy grumpy and focusing all of his attention on Will and totally cutting me out, and Will is letting him.”

I took a deep breath, wiping a tear away, and began to fiddle with my cereal bowl. My fingers absentmindedly fiddling with the rim of the bowl, and I could feel my mother’s eyes on me.

“And, I know I must be coming off as totally selfish, and I feel bad but… I just want to help, and Mike isn’t exactly a saint here. I know he’s got… other things on his mind, stuff he’s upset about, but he’s taking it out on me and guarding Will and I’m just trying to help. I’ll totally back off if Will needs me to, but Mike hasn’t let Will get a word in edgewise. And others all are all too worked up over the new girl, I get it though, she’s cool, but still,”

I let out a long exhale, feeling ten pounds lighter, but no better about Will or Mike.

“I don’t hate Mike,” I said. “I think it’s good that if he’s focused on anything it’s Will, I just… I just wish…”

“He’d be your friend again, too?” My mom finished.

I bit my lip, blinking back tears, and I nod.

“Yeah, I do. I miss how everything used to be. Everyone got along, and all had the same interests. And Will wasn’t having all these episodes…”

“I’m sorry honey. I know, it’s such a hard time at your age, but you just have to hang on to the good moments. Everything will work itself out, I promise. What happened, with Will, anyway?” She asked, sipping her coffee.

“Well, I only left him for a moment, to chase after Mike, of course I thought he was right behind me but…” I trailed off, thinking of those horrid boys, and my jaw clenched. I stuttered as my brain searched for a foul name I call them in front of my mother. “Some… pricks practically jumped him. Scared him into an episode.”

I could feel my anger building up. Just at the mere memory of the boys, it all came flooding back and I was feeling all the emotions from last night coming swarming back to me.

“Y/N,” She lightly scolded.

“Well, they were! I could have called them a lot worse, too. This must have been his worst episode, I’ve never seen him this freaked out! He-”

I glanced down when I sensed movement in the bottom of my eye line and I saw my cereal… bubbling? Boiling. It was beginning to boil.

I jump up from where I was sitting, ripping my hands away from the ceramic bowl, startling my mother in the process.

“Y/N! What has gotten into you?”

'I wish I knew’

“Uhh, I’m running late. I just realized. Thanks for the talk, love you, bye,” I said, already backing away and making my way down the hall.

I was only half lying, I was cutting it short on time. But I couldn’t let my mom see whatever the hell I just did to my cereal.

I turned down the hall, leaping over Mews with ease, who seemed unfazed by it.

Just as I reached my door, I nearly collided with Dustin. I came to a halt, and he jumped back, being extra careful to keep his backpack zipped up and out of sight.

He was hiding something. But then again so was I, and judging by the look in his eye he knew it too.

We didn’t have to say anything, we both gave each other a look, knowing we would talk to each other about it later, and bid each other farewell.

“AV club? Lunch?” He asked, growing startled and adjusting his backpack once more.

I narrow my eyes and nod.

“Okay, well, see you at school then…” I say slowly.

He nods, just as suspicious, and we both parted ways.

I slip into my bedroom and get dressed for the day. As I did, my mind kept playing what had just happened in the kitchen, over and over again in my head.

And by the time I was out the door, it had wandered to the handful of times I had… used my powers.

'That is still so weird to think about’

I recalled the first time when I blasted those agents who almost grabbed me. I felt my stomach drop, and I remembered why I hardly ever think about it. I can’t, and don’t ever want to imagine what would have happened if they had gotten to me.

And then shortly after, when… when he had El. And me. The first time my brother and the others saw me use my powers. Both times were unintentional. It just happens. I wish I could learn how to control it.

But there were other strange things too, like how I could heal. Really quickly. For a while there I thought I could do stuff with plants but… that turned out to be a dead end. I didn’t mind though. It was quite a relief actually, I can barely handle the fact I have powers, something as wild as control plants. It must have had something to do with my healing abilities?

'Who the hell knows’

I felt crazier and crazier the more I thought about all of this.

But what happened this morning… It reminded me of what happened at the assembly for Will. I had gotten quite upset at Troy. Understandably. And I could have sworn I left a mark on the bleachers.

Heat seemed to be a common theme, and it began to make my head spin.

I had to take some sudden deep breaths to prevent my anxiety from creeping up again.

How had everything changed so much, so quickly?

||3rd Person POV||

The car ride to school was mostly silent. The only sounds were the occasional turn signals and soft music playing from the radio.

Bob decided to ease the tension and broke the silence with simple conversation.

“So was that you I heard milling around last night, or was that a ghost?” He chuckled, indicating he wasn’t mad, just genuinely curious.

“Yeah, me probably,” Will said quietly.

“Another nightmare?” He asked gently.

“Um…no” Will answered, avoiding his gaze and looking out the window at the passing landscape.

Bob nodded.

He needed another approach. He really wanted at least one of his girlfriends kids to like him. He liked them, he knew they were good kids, just needed time to get to know them, that’s all.

Bob sensed that there was more than Will was letting on, and he just wanted to help. So he did in the only way he knew how.

“Did I ever tell you about Mr. Baldo?”

“Mr. Baldo?” Will asked slowly, confused at the name.

Bob scoffed in agreement. “Yeah. I was a little younger than you. I was standing in line for the Ferris Wheel at the Roane County fair,”

As Bob told the story, Will became invested almost immediately, and shifted in his seat to face him.

“Mmm-hmm” he nodded.

“And suddenly, I feel this fat white glove tap me on the shoulder. I spin around and there he is. Mr. Baldo.” Bob plastered on a fake smile, and began imitating the clown, his voice grating. “'Hey, kiddo, would you like a balloon?’”

Having come from Bob, Will didn’t find the imitation so scary and responded with a chuckle.

Bob chuckled with him. “Go ahead, laugh. It’s funny. It wasn’t funny back then, I’ll tell you that.” His smile faltered. “I couldn’t get him out of my head. Every night. He would come to me in my dreams. And every night when he came to me… I ran.”

He sighed, recalling the memory.

“It got so bad that I made my mom stay in the room with me until I could fall asleep every night.”

Will felt a giant pit form in his stomach. He almost felt like he could get sick to his stomach. He knew what Bob was talking about, all too well. But the awful part was, he didn’t know if it was just a dream or not.

“Really?” Will mumbled, growing frightened.

“Really. It went on like that for months. And then one day, the nightmares suddenly stopped.”

Will finally tore his away from the road, and gazed hopefully at Bob.

“Wanna know how?”

“How?” His voice was barely above a whisper.

“Well, I fell asleep, and just like always,” he blinked several times, seeming unnerved by the memory. “Mr. Baldo came to me. Only this time, I didn’t run. This time, I stood my ground”

Will listened, and couldn’t help but think of the monster that had been plaguing him the last few nights.

“I just looked at Mr. Baldo, in his stupid face, and I said, 'Go away. Go away!’ And just like that, he was gone. Never saw him again. Easy-peasy, right?”

The gears were turning in Will’s brain. Hope in his eyes.

“Easy-peasy.” Will agreed, nodding.

Bob Newby smiled, thrilled that he had gotten through to Will, believing with all his heart he had truly just helped the boy, knowing nothing of the horrific repercussions to come.

+++

Tag List: @dickkwad @aimee-lucass @iblesstherainsdown-in-africa @miscellaneoustoasts

DM if you want to be added!

[mksc77]

Witchy Woman

Sorry this is so late!  I’m going to give it one last proofread/smoothing over tomorrow before I post it on ffnet and ao3, but here’s a preview.  Happy late Halloween, hope y’all like it!  💜

Eleanor is Rusty’s sister--she’s a few weeks away from turning 3 here.

"Here, honey, use the spoon." Sharon placed Eleanor's discarded spoon back in her hand and guided it back into the child-sized pumpkin. She gave Sharon a disbelieving look, dropped her spoon again, and dug back into the pumpkin with both hands. "Honey, no--oh, my god." Sharon gave up when Marie followed suit and started scooping out the pumpkin with her hands. "Hold on, let's get your clothes off so you don't make such a mess." After stripping Eleanor down to her panties and Marie to her diaper, Sharon stood back and let them go nuts.

"Don't worry about it, Mom, we'll just throw them in the bath when we're done," Emily spoke up. "This is probably the fastest way."

"You sure are calm..." Sharon turned around. "Ah, I see why." She took a glass from Emily and sat in one of the porch chairs. Now, this was her idea of a Friday afternoon. When Emily and Emmett didn't have plans, Emily usually showed up with fourteen-month-old Marie soon after her nap, and Emmett would come over after work.

Emily sat in the chair beside Sharon's. "Do you like that? I thought it would be fun to make it for your Halloween party tomorrow night."

Sharon took a long sip from her glass. "That is good. What's in it?"

"Vodka, ginger ale, pineapple juice, and some other stuff."  Emily took a sip of her drink.  "What are you guys going to be?"

Sharon rolled her eyes. "Andy and Provenza lost a bet with their commanding officer, so she got to pick their costumes. Which also means mine by default."

Emily wrinkled her nose. "It's Emmett's turn to get his way with costumes this year, so we have to do the couples thing. It's so lame."

"Oh, I'm sure Andy was quick to throw me under the bus to avoid something really bad. We have to be Gomez and Morticia Addams, and Louie's Uncle Fester."

"Oh, my god, that's perfect for Provenza!"

"I think that might've been why she chose that for us. Patrice is out of town, but she probably just would've said 'no' if she were given a costume assignment, anyway.  Are you guys taking Marie trick-or-treating?"

"Kind of," Emily answered.  "We're going to dress her up and walk around the neighborhood with our friends, but we're not taking her to houses for candy or anything."  

Sharon winced as Marie's pumpkin-glob-filled hand went over her face and through her hair. "This is tearing my nerves up."

"It was your idea," Emily retorted.

"I know...I just wish we could do it without the mess." Sharon looked up as Rusty stepped onto the back porch. "Hi, honey, did you get much studying done?"

"I wasn't studying, I was getting my outlines and everything ready to study," Rusty corrected her.

Emily rolled her eyes. "Oh good god. Nerdiness takes on a new dimension."

"The Friday before Halloween is the best day for the library," Rusty continued, ignoring Emily. "Our Halloween party was last night, and that's always the last hurrah before everyone starts to study for exams. There aren't usually many people there on Fridays since only the 1Ls have class, but even a lot of them skipped today. The library was like a ghost town."

"Wusty!" Eleanor exclaimed, reaching a pumpkin-covered hand toward him.

"Hey, Ellie girl!" Rusty kissed the top of her head. "That's all you're getting from me until you don't have pumpkin gunk all over you, sorry." He looked at Sharon. "I didn't think she'd be here yet."

"Your mom had some things to do before going out of town this weekend and asked me if she could drop her off early," Sharon explained.

"All done!" Eleanor announced.

Sharon handed Rusty the cat stencil Eleanor had picked out. "If you'll trace that onto the pumpkin, I'll carve it."

"Deal."

Once the pumpkin was carved, Sharon lit a small candle and placed it inside. Marie squealed and pointed to it. "Ca!"

"When did she start saying 'cat?'" Sharon asked.

"Earlier this week," Emily answered. "It seems like she's saying something new every day."

Andy came home as Sharon and Emily finished cleaning up the pumpkin mess from the porch and the kids. "You're home early," Sharon commented after she kissed him.

"Yeah, we didn't have much going on, and we're due for a case. Hernandez let us go early...I picked up our costumes," Andy grumbled. "I can't believe Provenza and I lost that bet."

"I can't believe you guys thought you could outwit your commanding officer, especially a woman," Sharon shot back.

Andy pulled their costumes out of the bag in his hand. His annoyed expression twisted into a grin as he held up Sharon's long, black, low-cut dress. "Huh, maybe this won't be so bad...I can't wait to see you in this."

Sharon reached for Andy's costume. "Yeah, mine's not bad, but this is terrible...”  She tilted her head up and kissed Andy again. “But I think you can pull it off."

"Ew, you guys, there are kids out here," Rusty whined.

The next afternoon, with the house ready for the party, Sharon sat on the back porch with a glass of wine. Andy joined her soon after, in his ugly striped suit with a scowl on his face. Sharon moved over to make room for him in the chair beside her and couldn't help but laugh. "You laugh, you die," Andy muttered. "She couldn't have at least let me wear the plain black one."

"I think I'll take my chances." Sharon curled up against him, as the late afternoon was starting to get cool. Rusty came outside with Eleanor in his arms, and she struggled to get down. "What an adorable little kitty!" Sharon cooed as Eleanor climbed up in the chair with her and Andy. "I'll do your whiskers and nose after I do Andy's makeup in a little bit."

"What?! I never agreed to makeup!" Andy protested.

"You're going to need a little powder to make your face more pale."

Andy shook his head. "No way."

Sharon shrugged.  "Well, if we're not going for realism, then I'll probably be more comfortable with a camisole under that dress. It's a little low-cut-"

"Okay, okay, do whatever you want to me," Andy quickly amended, leaning more closely to whisper in her ear. "Before and after the party."

"We'll see, Casanova."

A little while later, Sharon was dressed and putting the finishing touches on her makeup, humming along to her phone as she applied gray eye shadow and red lipstick.

She held me spellbound in the night Dancing shadows and firelight Crazy laughter in another room And she drove herself to madness with a silver spoon

Woo hoo, witchy woman See how high she flies Woo hoo, witchy woman She got the moon in her eye

Well, I know you want a lover Let me tell you, brother She's been sleeping in the devil's bed And there's some rumors going round, someone's underground

She can rock you in the night-time 'til your skin turns red...

"Tell me about it," Andy commented, nodding at Sharon's phone as he entered the dressing area right outside of their bathroom.

Sharon rolled her eyes and stood up. "Sit."

Andy gave her a suffering look as he sat down. "I can't believe I agreed to this." He eyed Sharon, liking how she looked in the fitted, low-cut black dress.  “Seeing you in that is the only thing getting me through tonight.”

"Relax, Andy, it's Halloween!" Sharon got a makeup brush and held her hand under his chin while she brushed powder over his face. Andy started to stand up when she closed the clasp, but she placed her hand against his chest and nudged him back down. "Hold on, I'm not finished."

"Not finished?! What else—"

"Just a minute." Sharon dipped an eye shadow brush into one of her palates and lightly brushed it under his eyes. "Now, a little lipstick—"

"Absolutely not. I draw the line there." Andy put his hand between his legs for a moment. "Just making sure my penis is still there."

"Oh, it is, I can assure you." Sharon put her hands on Andy's cheeks and kissed him before applying the mustache that had come with the costume. "For the love of god, don't ever grow a mustache."

Andy turned to look in the mirror. "I don't know, I think I could pull this off! What do the kids call it, 'no-shave November?' Maybe I'll try it next month."

"If you participate in 'no-shave November,' then so am I," Sharon cautioned.

"Never mind," Andy said hastily. "I mean, not that you have to—not that I expect you to—" he sputtered.

"I know, honey, I'm kidding. You're so cute when you stick your foot in your mouth." Sharon scooped up Eleanor as she scampered in, wearing a black leotard and leggings. "All right, kitty cat, let's get you fixed up." She held Eleanor's face still as she carefully applied whiskers and blackened in the tip of her nose with her eyeliner pen. "Try not to touch your face for a few minutes, okay?" Sharon lowered Eleanor to the floor and walked toward the kitchen when she heard the alarm system beep a couple of times, meaning that a door had been opened. "I bet Marie's here!" The sound of little feet answered her before she was even in the kitchen. "Hey, my little pumpkin! Where's your costume?"

"It would've been a nightmare in her car seat," Emmett answered.

Sharon wrinkled her nose as she lifted Marie into her arms. "Ugh, she's ripe, all right."

"Yeah, she was working on that in the car." Emmett got the diaper bag and took Marie from Sharon. "Let's go get you changed."

"No!" Marie protested as Emmett carried her out of the room.

"She's getting such an attitude," Emily commented. "When did my favorite word stop being 'no?'"

Sharon rolled her eyes. "I'll let you know when we get there."

"Ha, ha." Emily got a couple of martini glasses out of a cabinet. "Witches' Brew?"

"Don't mind if I do."

Eleanor ran up to Emily to show off her costume. "Look, Emmy!"

Emily smiled and picked her up. "You are the cutest little kitty I've ever seen!" She put Eleanor down and went back to making their drinks. "I brought some dry ice to make them steam later. They'll go perfectly with your costume."

Emmett came back in with Marie dressed in her pumpkin costume, and she grinned and reached for Sharon, who happily took her from him.  "Look at my sweet girl!  You're adorable," she cooed.

Provenza arrived not much later, huffing and grumbling in his Uncle Fester costume. "I can't believe I have to do this. Flynn, I blame you entirely."

Andy rolled his eyes. "Of course you do."

Captain Hernandez wasn't far behind him with her sons, and she broke into a laugh when she saw Andy and Provenza. "This is even better than I thought."

"I'm glad someone's enjoying this," Provenza muttered.

"This could've all been avoided if you had just admitted I was right to begin with," Elisa reminded him.

"Ye gods, we will never live this down," Provenza grumbled.

"No, you won't," Andrea agreed, as she had just arrived.  She snapped a photo of Andy and Provenza standing next to each other, looking equally disgruntled. "Perfect. I'm sure Elisa can find the perfect place to put this to remind you of your stupidity."

"Ahh, I like the way you think," Elisa replied. "I hadn't even thought of that."

"That's what I'm here for." Andrea looked around. "I heard something about Witches' Brew?"

Before long, the party was in full swing. It was an eclectic mix of personal and LAPD friends and some of their children. Sharon found herself watching Julio with the divorced daughter of one of her friends, and she didn't realize how obviously she was staring until Andrea appeared beside her. "Playing matchmaker?"

Sharon jumped. "What? No! I mean, they seemed to hit it off at our Labor Day party, so I didn't think it would hurt to give them another chance to meet."

"Uh-huh."

A little while later, Andy finished getting ready for bed and climbed in beside Sharon. She couldn't keep her eyes open and was falling asleep. "Nooooo, don't fall asleep! What happened to-"

"Mmm, Morticia's sleepy," Sharon murmured. "Rain check?"

"You drive a hard bargain, Morticia." Andy kissed her forehead and curled up beside her.

Early on Halloween evening, Sharon sat on the front porch with a few friends from her old neighborhood.  Andy had been rolled out on Sunday and would probably be late getting home, so she'd invited them over for the evening.

"Halloween with no kids. The best kind," Janet commented.

"I know, right? Who needs more wine?" Sharon asked. When their children were growing up, they'd had a tradition of pizza and cocktails before taking their kids trick-or-treating as a group. They would always reconvene at Sharon's afterward to keep the party going, and one by one the dads would take their children home for bed. That was always another tradition--Halloween was theirs, and they were recreating it tonight.  

The temperature dropped as the sun went down, so Sharon went inside for a thicker cardigan and another bottle of wine.  They talked and listened to music on the front porch, passing out candy as trick-or-treaters steadily arrived.  She watched as families walked around the neighborhood, some in groups, and some by themselves, but almost all with cups in their hands of beverages that were most likely of the alcoholic variety.  Some things never change.  

Sharon was surprised when Andy pulled into the driveway a couple of hours later.  She wasn't expecting him home until late, if even at all.  He went into the house from the garage, so she met him in the kitchen.  "You're home early."

"Yeah, we wrapped the case."  Andy looked through the refrigerator for something to warm up for dinner.  He just wanted to go to bed after a long week, but he had something else on his mind first.  "I was, uh, kind of hoping to phone in my rain check," he murmured, pressing his lips to her neck.  He started to pull away from her, but an intoxicating scent drew him back.  "New soap?"  He could also smell her perfume, so it wasn't that.  

"Yeah.  Rosewater.  You like it?"

"You have no idea..."  Andy inhaled again, unable to pull himself away from her.

Sharon leaned back and gently pushed his face away from her.  "They'll be gone soon, and then I'm all yours."

"I'm holding you to that."  Andy went outside to say hello before getting dinner for himself.  True to Sharon's word, her friends were gone soon, and he was quick to take advantage.  He was waiting for her at the door as soon as he heard them leaving.  "Trick or treat?" he mumbled into her neck.

Sharon took his hand and led him toward their bedroom.  "Surprise me."

[thweatted]

Pokemon Center 2019 Halloween Festival

There was a series of brief events that led to me ordering some Halloween stuff from Japan for myself and a co-worker. So, apparently Canada won’t acknowledge airmail tracking numbers. Um...WHY NOT?! Anyway...

Can’t remember if I posted my Pokemon Center 2019 Easter mug and teapot with Pikachu and Eevee on it or not. This time I’ve got more kitchenware and a plush toy. Plus they threw in that extra pokeball and wrapped Pikachu in a store bag. I wouldn’t mind visiting one of these stores in real life, but alas, it will probably never happen.

I thought I’d give this dice bag to a co-worker to go along with the mascot she got. It has the main illustration on it and the Halloween Festival logo on the back. The full size is a little over 12″ x 7″.

The mug has the same illustration on it, plus the starters and other main characters in the theme’s heads on the other side. It’s as small as my other mug, but no lid and no little design on the inside. I like the illustration, so it would have been better slightly larger just because the picture is so detailed. The Halloween Festival logo is on the bottom of it.

This Berry’s Forest and Ghost’s Castle plate is a separate theme in collab with an artist whose name escapes me. They have lots of merch in this theme: aprons, oven mitts, plastic cups, totes, mirrors, candy tins, and so on. (No teapot this time, but how cool would that have looked?). I really like how the artwork is laid out on this plastic plate though. It’s so colorful, detailed, and lively. I’ve never had a favorite plate before (favorite cup or mug? sure) but perhaps that time has come. I don’t to whether to eat on it or hang it on a wall.

I’d considered getting the Pikachu in the Eevee poncho before, but I could not resist this one in the Mimikyu costume (meta or nah?) and the Gengar trick-or-treating bag. It’s got little pokeball lollipops in it and other candy, love the details. I also like how the outfit is a separate piece and the hood can be removed. The hood isn’t sitting quite right though, might just need more adjusting around the ear. Other than a loose thread on the mouth, it’s very well made. Even the drawing on the tag is super cute. They used this image for some of the other merch. It came a little bent but I want to keep it.

I’ve got no actual Halloween plans this year, not going to the work party this time. My first year I went as my Pokemon Go avatar. This year I will let Pikachu celebrate for me.