#she tends to work on halloween :((( she has like. NO free time at ALL it’s heartbreaking

[chryzure-archive]

What are Chrysi's thoughts on trick or treating? Asking for... a friend...

she enjoys taking her littles trick-or-treating because while they’re walking around, she’ll tell them ghost stories!! plus she has a candy tax at the end of the night and it’s funny watching oz and alice debate over what’s the candy chrysi will like but the candy that they don’t want.

but for herself?? she doesn’t rlly tend to trick-or-treat. she loves dressing up + seeing kids dress up + she likes handing out candy!!!

also when she’s going out and about with the littles, she’s also doing her rounds on halloween. she wishes she could enjoy the holiday itself, but that evening tends to be really dangerous in terms of ghosts and ghouls.

that said, she will always make time to go to a halloween party her friends throw (because if she didn’t go and dress up, jacks would be very annoying over it.)

OH, SIDE NOTE: chrysi has a Thing where she has to dress up as something she is for halloween. this limits her costumes to a cheerleader, witch, tech crew… she has to get specific with it. the reason for this is that chrysi watched the episode of buffy the vampire slayer where everyone turned into their halloween costumes and buffy turned into a useless princess. DEEPLY concerning for chrysi. there still has not been a curse similar to that, but you never know. it could happen.

[marzghost]

MK1 Headcannons I have in no particular order

Bi-han was a mama's boy.

Bi-han loves his brothers but has a hard time expressing his love since his father trained him way harder as he was the oldest and the one that would become grandmaster when he died

Bi-han's betrayal was his own way of showing his love for his brothers because in his mind if he could get the lin kuei stronger and get them more say in things then just being body guards then that in turn means his brothers ,who were also lin kuei at the time, would be protected and could also help change earthrealm for the better

Bi-han and Kuai Liang have a hispanic mother

Bi-han is better at speaking spanish than Kuai Liang as he spent most of his time with her when their father was off training Kuai and Tomas

Their mother is actually the reason Bi-han let their father die, she wanted more for her son's then just being another set of soldiers sent out to their possible death so she told Bi-han that if there ever comes a time to let the old man die

Bi-han hates mirrors because he looks almost exactly like his dad

Kuai Liang takes after their mother in looks but isn't an exact copy like Bi-han is

Bi-han hates Tomas because he had it easy compared to Kuai and himself and because Tomas was almost like a replacement for the sister who never got to live as she died at birth along with their mother due to birth complications

Tomas wasn't trained as hard as the other two but he still went out of his way to prove himself worthy of being a lin kuei and had always looked up to Bi-han ever since he was a young boy

Bi-han's betrayal hit Tomas harder than he let on but he refused to show it believing that he had no right to feel as bad as he did since Bi-han was Kuai Liang's blood brother and he wasn't lin kuei

Tomas is really good at hand shadows

Bi-han hasn't cried since the death of his mother and hasn't been the same since

Kuai Liang is naturally really good at dancing and didn't need to learn like Bi-han did

Tomas is not at all a dancer but he sure as hell can sing

Bi-han actually really respects Johnny Cage as he not only beat him in combat but also his brother

Johnny Cage is a pansexual

Johnny has never cheated on a partner despite his flirting ways

Johnny goes all out for Halloween and used to make his mansion into a haunted house before he had to sell it in order to pay for the divorce settlement

Johnny is a huge history nerd and enjoys reading up on the history of the realms in his free time when he isn't working on his MKCU or helping Kenshi with his whole thing

Johnny is a huge supporter of the arts and buys most of his stuff from small time artists and businesses

Johnny learned braille so Kenshi didn't have to do it alone

Kenshi was really good at art before he was blinded and hates that he can no longer paint like he used to. He still paints in his free time to release stress but he wishes he could see what he's doing since sento only gives him sight when in danger

Johnny has kept every piece of art Kenshi has given him and even puts some of them as Easter eggs in his films

Kenshi hates his tattoos but would never get rid of them since they serve as a way to remind him of where he came from

Kenshi is surprisingly a lightweight and a happy drunk so he tends to stay away from alcohol at all costs

Johnny on the other hand isn't a lightweight but when it finally does hit he's known to become reckless and maybe a bit self destructive

Kenshi is bi-curious

[dauntlessdiva]

I'd Know Those Doe Eyes Anywhere

For @steddieholidaydrabbles warm up prompt: High School/College AU

Rating: G

CWs: Implied/Referenced Transphobia

Tags: College au, Trans Steve Harrington, Coming Out, First Kiss, Bisexual Eddie Munson, Halloween Parties

~♡~

Stevie had taken a few necessary years between high school graduation to finally starting her college education.

She used that time to save up some money through her minimum wage customer service jobs that she worked alongside her best friend and platonic soulmate, Robin Buckley.

With the money she squirrelled away in a savings account combined with the trust left to her by her grandparents, she finally moved out of Hawkins and into a small apartment in Indianapolis. With Robin as her roommate, obviously.

Now out from under her parents' thumbs, away from the watchful gaze that followed her everywhere in places where everyone knew each other, Stevie felt free to finally be herself in the anonymity of the big city.

And now that she'd fully made the social transition, and with her physical transition was under way, she felt that it was finally time to return to the world of academia. For better or for worse.

What she was not expecting was to run into an all too familiar face. Stevie couldn't recall exactly when Eddie Munson finally graduated from Hawkins High, but clearly he must have, or he wouldn't be squinting at her from the back of the class every Monday morning.

It would unnerve her if she thought he recognized her, but between the 'hot girl makeover' (Robin's words) and the fact that she'd changed her last name to her grandmother's name, she was fairly confident that he didn't know who Stevie Evelyn Marie even was.

Eddie didn't know what it was about that Stevie girl in his English class, but he showed up to his classes on Monday more often than any others before 12pm through the rest of the week.

Regardless of what was nagging at the back of his mind about her, Stevie was pretty. He still tended to lean more towards men than women, but he had eyes, and Stevie was easy to look at. She was shy and soft spoken, but she seemed to know the curriculum well and answered every question asked of her thoroughly and thoughtfully, but worded it in a way that even the dumbest of jocks could understand.

The thought of jocks had Steve Harrington coming to mind, and holy shit that's what it was! She looked like the spitting image of King Steve. If The Hair was a girl, he'd be Stevie Marie. But what if? No, it couldn't be. Unless? Steve did, famously, skip town with Robin Buckley of all people, and has yet to make a reappearance. Was this why? Not that he could blame them for leaving either way, Hawkins was a hell hole that he'd been more than happy to leave in his rear view.

Stevie hadn't planned on coming to the campus halloween, but now that she was here, she didn't want to be anywhere else. With Robin as her plus one, she felt confident enough to flirt with a few of her classmates, even going so far as to wink when she'd made eye contact with Eddie from across the room.

The next moment he was standing beside her, and just like that they were laughing and chatting like old school friends catching up and talking with a familiarity hitherto unknown (yes, hitherto, Stevie knew her vocab words).

So of course with everything going so well, Stevie's brain had to betray her. She could see Eddie lean in to kiss her and before she could think about it she was pushing him away with a muttered 'sorry' and rushing off to the nearest bathroom.

"Stevie? Are you in there?" Eddie called out before cautiously stepping into the communal bathroom. "Stevie, if this is about what I think it is, then you should know that I don't care what gender you are." Oh god, Eddie knew! How did he know? He knew he should've picked a different first name, damn Robin for reassuring him that Stevie was fine. "But if this is about something else then you need to tell me, okay? I can't fix it if I don't know what I did wrong."

That finally broke through the panic spiral. "Re-really?" She spoke hesitantly, unlocking the door and poking her head out from the stall she'd run to. Eddie's worried face greeted her in the main area of the bathroom near the sinks. "D'you really mean it? About the-" she paused to take a breath- "the gender thing?"

Eddie's face softened instantly, cautiously walking forwards as he spoke, "yeah, baby. I'd know those doe eyes anywhere, on the face of the sporty boy who made me face my own bisexuality, or the kindest and most well spoken young woman in the whole damn college."

"You recognized me by my eyes?" Stevie asked, leaning in to the touch as Eddie's hands came out to hold her face.

"How else would I recognize such beauty, darling?" He asked, a kind smile gracing his face. Stevie wanted to kiss that sweet smile right off his handsome face, and before she knew what she was doing, she'd pulled him in to do just that.

"Finally!" Robin called out, startling the pair out of their kiss, both turning to look at her before they all burst out in laughter.

Yeah, Stevie was glad she decided to wait a while before entering college.

[fangirlfrom-hell]

October 1st and Traditions Gone Wrong || Jay and Will Halstead x Halstead Sister

*re-posting this because I'm stupid and accidentaly delated my blog 🫠

Becca wants to follow the Halstead's tradition, but looks like everything is againt it.

👻🕯🎃🕸🦇⛓🖤🕷🥀🪦🐈‍⬛💀🌙⚰🍁🕸️

"WAKE UP, YOU SNORER!"

Jay abruptly opned his eyes when a hand moved his shoulder with a shout of "HEY!".

"What the--"

"DON'T YOU REMEMBER WHAT DAY IS TODAY?" Becca was on top of his bed, jumping with excitement.

"Um, it's 5:00am on Sunday, that's all I know", her brother answered turning to his side, trying to go back to sleep.

"IT'S OCTOBER 1ST, SILLY! THE BEST TIME OF THE YEAR HAS BEGUN!" She was smiling from ear to ear, extreme happiness could be heard in her voice.

Jay, feeling a bit defeated, reluctantly opened his eyes and gazed at his sister, who was dressed in a pajama adorned with little ghost designs. Despite his initial exhaustion, he couldn't help but break into a warm smile as he turned his eyes to her, feeling a surge of affection and happiness.

"Well, you certainly know how to wake someone up with a bang!" He rubbed his face with his hands. "What's the plan for today, Becca?"

The girl changed her tone to a more serious one. "You're joking, right? It's tradition: we watch 'The Night Before Christmas' while having a Halloween-themed breakfast, silly..."

Then, she switched back to her excited tone: "I ordered these Jack O' Lantern molds to make pancakes..."

"What? How did you order that? With what money?"

"I used your card, but that's not the point! I'll call Will, in case he forgot. He should be the one cooking today." And she hurriedly left the room.

"Sure, he'll be delighted to be woken up," Jay muttered to himself and chuckled.

After a tiring night call, Jay struggled to break free from his bed. He knew Becca wouldn't allow him to go back to sleep. Besides, she was brimming with energy; this date was significant to her, and he didn't want to disappoint her. They had followed this tradition since they were kids, but it had halted when Jay went to war and Will pursued his studies. Jay had resumed it when their mother passed away, primarily for Becca's sake. Will had rekindled his involvement in the tradition only a couple of years ago when he came back to Chicago.

Jay stepped out into the hallway, wearing his own ghost-themed shirt to match his little sister's. He made his way straight to the kitchen to brew some coffee. As he prepared the coffee, a smile crept onto his face when he spotted the box of Jack O'Lantern molds she had bought, fully aware of how much she had been anticipating this moment.

The room remained dimly lit, with most of the lights turned off, but Jay could discern Becca's silhouette on the sofa. She appeared deeply engrossed in a phone call, and Jay couldn't help but sense a tinge of concern. Was she crying? He continued to watch her intently while tending to his coffee, quietly trying to gauge her emotions from a distance.

"..sure, I understand. Yeah, no problem, I already told you I get it. See you later". she said into the phone before hanging up.

A few seconds of tense silence filled the air. Jay waited for her to say something, but she didn't budge from her spot.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, concern evident in his voice.

"Yes," she replied tersely.

"Is Will going to make it?" Jay inquired, though he already knew the answer.

Becca struggled to conceal her emotions, her voice quivering as she responded, "No."

Jay let out a deep sigh and sat down next to her. She was gazing into the abyss with her arms crossed.

"He just got back home from his shift; that's what he said," Becca explained, immitating her brother's voice. "He said he would be here later. I know. He's working, he's tired...but he forgot about it! And now everythingi s ruined! Just for the record, I'm not mad at him, I'm just...sad, I guess."

"Hey! Nothing is ruined, I'm still here!" Jay reassured her.

"But the tradition is with the three of us! We can't do it with minus one!"

"Well, sometimes traditions change, and that's all right, Becc. We used to do this without him, remember? Then he came back, and it evolved to what we have now..." Jay reassured her, understanding the sentimental value of their tradition, but also the way it had adapted over time.

"I guess you are right."

"What I'm trying to say it that if he said he'll come later, and his precense it's so important for you, maybe we can adapt to it. We'll watch 'The Night Before Christmas' in the evening, no big deal. Meanwhile, you and I can select another movie and savor those Jack O'Lantern pancakes. What do you say?"

"Yeah, I like that!" Becca replied with a hopeful smile.

The two Halstead siblings got to work. Together, they cooked the Jack O'Lantern pancakes and prepared hot chocolate for the special occasion. They shared hearty laughter, engaging in playful banter, and soon, Becca's spirits began to lift. Occasionally, Jay would stifle a yawn, and it was impossible for Becca not to notice the dark circles under his eyes; he appeared incredibly tired.

"Thank you for doing this with me," the girl said as they settled back on the sofa. "I know you're exhausted too."

"No problem," he replied sincerely. "There's nothing I'd rather do than celebrate October 1st with you," he winked. "Now, what are we watching?" Jay added, his exhaustion momentarily forgotten.

"Ghostbusters?" Becca suggested with a grin.

Will arrived at Jay's place around 5:00 pm, carrying two big bags filled with Halloween-themed treats and snacks. "This is my way to say I'm sorry," he explained.

"Apology accepted," Becca said, taking the bags.

Everyhting was going well, the Halstead siblings were now together, preparing everything to finally watch the movie. The initial credits appeared: "The Night Before Christmas" and Becca, Jay, and Will started to sing along: Boys and girls of every age. Wouldn't you like to see something strange? Come with us and you will see. This, our town of Halloween...

"Oh, geez! I'm so happy we made it!" The girl said and hugged her bothers.

But like a bad omen, Jay's phone began to ring. Becca turned to him, but he initially decided to ignore the call. It was probably nothing, as it was his day off, and he had explicitly asked not to be bothered, considering the Halstead's celebration. However, the phone rang again, three times in a row, and he couldn't ignore it any longer.

"Halstead", he sighed as he answered the call.

"Oh, God. I should have kept my mouth shout", Becca reproached herself as she paused the movie.

"I'll be there in 15", the detective brother finished the call with an agry tone.

"It's your day off!" Becca stood up, "This is not fair!"

"I know, I know, Beccs. I'm really sorry, but I gotta go to this crime scene".

"Ugh, this day is cursed. It's a stupid tradition, anyway. Who cares?" She stormed off to her room and slammed the door shut.

Becca's heart sank, but not as much as Jay's. He called out, "I'll try my best to be back soon, Becca! I promise!" as he hurried away, his voice filled with regret and determination.

"I'll take care of this, don't worry," Will reassured his brother with a comforting pat on the shoulder before Jay left the place.

Becca's door was opened and when Will peeked his head in, she was sitting at the edge of the bed, weeping the tears that were rolling down her cheeks.

"Hey, munchkin", he slowly approached to her "You know this is not Jay's foult..."

"I know," she turned to face him, her expression troubled. Her voice quivered with a hint of sadness. "But it doesn't make me feel better. I... I always wait for this day because it brings us together. We used to do this with Mom and Dad, and... I don't know." Tears welled up in her eyes as she continued, her voice choked with emotion. "Things started going wrong since this morning. I should have listened to the signs. You two are adults now, with your own lives and jobs, so, of course, you wouldn't have time for these things."

Her words carried a deep sense of disappointment and longing, and her eyes glistened with the memories of cherished family moments that seemed to slip further away with each passing year.

"It's not nonsense," Will assured her, his tone gentle. "You're right. We're not kids anymore, and we have other things to attend to, but nothing, not even work, will ever be more important than you, Becca. You are our priority, and if this tradition is important to you, it's important to us too." He sighed and reached out to hug her by the shoulder. "I apologize for forgetting it; I wanted to make amends by coming in the afternoon. I didn't think it would cause so many problems."

"No, it's not your fault. It is what it is, that's all."

"You waited for me the whole day," Will observed. "May I ask why it's so important that the three of us watch it together?" He inquired, genuinely curious about the significance of their tradition for her.

Becca frowned for a moment, lost in thought, and then she smiled warmly. "It was Mom's favorite spooky movie," she explained. "Somehow, it feels like she's still around when it's the three of us." Her eyes held a mixture of nostalgia and comfort as she shared her toughts.

Will and Becca spent the evening playing board games until they decided to watch another film while waiting for Jay.

"You haven't seen 'Gremlins'?" Will asked incredulously. "How come? Geez, that's it! That's what we're watching now!"

Hours passed by, and Becca's eyes were beginning to close. After all, she had woken up very early to start the day. She realized Jay was not coming back on time, but she still wanted to wait until the very end.

"You should rest," her brother encouraged her.

"It's 10:00 pm. If he gets home, we can still honor the tradition."

"Tell you what: close your eyes and sleep; you look tired. If Jay comes back, I'll wake you up."

"Hmm, will you really wake me up?" She asked, sounding suspicious.

"It's a promise!" he assured her.

As soon as she place her head on her brother's shoulder, she fall asleep.

👻🕯🎃🕸🦇⛓🖤🕷🥀🪦🐈‍⬛💀🌙⚰🍁🕸️

"We shouldn't," murmurs echoed in the distance, almost as if they were part of her dream. "I promised her," another voice chimed in. "Give it a try," someone suggested. "If she doesn't wake up at first, we let her rest."

"Hey, Becc!" Will's voice was now clear and bright. Becca opened her eyes to see her red-haired brother's face in front of her. "Jay's back."

She turned her head and spotted him standing right next to the couch. Her smile was bright, and suddenly, a rush of energy filled her tiny body as she stood up quickly.

"OK, WHAT TIME IS IT?"

"Um, 11:30."

"IT WORKS FOR ME; WE'RE STILL ON TIME TO COMMEMORATE THE TRADITION!" Becca exclaimed with enthusiasm. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? MOVE! MOVE! GET EVERYTHING READY!"

Becca couldn't contain her happiness. It was true; the tradition hadn't gone as usual, but at this very moment, surrounded by her brothers, she felt a warmth that overshadowed any disappointment.

It was true what Jay had said: traditions change with time, and that's perfectly okay. In this case, they had even added two more movies to the celebration. Her brothers had made the effort to be with her on this important day, and she couldn't have been more grateful for their presence. She hugged both of them tightly, cherishing this moment of togetherness and the bonds that meant the world to her.

"I'm glad you both made it".

By the time the movie finished, the clock struck 1:00 am. Becca couldn't stifle a tired yawn, feeling the exhaustion wash over her. She turned to her brothers and was surprised to see both of them fast asleep, their peaceful expressions illuminated by the soft glow of the TV.

A warm, fond smile crept across Becca's face. She stretched her tired limbs, feeling a sense of contentment in this moment. With a gentle sigh, she snuggled up between the two Halstead brothers, her heart filled with love for her family. It had been an unconventional but truly special day, and now, as she closed her eyes, she was ready to join them in a well-deserved slumber, cherishing the bonds that meant the world to her.

👻🕯🎃🕸🦇⛓🖤🕷🥀🪦🐈‍⬛💀🌙⚰🍁🕸️

Thanks for reading. If you liked it, it would help my soul if you give it a like, comment or share 😌♡

[lightlycareless]

First, it hurts— Chapter XL

Naoya Zen’in x Fem!Reader

While arranged marriages are not uncommon in the jujutsu community, it was strange to receive a proposal from none other than the Zen’in’s, nonetheless your clan accepted and before you knew it, you were married off to Naoya.

Your new purpose was clear: to serve and submit, to be seen and not heard. To forget any sense of individuality in favor of obeying your husband.

Will this marriage ever flourish into something else? Will it change…for better or for worse?

Chapter warnings: omg this is the spooky edition.

A/N: None heheheheh. but I am going on a break!! Thank you so much for all the support!! ❤️❤️❤️ See you around!!!

Now, without any further ado, happy reading! 🥰

Masterlist ➸ Chapter 41

Ao3 link.

You were yet to begin the day, but you could already feel as if there was an eerie calmness engulfing the estate. A silence so abundant, it almost felt like you could hear what was happening on the other side of the estate if you were attentive enough…

A sensation that also seemed to extend to the staff, given the lack of footsteps heard outside your room, rushing from one side of the living quarters to the other while tending the masters. It is as if they’ve already tended to all their duties for the day, and now, had nothing but free time for themselves.

You remember the moment where you thought it impossible for the Zen’in estate to have a calm day, especially since you were the most controversial figure there, yet, here you are, admiring what is a day without much, if any, commotion.

Naturally, you wonder what could’ve happened to have such stillness, and if it was something you’d be able to use in your favor now that you’re feeling a bit better. That rough patch of sickness sure got you quite the disadvantage, both physically and emotionally, so you could certainly use a day off.

“How… calm” You’d tell Mariya while closely watching her take out your attire for the day: something warm to fight the rising winter, but adequate enough to not make you feel overcrowded. “It’s… kind of eerie.”

“Fits with the day, doesn’t it?” she says with a smile.

“The day…?” you blink—what made today so special?

“Halloween, of course” Mariya responds “The 31st of October, Saturday in fact. The end of the week.”

Oh.

How could you have forgotten that, especially after being constantly reminded of it?

But most importantly…

Has it really been that long since your wedding?

It was ironic to even say that, since you’ve always considered that time at the Zen’in estate felt like an eternity. But now, it’s been months since you’ve last seen your family, friends, and freedom—yet they remain in your mind vividly as ever.

Given the date they’re probably already working, eased into their stations as they prepared to watch over the night.

As every year, you assumed, Ren would’ve told you that he’d rather stay home watching horror movies or go out to the city and make the best of this western celebration instead of working; while Hinata thought the complete opposite, wanting to go to work because she gets to see curses that don’t come out that often, or perhaps even new ones. Always the workaholic, your sister.

And you, on the other hand… well, you just wanted to go out anywhere, really. After years and years of seclusion, you were itching to see the world and uncover all its mysteries.

But you suppose that staying inside will be good too, not that it was your decision to make, but at least you’ll have company this time.

“Oh, right” you eventually respond. “Wow, I didn't think it was today already.”

“Time flies, doesn’t it? Especially if you’re busy.” Mariya sighs. Something in her tone tells you she’s been wanting to take a break for a while now, but that is not meant to happen so easily for the prime lady-in-waiting.

“Then you’re already centuries ahead” You chuckle, she agrees with a laugh of her own. “All I’ve been doing is sleep and stay in my room… so I’m more than ready to do literally anything else for a change.”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, Y/N. But it seems I won’t be able to help you this time” Mariya says, placing your clothes on the bed. “Since everybody is out of the estate for work, most of the staff doesn’t have duties to do, outside of cleaning I suppose… but what is there to clean if there is no one dirtying it?”

You nod along, she makes a whole lot of sense now that she puts it that way.

“Must be the favorite day for the staff, hm?”

“It’s relaxing, I can admit that.” Mariya adds “We can essentially do whatever we want without being constantly watched… kind of, there’s still the staff of the master’s to worry about, but as long as we don’t look like we’re relaxing too much, we should be fine.”

“Do you celebrate Halloween?”

“Not really, I mean, I would just go down to the village market and see whatever seasonal stuff they have—but even then, I don’t usually buy much” Mariya reminisces, last year, there was a particular vendor who sold a wide collection of impressive masks, proclaimed to be hand-painted by himself, ranging from silly, moderately adorable, to straight up terrifying.

Certainly, the man had talent for his craft, and it made Mariya wonder if he’ll be there this year again, maybe she should go down there and buy one just to support him.

And the year before that, the villagers set up a small puppet theater to tell horror stories, nothing too scary, just something to entertain those who wished to indulge in the seasonal ambience. It was mostly, if not completely, family oriented. Mariya found herself listening to one or two stories whenever she could.

While the people of the Zen’in clan thought these days tedious, others considered it a day of leisure—truly, two sides of the same coin.

“But outside of that, I just spend my time here. It’s essentially an extra day off so I just use it to call my family, or hang out with Tatsuro” She adds “What about you? Do sorcerers celebrate Halloween or is it just for work?”

“A bit of both” you respond.

“Shibuya?”

“Oh, no—I have never been one to enjoy that kind of environment.” you chuckle “It can get too chaotic, though I did dress up when I was younger…”

“No way!” Mariya gasps, a grin parting her lips as she tries to imagine the kind of costume your younger self would’ve worn. “At least tell me there's pictures!”

“Too many! My dad would make my mom take pictures of us all the time” you giggle, a whole… dozens of albums were probably made thanks to his bottomless need of “capturing the moment”, and that quantity was probably per child .

Thankfully your mother knew just how to control his obsession, taking out the pictures she considered less than flattering, and putting the rest into a sensible amount of… 5 albums. A far more normal amount to have instead of the thousands of before.

“We’d do it every year, but there is one I remember the most—I think I dressed up as some kind of… ghost, or something? And my sister was a cat…”

“And your brother?”

“Someone… from a girl group” you quietly say “Don’t ask.”

“I won’t—seemed like fun anyways.” she smiles. “By the way, now that I don’t have any suggestions, is there something you’d like to do instead?”

“Oh, I don’t know, I don’t want to intrude on your free day”

“Ah, you’re not intruding at all… I’m all caught up with what I have to do anyways, and Tatsuro wanted the day for his friends so, it’s just us, Haruko, Hitomi… and who knows, if Junko-san is lenient enough, maybe even the twins?”

Your face immediately lightens at the thought of seeing Mai and Maki again. God knows how long it had been since you last saw them, wanting to thank them for the lovely letter they gave you during the beginning of your sickness—a reunion was definitely long overdue.

But before you could even think of anything else, your stomach in its usual starving fashion, begins to grumble, making you blush out of embarrassment, Mariya chuckling out of humor.

“I’ll think about it after breakfast” you join her laughter soon after. “I’m starving!”

Seems that you weren't the only one with that sentiment of wanting to see the other, for as soon as you enter the dining hall, you’re tackled by your favorite twins, Mai and Maki, followed by their cheerful greetings, expressing how much they missed you and been wanting to see you, and just couldn't wait to spend their day alongside you… 

But then, their stern mother comes in, ordering them to release you and behave, for that is no way to treat the lady of the house, before looking up to you and giving you a scolding of your own.

“You ought to stay in bed until a doctor deems you healthy!” Junko says, carefully pulling away the kids from you, but the girls didn’t follow, their small grip still tight on your clothes. “You’re going to get everyone sick!”

“Junko-san, Y/N has been feeling much better since a few days ago” Mariya intervenes, having gone ahead to the kitchen to get your food, setting it next to what she assumed to be Mai and Maki’s seat. “Besides, who is left to get sick? It’s just us here at this point, and neither of us got sick.”

Junko doesn’t like how silly Mariya has become with her responses, albeit occasionally, mostly when you're around, giving her the impression that this is fsu,t of your influence…

But as foolish as her answer was, she was right, besides, Mariya wouldn't allow you out of your bedroom unless she deemed it appropriate. If there's one thing she can't deny, is her commitment to the job.

At this point, all that Junko can do is hope that your behavior doesn’t rub off on her daughters, which she's subtly caught these past few days… they’re relentless on their own, that much she can say.

"Don't cough near my daughters at least" Junko gives a final warning before retreating back to the table and continuing eating.

"Of course not, Junko-san" you reassure her. The last thing you'd want is get them sick too. Oh, how elated you were to know you were the only one sick.

After that was set, you guide the girls back to the table, sitting in between the two, giving a small prayer of gratitude for the meal, and beginning to eat breakfast.

“I wasn’t expecting to see the two of you here” you say before the first bite, them mimicking you soon after. “Don’t have much to do on this day?”

“They do” Junko intervenes before they’re able to respond “They have homework and chores to complete around the house.”

“Chores?” you ask, looking at her with disbelief. “What can they possibly have to do on Halloween?”

“Halloween?” Mai ponders “What’s Halloween?”

You gasp, Junko frowns.

“ No —Don’t tell me they don’t know what Halloween is, Junko-san!”

“They don’t need to know that” she says, “That is a western celebration, nothing my children need to know.”

“But it’s fun!” you retort playfully “You get to eat candy, dress up—”

“Or eat pumpkin!!” Haruko suddenly appears out of thin air, alongside her sister, who was helping her carry the humongous big orange pumpkin over to the table, dropping it with a loud thud that makes everyone flinch. "Whoops, sorry—but it's impressive, right? Can you believe I got it at the market?" 

“How… did you manage to find that?” Junko is the first to respond, completely hypnotized and, well, startled by the pumpkin, enough to forget scolding her, for she had never, ever seen one of its size, less be carried by someone as scrawny as Haruko or Hitomi… seems like a situation out of a dream, so she needs to be pulled back to reality.

“Let’s say I have a rather amicable relationship with a farmer… might have exchanged some goods for it too…” Haruko murmurs, Junko raises an eyebrow. “But that doesn’t matter! What matters now is that I have this huge pumpkin to literally do anything I want! But I’m also accepting suggestions.”

“We can eat it, like you said.” Mariya reiterates. “Or carve it, although it seems like a waste for something as big as that. I’d rather have Haruko prepare us something instead, I already know it’ll be tasty, right, Hitomi?”

The seamstress looks at her for a brief second, before glancing away, not even answering.

Right.

The two have yet to make up.

… Well, Mariya still hopes she’ll join the group for whatever they end up doing that day.

“Seems like the court is leaning more into eating it…” Wanting to stop the rising awkwardness between the two, Haruko sways the conversation back to her. “So.. I’ll leave it to the twins! What do you two want to do, eat or carve?”

“Eat!” the two respond in unison.

“No, you will not!” Junko interjects.

“Huh???” Haruko groans “Why are you so against them having fun?!”

“...They can have fun without eating junk food” She retorts “They are not intertwined”

“Don’t you think you’re being a bit too harsh on them?” You ask “It’s just for one day, and the food that Haruko makes is very delicious, it's a once in a lifetime experience they can’t miss!”

“I won’t be questioned by you regarding my parenting” Junko frowns. “What is done, is done. And my word is final.”

“Ah, Junko-san…” Mariya laments when he sees the round face of the girls scrunch in disappointment. They were looking forward to spending their whole day with you, or at least part of it… only for their mother to tell them it was not going to happen.

And not only that, but she was also cutting them off from things they have never experienced in their life; something as silly as celebrating Halloween couldn’t possibly do them harm… but if she already made up her mind, there really is nothing else that she could do—

“…Fine” Junko would relent eventually, not really out of her own volition, but she guesses that just as the rest of the estate is doing, they too deserve a break. To partake in a celebration, while she never understood nor liked, alongside people that actually want to spend time with them.

It’ll be a nice change of pace for the three, Mai and Maki will be rightfully distracted, and she… Well, she’ll be able to have some time for herself. Much needed time for herself.

“But they will not eat sugar, they will not go to forbidden areas, whatever you’ll do it’ll be with the utmost respect of the rest that stayed behind, and they will absolutely not go to sleep past their curfew” Junko begins to list her conditions, with such fastness that made the whole group think she intended to give them permission to be with you from the very beginning, just wanted to make you work for it.

Either way, neither will deny how elated they were that the twins will be able to stay under your care, and for the whole day it seems considering the last requirement. Because of this, the girls literally gobbled down the rest of their food, excited to start with the next activity.

“Thank you, Junko-san” you say, giving her a smile “I promise to take great care of your girls!”

Junko doesn’t say much outside of a hum, or a frown when Haruko teases “We’ll save you a piece!” before picking up her plate and exiting the hall, seemingly to take her meal in a more silent area, getting to enjoy that she won’t have to tend to her obnoxious, picky husband for the day.

Once away, the new leader of the group, Haruko , turns to see the rest of the group with a wide grin on her face.

“Who’s ready to bake some pumpkin pie?!” She hypes, the twins jumping on their spot, joining her wave of excitement.

“We are!!”

“Then let’s go!!” Haruko cheers “I will lead you through the wonderful adventure that cooking a pie is!!”

“—ok so… maybe I shouldn't have bought that big of a pumpkin." Few hours later, and a ridiculous amount of pumpkin pies, Haruko rightfully concludes, alongside noting that she could essentially open a store with how many she made…

"I told you… but you always like to go to the extremes don't you?" Hitomi sighs, shaking her head "We truly don't need a dozen pies—we can't possibly eat all of them"

"Not that I was planning on doing that… but yes, this is too much. What am I going to do?!" Haruko cries.

"I mean, we can save it for another day" Mariya suggests "Or give it to some of the staff members, I'm sure at least one of them will appreciate it"

"Why not sell it?" Maki asks "That way you can get your money back"

"Ah, quite the businesswoman there, aren't you?" Haruko chuckles, Maki blushes. "But I wouldn't sell it, I mean, I didn't spend any money for it…"

"How'd you get it, then?" It's your turn to ask, for there's no way anyone would give away for free the humongous pumpkin she got, it was like a gold mine!

"It was a favor, I did something for the farmer and the farmer did something for me—that's all." Haruko admits. "Nothing special, really"

"Something tells me you're not telling the truth" You tease with a smirk "Come on, tell me, what did you do to get it?"

"Ah, nice try Y/N, but I'm not going to tell you my secrets!" She shakes her head "It'll be something that I take to the grave"

“Sounds awful a lot like a boyfriend to me…” you murmur, Haruko gasps.

“Shut up!!” she blushes “That is not true! Whatever Y/N says is not true!!”

"Alright, alright" you chuckle, as if Haruko didn’t make herself a more of an obvious target, but whatever. "I'll find out sooner or later though" 

"I wouldn't bet on it" Haruko shoots back "There's just some things you don't know about me… Anyways! Who’s ready for some pie?"

"Let me help you with the plates" You quickly offer, but she rejects you.

"Don't worry about it, I have it all under control! How about… you help me with something else?”

"Sure, what's up?"

"Let's say… while we eat some pie…how about we tell some horror stories, eh? Ghosts and that kind of stuff" Haruko eagerly suggests, making Hitomi roll her eyes, Mariya and you chuckle, and the twins… Well, one of them didn't like the idea, the other couldn't be any more enthusiastic.

“I don’t know…” Mai eventually speaks up, making you look at her with concern. 

“You don’t like scary stuff?” You ask, and she nods. The poor girl had never been a fan of the frightening, so the idea does not allure her, not one bit, this may be due to the fact that out of the two she’s the only one who gets to see curses, and they're not known for being easy on the eyes.

This is where Maki would step in, reassuring her that as long as she ignored them, nothing would happen. Easier said than done, of course, but Maki’s confidence always managed to inspire Mai, she just knew what to do or say to comfort her.

“It’s just stories, Mai” Maki would say. “They can’t harm you.”

“But they’re real…”

“Are they?” Hitomi would ask you, their go-to myth debunker when it comes to these things.

“Um, some of them” you respond honestly, only to regret it immediately after seeing Mai’s frowning face. “I mean—it’s just like Maki-chan said, they’re just stories, things that people make up to have fun.”

“Like the one about Hanako-san!” Haruko jumps in, trying to lift the mood… although how do you do that by bringing in a somewhat scary activity? 

“Hanako-san…?” Mai repeats.

“The one about the toilet?” Maki asks.

“Exactly—it’s quite silly if you think about it” Haruko continues “You’re supposed to call her name in a bathroom stall, knock on the door 3 times and wait for a response…”

“I remember doing something like that when I was younger” Mariya confesses “I went with a group of friends to see if we’d be able to see the ghost, but of course, nothing ever happened, outside of a girl screaming because someone had turned off the lights”

“Were you the one screaming?” You tease, she chuckles.

“Ah! Obviously not, Y/N!” she scoffs, feigning to be offended—and your interaction with her manages to ease Mai a bit, realizing there could be some fun behind the fright. “Who do you think I am?”

“Oh, nothing—you just told me everything” you shrug, she chuckles and you return to the twins. “Have you two heard of the legend of Hanako-san?”

“A bit”

“No.”

Thus, the first story of the day unfolds.

“I want to tell it!” Haruko cheers “But let me serve some slices first”

Haruko could’ve given Gojo a run for his money with the speed she manages to take out the plates, cut the pie and hand each and everyone present a slice. 

But before they start to eat, the group ends up choosing to move into a more comfortable setting, such as the room Mariya suggested, one that is rarely used, but still has a warm kotatsu , and is secluded enough to not be bothered by any unwanted interruptions.

Once everyone is settled, with Haruko already done with her slice, she takes a deep breath, and begins.

“Ok, so… Imagine you’re at school, you’re bored because the classes are awful—you could literally do anything else, anything , and you’d be much better. So, you begin to talk to your classmates, wondering “What can we do to kill this boredom?” and one of them suggests… “Why don’t we talk to Hanako-san?”

You wonder, “Who is Hanako-san? Are they from another class?” but they tell you “No, it’s a girl that lives in the bathroom!” That obviously sounds so, so silly, but because you don’t want to hear Mariya-sensei go on about the same thing over and over again, you decide to check it out.’

Hanako-san doesn’t appear in just any bathroom, though. It has to be on the third floor, in the girls restroom, on the third stall. Not the fourth, or the first, and if your school doesn't have 3 stalls then you can’t do it.

Luckily, your school does have it, and once you and your friends are there, the fun begins.

Because no one else wants to do it, and technically you were the one to inspire everything, you’re the one to knock on the door. You arm yourself with all the courage you can find, take a deep breath, and knock three times before calling the girl’s name.

“Hanako-san? Are you here?”

Seconds go by, and the only thing you hear is one of your friends complaining how this was just as boring as the other things they were doing before—and you find yourself almost agreeing to it… but then, a quiet, soft voice coming from the other side of the door responds…

“Yes, I am”

It’s Hanako-san .

No one believes it, you certainly don’t, but there’s no way to prove that unless opening the door and see what’s going on, right?? So you do, you open the door and there she is, the little girl called Hanako-san! An actual ghost!!

But what do you do from there? Like, you have a ghost right in front of you!! There’s so many things you can ask her!! So many things to do!

But she doesn’t let you do any, because as soon as she sees you, she grabs you by the arm and drags you down to hell!!!”

Mai gasps, flinching by the sudden, unexpected turn of events. While Maki is… well, disappointed by the way the story ended, having hoped to get more details of the ghost itself…

“Back in my day, she’d ask for a playmate…” Mariya says. 

“You make it sound like you’re that old.” Haruko responds. “But I guess it depends on the version. There’s too many stories that talk about hell and bathrooms anyways…”

“What’s up with that?” Hitomi asks “Are people afraid of restrooms or something?”

“Oh, it’s not that per say… it’s just that restrooms, like schools, are places that most if not everybody goes to” you attempt to rationalize, inwardly laughing once realizing how similar you were to Hinata right now. You seriously doubted they wanted to know the actual reason, but it’s too late to back up now—guess you’ll have to completely take on the role of nerd for this occasion. 

“That makes sense, I guess.” Hitomi says, reminiscing on another famous urban legend consisting of a similar background. “But… Why do you have to fight for your life in the restroom? It’s like aka manto… ”

“I mean, we’ve all fought for our lives in the toilet at one point, right?” Haruko jests.

“Ewww” Mai cringed, having quickly understood what she meant. The cook just laughs.

“What is that one about?” Maki asks, eager to get her small hands on another story, the story legend of the day.

“Someone that’s supposed to appear in restrooms too, however, this one you can’t summon, it’s supposed to appear on its own” Hitomi begins to explain. “The spirit wears a red cloak, or a blue one depending on the area, and it offers you two kinds of paper, a blue one and a red one. Depending on your answer, it’s what is going to happen to you.”

“I’d pick the red one.” Maki says confidently.

“I wouldn’t pick either…” Mai murmurs.

“Mai-chan would survive, actually,” Hitomi reveals, making Maki groan.

“Why? What’s gonna happen to me??”

“You’d get—” She stops, debating whether she should tell two little girls the gruesome details of her choice… although something tells her that Maki would like to know all about it.

Perhaps another time.

“You get pulled to hell, again”

“That’s not true—” Haruko was about to protest until her sister elbowed her, letting her know to keep quiet. “I mean, who would’ve known it would lead to the same thing? Ha!”

The twins may be young, but they are not naive, and they’re quick to notice that, but before they can confront the sisters about it, Mariya steps in.

“Oh, I know one! It’s a pretty popular one, but maybe Mai and Maki haven’t heard of it!” Mariya says enthusiastically “The one about kuchisake-onna ”

“Kuchisake…onna?” Mai repeats slowly, and just as Mariya supposed, it was the first time she’d ever heard of such a character, meanwhile Maki has heard more than enough, but was eager to hear a complete retelling of the legend.

“Yes” Mariya begins “It’s the story of a woman that lurks the streets at night… whom you only get to see if alone. There’s nothing special about her, outside of her gorgeous face, which she covers under a mask. 

You may wonder, why would she hide such beauty if it’s so great?

That’s easy—it’s all because she hides a terrible secret underneath...!”

Mai’s eyes widened out of intrigue.

“What…. What is she hiding?” she quietly adds.

“A horrible, hideous smile stretching from one ear to the other!” Mariya gasps, making the youngest of the twin’s gasp as well. “ Kuchisake-onna will find you alone and ask you if you find her beautiful, if you say yes, she’ll take off her mask, revealing her true face to ask you the same thing, and if you say yes once again, she’ll cut—”

“Ugh, booooooriiiiing!!!!” Haruko groans, rolling her eyes. “You revealed the good part too quickly, and nobody likes that!”

Mai doesn’t bother to hide the fact that she’s elated Haruko interrupted Mariya from finishing the story, for out of the three, this had been the most terrifying one yet, a sigh escaping her lips soon after. Maki, however, frowns, irritated by the same reason—why wouldn’t they let her know what’s going to happen? She’s old enough to take it!

“But it’s still scary, Haruko.” Mariya responds.

“But not as scary as it should be” She counters “It’s like a joke, it’s not funny anymore if you have to explain it!”

“Well, excuse me” It was now Mariya’s turn to be irritated. “Had I known you were going to find my storytelling so dreadful , I would’ve gone somewhere else.”

“I didn’t mean it that way!” Haruko cries, caught off guard by her reaction. She didn’t think it was that… serious. “I was just saying—”

“No, you said enough” She interjects, quickly standing up from her seat and heading towards the door. “I’ll be somewhere else, preferably where my stories will be appreciated”

“Wait, Mariya!” Haruko pleads. “Where are you going?! I didn’t mean it like that!”

But her words would fall on deaf ears, for Mariya simply continued on with her path, closing the door and leaving behind a group of speechless, concerned onlookers who wondered if this had really happened.

“Is she… angry?” Maki is the first to speak, a question that while it might appear obvious, managed to instill confusion in everyone.

“I don’t know.” you say as honestly as you could, being another of the bunch that believed that her behavior might’ve been… a bit extreme. “It’s not like her to be like that…”

“Who knows.” Hitomi quietly adds.

“What do we do now…?” Mai asks.

“There’s nothing we can do.” you suppose. “If she wants to do something else, we should let her.”

The girls press their lips together and hum—silently agreeing with your words, believing that perhaps Mariya genuinely wanted to do something else, perhaps suddenly remembered a pending task or… well, wanting to clear her mind from Haruko’s seeming imprudence. Who knows.

“Either way, I’m sure we still have other stories to go through” you try to reassure them, move the conversation away from the uncomfortable, overwhelming tension surrounding Mariya, and back to their fun activity.  “Anyone wants to volunteer for a story?”

“I don’t know if I want to…” Haruko pouts, effectively shoved away from participating.

“I have one, then” Hitomi steps in.“And this one is a real one, because it happened to my mother.”

The interest of the group pikes.

“To mom? ” Haruko asks “What… happened?”

Technically, the fourth story of the evening.

“A long time ago, she used to work in a hotel as a housekeeper. Her responsibilities were simple, she’d clean after the vacated rooms, make them presentable for whichever guest is next, or do whatever other cleaning was needed around the building.

She’d always tell me that her time there was mostly uneventful, quite boring if she was being honest, but it was a good pay and that was enough for her to stay.

However, all would change the day she was assigned the night shift—apparently the receptionist had called in sick, and mom, wanting to take on bigger responsibilities for a while now, was quick to offer herself to cover them.

Since the night is usually calm, and it was just her that shift, mom decided to go around cleaning a bit of things while something happened. Just checking if everything was in place, reading some magazines for time to pass by quickly, that kind of stuff… until the phone began to ring.

Mom wasn’t unsettled by the call in the middle of the night, for she was informed that someone might do that to check the availability of a room, usually a backpacker hoping to rest a bit before moving on with their trip…

What unsettled her was the person on the other side of the line.”

“Who was it?!” Haruko suddenly frets, slicing through her story and making her frown. The cook gets the silent message which makes her apologize immediately after.

“Anyways, as I was saying….

She responded with the customary greeting, expecting to be asked about room availability, fares and prepared for it… but instead, she was received with silence.

My mom would insist again, believing it was a problem with the phone service at first, but when there was still no response, she thought it was a prank and hung up.

She’d move on quickly after, back to whatever she was doing prior… until the phone rang again. 

It was the same procedure as before, greeting, waiting to be asked for prices… and be received with silence. Mom didn’t take much longer after that to hang up, but by the third time, she finally decided to check the caller id, find out if it was a friend of hers or something wanting to pull a prank on her…

Only to receive the most frightening realization.

It was coming from the inn, from one of the rooms… where no one was staying.

Naturally, my mother was deeply concerned and wanted to check the room, but she couldn’t just leave her post due to safety measures, so she stayed, attempting to talk to the person on the other side and tell them to stop whatever it was that they intended to do, to no avail…

She hung up once more. Wanting to believe it was nothing but a mistake, but as much as she wanted, that wouldn’t make sense—no one can use a phone unless they were physically there, right?

An hour or so would pass before she received another call, one she’d greet as any other…

But this time, when she put her ear against the phone, hearing the same white noise as before… She felt different. She felt as if the reason behind these calls weren’t to prank her, but rather… to talk to her.

She didn’t know why she did it, but once inundated with this feeling that the person on the other line desperately wanted to have a word with her, she said:

“Everything is fine. We’ll be ok. Don’t worry about me—you can rest.”

And then, the call ended, but from the other side.”

“What… happened after that?” You asked what everyone in the room wondered once Hitomi went silent.

“A few hours later my mom would come back home to the awful news that her sister, my aunt, had passed away—and just around the same time she received the last call.”

Everyone’s heart sinks.

“My mom thought it to be a coincidence at first, but after reflecting on that sentiment… Well, it made sense. She took it as my aunt trying to say goodbye one last time. And while it was a bit eerie at first, she’s now glad that she didn’t just ignore the calls and got to bid her a peaceful farewell.”

“That’s… wow . I… Well— I don’t know what to say, it’s both scary yet… sad.” you say, the twins agree.

“I know, but if it’s worth anything, mom looks back at it with fondness. I’m not going to deny that this did make me wonder if things like the afterlife and such exist—Although I’m sure I can at least say that the paranormal does, thanks to you.” Hitomi chuckles.

“I guess so” you give her a tight smile “Well, I’m glad that at least your aunt was able to pass on without regrets.”

“Me too.” Hitomi responds.

“I didn’t know this.” Haruko admits. “It must’ve been awful for mom. How long ago was that?”

“A few years before moving in with dad so… probably when she was 14, 15?” Hitomi guesses “She was pretty young when it happened.”

“Thank you for sharing this story with us.” you add.

“Thank you for listening” she responds with a smile “But I didn’t want it to be taken as something melancholic! It’s still kind of creepy, right? So let’s keep the scary stories coming—Haruko, you’re next.”

“Huh? Why me!” she gasps “I just told one, and I’m not in the mood after what happened with Mariya-san…”

“You’re the one that asked for scary stories” she frowns “You ought to know a few!”

“I want to hear some, not tell them!” She retaliates “There’s a big difference in that…”

“Ugh, I guess so…” Hitomi rolls her eyes, before looking back at you. “It’s your turn then. Y/N”

“Me?” You blink, startled. “Ah, well… I don’t really know many stories, outside of the popular ones I mean”

“Now that is a lie if I ever heard one!” Haruko scoffs “Are you going to tell me that you , a sorcerer, don't know any scary stories?! Of all of us, you’re possibly the one who had the most chance in actually seeing a ghost!”

“I mean if you put it that way…” you murmur “…Let me see…”

You had a vast variety of stories to tell, obviously, but you didn’t want to settle for something they’d consider boring or predictable— you wanted to make an impression!

But what could you say…? What kind of story could leave them in awe …?

And then, it comes to you. After a quick recollection, you eventually settle for something a bit more… different, so to speak, something that shocked you the first time you heard about it and now, had no doubt in your mind that they’d have the same reaction.

“There’s one legend that I like in particular” you eventually begin “I read about it at school, when studying curses from other countries.”

The sisters perk their ears, eyes solely focused on you—you now had their undivided attention for the fifth story of the day.

“It happened a long time ago, during the colonial era of a distant country.

You know how any song with a particular catchy tune would become popular? Enough for everyone to sing it until becoming tired of it, repeating the same cycle when the next tune comes along and so on?

Well, that’s exactly what happened back then. Nobody knows where the melody came from, only that it was a beautiful tune that everyone liked to dance along to.

The song had no lyrics at first, but its popularity would soon fix that, with someone anonymously writing them.

But don’t think they were nice lyrics to match the tune, no. The words were very explicit, more so for the very religious society that it was. It was so barbaric, that singing or dancing the song would send you to jail!

Because of this, the song's popularity eventually diminished… or so they thought. 

One day, a group of people were having a party in one of the most dangerous areas of the city. Everything was going on as normal, as expected of a party, until a horrible, terrible lament was heard from a nearby ally, just when it became midnight.

Their voice was indistinguishable, unable to figure out if it was a woman or a man speaking… only that they were singing the forbidden song.

This succession would go on for days, in the same place, at the same time, to the point where the alley began to be completely avoided.

No one dared confront them… until a group of valiant, yet drunk people, decided to do so.

They made a bet, and whoever lost would be the one going to see who the mysterious voice was. Once the loser was chosen, the group of friends told them they’d be waiting as they went on to see who the voice belonged to.

Nothing happened much at first, with even some believing the loser didn’t even go. But a few seconds later, loud yells for help were heard.

The desperation behind the voice was so chilling, that it kicked the alcohol out of their system and forced them to rush towards their friend, finding him completely unconscious in the middle of the street.  

They took him to the doctor, where he’d remain under supervision for hours, until he finally woke up.

His friends naturally asked him what happened, why did he scream for help? And so, he tells them:

At first it was difficult to see, for the alley was completely dark at that time of the night, however, upon walking deeper into the alley, they were able to make out a figure, which he presumed to be that of the mysterious voice.

He was still too far away to make out their face, but he was able to see that the figure would sway from one side of the street to the other, with such speed that it made it seem they were floating. 

He tried to take a closer step, regardless of how eerie this looked, but before he could do as much, the figure had suddenly closed in on him, enough to finally see its face!

And what he saw… oh, what he saw was horrible!

It was a disfigured face, torn apart and complete bloodied, with the socket of its eyes completely empty and a presence so overwhelming, he could only assume that he had seen none other than the devil himse—!”

Boom!

Without further precedent, the lights suddenly go off and everyone screams. With Haruko being the loudest one, letting out a blood curdling screech that would make anyone think someone was being murdered and unwittingly scaring the rest even more. Mai and Maki quickly hug you for comfort, you hug them back, and Hitomi… well, she jolts, before smacking her.

“What is wrong with you?! Calm down!” Hitomi scolds “Compose yourself! You’re scaring everyone!”

“I’m—I’m sorry!” She frets, heart already thundering and ears ringing. It takes her a few seconds to process the darkness in which they are in, as well as to disconnect it from your frightening story. “I just—that was scary!!”

“Yeah, sure. Really funny, Haruko. Now turn on the lights.” Hitomi frowns.

“What do you—What makes you think that was me?!” Haruko gasps.

“Well, who else! Anyone else here look like they can shut down the power?”

“First of all, I can’t see, second of all, how am I supposed to do that when I’m also here with you, idiot!”

“ Language ” you murmur, Haruko quietly apologizes. “But then… who was it?”

If the girls could look at each other, they would do so, yet everyone knew they were on the same page. The mystery makes everyone remain speechless, their minds galloping a thousand miles per second in attempts to figure out if this had been intentional, or just an accident.

Until the door begins to rattle.

Everyone’s eyes shot wide open, quickly swirling at the origin…

“Who’s there?” You were the first to ask, tightly holding onto the twins as they lean further into you.

Once the question flew past your lips you felt incredibly silly, for there really is no reason to be this frightened about someone standing on the other side of the door—but call it an effect of having told nothing but horror stories, you can’t help but feel like there’s something beyond it.

As if by pure coincidence, you actually summoned something.

No, of course not. Perhaps it’s your worry for the young girls that has you thinking like that, alongside Haruko’s comically scary scream, and the shock of being in complete darkness—

Or the fact that your question remains unanswered, while the door continues to rattle… 

“Go check, Hitomi” Haruko eventually urged, but even the seemingly fearless seamstress must have her weaknesses…

“What? Why me ? You do it!”

“No, you do it! Where’s the all-mighty Hitomi?!”

“Maki… I’m scared…”

You need to act fast then. Even if it’s a prank, you don’t like how the rest of your entourage is acting—it’s not even funny anymore.

So, you proceed by carefully peeling yourself from the twins, standing up from the seat and then reach for the door. 

“Y/N!” Haruko cries. “No! Careful!”

“I’ll be fine…” you tell her, before whispering “I think…”

You seek reassurance by reminding yourself that this is just another person, maybe wanting to check if everyone was alright after the power outage—wait, was it just this area, or was it the whole estate?

Either way, the tension in the air is undeniable, thick enough to make you feel as if you were sinking on the spot, trying your hardest to move but nothing would come out aside from trembles, and the sensation of your heart dropping further into your stomach the closer you got to the door.

Yet, you pushed forward, for the sake of Mai, Maki, Haruko, and Hitomi. You had to.

But just as you were a few feet away from the door, the rattling stops abruptly, and so do you.

You know the rest of the group to be pondering, fearing the same thing as you, until the noise suddenly ceases, giving all a false sense of relief, as if they managed to escape unscathed this time–only for the door to slowly slide open.

The smallest rays of light come through the slit, but not enough to reveal the culprit behind the scare… only their clawed hand, sternly gripping the edge.

By that point the whole group is tightly holding onto each other, doing silent prayers for the gods to be merciful enough so that whatever is about to happen, does so quickly and painlessly.

But it’s a hope that soon diminishes when a horrifying face peaks over the door, a devilish red skin face, a twisted darkened smirk baring long yellow fangs, two horns coming out from the top of its head, intently staring at nothing but them, it’s new prey—it’s safe to assume that a this point, everyone was beyond petrified.

You tried to move, tried to react for the sake of your survival but no noise would come out from your throat. Only a whimper when the mysterious, frightening figure took a step inside, slowly raising its arms to what you could simply assume was your end.

The one making a noise, however, would be the mysterious figure before you, taking a deep exhale before loudly yelling:

“ BOO! ”

“AAAAH!!”

It was Hitomi screaming this time,

“Happy Hallowe— what in the… what?!” The creature says with an oddly familiar voice, which upon removing what turned out to be a mask, reveals it was the previously-gone Mariya all along. 

What used to be excitement for a prank well done, was now replaced with concern, and a bit of guilt too, given the way she was stared back in pure fright, with some even harboring tears in the corners of their eyes! "What… what happened?"

“What do you mean what happened?!” Hitomi shrieked. “You’re out here scaring us after the light went off, how imprudent can you be Mariya-san?! What if we’ve just lost electricity for the rest of the day?!"

“Oh. Oh . Ah, about that…” Mariya nervously adds, scratching the back of her head. “I don’t think that’s going to be that big of an issue…”

“Why?" Haruko adds, the thought of being in complete darkness for the rest of the day doesn’t seem appetizing to her, at all .

“Let's say… I was the one that… did.. that…” Mariya explains, and the rest gasp. “I mean! It was only for a moment, and here only of course, all part of my prank.”

“Prank” Hitomi repeats “A prank ”

“Just something for Halloween! Thought it would be nice to do something a bit more fun , that’s all… didn’t expect to see you girls like this though… Well, fortunately, I have something to make up for all the sorrow I’ve put all of you through!” Mariya beams, stepping aside to reveal Tatsuro, who carried a box.

“Hey…” the man nervously greets, intimidated by the negative response from their part, as well as the tension between him, Mariya, and Hitomi. Tatsuro didn’t want to appear as affected by it, but it was hard to not crumble beneath Hitomi’s icy gaze.

“What is it?” you manage to ask once your heart calms down. Now that it was finally revealed to be nothing but a prank, you’re able to relax. Although you still worry a bit for Mai and Maki, who upon quick glance seemed to be a bit more relieved—still startled, but enough to place their interest somewhere else.

“It’s going to be a very sweet apology—that I hope will compensate for the scare” Mariya says as her hands dive into the box Tatsuro was carrying, soon taking out a few small fabric bags. “Do you have any idea of how hard it is to get these? Thankfully, Tatsuro here knew just the right person for that!”

Being the closest one, Mariya gives you the first bag.

“Here, for you” She says with a smile. 

“Thank you” You nod, soon opening the bag and grinning when seeing its contents: they were a wide variety of candies, from all kinds of well known brands, to even international ones… Mariya did seem to put a lot of effort into getting them—and for that, you’re grateful.

“This one is for Haruko” she hands another. “I tried to get you a bit more variety… but there’s only so much I could find. Still, I hope you’re able to like them”

“No way… you did this all for me?!” she breathes upon seeing the contents.

“Of course! Knew you’d like to extend your palette” Mariya then turns to the twins, who were eagerly looking at her, like children during Christmas morning.

“And I hope you two are not tired of sweets just yet, because I got you the most out of all, because kids your age should eat more sweets!” She says, the girls swiftly grabbing their respective bags, a grin on each of their faces. “But you need to promise me something”

“Anything!” Maki responds 

“Don’t tell your mom about this—she won’t be very happy with me if she figures it out. If you need to hide them, I can do that for you too” 

Mai and Maki giggle, giving her a nod as well as a unanimous “Promise!” before diving into their gifts.

And now that they were set… the only person left was Hitomi.

Mariya didn’t intend to leave her last to further isolate each other, no, of course not. No matter what happens between the two, she’ll always hold her dear in her heart.

However, she’ll have to admit that the one that got the best gift out of the 4 was her, and all because she hoped… This would finally help her obtain forgiveness.

“I… didn’t get you—I mean, I did, but it’s not the main thing” Mariya begins, hand reaching in for the box and taking a box , instead of the expected bag. By the way she holds it, you assume that the contents are heavy.

“I remember you saying how much you wanted to buy these books about patterns, I recently saw them at the market again and I thought… well, might as well get them.”

She nervously hands the box over to Hitomi, who receives it seemingly without emotion. She'd only stare at it, as if trying to remember which book she was referring to, before glancing up at her in complete silence.

Mariya begins to feel regretful, desolate at the impression that her gift had fallen from her graces and that this relationship had completely ended.

“I just want you to know that I’ll be here for you, whenever you need someone to talk to, or guidance, whether professionally or personally… I’ll always try to do my best to be there for you, because no matter what happens, you’ll always have a special place in my— oh! ”

Hitomi doesn’t let her finish before she tackles her with a hug, a gesture so quick that Mariya is initially startled by it, frozen as she tries to process what just happened, but before she could say anything, the seamstress wins her to it.

“I’m sorry.” Hitomi murmurs. “I… should’ve never acted the way I did with you. It was unprovoked and without good reason. I just allowed my feelings to get the best of—”

“No, I get it. I really do, Hitomi” Mariya says “It’s nothing, really. You don’t have to apology—”

“But it is” she interjects “Because I made you responsible for something I haven’t dealt with in my personal life. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you, and I shouldn’t have waited this long to make amends… but, I was ashamed how big I allowed this to grow that I… I just thought it was best to leave it like that.”

Mariya gives her a soft smile, hugging her back.

“I understand, and I forgive you. Not that you needed my forgiveness, because I never took offense to your actions. I was just worried, that’s all.” She goes on. “Never forget I’m someone you can trust with anything—regardless if it’s good or bad. I’m always there for you”

Hitomi smiles back, happy that this is all in the past now.

“Thank you”

“Don’t mention it—I hope you like them!” Mariya says.

“I will, there’s just one small problem… ‘ Hitomi cautions.

“Oh no, don’t tell me I got the wrong ones!”

“No, you got the right ones.. However… I already have them” she chuckles.

“What?! Ah, I should’ve known!!” Mariya laments.

“It’s fine! I can send them to my mom, maybe she’ll teach my baby sister a thing or two, continue on with the family tradition”

“Very true”And you smile, too relieved to see that the two have finally reconciled.

“By the way… where did you get that mask and… gloves?” Haruko asks. “They’re…. Super creepy”

“I know, right?! Got them at the village a while ago, they’re from the same vendor from last year. Tatsuro was the one that suggested the prank, actually. But I did the whole planning.”

“Ah, did you?” you tease.

“Guilty as charged.” Tatsuro laughs.

“Wait… so what was the whole angry thing about?” Hitomi blinks. “Are you angry, I mean?”

“Nope! I just needed the perfect excuse to put my plan in motion, and that was it! But… I apologize if I made anyone upset”

“You worried us there for a bit” You admit. “We were debating whether to follow you or not…”

“Well, I’m glad you didn’t!” Mariya chuckles “Because my surprise would’ve been ruined! But enough of that, let’s continue enjoying Halloween! I hope you’re still telling scary stories, ‘cause Tatsuro here has some pretty creepy ones!”

“How about it, Mai, Maki? Do we keep on telling scary stories?” you ask, looking at them—but they were far past the point of listening to stories, already gobbled down through their fourth candy by this point. But even when deep into their candy trance, one of them still manages to lift their face from the bag, looking at you with a chocolatey grin before declaring:

“This is the best Halloween ever!”

It was way past midnight when Naoya eventually made his return to the estate.

There’s no one to receive him at the door, except the cold, silent ambience of the night, and the only poor souls still awake during these hours, those in charge of keeping guard, who were surprised to see him this early in the day, and back already. Like always.

Naoya knew he’d be received with such a reaction, since it usually took a few days before any of the sorcerers deployed during this time to come back, either because the mission was lengthy, or because they decided to make the most of their stay wherever they were.

He was that kind of person too—he’d do his job, enjoy the city, and come back home fashionably late. 

This time, however, there’s nothing he wanted more than to come back as soon as possible. In fact, he had rushed to finish his mission —in record speed as eventually noted by others— simply because nothing from the outside world allured him, not when there’s something, or someone, far more important home.

“Welcome back, Naoya-sama” one of the staff members would say upon seeing him. It’s the most heartwarming thing he’ll get for a welcome, he supposes. “I hope your trip was enjoyable. Would you like me to call your sta—”

“How is my wife?” Is the first thing that Naoya comes out of his mouth, not a request for something to make his return more tolerable, he doesn’t care about that right now.

“I—I heard she was doing fine.” The man stammers, unsure how to proceed considering their turbulent past… he hopes that his answer is adequate enough, at least for now. “Much better than before, she just stayed inside the estate, accompanied by her staff… and so.”

Of course you would, Naoya notes, why wouldn’t you? He went through great lengths to ensure that would happen. A quick way to ensure your misery.

“I see” Naoya responds, and without further precedent, he dismisses the man, heading off to the depths of the dark halls with nothing but his solitude.

That’s how days are usually nowadays, he thought he’d get used to them by now, but he isn’t.

He doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to this loneliness—he was always accompanied, either by the superficial words of his family, or the jealous glances of others, there was always someone to keep an eye on him. 

Now he feels like he couldn’t be any more irrelevant, hell, not even his own staff waited for him. Not that they would, considering he came back unannounced… but he’s seen that sense of loyalty from others, and it makes him realize just how unlikeable he truly is.

There’s no denying that he’s tired, exhausted from exerting both his mind and his body beyond their limits these past few days. A good night’s rest is well deserved at this point.

Nonetheless, there’s still something bothering him in the back of his head that won’t let him rest, and it’s this thought that guides him to your room.

Even when there’s another voice telling him that he shouldn’t visit you like this, that he should respect your wishes and leave you alone, his heart can’t be that far from you, he doesn’t want to be stranded from you anymore .

Through careful steps and watchful eyes, Naoya eventually arrives in your room. He stares at the door for a few seconds, as if still debating whether to proceed or not, before making his decision by placing his hand on the edge and sliding it open.

If not by the moonlight, your husband wouldn’t have been able to see inside—but there you were, laying on your side, peacefully sleeping in your bed. The sight is enough to warm his heart, almost to sway him away… but he steps inside, closing the door behind him soon after.

He silently walks over to your side, hoping that you wouldn’t notice his presence, and stops at the edge of your bed. Naoya then kneels down to your level, stays like that for a few seconds, pressing his lips in deep thought before taking a chance and laying down to your side.

It had been so, so long since he had you this close, it almost felt like a dream, so he couldn’t hold himself back from draping his arm over you, nuzzling as close as possible, taking in your scent which always calmed him down, checking you hadn’t woken up… before beginning.

“I’m home, Y/N” he whispers. “After days away… I’m finally home.”

…

…

Silence.

“It’s good to be back. Even if it was just for 2 days, it felt like an eternity for me. I really didn’t want to leave, but you know what they say— duty calls .” He chuckles. No response. “I loathed this year’s mission, mainly because I was paired up with someone I don’t really like. The work is already tedious, imagine doing it with someone obnoxious? And that’s without considering I had to cover for them most of the time”

He sighs.

“But I guess that doesn’t matter now, not when I’m finally here.

This time I was deployed to Nagoya this time because celebrations were expected to be a bit bigger. And they were— there were a lot of people dressed up stupidly, drinking even more stupidly too.

Can you believe I was called because of a silly costume? Apparently, someone was so frightened by it, they caused a whole commotion, to the point some “windows” thought it was an actual curse. The look on their faces when I told them it was just a person in tasteless makeup is one I’ll never forget! Ah, well, at least I won’t be stuck doing that case’s paperwork.

…Either way… I’ve been told that you’re feeling much better. I’m… glad you are— I was worried that when I was away your condition would worsen, and I wouldn’t be there to help you. Not that my presence here would make any difference, but… I could still do something, call someone if you need it, you know?

I hope the weather didn’t bother you that much either—it was pretty cold out there; and I know how ugly it can get here in the mountains… But I don’t worry too much because I know your staff will keep you comfortable, they’re very diligent with you. I've seen it and I’m glad it’s that way.

…

…

I can’t imagine how boring today must’ve been too. I don’t celebrate Halloween, but I imagine someone as fun like you must… right? Although… I don’t really know what you like. Either way, I’m sure you would’ve enjoyed going out, visiting some stores or something. 

…

…

I wish I could’ve taken you to do that. Like a… compensation for getting you sick, now that you’re a bit better. Get you to see the city, a change of scenery from this boring place. We don’t even have to do that, you know? Anything will do fine.

But…

But I know you won’t want to. I know you wouldn’t like to go with me because you…”

He inadvertently holds you tighter against him, trying to hold back the tears that have been forming in his eyes the past few minutes.

What would Naoya blame now?

Would he blame his brother for the rift between the two?

Or your sickness, the hindrance it brought?

Perhaps your inability to get along with his family’s costumes, because you were a so-called stubborn woman, stuck in “modern ways”?

…

…

…

No.

Not anymore.

Not when he finally knew why .

“Because… I… Because I frighten you”

You can’t even stand the sight of me without cowering in fear—because more than hate me, you fear me. And I have no one to blame but myself ” he sobs. 

“I was the one that made you feel that way towards me, I was the one that hurt you, humiliated you, and I still had the nerve to blame you for all of it.

Instead of helping you, I put myself against you. I acted as if you were the one to wrong me and allowed my family to further hurt you. I couldn’t even stand against my own father when he ordered you to be killed , because I was so angry you didn’t play along with the stupid joke I made! One I should’ve never done in the first place! How pathetic could I have been?!

How could I preach I care for you, how much I wanted you to be here, being my wife, when the first thing I did after exchanging vows with you is terrorize you ? When I should’ve been the one to protect you from any harm, I became that danger itself; ignoring how you were in pain, how you told me to stop, and yet I continued because I could only think of myself!

How could I even call myself your husband … when all I’ve ever done is keep you away from your family, allow my family to torment you… and then turn my back on you when you needed the most comfort?

No wonder you found solace on my brother. No wonder you wish to be with literally anyone else but me.

Because I’ve always been the one to hurt you. I've always been your tormentor…

And no one else but myself is to blame ”

It was a hard pill to swallow for Naoya. To finally admit what your actions had been screaming to him since the moment you married him.

But it was harder to admit that he always knew. That he always, deep inside him, knew he was the one responsible for the rupture of this marriage.

He just… he just didn’t want to admit it. Naoya didn’t want to accept that he had turned out to be just like the man he hated the most in his life—like his father . As if history were repeating itself.

Yet, the only thing that pains him more out of this situation is that while he remained in his delusions, he just hurt you even more, and more…

But never again.

Never again will he instill you the same pain he’s suffered.

Naoya will never, ever hurt the woman he considers to be the love of his life.

“I’m sorry” he breathes. “I’m sorry for everything I’ve done to hurt you. I’m sorry for the times I pushed you away and made you pay the consequences for my actions , when I should’ve defended you.

I’m sorry for allowing others to humiliate you, to stomp over your persona… and myself being one of them too.

I’m sorry for the awful lonely way I’ve made you feel, making you believe you’re worthless, when in fact, you are the most precious person in the world to me…

…

I promise to never hurt you again. I promise to mend all of my mistakes and become a husband worthy of your affection. A man you’ll be able to see without feeling fear.

Even if it takes me my whole life—I will stop at nothing to fix my mistakes and make a place where you can be happy, where you can be safe.

Even if… I’m not part of it. I will do it because it’s the right thing . It is my duty to you as your husband—as someone… that cares for you very much.”

Naoya kisses the top of your head before peeling away from your body, pushing himself up from the futon and heading towards the door. He gives you one last glance through his teary eyes, knowing well this is the last time he’ll ever be this close to you.

“I’m sorry for everything, Y/N. Goodnight.”

And then, he leaves.

Even when he knew it wasn’t perhaps the best moment to say them, he still meant them very, very much. 

Promises without actions are only empty words, that much he learned now, and it’s perhaps why he decided to meet you like this—because he knew that first, you’d reject any intention of conversing with him, secondly, because this is work that must be done in the background, things that must be realized without the acknowledgement of others, simply because it’s the right thing.

Yet, he still wished you to know, wanted to show you how much you mean to him… once again, a selfish act from his heart.

Naoya knows that the path of forgiveness will not be an easy one, if even accomplished, but it is something he’s willing to traverse. It’s his promise to you to mend all of his mistakes, to give you what you truly deserve.

A promise he intends to keep, a promise he meant .

So, he goes to his room and onto the bed, managing to get whatever little rest he could get after exhausting, endless days of work, preparing for whatever is to come next, leaving you alone, in your room, to do the same…

Only that you were now wide awake, had been since he started going on about his promises, intently listening to his sorrows and how much he regretted his actions—giving you the words that your heart has longed to hear for so, so long…

And instead of going back to sleep, all you could do is cry.

[fleckcmscott]

Rain or Shine

Summary: Y/N cherishes the joys Arthur has returned to her life - and traverses echoes of the past.  

Words: 1,898

Warnings: None

A/N: My husband (😘) thinks this oneshot's summary should be, "A little story I wrote in two weeks." 😂 Please enjoy another look at Arthur and Y/N's early days! Special thanks to @jokerownsmysoul for beta-ing! More is on the way, including a late Halloween tale. My pen is simply scrawling slowly these days. 🖋️ Thanks for reading!

If you have any thoughts or questions, please comment, feel free to message me, or send me an ask. Requests for Arthur and WWH are open!

It was 5:32 AM and Arthur Fleck was in her bed.

Y/N's alarm was set to six, but Arthur spending the night tended to stir her early. A change she chalked up to the newness of him. The excitement of him. Sure, work would be fuzzy between cups of caffeine, but that didn't matter. The family cases Matt had shoved her way were easy, even if they weren't easy to read. Divorces and custody battles, the odd child protective filing. She could draft them in her sleep.

She wrung out her hair, slid open the shower's glass door. Towel cinched at her hips, she flipped her Conair hair dryer to the highest setting. In the chapel silence of her apartment, it was as loud as a Gotham Air Jet coming in for a bumpy landing.

Toes wiggled on navy blue tile. If the walls were thin enough for the neighbor to have overhead her and Arthur's intimacies, they were likely thin enough for the Conair's whirring to permeate the bedroom. Given how little he slept, that wouldn't do.

Y/N waved the nozzle at the underside of her goosepimpled breasts (his hands would've done a better job of warming her) and flicked it off. Her mop could forgo proper hair care until they had a chance to test it.

Tangles detangled and combed back, thin layer of moisturizer on her face, she donned a robe and padded through the darkened living room to the kitchen.

The latest volume of Loving Some With... lay on the dinette table. She grabbed it, stuck it in her canvas bag to return to the library on her lunch hour. Even after all her reading, his diagnosis remained a mystery. Puzzling out possible illnesses hadn't worked; his symptoms were listed in every title. And she hadn't figured out a way to pry without it coming across as a What on Earth is Wrong with You.

He'd disclose it to her one day. She was confident of that. He'd tell her all about that part of himself. Eventually.

She filled the Coffeematic with four cups of water. Put two mugs on the counter, along with a teaspoon and diner style sugar dispenser she'd found at Donahue's, the kind with the flap. Smiling, she flipped it open and shut. If it hadn't been for Arthur, she wouldn't have bought it. Did he realize the ways he'd already changed her life? As mundane as kitchenware, as significant as a softened heart?

Harsh times had callused it over. Forced each chamber to thicken, harden into iron gates. Moving to Gotham had unlocked them. Making friends who were strangers to her past had pushed them ajar. Falling in love had flung them open.

Last evening, they'd had wine and conversation in bed, a lovely distraction after the news's distinct lack of Renew Corp. coverage. Arthur seemed to be developing a taste for Merlot; she'd stuck to two glasses.

He'd laughed as he explained that getting used to rolling over without falling off the couch or hitting the back cushions was weird. He'd laughed at her when she'd told him the hardest thing to get used to after she'd moved was standing in the subway. ("The drivers must have a pool as to who can brake the hardest.")

And she hadn't stopped putting her hands on him. Running awed palms up his chest, across his broad back. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed the skin to skin. Touching someone for more than a diaper change or washing or feeding. For more than a funhouse mirror of survival. For more than the mechanical.

The baggage she tried to keep hidden must've shown on her face, because he'd propped himself on an elbow, worry written on his dark brow. "Is something wrong?"

Her fingertips flitted from freckle to freckle. "I was just thinking about how much I love touching you," she'd half-truthed. "How much I love you," she'd full-truthed. "How much I like you."

Unease had given way to a shy smile, tight lips and closed eyes. He'd reached over her to turn out the nightstand lamp, pulled the floral comforter to their chins. A bony foot burrowed between her calves, cold toes caressed her instep. His strong arms had enveloped her, warm and soft and safe. "I like you a lot, too."

Cooking for someone who could enjoy it was another rediscovered pleasure. She took out two frying pans, filled one with OreIda golden home fries and deli honey ham. Brown eyes narrowed at a carton of eggs. How did Arthur like them fried? Sunny side up? Well done? How many would he want? When she'd asked if he'd been eating enough, he'd shrugged, said he guessed so. A perfect non-answer. She reached into the carton and grabbed four.

As she salted the potatoes, the TV sparked on, a commercial for the GBS Wednesday Night Presentation: a special on changes in the workplace in the eighties. Then Wake Up Gotham's muted trumpet bounced through the apartment, a triumphant start to a bright new day. She pressed the brew button on the coffee maker.

When Arthur rounded the corner, he'd already put on brown trousers, but his chest remained bare. The smell of nicotine and bitter cold rolled off him. "Your hair's wet." He wound a clump of damp strands around his thumb and forefinger.

"You slept so soundly. I didn't want to wake you." She cupped his chin, drew him in for a peck. "I wish you wouldn't go out in the cold like that. You better have some coffee to warm up."

He reached for the pot but stopped, paused mid-motion. An almost imperceptible twitch in his bicep. "What's this for?" he asked, low and graveled.

"It's for you, silly. Now you can pour exactly how much you want."

He traced the sugar dispenser's rimmed lid, followed its seams to the ribbed glass. "Can I pour you?"

A groaned chuckle, a shake of her head. She cracked eggs into the second frying pan. "This'll be ready in a few minutes. Put our mugs on the coffee table and I'll be right over."

Plates in hand, they sat on the sofa. Paper towels covered her lap and, by extension, the couch - getting grease out of cream color upholstery would be a nightmare. Feet tucked beneath her bottom, she cut egg white with the side of her fork. "What have you got planned for today?"

"I have to call the nursing home. Find out what I need to send over. There's too much stuff at the apartment. The paperwork's all done, but they want something else. I think it's the living will you explained to me? At the hospital?" Huffing, he leaned forward, elbows on his thighs. "But I dunno what she wants."

"The doctors there should be able to help you figure out what's best. I didn't know what my father wanted. I had to do what I thought was right and hope that it was." She blew ripples in her coffee. "You'll know what to do. It may take a while, but you'll get there."

The weatherman predicted an afternoon of clear sunny skies, and freezing rain expected around seven. The lead anchor started in on the latest headlines. After the latest round of failed negotiations, the garbage strike was expected to last through the end of the year. Severe storms had knocked out power to millions in Texas and Nebraska. Reagan had promised to ''not retreat one inch'' from his social spending cuts for the poor and tax cuts for the rich, a story that felt too close to home.

Arthur poked at a home fry, brought it to his mouth. Dragged it from the tine with front teeth. He chewed at the pace of a cow on its third round of cud. He pushed the egg around his plate. The white flipped and wrinkled, mixing with ketchup. When his fork pierced the yolk, yellow streaks spilled streams all over. Soaked the potatoes, smothered the honey ham. Sickly veins across the ceramic.

"They're too runny, I'm sorry." Holding her robe to her breast, she aimed to stand. "I'll make some toast to sop that up."

The plate clunked to the table. "No, it's fine." Both hands pressed flat on the wooden surface. The tendons of his neck stood out like jagged fences.

At the next commercial break, she swallowed. "Arth-"

"I'm not upset," he said. Chuckling, snuffling. A scratch of laughter in his throat, nearly an animal cry. He armed his nose, leaving a long, wet streak. "I just- I don't know what to do with what's going on in my head. I'm happy- I'm happy with you, but... I don't know where you came from. I don't know why you're here now." The fingers of his left hand coiled like snakes. "I don't know why you weren't here before!" His fist pounded the table on the final word. Cutlery clattered to the carpet.

Silence tautened the air. Y/N stared at his hand, which trembled, loosened. Four seconds and he winced, murmuring sorry, I'm sorry with the shame of a sinner. He reached for her, entwined their knuckles until hers ached. She didn't stop his apologies.

He'd been hot and cold since Murray, since running out of medication and treatment. Last night hot, this morning cold. And the anger she'd just glimpsed was too close to what she'd seen on the monitors backstage, when she'd longed to go to him and had to wait for a commercial break. It was tough to witness. Brought back unwelcome feelings of Unknown.

Meeting him earlier would have been wonderful. She often thought about it, pondered what they might have had. But she wasn't sure it would've worked. Though painful, experience had matured her, provided insight not only into Arthur, but also into herself. Without it, she may well have repeated a version of the mistakes she'd made with her father. Driven down the same dark roads with headlights out.

She wouldn't allow that to happen again.

She sipped her coffee quietly. Thoughtful, not meek. "Have you called the doctor?"

"No."

"I think you need to."

He stroked up her forearm, under her loose sleeve. The hurt hiding under frustration turning into the tenderness that'd caught and kept her. "It's hard."

"I'm glad you're happy with me; I'm happy with you, too. But I want you to be happy with yourself."

At that, Arthur scooted up the sofa, turned to lay his head on her shoulder. The arms that'd protected her before now clung to her middle. Fingers burrowed, determined to sneak between her back and the cushions. Eyelashes tickled her neck, his nose nuzzled her clavicle. Rich shades of twilight shone through the windows, the blue hour before dawn.

Y/N stretched to put her mug on the coffee table. "You wonder why I wasn't here earlier," she said, stroking the silken curls at the nape of his neck. "I was busy becoming the woman who knows how to love you."

A rush of hot air caressed her skin. "Maybe I was busy becoming the man who's learning how to love you."

The gates of her heart fell off their hinges. "You're already doing a pretty good job, Mr. Fleck." Smiling, she rubbed her cheek against the crown of his head. "Let's teach each other as long as we can."

~~~~~

Tag list (Let me know if you want to be added!): @harmonioussolve​​​​​ @ithinkimaperson​​​​​ @sweet-nothings04​​​​​ @stephieraptorr​​​​ @rommies​​​​​ @fallenstarsabyss @gruffle1​​​​​ @another-day-in-chuckletown​ @hhandley80​​​​​ @jokerownsmysoul​​​​​ @rafaelbottom @ralugraphics​​​​​ @iartsometimes​​​​​ @fleckficgirl

[ciaossu-imagines]

So, I used the prompt [caramel apples] from Day 10 of the event, prompt 16, for the Millefiore family! I hope you’ll all enjoy 😊

Caramel Apples: Favourite Halloween candy?

Byakuran’s favourite Halloween candy? Obviously it’s those chocolate marshmallow pumpkins and witches. He’s someone who has a real sweet tooth and marshmallows are one of his go-to treats all during the year anyway, so it just makes sense that this is his go-to Halloween treat.

Uni is really happy with anything. She’s just grateful that anyone is giving her free candy and she’s not going to be picky about what she gets.

Kikyo, honestly, is probably the only person in the world who actually really enjoys seeing those single packs of raisins on Halloween. He doesn’t have a huge sweet tooth, and most of his Halloween candy gets eaten by other people but he just really does like raisins.

Zakuro doesn’t eat a lot of candy and chocolates. A lot of his Halloween candy gets eaten by Byakuran and Bluebell. The only thing he insists they don’t touch, and what he gets really excited to see tossed in his Halloween bag is soda. When people hand out cans of soda, or even juice, it makes him happier than any candy could.

Bluebell doesn’t actually have a favourite Halloween candy. She likes all of them pretty equally and what matters to her is how much she gets. She’s someone who’s not going to be happy with just a single bucket worth of Halloween candy. She needs that full pillowcase by the end of the night to be happy.

Daisy loves candy that is more taffy like in nature. Things like molasses kisses, Airheads, or even actual salt-water taffy make him really happy to get. He gets to eat them longer, because they take a lot of chewing, so he gets to enjoy the candy longer and the flavours tend to stick around longer.

Torikabuto is a monk completely possessed by a cursed mask. He doesn’t need to eat and the other’s take him out trick or treating, without even putting him in a costume because his normal appearance is scary enough, to get more candy for themselves.

Shoichi is going with Kit-Kats every time. They’re nice and easy to eat, even when his hands are busy with any of his other work and projects, and because you break them apart, he can eat one piece and save the rest for another time.

Gamma is a fan of Rockets. He’s actually the only one in the family who really loves them, so he’ll sacrifice most of his candy in exchange for everyone else giving him those.

Iris Hepburn is a chocoholic! Any chocolate bar will make her pretty happy, though she especially loves peanut butter cups.

Spanner is one of those rare people who actually get really excited when he sees suckers in his Halloween trick or treat baskets. He doesn’t mind Blow Pops and Tootsie Rolls, but his favourite are those apple caramel suckers that only really show up around Halloween.

Tazaru is honestly a little boring in his candy tastes when it comes to Halloween. Those little fun-sized packs of Starbursts always get him so happy.

Much like Bluebell, it’s not what he’s getting to Nosaru so much as how much he’s getting. He, Bluebell, and Uni probably have fun little competitions to see who gets the most candy. For Nosaru, his highlight is always when people pass out the full-size candy or sodas. Bigger is always better in his opinion.

[therummesoccupied]

IDW'S SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, SPRING BROKEN SPECIAL - THOUGHTS

A while back, it became pretty clear that the abundant specials IDW has been releasing for the past year have had a certain... "commonality" about them. Endless Summer, A Very Chaotix Halloween, Winter Jam - the Four Seasons theming read loud and clear. Now, up until a couple months ago, I'd assumed the 900th Adventure Special was meant to be the stand-in for Spring in this lineup, so I was a bit surprised when Spring Broken was announced to round the seasonal specials off. I was interested to see what kind of send-off they'd give this little gaggle of stories.

This time around, we have pencils by Adam Bryce Thomas and colors by Leonardo Ito. These two are a really great combo, as I think Ito's emphasis on simple, soft color palettes compliments the very manga-esque style Adam brings to the table. This style, however, leaves me a little confused as to why he, of all artists, was the one pulled for this story.

ABT tends to be at his best when working on big, over-the-top action sequences. His work really sells the sense of adrenaline the series is trying to convey in its tensest moments. That being said, the story here is... fairly mundane? The characters spend a day at the fair and solve a mystery about flowers. Heck, the entire last couple pages are entirely dedicated to showing the characters enjoying the attractions once all is said and done.

There's not really a ton here in the way of high-stakes plot that would really give Adam a chance to shine.

That being said, there's still enough here that you can see his art style noticably developing a bit in a manner akin to Evan Stanley's. Namely in the way he draws Sonic himself.

It might just be my imagination, here, but I could swear Sonic's quills are longer and come to a more distinct point than the way Adam usually draws them. We know Evan has been taking strides to incorporate elements of official 2D Sonic art into her artstyle, perhaps this is a sign that Adam has been doing the same. Beyond that, I think I'm noticing some more fun and stretchy facial expressions on some of these characters, too. When it comes to the way faces are drawn, I've always found that ABT has a tendency to stay pretty on-model, but here I'm seeing a bit more expressive warping of the facial proportions than I'd expect out of Adam.

Where Adam really knocks it out of the park here, though, is with the background character designs.

Adam's always good at drawing up unique OCs, and there are tons of 'em here. Having so many characters with so many looks and still having a consistent style to them all goes a long way toward helping the world feel just a little more lived in. Another cool bit of background work he contributed is this central figure that pops up in a few places around the festival.

Also I just noticed that Cream and Vanilla are here. Neato.

When asked about this figure on Twitter, ABT said that she's intended to be a sort of Nature Spirit, and that the festival pays reverence to her. She's never mentioned in the story, but it's a neat little detail to see the more spiritual side of this world's cultures.

As I said before, the story, written by Josh Trujillo, is not too incredibly exciting. The majority of the plot centers around the mystery behind the annual Flower Contest, which itself is really three mysteries, all of which are wrapped up pretty quickly. Really, it seems to be less about the mystery, and more about how these characters spend their free time in a sort of slice-of-life fashion. This is fine, and it shows us some neat character interactions we don't normally get to see, like Jewel and Espio or Amy and Nite, but it's also something we've been getting a lot of lately.

It almost makes me wonder, with the amount of miniseries and specials they've been putting out there recently, if it wouldn't be possible, and maybe a better use of resources, to just run a dedicated sister series devoted to telling side stories like Sonic Universe did for Archie.

I'm not the first person to make this point, but perhaps then we could get more big, exciting plots full of stakes and gravitas in the main book. Who knows.

All in all, Spring Broken didn't particularly blow me away. I'd say it's a nice break from the norm but... it's not. It's exactly the kind of story we've frankly been getting in surplus as of late. I'm ready for things to move again, ready for the non-stop, blood-pumping action of Sonic the Hedgehog! There are some cute moments here and there that I do appreciate, but I just wish they could have come at a different time.

Issue #70 drops in about 22 hours for me, so with any luck, that will scratch my itch for more exciting Sonic stories for a bit.

'Til then, thanks for reading!

[moonsanoverthinker]

Thanks for the response to my jewelry hc ask! I love all the subtle allegiances being showcased. For another. Hair dye headcanons please? I've got a couple but they tend to verge into au territory

This is one I’ve not thought too much about, so expect some rambles (I say that like it’s not a reoccurring theme) And I enjoy making head cannon stuff so feel free to suggest others!

Again all of these are based off vibes with zero evidence!

Jon- 100% dyed his hair in uni at least once, it wasn’t a good dye job but it was fine…(sections of the back weren’t dyed at all) This purely comes from the fan chosen canon of the Mechs being Jon’s uni band (one of my favourite AO3 tags) Also under that same uni shitty hair dye jobI just imagine him with like sections in different colours but not because it’s intentional, like there’s a part that’s red and another that’s blue and some of it’s black which he claims is intentional but it’s clearly not.

Martin- Likes the thought of dying his hair but doesn’t like the change of committing to it. Actually no he did dye it once but it was barely any different so no one notice, plus it was semi-permanent hair dye so it washed out after two weeks. The others did manage to convince him to use those spray hair colour things during Halloween so he got to enjoy the colours without the commitment.

Sasha- I’ve got two main ideas for Sasha so bear with me folks. Idea one is that she has the remnants of a hair colour still showing through despite dying over it multiple times, like how red somehow shows through in certain lights. Idea two is that she dyes the ends of her hair fun colours and claims it’s still professional looking because it’s not her whole head. Also side note, the NotSasha had the same hair dye colour as original Sasha but the shades never seem to match, they’re always off somehow.

Tim- I’ve split this into different versions of him because reasons. Series 1 would dye his hair all the time, whatever colour he fancied at the time he’d do it, Sasha also encouraged him and would sometimes help him and he didn’t care if it looked ‘unprofessional’ because of the colour. Series 2 would dye his hair occasionally but not as much so the colours usually faded before he changed them, NotSasha would encourage him but there wasn’t the enthusiasm anymore and she stopped helping him but he didn’t know why. Series 3 still has the last hair colour from series 2 but it’s faded and mostly grown out until he just decided to dye over it all in a more ‘natural’ colour because he didn’t want to deal with it anymore.

Basira- Again two thoughts so bear with. Thought one is she split dyed her hair at least once, possibly the whole of one side and then the whole of the other side. But thought two is she split dyed it but only did the ends, so it was like a half and half dip dyed ends vibe, that she lets fade but the faded colours are a vibe and just look really nice, sometimes she has the bright colours but it varies.

Melanie- Whole head dyed one colour, and it’s definitely not a natural colour. She’s used to freelance work so she’s not always needed it to be ‘professional’ looking in terms of colours so she kept it the same colour when she started working at the institute. Elias told her to change it but she refused and told him to fuck off, then proceeded to dye it an even brighter colour.

Georgie- She again dyed her hair once or twice in uni (better dye job than Jon’s) then she just dyed it more natural colour then left it for a while, but she did dye the underneath section of her hair a colour so it wasn’t noticeable from certain angles unless she put her hair up or had it sitting a certain way.

Daisy- Okay so I’ve got a thought for this so again bear with. So Daisy has dip dyed hair, but it’s like a dark reddy purple kind of vibe, and when the hunt starts to be more present it’s pretty vibrant / obviously dyed but when she goes through her trying to fight it stage it fades over time and then when she feeds into it again the colour comes back (I don’t know how this would work but let’s not think too hard about that)

Elias- I don’t know why but all I can think of is this man with a single section like strip that he’s dyed white himself. Also 1. Would he get grey hairs because of the whole technically being really old thing? And 2. Does he dye over them…

[thelampisaflashlight]

A Monster Mash of Halloween themed ghoul headcanons for your Mischief Night. Below the cut.

-Halloween is a pretty big deal among the ghouls and the clergy alike, it’s a church wide holiday, so everyone gets to take off a week off of work in order to celebrate... and ultimately recover from whatever they got up to while making the dark lord proud.

There’s lots of activities for creatures of all ages, and free childcare for those who want to take a night to themselves without having to worry about who’s going to take care of their kiddos.

-During the festivities, the ghouls have been known to pull pranks on the clergy. Usually nothing too dangerous, but it can get pretty extreme if not properly monitored.

Dew was banned from pranking people before he was even able to attend his first festival, because the clergy were scared he would go too far based off of some of his past behavior, but, surprisingly, he has no interest in playing tricks on others during Halloween.

The rest of the year is his oyster, but Halloween? 

He’s a fire ghoul! He’s got candles to keep lit, bonfires to supervise! 

Idiots to guide out of the abbey’s woods using wisps!

He’s a very busy ghoul and has no time for such nonsense!

That being said, he would very much like to indulge in some of the other activities the event has to offer...

-Much like Dew, Rain is also quite busy on Halloween, making sure people don’t stumble into rivers or ponds and drown in the dark. 

Sometimes the two work in tandem to keep their precious clergy safe and well, with Rain startling them away from the water’s edge and Dew guiding them along using lights and shadows to bring them back to the party.

-Speaking of protecting the clergy, woe unto anyone who tries to take advantage of the celebrations to harm the residents of the abbey and their guests, because the ghouls are always on the look out for suspicious individuals.

Halloween is about having fun, and anyone who interrupts the ghouls’ fun is in for the lesson of a lifetime.

-In contrast to Rain and Dew’s efforts to keep people safe, Mountain, the typically gentle earth ghoul, tends to get a little... mischievous around Halloween.

This means oftentimes the woods near the abbey, which is already a bit of a maze on a good day, becomes a tangled mess of wrong turns and strange noises.

Mountain is more than thrilled to lead some poor, unsuspecting siblings of sin astray... at least for a little while, or until one of the other ghouls tells him to knock it off.

He usually stops immediately if he sees one of Dew’s wisps or hears Rain slithering out of the water, knowing they’re probably helping someone in distress.

And lastly;

-It is absolutely mandatory that the ghouls have to dress up on Halloween proper, and not just in their uniforms. 

Copia has a little contest among them to see who can make the best one, and so far Cirrus has won two years in a row, because she takes her costumes very seriously.

That said, Nihil once won first place just by showing up.

[acourtofladydeath]

🎵💚 There’s frost on the moon and snow on the ground, but with you around there’s spring in my heart ❤️🎵

Hi it’s Santa!

I hope you’re doing well 🥰 Did you get up to anything for Halloween? (and if so what did you dress up as?)

Now that it’s November I’m personally so ready for it to be Christmas and I’ve been daydreaming about your gift.

I wanted to ask if you have any headcanons about the other Vanserra brothers, their relationship with Eris, Eris’s relationship with Beron and with his mom, Eris’s hounds?

And regarding Azriel, your headcanons about his shadows, his childhood, his mother, his time working under Rhys’s father, his relationships with Rhys and Cassian?

Lay it all on me. Do not hold back. Feel free to deviate and elaborate to your heart’s content. Your responses are what I’ll be harvesting details of their backstories from (I want to incorporate as many of your headcanons as possible since it’s your gift after all.) I’m always on the lookout for opportunities to ramp up the angst!

— Santa ❤️

Hi Santa!! So nice to hear from you!

I dressed as Peter Pan for Halloween this year, went to my lectures on campus, saw my professor's baby (he was dressed as an adorable little dragon. His parents were very excited for my costume but he, as a 10 month old, did not get it), and then did meal prep while watching ghost hunting videos.

It is 100% Christmastime, with a 3 day break for Thanksgiving mid-November and I'm so ready. I may start decorating this weekend.

Santa, I'm gonna need you to buckle up for the answers to these questions cuz HERE WE FUCKING GO.

**note that these headcanons do not always work together, at the same time, or in the same fic. I just have lots of feelings on how this could/would go. I have many thoughts on many characters, and my interpretation of a character tends to change from fic to fic. Personification is different between fics and I love exploring different histories and interpretations of characters to see all of the "what ifs" and "okay buts" of fandom. This exploration and variety is part of what I love most about fanfiction. Below are some of my recurrent headcanons for these characters and their history, again these are my own opinions and not mean to be taken as the only interpretation or even the only interpretation I like to read/write.

Eris & The Vanserras

Eris and LOA are very close in age, leading to a very close relationship between the two of them, but also a lack of parenting in favor of friendship.

Eris is considerably older than his other siblings, or at least much more mature, and basically had to help raise them. This led to animosity between the brothers due to his having to order them around for their own damn good and to protect them from their father. He did whatever he could to shield them from Beron. I love exploring how this plays out. If they reconcile, then how? (I think so, and I hope so. I personally explore some of this in my fic And So Our Life Begins, and more so in the ASOLB spin off A Second Chance. They all have names and personalities and ).

He has done more to protect his mother and brothers than they will ever know, and he would rather that they didn't know because he doesn't want them taking pity on him. (I explore this a bit in my fic: The Soft Heart & The Shadow)

Eris basically raised Lucien himself, but instead of animosity, it lead to a very close relationship between the two despite the age gap. I also HC that Eris saw Lucien had power that was definitely not of Autumn, and he and LOA got in a fight about it. Not because he's mad she did it, but because he's scared about protecting them both.

Eris loves his hounds. He's very strict with them, but they're also some of the only people (besides Lucien and occasionally LOA) that Eris can let down his mask around, and they're some of the only living things that have seen the real him before he eventually opens up to Azriel. Because of this Azriel interacting with the hounds allows him to see more of Eris when he's still very skeptical of the male, and is part of why he's convinced to trust him and be his mate. I feel like the hounds are trained similarly to service dogs. When they're outside Eris's personal cabin/room, they're constantly working and putting on their best behavior, but when they're in that personal space, they're the most loving little affectionate puppies that ever existed.

Beron hates his son. Let's get that straight right now. HOWEVER I wonder if he respects the lengths Eris is willing to go to maintain his own power and protect his brothers, even if he hates that he's doing it. Like he might hate what Eris is doing with that power, but at least Eris has the wits and desire to USE that power. Just food for thought there with that one.

Azriel & his past

Azriel hates his father and brothers, and I think this is likely a large part of why he feels about Illyria as strongly as he does. He saw the worst of Illyria in those males, and I wonder if he has a hard time dissociating that awful image from the image of what Illyria could be, and the positive males that already do exist within it (people like Balthazar).

Azriel was a pawn for Rhys's father. He wasn't a person, just a tool to be used, and I think he still sees that interpretation of himself and his worthiness to this day. I think it greatly affects his self worth and his humanization of himself and his feelings. He struggles to see his value as a person with valid thoughts and emotions, because for so much of his life his value was that of a "thing". He sees himself as a weapon because it's what he had to be to survive within Rhys's father's court. I don't think he's ever had time, opportunity, or even a thought that he could be something else. I feel like his experience going from prisoner to training camp to expendable Night Court tool has greatly affected his mental health and his ability to stand up for himself. He will do what's asked of him because it's what is expected, even if it will break him in the end.

Azriel's Shadows came to him to protect him from the shadows and to protect him from himself. I think the darkness he had to get to in his own mind to pull those shadows to himself is deeper than he will ever admit. I love seeing the shadows have their own personalities and actions separate from what Az asks them to do. They're pesky little beasts that he loves dearly, but also can annoy the shit out of him when they don't do as they're told.

Azriel loves his mother and will do whatever he can to protect her, but neither feels like they can fully open up to the other. They're so worried about protecting each other they don't feel like they can truly reveal their feelings. She won't talk about her traumas, and he wont' talk about his because they don't want to burden each other. But they both know the traumas exist and want to try and help the other the best they can even without having the full story.

Azriel is a chronic pain sufferer from his hands. He doesn't say anything to anyone, and he only goes to Madja when it's so painful he literally can't function. I feel like he hides this too well, and even if he didn't hide it, he wouldn't accept help. I don't think he knows how to accept help.

Azriel & The Bat Boys (& Nesta)

I feel like Azriel feels like an outsider in most relationships of his life because of his past, but truly loves his found brother. I wonder if because of Az's relationship with Rhys's dad, he sometimes struggles with the dichotomy of working for someone who does actually care for him and sees him as a person.

I'm not sure Rhysand actually knows the extent to which his father used Azriel, and I wonder if this affects their working and friendly relationship. This is not a fully fleshed out headcanon for me, but it's an idea I keep coming back to.

I definitely think that Cassian and Azriel are closer to each other than they are to Rhys. I don't think this necessarily in a bad way, but with the power/boss dynamic and the fact that Cass and Az spend more time out in the field, in Illyria, and spent the entirety of UTM together there's a closeness there that they don't have with Rhys.

Look, y'all can disagree with me on this, but Cass and Az have most definitely fucked. It's canon that all 3 fucked people in the same room together, but I feel like Cass and Az have fucked each other and fucked other people together. IDK how you're a 500 year old anything and aren't very sexually open.

If Azriel is going to open up to anyone emotionally it's going to be Cassian or Nesta.

Nesta is not a bat boy, but I HC that she and Az are best friends. I think they are the only two in the IC who can truly understand the depths of each other's pain. Their traumas are so deep and profound, and neither really wants to admit their weaknesses, but together they don't feel so alone and can maybe start to heal. I think Eris can also be this person for Az and Nesta. I'm so here for any type of fic that discusses their pain (I regularly inhale @kale-theteaqueen's fic The Whole Truth because it gives me all of the feels and is so accurate to how I see Nesta and myself in Nesta. The way Azriel and honestly most of the IC are depicted in that fic. I also feel like their fic Burning From the Inside Out also depicts them (Nesta and Azriel specifically) closely to how I view them. And as a chronic pain sufferer myself, it's near and dear to my heart. Basically just read their masterlist, because I also reread Of Death and Resurrection regularly for the same reasons listed above, and I love the Rhysta friendships they develop as well.

Okay. Could I keep going? YOU FUCKING KNOW IT. Should I? Probably not, I've spent way too long writing this up already and I've gotta cut myself off so I can work on my WIPs. I'm still probably forgetting something I'll remember later on...

Please let me know if it's okay to keep recommending you fics when I answer your questions, sometimes it just feels like the best way to address them. As usual, please let me know if you'd like me to further describe/elaborate on anything here! I hope you're doing well, and it's so great to hear from you!! I'm really looking forward to this reveal and the fic!!

[aeoki]

Blackjack - Santa Will Not Come: Chapter 1

Location: Yumenosaki Student Council Room Characters: Touri, Shinobu, Souma, Mao & Yuzuru Season: Autumn

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ< In the past, right before the school field trip.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤBeginning of November – Yumenosaki Student Council Room. >

Mao: I’ll start from the basis of it all.

“Starlight Festival” or “Star Fest” is a big event that’s held on the same day as Christmas Live.

In terms of dreamfests, it’ll be an “R1”... no, a “S1”, huh. Either way, it’ll be the next highest ranked dreamfest aside from “SS”.

Touri: “R1” didn’t become a thing in the end, huh~

Both ES and Yumenosaki still use the names they’re used to, so it just made things more confusing for everyone instead.

Yuzuru: Isara-sama is speaking so please refrain from interrupting him. I do agree with what you’ve said, though.

Souma: I have a question, Isara-dono.

Mao: You guys just do whatever you want, huh. You should let me explain everything first.

Well, it’s fine, I guess. What’s up, Kanzaki?

Souma: It is a simple question but why did you want to change how the “dorifesu” ranks were called?

It felt as though that had become a reality somewhere along the way, but I do not particularly remember the specifics.

Mao: Dunno but maybe Tenshouin-senpai and the other Yumenosaki alumni didn’t want their presence to be felt within ES.

So the ES management forcibly changed the name?

I’m assuming they wanted to change just the name, so that it would make it look like they’re the ones leading it all…

Touri: That’s something incompetent managers or politicians do. They’re just changing the signboard.

Souma: I see. I understand now. I apologise for interrupting earlier. Let us continue with the discussion.

Mao: Alright. Since things have kinda gone off on a tangent already, I’ll ask just in case, but do you two have anything else you want to add? Anzu? Sengoku?

Shinobu: Huh!? N–No no, I’m fine just listening! So don’t mind me!

Mao: Yeah? I’m a bit worried since you tend to keep to yourself. If there’s anything you want to say, feel free to.

Shinobu: T–Thanks but no than– I mean, I’m grateful all the same ~de gozaru.

Ah! Come to think of it, what is Anzu-dono doing here? She’s not a member of the Student Council, right?

Mao: I didn’t explain, did I? It seems Anzu’s in charge of this year’s “Star Fest” again.

Shinobu: Haha, so she’s here because she wrote the proposal, huh.

It feels like it's become a regular thing for Anzu-dono to be in charge of “S1” events. Like “Tanabata Fest” and “Halloween Party”...

Touri: Hmm~ It looks like ES is also working Anzu to the bone, so she must be having a tough time.

Mao: Yeah. Personally, I don’t want to make Anzu do too much. It’ll be another nightmare if Anzu collapses again.

Souma: Come to think of it, it was about this time of year when Anzu-dono collapsed, correct?

Yuzuru: Indeed… I’m relieved to see you’re in good spirits this year compared to the last, Anzu-san.

…Although, you do seem rather pale.

Shinobu & Touri: …………

Mao: Hm? What’s wrong with you two? Do you have an idea as to why Anzu has been feeling a bit down?

Touri: It’s just a guess but it’s probably something to do with Kurone. 

Mao: Kurone…? Oh yeah, what’s happening with him, Anzu? He was stuck to you like glue at the beginning of the school year, but he’s not with you today?

Touri: Geez, this discussion is going nowhere! This happens every time Anzu's involved – this wouldn’t have happened if Eichi-sama was here. Looks like you still have a long way to go, New Prez~

Mao: Going off on tangent after tangent would be the only thing he’d be doing.

But it’s precisely as you say, Touri. There are a few parts I’m curious about, but let’s get back on topic.

This year’s “Star Fest” will be produced by Anzu.

To be precise, the “Producer Course” will be organising it with Anzu at the centre of it all.

The only thing the Student Council will be doing is providing a budget, so we’ll get to take things easy. Of course, we’ll be helping out with the preparations if the “Producer Course” asks for it, though.

We’ll all be appearing in “SS” this year too. Honestly, having too much work would be the least thing we’d want right now.

Touri: Yeah, “Trickstar” won’t be the only unit taking part since we’ll all get to participate in “SS” this year.

Submit the application form, take part in the Qualifying Rounds, make it pass that and then you’ll get to appear on the Main Stage on New Year’s Day…

Shinobu: It makes me feel dizzy… It seems we’ll have our hands full starting from the middle of November all the way until the New Year thanks to that ~de gozaru.

Yuzuru: Being busy is a good thing. I’m sure the Young Master is very happy seeing as we’ve all been given an equal opportunity to take part in this year’s “SS”.

Touri: Yeah! It was totally unfair that “Trickstar” was the only one that got to take part last year!

Mao: It wasn’t unfair… The condition to gain the right to take part in “SS” was to win “DDD” and that’s exactly what we did.

Touri: But it’s still unfair! You stole that right from us “fine” like some petty thief…!

Souma: Enough now. That is disgraceful behaviour, Himemiya. Once again, we have gone off on another tangent.

Mao: Yeah. Anyway, “SS” will be another load of work, so I figured we’d be able to take it easy with “Star Fest” but…

I was surprised when I saw Anzu’s proposal for “Star Fest”.

I had an inkling before but are you wanting to kill us?

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ← Previous Chapter ᠂ ⚘ ˚⊹˚ ⚘ ᠂  Next Chapter →

[cinematicnomad]

sleepover weekend: since ur so into steddie these days, what are your favorite and least favorite tropes that come up in fics

oh! always happy to ramble about whatever ship i'm into these days. right now it's steddie and has been for a little over a month or so. i'm not sure if i have any favorite specific tropes, but i can definitely share the stuff i like and don't like.

for one, i am a SUCKER for fics that have steve and eddie meeting/secretly dating pre-s4. i think it's just very interesting to think about how steve was coping with the previous events, because unlike everyone else he just has so much more...free time? time alone? like, post s2 especially—after s1 we know that he clung to nancy and basically tried to pretend like it was all settled and that they could move on. so it didn't matter that he didn't hang out with tommy and carol anymore, that he wasn't king steve, because he had nancy and was vaguely friendly with jonathan, and was still on the basketball team, so he had stuff going for him.

but post s2? after nancy called him bullshit and billy broke a plate over his head? how did steve spend his days? like that seems like such a big fall from grace and it happens SO early in the year—halloween. he had to make it basically to june without any built in friends or girlfriends, so what was he doing with his time?? or even post s3—he and robin are best friends, of course, but she's at school most of the time! or with her own family! so what's steve doing in the in-between when they're not together? it's just so much delicious free real estate to imagine a whole relationship between steve and eddie. i especially like fics that have steve going to eddie for drugs to self-medicate. fics that are from eddie's POV as he watches king steve crash and burn. eddie getting a front row seat to steve's trauma but having no context for why or what caused it and them falling apart because of it only for s4 canon to take place.

those are definitely my favorite types of fics!!

least favorite—not sure if i have any. like all fandoms, i tend to prefer canon-compliant or canon-divergent or canon-adjacent fics, but i've read some great AUs so i can't say that's a hardline. maybe a minor annoyance is how many fics throw together nancy and robin who i don't believe would ever work—robin having a bit of a crush on nancy post s4? sure, i can bear it. but nancy and robin getting together always bugs me and it is VERY common in steddie fics. tbh, i just think it's a shitty move to date the ex who broke your best friend so it's not something i think i'll ever get over. i also just genuinely like nancy and jonathan so prefer when they figure shit out. in a similar vein, i filter out any fics that have billy involved with steve or eddie or anyone else past or present. he was a racist bully and i have no interest in fics that try to romanticize him or make him a rival for anyone's affections.

✨sleepover weekend✨

[dxfiedfxte-a]

Fall/Autumn starters. || Not Accepting Until Caught Up

@hxpelessnurse​​ sent:  🏰 - Our muses are stay together at a haunted hotel

[{ 🦋 }] - “We’re finally here, man, I can’t believe I’ve never stayed here before, until now anyway.”

In the season of Autumn, not only was it in spooktober, but Fall weather, also meant Fall clothes. Long-sleeved shirts, jackets and trench coats were all applicable and wearing them, made it easier for him to blend in with the crowds, not to mention the changing of the color of the leaves, which was something that Minato always loved to see, trees all dressed up with an adorn of different colors, common colors being orange and yellow before they fell to the ground with the constant breeze of the autumn wind as the tree’s prepared for the change of the season. 

This fall, Minato was going to make the very most of it, and that also meant, cutting down on work hours a bit. Every past Fall that went by, Minato always tended to devote himself almost completely to his career, especially in the month of October. While there would still be a Halloween special on his show like there always was, he’d made it a point to cut back a bit, so it would give him time to actually enjoy more of the season to himself. The bluenette Paranormal Investigator still loved his career, his passion for it would never die, but after being part of this show for about six years, going onto seven now could make anyone want a little bit more free time.

Minato didn’t really see any more reason to completely drown himself in his work, his fans would just have to understand - there would be a few less episodes this October, but they would still get their Halloween Special, the only difference, was that it wouldn’t be a live episode, but a pre-recorded one of an investigation that took place a few days before Halloween, his fans wouldn’t be disappointed though, as the special location being investigated for it, was none other than the infamous Cecil Hotel - a place his fans had been wanting Paranormal Quest to investigate for quite a while now, so he wasn’t worried and knew that the episode would do just fine, that place was a paranormal hotspot, and he was confident that him and the team would be able to make contact.

With his work schedule for the month all worked out, Minato took the time to enjoy a vacation, something he never usually got to enjoy due to a usually busy work schedule, so this time around -- he was able to take time off and he was very happy about that. Originally, Minato had planned to stay in another part of Tokyo since he had a radio interview to do later on after the weekend with Paranormal Monthly, another podcast involving discussions of all things paranormal, there seemed to be a lot of these coming out these days, but Minato didn’t mind it, he was just happy to be a guest and answer any questions or theories that fans may have. 

At first, he was going to book a single room bedroom with plans of going by himself, that was until his girlfriend Mikan Tsumiki, who has a nurse that worked in assisting Tae Takemi, the doctor who was in charge of the Yongen-Jaya Clinic, the place that coincidentally happened to be the same place he went to on a regular basis. The reason was simple, most regular doctors didn’t usually believe in ghosts, and would often look at Minato like he was crazy, probably thinking that all those scratches he often received were self-inflicted -- why did they always think that? Who knows? Tae Takemi at least didn’t ask any questions and just treated him like any other patient regardless of how bizarre his wounds were, possibly because she was a fan of his, possibly because she just didn’t care otherwise he didn’t really know, either way, he trusted her, and his frequenting there, was what had lead to him and Mikan meeting.

Perhaps it was a strange twist of fate, or perhaps, it was just all a lucky coincidence. Whatever it was, in the end, he was just thankful to have met her. Much to his surprise, Mikan’s schedule this week was also open, news that brought a smile to his face, he thought for sure that she would be busy considering it was Fall -- a common season for colds, hearing that she was free and wanted to come along, he happily agreed and instead, booked a room for two now that he had an excuse to pay the extra charge for a bigger room.

[{ 🦋 }] - “Apparently, this hotel is super haunted. There used to be another building here before, a mansion called the Akasaka Weekly, but after an in depth police investigation, they supposedly uncovered that the mansion, had some disturbing and dark history that involved some big names in the business and finance community as well as other public figures, mostly politicians though. Rumor has it, that the demolition company, was given an immediate order to demolish it as soon as the police investigation came to its conclusion.” He briefly explains, not really trying to scare her, just to inform her if there was a chance that she didn’t know about it.

The place they were staying, was a famous hotel in Tokyo called Hotel Mystays Akasaka -- a new hotel that was rebuilt after the demolition of the building that was formerly known as the Akasaka Weekly Mansion, an old multi-bedroom mansion that had a very dark history tied to it -- which was what most likely lead to its demolition. This place, in it’s new identity, carried a reputation of being one of the best hotels anyone visiting Japan should stay at, despite the positive limelight, there was one thing that often made tourists and locals alike, change their minds about where they were staying -- The Mystays Hotel Premier , was said to be haunted, and there were more than several eye-witness accounts of paranormal activity, a fact that to Minato, made this vacation, all the more exciting. Who knew that a hotel ten minutes away from the Roppongi entertainment district, would have such a history as this one? he couldn’t wait to check in, he would definitely be doing a little bit of ghost hunting later, at least for an Instagram vlog after the two were done enjoying most of their day together.

Walking hand-in-hand with Mikan at his side, the couple walked up the stairs, and through the double doors of the aforementioned hotel, the light blast of the air-conditioner greeting them as the person at the reception desk welcoming them in. After giving his name, Minato was given the key, and the luggage that him and Mikan had brought was politely taken up to their room by the baggage handler. With the key in his pocket, Minato turned his head to look at Mikan as he lead her towards the elevator.

[{ 🦋 }] - “Are you ready to check out our room? I booked one of their best, so I’m expecting it to be real cozy, with a nice view. Oh, and if you feel the presence of a spirit at all at any point, let me know.” Given from the few reports he’s heard, the activity would probably start closer to the early evening, though he was expecting to make contact tonight, hopefully, they’d be able to sleep whenever they would decide to turn in for the night. It was still early to late afternoon, so they would have time to settle in a bit.

[mizuurei]

Hewwo...... C-Can you tell us more about your character Miz? 👉🥺👈

Hello Anon! And yeah, I can talk a bit more about c!Miz. I’ll be a little more general, but if you have something specific you want to know about, feel free to send another ask ^_^

TL;DR- she’s a very complex character who has done very terrible things for what she believes to be very good reasons, but tends to drift towards an antagonist role, morality is gray and subjective, she’s got a phenomenal grasp of the English language and is lethal with rhetoric, she’s a human with faults but she isn’t Actual Satan. Very much the epitome of gaslight, gatekeep, girl boss, but without being as insufferable and she very much knows when she’s doing it.

I kinda wrote a lot under here, but even that doesn’t really paint a complete picture of c!Miz, she’s got DEPTH to her that I’d need a slightly more focused question to answer if I didn’t answer it with this ask, Anon.

So c!Miz (or, as she was called, IG!Miz, before I started using terminology snagged from the DSMP fandom) is a character I created about 5 years ago when I became a moderator for a fan-written and run Jacksepticeye Ego ARG (alternate reality game) called Puppet Collection that was inspired by Overnight Watch (a part of that year’s JSE Christmas charity livestream events) and The Seven Trials of Habit (a part of the EverymanHybrid ARG).

The premise of PC was that Antisepticeye was holding a competition to find his most loyal puppet, but it was never really said why. But contestants (called puppets within the game) started noticing that some of their fellow puppets didn’t recall events that had already happened, or that some JSE video sketches were treated as if they were real (spoiler alert- only puppets who were secretly mod characters were reporting these odd idiosyncrasies). The puppets come to find out that, SUPRISE! there’s a parallel timeline that Anti created where events that are purely fictional out of game transpired in very real ways in this parallel timeline. JSE, aka Sean was in fact VERY DEAD in this alternate timeline after Anti slit his throat in his first Halloween appearance, Chase Brody had been a beloved Nickelodeon star who had fallen on very hard times and was eventually “murdered” along with the rest of his family by his adopted son, Derrick Brody, who is institutionalized following these events to Rosemary Road Hospital where his primary doctor is one Dr. Henrik Schneeplestein (who is also very dead by the start of the actual ARG). I’ m trying not to spoil too much of PC’s plot, while also giving you some context to c!Miz. And yes, this is all important background info that applies to c!Miz, trust me.

Her full name is Dr. Misericordia “Miz” Cardozo and she is a psychologist who was employed at Rosemary Road Hospital before it mysteriously burned down with many of the patients, clinicians, and staff trapped inside. She had a good reputation of being a good psychologist and was generally regarded as very smart and easy to work with, even guiding and maternal at times, with a dry sense of humor. And gOD SHE IS HARD TO TALK ABOUT WITHOUT GETTING INTO HUGE SPOILERS, FUCK ME 😂

She acted as one of the antagonists within the ARG as her goals and the goals of most of the other puppets were in conflict with one another. But I always strive to play her as human and multi-dimensional, as if she is another person you could meet in your life. Unfortunately, that also meant she wouldn’t always share important information, she didn’t share all of her emotions through the discord chat unless it was relevant, and that she made horrible, awful choices, decisions, and mistakes. Like don’t get me wrong, I play c!Miz as a morally gray individual, and she does some very bad things for what she believes are good reasons, and then she also does good things. But good and bad are also rather subjective in the case of some her decisions. Like, legally she would be considered guilty of some crimes, but legality is not equivalent to morality.

What else about c!Miz, what else… she hates liars and doesn’t typically lie to others herself, she is a very competent speaker and uses words and rhetoric to devastating effects. Like, she will convince you that your argument is flawed and methodically dismantle it until she reveals the base insecurity or assumption that the rest of the argument was built upon, disparages it, and then sends you off to do some soul searching, and then you do as she says.

I wish I could think of what else to say about her rn, but I’m drawing a bit of blank atm. But again Anon, if you want to know more about c!Miz, please ask!!!

[lightlycareless]

how about a little spoiler for the next chapter 🤭🤭( but not too little )

Heya anon! Of course!! As usual, here's the first page :> or a bit more, kind of like 2. Depends of the typography lol.

It's the halloween special, my favorite chapter... 😭❤️

Spoilers for chapter 40 under the cut:

While yet to begin the day, you’d wake up with the sensation that the estate was eerily silent for no reason, a calm ambience that made you feel like you could hear what was happening on the other side of the estate if you were attentive enough…

A sensation that also seemed to extend to the staff, due to the lack of footsteps rushing from one side of the living quarters to the other, almost as if they’ve already tended to all the duties for the day, and now, had free time for themselves.

There was even a time where you thought it impossible for the Zen’in estate to have a calm day, especially since you were the most controversial figure there, yet, here you are, admiring a day without much, if any, commotion.

Naturally, you wonder what could’ve happened to have such stillness, and if it was something you’d be able to use in your favor now that you’re feeling a bit better. That rough patch of sickness sure got you in quite the disadvantage, both physically and emotionally, so you could certainly use day off.

“Everything’s calm, isn’t?” You’d tell Mariya while closely watching her take out your attire for the day: something warm to fight the rising winter, but adequate enough to not make you feel overcrowded. “It’s kind of eerie.”

“Fits with the day, doesn’t it?” she says with a smile.

“The day…?” you blink—what made today so special?

“Halloween, of course” Mariya responds “The 31st of October, Saturday in fact. The end of the week.”

Oh.

How could you forget that today is Halloween?

But most importantly…

Has it really been that long since your wedding?

It was ironic to even say that, since you’ve always considered that time at the Zen’in estate felt like an eternity. But now, it’s been months since you’ve last seen your family, friends, and freedom—yet they remain in your mind vividly as ever.

Given the date they’re probably already working, eased into their stations as they prepared to watch over the night.

As every year, you assumed, Ren would’ve told you that he’d rather stay home watching horror movies or go out to the city and make the best of this western celebration instead of working; while Hinata thought the complete opposite, wanting to go out to work because she gets to see curses that don’t come out that often, or perhaps even new ones. Always the workaholic, your sister.

And you, on the other hand… well, you just wanted to go out anywhere, really. After years and years of seclusion, you were itching to see the world and uncover all its mysteries.

But you suppose that staying inside will be good too, not that it was your decision to make, but at least you’ll have company this time.

“Oh, right” you eventually respond. “Wow, didn’t think it was today already.”

“Time flies, doesn’t it? Specially if you’re busy.” Mariya sighs. Something in her tone tells you she’s been wanting to take a break for a while now, but that is not meant to happen for the prime lady-in-waiting.

“Then you’re already centuries ahead” You chuckle, she agrees with a laugh of her own. “All I’ve been doing is sleep and stay in my room… so I’m more than ready to do literally anything else for a change.”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, Y/N. But it seems I won’t be able to help you there much” Mariya says, placing your clothes on the bed. “Since everybody is out the estate for work, most of the staff doesn’t have duties to do, outside of cleaning I suppose… but what is there to clean if there no one dirtying it?”

You nod along, she makes a whole lot of sense now that she puts it that way.

“Must be the favorite day for the staff, hm?”

“It’s relaxing, I can admit that.” Mariya adds “We can essentially do whatever we want without being constantly watched… kind of, there’s still the staff of the master’s to worry about, but as long as we don’t look like we’re relaxing too much, we should be fine.”

“Do you celebrate Halloween?”

“Not really, I mean, I would just go down to the village market and see whatever seasonal stuff they have—but even then, I don’t usually buy much” Mariya reminisces, last year, there was a particular vendor who sold a wide collection of impressive masks, proclaimed to be hand-painted by himself, ranging from silly, moderately adorable, to straight up terrifying.

Certainly, the man had talent for his craft, and it made Mariya wonder if he’ll be there this year again, maybe she should go down there and buy one just to support him.

And the year before that, the villagers set up a small puppet theater to tell horror stories, nothing too scary, just something to entertain those who wished to indulge in the seasonal ambience. It was mostly, if not completely, family oriented. Mariya found herself listening to one or two stories whenever she could.

While the people of the Zen’in clan thought these days tedious, others considered a day of leisure—truly, two sides of the same coin.

“But outside of that, I just spend my time here. It’s essentially an extra day off so I just use it to call my family, or hang out with Tatsuro” She adds “What about you? Do sorcerers celebrate Halloween or is it just for work?”

“A bit of both” you respond.

“Shibuya?”

“Oh, no—I never been one to enjoy that kind of environment.” you chuckle “It can get too chaotic, though I did dress up when I was younger…”

“No way!” Mariya gasps, a grin parting her lips as she tries to imagine the kind of costume your younger self would wear. “Tell me there’s pictures at least!”