#also it’s spooky season and at some point I need to draw something for it

[emily-mooon]

I was inspired by my lovely mutual @imactuallyreallycool’s pumpkin Byler to doodle pumpkin Jancy.

[jeonjungkookenthusiast1997]

Echoes of the Past (1) - Whispers of Darkness

Summary: When a night of drinking with friends unearths a dusty book long forgotten about Y/N's friends decide to try their hands at demon summoning. Disappointed it seems to not have worked they all go home leaving Y/N alone with someone lurking in the shadows. What will happen when a childhood friend, who's also an incubus, turns up looking for answers. Slight slow burn with smut to be added in future chapters.

Demon Bang Chan x Witch Female Reader.

This is my own work not a reblog! Please do not repost or translate.

Series Masterlist Navigation

Content Warnings- cursing, demonic rituals, mentions of consuming alcohol

Word Count: 1,733

As Halloween night nears and the spooky season is in full swing Y/N and her friends decide to get together for a night of drinks and fun. Y/N goes into her kitchen to root around for more alcohol, she's sure she has some hidden somewhere around her, her beautiful friend Lisa shouts to get her attention asking her to come back into the living room.

Giving up momentarily on her quest for alcohol she shrugs and rejoins her friends, stopping mid step as Jennie holds up a book you'd thought was lost when you moved house a few years ago "what are you doing with that old thing?" She asks with her nose scrunched up in mock disgust "does this shit work?" Jennie asks excitedly almost vibrating in her spot on the floor "fuck no" she laughs as she shakes her head "got given it as a birthday present one year when I was young, it's a load of shit" Y/N goes to reach for the book feeling a sudden need to protect it but stumbles having to catch herself mid air, a feat considering how buzzed she was, when Lisa snatches the book away unexpectedly "what the hell?" Y/N groans throwing herself onto her sofa "sorry honey but I need to look through this thing" she laughs as her nimble fingers flick through the dusty and brittle pages.

As the night continued Y/N had almost drifted off to sleep when a shriek made her jolt upright "who died?" She mumbles making the girls laugh, "nobody, Jennie found some hottie in that book of yours apparently" Alexa giggles as she points to the two girls drooling over what looks like a sketch of a young looking man with striking blonde locks. Y/N's eyes blink a few times as a sense of foreboding and nostalgia settle in her tummy when she looks at the ink "who is this Y/N you gotta tell me!" Jennie giggles drunkenly making her laugh "uhh a lust demon or something if I'm remembering right, haven't read that thing in a long ass time" an excited gasp shoots out of the girls perfectly glossed lips "if he's a demon that means we can summon him right?" She smirks as she wiggles the book in the grasp, the notion of doing something so spiritual in mid October makes all the other girls in the room scream happily.

That dark sense of foreboding returns to her tummy and squeezes at her chest "I… don't think that's a good idea guys'' the girls in the room start moving furniture to make space for the summoning circle they need to draw "why not?" Lisa asks as the two other girls grab supplies such as candles and chalk from around the house "you said yourself the books a load of shit" Y/N's eyebrows crease as she watches the hurried movements suddenly feeling herself start to sober up "worst case scenario nothing happens and it's a bust, best case scenario we get to order around a hot demon" she wiggles her eyebrows at the uneasy girl "who says he'll listen to we say?" Y/N asks "no duh it says so in your book" Jennie nods while pointing to the book in Lisa's hands.

Once everything is ready the girls each sit at a point around the circle and Lisa holds the book out to Y/N "what? I have to read the spell?" She asks with a frown "I don't even wanna do this" she whines "it's your book honey so you get the honours" Alexa smiles as the girls join hands "lucky me" she grumbles but places the book in her lap and holds the hands of the girls to her sides, she recites the spell as best she can from the book and they all wait with baited breath. A few moments roll by but seemingly nothing is happening "what a bust" Lisa moans as the girls all share looks of disappointment "don't look at me, I tried to warn you guys" Y/N shrugs as a long yawn escapes her body, she rolls her shoulders and stands "I think that's me done for the night sorry girls" she smiles sheepishly, they all give her a hug and thank her hosting them.

Once everyone has gone Y/N flops herself down onto her sofa in exhaustion and groans when her eyes fall onto the book abandoned on the floor. Deciding to place the book back on her bookcase where it belongs she turns to get up off the soft surface and picks up the book gently, she rubs her thumbs over the cover and smiles thinking back to her childhood and all the times she thought she was a witch who would summon demons to be her friend when she was lonely. One of the demons she remembers being especially drawn to, he even conjured her a sparkling blue rose once after she'd been bullied at the playground. She tries to remember the names she'd made up for her demonic friends but her thoughts are fuzzy like she's trying to remember a dream of a memory rather than her own actual memories.

The sound of a man clearing his throat suddenly breaks the silence making her physically jump into the air almost dropping the book when she recovers from the shock she looks to find where the noise came from and her eyes almost fall out of the sockets as she can't believe what she's looking at "Been a long time since I was last summoned by you, what a nice surprise" the voice greets her making the blood in her veins run cold "w-what do you mean since I last summoned you? I've never summoned anything in my life" she squeaks in fear "you don't remember me?" he asks, looking almost offended as he makes a move to walk towards her "I know it's been a long time Y/N but-" he's cut off when she points to him with a shaky finger making his eyebrow raise "h-how do you know my name? what's going on?" She steps back from him which makes the demon stop in his tracks as he holds his hands up looking completely confused "you truly don't remember me? at all?" he asks slowly with a look of pain painted across his beautiful face.

She shakes her head "no… the spell worked? How did the spell work?" he takes a deep breath before speaking again "yes...it did work..." he says trying to diffuse the tension in the room "it worked the same way it always has, because you're a witch" he looks deep into her eyes as he waits for his words to sink in "a… a witch? I can't be- I don't u-understand" she tries to slow her breathing as her eyes flit to the summoning circle "why didn't you appear when the girls were here?" She asks confused as he walks towards her making him sigh deeply "how could you have forgotten" he whispers looking so hurt it makes her heart clench.

He clears his throat before continuing "you used to summon me all the time when we were children, we'd play together in this very house, you even summoned my younger brothers a few times" he gestures to the room around him as if to make his point "you were able to summon me then and still can now because you have witches blood coursing through your veins, all the woman of your maternal family line have been practising witches except your mother. She turned her back on the craft a long time ago" his words are making her head spin as she tries to take in everything he's telling her "and finally, I didn't appear before because you were with other humans, of course I heard you call and felt your magic and I wanted to race up to you as soon as I could but once I sensed you weren't alone I waited in the shadows until they left" he sighs trying to help fill the gaps in her memory.

She picks up the spell book as she flicks through the pages hoping it'll help her remember something… anything "I don't remember anything you've said" she frown as his eyes drop to the floor dejectedly "I do remember playing with this book and pretending I could conjure up magical children to play with when I felt lonely but that's all it was right? Just my overactive imagination" he simply looks at her with a small smirk on his face "maybe my presence is helping you remember, that boy you remember playing with… was me. You didn't make it all up, I was real… I AM real Y/N" he thinks for a moment before holding out his hand, a small blue spark shoots from his palm and a beautiful blue rose suddenly appears in its place.

As soon as she sees the rose she gasps, holding her hand over her mouth as she looks up "Chan…? You were real all this time?" A single stray tear rolls down her cheek as he smiles widely and suddenly wraps his arms around her pulling her into a tight hug. They stay like that for a few moments before she pulls back with a confused look on her face "how could I have forgotten you? It's not everyday you just forget you can summon demons out of a magical book" the demon standing before her hums as he thinks while pacing around the room "it's possible that because this all happened when you were a child your mother told you it was all in your head and it's as simple as that or your mother could have used her magical connection to get a warlock to tamper with your memories" a sound of shock leaves her throat "warlocks exist too?" He simply nods his head "how would we know which version happened?" Bang Chan bites his lip as he weighs up his options "I could use my magic to look through your memories but it's an uncomfortable process and it requires immense trust on both parties" Y/N's brow creases as the room becomes eerily silent, the air around them filling with unspoken tension "I'll do it" she resolves as she looks up at his enchanting eyes.

[samynnad102687]

Marauderstober

Slytherin Skittles- Ouija Board

1597 words

Regulus was exhausted from working from open to close at the bookshop. He was supposed to get off four hours ago but Jess, who was supposed to train the new hire, decided that they didn’t want to show up, so he had to close the shop since nobody else could come in and he couldn’t leave the new hire, Jordan, by themselves.

He was dragging his feet when he walked into the house, but he noticed that something was off. Someone had let themselves in Regulus’ house without asking him or even letting him know they were planning on coming over. When he walked farther into the house, not caring if he got killed by an axe murderer at this point, he came face to face with a grinning Barty. Well, this should be interesting.

“I gave you a key for emergencies,” Regulus said as he pinched the bridge of his nose and noticed that Pandora, Evan and Dorcas were also sitting in his living room.

“This is an emergency,” Barty said but his face said it was anything but. Regulus arched up an eyebrow and waited. “I found something at a thrift shop that I want to try with you, well, with everybody actually.”

“Do I even want to know?”

“It will be fun,” Pandora chimed in and that didn’t not help ease his anxiety one bit.

“What is it?” He asked exasperatedly.

“A Ouija board,” Barty said with a mischievous grin on his face.

“Excuse me?” Regulus asked indignantly. “I know I did not hear you correctly.”

“I found a Ouiji board at the thrift shop when I was shopping with Evan and since it is October and spooky season, it’s the perfect time to try it out.” He was practically bouncing on his heels.

“Why did you have to bring it into my house? You have your own.”

“Yours is more likely to be haunted than mine is.” Barty shrugged.

“So…”

This was the last thing that Regulus wanted to do on his Monday evening, especially since he had to work extra long today. All he wanted to do was to come home and curl up on the couch with some ice cream and enjoy a nice quiet evening in, since James was working late and then helping Sirius with something. Regulus didn’t bother asking what he needed help with. Plausible deniability and all.

“Oh, come on, Reg… Please.” Barty begged as he put his hands together and practically fell to the floor. “Just once. I swear. If we can’t get anything then I won’t bring it up again.”

Regulus took a moment to look at Barty and then at everybody else. He could see they all wanted to do this and he was the only one holding out. He really didn’t want to know what spirits lingered in Grimmauld Place and he really didn’t want to accidentally call his mother to them with this thing. He wasn’t even sure if he believed in it.

“What do you do exactly?” Regulus gave in slightly, he needed more information.

“Everyone puts a finger on the triangle thingy…”

“Planchett,” Pandora supplied.

“Yeah, that and we ask questions to the spirit that may be hanging around and see if they have anything they needed to say and never got the chance to because they died before they could,” Barty explained and Regulus glared at him for a few more minutes.

As much as didn’t want to have his mother come and haunt him even more, it would be interesting to see if there were any other spirits floating around. Regulus knew there was but he didn’t know who they were or what they wanted.

“Fine, but if these spirits end up disturbing my peace anymore then I’m coming after your ass with an axe,” Regulus said matter-of-factly and he would do it too as soon as he figured out how he could get away with it.

“Yeah, okay. That’s fine.” Barty shrugged, “Where should we set it up?”

“How about the drawing room? There always seems to be shit happening in there,” Evan mentioned casually.

Regulus was going to deny it, but right then a vase fell onto the floor before they even crossed the threshold to the room. Fucking spirits. Regulus didn’t know why he still lived in this house. It’s not like he had any particularly happy memories growing up here.

“Fine,” Regulus grumbled.

Regulus finally took off his boots and set his bag, that he still had slung over his shoulder, down and followed the other four into the drawing room and watched as Barty put the Ouija board on the coffee table and everyone else took a seat on the floor around it. This is going to be a disaster.

Regulus sat down in between Pandora and Dorcas with Evan and Barty on the other side of the round table. They put the board in the middle and were all about to put a finger on the planchette when Barty suddenly jumped up and turned off the lights.

“It’s spookier that way,” Barty shrugged and returned to his spot on the floor. Regulus just shook his head but didn’t say anything.

“What should we ask first?” Pandora asked excitedly.

“Ooh, I know,” Dorcas said and put her finger back on the planchette and waited for everybody else to do the same.

When everyone had a finger on the planchette, Regulus sighed heavily. He was definitely not ready to find out who was haunting his house. He preferred to be blissfully unaware even though Sirius keeps swearing that the place is haunted and doesn’t like to spend a lot of time here, which is why he and Remus got a flat in downtown London and would only occasionally stop by unannounced.

“Are there any spirits in this room?” Dorcas asked, focusing on the board as it started to move slowly toward the yes.

“Who are you?” Evan asked eagerly.

Regulus knew his friends liked the spooky season, especially the closer it got to Halloween but he had never seen them this eager to talk to a spirit. The planchette started moving again and spelt out O-R-I-O-N. Great, his father was haunting him too. Regulus knew Orion had died in the house but he didn’t know how. He was off at school when it happened and he never did get the full story.

“How did you die?” Pandora asked curiously.

P-O-I-S-O-N.

Not surprising. Orion had a lot of enemies when Regulus and Sirius were growing up. There were always secret meetings that they were not privy to going on behind closed doors and last minute business trips to different countries where Orion would be gone for a week at a time.

“Do you know who poisoned you?” Barty asked this time.

Yes.

“Who?” Regulus heard himself ask before he thought about it.

W-A-L-B-U-R-G-A.

So much for a loving marriage. Not that Regulus really believed they loved each other. Lord knows they didn’t love their children. If they did, they had a funny way of showing it. Before anybody could ask the next question the planchette started to spell out something else quickly.

D-I-D N-O-T.

Oh, shit. Did his mother’s spirit just join to fight with his father?

“Who said did not?” Dorcas asked, a little stunned.

W-A-L-B-U-R-G-A.

Well, okay then. Guess this is happening now. As if Regulus didn’t have to hear them fight enough as a child. Now he has to deal with it with their spirits. Fuck his life.

Y-O-U P-O-I-S-O-N-E-D M-E F-O-R M-O-N-T-H-S.

They were barely touching the planchette anymore. It was moving too fast and they could barely keep up with what was being spelt.

“How were you poisoned?” Regulus asked, now more curious than before.

W-H-I-S-K-E-Y.

The next word came before anybody could ask a question.

L-I-E-S.

“Walburga, how did you die?” Pandora asked quickly.

K-N-I-F-E.

“Did you see who did it?” Evan asked. The planchette moved to the no before spelling another word.

I-N T-H-E B-A-C-K.

Okay, so his father was poisoned by his mother and his mother was stabbed in the back. Made sense. Regulus knew they didn’t die a natural death. They were still relatively young, all things considered.

Y-O-U D-E-S-E-R-V-E-D T-H-A-T.

Suddenly another vase went flying across the room and smashed against the wall, the lights started to flicker and the books started to fall off the bookshelf. Nope. Fuck this shit. Regulus was done. He really doesn’t need his parents haunting him anymore. Regulus grabbed the planchette and moved it to Goodbye.

“How the fuck do you end this thing?” Regulus asked angrily.

“You have to thank them and tell them goodbye,” Pandora supplied easily. Of course she would know.

“We thank you for your time and bid you goodbye,” Regulus all but shouted to be heard over the items crashing around the room and glared at Barty who threw his hands up in surrender.

Regulus stood up quickly and went to grab his phone out of his bag before turning back to Barty.

“Sleep with one eye open,” He threatened before hitting send on his phone.

“Hey, love. What’s up?” James asked cheerfully. Regulus could hear Sirius laughing in the background.

“Tell Sirius that we are staying at his flat tonight.” Regulus said firmly without giving him any room to question.

“Okay. Do you want me to come pick you up or are you gonna drive over?” James asked easily.

“Come pick me up. I’m at home.”

“On my way.” James said before hanging up, and Regulus went to pack a bag for them.

@clementinewoolf @cazzythefrogking @thebibutterflyao3 @lavenderhaze @literally-the-prettiest-star @emjayeingray @belowthestarrs @seiworf @maladaptivewriting @multiimoments

[dennydraws]

Good Morning! Happy start of the week!

September is almost over! But also spookiest month is coming! :D I was always sad as a kid that my country wasn't celebrating Halloween. Now kids do it more often while boomer parents yap how this isn't Bulgarian/Orthodox Christian holiday or something... Ya all need to leave the kids have fun and do kids things and enjoy being spooky and getting candy! I love preparing candy for trick or treaters!

I'm glad kids are having more fun and my generation seems more chill about these things.

October, october, october~!! I look forward to binge watching spooky movies, spooky series, bake cinnamon rolls, start inktober and agonize as I fall behind it ... :D;;; Speaking of, with how October tends to be, I may skip a chapter update at some point of my "The Snake, The Firebrand and The King of All" comic (update later today btw! Please look forward to it!). I think I'm keeping a good pace so far. I just know October gets crazy at work and between that and attempting Inktober, on top of... attempting to juggle FanFyria updates too... it may get crazy! But if it does, I will drop something instead of trying to be a hero and juggle everything xD;;

Sun Haven, Sun Haven~ That game is seriously enabling some kinda fang/claws aesthetic I'm super into and never realized until now lol We tried multiplayer with friends yesterday and it was pretty fun! Nothing broke (too much) yet :D;; We accidentally got ... God and his 3 angels (or Ary's whole family as we joke now!) I hope I get to draw them too eventually! Thank you for all who followed me for my Aryllin x Claude arts, I may do more in the future as I have ideas™ but also October may be too busy for that... but I hope you will enjoy other arts I show here too! :D;;;

Sun Haven Art Trades? I love art trades! Doing one with a friend now but if anyone is interested, hit me up ~ :D But it will have to wait for November at this point lol;;;;

Original Character (don't steal) ™ I've been scribbling Reciferius a lot lately, you guys remember him? :D;; he won the OC poll way back! I drew him recently, kinda keep scribbling him again on the side. Still not sure what to do with him, or in what world setting I can stuff him but... well anyway he has fangs now cause apparently it's "fangs n claws season" in my head!

I hope I get to finish this WIP eventually this week, I'm really happy at the vibe I got :D

And that's all~! I hope you have a great start of the week, dear reader! I hope the month of September was kind to you and brought you new dear memories for your life's album. I hope October brings you warm fuzzies and inspiration for everything you pick to do!

[marcholasmoth]

OSRR: 3356

so with israel doing the israel thing and hamas doing the hamas thing, work has been exciting. never a dull moment, especially when the executive committee expects twice daily updates. wahoo.

it gives me something fun to do, so i'm okay with it, as much as one can be okay with a war with thousands of needless civilian deaths.

i will not comment on more than that as it is not my place to do so.

i got to do some "arts and crafts" at work today lmao - we needed to redo the org chart, and the lady who usually does them got the axe, so i volunteered. it looks nice. i don't have fancy programming to make it all pretty, and i could do that manually if i had time, but i don't want to. and i could do it later if necessary, but this way it's legible and you can see people's pictures and their titles. it's better, i think. i'll likely do it again so it's in the form of the older ones so it goes with it, but that'll take some time. no worries.

that and the briefings and a false alarm shooting was all that happened today. but i did all of it lmao.

at this point, everyone who received emails from the gsoc is familiar with my name and the fact that i write most of the briefings. it's nice. i like being good at my job.

came back after work to chicken pot pies! i love chicken pot pie. this specific kind. and it's just chicken and gravy inside it. no vegetables. i dunno why but i just can't do that. it's gotta be separate.

✨autism✨

and larry liked the research i did, so that was good too.

i'm happy to use my supervillain skills for good.

joel keeps telling me to go to bed. i'm in bed. i know what he means. i'm just being pedantic.

also look the lil guy i drew today because meredith said something and i had to follow the impulse for spooky season:

the OOO means out of office but i saw it and i HAD to draw a ghosty. when you and your coworker have a combined total of ½ of a brain cell and six hours of sleep, this is what happens.

😂

[talenlee]

MtG: Halloweenmander #3

Spooky scary skeletons season! It’s horror time! It’s creepy movies and dark mystique and what we need now is to sit down and play a bunch of Magic: The Gathering, a game that has been periodically terrorised by fairies and goblins.

Let’s look at some horror-themed commander decks!

Five years ago (good GOD) I wrote two articles about different horror commanders you could use to make the heart of a spooky horrifying Commander deck that could be used for a halloween card game night. And that was 2018, so many years ago, and that means surely there are some more commanders printed since then, to revisit the idea.

How many commanders have been printed since then?

Oh.

In case you don’t read these numbers well, when the last article was published, there were 786 potential commanders printed. Since then, 1,170 more have been printed, and isn’t that a number.

Anyway, point is, I’m sure I can belt out five more commanders to make for a spooky horror deck, based on something about this card makes it a good spooky horror card!

I’m going to present here, then, a set of four different commanders, one for each different partially-black colour pairs, that, hopefully, pull in different enough directions that they don’t all feel like they’re all the same deck playing with the same ideas.

BW: Burakos, Party Leader // Folk Hero Zombies

WUBRG order predicts we have to start here with a white base creature. The combination of Burakos and Folk Hero is pretty obvious – as long as you have both out, any time you cast a creature that shares a creature type with Burakos, you get to draw a card, as long as you’re only playing one a turn. Burakos is a Cleric, Wizard, Warrior and a Rogue and an Orc, which means any time you cast those, Burakos can get you a card, which is a steady ongoing source of cards.

Thing is, if you just look at black and white’s top edhrec cards, you’re going to see some bangers. You can build for lock pieces, with things like Grand Abolisher and Mother of Runes, or you can build for aggressive Aristocrats effects with Zulaport Cutthroat and friends. But know what else you can build for?

There are a lot of zombies that are clerics, wizards and warriors. Death Baron is a Wizard. So’s Undead Augur. Archghoul of Thraben is. Mikaeus, The Unhallowed is a cleric. Shepherd of Rot, Rotlung Reanimator, Corpse Harvester, Boneknitter, they’re all Clerics and Wizards. You can get some bodies out there, and then there are cards Death_Priest of Myrkul, Ratadrabik – some stuff that’s midsized, and that means you benefit from dumping cards out there. You can build a hell of a party with a lot of dead meat, you’ll draw lots of cards, and Burakos even makes it possible to score treasures if you can make him hard to block.

It’s black, it’s white, it’s a swarm with control and ways to reload!

UB: Umbris, Fear Manifest

Making a blue black deck out of just the coolest things you can find isn’t hard, and there’s already a lot of cards you can cast that exile things off your opponent’s deck. This is a feeling of horror, of macabre dreadfulness, but also, the trick is, you want to make Umbris big enough to start one-shotting opponents, and then you want to protect them. That means you’re not trying to exile whole libraries, you just want to be able to exile chunks. This means that instead of focusing on beating up people’s graveyards en masse, you can treat other people’s graveyards like they’re a resource, which adds Uchuulon to your options.

The thing is, Umbris cares about entering the battlefield, which means if you can protect Umbris with flicker effects, you’re going to get something out of them! Things that bring Umbris back from the dead? Also handy!

The best thing about this kind of deck is if you make basically a blue-black flicker deck, around horrors, you have this sort of jump-scare effect and you have a lot of cards that are really good at pushing your game forward, that are good at protecting you, but don’t leave the other players at the casual table panicked that you’re going to counter their creatures.

Don’t get me wrong, when you start chomping chunks off the top of people’s libraries, they are going to want you dead, but at least you have a sort of blue-black voltron deck whose backup plan is melting minds.

BR: Kardur, Doomscourge

Man, I want an alter of Kardur that just looks like he was airbrushed on a van.

Where Burakos’ folk story is trying to make a swarm deck that cares about hitting the board and Umbris wants to turtle up, a Kardur deck? You want to make a bunch of goad cards the backbone here. Kardur wants creatures attacking and blocking. Kardur wants people on the board crashing into each other, and Kardur’s creatures want to be part of that. It’s okay for you to kill off your stuff with Kardur, and you don’t even mind if they come back symmetrically.

Here’s my thinking: Black red Berserkers, built around tribal effects, including Patriarch’s Bidding. You don’t mind if your bidding gets a bunch of other people’s stuff back: You want that stuff back, you want it on the floor so you can get them to crash into one another again!

BG: Old Stickfingers

Okay, that’s three decks that aren’t just ‘more stuff Talen already was going to play,’ right?

Well, here’s Old Stickfingers.

Old Stickfingers is a card that, for, say, four mana, loads two creatures into your yard, and just creatures. Since Stickfingers leaves spells alone, it’s not a source of flashback or jumpstart spells, it’s just a way to get just creatures into your bin. That’s okay though, because there are some creatures that can do stuff from inside your graveyard.

Any given creature from your bin, if it has more than 1 power, is better on the board than supporting Old Stickfingers. Stickfingers is a kind of hydra as a commander, and it can ‘draw’ you like, X cards while it’s doing it, especially if you build with cards like Skyclave Shade, Ghastly Remains, Genesis, Loathsome Troll, Gigapede, Brawn – that kinda stuff can be part of an engine. Genesis is obviously the best one!

This can be hard to deal with in terms of gumming up the ground though. Like, cheap cards like Bloodsoaked Champion and Dread Wanderer, they can jump from your graveyard to the battlefield, but they don’t gum up the ground well. I like Hormagaunt Horde in this space a lot, too!

Wrapup

Hm.

Anything else?

No, I guess not. Mask up and stay safe at your Magic: The Gathering halloween parties!

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[ddamscore]

Outside Children's Exercises for Some Open and New

Outside Children's Exercises for Some Open and New Tomfoolery!

Youngsters revere this immortal game. This is a fun open-air game for the children in the recreation area or terrace. The standards are basic: Send off the inflatable out of sight while avoiding contact with the ground. Make it harder for more seasoned youngsters by having them shuffle many inflatables or tie one hand behind their back. Time them to perceive how long they can do it for, or have them count how frequently they can hit it to and fro. Then, at that point, check whether they can beat their time or score! Also watching: preschool learning videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkDmJ0fgP80 Bubble fun Blow, pursue, and pop air pockets. Bubbles are #1 among youngsters. If you don't have any, make your air pocket arrangement with 4 cups of warm water, half a cup of dish cleanser, and half a cup of sucrose. Need to make your air pocket wands? Use dough shapers, apple slicers, spatulas from your kitchen, or curve pipe cleaners into wand structures. Or something bad might happen; watch this video! Development chain This intuitive game expects no less than two members, with the principal individual doing a particular development. This could be as simple as jumping twice or as modern as holding a board for 30 seconds. The accompanying individual should rehash the last development before adding one more to finish a chain. The following youngster will then, at that point, rehash the past two movements and add their own. Go on as such until the chain succession is broken, so the individual who breaks the chain is dispensed with. The victor is the sole survivor. Albeit this game doesn't need to be played outside, it is generally desirable over mess around that require actual work in an open climate. Find the ball This ball-related interest will give long periods of amusement to your kids. For this outdoor sport, all you'll require is a ping-pong ball or any little ball that will not be quickly seen. You might advise your adolescents to welcome their companions. One player is picked to be the chief, entrusted with concealing the ball and getting back to the specific area. The others should find the missing ball. The skipper should yell 'HOT' as they move nearer to the ball and 'COLD' as they disappear. The player who finds the ball is close to concealing it. Spooky finds the stowaway One of the youngsters will assume the part of the apparition and stay stowed away. Give messes with certain lights assuming the game is being played around evening time. Different players will count numbers to track down a spot for the phantom to stow away. Different young people will connect arms and walk once the apparition has been securely covered to track down prey. The players will recite something to add to the environment. "Starlight, star brilliant, trust I see a phantom this evening," or something like that would work. This serenade demonstrates that the apparition is going to be assaulted. The phantom can show up whenever, and it's then a straightforward labeling round. The children should run back when they spot the apparition to try not to be labeled. Before they all escape, the apparition should label somebody as the following phantom. Uncover it as far as possible. Draw out the digging tools and buckets if you approach a nursery bed or a sans grass region, and see what your children can find. Are there any stones with strange shapes or tones? Is there no ground to dive ready? For an expedition, get out the sandbox or the hand-tailored sandbox expressed above, fill it with rice, and disguise a few things in the sand. Get in the sack. Give every member a sack. They should stay inside the sack while holding the edges. At the point when you say 'start,' they should jump forward while keeping up with the sack as near their midriff as could be expected. The player will be excluded if she falls underneath the knees at any time. The youngster initially arriving at the end line is pronounced the victor of the game. Chalk it up Walkway chalk can be utilized to set up different exercises for your youngsters. Make a hopscotch design on the ground, then, at that point, give your children bean packs or shakes to bounce around with. Make a labyrinth out of circles, lines, and bends, and check whether your youngsters can proceed and reverse through it. We trust you have enough thoughts to keep your children occupied while working. These exercises will likewise leave you with better, though damp with sweat kids who won't avoid you when now is the right time to head to sleep. Now and again, taking part in these games with your kids is both tomfoolery and fundamental. This gives you quality time and assists you with making recollections that you can appreciate for eternity. So make a point to play around with your children with these very innovative children's exercises! How about we find more internet-based instructive assets and printable worksheets for youngsters to assist with their growth opportunities and make them more brilliant? Playmats with a street plan This action requires not very many things. As you now have a playmat with a street configuration, set it up and find any toy that can be utilized with it — vehicles and trucks, figures, planes, etc. The scouring artistry Set down different small materials, like leaves, level lego pieces, coins, fastens, a pile of flimsy white paper, and colored pencils for scouring craftsmanship. Show your children how to put a piece of paper over an item and rub it with the side of a colored pencil until the thing shows up. Just eliminating the paper from the sides of a heap of pastels will keep youngsters involved for some time. Chasing after secret fortune Youngsters appreciate searching for disguised things; this is where the game starts. You should conceal the fortune, whether chocolate, a crate, or some other family thing. Begin the game by thinking of a few charming clues and concealing them. A definitive point of the game is to track down the secret fortune. To achieve along these lines, they should initially find and translate each piece of information. Make the game keep going for quite a while, and plan many clues and signs for the children to unravel. Painting the stones Attempt rock painting to add tone to your yard or overhang for the impending warm season. Permit your youngsters to get inventive with launderable paint, paintbrushes, and rocks. More established youngsters can paint expressions of hopefulness and pass them on for individuals to peruse in their area. Alongside being a fun indoor movement, it likewise requires your youngsters to be imaginative. Read the full article

[because-of-a-friend]

Vampire!Seokmin

Happy Spooky Season everybody!!!! Thanks for requesting anon!! I hope you like it!!! I have Spooky Season requests for Jeonghan, Jun, Woozi and Wonwoo (I’m pretty sure) So everyone should go ahead and send in more if they have any!!! 

Also sorry, I copied over from word so the format got all fucked up (If that ends up bothering y’all enough just let me know and I’ll edit it up)

MASTERLIST

Warnings: Curse words, mentions of blood/blood drinking, some horror elements, as always let me know if I missed any!

Word Count: 1.1K

·        Congratulations

·        You are dating the worst vampire in the world

·        Like sincerely

·        When your friends told you the guy they were bringing along was avampire

·        You were expecting dark clothes, gloomy attitude, and cold shoulder

·        Not the bright and overly bubbly boy dressed in all yellow that excitedly came to greet you

·        To say you were absolutely fascinated by him would be an understatement

·        You never ask Seokmin directly how old he is

·        It’s way more fun to wait for his little slip-ups in conversation when he mentions the past and slowly try to create a timeline as far back as you can

·        “Well, I had a lot of fun in the seventies”

·        “No, sadly I didn’t make it over to London during the Victorian Era”

·        “I remember seeing Shakespeare once”

·        And every time he says something, you’re just scribbling it down to try and figure out just how far in the past he’s from

·        It’s a fun game you two play

·        It also makes you wonder how he hasn’t become more grim over the years

·        But Seokmin is truly just a ball of sunshine

·        Speaking of sunshine

·        “Seokmin, I told you, you need to wear more sunscreen and a cap or hoodie when you go out. You get so sunburnt all the time! Better yet, let’s just start going out at night!”

·        “But I like it when it’s sunny”

·        :((((((((((((((((

·        Again, he’s very bad at being a vampire

·        To the point where sometimes you forget you’re dating one

·        Until he has another slip up and casually mentions how fun Ancient Greece was

·        It also means you have to be somewhat responsible for making sure he stays safe

·        Trying to keep him out of sunlight

·        Not keeping any silver in the house

·        Making sure he doesn’t walk past mirrors in front of strangers

·        Group photos are a nightmare

·        You love bothering him with random questions about what vampires can and cannot do

·        And also, about what legends are true or not

·        AND annoying him with various vampire references

·        “Seokmin?”

·        “Yeah, babe?”

·        “How come you’ve never carried me on your back and called me little spider monkey?”

·        *cue pillow thrown in your face*

·        Sometimes, him being a vampire is VERY obvious

·        His strength is hot af, first of all

·        He can pick you up as easily as plucking a book from a shelf

·        He’s usually very sweet, but sometimes he can be a bit rougher with affection

·        Like he’ll very suddenly grip you and keep you in place as he holds you

·        And sure, he gets blood from donors or even animals

·        But he can’t resist pulling you into him, pressing his nose into your neck as he takes deep breaths

·        OR

·        Grabbing your arm and running his nose up and down your forearm before letting his tongue trace across the veins

·        You’ve already agreed that he can drink from you

·        He doesn’t like to risk it though

·        He tries to keep full off of donor blood or animal blood so he’s not thirsty when he’s around you

·        He has, on a few occasions, nibbled slightly through your skin and taken a few small draws

·        But that mostly happens during heated make out sessions

·        Speaking of which

·        Literally nothing compares to being on Seokmin’s lap, making out with him and pulling back to see his eyes flash red

·        Like sincerely this boy drives you crazy

·        Him being a vampire is also very obvious when you feel threatened in any way

·        Like when a friend is being rude

·        A stranger is being pushy or making you uncomfortable

·        When anybody is causing you any form of anxiety

·        Sweet, sunshine Seokmin fully disappears

·        Full on vampire Seokmin comes out

·        Bro if anyone is trying to intimidate you or bother you or mess with you

·        Seokmin will fix them with the darkest stare you’ve ever seen

·        His voice gets deeper

·        He pulls himself up to his full height

·        It’s almost as if he gets all around bigger

·        He doesn’t resort to violence unless it is absolutely necessary

·        But if it comes to that, he’s not above throwing some punches to protect you

·        He will also lowkey possessive over you for a while after any incident like this

·        He’s sitting there like: My baby almost got hurt by someone, now no one can even look at them or I’ll lose it >:(

·        And you’re just sitting there like: Get over it fang man, your vampire intimidation stance has already worn off. Let’s go do something fun, you big dumb softy

·        But sincerely, for the rest of the night, he will always have his hands on you

·        No matter where you are

·        He’ll throw his arm around your shoulders, or sling it around your waist, or keep a hand on your thigh, or constantly be petting your head and staring at you with heart eyes

·        “You don’t have to protect me, Minnie”

·        “I know, but what’s the point of me being this if I don’t at least do that for you”

·        Even tho Seokmin is a pure sunshine through and through

·        He fucking loves scaring the shit out of kids on Halloween

·        He always dresses up as anything but a vampire

·        So that when suddenly flashes his eyes and fangs at kids trick-or-treating

·        They’re never expecting it

·        “Babe why do you have to scare kids like that?”

·        “Cuz it’s part of the fun of Halloween! It makes the night more exhilarating for them!”

·        “Oh, so if I get you to watch a horror movie with me later, it’ll be part of the fun then, right?”

·        “It’s not fun when I’m scared tho :(“

·        “…Seokmin”

·        “What???”

·        “How can you even be scared of horror movies???? You’re a vampire!!!!”

·        You make a lot of bets with him

·        And your price is always that if you win, he’ll have to dress up like Dracula for you

·        He makes sure than you never win y’all’s bets lol

·        It’s ok cuz his price is usually that you have to give him a kiss

·        Besides the occasional possessiveness and mentions of times centuries ago, it’s hard to distinguish dating Seokmin from dating a regular human

·        Of course, you two have conversations about his immortality and your mortality

·        He says he’s willing to turn you but he wants you to think about it for a very long time and then decide for yourself

·        There’s no pressure from him

·        He’s told you plenty of times that he’ll be happy enjoying time with you for as long as you’re alive, no need to become immortal for him

·        He loves his little human so much

·    ��   He’d do anything for you

·        And he’ll love you and only you

·        No matter how long your time together will be

[lovely-ateez]

Vampire Shift~

ꕥPosted: 5/23/21

ꕥGenre: Fluff, Smut, Angst, College!au, Horror!au

ꕥPairing: Fem!Reader x Vampire!Jongho (feat Wooyoung and Minho from skz)

ꕥWord Count: ~5.9k (whoops)

ꕥWarnings: Horror themes, Language, Thigh riding, Unprotected sex, Mentions of blood and blood sucking (please lmk if I missed anything)

ꕥTag List: @cappujinho @bobateastay

ꕥA/N: I hope you all don’t a more spooky concept! Halloween is my favorite holiday and even though its May, it’s always spooky season to me lolol. Also! Feel free to listen to Vampire Shift by All Time Low while reading this (it’s only on YouTube I cry) since this is inspired by the song :)

It was a terrible idea, really, to work the night shift at a gas station alone. Even more so when you’re a young woman whose only defense is the pepper spray on her key chain and 911 on speed dial. Alas, college bills don’t pay themselves and every spare opportunity to get cash was one I had to take.

The digital clock sitting on the counter next to me briefly flashed, indicating another hour had gone by. It was currently four a.m. and it was safe to say I was losing my mind. I’d worked for five hours now, and not a customer had come in. That was the only advantage, really. So long as no one was around my boss let me finish any assignments I had, which came in handy on more than one occasion.

I was only six paragraphs into a five page report and had been staring at my laptop screen for over an hour, feeling beyond brain dead. I was assigned the topic of financial statements and country trade deficits, and wanted to cry every minute I thought about it. I was half convinced to pay someone to write the report for me.

The ringing of a bell indicated a customer opening the door and I closed my laptop to peer around the counter, ready to greet whoever entered. The first man to catch my attention was wearing sunglasses which fazed me, but I tried not to stare. The man that followed had black hair with blond underneath, a combination that I strangely liked. Both men were donned in all back, their faces stoic. They were attractive, I had to admit, but neither were my type.

And then, the last man entered. He looked over to me as he walked through the door, giving me a nod and a slight smile. His slicked back black hair matched his black ripped jeans and highlighted his red leather jacket. He was so handsome he looked like he jumped out of a magazine and I had to suppress a ‘wow’. A string of butterflies fluttered in my stomach and I did my best to ignore them, not even knowing his name.

The three of them wandered through the aisles until I could no longer see them, and I scolded myself for being so thrown off that I forgot say any form of a greeting. I sighed and turned my attention back to my laptop, opening it and blankly staring at the screen. My ears perked when I heard the men’s hushed voices.

“Y’oughta get that girl’s number. I saw the way you looked at her.”

“Yeah, Jongho. She’s pretty cute. If you don’t get her number you know I will.”

“Shut up.” One of the men, Jongho apparently, responded with a laugh, “Let’s just get some snacks, okay? It’s gonna be a long night. Also I’m buying tonight so get whatever.”

A smile crept on my face and I looked down, fiddling with my thumbs.

They think I’m cute. Maybe Jongho’s the one in red?

I heard the bell ring once more and a girl entered who I vaguely remembered from high school. She was popular but for good reason, probably being one of the nicest people I’d ever met. Our circle of friends overlapped slightly so I’d spent a fair amount of time with her. She was smart as a whip and gorgeous all the same, which seemed to stay with her. She looked bright, long red hair falling around her face, freckles still prominent as ever.

We met eyes and she smiled, “Hey y/n!”

I smiled and waved, “Hey Annabelle. How’ve you been? I haven’t seen you in awhile.”

“Good! I got into my dream college and it’s been great, although I’ve had to take some pretty hard classes.” She giggled, walking towards me. It’s honestly not too far from here. You go to Westgate University, right?”

I nodded and I put my laptop aside. She spoke again, genuinely excited for me, “That’s awesome! Congrats!”

“Thanks,” I smiled, “I’m taking it you got into Orholt?”

“I did! I was really-”

One of the men that entered earlier—the one still wearing sunglasses—shouted the redhead’s name and caught her attention, “Hey Anna do you want a Redbull or a Five Hour Energy?”

“Redbull! I’m not a monster.” She laughed.

The man nodded and walked toward us with several drinks and snacks in his hands.

“Oh! I want to introduce you to my boyfriend!” Annabelle turned to the man still wearing sunglasses and reached for his arm, “This is Minho. I met him at Orholt.”

Minho gave me a slight nod as I introduced myself and he placed the food and drinks on the counter. I began to scan the items, the mindless routine that I was used to by now. The loud sound of laughter made me look up, seeing the two other men approach us and place their snacks down as well. I watched them long enough to notice the way two-tone—my new affectionate name for the man with blond and black hair, I decided—shamelessly checked me out, a cocky smile on his face when I caught him. I just let out a small laugh before resuming my task, watching his confused reaction in my peripheral vision.

“Oh my god I totally forgot to introduce you to my friends.” Annabelle giggled and pointed to two-tone, “This is Wooyoung.”

“Hiya, Wooyoung.” I said with a confident smile, enjoying the way he still had a slightly confused look on his face.

“And this,” Annabelle nodded towards the man in red, “This is Jongho. Both him and Wooyoung go to Orholt, too.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Jongho. I’m y/n.”

“Very nice to meet you.” The man smiled before he sent me a wink.

I had never been a particularly shy person, but as he did so my eyes darted down as I felt my face flush. I didn’t notice the gears turning in Annabelle’s head as she put the pieces together.

I placed the final items in the bag, raising my head as Annabelle addressed me,  “You know I’m having a bonfire tomorrow night at my place and you should totally come!”

I stopped to think, first trying to remember if I worked the next day, then wondering if I was willing to go the bonfire when I realized I didn’t have to.

She sensed my hesitancy and her face fell, “Aw do you work tomorrow night? It’s a Saturday!”

“Oh no, I don’t. I...” I stopped to think for a minute. Although I likely didn’t know anyone else who would be there, I was familiar with Annabelle’s house, which brought me a bit of comfort, “Are all of you going?”

Annabelle gave a knowing smile, “Yes. All of us will be here.”

I nodded, accepting the credit card Jongho gave me, quickly after handing them the bags, and returning his card, “I’ll go.”

��Yay! We’ve gotta head out but I’ll send you the details. You’ve still got the same number, right?”

“Yeah I do.”

“Alrighty! I’ll see you tomorrow then!”

Annabelle left with a wave, her boyfriend on her arm and Wooyoung behind her. To my surprise, Jongho didn’t leave with them, the cocky look on his face all but telling me why he stayed.

I looked at him with wide eyes, playing innocent. “Can I help you?”

He placed an arm on the counter, his dark eyes seeming to put me under a spell. The confidence he was radiating was almost palpable and I felt myself being pulled to him. It was intimidating, to be honest.

“You’re really cute and I want your number.”

I let out a surprised laugh, “You really don’t beat around the bush, do you?”

“No, not really,” He propped his other arm on the counter, leaning towards me and raising an eyebrow, “So what do you say, doll?”

A smile crept on my face as I mirrored his actions and leaned towards him, “You gonna memorize my number? Or do you have a phone I can put my number into?”

Jongho’s smile got brighter as he reached to grab his phone, handing it to me. “You’re a firecracker, aren’t you?”

I shrugged, “I’d like to think so.”

When I handed his phone back, our fingers brushed and I could’ve sworn I felt sparks shoot through me at the simple interaction.

“Well I need to head out before the rest of them get too annoyed,” He nodded towards the exit where Annabelle, Minho, and Wooyoung left, “But it was enchanting to meet you, y/n.” He bowed, drawing a laugh from me.

“Ah yes. You as well, absolutely delightful.”

He gave me a smile, “I’ll text you later.”

"Sounds good. I’ll hold you to your word.”

“I’d expect nothing less.” And with that, he was out the door, leaving my heart a fluttering mess.

-

Me [8:37pm] So is there a dress code for tonight?

Annabelle [8:42pm] Nope! Wear whatever you’re comfortable with. I’m wearing this if it helps at all!

Annabelle [8:43pm] 1 Image Attached*

Me [8:45pm] So leather jackets and crop tops?

Annabelle [8:48pm] Haha sure! We can match!

Me [8:51pm] Lol bet. See you at eleven :)

Annabelle [8:51pm] See you then!

I started the process of slipping on a white cropped top followed by my light washed ripped jeans. I knew I was getting ready far earlier than I could have, but something about new events made me anxious and I had to make sure I looked nice. I giggled at the black leather jacket I was throwing over my shoulders, not having worn it since high school. In the middle of debating whether or not I should add another layer of mascara to my lashes, my phone dinged.

New Number [8:59pm] Y/n this better be you. This is Jongho and I’m texting you for a really important reason and I need you to reply quick

Me [9:00pm] Yeah it’s me. What’s going on are you okay??

New Number [9:02pm] I’m gonna go grab some food before I head to Anna’s. You wanna come with?

Me [9:02pm] Oh my god don’t do that to me, you buffoon. You scared me so bad rip

[New Number name changed to A Cute Buffoon]

Me [9:03pm] But sure I’m down lol. Here’s my address btw

Me [9:03pm] 1 Location Shared*

It occurred to me perhaps a bit too late that I was sharing my address with someone that I’d met only once and in a gas station.

I mean, he’s friends with Annabelle so he’s gotta be good right? God I hope so. I thought to myself.

A Cute Buffoon [9:04] Then it’s a date :) I live pretty close so I’ll be over in 10. That work for you?

Me [9:06pm] Fine with me!

A Cute Buffoon [9:06pm] Sounds good. I’ll see you soon ;)

I set down my phone and thanked myself for already doing my makeup. I checked myself out in the mirror, satisfied with my appearance and proud of how well my makeup turned out. I grabbed my bottle of perfume and spritzed the liquid in the air, letting it gradually fall on me so it wouldn’t be too overpowering.

You look beautiful, babe.

The waiting game was harder than I thought, not knowing what to do except awkwardly sit around and play an assortment of phone games. When exactly ten minutes had passed I heard my doorbell ring and I lifted myself from my couch, grinning at his punctuality.

I opened the door to see Jongho holding a bouquet of flowers, a smug look on his face. “Lovely to meet you here, stranger.”

I wanted to make a joke back but I couldn’t seem to think of anything, too surprised by the flowers in his hands. It wasn’t anything extravagant, the small bouquet of violets, but I felt my heart swell.

It’s perfect. He’s perfect.

My voice was small when I spoke, “No one’s ever given me flowers before.”

His eyebrows furrowed as a confused look painted his face, “Really?”

I nodded, taking the flowers from his outreached hands and smelling their sweet fragrance, “They’re beautiful.”

My eyes flickered to his, the tender look on his face making me feel as if I was melting on the spot, “You’re beautiful.”

I squealed, my face undoubtedly turning pink while my mind short circuited. I’d never become so shy around someone before and the only thing I could think of to say in response was another ‘thank you’ followed by ‘I’ll go get a vase for these.’

I opened my door further, rummaging through my cabinets for a vase when I noticed Jongho was still standing by the door, “You can come in, you know? That’s why I opened the door.”

He laughed nervously, “Sorry about that. Force of habit, I guess.”

I raised my eyebrows in a teasing manner, “What? Are you a vampire? Can you only come in if someone invites you?”

I thought I saw a flicker of shock on his face for a moment, but it was gone before I could register it and I shrugged it off, my eyes finding the perfect vase for the flowers.

“It’s just how I was raised.”

“I get that.” I placed the flowers in the vase, giving them a bit of water before walking up to Jongho and gently patting his cheek, “Your good manners are appreciated.”

He laughed in surprise, full gummy smile on display as he playfully swatted my hand away from his face, “Alright, alright. Let’s head out already.”

I made a sound of agreement before noticing a slight pink on his ears. I was temped to tease him, but ultimately decided to save it for later. If I could fluster him once I knew I could do it again.

-

The diner we went to was one I’d never heard of before, let alone been to, and I was beyond frustrated that I didn’t even know about it’s existence. It was an adorable fifties style diner and even the attire the waiters were wearing fit the theme.

“This is the cutest place to ever exist, I’m convinced.” I said as we sat down on the same side of a bright red booth.

“I really hoped you would like it. This is my favorite restaurant ever and they have fantastic milkshakes. If you’d like to share one for desert, I’m all for it.” A wink.

I bit my lip and hid my face in the menu that was placed in front of us, thankful for any method of escape.

“You’re so cute.”

“Ahh no don’t say things like that.” I giggled from behind the menu.

His hand grabbed the top of the menu, pulling it down so he could see me, “Why’s that?”

“Because you make me nervous. Like a good nervous!” I tried to explain, which only resulted in becoming even more embarrassed, “I-I mean I’m excited to be around you but I’m also nervous. I hope that doesn’t sound weird.” I cringed at myself. Never in my life did I think I’d be blushing and stuttering over some man, but my god did he prove me wrong.

“Not at all,” he reached over to take my hand in his, “because I feel it, too.”

Before I could properly react our waitress came over, taking our order and effectively saving me from becoming a human tomato.

We handed our menus back to her after ordering and she looked at us with a soft smile, “You two make a cute couple.”

While I was a bit too stunned to say anything, Jongho didn’t seem to have the same problem and went along with it, “Thank you, ma’am. That’s kind of you to say.”

When she left, Jongho leaned closer to me, “I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable by saying that we we’re a couple. I thought that-”

“No, I didn’t mind it!” I bit my tongue after likely saying that way too fast with far too much enthusiasm, but I meant it, “I didn’t mind it,” I said again, softer this time.

The tips of his ears once again turned a faint shade of pink, “Good to know.”

The food was as wonderful as it possibly could’ve been, their fries alone being one of the best things I’d ever consumed. Just as Jongho suggested, we shared a milkshake, which led to shy eye contact and laughter and my crush becoming stronger by the minute.

Just as Jongho paid and we were about to leave, a certain song began to play and he looked at me with an air of mischief, holding out his hand to me, “Dance with me.”

I took his hand, trying to hide my smile but failing. He led me away from the table and next to the jukebox. The area surrounding it was more open, probably with the intention for people to dance near it. He grabbed my waist, holding the hand of mine that wasn’t placed on his chest and looking at me in a way that could make any woman fall in love on the spot. We swayed to the music and I couldn’t help but feel full. Like I’d found all that I’d ever need.

Put your head on my shoulder~

“Do you know this song?” He asked with a smile.

I scoffed, “Of course I do! It’s one of my favorites.”

“It’s one of mine, too.”

Hold me in your arms, baby~

I mouthed along to the words as I felt the need to prove it to him. As if to one up me, Jongho began to sing along, his gorgeous voice amazing me.

Squeeze me oh so tight, show me~

That you love me, too~

I blushed as he looked at me while singing along, becoming a bit flustered himself when the lyrics clicked with him.

Put your lips next to mine dear~

Won’t you kiss me once, baby~

As if we were in sync our eyes darted to the other’s lips at the same time. I could feel Jongho’s breathing becoming heavier before he said in a hushed tone, “Can I kiss you?”

“Please.” Was all I could respond before I pressed my lips to his, fireworks igniting inside me when he kissed me back. His lips were so soft and warm and as crazy as it sounded, he felt like home. I felt him smile against my lips as the music continued to play.

Maybe you and I will fall in love~

-

The fire was loud, crackling and lighting up the faces of all those crowded those around it. It was essentially the only source of light in the dark of the night, except for the distant lights still on in Annabelle’s house. My hands were interlocked with Jongho’s as we sat around it’s warmth, both of us finding it hard to separate from one another.

Conversation was flowing all around us, and I was relieved to find that everyone I had talked to was kind and welcoming. I was more nervous than I realized, but having Jongho next to my side alone calmed me. Someone around the fire mentioned an old story involving Annabelle and I began to wonder where she was, having not seen her since Jongho and I first arrived. I mentioned I was going to look for her and he nodded, at first wanting to join me but then getting pulled into conversation with one of his former classmates. I told him I’d head off on my own and he nodded again.

I looked around what seemed to be the entire property and still there was no sight of her. At that moment I heard yelling coming from her house, startling me. I felt my blood run cold when I recognized one of the voices as Annabelle’s. The yelling didn’t sound like it was out of fear, but instead more aggressive, out of pure anger. Without thinking I ran inside, hoping to calm the situation but instead found what seemed to be out of a work of fiction.

An unfamiliar man was on the ground, obviously trying to get away from a hidden figure before him that seemed to be cloaked in darkness. He let out a sound that I’d never heard a human make, one that I couldn’t even compare to something I’d heard before, and a shiver ran down my back. As the figure took a step forward I recognized it as Annabelle, or what seemed to be some version of her. Her normally grey eyes were now bright red, sharp fangs on display as she snarled at the man. A group of people were surrounding them, alarmed looks on their faces but hardly trying to intervene.

“What the hell?” I whispered, my eyes wide as I tried to back away without anyone noticing. But of course, I just had to step on an empty soda can, all eyes pointing my way. As I looked at the people around me, their expressions seemed to mirror mine and I swallowed, suddenly feeling immensely claustrophobic.

I met eyes with Annabelle and she seemed to change in a flash, her eyes returning to their former color and fangs disappearing. She looked more panicked than I had ever seen her which only scared me more. She was always able to keep her stressors under control, but as she stared back at me, I saw a version of her I never had before.

I was barely able to form a sentence, adrenaline coursing through me at a rampant rate, “Um...” 

Annabelle slowly walked towards me, “Oh—hey! Sorry I disappeared for a while but how’s the party going? Are you having fun?” Panic was still evident in her voice but I knew she was trying to keep a hold of the situation.

“I...I don’t-”

A stern voice came from left, and I nervously turned to meet Jongho, an unreadable expression crossing his face, “Y/n.”

“Yeah?” My voice squeaked as I began to regret agreeing to come along in the first place, still hyper aware of all the eyes on me.

“Come with me.”

His eyes softened at my panicked state and he held out a hand, “Please?”

I was hesitant, but being anywhere away from the crowd and whatever Annabelle turned into seemed to be a good idea. I took his hand and watched as he exchanged a look with Annabelle that seemed to calm her. Turning on his heels he led me back to the bonfire, sitting in a chair and motioning for me to do the same. Seeing no one around us gave me a feeling of both anxiety and comfort, and I wasn’t quite sure which feeling was winning at the moment.

“Well I’m sure you have plenty of questions.” He started, “I won’t lie to you and try to convince you what you saw wasn’t real, because it was, but I need you to know that no one is going to harm you. That guy is Anna’s roommate and they get into an argument at least once a week. Sometimes it can be nasty, but they never get physical and neither would ever hurt anyone unprovoked. No one here would.”

I was silent for a few minutes, trying to process what I saw on top of the time bomb of information he dropped on me. “Is she...is everyone....are you a vampire?” I whispered the last words, almost too stunned and afraid to say out loud.

He smiled slightly, his kind eyes making me feel safe. “Yes. We’re what you’d call vampires.”

I took a breath, almost afraid to hear the answer to my question, “Am I in any danger by being here?”

“No, everyone here is good. They don’t pose any threat. There are plenty of dangerous vampires but we stay away from them. Besides,” He placed an arm around my waist, playfulness in his eyes, “If there were, I’d protect you from them.”

“Oh? And how don’t I know you’re not dangerous?”

He leaned closer to me, clearly enjoying this, “You don’t, I suppose. Doesn’t that make it fun?”

“That’s very much debatable,” I smiled for a moment before a frown took over, “Everyone just seemed really...I don’t know, startled I guess?”

Jongho let out a loud sigh, looking down at the ground for a few seconds before looking back up at me, “Humans aren’t normally invited to these parties. It’s assumed that everyone here is a vampire. The perfume that you’re wearing, whatever the hell it is, is masking your scent. If I didn’t meet you before today I wouldn’t have known you were human. I guess Anna didn’t tell everyone, either.” He placed a hand on my knee and looked at me with kind eyes, “How are you feeling?”

“Surprisingly calm considering that I just learned vampires exist.”

Jongho laughed, “Yeah I’d say you’re taking it pretty well. Like I said earlier though, I’m sure you’ve got plenty of questions, so fire away.”

“Yeah I have a few.” I hesitated, hoping he wouldn’t be offended by my question, “Exactly how old are you?”

“Oh are you gonna age shame me?”

“No but it’s probably an important thing to know...since we kissed and all.”

He laughed again and leaned back in his chair, placing his arms behind his head,  “How old do you think I am?”

I used his question as an excuse for my eyes to wander over his body. He was beyond attractive, very clearly fit and he knew it, which equal parts pissed me off and turned me on. As hard as I tried, I kept finding myself being pulled to his thighs. Even through his jeans I could tell he had strong thighs and I had to press my fingernails into my palm to keep from drooling. “From your appearance? Early twenties. From what age fiction usually tells us vampires are? I’d guess you’re a hundred and three.”

Jongho nodded with a smile, “I’m not quite that old but that’s a fair guess. You had it right the first time. I’m a pure born and we actually age, but we don’t age as quickly as humans. I’m twenty.”

“Pure born?”

“It means both of my parents are vampires.”

I nodded as another question came to mind, a smile on my lips. “Do you sparkle in the daylight?”

“Oh my god,” He covered his face with his hands, a mixture of a groan and a laugh escaping his mouth, “No, we do not sparkle in daylight, “His hands came to rest on his knees, “But it sucks that we really shouldn’t be in direct sunlight for over two hours a day. That’s normally the rule to go by. It’ll burn us if we’re in it for much longer than that.”

“So do werewolves and witches and everything like that exist, too?”

“Yeah pretty much. We don’t all get along, but we have to coexist. It’s something we’ve struggled with for a while, unfortunately. Basically everything you’d believe to be supernatural exists.”

I was silent for a while, not really knowing what else to say.

“Y/n? Are you doing okay? If you’re not comfortable being here I can drive you home right now or if you’d rather be alone I can call an Uber or—”

My heart skipped a beat at his kindness. “No, I’m okay. I guess I’m just surprised I’m learning about this just now.”

“We do a good job of hiding it. Also it was probably a given, but keep this as a secret if you can. Having a lot of people know about our existence can be risky.”

I gave him a silent nod, unintentionally leaning closer to him. The sound of approaching footsteps made me jump into Jongho’s arms. I didn’t know why I found comfort in him, knowing that he could be dangerous as well, but he’d been nothing but sweet to me. I had no reason to fear him.

Annabelle approached us but stopped, taking a few steps back when she saw how I was buried in Jongho’s arms.

“Hey y/n.” She rubbed her arm, looking down as if she’d done something wrong.

“I guess Jongho probably told you everything at this point. I’m really sorry if I scared you and I understand if you don’t want to be friends anymore.” Even in the dark I could see tears beginning to stream down her cheeks and I felt a pain in my chest.

I got up from Jongho’s hold and wrapped my arms around her, feeling her stiffen, “I trust you, Annabelle.”

Those four words seemed to relax her and she returned my hug, still sniffling, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. We aren’t supposed to tell anyone and I thought you might hate me—”

I pulled back, “Why the hell would I hate you? You’re still you.”

She laughed through tears, gripping me tighter, thanking me over and over for not pushing her away.

We’re gonna be okay. It’s all gonna be okay.

-

Not too long after, Jongho drove me home. The ride was more silent than when we were headed to Annabelle’s house, but the air wasn’t heavy or uncomfortable. Feeling tired, I laid my head on Jongho’s shoulder, faintly hearing ‘sleep well, baby’ before drifting asleep.

When I woke, I was in my bed. I reached for my phone on the bedside table and found a little note placed next to it that read:

I hope you don’t mind that I carried you inside. I tried to wake you for like five minutes but you were out cold. Anyways, I had a really good time with you yesterday and I hope you had fun too :) Text me when you wake so I know you’re okay. -J

I looked at my clock and saw that it was still early, but I texted Jongho anyway.

Me [3:00am] Not sure if you’re still up, but I really enjoyed yesterday, too. I’m exhausted so I’m gonna go back to sleep but I just wanted to say I’m okay and everything is good :))

A Cute Buffoon [3:00am] Sleep well, darling. We can talk in the morning

-

It had been roughly a month since Jongho and I started dating, and while I felt like I knew him pretty well, we had only known each other a little over a month, on top of the fact that he was a vampire which was essentially an entire separate culture. I’d asked him most questions I had early throughout our relationship, but one in particular kept replaying in my mind.

We were currently sitting on the couch in my apartment, cuddling each other. The TV was on but neither of us were really watching it. I was far more interested in the warm body in front of me, and based off of how Jongho was looking at me, the feeling was mutual.

I bit my lip, anxiously mulling over the question I’d wanted to ask him for weeks. I didn’t know how he would take it, let alone how I would bring it up, but I needed to ask at some point. Knowing he could probably sense my nerves, I gave in. “Jongho, can a human turn into a vampire?”

He hummed, turning to face me. “Why do you ask?”

“I just...I didn’t know if it could happen or not.”

Jongho chuckled, “Yeah it’s possible. It’s a long ass process to go through though, and there’s a lot that can go wrong, so it rarely happens.”

I shifted in my seat, trying not to appear overly interested. “Why is that? What can go wrong?

He smiled and raised a brow, his cocky persona resurfacing, “You sound so eager to know, dear. Do you want to become a vampire?” His eyes briefly flickered towards my lips before he tilted his head, dragging his soft lips across my neck. I let out a gasp when I felt the tips of his teeth lightly scraping the skin, “Or maybe you’re just looking for an excuse for me to put my mouth on you?”

Like with anything that exuded him, I felt myself becoming quickly overwhelmed, my mind now hazy and distant. I shut my eyes in an attempt to gain some semblance of control over myself.

“Your thoughts are swirling, doll.” Jongho began leaving gentle kisses along the side of my jaw, “Don’t think too much. Just let me take care of you. Okay?”

“Okay.” I said through a short breath, knowing we’d just have to have the conversation another time.

We’d had sex before, so it wasn’t like this was new territory for us, but every time felt like the first, leaving me just as out of breath each time.

He lifted me and placed me on his thigh, dragging me across his flexed muscles. I felt my eyes roll back at the simple motion, my need growing at an embarrassing rate. I grabbed his shoulders as I began to drag myself against him, whines and whimpers spilling from my lips.

“God you’re hot,” Jongho said through hot breaths, beginning to kiss my neck, no doubt leaving marks.

“Thanks I try.” I managed to say, pleased when Jongho laughed.

“You don’t even have to, and it’s completely unfair.” His hands moved under my shirt and danced along my skin, “It’s like you’re an angel come to life.”

I let out a loud moan, feeling tears well in my eyes from his praise, “You always make me feel so beautiful when I’m with you.”

Jongho responded with a smile, carrying me to my bedroom and laying me down on the bed while hurriedly discarding both of our clothes.

“You’re always so eager, babe.”

He nuzzled my neck as he climbed on top of me, his hands finding my own and holding them, “As if you’re not.”

“I never said I wasn’t.”

He then moved in between my thighs, teasing me with his fingers as he ran them along my wet slit, occasionally rubbing my clit, drawing small whines from me.

“Jongho please just fuck me already.”

“Sweetheart, do you even think you’re wet enough for me?” He cooed.

Feeling frustrated, I pushed my fingers inside myself with ease, pulling them out and spreading them so he could see my essence dripping down my fingers, “I don’t know you tell me.” I said with far more sass than I intended.

Jongho’s eyes widened at the sight and wasted no time positioning his cock at my entrance, pushing in and letting out the most beautiful groans.

Neither of us ever bothered to use protection because, to put it simply, vampires couldn’t get humans pregnant. It was only possible when both partners were vampires, and we took full advantage of that.

“Fuck—baby you feel amazing. You’re so warm and tight ohmygod.” Jongho moaned as he began to move, thrusting in and out of me at a steady pace.

I clenched around him, loving when he was vocal. His sounds helped get me off just as much as his actions, at times it seemed.

“You feel...really good...too.” I said through heavy breaths. And as much as I wanted to last longer in bed, with Jongho, I never could.

“I don’t know if it’s because you’re a vampire and you’ve got like magic powers or something or maybe you’re just a sex god—but holy shit...I’m close.”

He threw back his head and had the audacity to laugh, something I really couldn’t stay mad at with how good he was making me feel. “Babe it’s been like six minutes.”

“Don’t be an asshole.” I joked, my laugh turning into a moan. It only spurred Jongho on, making him angle one of my legs up higher, hitting deeper inside of me.

“I know you’re close, baby. I can feel it. Cum for me, baby girl. Let go for me.”

He reached down to tease my sensitive nub, drawing quick circles until I was seeing stars, chanting his name like a prayer.

After Jongho came down from his high, he disappeared into the bathroom as he always did, coming back with a warm towel. As he pressed the towel to my thighs I tried to ask again.

“So...about the human to vampire thing?”

“Well,” Jongho sighed, “I didn’t think I’d be able to distract you forever.” He smiled, “It’s mostly done because couples want to stay together. The thing is though, the vampire obviously gets a taste of the human’s blood and it can be hard to stop once you’ve marked them, especially since smell is such a big allure for us.”

He took a long breath, “Then the human will almost always pass out, and needs to be taken care of for the next couple days because they’ll be so weak. Another problem is that the scent of their blood will be amplified during those days and it’ll be harder for the vampire to not, you know...” He looked away, not able to say the words. I knew what he meant, we both did. In some cases, vampires would kill their human partners for of their blood. Sometimes it was beyond their control. Just a primal need that would betray them. “Then their scent is more easily detected by other vampires and the whole thing is just kinda a mess. I think I’ve only heard of five attempts and only one of them was successful.”

I nodded, not really knowing what to say.

“And then on top of it all, it can be harder for the human to adjust and it can put a lot of pressure on the relationship. Human and vampire relationships are dangerous.”

His face was serious as he ran a hand through my hair. I looked up at him and leaned into his touch.

He cleared his throat and averted his eyes, a shy behavior I hadn’t seen from him before, “I guess it’s important for you to decide then.” His eyes met mine again, “Is this still something you want to continue?”

“Our relationship?”

“Yeah.”

“Of course, are you crazy? You mean the world to me.” I swallowed, realizing he hadn’t voiced his own thoughts, “What about you? Do you want this?”

“I think you have a pretty good idea of what I want.” He smiled and pressed a quick kiss to my forehead, his eyes sparkling.

“Hey Jongho?”

He hummed, looking at me.

“I want to spend forever with you.”

[samstree]

50 for the cliché prompts?? 💞💞

50. "I’m scared but won’t admit it so you take my hand"

A grand revelation happens on an ordinary movie night when Geralt gets scared of a horror film. (Look, Geralt the monster hunter is scared of horror movies and you can’t change my mind.)

fluff, 1k, established geraskier, domesticity, cuddling and kisses

read on AO3

--

The boy walks into the dusty bedroom, blindfolded, waiting for his sister's claps. Their hide-and-seek game continues.

A pair of hands reach out of the old closet, the skin white as a sheet, and clap twice.

The slap of skin against skin reverberates in the silence.

The boy turns to the source of the sound.

“Cold?” Geralt asks Jaskier, pulling him closer and wrapping the blanket tighter around the two of them, the singer almost sitting on his lap at this point. A chill runs down Geralt’s back, making him shiver a little.

The air con must have been set too low.

"I'm fine, darling."

Jaskier sends him a tiny smile in the low blue light of the screen, but Geralt decides to wrap an arm around his boyfriend anyway, his palm resting over Jaskier's stomach and rubbing small circles.

The boy walks to the closet, a bit wobbly because of the blindfold. A smug smile appears on his face.

"Ha! I know where you are!"

He stands in front of the closet and feels for the handles, and misses on the first try.

Geralt puts his jaw on Jaskier's shoulder and nuzzles into the soft hair behind Jaskier's ear. His boyfriend leans forward on the couch, completely enthralled by the suspense.

The boy opens the closet doors in one swift motion and—

The camera pans away.

To his sister standing far away, by the bedroom door.

Geralt gasps, hugging Jaskier to his chest.

"I win! I was hiding in the basement this whole time and you were nowhere near me!" the girl announces chirpily.

"But I--" the brother snatches off the scarf over his eyes and looks into the closet.

It's empty.

Geralt can feel his hand balling into a fist and abusing Jaskier's pajama shirt. He lets out the pent-up breath in his lungs and looks away from the movie.

They were alone in the house. Their parents went out. The sister was hiding in the basement. She wasn't the one who clapped. They warned them that the house was haunted. Why did the parents have to move in!

Geralt's heart races. He breathes in the familiar scent of Jaskier's freshly showed skin but even that doesn't stop the spiraling. An irritated grunt escapes his throat.

It shouldn't affect him like this. He hunts monsters for a living, for god's sake! A seasoned witcher such as he has seen real horrors, unlike the man-made ones in these stories. It’s merely a horror movie.

Yes, it’s just a movie. Full of clichés, no less.

But all the monsters he faces are all tangible, living things, unlike the eerie, inexplicable haunted house that is apparently also home to something else—

"Hey," Jaskier interrupts his train of thoughts. "Are you okay?"

Geralt realizes that he’s curled up around Jaskier and his limbs are freezing, a shiver running through him again, which draws another concerned hum out of Jaskier.

“Uh, I—” Geralt clears his throat. At his periphery, he notices that the next scene has broken the tension. “It’s fine. Keep watching.”

Warm skin brushes against Geralt’s wrist, and Jaskier’s palm is covering the back of his hand. The singer threads their fingers together and squeezes gently.

“We don’t have to. If you are upset.”

“What—No. ‘Course not!”

The denial would have sounded more genuine if Geralt didn’t let out a dry chuckle.

Jaskier pauses the movie and turns on the couch, the movement quite uncomfortable because of Geralt’s insistence on keeping his boyfriends in place, so they settle with Jaskier’s forehead pressed against his temple, the singer’s strong legs a pleasant weight on Geralt’s lap.

“What are you doing?” Geralt asks, confused.

“We can just do something else if you don’t like the movie. The last time you looked this rattled, my dear, a wyvern had snatched me right in front of your eyes.”

Jaskier’s hand moves to rub some heat back into Geralt’s skin all the way up to his forearm.

“That was real danger. This is just a movie.” Geralt isn’t sure who he’s trying to convince. “I shouldn’t be scared of it.”

“Well, it can’t be helped if you are. After all, they make them spooky on purpose.”

“Hmm.” Geralt considers his boyfriend’s worry. The way Jaskier fusses for his nerves is too sweet. “But Ciri says the franchise is good.”

“Ciri has a morbid taste in everything and you know it.”

“She was so excited to talk about it, and I promised her I’d watch.”

“Aww…”

Jaskier pulls away, the look on his face almost pitiful.

“Geralt, honey,” he says patiently. “I know you want to be the cool parent, but let’s face it. No one can be cool in their teenage daughter’s eyes, no matter how much you torture yourself by consuming this nonsense. Seriously, who moves into an old, creaky in the middle of nowhere? They should have seen the ghosts coming like, from a mile away! It’s so cliché!”

Jaskier gestures to the screen in exasperation, and when he meets Geralt’s gaze again, those blue eyes are full of fondness. Geralt returns the soothing motion and squeezes Jaskier’s hand back, his fingers no longer numb from the cold air.

“And you are not making fun of me why?” Geralt raises an eyebrow. Jaskier passing up on an opportunity to tease him feels too good to be true.

“My love.” A kiss falls on the tip of Geralt’s nose. “It’s never fun if you are truly upset.”

There is something about Jaskier, Geralt muses, that still manages to make his heart skip a beat after all these years. As he captures Jaskier’s lips and draws a contented moan out of him, Geralt realizes that he could spend every evening like this, for as long as Jaskier will have him.

“We can do something else, you said?” Geralt’s voice grows hoarse from the way Jaskier is pressed up against him and squirming, his beautiful blues eyes darkening in response.

“Do you even need to ask?”

With a playful smile, Jaskier shifts so that he’s reclined against the back of the couch, and pulls Geralt on top of them, who eagerly starts peppering more kisses on his boyfriend’s neck. The blanket falls to the floor but neither of them pays any mind.

Maybe he needn’t ask this question.

Maybe, it’s another much more important one that he should be asking Jaskier and it means Geralt has some shopping to do tomorrow—he can even ask Ciri for help. God knows his grumpy daughter needs some livening up these days.

But right now, Geralt revels in the sensation of having Jaskier arching towards every touch and whimpering with pleasure. Of hearing his own name breathed out with reverence.

He finds Jaskier’s ring finger instinctively and caresses the empty base.

Is it also cliché? To have this grand revelation on such an ordinary movie night?

Geralt smiles against Jaskier’s skin and cannot care less.

---

Did I take that one scene from The Conjuring? Yes. Is is also where I got too scared and stopped watching entirely? Absolutely yes.

Thank you so much for the prompt, my dear. 💖💖 Although it took forever for me to fill.

[dickwheelie]

Some soft Jmart cuddles but in some kind of au of your choosing? Maybe from one of those generic "fanfic au prompt" lists?

ohhh Oran u spoil me....I don’t have any of those lists on hand BUT I would like an excuse to do something for my spooky mer jon au!

EDIT: oh my god Oran I. forgot that you asked for cuddles. I wrote this whole thing and there are no cuddles in it fjkfksdf I am so sorry. I’ll make it up to you but it’s late so have this for now! I’ll do a sequel for it probably tomorrow with actual cuddles. fuck I can’t believe I missed that lmaoooo sorry againnnnn

____________

Martin had heard the rumors, of course. Myths. Legends. Whatever you wanted to call them. Stories of dubious legitimacy about the creature that lurked in the waters of the bay that bordered their tiny village, who was either a menace or a blessing, depending on who you asked. The woman who sold flowers at the market said it had once frightened her daughter while she was playing in a tide pool. One of the grizzled old fishermen claimed it had saved his cat from drowning. There were as many stories as there were people in the village, all who had claimed to have seen it, or at least known someone who had. No one could say exactly what it looked like, only that it had a humanoid upper half, a long, slithery fish-tail, and was horrific to look upon. The more exaggerated tales claimed that its face, if one could call it that, was enough to send even the most seasoned of sailors swimming for land.

Yes, Martin had heard the stories, but he was, as far as he could tell, the only one in the village who didn’t believe this odd creature of ambiguous morals actually existed. He was a practical man, and although he enjoyed the idea of impossible things like ghosts and fairies and mer-creatures, he knew, deep down, that none of it was real, especially not so close to the utterly ordinary, unexciting place he called home. He’d lived in the village all his life, and had never, not once, caught so much as a splash of the thing’s tail.

Until now.

He had been out on the bay on his sailboat all afternoon, trying to muster up the inspiration for a poem or two. The sun had begun to set, and, with no more ideas in his head than when he’d left, Martin had started to head back to shore.

That was when he had spotted it: barely visible in the dappled light of the sunset on the water, a dark shape was moving just under the surface. It wasn’t the shape of an ordinary fish, or even a dolphin, and Martin had leaned over the side of the boat to try to get a better look.

He was almost smacked in the face by another figure rising up out of the water, splashing water all over Martin and sending him falling backwards into the boat, flailing in surprise. The figure had grabbed the side of the boat and pulled itself up, leaning over Martin as he stared up at it, dumbfounded, and rethinking everything he knew about stories of dubious legitimacy.

In the warm light of the sunset, the creature was clearly visible. Its skin was dark grey, not quite black, paler around the gills which frilled out around its neck and sides. Its torso was, indeed, humanoid, with two appendages that certainly looked like arms, ending with webbed, clawed hands. Martin couldn’t see its tail from where he was lying, but he imagined it must have been eel-like, for the creature’s face reminded him of an eel. Two huge eyes were set in its face, clearly meant for seeing in the dark of the sea floor, and a wide mouth with innumerable, close-set, needle-point teeth gaped down at him. Apparently, this was what had sent sailors fleeing in terror. Martin was honestly a little disappointed. He was well-versed in marine wildlife (or at least, he’d thought he was), and he thought it looked more cute than scary.

The creature stared down at him, as though waiting for him to do something. It certainly seemed intelligent enough; maybe he could try talking to it. Martin cleared his throat. “Um. Hello.” He managed a little wave.

The creature’s eyes darted to his hand as it moved, then back to his face. It cocked its head, then did something utterly amazing, and answered him. “Why are you not running away,” it said. Its voice was . . . properly British, actually. It spoke with a solid southern accent, the sound a bit muffled and strangely deep, but apparently this creature didn’t need to use lips or teeth to enunciate.

Martin could think of nothing else to do but answer its question. “I . . . can’t really run anywhere,” he said, gesturing at his tiny, stationary sailboat. Once again, the creature’s eyes tracked the movements of his hands meticulously. “You, uh, sort of caught me by surprise.”

“Oh,” said the creature, its voice almost sounding sheepish. It drummed its webbed hands on the edge of the boat, in a surprisingly human-like manner. “Right. Yes. That . . . makes sense.” Its throat moved as it talked, and Martin supposed that must be where its clipped, precise voice was coming from.

“Why would I want to run?” Martin asked.

“Because you’re scared of me,” the creature said, rather unconvincingly.

“Am I?”

“You . . . you should be,” it said, drawing itself up slightly, which made the sailboat rock precariously, so it caught itself and stopped. “Um. I could hurt you. Kill you, even.”

Martin supposed that, yes, this creature was capable of killing him. Though it certainly didn’t seem like it wanted to, and none of the stories he’d heard about it had involved murder. It had even saved a cat once, apparently. Besides, he thought, there were plenty of humans capable of killing Martin just as easily, if they really wanted to. “Are you? Going to kill me?”

“Uh.” The creature lowered itself slightly, so its head was barely visible above the edge of the boat. Martin shifted upwards into a sitting position to see it better, and spotted a dark, rapidly undulating shape in the water, which must have been the creature’s tail. “Well. Er. Not now.”

“Should I leave and come back later?” Martin said, mostly for his own amusement. He didn’t expect the creature to understand the joke.

But it surprised him once again by laughing. Or at least, it sounded like a laugh, and the creature immediately put its hand over its throat, as though to stifle the sound.

Martin couldn’t help but smile at it. “Is that how you talk?” he couldn’t stop himself from asking. “With your--?” He gestured at his own throat.

The creature stared at him, even more wide-eyed than it usually was. “Um. Yes. I believe humans also have a voicebox, don’t they?”

“Yeah,” Martin said, “but ours doesn’t articulate sound the way yours does.” He grinned. “That’s so cool.”

“Oh,” said the creature, and it lowered itself even further into the water. “I, um. Thank you?”

Martin leaned forward to rest his elbows on the edge of the boat, so the two of them were now face-to-face. This close, he could see intricate little patterns in the creature’s skin, dotted across its cheek and around its neck. Not quite freckles, but something like them. Then the creature shifted, and the dimming light of the sunset caught them, turning them iridescent. The light caught its huge eyes as well, revealing that they weren’t just black pupils surrounded by a thin circle of white, but that there was an iris, colored such a dark brown it was almost black. “Wow,” Martin said, unthinkingly. “You’re beautiful.”

The creature’s claws scraped the edge of the boat as it clenched its webbed hands around it. Martin saw its tail thrash just under the water. “I--um--I have to go,” it said, and launched itself off of the boat and back into the water with a splash.

Martin barely had the chance to feel disappointed before its head popped up again, bobbing just above the waves a few meters from the boat. “Um,” it said, “I wanted to ask, before I go--just in case I want to find you again to kill you later--what’s your name?”

“Martin,” said Martin, smiling.

“Martin,” the creature repeated, and coming out of that voicebox it sounded lovely. It paused a moment, just staring at him with those huge, pretty eyes, and then said, “Jon,” before slipping back underneath the waves.

Martin had heard plenty of stories about the strange, terrifying creature that lived in the bay that bordered his village, and he was fully willing to believe them, now. However there were none, in his opinion, that measured up to the real thing.

[causticsunshine]

i was tagged by both the lovely @dyingstars-x and @harrymegirlfriend to answer twenty questions about myself! this was a lot more candid than i anticipated but here we go~

💗what do you prefer to be called name-wise?

alex!

💗when is your birthday?

july 21st! cancer season baybee

💗where do you live?

in the US! i've been in the pacific northwest for about eight years but i'm definitely still a californian at heart

💗three things you’re doing right now?

1. jobhunting 2. trying to open my online shop 3. attempting™️ to finish deadline stuff and this HSLOT drawing i've been working on since saturday 🤞🤞

💗four fandoms that have piqued your interest right now?

i go through little phases where i have my one big primary interest—one dee since returning to it last summer—that sticks around for awhile and then some smaller, less involved ones that tend to come and go, so i'd say right now the only other 'fandom' i'm kinda in is for MDZ/the untamed/cql, even though i'm a very late member to the party!

💗how is the pandemic treating you?

okay i guess? i'd really like to be moved out already as being in therapy and gaining confidence since my big mental breakdown last fall—accompanied with quitting my job of nearly four years that didn't get me anywhere in life—i've realized how many unhealthy behaviors and mindsets are perpetuated in my household and how they're....really not good for me at all. but i also know i can't get to the place i'd like to be mentally and emotionally without moving out, i also can't move out until i find a 9-5 with bennies with all my health problems + me losing my insurance in the new year so it's been....a time.

buuuut besides the soul crushing terror of being an adult living at home with people who don't understand you, i'm confident now and a lot of my mindsets have changed to healthier ones and i've regained my love of art and being creative?

💗song you can’t stop listening to right now?

it's a combination of 'i wish i never met you' by loote, 'crowd' by sophie cates, and...... 'stay' by the kid laroi + justin bieber (although i think that one's just an earworm i need to work out lmao)

💗recommend a movie

i just got to rewatch 'cowboy bebop: the movie' and it's sooo fun....(spoilers) i know the ending of the anime is supposed to be purposefully open as it just covers a section of time in the characters' lives where they're all together but i kinda wish i'd watched the movie after as opposed to when it takes place because it's a little bit...of a nicer (and much clearer) wrap up!

💗how old are you?

twenty five 🧓

💗school, university, occupation, other?

currently jobhunting for a Boring grown up job just for some regularity and insurance (and $$ to get my ass OUT) but i want to take on freelance commission work again too! i dropped out of uni in like 2018 because the school i was going to kept fucking me over with credits just to get my associate's but maybe i'll go back one day.....maybe.....

💗do you prefer hot or cold?

HOT only because it's so gd cold and wet where i live now and even when the summers are warm they're super short and don't compensate for the months i spend not moving out of arthritis pain and freezing my ass off

💗name one fact others may not know about you.

i always come up with fun ones when i don't have any reason to share them lmao but i guess.....staying on-brand with 1d stuff, and i might've said this before, but louis gave me my first bout of gender envy that i recognized as actual gender envy when i was like, fifteen? and as i was coming out of my obvious emo phase into one more subdued, i totally dressed like twink louis for almost a year....haircut and everything....

if i can find the one photo i'm thinking of i'll post it but until then use your imagination sjkgdf

💗are you shy?

i can be? i think once i vibe with someone enough it becomes easy to talk to and open up to them but before that i can be pretty closed off and a bit impersonal.

💗do you have any preferred pronouns?

they/them!

💗any pet peeves?

i'm one of those 'people talking or random noise being made near me while i'm trying to concentrate on something fuels my murder response out of nowhere' people but otherwise...outside of common courtesy/manners stuff being ignore, i don't think so? although i genuinely hate when people walk right behind me or right in front of me...shit makes me anxious and ticks me off dfjkngdf i got shit to do!!

💗what’s your favourite “dere” type?

am i boring if i say tsundere just because it's relatable? although dorodere is kinda fun in the right setting....i love a good character twist!

💗rate your life 1-10. 1 being really crappy and 10 being the best you could ever be.

i'd say a 5? there's a lot more i want to do and achieve and things i know i could have right now if my ADHD and anxiety didn't still have such a death grip on me but i'm also in the best headspace i've been in in years so i'll take that as a win!

💗what’s your main blog?

this one!

💗list your side blogs and what they’re used for.

swmpwxtch is my art-only blog because i'm slow at finishing things and know there's no point trying to make this an 'art blog' when i reblog so much, and then prickelndauge is my insp blog (so if you're wondering why there's a startling lack of fashion and art on this blog, it's mostly over there!), then i have one for creepy/spooky stuff (bonepickng) because i know not a lot of people want to see that on main, aaaaand am-ref a ref blog for art tips, life things, donation pools, etc.! (and some old urls i have saved)

💗is there anything you think people need to know about you before becoming friends with you?

at the risk of sounding like a YA protagonist: my heart is full of love and i try to be as understanding and open as i can be but i also have a very short bullshit fuse, so while i'm still happily understanding of certain behaviors and mindsets, if you cross the line that i put very bluntly in the sand, you're not crossing back over.

(ie i love my friends but don't be a dick and if you are you get one warning and that's all <3)

uhhh i know a lot of people got tagged already and have done this so! i'll be tagging @grimmpitch @hershelsue @niallnailme @dragmedown @ialwaysknewyouwerepunk @justmehernthemoon @non-binharry @genius0flove @mamaharry @theymetinthetoihlet @saintqueer and uhhh anyone else that would like to!! and if you've done this already please ignore me~

[life-rewritten]

Spooky Season! A look into a Masterpiece (He’s Coming To Me Review)

I've been waiting to talk about this show and how my love for it will never end. Surprisingly the source of the show is GMMTV, whilst known for so many problematic elements in BL genre; He's coming to me manages to avoid every single issue naturally had with this genre. And because of that, this review is an ode to a masterpiece that should not be forgotten and should not be underrated. It's also Halloween, so this is another excuse to go back and look at the best things about this show. Hopefully, we get more like this GMMTV.

Ratings: Plot: 9/10 Directing: 9/10 Acting: 910 Satisfaction: 9/10 Overall: A* Rewatch factor: 8.5/10

AN IN-DEPTH REVIEW

Nothing wrong to say about this show. And that's a breath of fresh air; I remember first watching this show in 2019 very late because we had issues with the subtitles, and I went into it very sceptical and had low expectations. By the end of this show, I was so grateful and happy that this exists. 

The title of the show (He keeps coming to me) is what the heart of the show is about.  Thun, our main character who keeps going to Mes,  a ghost who he can see, his determination in keeping Mes by his side, to being his childhood acquaintance, to his best friend and finally to his lover, is felt and focused on when he has to brave the world and society norms, and some truths about himself.  Meanwhile, Mes has to discover his reason for being a ghost and unravel the mysteries tying him to his fate with Thun. So incredible to watch and see their love story unfold. 

Criticisms/ Comments

As I said, there are no negatives when it comes to this show.  All we could maybe mention is the slow pace from episode 1-3. But even at that, the relationship dynamics are shown genuinely because of the time it takes to develop the story.

This love story uses the trope friends to lovers which entails a soft cute and heartwarming bond between Mes and Thun since they first met each other. The two want to spend as much time with each other even though their worlds are different (spirit realm vs human realm). Thun is determined to have Mes keep coming to his side, learning about the lore and rules surrounding ghosts in our world; the use of incense, the way Mes starts of not being able to hold onto anything, the fact that Thun is the only person who sees Mes. He can't hide his feelings even when he's with his friends, he makes up excuses just to return home to spend time with Mes, and he makes it his mission to discover why Mes died, so Mes gets reincarnated. The slow pace might make people think the show is a bit boring, but it's just a way to introduce and show exposition to the other characters surrounding this world. If you rewatch the show, you also start to recognise foreshadowing symbolisms, devices and hints pointing to the final revelation about how Thun and Mes are tied together.

I also think some people struggled with as well the lack of 'skinship' from Thun and Mes, but this is a device used to emphasise one of the obstacles of our couple;  the lack of touch ( because Mes struggles to learn the rules of how to hold objects or touch Thun). We the audience try to uncover the reasons for why sometimes they're able to feel each other by mistake and Mes starts to work hard to hold objects and cook, and turn on the incense which keeps him tied to the environment it's in. I didn't have an issue with the skinship because the actors were phenomenal at showing little subtle hints to feelings on their faces of longing, want and love. The scenes where skinship was required wasn't stiff or awkward or weird like other shows of this genre make you feel about them. It felt natural,  a tad unrealistic (in terms of the way their heads tilted and the camera spun) but so what?  The show wasn't meant to focus on that; it focused on the bond and love between the two, they just enjoyed talking and spending quality time being domestic with each other, and that's adorable. Alright, let's look at the positives:

Character Breakdown and Plot Meaning

The characterisation of HCTM is so excellent; it still shocks me how much I didn't expect it to be this way. All our characters are critical to the plot, even when they're just side characters with no deep story arcs to themselves. Thun and Mes interact with people who are part of their path in recognising what they are to each other. Before I praise the characterisation of the two, let's focus on some other characters who were so good in this show:

Thun's best friends: Prince, Plufai and Khiem

These were a phenomenal group of friends who were so caring and patient and genuinely the heartwarming part of this series as well. I enjoyed watching how much they went out of their way to ensure that Thun was okay, even when they didn't understand why he was the way he was and also felt frightened by some of his actions (talking to himself randomly, and acting out). One of my fave story arcs during the season is when Khiem (Played amazingly by Sing) thinks Thun is taking drugs and so starts a secret series of investigations keeping an eye on his actions. It wasn't because they were judging him but because they were worried about his wellbeing.  

Also, my heart melted for Prince (Played by another excellent favourite Chimon),  who had unrequited feelings for Plufai and struggled to deal with her feelings for Thun and his own seemingly cold/nonchalant/evasive actions concerning her. It's the way he wasn't toxic or problematic and also was willing to step down if Thun did have feelings for Plufai. I also really enjoyed watching his relationship with her develop and the natural chemistry between the two.

Lastly, PluFai first starts as every female character from a GMMTV show, a competition, someone there to be a beard to the main character. Still, I enjoyed her heart. I also loved her being the mirror character to Thun's mum when it came to her relationship with Mes in the past. Both women show strength and understanding and acceptance once they discover the sexuality of the person who they had feelings for. And I thought her way of dealing with it, their friendship being robust and full of communication was really what sold it for me. There were moments when I was frightened about her connection to the mystery of Mes's death, and it broke my heart when she realised what she was to him and what it meant for her grandfather. I also enjoyed the way she takes it on her self to make it up to him and how forgiving she is to her grandfather despite the fact I didn't think he should be. She showed strength, understanding and warmth and kept being that way and also consistent.  And I love that because she wasn't problematic female stereotypes that GMMTV loves to add to women, she stayed great and true throughout the show. And I loved it.

Thun's Family: Mum and Dad

Honestly, the way the writing of these characters was what made me love this show the most. Thun's dad shows up only in episode 1 before he dies surprisingly and Mes sees his ghost disappear. I thought that's all we needed to know of him. Still, we really get to learn more about Thun's family dynamics; there are answers to why his mum didn't join them during the grave excursions, why she was absent during those years he meets Mes, his father's knowing and understanding gaze as Thun cries about not being able to see him and also how he's hidden the fact he sees ghosts. We get information as well about the relationship with him and the mum after Mes broke up with her.

Next, we have Thun's mum, her first appearance is warm and pleasant. Still, we won't be able to fathom that she's wearing the watch that Mes has been drawing all this time, she's the girl who provided Mes with the same gift he created for Thun, she's already been close with someone who came out and so she was a source of strength for Thun when he struggled with accepting his sexuality. That coming out scene is so incredible and has made this show a fantastic piece of media for representation for LGBT. I loved her relationship with Mes, despite it being an obstacle to our couple at first, she's so understanding of him, and she's so grateful he returned and is the person her son loves. But also it's the plot twist that Thun sees ghosts because she too can, and she was hiding that as a secret until she meets Mes. It made it better, a relief to know that he's not alone and there is a reason for why he's able to see them. It also made the relationship with our couple easier because she understood and saw Mes, so Thun and Mes's relationship was more readily accepted.

He's coming to me brought these characters and connected it to its world-building, rules and understanding of its supernatural themes whilst still providing consistent dynamics about friendship and family and life in general. Not only is it a BL show, but it had other focuses as well rounding it up and making it much more wholesome and needed. The characters held no toxic tropes commonly also found in BL, the relationships felt real and authentic, and each of the characters had development and growth that tied them together to the plot overall. Now onto the heart of this show: My all-time faves Thun and Mes

Thun

One of my favourite characters, honestly rewatching this show was so incredible, especially when I started to notice more about this character after all the revelations revealed throughout the show. I went into the show surprised at how open Thun was to Mes already, the way he cared and wanted what was the best for Mes who has always been alone and neglected. Even when older Thun shows up and still shows the same amount of care even though he dislikes the fact that he could see ghosts, he's so warm and protective over Mes, and it made me swoon and smile. I enjoyed watching him come to terms with who he was.

At first, we don't see any hints that this is something the story will focus on.  But as we go deeper into his university life and his reason for why he studied law etc. It becomes evident that Thun knows he's gay but is struggling with internalised homophobia, it's also pretty clear he's had feelings from the beginning for Mes. He even knew when Mes started having feelings for him too.

They just didn't want to confront what it meant. Ohm Pawat's acting is so incredible you can see the subtle changes in Thun, and meanings with his actions with Mes that they both have requited feelings for each other but they don't want to cross the line. Thun has memorable speeches during the show as well about his struggle with his sexuality and how people perceive him. It's incredible how the show mirrors his on the surface secret about seeing ghosts and being seen as abnormal to the world to his internal/ more profound secret about his sexuality and also feeling abnormal. It's so telling that once Mes enters his life, he no longer feels it a struggle to embrace who he is, he uncontrollably speaks to Mes and laughs and stares romantically whilst hanging around his friends, he can't help but run to him when he needs him. Especially during the rooftop scene, the fear of losing Mes causes him not to care what others think, and he proceeds to call for him and confess his feelings and stay out in the rain waiting for him. He also proceeds to accept his sexuality even more, once Mes enters his life, he kisses Plufai to determine what he truly feels and once that occurs he decides to head straight and try to talk to Mes about it, thereby afterwards always making Mes know what he is to him is more than friends. I can talk a lot about his character and how much I enjoyed his development and how he chose to finally trust the people around him and also his determination to keep Mes by his side.  Which we, later on, find out is also the reason for why they could touch and feel each other. The show emphasises that it's about his determination, his perseverance and love for Mes that keeps the latter coming to him. And towards the end, his wish comes true, and Mes returns to his side because of that. Awesome and beautifully written.  

Mes

Singto has been an unstoppable force in GMMTV as an actor, and Mes is another character that is just as memorable and great as the others. While Thun's characterisation surrounds his will and determination to keep Mes by his side, Mes's surrounds his warmth and caring aura. I love. love realising that both Mes and Thun mirrored each other when struggling with their sexuality, both had girls who were loyal and great to them, but they couldn't hide who they were anymore.

The show emphasises the importance of this,  telling the audience that yes they're gay, this is a show about two gay boys falling in love, and this is also about how they accept who they are whilst dealing with the obstacles that are supposed to separate them.

Mes is so soft, he's this adorable, mischievous (with personality), ball of fluff and I enjoyed his character. He wasn't written as a stagnant and a boring character; he had his own goals, his own self-exploration, his own storyline and mystery to be solved. And the way the show told his story, was fantastic, the way they mixed the supernatural elements of Mes and the mystery of his death back to Thun was so great. Mes and Thun were always destined to find each other; they were on the path to each other though one of it included him being murdered by his relative, every character is connected together to help get these two together at the end. I love how the show makes us feel like Mes has an unrequited love for Thun at first.

We see Singto's acting to the finest, the longing, the jealousy and the worry about their new blooming relationship. He also shows guilt and character depth when he realises that Kwan is Thun's mother. The pacing and directing keep us in the dark for why he's gone for so long and ran away after their first kiss. We later get the truth revealed as Thun comes out to his mum, and it's such a brilliant way to get the audience even more heartbroken about the reveal. Due to dramatic irony. The mum is the reason for why Thun can happily accept Mes as his lover in his life yet is also an obstacle because Mes can't get over what he did to her in the past. It's brilliant, and such a great way to write the story.

I am so happy as well that Mes returns to Thun's side. I cried like a baby watching their week together, knowing that the time to say goodbye was coming closer. Their conversation about everything and their uncontrollable feelings was so meaningful and heartbreaking; their confession about how they've loved each other from the start; how they've known how the latter felt but refused to accept it because of all the obstacles in their way. Mes still unsure but deciding to spend the last moments together as much as possible. And their relief in discovering that they can touch each other, and the reason for why. These two's love was so beautiful to see.

Lastly, I enjoyed the fact that this is a happy ending. With this genre when surrounding these topics death, separation etc. You expect sad endings mostly because that's the way directors like to end LGBT shows for a long time (something I absolutely detest), from episode 1, the show actually foreshadowed the ending, and comes through with it, I cried so much when I realised that it was not yet Mes's time to go all because of the reasons stated in episode 1. I also cried because GMMTV directors let a great representation show have a hopeful, romantic ending, and a show for many people to relate to, but also to run to and forget about reality.

 That's why this show is a masterpiece. I didn't even go into the devices and symbols used in this show, but there was a lot of meta, foreshadowing, dramatic irony etc. That also made this show brilliant. The directing and production quality is also fantastic and deserves praise. The actors; all of them were incredible. I just want another show like this please GMMTV?

[asingleheart-shapedbraincell]

Parasite (Prologue)

I watched Venom last night, and now this exists. I have co-opted the plot for fanfiction with some added occultism and Halloween flavour for Spice™ .This is part one, basically works as a prologue, and then it’ll split into a chapter for each brother.

tw: implied drinking, occultism and demonic possession

GN!MC

Prologue

‘Twas Spooky Season and you were dressed as a shitty zombie because Halloween parties have the best snacks. A girl with long acrylic nails painted to look like candy-corn passed you a bright green jello shot. It tasted like limeade and cough syrup, yet somehow worse than both of those. She laughed at the face you pulled and passed you a can of lemonade to chase the taste away. When you cracked it open, it fizzed over slightly - not enough for you to suspect foul play, but enough that you were going to have a sticky hand. Still better than another jello shot though. It was quite crowded inside the house and the loud music was starting to get on your nerves a little bit, so you pointed out the door and mouthed ‘I’m gonna go outside!’ The girl gave you a smile and a thumbs up before turning back round to the shots table.

Outside the air was crisp and cold and full of the smell of woodsmoke and apple cider. A small gathering of people were sat around the bonfire nursing steaming mugs and chatting by the firelight. You wandered over to the punchbowl and scooped yourself a mug of cider, pulling the sleeves of your ratty, zombie-fied jumper over your hands to hold the hot mug before heading over to the group and settling yourself down next to them. 

‘- but when she left the tent, she realised that it hadn’t been rain dripping on the tent, it had been blood,’ one of them was finishing a scary story and you settled in to hear the end of it, ‘and above her tent was her husband’s dead body.’

‘What killed the husband?’ You quietly asked the person next to you.

‘Demon,’ he replied.

You nodded and took a sip of the apple cider. It was delicious - not too sweet, well spiced, and the perfect hot drink for an autumn night (though you did have to strain small pieces of cinnamon bark through your teeth).

You leant over again to whisper: ‘Who summoned it?’ 

‘The wife.’

‘That’s one way to collect the life insurance,’ you mumbled back, causing him to laugh into his drink.

Someone flopped down next to you, ‘he’s not telling that stupid demon story again, is he?’ You looked over to see candy-corn nails roll her eyes at the storyteller before giving you a smile - ‘he’s a one track record.’

‘Any good story is just as good during a retelling as it is during the first,’ he huffed.

‘That’d be a fair point if you’d been telling a good story,’ she replied.

The group ooo-ed at that.

‘Well, you tell one then, if you’re such an expert.’

She ignored him, ‘Demons are just such a cop-out! The story’s always the same - you summon them, they go on a rampage, then someone sends them back to Hell. It’s too predictable!’

‘What are you talking about?! That’s still a great story!’

‘I refuse to be scared of a monster that can be beaten by a nun.’

‘Oh please - you’d be terrified if you ever met a demon.’

‘No I wouldn’t!’

‘Yes you would!’

Their argument rather revolved from there into bickering, which no-one bothered to interrupt because it was as entertaining as a scary story. You leant over to your neighbour again - ‘my money’s on her to win.’

‘You’re on,’ he said with a grin.

‘Then prove it,’ the challenge grabbed both of your attentions, ‘go get that ouija board from inside,’ the guy said.

‘Ouija boards are for ghosts you idiot,’ she replied.

‘We need to draw a pentagram,’ your neighbour said.

‘Oh, don’t get involved, Solomon!’ Someone sitting across you said, but he just smiled in reply. Well... this was going to be an interesting evening.

~~~

‘I got candles from the kitchen!’

‘Excellent!’ Solomon replied, ‘we need them at all five corners of the pentagram.’

You watched on as Solomon instructed people on what to do for the summoning spell and he seemed pretty confident for someone attempting to summon a demon on Halloween. So someone could win an argument. Some of the more superstitious people had left to go back to the party, but it’s not like you believed in demons and anyway - this was more interesting than jello shots and loud music.

Candles were being shoved at the points Solomon had drawn with a stick from the bonfire - five points, with the bonfire in the centre. It was certainly very theatrical, you had to hand it him.

‘Okay, now you stand here,’ Solomon said, positioning someone behind a candle, ‘and you stand here.’

He turned to look at the other points of the pentagram. There were two left. his eyes fell on you - ‘What was your name again?’

‘MC.’

‘MC, you stand behind that candle for me?’

You obliged, making sure not to kick it over, and Solomon walked over to the final candle next to you.

‘Do we hold hands or something?’ You asked.

‘Why?’ Solomon asked, smirking, ‘Are you scared?’

You rolled your eyes, and Solomon started murmuring in what sounded like Latin, but is was very faint and it wasn’t like you were fluent enough to know if he was faking of not. You turned to look at the bonfire at the centre. Just beyond it you could see candy-corn nails flipping off her storytelling friend, but then something in the bonfire caught your eye. Or maybe it didn’t? The bonfire didn’t look any different, but it had captured your attention fully. Probably Solomon’s showmanship. Was it bigger? A log collapsed inside and a shower of sparks and woodsmoke plumed out to stain the night sky - the wood inside popping and snapping like breaking bones and for a moment you thought you could hear strange music...

Your vision felt hazy and you tried to clear the smoke from your throat - your overactive imagination and those gross jello shots were mixing together poorly. And the heavy smoke wasn’t helping. You felt queasy and dizzy and no longer in the mood to play pretend for the sake of someone else’s argument. You scrubbed your sleeve over your eyes - not caring about the Halloween makeup - you just wanted the smoke out of them long enough to feel steadier. But it didn’t work. In fact, you felt decidedly unsteady.

‘I think I’ve had too much,’ you manage to mumble out, before everything went black.

~~~

When you woke up, you were in an unfamiliar bedroom, the sound of the party still going slightly muffled. The girl with the candy-corn nails was sat at the foot of the bed, she had put a pair of small costume horns onto a teddy bear and was half-heartedly playing with its little paws. You shifted and she jumped slightly, looking at you and breaking into a grin -

‘You’re awake!’ She said, sighing in relief, ‘How’re you feeling?’

‘Still a bit dizzy, but a lot better.’

‘The wind was blowing the smoke right into your face - I probably would have passed out too. I got you a glass of water, by the way,’ she said, pointing to the bedside table.

‘Thanks,’ you said, talking a long drink - your throat still felt itchy from all the smoke.

‘I’m sorry, by the way - it was all because of me and Jessie, I shouldn’t have let Solomon drag us into that whole ritual, not without making sure everyone was safe.’

‘You scared of demons all of a sudden?’ You asked with a half-hearted grin.

She snorted, ‘No. Demons aren’t real. But people getting hurt - that’s real.’

‘Apology accepted.’

‘Can I call you cab? I’m guessing you want to head home. I’ll pay for it - it’s the least I can do.’

‘Yeah, okay,’ you said, finishing that water - you still felt kinda dizzy, ‘thanks.’ 

~~~

Who’d you get possessed by?

Lucifer

Mammon

Leviathan

Satan

Asmodeus

Beelzebub

Belphagor

(Links will be added as the chapters are written - be patient, I have no concept of time, and also university work to be getting on with, but feel free to send me a reminder if you feel like it. I shamelessly thrive off of audience engagement)

[keyofjetwolf]

Bonus Question Answers! (anime heat 2)

I asked a silly question! You gave me incredible answers. SO VERY MANY INCREDIBLE ANSWERS. Now, I present my favourites! And really, they were ALL favourites. Mmm, headcanony goodness.

Oh, special shoutout to this unattributed one, which I suspect fell prey to someone submitting early, but as phrased, made me snort laugh: “one of my longest held headcanons is that ami“

SAME, FRIEND

Anyway, If your answer is listed below, you’ve earned an entry in a random draw to win a GIFTENING liveblog OF YOUR CHOICE

—

Q: Senshi headcanon time! Intrigue me, humour me, crush me, FEED ME.

* Michiru actually did have a guardian cat, once. It was silvery grey with dark blue eyes. It did not speak, but it was always there to provide support and comfort in a life which had little of either. The first time Michiru had a strong vision, which left her cold and senseless on the floor of her room, it was the small warmth from her cat that brought her back to the world of color and light and solidity. The cat was a friend and confidante in those early days, when Michiru was unsure if this experience was real or the beginnings of schizophrenia. The fact that her mother could see the cat, and regularly make comments about the uncleanliness of such creatures, was proof of Michiru's new reality. So when the cat entered the fray to distract a youma, saving Michiru, but being killed in the process, it became one more thing that the Moon had given her, only to steal away. Michiru promised herself to never rely on another again, or to allow the Moon to have her heart again. And she had done fairly well at this. Haruka, for all her charms, was a plaything, and not something to sacrifice herself for. But pausing outside the Marine Cathedral, Michiru found herself looking into dark blue eyes, so different, but so similar, and knew that she would do anything and everything in her power to keep from having to watch them close, again. -- @incorrecttact  [YOU ARE ALSO KILLING THESE QUESTIONS. This hit me right in the kokoro, and I welcomed its sweet sweet pain.]

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*  Mako teaches Hotaru, Chibiusa, and the Amazon Quartet to cook and bake as a bonding activity. Hotaru LOVES making cakes and decorating them. Chibiusa likes cooking with noodles and even making her own; it doesn’t sound special, but the food she makes is DELICIOUS. Ves, the red one, finds cooking easy, but doesn’t like it and so never does outside of being coaxed into it. Jun, the green one, finds baking easy, but also doesn’t like sweet things, which limits her repertoire. Cere, the pink one, has no natural talent, but she very much WANTS to be good at it, so she turns out to be the best cook of her Senshi group. Palla takes to neither, but she is very enthusiastic about eating their experiments.  --  Jules  [I am an absolute slut for Mako and moments with the kids, and including the Quartet was a brilliant stroke.]

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*  A Serenity is not supposed to be reborn. They are born, they live, they die, and they are done. They are not like the Senshi, whose souls reincarnate, carefully bound to Serenity blood. They are not supposed to be reborn, so when Queen Serenity sees everything fail and decides to send their souls to the future, the Senshi are easy. Serenity is not. In desperation, Serenity does something she would have never considered in any other circumstance: she ties Serenity's soul to the Senshi. What was once a one way tie, has now become an equal bond, and so everything changes.  -- @madegeeky  [Ooo, this is some lovely twists on my own reincarnation headcanons, while still keeping the “this is a mistake” flavour. IT TASTES GOOD.]

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*  How about more Rei whistle antics? You headcanon Usagi would use the whistle for every mundane thing and Rei would come. Usagi would do this at 2 AM in the morning too and Rei would still be woken up and still come even in pajamas if she need be because Usagi had a spooky nightmare or "Rei-chan I fell off my bed and now my face hurts". Knowing Rei whistle antics can be funny for us and maybe aggravating for Rei at times because "Usagi you blew the whistle because you fell off the bed?" what if we can make it a pinch sad? Like what if Rei can tell what sort of peril Usagi is in by the way she blows the whistle in tone? Like when it's a sad somewhat weaker whistle, even if it's just a tiny subtle tone, Rei can IMMEDIATELLY tell "USAGI IS SAD AND NEEDS ME" and she will RUSH over in 5 seconds like in her Rei way, she might even have the mind to bring snacks, cocoa and plush to hug for the comfort.  --  Mrs. Duckling  [HOW ABOUT INDEED. I hadn’t thought about the different ways the whistle can be blown and what it might say, what a wonderful addition. THANK YOU FOR CATERING DIRECTLY TO ME AND MY NEEDS]

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*  PGSM!Sailor Mars - [REDACTED] Oh. Right. You're not there yet. Awkward... Anime!Minako is a huge fan of romance manga, but for all the wrong reasons. She tried drawing doujinshi of crack ships before realizing that A) she's not really a writer and B) she's REALLY not an artist. She plans on using some of her rich idol singer money to commission really bizarre romance stories. The sort that make you go WTF?! Of course, step one is "become a rich and famous idol"... Meanwhile, Rei also buys the romance manga that Minako gets into, (partially so she'll shut up about it) but mainly just analyzes them for mood and the characters, and gets frustrated when they inevitably devolve into nothing but sappy kissing and mooning over each other. She's trying to see why Minako gets so obsessed, but doesn't want to flat out admit that she doesn't get it and have to ask. -- Peter "Pigeons!" Svensson  [I had nothing but fun with this, fantastic. ps: THANK YOU FOR THE PIGEONS NOMINATION]

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* If these four* Senshi were to meet you, I think they'd each also be meeting some of their best qualities: Usagi is love, and that love is infectious as HELL. Much like a certain blogger who has amassed an international following on the strength of her love for her favourite media, wouldn't you say? Ami is very impressed by your office set-up! But when she sees you re-enter the room with a sprightly little black cat riding on your shoulder, she knows she has discovered a kindred spirit. Where can Rei-chan possibly begin? From your passionately informed and encyclopedic knowledge of their interactions ("She has RECEIPTS, Usagi!"), to your, let's call it tenacity ("She stirred that sugar for TWO HOURS, Usagi!!"), Rei finds so much to admire. And while no one could ever possibly love Rei as much as she loves herself, she magnanimously allows that you are a close second. As for Haruka, well! World Shaking? More like Toilet Breaking! You wrecked that shit and unleashed the sea. She can certainly relate *eyebrows, eyebrows* *would that i had time to write out blurbs for the others! but we're heading back into lockdown today, and i need to get to the post office to mail you a package. PRIORITIES! xo  -- @rasiqra-revulva​  [Okay look when I said “crush me” I didn’t mean WITH NICENESS. Also thank you for the huge laughs. *eyebrows, eyebrows*]

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*  Minako manages to write a tell-all book (anonymously, of course, and with names changed to protect the relevant,) about their first few years as Senshi in the lull between Stars and Shit Escalating Again. Even more astoundingly, she manages to get it optioned as a film and play Sailor Mars without blowing her cover! Rei seethes. Minako’s annoyed because she tried out for Usagi. Usagi’s just happy Minako’s successful. The film manages to pick up nominations come award season, and Michiru even arranges for the rest of the Senshi to attend. Minako loses to some film from a really overrated director that manages to out-award bait her reenactment of D-Point. She’s silently fuming through his acceptance speech when he’s Burning Mandala’d mid-sentence. And that’s how the Senshi discovered that Jadeite survived getting run over with planes, joined the entertainment industry after Beryl’s defeat, and had been using it to drain energy ever since! Sailor Mars’s speech about how he disgraces the passion of filmmakers everywhere and her comrade’s hard work goes viral. -- Regalli  [LOVED THE TWIST ENDING, also Rei basically stealing the awards show stage, as we all know she would]

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*  Not Senshi, but cats! One day, when Usagi is queen, she's going to decide to knight the cats. Luna thinks it's silly and figures Usagi is just acting on a whim, but Artemis has his chest puffed out and is glowing with pride. They're given tiny medals made by Endymion. -- RibbonFinale  [Oh I DID want this. I wanted this very much, THANK YOU.]

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*  Makoto can't culture bonsai trees. It's not a matter of ability, or scale — she can work with tiny tools with equal facility as large ones — but she can't bring herself to push the things down, to cut and twist and bind them to grow the way _she_ wants, not the way it wants to grow.   The tiny pine she bought to try it out, years ago, is in a pot in the corner of her apartment; it's just now grown taller than she is. -- Taperwolf  [I didn’t expect this one to hit me as hard as it did when I started reading. Love it, love it, love it.]

~~

*  You know those 'meetings Usagi doesn't know about'? the ones where the girls dive into the nitty gritty about being senshi, the ones where they decide who will take up being the Disguise Pen Decoy if Minako is killed? Usagi knows about them. it was one of those 'character A eavesdrops and hears character B talking about them' setups, but instead of hearing Ami call Usagi a ditz, she hears Ami saying 'I'm the weakest fighter, if Minako is assassinated and we need someone to be decoy it'd be easier to explain away my absence than Rei's or Mako's' In these meetings they speak very coldly about themselves, Ami is always first to call herself the weak one, Minako calls into attention her showboating, Mako will openly remind people she doesn't think things through on the battlefield, and Rei derides herself on her inability to keep her cool (heh) and they all come up with contingencies to cover for eachother to the minutest detail. Usagi only ever evesdrops on one of these meetings, but now she knows they happen. and she can't un-know.  -- Vega  [OOOOOOOOOOOOOO.]

~~

Manga Sailor Pluto has picked her nose 2,013,417 times. -- too ashamed to say  [WHY THE SHAME THIS IS CORRECT  AND NOW RIGHTFULLY CANON]

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I’ll be drawing for the bonus liveblog around the start of THE GIFTENING 2020 (currently looking to be Monday, 11 January 2021). Each bonus question is another chance to earn an entry! I CAN ABSOLUTELY AND SHAMELESSLY BE BOUGHT.

[feverinfeveroutfic]

chapter thirty two: last christmas in new york

Sam never had her meeting with Bill at any given time during that following week. The whole entire time she had expected him to linger there over her shoulder as she drew up with pencils, colored and pure graphite otherwise, while in class. While she was relieved that he never did once show up, she still wondered what he had in mind for that summer and the months following.

There came a point in which she hoped that it would only be for that single summer and not the rest of the year. She knew that it was ridiculous to assume such a thing, and yet she still managed to think ahead. She had hope in Anthrax's new album for that coming year and that she and Joey could in fact take things to the next level. So much more that she needed to figure out with him in particular.

Even with the arrival of late October and the first freezing rains of the season, Sam couldn't help but feel that it would be her last autumn in New York, and ultimately her last Halloween there: all the spooky decorations and the fleeting scent of cinnamon in the air made her wish for those first days in the city again, even when she still lived in the Bronx. The smell of cinnamon made her think of Cliff as well. The smell of Christmas and home.

If it really was that significant of a task for her to carry out, then she knew that she would have to spend a great deal of time out there. And yet, the more thought she put into it, the more it felt so ludicrous to her. But then again, home called her with each passing day. Even with the midst of October, the days of the term seemed to drag by, not just for her but for Marla as well, who had come home every day from school looking as though she had run a mile at some point during the day.

Hardly enough time to relish in the rest of her time with one of her best friends, or in New York City. All both young women could do following their work was have dinner and then curl up under the covers with a book to read or with Genie curled up next to them. The very thing they had worked for and the very thing that made both of them head out to school had found its way into the realm of tedium. Sam lay in bed with her eye on her art journals and she wondered where it was all going wrong. A time away from the journals and the art desk, and she could return with a fresh approach.

Of course!

That was also the day she finally found that little bit of curiosity for some insight into it all, given Bill never showed up one time during her classes. Add to this, she thought of something else she had to figure out with Marla in particular. It was right after school and Marla herself had come home early in order to work on her own senior project. Sam knocked on her door and she peered over her shoulder at her. She nudged the door open and stepped inside.

“Hey,” Marla called to her; she swiveled around on her stool and in turn showed Sam the trio of drawings on her desk as well as the look of exhaustion on her face.

“Hey,” Sam replied back to her.

“What's happening?”

“I'm just curious about your own senior project—I also have to confess something. And I don't know who else to say this to—I mean, I haven't spoken to Aurora since Alex's birthday party last month, and we barely spoke to.”

“Yeah, and she made it about herself, too.”

“Right! Add to this, Bel's still at school and the boys are over in Europe right now. So you are literally the only person I can talk to about any this at the moment.”

“Go ahead,” said Marla with a shake of her head.

“Well,” Sam began, and she cleared her throat as well, “I'm not a liar, I'm not gonna lie to you, Marla, but... I'm kind of tired of this whole thing.”

Marla sighed through her nose and she tapped the eraser of her pencil on the inclined desk surface for a bit, and then she nodded her head. She let her eyes wander over to the desk next to her. Those drawings, those bare drawings that seemed to taunt both of them. Those drawings without any sort of feeling to them: they looked as though they hadn't been crafted by a human woman but by a machine.

“You wanna know something—I am, too,” she said in a low voice. She then turned her head back to Sam. “Hey, at least you get a trip out to California and you get to go see your parents again. I don't have a clue what I'm gonna do next year. At least Bel has an idea what she'll be doing: she's gonna be working in a glass shop up in Albany, but I have no idea about myself, though.”

“You and Genie, too,” Sam added.

“Right!”

Sam folded her arms across her chest. “Bel's going up to Albany, really?”

“Oh, yeah. She told me this—today actually—once school is out for the both of us, she's packing it up and bouncing up there. My best friend is actually going to move away from me.”

“Well, at least she's just going up the road, though,” Sam pointed out. “You know, she's not going—clear across the country.”

Marla sighed through her nose. One of their own was about to leave sooner than Sam, and then she would have to leave; Marla's eyes swept back over the pages on the desk next to her. If art brought her hands to that of a machine, then therein lay a dead end for her, and Sam had the impulse to call up Bill and tell him about it. But then again, they were a year apart. Whatever Marla had to do for herself was far different from that which awaited her the next summer.

“Can I at least see what it's supposed to encapsulate?” she asked her at one point. Marla then gave her cherry red hair a light toss back with a flick of her head.

“Yeah—Mrs. Robinson gave me what to do like the first day of school—which really makes me wonder what Bill has in store for you if he's telling you about it now. I have to fill out this journal—” She set her hand on a brown hard cover journal to the left of her. “—plus make a whole series of drawings, three of them erotic and three of them far more chaste. She told me she wants it to be in the realm of 'yin' and 'yang', like opposites of each other. The meeting of sexuality without it. She described it as like the human experience. Neither side understands the point of the other, although I'm not sure as to how to bring the chaste side to life, you know without being too on the nose with it.”

“Right, right.” Sam paused for a second as she thought about her encounters with Joey; even though Marla couldn't hardly relate to the chaste side of life, she definitely could. “So—is that it?”

“Oh, wait, hang on—she gave me this note before I came home earlier.” She picked up a little sheet of paper stuck onto the corner of the desk. “It says 'Miss Taylor, be sure to tell Miss Grimes to write up letters of recommendation for the pending masters and doctorates.'” She waved the paper about as if it meant nothing. “Yeah, another part of the whole thing is Bel and I have to write up letters of recommendation for a few of our classmates who are going onto to get their master's or doctorate degrees.”

Marla then turned to Sam with her eyebrows raised. “Hey, there's an idea for you. Get your master's. He'll have to take you back home at some point because of that. The only drawback I see with that is everything I've heard about both levels of degree are a lot of work. And I mean, a lot of work. You think we're burnt out right now? That's a whole other can of beans—at least from what I'm told about it.”

“Well, if that's just what a senior project is supposed to be, then it kind of makes me wonder exactly awaits me out in California.”

“I have no clue what he's supposed to give you,” Marla confessed to her with a shake of her head. The cherry red roots of her hair began to fade away in their boldness and into her original plain brown color.

“Hey, look at that—it's time to dye your hair again,” Sam pointed out with a nod of her head.

“Yeah, I know.” Marla patted the crown of her head. “I just haven't decided on what color I want next.”

“I'm telling ya: different colors, like a bunch of stripes.”

Marla chuckled at that. “Stripes, like one is black and the next is a muted tone and then a glossy neon one?”

“Yeah!”

“I dunno, Sam,” she confessed with a shake of her head, “—that's a lot of work. Like, that is a lot of work. Remember that metallic sheen I had that one time, you know the one where it looked as though my hair was changing colors? That took like a whole afternoon to do because it was hard on my neck and there was a lot of layering involved, too. I mean, just one color takes a whole couple of hours to do. I'm still surprised Charlie was able to keep it neat—like he didn't make this huge mess in the bathroom.”

“Well, there's always doing a single stripe,” Sam pointed out. “Like you can dye your hair solid black and then add a tiny sliver near the crown of your head.”

“Kind of like Alex's hair?”

“Yeah! Except you should make your stripe like bright pink or blue instead of gray.”

“Like neon colored?” Marla smiled.

“Yeah! I can help you with that, too.”

“It's not hard. Yeah, it's one of those things where it's not hard but it's just—time consuming. You don't just dye your hair willy nilly: you have to set time aside to do it. And it also takes work to pull off right because it can just make a mess or not show up at all. One of the things I learned about dyeing dark hair a weird color like blue or pink or even blonde is you have to bleach it before hand and I remember the first time that happened, too. The first time I bleached my hair and I thought 'I'm never doing that again.' Like right after that, I dyed my hair that bright tangerine orange and with those streaks on the side of my head. Remember that?”

“The first time we met each other!” Sam exclaimed. “I liked you with orange hair.”

“I liked it, too. And I liked those little streaks I had, too, because they were odd. And everyone knew me not as 'Charlie's girl' but as 'the girl with the bitchin' hair.'”

“I liked you with purple hair, too.”

“Bel really liked the purple, and so did Danny Lilker. During the Stormtroopers of Death tour, the first time he saw the purple hair on me, it was like one of those cartoon wolves when they see a foxy girl.”

“Did he howl?” Sam laughed.

“He may as well have!”

“But ever since then, you just layered the colors on top of each other.”

“Yeah. This cherry tomato color was done right on top of that metallic hairdo I had, so because of that, it's due for a redo anyways. Which means if I'm going to a weird color again like blue or pink, even if it's just a little Alex Skolnick or Dale Bozzio type streak at the front of my head, I have to bleach it no matter. And you gotta help me with it, too. The first time I did it Charlie helped me and I'm glad he did, too.”

“Well—where are you right now with your senior project?” Sam asked her.

“I've been wanting a break,” she confessed. “And it's still early, too.” She then nibbled on her bottom lip. “I'm gonna have to go out and get hair dye, though.”

“You can go blonde for a little bit, though,” Sam pointed out.

“I don't look right with blonde hair,” Marla told her. “It's too sharp of a contrast with my eyes. I'll show you what I mean once we get it. And the first time around it itched like crazy, even when I had washed it all out and tried to make it all nice. I can see people confusing me for Bel, too.” She paused for a minute and then she snapped her fingers. “Tell you what. We can bleach my hair and then I can wash it out real good, and while I'm in the shower, you can run on down the block here and get some black and bright blue hair dye for me.”

“You want blue?”

“Yeah. I think that's a good color to work with now. Either that or green, like bright green. I know I've changed hair colors before school terms ended, but I'm feeling it right now. I'm due for dyeing. I'm ready to dye.”

Without another word, Sam and Marla headed into the bathroom with a bottle of powder bleach, some toner, and a shower cap: there was a pair of rubber gloves in the drawer. Marla held still as Sam mixed the powder and toner in the container right next to her. She would pour the bleach over her head while she lay her neck across in the edge of the bathtub: it was either that or lay down in the sink.

“Charlie suggested that, too,” Marla recalled before she lay down, “and I was like, 'I think that's going to make a huge mess, though, Char.' So kudos to you for helping me lay down in the tub.”

“So once it's mixed together, I just work it into your hair?”

“Yeah, you start from the tips and then work your way up to the top of my head—”

Sam leaned forward for the first piece of hair down in the tub and scrubbed the bleach mixture in. It took some time, but she eventually reached Marla's scalp. She had closed her eyes once Sam reached the crown of her head: the entirety of her hair had been laced with something that made Sam think of bubble bath. Meanwhile, pieces of cherry red hair dye bled off of her hair, such that it resembled to blood.

“How're you feeling?” she asked her.

“Okay. Kinda itchy, though.”

“Ooh—damn.”

“It's okay. It's part of the process, getting rid of the color in the keratin. So now—where are you?”

“I'm at the top of your head.”

Marla then opened her eyes.

“You got the shower cap on hand?”

“Right here.” Sam gestured to the shower cap on the edge of the tub next to her. She hesitated to pick it up for her given the bleach concoction on the gloves; thus Marla slipped it under her hair.

“Help me out here—”

Sam stuck stray strands of hair into the cap so they all would stay in place on Marla's head. Within a matter of seconds, Marla herself had the cap upon her head.

“So I just let it sit for a bit and then I wash it out under the shower. And then we can color it in with the black and blue hair dye.”

Sam then took off the gloves and washed her hands, and headed out for two bottles of hair dye, one black and one neon blue. All the while, she pictured Alex with that same hair color scheme, that beautiful bright neon blue in lieu of the gray over his brow. She thought about the way he would dye his hair, with that rich jet black hair dye as it blanketed over that little cluster of gray hairs. The more she thought about it, the more hilarious it seemed to her, in how he could cover up a small piece of his hair with black dye. It was an odd little part of him, something that aged him even as he still stayed young, and thus he seemed so timeless to her.

His trademark.

And Joey had those deep black curls piled atop his head and the dark venom that made up his brown eyes.

Within time, she returned to the apartment right as Marla stuck her head under the shower head and washed out the bleach powder from her hair. Sam took her seat on the arm of the couch right next to Genie, who had curled up in her usual spot at the top. She could hear the water dripping from the shower down the hall, but soon enough, the pipes fell quiet and Marla rung out her hair. More silence, and then she surfaced from the bathroom with a towel on her head.

“Here, let me show you what I meant by that,” she told her, and she unfurled the towel from her wet hair. Bleached and pale yellow, such that it made her eyes appear deeper and more voluminous than before, and it washed out her already milky complexion to an even more pale color.

“Wow—you look—possessed,” Sam sputtered out. “Like you're about to take me down to the depths of hell.

“Charlie told me I looked like Johnny Winter when we first did it, but 'possessed' is more like it, though. Anyways, you got the dye?”

“Yup! Right here.”

Sam handed Marla the bottles of black and neon blue hair dye, and she joined her once again for a bit of help. Once again, Marla let the dye sit in her hair for a bit before she washed it out under the shower's head. Come dinner time, she had a head of jet black hair accompanied with an electric blue streak at the top of her head.

“Stylin',” Sam remarked as she disposed of the shower cap; she thought of the mysterious man in her dreams and the ever changing streak in his hair. It was right then that Lars burst into her mind: maybe it was the sight of Marla's eyes having been far more prominent than before she colored her hair blonde for a bit, or maybe it was her helping out Marla with the hair dye, but she thought about how he encouraged her to be more assertive, especially with the boys not around. A break away from the tedium and she was able to find something within herself that could prove to be helpful; or maybe it came from living on her own for a few years that helped her be more of that nature.

Indeed, the next day at school, everyone in the hallways flashed Marla a thumbs up or an eager nod at her new black hair. Before they headed into their drawing class for the morning, Sam heard someone calling her name right behind her. She turned her head and there was Bill running towards her.

“Miss Shelley? A word?”

She returned to Marla.

“I'll meet up with you in a second,” she told her.

A part of her wanted to ask him, “what took you so long?” but alas, she stopped herself in her tracks and they hung off to the side next to the classroom door.

“What's going on?” she asked him.

“I should tell you that it has been confirmed now. You are coming with me out to California for your senior project.”

“I have a couple of questions about that,” she started as Lars returned to her mind once again.

“Go ahead.”

“First off, what am I going to do out there? Second, what if I wanted to get my master's degree?”

“Well, what I am going to give you for it won't be available until we get out there. And next, our master's program here works by way of signing up for it and beginning on your dissertation over the summer.”

“Oh, I see.” Her heart sank at that. “So—when do we go?”

“We head on out to the Golden State on the thirty first of July, and you begin your project on the fourth of August. I'm going to need you to sign some paperwork at some point so it's confirmed that you are in fact with me there.”

He stuck out his hand for her to shake, and even though she took it, an uneasy feeling emerged in the pit of her stomach and inside of her chest. Her fate was sealed right then. In two months' time, she had to relish every second she had with Joey over Christmas break. Their last one together.

She had to give him what she couldn't give to Cliff in their final Christmas together in the two years before. Two years ago she and Cliff spent Christmas at her parents' house! Two Christmases without him. After class, she told Marla about it, who almost fainted when she learned of the exact date of it all. She then told Belinda, who cupped her hands to her mouth to keep herself from doing anything drastic, and then she threw her arms around Sam.

“It's okay, Bel,” she sputtered from her tight grip, “—it's not like I'm leaving right now or even next week. It's the middle of next summer. It's still a ways off.”

“But you're still leaving us, though!” Belinda exclaimed with a break in her voice.

“She's leaving me, especially,” Marla joined in as she brushed away some tears.

“I just wonder how Aurora's gonna react to this,” Sam confessed. “I haven't spoken to her since Alex's birthday.”

“I saw her just yesterday, actually,” Belinda told her. “She and Emile were shopping for baby clothes. She's not showing, though, so part of me feels like she's faking it.”

“Understand, she's barely two months along, Bel,” Marla pointed out. “She will be eventually, though.”

Sam kept her eye on the look of disappointment on Marla's face as she said that, and she was disappointed, too. Aurora had gotten married and let it all go straight to her head: she could shake her head at Joey's antics to Alex all she wanted, but it was Aurora who hadn't thanked Alex for being in her wedding, and she made his special day all about herself. At the same time, she had no other means of coming in touch with Aurora, either. She had moved clear over to Long Island with Emile and with her packed schedule in school, there simply was no way for Sam to clear the air with her, her initial best friend.

As the days grew darker, and the rain froze over into ice followed by sleet and snow, so too did her wish to leave start a fresh new chapter in life. Granted, her move to New York proved to be a new chapter in and of itself, but the more she thought about it, the more she felt her travels out to California could serve as the next one. She was about to leave home for home again, but she had to finish the first arc before she moved onto the next one, and that was spending one good Christmas with Joey.

Winter came with a firm, vengeful grip on the Northeast come finals week and the middle of December, such that the snows blanketed everything to where it felt like they could bury everyone there alive. By the last day of school, Sam had signed the paperwork that Bill had left for her and thus, her fate had been sealed for the next summer. So caught up between both sides but the whole thing was inevitable.

She sat down on the edge of her bed, right next to Genie, with a cup of Mexican hot chocolate in hand, complete with the little marshmallows. Perhaps, even though it would be the summer time, she could teach her mother how to make Mexican hot chocolate, just like the kind she made for Cliff that morning.

She glanced down at Genie and that soft black fur. Careful not to wake her, she petted her head and her back. Genie never moved; instead, she gave her a soft purr. She hoped that she could take another photograph, that one of Genie for her parents to see for themselves when she got to see them again.

She sipped on her hot chocolate when there was a knock on the door.

“I'll get it,” Marla called out.

Another sip and then—

“Hey, Joey!”

“Mm, Joey's here?”

“Yeah! Frankie is, too!”

Her two best friends, back to her for one more Christmas in New York. Sam set down the cup on her desk and then she headed back into the front room.

Joey's eyes never looked so brighter than they had before then, even with the look of fatigue upon his face. His black curls stood on every which end atop his head.

“Holy fuck, that was a long flight,” he declared as part of his greeting; the fatigue in his voice meant it had been a grueling stint of the tour. Meanwhile, Frank stumbled into the apartment as well. He let out a long low whistle and then he spotted Sam in the hallway.

“There's our girl!” he proclaimed with his arms outstretched for her. Sam lunged for Frank first. If anything, he was her best friend. Her first real best friend there in New York, and she knew he would be in that position no matter where she went in the world. How she missed the soft musk on the side of his neck and the softest part of his lush black hair.

She then turned to Joey for an embrace as well, and he followed it up with a kiss on the side of her neck. He then held back and gazed right into her eyes.

As brown as the earth, but strangely liquid, as if he was about to burst into tears.

“How is everything?” Marla asked them as she rubbed her hands together.

“Yeah, how was the tour?” Sam joined in.

“Oh, my god, I wish you girls were with us,” Frank confessed. “Those European crowds are—crazy. Just insane. You thought the crowd in Boston was nuts—the crowd in Boston was like a graveyard compared to the people in Germany and Switzerland.”

“They are so passionate, though,” Joey added. “Like Frankie and I met some people before a few of the shows and they're just obsessed with the music.”

“The girls, too!” Frank declared.

“Oh, yeah, they were just ape shit about the Cherry Suicides, too. I think we were in Ireland? They did that song 'Dead Witches' where Zelda just goes crazy on the drums.”

“Yeah, it was Northern Ireland, Joey,” Frank said. “I remember 'cause that was Halloween night. They stretched the song to like twenty minutes, like Minerva just unleashed this huge solo.”

“They played it for like twenty minutes in Oslo and Sweden, too,” Joey added. “Like Minerva was wearin' this little Viking helmet as she did it, too, it was just the coolest thing. Hardcore punk rock made by a black Viking, dare I say.”

“Oh, and the guys loved them,” Frank recalled.

“Who, the Swedes or the Norwegians?”

“Both. Both crowds were just in awe of those girls.” He cleared his throat; he, too, had his fill of touring for the time being.

“Yeah, the Irish weren't too sure of them at first, but they warmed up to 'em pretty well, though. The Scandinavians, it was like instant love there. Kinda makes you wonder what's going on up there.”

“And I'm surprised Zelda doesn't have like giant tree trunks for calves,” Frank joked. “She basically hasn't taken off those duct tape boots Chuck gave her.”

“Although we also performed a few dates here in the States,” Joey continued, “there was just no way we could come in contact with you girls 'cause we were like manically hoppin' around the place. We finished up in Dallas just yesterday, and I am just bushed right now.”

“Wow,” Sam breathed out, “where is Zelda, by the way?”

“Oh, they went back to Rhode Island already,” Frank told her. “Although Joey has sump'n for ya in his car downstairs.”

“Yeah.” Joey showed her that crooked smile and Sam followed him outside, to the cold gray blanket overhead and the thick layer of pure white snow all around them.

His car parked there at the curb, and Sam could make out the sight of something in the back seat.

“So for the last few dates of the tour,” he began over the noise of the street, “I realized that—this is gonna be our last holiday break together.”

“And it's confirmed now,” she told him as they stood before the side of the car.

“It's confirmed!” he exclaimed and he gaped at her.

“It's confirmed. I leave July thirty first.”

Joey swallowed, and Sam could see the tears in his eyes.

“I should tell you this then,” he started as he tucked his hands into his coat pockets.

“What?”

He lingered closer to her body. “I cherish every moment I have with you, Sam,” Joey told her. “I know I can lose you.”

She peered up to the sky, at the first little flurries of snow as it fluttered down from the gray overhead. She brought her gaze down to the right side of the street, at all the twinkling Christmas lights as they decorated the trees along the sides of the street. Her last Christmas in New York with Joey. The snow was about to bury them both if they didn't act right then and there.

“I cherish every moment I have with you,” he repeated; and he leaned in for an embrace upon her lips. Sweet and soft, like molten dark chocolate; warm and silken, like the cup of Mexican hot chocolate that she had made for Cliff that one morning. For the first time in a year, everything reminded her of Cliff, but at the same time, it reminded her of Joey. Something new, something unique, something completely different than what she had known before.

He held back and gazed right into her face.

“I wish you didn't have to leave,” he told her.

“I wish I didn't, either,” she confessed, and she couldn't resist the tears in her eyes. “What do you want to give me, by the way?”

“Just that,” he whispered to her. “The only thing in the car here is my guitar. And yeah—it's officially my guitar now.”

She brought her lips to his again. They didn't need any mistletoe to believe it between them.