#Yay spooky season update!

[fleuraliasave]

❤ Version 7.0 Fleuralia Save File ❤

Download link down below (please read entire post before installing)

This save file uses all EP’s, GP’s (not Journey to Batuu), SP’s and most of the kits (Country Kitchen, Blooming Rooms, Incheon Arrivals, Retro Fit, Industrial loft, Moonlight Chic, Little Campers, Pastel Pop, Everyday Clutter, Bathroom Clutter, Simtimates Collection, First Fits, Desert Luxe, Modern Luxe, Poolside Splash, Book Nook, Basement treasures, Greenhouse Haven, Pastel Pop and Bust the Dust).

What’s new in this update?:

Chestnut Ridge and Tomarang have been completely redone, added multiple new lots, updated other lots and provided make-overs for the households.

Added new households (when living in world; with jobs, friends, preferences etc).

Added rental lots in multiple other worlds outside of Tomarang (Brindleton Bay, Henford-on-Bagley, Britechester and more).

Spooky Fall Festival has been moved to Chestnut Ridge (bigger with haunted house ride). The old lot in Brindleton Bay has been changed into a cemetery.

Current Status of Worlds:

Finished worlds: Willow Creek, Oasis Springs, Newcrest, Magnolia Promenade, Windenburg, San Myshuno, Forgotten Hollow, Brindleton Bay, Del Sol Valley, StrangerVille, Glimmerbrook, Sulani, Britechester , Evergreen Harbor, Mt. Komorebi, Henford-on-Bagley, Tartosa, Moonwood Mill, Copperdale, San Sequoia, Chestnut Ridge (NEW!) and Tomarang (NEW!).

Finished vacation worlds: Granite Falls and Selvadorada.

Finihed other lots: Hospital, Science Lab and the Police Station.

To be updated: the Magic Realm, will either be included in a future update or on the gallery (OriginID: fleuralia)

What do you get with this save?:

For my save file all lots are either completely new builds (almost all) or renovations, ofcourse created by me. Exceptions: I have added the official builds for the releases of the Paranormal SP by Dr Ashley and the Dream Home Decorator GP by Deligracy to this save, since I thought they deserved a spot. These two are therefore not my own creations, credits are given in the description to Dr Ashley and Deligracy. Mt. Komorebi, Henford-on-Bagley, Tartosa, Moonwood Mill, Copperdale, San Sequoia and Chestnut Ridge lots are largely created by GameChangers. Most lots have gotten smaller updates, others are completely new builds by me.

All the townies had make-overs plus I added new families to spice it up a bit. Some of the townies are made by other creators, who are given credits in the description of the household. All the townies in the different worlds have a story, some include sentiments and adjusted relationships to the story.

Added plenty of community lots to give your Sims something to do (YAY!). Almost every world has one restaurant, but it also includes festivals that represent the four seasons (park lots) and a fully functional shopping street in Magnolia Promenade (toy store, bridal store and more).

I have added rental lots so you can go on vacation in more worlds. For example in Sulani, Willow Creek and Windenburg.

Other details:

As mentioned at the beginning, this save uses almost all packs (except Journey to Batuu and some kits). This means that if you download it without owning or installing most of the packs a lot of objects will disappear from the save, but if you are not bothered by this you can still download and play in it.  

I disabled the autonomous fame gain and neigborhood action plan voting/environmental changes, you enable them again in the pack settings menu.

I would love to add some households in this save created by all of you! Add your household under the hashtag #fleuraliatownies in The Sims 4 Gallery, you can add a storyline and world in the description but thats not obligatory. If I respond on your creation it means that I have incorporated it in the save for the next update.

Sadly every game update comes with a lot of bugs. I suggest before reporting problems in the save to me, to check on forums if its related to a general bug/glitch or to mods (if you use them).

Questions and supportive feedback are always welcome, you can reach me here via a comment on this post, an ask or through a DM 😁

How to make it work in your game:

Download the save file from the link below.

Drag it in your saves folder under: PC/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/saves.

Change the numbers if you already have a save with the same name.

It should now show up in your game as: Fleuralia Save Version 7.0.

DOWNLOAD (SFS) / Alternate (GD)

!!Don’t re-upload or claim as your own!!

Future updates will follow after each pack release (if it includes a world). The time the update will be uploaded after each release depends on how much I have to change and on my work schedule around that time.

Last but not least, enjoy and till next time! XX

Fleuralia

Feel free to support me ❤️: Ko-fi account

[cs-rylie]

IT'S FINISHED

Happy Spooky Season!

I've been too busy to keep up with this fic, so I just dropped both chapter7 and chapter8 on ao3! I hate leaving fics unfinished and I actually had the time to update this and FINISH it! Yay!

Taglist below the line! lmk if you want to be added or removed!

@jrob64 @kmomof4 @teamhook @undercaffinatednightmare @booksteaandtoomuchtv @herhookedhero @chronicallybubbly @elfiola @zaharadessert @tiganasummertree @hookedmom @djlbg @stardreamer28 @stahlop @gingerchangeling @middlemistcs13 @csadmire @deckerstarblanche @xellewoods @anmylica @huntressandlioness1 @insanelydeadlybookcollector @lfh1226-linda @motherkatereloyshipper @dashingpiratesandswans @momontheice @rapunzelsghosts @paradiselady19 @a-faekindagirl @eddisfargo @julesep3026 @caityrayeraye @bluewildcatfanatic @kday426 @winterbaby89 @jonesfandomfanatic @charmed101 @bg12sofia @ouat-the-hell @xarandomdreamx @zippoluv @flslp87 @captainswan-shipper88 @grimmswan @laschatzi @jennjenn615 @darkshadow7 @pygmypufftattoo @bizquake @ilovemesomekillianjones

[cruciomione]

"About the Blogger" Meme

Thanks for tag @bioloyg <3

Star Sign(s): Scorpio Sun (I literally never remember my other ones, I should probably memorize them)

Favorite Holidays: Christmas and Halloween. even tho i find it harder to feel the holiday spirit up until the very last minute i love christmas so much. and not even to be corny but its true that when you grow up you start to care less about the presents and more about the memories with family and friends.

i grew up in a religous family so my parents didnt let me celebrate halloween but i still love it with my whole heart. im a november baby so i love fall and all things eerie and spooky.

Last Meal: McDonalad's snack wrap and one of those new fruit splash drinks. its exam season so ofc im eating like shit. will probably eat some ice cream when i get home after my physiology exam in 30 minutes. so yay to junk food

Current Favorite Musician: currently ive been really enjoying pinkpantheress. her new album is literally 10/10. she has such a knack for melodies, and her lyrics are very eerie and poetic while maintaining a cutesy 2000s vibe. shes also a sampling queen.

honoarble mentions: ive been listening to a lot of janet, rosalia and red velvet these days too.

Last Music Listened To: feedback by janet Jackson. bro istg you have to clear the area when this comes on, i cant help but dance

Last Movie Watched: last movie i watched was bride wars. honestly a classic movie, so funny and i love wedding movies so i reccomend it. that was a month ago tho, which is crazy.

Last TV Show Watched: like the wonderful person who tagged me i watched the bear last. i just rewatched s02e01. ive been doing this thing where i'll either rewatch episodes for research, boredom or just because i get sucked in rewatching a specific clip that makes me want to rewatch the whole episode.

Last Book/Fic Finished: last fic i finished was keeping up with the berzattos by chefskiss40 on ao3. ive reread it like 3 or 4 times now and im patiently waiting for an update. its just so good, i love the domestic vibes. im not a fan of seeing my ships start families in canon but in fic? oh i could read that forever

Last Book/Fic Abandoned: not really abandoned but sorta modified? the sydcarmy high school au i started in the summer was a good concept but i didnt really have a concrete idea where the overall story would go. BUT im planning on maybe doing a series which is just a collection of one shots of them in HS? OR i plan on doing a multi-chapter shorter story that is an AU that also takes place in a high school setting but with a twist that i dont want to reveal bc that would mean i would have to commit to it. lol

Currently Reading: nothing. unless you count all these articles/research papers I've been reading for my health research studies course (think i aced the exam yesterday so maybe all the pain was worth it)

Last Thing Researched for Art/Writing/Hyperfixation: doesnt really count as research but basically i was on pinterest creating boards for 3 different fics. was researching wedding dresses for a nat & syd fic where they go wedding dress shopping (will be finishing after my last exam). also just creating two other boards to inspire myself to start the au i teased above and my bones and all AU/retelling i talked about last month. i want to watch some more cannibalism media and maybe research about 80s pop culture and politics before i dive into that one fully.

Favorite Online Fandom Memory: ummmm probably just being a menace on twitter with my friends that i made through being a reveluv. we talk every single day, and they are some of the best people i know. maybe the times we used to get up early or stay up late for comeback season, watch the kcharts being updated hourly and crack jokes about group we liked and didnt like

Favorite Old Fandom You Wish Would Drag You Back In/Have A Resurgence: technically THG is having a resurgence right now but im way too into the bear to really get back into it and also i havent seen the new movie. im excited to once exam season is done but i feel like the hype is already dying so i dont see myself getting too into it.

Favorite Thing You Enjoy That Never Had an Active or Big "Fandom" but You Wish It Did: uhhhh cant think of one tbh.

Tempting Project You're Trying to Rein In/Don't Have Time For: honestly every sydcarmy fic idea i have that would take multi chapters to flesh out. one shots are very safe for me. but im praying i'll commit to it. esp the bones and all AU lol

this was fun

tagging some ppl to do this too, only if you want!

@amieraisposting @chefkids @sennenrose @sydneys-adamu @sydneyscarm @happylikeasadsong @chansoooo1-blog

[hollyethecurious]

13 and/or 14 for the fan fiction ask!

Hello, friend! Thank you for sending this to me! I really appreciate it.

13. Which of your (the writer) fics would you like to recommend your followers / readers read or revisit this time of year?

I have a number of spooky season/autumn vibe fics and just updated a post that compiles them all. You can find it pinned to my page or here. (I'll probably reblog it after I answer this as well.)

If I had to highlight one or two, I would pick The Legend of Captain Killian Jones for Halloween and Conviction for the autumn season

14. Complete at least a twenty minute sprint. Share your word count and a line written during the sprint.

I did a sprint yesterday on my Land Run AU and managed to add a total of 636 words to it (YAY!). Here is the last line I wrote:

Now that Sheriff Humbert, who was married to Granny’s granddaughter, Ruby, had moved into the home built for him and his wife, the spare rooms at the back of the jail were available for his Head Deputy to move into, assuring there would always be a lawman on duty there.

Send me a Fan Fic Writer Ask!

[askthehiddencaste]

not so important news

hey just giving everyone a general update! This is the warning, i have a lot under the cut (for just my normal typing) so ive shortened it for convenience the TLDR: 1)trainings over for new job and ill be able to post more. 2)SORRY RP BUDDIES IM COMIN!! 3)tannos and heilel wrigglingdays are coming up end of oct/beg nov and shuskas is in dec. 4)the bonfire events i host for the library may be getting a side blog just to make the yearly events easier

ill be back to my regular shitposting for the most part now that the training with my new job is done. im going to be working overnights so ill post a lot more during either the EEEEEAAAAARRRRRLLLLYYY morning or closer to dark (central time) just because thats going to be the time im going to be awake lol yay graveyard shift

i want to apologize for not warning my rp partners that i wouldnt be replying for a while! I know i still owe @memurfevur 2, @laughingdarkdreams , @mageofspacemultiverse , @unothodox-hive-of-misfits , @dissident-capricous , @stuckstucktrolls , and @pixelgamer07 replies currently (this is counting both the sfw and nsfw blogs) if you do not see your tag on here and i owe you an rp reply, please give me a poke and a link and ill get to you asap!!!

ive got a couple of fun things planned out for the blog in the coming months, including a samhain bonfire to celebrate Tannos's wriggling day from the 31st-nov1 (which is when Samhain/the fall harvest is typically celebrated IRL) and a separate 'alternia drop day' for Heilel on Nov 2nd (Dio de Muertos((mini note thats also my birthday ^^))) just in case anyone wants to pester them on their days. From there the next day will be for Shuska on Yule(dec 21) to celebrate her wriggling day with another bonfire event and give everyone holiday gifts just for the season

the bonfire events will each have their own posts a little closer to the time and while they wont be as excitable as the YULE BALL that goes around every year, im hoping to see more people come through and just have fun with the RP experience ^^ im thinking about making a side blog to poke the bonfires onto just for ease of function/ finding as a 'setting' location for people to pop their holiday art/ drabbles/ etc into thats not as fancy / a little more comfortable to those who are new to the ftc or dont have as much experience with the larger event 'parties'

If youve made it all the way to the bottom and actually read this reply with a spider for spooky month lol

in all seriousness though i do appreciate everyones patience with me especially with the past few months and sticking around and being my friends. i love yall <> ~Kanny

[swynlake-rp]

Happy SwynWriMo Time!

OTMS

MUN: S! We loved Willow’s Little Shop of Horrors-inspired plot this month, just in time for Spooky Season. S’s creativity never fails to blow us away, whether it’s her unique plots, her amazing creations in the #arts-and-crafts channel, or her frankly incredible memeing abilities. Yay S! CHARACTER: TANYA! There are two reasons Tanya gets character of the month. One, it was October and she’s a ghost. And two, more importantly, she’s taken some massive strides this month and her story is reaching a point where we’re all ready to grab the tissue box. Tanya’s really come a long way! THREAD: CAS FORTUIT || TOFI & MOON! This thread has everything– drama, political intrigue, complicated histories between two powerful characters. Members were on the edge of their seats for this one, and we couldn’t agree more. TASK: BOTH OF WOLF’S TASKS! Shoutout to L for taking on both tasks with Wolf this month! Wolf’s Evil Twin task gave us another fascinating peek into his family history and what could have been, while “Der kapitän” gave us all the feels. As one member put it, “L really used not a lot of words to convey so much story telling, really set the scene and really got me invested in Wolf and the Captain’s relationship.” Nice work!

BOARD UPDATES 

CHAPTER THREE SHUT DOWN: Chapter Three was shut down due to a strange interpretation of a common ordinance regarding pests and infestations– the inspector included ‘ghosts and spirits’ in his report. The inspection was a surprise. All business inspections are handled by an official under the supervision of the Mayor’s Office… (OOC Information about this plot will be found in town-plot-updates!)

TASKS

SWYNWRIMO!: Either THREE of the tasks, or one of the writing tasks listed at 800 WORDS (This is for those who want a character! We encourage everyone to participate in SwynWriMo of course, but you do not need to complete the entire challenge to apply for a new character.)

EVENTS

NOV. 1 - 6: MADRIGAL DIOS DE LOS MUERTOS CELEBRATION Come out to Casita to learn about the cultural celebration of Dia de los Muertos. Eat food, bring photos of deceased loved ones for the community ofrenda, cut out papel picado, and decorate sugar skulls. Canonically takes place on Nov. 1 NOV. 15 - 22: CHARITY FUNDRAISER FOR AVALOR: Join Crown Princess Elena at town hall for a charity gala to raise money for three organizations benefiting Avalorans displaced by the political instability in the country. There will be Avaloran food, dancing, and information about Avaloran culture and history! SOMETIME IN NOVEMBER…. FIRST SNOW!!!! We will announce it in Discord, and then it’s game time!

BIRTHDAYS

Characters:

Pacifica Northwest – November 1

Angel Milano – November 1

Howl Pendragon – November 8

Mitte Esseman – November 8

Reba Stray – November 9

Ryeo "Robbie" Hwan – November 10

Lilith Clawthorne – November 12

Aquata Triton – November 13

Cheralynne Alexander – November 14

Princess Elena Flores of Avalor – November 16

Evangeline Davies – November 18

Paul "Doc" Hudson – November 18

Torvald “Tófi" Sæther – November 22

Penny Forrester – November 23

Toby Determined – November 25

Jessie Wright – November 28

Flynn Rider – November 29

PLOT ROUND-UP! 

RISE OF RYNA THUNDERFIST

Characters and Muns Involved: Mirabel, Julieta

Plot: Mirabel leaving her DnD Beyond character sheet on the kitchen table has some unexpected consequences. Specifically, Mirabel having to explain her character Ryna Thunderfist, a barbarian, to her mother, a violence-wary parent. A fun, mostly lighthearted thread that touches on Mirabel and Julieta's relationship and softly grazes some Madrigal Family Issues.

TERROR AT THE HAUNTLEY

Characters and Muns Involved: Snow, Wolf, Gem

Plot: The Hauntley Inn is still under attack by a mysterious entity! 

HIGH PRIORITY SECURITY ISSUE

Characters and Muns Involved: Eboshi, Thomas, Ashitaka , Hades, Belle

Plot: Eboshi is investigating Ashitaka

CAS FORTUIT

Characters and Muns Involved: Tófi, Moon

Plot: A lot can happen in a lifetime, especially for a near-immortal like Tófi. A lot can happen in a lifetime, especially for Moon who feels like her life has been thoroughly separated into a before and after. Moon and Tófi meet 36 years and a regicide later: feelings are had (said feelings being passive-aggressiveness), a discreet verbal fight ensues, and who knows what might happen next? -- Certainly not J and T who have no control over how petty their muses are.

BREWING CRASHER

Characters and Muns Involved: Hera, Reza

Plot: Hera’s ex-husband is back in town! He showed up announced whilst Hera and reza were working, and he claims to be here in business, but who can really be sure…

THE ONE WHERE VIXEY HAS A DATE

Characters and Muns Involved: Vixey, Phil, Al, Jun, Tiana

Plot: When Al asked if the rest of the gang (Vixey, Jun, Tiana) wanted to join in on his and Nora’s Halloween costume, Vixey lied–saying she already had a costume with someone else. She hopped onto to Twitter where she found Phil and they decided to go together. Now, Tiana is confused why Vixey didn’t tell her about Phil, Al and Jun are concerned about Phil’s reputation…

BRUNCH BABES BAIL

Characters and Muns Involved: Snow, Isabela, Dolores, Elena , Ting-Ting, Genevieve

Plot: The Brunch Babes decided on the Spice Girls ((Posh (Snow), Scary (Elena), Sporty (Isabela), Baby (Dolores), Ginger (Genevieve))) for Halloween. Ting-Ting opted out of the group costume to stay home and pass out candy. However, just a few days before Halloween, Snow backed out–citing too much going on at work, leaving the other girls to scramble for new costumes.

[mariahlstudios]

This month's patron postcard art just dropped! I wanted to make this one in celebration of issue 3 of Puella Maledictum. I'm very happy with how it turned out and I can't wait to send them! You can view the full artwork and receive postcards of your own by becoming a patron at patreon.com/mariahlstudios Also it's spooky season! You know what that means? The second annual spooky box is on its way! YAY! I've started getting my supplies and plans together. There are going to be some fun and spooky items this year! Don't miss out! Become a patron to receive yours! -xoxo mbl 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤 #art #artist #patronsupport #patronpostcard #Arane #spiderwebs #PuellaMaledictum #illustration #update https://www.instagram.com/p/CidGIvApxvr/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[alfredosauce50]

Spooky update 🕸

So my ask box is kinda piling up on some requests I haven’t done. I won’t say I’ll get up to them, but there’s one that I’m pretty interested in... You know, considering what time of the year it is *bites lip*

It’s time to get spooky! 🕸🕷🎃 It sucks that I’ll be busy around Halloween time, so I’ll have to write stuff before then 🤠 Nonetheless, I can’t wait!

I’m not sure if I’ll be taking more requests, so we’ll see how we go time-wise. I try my best to answer and do as many as I can, but if that doesn’t happen, please don’t get upset—I read all my asks, so you’ve definitely reached me. Any who, I hope everybody is doing swell 🥴

[inkyvendingmachine]

Paranormal Investigations Season 3, Episodes 5

💀 Call of Cthulhu: Haunted Hijinx Masterpost 💀 🎶 Call of Cthulhu Season Three Masterpost 🎶

Warning: This campaign is an edited version of Call of Cthulhu: Song and Dance scenario from the Tales of the Crescent City book. While a lot has been changed, there IS spoilers for it throughout these posts.

FINALLY STARTING TO TRY AND ACTUALLY GET CAUGHT UP ON THESE AGAIN... I know I say this like every post but HOPEFULLY WILL BE CHURNING OUT MORE OF THESE SOON.

ART CHANGES THIS SEASON!! @inkdemonapologist​ and I are collabing on all the art for these summery posts!! Shazz does lines, and I compose and colour the pieces.

While the boys start to regather themselves and meet up at the studio to go into their day, Peter calls to give an update of his own; that reporter we had talked to? He checked in with his sister and she said he never came in. We are, of course, expecting the worst. 

Without much of another lead available, we decide to proceed with our Throwing Ghost Jack Into A Occult Mansion plan. Since Peter is not available to be backup in the ghost realm, some vague plans are made to keep track of Jack’s body while he goes in, and if anything happens like that time in NOLA when they saw Jack's hands get injured, Henry will go in with his special eyes and make sure Jack can get out safely. Everyone piles into a car and drives over to the Savoy mansion, parking out back and a block away so that they will not be immediately noticed or recognized.

The mansion is nice and actually kept up well and inhabited. So some quick plans are made of what to look for; - Susie and or her friends or anything that Susie owns - any big magical circles or spooky things - ink or ink residue - … soup

… listen we have this Orchid Soup comment we haven’t figured out yet SO.

Jack manages to fall asleep pretty quickly and starts to walk towards the mansion. Meanwhile, Joey takes the “Hold and support the sleeping Jack” position because he knows he will not be able to rush in if something happens like Sammy or Henry can. Also maybe holds hands with Jack… to keep an eye on Jack’s scars of course.

Jack’s first priority is to make sure he’s not running face first into runes, followed by making sure he’s not running face first into someone who might be able to see him. He does end up finding some protection runes here or there, but nothing like back in NOLA. These are more to specifically keep out large dangerous entities, and not small soft Jacks. Though also some of them have wards on them that would probably alert someone of an intruder so… just going to casually avoid those.

Jack does start comparing doors to the outside walls, trying to find any room that feels like it has a lack of window, or a covered up window, a room where they might have hid some bodies or kidnapped girls. Instead, he gets distracted as he finds an entire stained glass garden like room, filled with orchids, both in decor design and along the actual walls of plants. Though a lot of the other plants seem more… practical use, with jars of various sorts and also a wall of books.

Since not much can be figured out without passing into one of the warded rooms, Jack starts with the ones upstairs. The first is just a master bedroom, and he doesn’t end up getting hurt from the ward, which prompts him to go to a second: probably a daughters room? But it’s all packed up now. Just like, the daughter no longer lives in this room… Weird.

Third room is just another normally lived-in room, probably another child, probably male. Probably a male who really likes guns, since he just has guns laying around his bedroom and a buncha books on guns. Yay guns.

Feeling extra… relevant, Jack circles around and enters the garden room, starting to look around for any additional clues. And he quickly finds that the room size on the inside and what appears on the outside is shorter, thus there’s probably a secret space behind the bookshelves.

But also, while the room was empty earlier, there’s now a well dressed lady standing in the corner, flipping through a small booklet near the phone. Jack quickly realizes that he had seen this woman, specifically on the night Joey was in the hospital. Most likely has found “Lady Orchid.” 

Jack tries to sneak around her, but she instantly stares right at him and frowns. Backing up to a shelf and clearly following him with her eyes as he starts sneaking towards the outer wall again, she raises a jar of… something as an attack. Jack continues to back up out of the house, and she confirms, “Yes, good idea, move along, we’re not looking to be haunted, thank you.” She continues to follow him into the yard, tapping the jar at him until he leaves the premises.

Meanwhile, the trio left in the car spot a group of young men, all in fairly nice suits wandering around back of the mansion as well. In almost the same sneaky manner that they would if they were scoping out a place. Joey figures out pretty quickly from their suits that the one is the man with the money, and everyone else seems like hired staff of some sort. Sammy confirms this, because he recognizes one of them as a saxophone player he once worked with in the past. (Not a great one, but good enough.)

Eventually one breaks off, and the others follow over to this weird car parked across the street. Joey, knowing that probably some form of talking will best handle this suit, gets out of the car and meets him along the way, while Sammy hunkers down in the back to make it look like he and Jack are just resting and there’s no weird passed out person in the back of this oddly parked car.

Joey starts chatting up this finely dressed man, but in such a way as to try to gain as much information as he can so he can just feed it right back to the guy and pretend to be on the same page. Apparently he’s looking for Nicole Savoy as well, and is quite worried about her, her parents are hard to talk with, etc etc. Eventually another guy nudges the Suit and reminds him that there’s a schedule to keep, so he gives Joey his card and an invite to his club later that evening, so they can share information then and see if they can work out where Nicole and her friends have disappeared to. Right before the gaggle of suits wander off, Joey manages to get his name, y’know, so he can find him at the club later. His friends apparently just call him… Y.

Soon, Jack returns to his body, and updates the car on what he has found. After a back and forth of whether or not they should just try to spy into that secret room again right away, the group decides that it’s not a risk they need to take right now and to head out for lunch. Peter is not at his desk today so he doesn’t join them.

After a meal, the plans for the evening are made. 

Henry is going to go stop by the bookshop he’s procured a few magical books from, as well as the bakery Susie frequents, and ask around for some information. This indeed gives little to no info, as the bookstore owner can confirm she’s noticed something weird going on locally, but has no idea what is causing it or what could be done about it. And the bakery fellas can only confirm she picked up her last order for a lot of cake, which is not usual for her, but that’s it. With not much more than an entire box of donuts, Henry heads home for dinner with his family and to wait for a call to meet up at JDS later with findings.

Meanwhile, Joey is going to head to the club to question Y, figure out what he knows of the girls and also why he’s trying to find them; even if he’s a friend, we’re not quite sure what kind of friend he is yet. But clearly he has information. Sammy and Jack end up tagging along with Joey, mostly because nobody is going to let Joey wander around alone out of trust that he will not get into trouble, but also because… this sort of feels like a trap in some way?

The place is called The Bottomless Well.

Surely this will be fine.

Joey puts aside his worries while enjoying his time dressing up his boys for what is surely going to be a very upscale club, based on how Y was dressed. 

And he is correct, the place is clearly a speakeasy that doesn’t need to hide itself anymore, which means it could probably still be run by gangsters. There’s a door check, and only because Joey fussed over making everyone look so presentable, do they easily get through and into the rather well packed club. It’s upscale enough for there to be security, and to support an entire band, which, yes, is made of the men we saw wandering around earlier with Y. Though also, odd for the location, there’s fliers in the bar, specifically advertising a musical contest being held later that week: “Contest of the Arts to be held at Raven's Hall Ballroom on the 18th of July to be judged by a celebrated giant of the entertainment industry. Accepting entrants for Singing, Charleston, and Piano.  There’s a 200$ cash prize to each winner as well as a $2,500 donation to the artistic institute of winner's choice.”

Joey casually pockets one of those fliers as he makes his way to the bar to order a drink for blending purposes, but also to pick the bartender (and other patrons' brains) on the place and it’s owner. - It is still run by gangsters, of which Y is in the family. He is one of two siblings and has a sister that is also quite active. - Y’s the owner of this place and it’s kind of his pet project, but he’s certainly still very connected to his family. - There’s absolutely, positively, no connection between the Savoy’s and Y’s family. Joey specifically gets this information by persuading others to bring up the Savoy’s so that he doesn’t gain a target on his back from this.

Meanwhile, Sammy is noticed by Saxophone this time around, and reluctantly starts a conversation with the other musician, trying to get information about the place while Saxophone asks if Sammy is here looking for work. While Jack was initially being toted around by Joey while Sammy stayed in the back and observing the band, he pulls away now to go save the anti-social composer from his worst enemy: conversation that is interrupting music. Not a lot of information is gained, but they do confirm from another source that there’s still criminal ties to this place. But also it offers really good compensation and the two music boys would be great additions to the team!

The boys meet up and decide to try and talk to Y. They’re aware that he’s in the back of the club, where Saxophone pointed while chatting earlier, but the otherwise open entrance is guarded by a security fella. Though, when looking that way, Jack notices something moving through the door… that doesn’t quite look like it should be there. Meanwhile, Sammy and Joey have noticed that the entire band has been keeping their eyes on Joey the entire time he’s been moving about this place.

…

Well, we still have no other leads, even if this is starting to feel more and more trap-like!! Joey, Sammy and Jack head towards the back and easily convince the security guard they have a meeting with Y and will just wait in his office meanwhile.

Of course, as soon as they get into the back storage room, the boys are snooping around. There’s a clear office door, and while looking around, Jack also spots the yellow sign in some of the wall’s ironwork in the room. It’s not crawling at them, but it is there.

Meanwhile, Sammy has noticed something else weird about this wall with the Yellow sign carved into it.

He’s noticed there’s ink on the other side.

[Next Episode]

[Previous Episode]

[anxiousarchitect]

SPELLMAN MORTUARY - Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’s house in the Sims 4

[THIS LOT WILL BE UPDATED AND AVAILABLE SOON.]

This is my first post ! Yay !! Let’s be honest. After season 2, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina started to be...weird. But the show had some amazing sets like the Spellman Mortuary, that I decided to reproduce in the Sims 4 !  I like to dive into the history and symbolic of movie sets so we’ll have a little chat about this too.

The mortuary

The original house set is amazing and full of details, art, symbolic and occult secrets. It’s a perfect vintage Halloween decor, with it’s granny chic and spooky vibe, and all the vibrant, dark colors.

The interior of the house is a labyrinthic set of rooms inspired by the notorious Winchester haunted house in San Jose as well as H.P Lovecraft aesthetic. The exterior in particular was inspired by the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion, a gabled house in Salem, Massachusetts, also known as the ‘House of Seven Gables’ in the Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book.

The set was created by Lisa Soper, a real-life pagan who infused the house with her magic. She was born on Halloween, which is just one of the many coincidences she ran into while working on the house. She indeed put a lot of her personal power in it like a protection spell on the house, calming sigils, carved runes... You can read more about this there, there, or there.

Exterior at night - the fog of Forgotten Hollow suits the house perfectly !

The mortuary itself was built for the show and the exterior doesn’t exactly match the interior sets (which are bigger), which makes it impossible to reproduce it perfectly in game. I had to make some sacrifice to keep the exterior look close to the original, like reducing the size of the kitchen and add some rooms.

The house was built in a shape of a spiral (every room you enter leads to the next one) and get more magical and magical as you go deep into the house.

I wanted to get as similar as possible to the original to make it a truly witchy place, even in the Sims. In every room in the set we can find several pieces of occult  and fantasy art which participates a lot to the atmosphere. I reproduced some of them like the big Francisco Goya’s painting above the fireplace in the living room. We can also spot a lot of John Bauer’s paintings, or other famous artists.

The main hall

The entrance was a challenge because of the stairs. It was hard to make and I used multiple platforms and modular stairs to get the feeling right. The decor crew said they wanted to represent the choice between the mortal world and the magical world that Sabrina must face, and made the stairs split in two to represent the two possible options. 

 In here we can see a representation of the medieval tapestry “Unicorn in captivity” that we can also see in Harry Potter in the Gryffindor’s common room. There’s also a lot of art in this hall but we don’t see the details of all of them, so I chose some pictural representation of famous witches like Circe, Medea or Morgan le Fey.

Zelda and Hilda’s office

The office is where the ants receive customers (and also where my sims go to play on the computer when they’re bored). Zelda and Hilda share a chair here. Lisa Soper said that she had a theory about them being siamese twins in the past, which also explains why they sleep in twin beds. We can spot two John Bauer’s painting in it, as much as multiple death-related objects, like old urns, and the amazing auntie’s metronomes. I couldn’t get it for the game, but here’s a picture from Tv Addict.

Foyer

This is probably my favourite room. It’s so inconic and there’s just so many different things to see in it.  I think the multiple doors make it the true magical center of the house. The wallpaper is actually a representation of the Gibson Girls. The main painting is Francisco Goya’s ‘El Aquelarre’ (The Ritual). Satan is everywhere in the house as we will see ! On the left of the painting there’s a John William Waterhouse painting of Medea that I added. I love the vintage TV and obviously the wonderful Tiffany lamp. In the original set, there’s a big stained glass ceiling which is a nod to the 1978 horror movie ‘Suspiria’. Obviously it was impossible to reproduce it in game, which is sad !

Conservatory

It’s too bad that we don’t see more of this room in the show as it is beautiful. It was hard to reproduce, I wanted to get that lush, vegetal, oppressive feeling as if you were in the forest - which is hard to do in the Sims if you don’t want to overwhelm a room and keep space for you sims to walk. This is a place where the Spellman keep some magical herbs, and even if we don’t really see it in the show there’s a cute reproduction of a Baby Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors.

Kitchen

The kitchen is full of plants and jars, like a proper witch’s kitchen. This is where Hilda spends most of her time cooking. The room is divided in two parts and has quite a symetric vibe, which might be another metaphor for Sabrina’s difficult choice. There’s a lot of porcelain and rabbit imagery in it, which is the Spellman’s totem ! It represents both innocence and fragility as much as witchcraft and occult mysteries, which is a perfect choice in my opinion.

There’s a small potion cabinet next to the kitchen. In the original set, there are real potion ingredients that Lisa Soper created herself or got from her own personnal collection.

Living-room

This is the big living room, where the Spellman came to celebrate Yule. Its main color is yellow, a symbol of cuningness and wisdom, and the original chinoiserie wallpaper in the set is incredibly beautiful and looks like the garden of Eden. We can even see an apple tree near the left exit, maybe to remind us of the episode of the Genesis where Satan tempted Eve. Maye the fruit of knowledge is a metaphor for witchcraft ?

The shoe corridor

In the show we don’t see this corridor very much, but it’s very, very cool. There’s a collection of shoes here that holds one of Zelda’s secret. Everytime she puts a hex on someone, she steals the shoe of her victim and put it here to keep the hex going (or maybe as a trophee !). There’s a beautiful nature’s themed wallpaper, with trees and pines all over (mine is quite plain, helas).

Zelda and Hilda’s bedroom

In the show, there’s two luxurious and beautiful victorian lamps in this bedroom. Two bad I couldn’t get some as pretty for the game... The dominant color of this room is blue and purple. Lisa Soper said every character had his color, a symbol of his personnality. Blue is for Hilda, as she’s a gentle and calming creature, and purple for Zelda, which shows her mystical traits and her strict personnality. There’s also a John Bauer’s painting in this room, an illustration of the fairy tale ‘Coronation of the Sea Queen’. It would be interesting to study the links that can be established between this tale and the personnality of the sisters.

Sabrina’s bedroom

This is my second favourite room ! The original bedroom is a perfect teen witch fantasy, and have a less antique feeling than the rest of the house, probably to express youth and passion. 

Even if the shows deliberately doesn’t tell in which years it all takes place, there’s a big 70′s and 80′s vibe in Sabrina’s room with horror movies posters (like Nosferatu or Häxan), pictures of musicians like David Bowie, the Beatles,The Monkeys...but it is indeed the bedroom of a young witch, and we can see magical artefacts here and there, like tarot cards on the mirror, Henry Fuseli’s Weird Sisters on the wall, and of course, rabbits. 

The bedroom’s color is mostly red and white, the two Sabrina’s color. They represent her dual nature, as innocent and pure as she’s fierce and dangerous. The doll’s house that we can see on the show is actually a miniature of the set, and contains a replica of Sabrina’s bedroom. It’s a nice touch and suggests, like the spiral shape of the house and the many doors in the foyer, some kind of a neverending place where we can only go deeper and deeper... Later in the show the two mirrors also reveals itself as portals to other worlds. 

 There’s a very cropped version of a John Bauer’s painting near Sabrina’s bed call ‘Inge by the Dark Lake’, a beautiful alias to the Narcissus myth, which adds to the mirror symbolic as a door to the unconscious, magical worlds and identity. I wanted to get the “under the roof” feeling right, so I made my own wallpaper to get the “old red” color and retexture the ceiling decor to match.

Sabrina’s bathroom

Who never dreamt to have its own bathroom next to the bedroom ? Sabrina has the most beautiful one. This is where she actually cooks a lot of different spells including the one she casts on her boyfriends ! The bathtub itself is glorious and has this kind of sensual, dramatic atmosphere.

Ambrose’s attic

This was a pain in the a** to build, because of the mess and all the objects ! But it’s a beautiful attic in the set, I especially like the booknerd feeling in it. It was designed like a onion, with multiple layers of objects from different era, to show how long Ambrose have been stuck in here and accumulated stuff ! It’s much more messy than Sabrina’s bedroom, because Ambrose is more of a crazy scientist and hippie.

Other rooms

There’s more little rooms a little bit everywhere like the morgue and a red entrance in the back where we can see John Waterhouse’s ‘Magic Circle’ (also sometimes in Sabrina’s bedroom or in the kitchen), and also more bathrooms since logically nobody else than Sabrina uses Sabrina’s. I’ll showcase the whole house in a video when I have time ! Well, here it is !! Thank you for reading this long article, I hope you enjoyed this discovery of Spellman’s mortuary. I really fell in love with this house, there’s truly something fascinating about it and it’s really cool to play in it.

[itsaship-literally]

Hey Babes!

Since not everyone follows my main blog, I wanna give you all an update.

Spooky season is soon upon us and so returns interest in the Ghost with the Most.

Granted the return of the musical here in the states also does the same... But still.... We are used to the seasonal shift.

Yay Spooky Season! You know that this means many folks will be making the arts and fics again!!! Wooooo!!!!!!

Anyway..... I want to let you all know that my queue is low at the moment because I started a new VFX position over the summer and my energy level is so dead that I am in the waiting room pretty much every night. The shows are rather demanding but I hope things will chill soon as the deadlines pass. But until then I could use some help.

While I am gone, please feel free to tag “Its a ship” or message me if there are works that you would like me to feature. I can't make any promises about when things get featured but I would appreciate the assist. Spooky season is the best time for Juicy art and I look forward to seeing what you guys create.

As always, I would like to remind everyone to continue to be helpful and supportive to your fellow artists, writers and crafters.

Any instagram links or external sites that I post could use a visit.

Comments to the fics posted are like crunchy beetles to the ghosties.

Send good vibes to everyone

Avoid toxic situations and bad vibes.

Knock Three Times

Keep those spirits high!!!

Dont forget your handbook

Above all, remember that we are all just trying to have a good time and if something bothers/disturbs you, please make sure you take care of yourself. I know its hard for the romance shippers these days but as with everything, things will change. Remember that No One outside fandom spaces really care about how dorky we are with our nerdy obsession. Just do you. Have fun and keep smiling.

I am wishing you all lots of chills and thrills for the season. Love you guys!

[humanlighthouse]

I did not know you were specializing in Poe?!!?!

🌫💀🕯🫀🗡🧱🚪🍷🏰🪦🌫

*very irritated rn that my phone has no appropriate corvid emoji*

As an american i'm familiar with like, The Raven (i am a sucker for a rhyme scheme ok?) and his most well-known short stories, etc. so i am super-curious: pray tell, what is your favorite Poe fact and/or work?

it's coming up on the spooky season, so i for one would love some Poe stuffs to reblog in October

*thinking really hard about a liu sang/tell tale heart fusion* ... *also thinking about how dmbj has so many horror elements you could easily situate a poe story into the dmbj universe*

Hi honey 🥰 I sure am! I'm gonna try to keep my nerd rant to an acceptable length, but just know that you brought this upon yourself 🤭

So first: rhyme scheme: have you read The Bells? When you read the poem, you can literally hear the different types of bells ringing! My dude was very good at sounds. He wrote essays on rhythm in poetry, it wasn't my favorite part so I'm not as well versed in that but it sure shows in the rest of his writing!

> I should have prefaced this by saying that everything he wrote can be found online! Either on wikisource or on the amazing, the wonderful website eapoe.org that has ANYTHING you might look for about him!

Okay back to writing. My favorite is a toss-up between William Wilson (guy haunted by a physical manifestation of his conscience) and The Masque of the Red Death (also about a guy haunted by a physical manifestation of his failures hm i have a type yes 🤔) Both stories are short yet pack an impressive emotional gut punch, they're very visual, full of symbolism, and just so damn well written?? I am currently writing an article about Masque and the fact that it uses the symptoms of Ebola 130 years before the disease was found 😗 and how that choice of disease (instead of say, the black plague or cholera that he also uses elsewhere) has to do with said failure of the prince, Color Theory Red, etc etc with some Shakespeare refs thrown in for good measure. It's fun!

My general area of knowledge is about religion and spirituality in Poe, which I am.... basically the only one to study? (yay for lack of competition, big fish tiny puddle!!) At the end of his life (at...39, but that's another can of worms), he wrote a long long loooooong essay (for Poe, so like, 100 pages, but it's so DENSE and dull at times it feels like twice that at least - the ending is really good though!) about cosmogony, that is, the creation of the universe, how and more important WHY it came to be, called Eureka. I did my masters on it, and my doctoral thesis was about how it's kind of a ... crystallization of ideas he wrote about previously?

Fun fact, did you know that Poe wrote the first (Western) Sherlock Holmes? Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Mystery of Marie Roget and The Purloined Letter all have Auguste C. Dupin (his Sherlock) solve crime by sitting down and thinking lol and he was the first! He also makes a few asides about, well, life in general, and a few of these are copied verbatim in Eureka, for example. Poe has very unique ideas about cosmogony, and it's lucky he wasn't more successful in spreading them around or he would probably have ended up on a stake somewhere :) but there are So Good! I can rant more about those at a later date lol

So while Eureka itself isn't my favorite work, its impact (retroactive impact? can that be a thing? I once wrote about "the inverted echo" of it and my thesis advisor was like What lmao) on the rest of Poe's work IS my main area of nerdiness. But Poe is amazing!! Almost everything he wrote is amazing!! He was also bitchy and petty and so goddamn nerdy. Also probably ace!! and definitely bi lol I HAVE ARGUMENTS FOR THIS

Lastly, I have a Poe side-blog, which hasn't been updated in AGES but still exists! And where I put up a list of Poe recs :) here

But don't.... don't get me started about Poe/DMBJ crossovers? I have work to do! articles to write! I HAVE A FAMILY PLEASE-

That's it for now, shutting up :p Thanks for the ask!!!

[kaleidiope]

Yay! I rember! :D It's spooky season again! So I've updated my story collection with one new story for a creature from my childhood And one re-vamped "poem-ish" story I once made It's a bit weird this time, but hopefully I did the monsters from my imagination justice! As always, please read the beginning page if you're new to this series. And to read the authors note at the start of each story, as some stories might be very triggering with their topics And I also recommend not reading the stories that haven't been marked as complete, as they all tend to have a very long ways to go and a lot of editing in store for them And as always, I will always want to know if there's spelling mistakes!! Happy spook season!

[life-rewritten]

TOO MANY ZOMBIES THIS HALLOWEEN!! AKA SCARY/NON SCARY SHOWS I WILL BE WATCHING THIS SPOOKY SEASON

(UPDATE AND UPCOMING ANALYSIS OCTOBER 2020)

Happy Spooky Season! Yay time to think about what shows can help me feel even closer to Halloween celebrations. I'm an introvert instead of dressing up and going partying I watch and analyse shows instead by my self. Here is a list of shows I'm planning to, started to or repeating to watch this month! Join me and let me know what shows you plan to watch for this Halloween! 

Ratings: From 1 to 5 (1 being least excited to watch, 5 being most,) how excited am I to delve into these shows/again?

Currently watching

1.Tale of the nine-tailed

Genre/Themes: Supernatural, Kdrama, Gumiho, Fantasy, Romance, Drama

Country: Korea

Verdict: I guess I'm the only person who isn't that fussed about this drama? But for Halloween, I think I can deal with the supernatural themes even though it feels like a forced grim reaper spin-off (I know it's different, but this just screams like a goblin try hard no offence to all in love with it or vampire diaries but make its foxes. Directing did improve from episode 2 though. Still not a fan of the actress either. I'm just a grouch this Halloween.  Watch as I end up becoming obsessed after six episodes and start analysing this.(smh)

Ratings: 2.5/5

2. Zombie Detective

Country: Korea

Genre: Kdrama,  Mystery, Zombies, Comedy, Crime? Romance?

Verdict: Too many Zombies in Halloween but I'm not complaining not when I get to see his face every episode. Also like this drama is actually so funny, and I can't stop smiling when I put it on. Halloween is going to be a time for laughter and good fun thanks to this.

Ratings: 3/5

3. My dangerous wife

Country: Korea

Genre: Suspense, Mystery, Romance, Crime, Remake of Jdrama

Verdict: I mean conspiracies are grand, so what about a gone girl vibe as well? This drama has it all, a horrible husband and his disturbing mistress who I want to hurt as well,  and a missing wife who was taken for granted, or wait was she? Why is she dangerous then? Did she plan it? Did she know he planned to kill her, will I ever get to trust the idea of love and marriage and men with Korean tv shows this year after World of Married and now this? Probably not and you know what that is a scary thought this Halloween.

Ratings: 2/5

Re-watching

4. He's coming to me

Country: Thailand

Genre: Thai BL, Ghosts, Mystery, Romance, Slice of Life,

Verdict: It's Halloween, so I have an excuse to go back and rewatch this gem of a show. This is one of my favourite underrated Thai BL shows, the actors are incredible, the storyline is heartwarming and brings out a side of me (the tearful side) that I thought was buried deep within I joke, but still, the mystery whilst predictable keeps me on my toes, and the romance touched my heart. The fact that the romance is not censored, or reduced or toxic makes this show a fantastic media piece about representation for LGBT as well. Absolutely excited.

Ratings: 5/5

5. Mo Dao Zu shi anime

Country: China

Genre: Danmei, Supernatural, Action, Fantasy, Romance, Comedy, BL, Horror, Donghua

Verdict: You caught me going back to withdrawal mode of MDZ. Not even going to apologise for this one. MDZ is an addiction that cannot be stopped. For Halloween, I want to see my panicked gays and their love for each other as they battle the living dead, demonic cultivators, and even more. I miss my Wangxian, okay? If you haven't seen this or the untamed and you watch BL, what are you doing with your life??? Honestly though deciding to watch MDZ donghua is the best decision I ever made. What an excellent show for Halloween! A masterpiece.

Ratings: 5/5

Will be Watching

6. Heaven's official blessing 

Country: China

Genre: Danmei, Supernatural, Action, Fantasy, Romance, Comedy, BL, Horror

Verdict: Is it weird how I keep crying and screaming at the PVs of this dongua? How I'm swooning at the half face of Hua cheng (our royal ghost seme) that's been revealed even though I know it's not his real face???, I'm weird I know. The animation looks breathtaking, and I can't believe one of my fave books is getting an anime remake like who else can do this apart from MXTX with her third anime remake this year. This series is just so exciting, and the fact that China doesn't seem like it's even giving any damn in censoring it is making me even more happy and grateful for this. How is this Halloween you may ask; try horror of Gods, monsters, ghosts, zombies and more. The first episode we're going to see and solve the mystery of brides get killed by some ghost cannot wait!

Ratings: 5/5

7. Kingdom 1 and 2

Country: Korea

Genre: Kdrama, Sageuk, Action, Zombies, Horror, Politics? Romance?

Verdict: Not going to lie, I am dreading watching this because I hate horror and like zombies terrify me sometimes in Korean media. However, I also am so excited to watch this because I've been called a fool for refusing to see it, not to mention it has one of my favourite actors in it, an amazing writing and directing team with accolades and proof of excellence, and well for Halloween what's scarier than zombies? Them spreading their disease whilst we deal with political intrigue? Can't think of anything else. 

Ratings: 4/5

8. Miss Gu who is silent

Country: China

Genre: Suspense, Mystery, Romance, Crime

 Verdict: Why is she silent though??? I had to take a break from Zombies and instead decided to jump into conspiracies and revenge dramas. Have absolutely no clue what this drama is about. Still, I've been recommended it by so many people, and well I like a woman who decides to mess everything up so she can ruin those who tried to break her. You go girl! 

Ratings: 3/5

So there you have it, we have ghosts, zombies, missing wives, hidden conspiracies, hot men and girls, and breathtaking animation to the mix! I think this is a good mixture. What about you guys how's your Halloween season and planning going? Hopefully not as grouchy as mine. Enjoy. 

[lamatisse]

Omg yay pale skintones!!! Finally I can make my ginger self

hewwo anon :( i didn’t want to answer this bc i didn’t want to disappoint anyone ;-; but i was actually talking about occult skintones (╯︵╰,) i said in my previous replies that i probably wasn’t going to add anything new to the bare skintones until after the big december skintone update. i also wanted to create something new (especially for spooky season), so i hope you understand! :( for the meantime, i suggest getting these skintones cc with a good amount of amazing light shades!!

peaches & cream

the other side

stuck on you

b-natural fair pale

[thatordinaryoddity]

UPDATE: Once In A Blue Goddamn Moon

a 💗 Jamie & Dani Fanfiction 💗 [The Haunting Of Bly Manor, Netflix 2020]

written by thatordinaryoddity

Rating: K+

Words: ~9,5k

Genre: Angst/Hurt/Comfort

Status: Complete (will be uploaded in three chapters + Prologue)

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27475423/chapters/67177879

FF.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13742358/2/Once-In-A-Blue-Goddamn-Moon

Summary: Jamie leaves Flora’s weeding more wrapped up in her thoughts than usual. In all those years, there hadn’t been a day without thinking of her deceased lover Dani. But sometimes, once in a blue goddamn moon, events coincide in an exceptional, odd way.

A/N: Hey there darlings! I hope you’re all doing well!

I’ve just managed to upload my fanfiction on AO3 and FF.net *yay*. In short, here’s the new update, have fun! Next chapter will be out tomorrow, same time, same place(s) - until then, stay awesome!

The Garden Above the City

____________________

 Jamie dropped off her luggage and went straight to the kitchen to get herself a cold, clear glass of water. Finally, after what felt like way more than an almost seven hour flight, she was in her usual environment again. To tell from the dawn outside the window, the day had just begun here in England since they had been on a nightplane. A little bit jetlagged, she pulled her cardigan tighter around her shoulders as she seated herself in the dark-green, cosy vintage loveseat. Like some sort of weird compulsion, she checked the water surface with every sip she took from her glass, hoping to see her reflection – as always, even after all this time, even after all this disappointing time.

In hope of getting some distraction from her train of thoughts, she grabbed the remote control for her radio and switched it on. Restless as the past few days had left her, she shifted around nervously on the seat, unable to find a comfortable way to sit. After a few fidgety minutes, the grey-haired woman gave up on finding any rest and decided to make herself a little something to eat instead. In the background, the music from the radio silenced to make room for the daily news. A female voice started talking:

And now to the weather forecast. This Friday autumn morning will be sunny in all parts of South England. It’s supposed to get cloudy with thunderstorms in the evening. Over the weekend, we expect rain in the greatest parts of Britain. Also, a rare Blue Moon will appear this weekend, coinciding with Halloween for the first time in more than 70 years. The full moon will rise in the east at 4.53 pm in the UK on Saturday, less than 20 minutes after the sun sets.

Jamie wasn’t even really listening. It was more like she heard the voice of the radio lady but couldn’t catch what she was saying. She was just tucked so far away in her own thoughts.

After she had eaten her breakfast and unpacked her suitcase, she decided to visit her favourite place in the world – Teddy’s little rooftop garden – one of the few things left to give her soul some comfort.

~

When Dani left all those years ago, Jamie had been unable to set another foot inside their florist’s shop back in America. Everything was connected to too many memories. There wasn’t a single spot where they hadn’t kissed. Sometimes, Jamie even came across a blonde hair here and there which would leave her as a sobbing wreck for the rest of the day.

She couldn’t even remember what she had been doing all day long during the first few weeks, if she had eaten or not, but she knew she hadn’t been sleeping for more than an hour at a time. She hadn’t even been able to bear collapsing into unconsciousness, because waking up from it to once again face her loss had been torture. She had begun to feel even worse since that one time she had gone to the shop, only to find all their plants dead due to the weeks of unintentional neglect. It hurt so much. All of it felt miserable.

After what had seemed like an eternity, some kind of inner healing had set in. Something inside her had told her she needed to move on. And although no hour had passed without her being reminded of that awful grief, Jamie had managed to move on one day. She had sold the flower shop and also her – their – flat, packed only the indispensables and booked a one way flight back to England. The woman had been aware that she couldn’t stay in America, in that cosy apartment, near the charming florist’s. It had been their dream, their life – and she would have perished had she stayed there.

Fortunately, she’d had some money left over from selling the flower shop and Henry Wingrave’s noble inheritance – he had sold all the antiquities and expensive, century-old furniture in Bly Manor to get rid of “all the old dust”. And since he was one of the only four people to remember what exactly had occurred at Bly Manor, he had decided to split the money between them as some sort of indemnity.

Back in Britain, Jamie had moved into a charming, suburban brick row house on the outskirts of a larger city. She’d been unable to bear living on the landside all alone because her own thoughts seemed too loud in all that silence. Likewise, living in the city centre had not been an option because the rush always unsettled her. Therefore, her current, modest accommodation had been just the right choice in her situation. Yet as the seasons had changed and one year had turned into two, the green-eyed woman had felt that something was missing inside her heart – the presence of a garden, of real flowers and plants. Since her row house didn’t have much more to offer than a few tiny window cills which were far too small to make a suitable home for all of her pot plants, Jamie had decided to search for something else. As luck would have it, she had found just what she had been looking for one day on the empty bus seat next to her while on her way home from grocery shopping. The forgotten newspaper on the seat right next to her had revealed just the right page of small ads:

Retired Gardener needs helping hand with his 40 sqm rooftop garden including a conservatory. All those interested please contact Theodore Campbell under ….

This ad had been more than just written words on the newspaper, it had been the beginning of something great, of something essential for the woman’s soul to find a little comfort and silence after all this time.

The years had gone by and turned her hair a steely gray, and she had gotten used to this new reality. Dani was never gone from her mind, not a single second, but it had become easier to live with all that screaming numbness inside her.

Theodore Campbell – Teddy – who suffered from multiple sclerosis and was confined to his wheelchair, had provided Jamie with so much love and understanding that he had become family to her. Truthful family, unlike those people who were related to her by blood. The elderly woman had shared her story with the old man and he had listened, understood, and remained silent when she had just needed to cry. Thus the little garden above the city had become not only a diversion, a pastime – but instead it had become home to her.

Teddy was 85 years old by now and Jamie visited him at least five days a week. Just as much as she saw him as a father, the old man loved Jamie like his own daughter. His wife had also passed away many, many years ago and the couple never had any children. Somehow, Teddy was a kind of role model for the green-eyed woman, because he himself had been through really hard times and yet, he always had a smile on his lips and another joke to tell every day. When his health began to deteriorate, he became reliant on his wheelchair, unable to attend to his gardening duties all by himself. Unwilling to give up the rooftop garden and sell it to someone who might just turn it into a rooftop terrace, he had place the ad in the newspaper.

Luckily, the pensioner was able to draw from his savings to pay for his treatments and special care, but with that burden and the rather lousy annuity a gardener gets, money was short nonetheless. Despite his financial status, he insisted to pay Jamie for her help, but she had always declined. His company and the garden had always been more than enough compensation for her. That, and the afternoon tea with shortbread biscuits, of course.

~

“It’s fine Teddy, I’ll get it,” the elderly woman put away her gardening gloves as the doorbell rang. The passionate gardener had spent almost the whole day on the rooftop, nurturing the plants and flowers with care and dedication, as she had been away for almost one week. Utterly absorbed in her work, she hadn’t even noticed that the sun was setting.

“Good evening Madam, trick or treat,” three colourfully dressed up children stood outside the door, gleefully grinning and bursting with excitement.

“Oh hi there, I love your costumes, you’re all exceedingly spooky! Let me see what the secret sweets stash has to offer!” Jamie smiled back at them, rushed into the kitchen, grabbing a handful of chocolate bars and handed each kid a few of them.

At the back of her head, she remembered the radio announcement about Halloween and the occurrence of the rare blue moon this night. If the kids hadn’t turned up in their costumes, she wouldn’t even have recalled that tonight was Halloween. She hardly attributed any importance to holidays like this, always assuming them to be a day like any other, but unbeknownst to her, this Halloween would turn out to be a very special one.

Without the sunlight warming her in the chilly autumn breeze, Jamie decided to lay her work on the rooftop garden down for the day and put on some good night tea for Teddy and herself.

“Ah thank you my dear, you are truly an angel!” Teddy said gratefully, as he took the hot tea mug from her. “You care to join me for a while?” The old man had hoped to be able to spend some time with her because he had noticed that something was especially strange since the moment she entered his apartment this day. Since she had returned from her trip to America for the wedding ceremony, Jamie seemed to be more absent-minded than usual.

“Would you mind if I go outside to the garden? The moon is so pretty tonight and I just want to admire it for a little bit on my own.” With a faint smile she placed her hand on the old man’s shoulder, trying to let him know that he needn’t worry. With a soft nod, he accepted her wish.

The sun had set entirely by now and the clear sky was embellished with its shiny stars already. The full moon tinted the rooftop with all the plants in a pale, silvery light. Despite her brown turtleneck pullover, made from very warm and soft linen, the elderly woman slightly shivered in the cold night air. Nevertheless, she sat down on the iron garden bench, wrapping her elegant, slender fingers tighter around the warm mug. With every sip, the warmth of the tea seemed to spread inside her body, stopping her from freezing any longer. The night was so very calm, and soon, her heavy thoughts, too, appeared to fall silent. Before she knew it, sleep somehow overcame her after a day of hard work and all the mental tension over the past week.

Jamie woke up, trying to figure out where she was for a moment. She didn’t know how long she’d been sleeping there, outside, on the cold iron stand of the garden bench. But somehow, her surroundings appeared to be ghostly silent and the cold night suddenly seemed very mild, more like a summer night really. There wasn’t a noise to hear, not even some distant hustle of traffic, not even the wind playing with the leaves of the plants. The green-eyed woman felt uneasy, odd, somehow dizzy. With one last glance upon the sky to the gorgeous moon in all its glory, she went towards the door leading inside. Suddenly, she was interrupted by a voice. A voice, so obviously real and present, that denying it or blaming it on the wind would have been utterly pointless:

“Jamie...”

She was thunderstruck. It was as if all her body cells, every membrane and every fiber froze to ice. A cold sensation rushed through her body from head to toe, leaving every inch of her electrified. This voice – could it be real? Was it another dream? Suddenly, she heard it again, louder this time, but with the same fragile gentleness.

“Jamie...”

The elderly woman didn’t even dare to turn around, she was literally frozen. A sudden gasp escaped her lungs, when she felt a soft touch on her shoulder. She squinted her eyes, trying to wake up from what she believed to be a dream, but the touch tightened.