#and sometimes green lantern is treated like a kid

[the-batcomputer-project]

small little Bruce Wayne headcanon

I don't think Bruce quite has a split personality, but he is so good at compartmentalizing that he struggles between personalities and can't always "drop the act" so to say.

Batman - Focused on the mission above all else. Comes off as cold and unforgiving, but to him it is a necessity in this line of work. While in the cape and cowl, the Robins are his partners, not his sons, because he knows if he acted as a father rather than a mentor in the field, he would be throwing himself into danger, and potentially risking his kids as well. That's why when Dick was fired as Robin the second time, it came across the way it did, driving a rift between Dick and Bruce. Bruce didn't want to loose his son, but Batman couldn't handle a liability like that in the field. (Dick himself isn't a liability, but Bruce knows that if Dick died while out as Robin, the Batman facade would shatter, like what happened after Jason's death)

Brucie Wayne - The public persona is loud, lazy, and a bit dumb. No one expects much from him, which allows him to slide under the radar and remove suspicion off of him potentially being Batman. He is exactly what everyone expects of a rich socialite raised without parental supervision. Brucie also allows Bruce to "let go" sometimes and just have fun without needing to worry about anything. He doesn't need to be the strong imposing figure of Batman. He can insult people he doesn't like (who don't know about Brucie and Batman) without it making it seem like he's insulting them on purpose. I'm kinda thinking about the ending to the Secret Identity Compromised side mission in Gotham Knights. There was a strategic reason for him to strip down and grind on a statue in the Iceberg Lounge, but there also could have been a thousand other cover stories he could have come up with, yet he decided on personally pissing off the Penguin which is honestly valid.

Dad Bruce - The most "real" version of Bruce is when he's around his kids. Dad Bruce is a combination of the best parts of Batman and Brucie. He is stern and commanding, but also soft and fun. This version also tends to blur together with "eternally tired".

I like to think that these personas will occasionally accidentally blend together for some very funny moments. Things like Batman giving the disappointed "dad sigh" to the Justice League, suddenly making Hal and Barry very guilty for no reason, or Dad Bruce very confidently calling Clark's chickens "small feathered cows" and sheep "fluffy cows" before realizing his mistake but at that point he's committed.

[millylotus]

Secret Son John Constantine

Inspired by @herbatahleb's funny little fanart

As the title says The Everlasting Trio have a child and his name is John “Hellblazer” Constantine

He’s making his parents proud

John was born of a kind of soul blood pact between the three, he got his blonde hair from Sam, his eyes from Tucker, and his overall appearance is a mix of the three of them

John grew up to follow in Tucker & Sam’s footsteps of magic, he’s a born sorcerer unlike them though

His relationship with his parents is generally good, but because of how he treats his soul his relationship with Danny has deteriorated

They argue about this alot, John’s soul is his own and what he does with it really isn’t any of Danny’s business, Danny has the concerned parent vibes of the parent of a sex worker, their fears are founded but they need to trust their kid to know how to take care of themselves

John hates visiting home because of it, Dani will sometimes drag him back home for holidays but he doesn’t stay long

Sam & Tucker try to get them to get along but it isn’t really working

Then one day Danny gets accidentally summoned by the Justice League

---

John doesn’t recognize the summoning circle as it buzzes to life, he doesn’t know what type of creature or being will pop out. If they’re good or bad, or even merciful but he knows they’re strong from the intricate design or the circle. So he recklessly jumps forward, pushing Hal out of the binding circle so the Lantern isn’t bound to the summoned being.

John takes the binding with a scream of pain, feeling electricity shoot up his spine.

He can hear the Leaguers shouting his name, he’s vaguely aware of Jordan supporting him. But what he hears clearest was the voice of a man he most despised in the world at the moment.

“Really John? You didn’t have to do that, he would have been fine.”

John closes his eyes tight and breaths deep, he looks up to the voice and looks into the toxic green eyes as they met his own brown ones.

“Good to see you too Father.”

The green eyed being rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, “Yes, hello Son. It’s great to see you again as well.”

The League had only heard a few things about John Constantine’s family. They knew he had three parents who’re polyamouros, that he has an older sister and an aunt. Besides that all they have are silent grumblings about “Father won’t like this” when he does something risky.

But to see a young filipino man probably no older than twenty, floating over John “Hellblazer” Constantine and looking down on him like a disappointed parent. It was jarring.

Wonder Woman was the first to say anything “John, could you perhaps explain what just happened?”

John and his father broke their intense eye contact to look at Diana, who barely flinched at the sudden attention, the others behind her weren’t so fearless.

Constantine sighed carefully stepping away from Hal, “This is my Father.”

Hal snorted, “Yeah we got that man.”

“Yes John, introduce me to your friends here.”

---

Danny is generally snarky when meeting the League, he makes some weird comments about John hanging out with superheroes, that could be construed as rude

The others are kinda pestering John about who his dad even is, while John is more focused on getting the fucking bind removed

He eventually has to ask Zatanna for help

Danny for the most part is hanging out with the League while John’s working

Someone calls him Mr.Constantine and Danny quickly corrects them saying that isn’t his last name

Which sparks a whole conversation of John’s last name, which Danny isn’t about to say cause real names have power and such

Danny sees John working closely with Zatanna and asks if he’s with her or not, John is beyond embarrassed and even worse is when Danny brings up King Shark, mentioning that Dani really liked him too

John snarks back that then King Shark should have just gone for her instead of him since Danny was so adamant about King Shark being such a great son-in-law

Things get awkward quick as the two snark back at each other while everyone else realizes where John gets it from

It almost becomes a screaming match before the League has to break it up before they go to far

John ends up just calling Sam & Tucker so they can just break the binding

It’s a tense few minutes before they get there, and the League just kinda has to sit there as father & son fume not looking at each other

When Tucker & Sam get there they see the two not wanting to talk to each other at all

Leaguers are not reeling at seeing John’s other parents who he also vaguely looks like but also not

As the two work on the binding John & Danny are being passive aggressive

The two decide that John & Danny need to spend some time together to get this shit figured out

---

Sam : Alright that’s it *Sam & Tucker stop working, Sam has her head in her hands and Tucker is leaning far back* Danny : What? John : I’m sorry? Tucker : You two have been fighting for far to long, you’ve probably forgotten why Danny : I know exactly why, it’s because John doesn’t know how to treat his soul right! John : By The Ancients! You’re still on about that Danny : Of course! Sam : Will you both just SHUT UP! *Silence* Sam : We’re not breaking the binding, you two are going to stay stuck together Danny : Sammy! John : Mama, Papa. Please don’t do this! Tucker : Nuh-uh, this happening, you two are getting a some father-son bonding time for the week! John *distressed*: Why! You can’t just– it’s not fair! *Sam & Tucker loosen up a bit, looking to John softly* Sam : Baby it’s alright, we’re not trying to punish you we just want you & your father to actually talk things through Danny : It feels like your punishing me Tucker : You are his father, you will be the civil one in this so don’t you fucking dare get any lip *Danny goes silent* Sam *sigh* : We’ll be leaving now Tucker : Good look you two The two leave, then silence Danny : Do you still have that demon house of yours? John *sigh* : Yeah I’ll show you a room for your stay

---

Most of the story is really just about John & Danny learning to get along again

Danny has to finally trust his kid to know what he’s doing with his own body

And John realising that his dad just wants to keep him safe & stuff

By the end of their basically grounding the two have begun to mend their relationship, Danny promises to come over and visit along with inviting John back home to the zone when he feels like

I've been meaning to post this for awhile now & it's just been sitting in my drafts until I finally remembered it.

Hope you liked is! :]

Main Story Index [It's kinda messy but it's got links to most everything]

[pluckyredhead]

i really wanna know your ideal dc publishing cause seriously they could be doing so much and instead choose the absolute worst trashy choices

Lol thank you for indulging me, anon. I have thought about this EXTENSIVELY so sorry not sorry for the tusnami of opinions you have unleashed.

Before I get into the list, a few points to explain my approach:

ONGOINGS. I am a firm believer in the importance of ongoing series. There's nothing wrong with a miniseries but you can't get any forward momentum or character development with them because things keep getting reset to their baseline. Get really strong teams on your ongoings and let them develop their stories for years at a time. That's where all the legendary runs come from.

To that end, I am proposing a list of 30 books, which is a little more than 7 per week, which is roughly what DC publishes now (not including things like Sandman, Looney Tunes, etc.). They can add on as many minis as they want but will need fewer since so many more characters are accounted for with ongoings.

I am a strong believer in backup features - more value for your dollar and double the amount of characters included - so you'll see a lot of those.

I tried to balance what I personally think would be the most holistic representation of the DCU with what I believe will sell, so you're still going to see a lot of Bats. It should be understood that books without Bats are not going to be treated like throwaways like they sometimes are now. They are going to get top tier creators with long, sustained runs, just like Bruce always gets.

It will not be a publishing slate of all straight white guys from the 30s-60s.

Books with an asterisk* mean they will be kid-friendly. Not exclusively for kids, but appealing and accessible to young readers, the way Young Justice and its members' books were in the 90s. They can still include ongoing plots and queer characters and serious topics! They just shouldn't be relentlessly grim.

OKAY THE BOOKS!

Super Books:

Superman*: The lead Superman title, with a backup featuring starring Jon.

Action Comics*: Focuses more on the Superfamily as a whole, though the plot can dovetail and cross over with the main Superman book. (This is basically what's happening now.) Backup feature rotates between Kon, John Henry, Natasha, Kenan, Lois, and Jimmy.

Supergirl*: Why did I give Kara her own book and not Kon or Jon? Because a) DC needs more female-led books and b) I want to. The primary audience for this book is women who watched the CW show, or girls who have outgrown TTGo! and DC Super Hero Girls, NOT ADULT MEN. (Optional: Kon or Natasha backup feature.)

Bat Books:

Batman: Like the Super books, this would be the central title and focus on Bruce. Backup feature can rotate between the nine billion Gotham characters who need a home.

Detective Comics: Focuses more on mysteries/the family. Another rotating backup feature. NOTE: These backup features CANNOT star a character with their own book (Bruce, Dick, Damian, Selina, or Harley).

Nightwing: Dick sells. ;)

Robin*: Starring Damian, Tim gets a team book further down.

Batwoman: Perhaps we could try letting a queer woman write this for once? Revolutionary, I know.

Catwoman: Because she fucking rules.

Harley Quinn: Because she fucking sells.

Birds of Prey: I prefer a classic Babs/Dinah/Helena lineup but I'm flexible.

Batgirls*: If it’s too messy to have Babs in BoP and this, take her out and add Harper.

Red Hood and the Outlaws: Imagine if this book was good! In my universe, it will be.

Solo Books:

Wonder Woman

Flash: This will star Wally. Optional backup rotates between Jay, Bart, Ace, and Avery. Barry can show up sometimes I guess.

Green Lantern: Starring Hal, John, or Kyle. Whoever is the lead CANNOT also be on the Justice League.

Green Lantern Corps: Okay yes technically this is a team book. Shhh. Guy should always be on this book since he does better in an ensemble. The plot should dovetail loosely with the main GL book with an annual crossover but you don't have to read both if you don't want to. I am flexible about how to fit all the Earth GLs in (including Simon and Jessica), whether that's backup features or just including them in the GLC ensemble, but all six should always have a publishing home. Jo should get as many prestige graphic novels as N. K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell care to bless us with.

Aquaman: Jackson backup. Please let him go back to being Aqualad and stop making everyone grow up so fast.

Green Arrow: This book is currently perfect, no notes.

Blue Beetle*: Starring Jaime, though Ted may show up to be annoying if he would like. A Booster backup is permissible.

Vixen: If they have a Webtoon they should have a comic for $ too.

Zatanna: See above.

...I'm torn between Shazam!* or Stargirl* here. I feel like they both kind of fizzled? I guess it depends on which book gets the better pitch.

Team Books:

Justice League: I mostly don't care who is on this but if it's a bunch of white guys plus Wonder Woman and either John Stewart or Cyborg as tokens, AGAIN, DC gets shut down permanently. I don't make the rules.

Justice Society: This is also not allowed to be only old white guys. I know that's harder with the JSA. I don't care.

Titans: I'm going to be honest, I'm not convinced the OG/New Teen Titans can star in a decent book anymore, since they haven't done so in two decades. But I will give them one more try. They can call themselves the Outsiders instead if that helps.

Young Justice*: They also maybe need a new name because they are all legal adults, but this is Tim's book. I'm highly skeptical of success here as well but I think the right creative team could make something really soapy and New Adult and queer work. Please keep in mind that there are nine trillion characters in the DCU who are roughly Tim's age to draw from; the "Core Four" (ugh I hate that term so much) can all be members but they are not the only members. (Cassie cannot be the only girl and it cannot be all white.)

Teen Titans*: Damian's team! I vote for characters like Emiko, Ace, and Jackson here, but I'm flexible. THE AUDIENCE FOR THIS BOOK IS MIDDLE SCHOOLERS, NOT PEOPLE WHO GREW UP ON WOLFMAN/PEREZ. Jesus, DC.

Suicide Squad: I truly do not care about this book but we need to do something to appease the edgelords.

The New Gods: I'm thinking EPIC, I'm thinking KIRBY, I'm thinking SIMONSON. Everyone talks in a serif font and it should be impossible to explain out loud with human words. It's what Kirby would want.

So there it is, there's my pitch. Again, this doesn't cover minis (Elongated Man miniseries WHEN), event books, etc., but I think it gets most of the key players on the board!

(And yes, I know I left the Legion out. I'm sorry. But not very sorry. They can cameo in Kara's book.)

[chocolateteapotsvis]

Let's talk about Knight Terrors! But only the Flash (and a little of the Green Lantern) one shot, because we're here for the Halbarry content.

Spoilers for Knight Terrors: The Flash #1, and some discussion of the event in general. And also warnings for some minor gore (Hal's not looking so hot, as you know if you saw the pages) and spoilers from Final Night (from 1996, so you probably know them already)

Also, from the snippet about the Hal/Barry team up in Green Lantern #4 announcement, I don't think this is meant to tie in with that, but I guess we'll see when the issue comes out!

So! Context! The basic idea of the event is that a villain has trapped everyone in their own personal nightmares, tailor made from their deepest fears. Barry's story focuses around him trying to help an injured Kid Flash Wally, while slowly realizing that there's something very wrong with the world he's in. He goes to the Watchtower to use the Cosmic Treadmill to go back to the moment Wally was injured, and instead is met with this:

So, I kind of love this. It's Barry's dream, and his lack of reaction to Hal's appearance makes sense in that context. The entire scene feels less nightmarish and more melancholic, and reads to me as Barry's own regret about not being there through Parallax and Final Night (or just in general). But despite just traveling through a nightmare world that made him question his own actions and acknowledging their mortality, Barry trusts that they'll have more time to address his regrets without blame or resentment.

And then, immediately after Hal comments how he doesn't know when to let things go, he helps Barry go back in time. Hal trusts Barry's judgement, and Barry knows he can count on that, even when everything else in the world is wrong.

And then there's all the little details, like Hal's Boomer vocab calling back to their Silver Age adventures, Barry recognizing Hal by his signature boring constructs, how Barry doesn't think twice about asking for Hal's help despite his condition and Hal being able to make something as incredibly complex as a working Cosmic Treadmill no problem, how Barry only asks everyone else for information until he finds Hal...

Also, I can't help but wondering if Hal's "Didn't anyone tell you what happened?" is a callback to the League not bothering to tell Hal when Barry died. Between that and Hal's comment about no one coming to visit him, I wonder how Barry feels about how the rest of the League treats Hal.

(Though it's pretty funny, that, from a straight reading of the scene, you could come away thinking Barry's sorry that Hal's face no longer features on League merch)

Honestly, I'd forgotten about the "attacked by your fears" part until writing this up, but it works for Barry on that level too: failing the people closest to him in a world that doesn't make sense. The introduction of the story was how Barry grounds himself in facts and the people around him, and Barry's continued struggle even as those things are ripped away (sometimes by his own doing) was really heartening, despite the nightmare and the cliffhanger.

Even outside the Halbarry moments, Knight Terrors: The Flash is a solid stand alone. I loved Barry's introspection about how he sees the world and the Speed Force, and his relationship with Iris. The introduction of the dream stuff works well even if you're not familiar with the larger event with the trippy visuals and the little things out of place, things Barry himself starts noticing throughout the story. Definitely recommend it, though with a warning for the level of gore that you'd probably expect from these pages and knowing that it's a nightmare world.

But it's a dream sequence, which means it's really open to interpretation! If you've got another read, I'd love to hear it!

The Green Lantern one is decent too, though probably better if you go in knowing that about half the issue is about Sinestro. The overall approach addresses Lanterns having a different relationship with fear than the average superhero. I really appreciated it, especially when so many comics forget that.

[angiestown]

more detailed descriptions of what I mean under the cut

pop culture horror: you know like hockey mask guy and pinhead and chucky and freddy krueger

non-movie horror: like gore and scary stuff, but it's not from anything specific. you wouldn't bring a 5 year old to this party

non-horror halloween movie: merch from movies that are more for all-ages. I think adams family and twilight zone would go here even though they're mostly tv shows

vintage horror: like Dracula and Frankenstein and all those movies

retro halloween: because of printing limitations, most of this stuff is just black and orange ink, sometimes maybe green or another colour as well. often has a hanna barbera look to it or a retro comic book look

kawaii: everything is very very cute and not scary even a little bit. very clean lines. think pusheen or hello kitty

cute & goofy: this is more what you'd find at michaels or walmart. kid friendly, but not sickeningly sweet. might scare a really young kid

witchy: you guys know what witchy is I think. if you don't you probably weren't going to choose it anyway

autumn focus: halloween is secondary to your pretty photos of orange leaves and wet sidewalks and cute seasonal treats

crafts: all those things you would've made as a kid. simple jack-o-lanterns and those leaf bags with pumpkin faces fall under here too I think

[mattypattypinky]

🎀Vector Holiday Head Canon's🎀

He LOVES halloween,

most years he goes trick or treating. If he were to hand out candy I feel like if they knocked at his door he'd be like "Trick" and steal kids candy 😭😭😭

He'd love couples costumes. He'd do god awful ones, Like ketchup and mustard - or peanut butter and jelly, or Velma and someone else from the mystery gang. (He'd wanna be Velma. He'd wear the skirt and everything.)

Sometimes he has goofy halloween costumes but occasionally he'd use a actually scary costume. He'd scare kids for fun during halloween.

I feel like he'd dress up as other villains for halloween especially big ones he looks up too. (He dressed up as Megamind once and put on a bald cap and everything.)

He'd decorate the outside of his fortress and his living room depending on the holiday.

During christmas he'd have a ton of lights, and little yard decorations. He'd also decorate his security system depending on the holiday. His lasers have christmas hats on them. His lasers are red and green so if you get laser-ed to death it would be festive colors 🎊!!!

He'd have celebratory music in his yard and around his fortress, depending on what holiday it is. It'd be loud and obnoxious. Everytime a neighbor steps outside they can hear jingle bells or kidnap mr sandy claws or something depending on the holiday and time.

He's definitely the type to buy cookies on Christmas, NOT for Santa, but for himself. The girls would think he's buying cookies for Santa but he's not. Even if Santa was real he wouldn't share with the guy. He'd be like "suck on this Santa" while he's eating the cookies😭

He might have specific outfits for different holidays.

During halloween he'd decorate a lot of jack-O-lanterns because they're orange (They're on brand.) He carves his Logo into them.

He wouldn't really celebrate Easter that much, he'd probably just buy Easter candy or draw. "The day that christ rose? Why do I care about Jesus"

He does the same thing he does to Santa to Jesus on easter.

He'd celebrate Yule, - He'd decorate with dried oranges.

He'd probably call his dad each holiday to wish him a good one. He'd also send his dad card and his dad would send him a gift or enclose money in the envelope even though they're both rich and don't need too😭.

He'd create robotic reindeer that attach to his flight machine. They probably also play christmas music, or make jingling noises when it flies. 😭 either that or he'd make a whole working Santa Sleigh-

He'd cosplay the grinch.

I feel like during different holidays he might scheme up some villain plan according to it. Like halloween he could steal some big halloween thing or decorations or he could steal kids candies 😭

he'd steal a 9ft tall giant skeleton from every yard he can find.

He'd be a big fan of The Grinch he'd probably aspire to be like him. He'd think he's a real villain. or was a real villain- I mean he stole from an entire town. When he watches any grinch movie he stops right after he gets all the gifts as he doesn't wanna watch the reformation scenes.

He'd wanna go and get a picture with mall Santa's. He'd wanna go sit in their lap despite being a full adult. He'd give them a list of things he wants.

"Okay, so, for Christmas this year, I want a new nuclear reactor, because my old one broke. And I want two pounds of uranium."

He thinks Thanksgiving is a bogus holiday, but he will use it as an excuse to eat a lot of food. But he wouldn't cook any of it, he'd order a massive dinner from some fast food and eat it all in one night. He'd get an extreme stomach ache and make himself really sick😭

You walk into the room and hes sprawled out on the couch with one hand on his stomach complaining about how he can't move and that it hurts😭😭😭

he's such a baby-😭

and if you offer him a solution he'd whine "Nooooo"'s.

On Valentines Day he'd cry about not having a partner, calling it a bogus holiday and he'd use it as an excuse to eat alot of junk food. He'd watch a shark tale on Valentine's day......... 💀........... He'd also CRY to that movie. If he had a partner during Valentine's Day he'd make them watch it and he'd claim that Oscar and Angie are "So us" just ignoring the fact that Oscar nearly cheats on Angie TWICE 😭😭😭😭😞😞😞😞 He'd get a tummy ache from the chocolate.

He gets a stomach ache MOST holidays actually. They're a recipe for constipation. 😭😭😭😭 He complains for days afterwards.

He never learns😍😭

Fathers Day he'd hang out with his dad the entire day, if a partner wanted to hang out with him during that day, he'd insist they bring their dad too. It'd be like a double dad date. Or he'd try to share his dad if you don't have a dad or don't like yours. "It's okay, you can have mine!!! Have you seen the size of my dad? He could be like three families dads." 😭 He doesn't even mean it in a rude way either.

This isn't a holiday but he doesn't strike me as a morning person, so I feel like he'd disregard Daylight Savings. The world will bend to his schedule, he's not going to change his sleep patterns or his schedule for it.

He'd celebrate Earth Day but only because he cares about Sea Life and Littering

He'd love to celebrate Shark Week

On New Years he vows some crazy shit. "New Year New Me, I'm gonna stop eating so much Junk" then within an hour, or the next morning he's already ate a whole bag of chips and a soda. And he'd cry about it, too. He'd cry very hard.

He'd have a vendetta against April Fools, he's scared of being pranked so he locks himself in his Fortress. He'd be paranoid around even his partner. It'd be so funny to see him be so suspicious. Squinting his eyes and shit at them. 😭😭😭 He's expecting something, every turn he's expecting. Everytime he sits down he checks for whoopie cushions, and he'd check his partners hand for buzzers, and he'd be so paranoid about everything😭.

[handeaux]

In Old Cincinnati, Nights Before Halloween Were Packed With More Tricks Than Treats

These days, Halloween seems to kick off sometime just after Labor Day and drags on into the first week of November when the seasonal candy goes on sale and the fake spider webs sag under a load of soggy fallen leaves. In the old days, however, Halloween was restricted to two or three nights and the emphasis was on “trick” rather than “treat.” The Cincinnati Post [27 October 1922] carried the schedule for St. Marys, Ohio:

“Mayor W.H. Swift and Tony Johns, police chief, say the boys can have a good time on these nights if they don’t destroy property. Oct. 29 is to be ‘Cabbage Night;’ Oct. 30, ‘Corn Night;’ and Oct. 31, Hallowe’en.”

Let us, for the moment, leave aside the fact that this invitation was addressed only to boys, and focus on those additional nights. What was Cabbage Night? What was Corn Night? And, depending on where you lived in the United States, what was Gate Night, Goosey Night, Devil’s Night, Tick-Tack Night, Mischief Night, Beggars Night, Trick Night and Damage Night?

Donald E. Weaver, assistant city editor of the Cincinnati Post, explained Corn Night in a reminiscence published on Halloween 1930:

“Corn Night was the last night before Halloween. The kids threw shelled corn against the windows, rang doorbells and soaped a few windows.”

Weaver describes a ritual week of various mischief-breeding nights, beginning with Tick-Tack Night and ending with Halloween. A Tick-Tack (or Tic-Tac) had nothing to do with bad breath. It was a device built around one of Mom’s old sewing spools, screwed onto a long stick so that, when the miscreant pulled a string wrapped around the spool, it sounded like someone rapping on the window. It was the same principle as Corn Night, only louder.

Gate Night is somewhat self-explanatory when you picture the bygone neighborhoods of yesteryear, each little yard surrounded by a picket fence. As Weaver explained:

“The next morning was apt to find Squire Hickey’s gate hangin’ from the belfry of the Town Hall.”

Goosey Night wasn’t much celebrated in these parts, being almost entirely confined to the New York and New England region. The origin of the name is disputed, but most authorities believe it has nothing to do with poultry, and more to do with ghosts. It was a night devoted to scaring nocturnal pedestrians with noisemakers and eerie lanterns.

Mischief Night and Trick Night pretty much define themselves. Nights carrying those formal names were mostly celebrated eastward from here, but the spirit spread throughout the Cincinnati area, as Editor Weaver recalled:

“Widow Green’s cow got so used to being put queer places on Halloween she didn’t seem to mind. But Widow Green, she took on somethin’ terrible, especially the time the boys crowded Flossie into Biddy Harmon’s henhouse, ‘cause Widow Green and Biddy hadn’t spoken for years.”

Cincinnati lies at the southern fringe of an area in which Devil’s Night is observed. The real hotbed of Devil’s Night activity is in Michigan, especially around Detroit where, in some years, the riot squad had to be called out to quell disturbances that fell just shy of urban warfare.

So, how did cabbages get mixed up in all this rowdy mischief? To explain, we must return to the question of gender discrimination and the nefarious suppression of women by the patriarchy. While their brothers and potential boyfriends were out soaping windows and stealing gates, in other words, “having fun,” proper young ladies observed Halloween by attempting to determine who would become their future husbands. One guaranteed method involved cabbages. Don Weaver, apparently ignorant of the matrimonial aspects of the family Brassicaceae, reports only on the mischievous aftereffects of the cabbage ritual:

“The next night after Tick-Tack Night was Cabbage Night, when they swiped what cabbages were left in the gardens, and tossed ‘em onto front porches.”

Not so fast, Donny Boy! Way back in 1875, a correspondent to the Cincinnati Times, who signed his article only with the penname “Nepenthe,” gave the real story:

“Imagine the young belles of our city arrayed in their most-tied-backest evening suit en traine, and the beaux in their lavenderest pants, spotless diamond decked shirt-fronts, and faultless swallow-tailed coats, tripping out into the nearest Mill Creek garden, groping about among the protecting fodder for a cabbage-stalk, which, upon being brought under the gaslight, will presage by its crookedness or straightness the character of their future life-partners.”

Having done its vegetative duty as a marriage predictor, of what use was the clairvoyant cabbage? Hence it was tossed upon the nearest porch, or the porch of one’s prospective father-in-law, perhaps.

Another scrying technique, employed by boys and girls involved three bowls. One was filled with clear water, another with either mud or ashes, and the third left empty. The three receptacles were laid out in a row on a table, the subject blindfolded and the bowls reordered repeatedly. The visually impaired supplicant then felt for a bowl and plunged his or her fingers into it. If they splashed clear water, they would marry a virginal spouse. If they touched the mud or ashes, they would marry a widow or widower. If they found the empty bowl, a lifetime of spinsterhood or bachelorhood awaited.

Why did these antique celebrations fade away? One reason is certainly the expansion of the Halloween season. It was rare, well into the 1950s, for adults to take any part in Halloween festivities. This was a spooky holiday for children only. The very idea of a “sexy nurse” costume was inconceivable. Pop-up Halloween stores that open shop before the Autumn Equinox are very much a modern development.

But the main reason these “mischief nights” are no longer commemorated has to do with active police suppression. During the 1930s, Cabbage Night destruction got completely out-of-hand. The Cincinnati Post [31 October 1940] reported incidents from the night before involving flaming barricades blocking streets and tying up traffic, tool sheds being set ablaze, gangs of ruffians driving around firing rifles at windows in occupied houses, all the windows of a school being broken, piles of garbage filling alleys, multiple cases of flat tires, and dozens of fist fights.

The 1960s brought escalated mayhem as “Mischief Night” evolved into “Damage Night.” The Enquirer reported several outrageous incidents the night before Halloween in 1963, including two serious grass fires in Indian Hill and a foot-deep crater blasted in the Kyles Lane entrance to I-75. In 1986, 59 automobiles had their tires punctured by Damage Night vandals in Brentwood. In other words, the stuff your parents described as “good, clean fun.”

[heartfils]

transferring some old but still important qi rong thoughts from his old blog to here:

˚ʚ ⁀➷ㅤ𝐎𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐗𝐈𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐍:

HE REALLY, REALLY LOVED HIM!!!! pretty sure he still has affection lingering but at this point it’s so mixed with years of hatred and resentment it’s impossible to break it apart... honestly xie lian was always like a savior to him, so he held him up in the highest pedestal and thus the fall was painful for them both... like, he grew up with his dad abusing him and his mom, then with the shame of knowing he ruined his mother’s life simply by existing, therefore inciting the mockery and contempt of the people around him —before he officially became royalty or not—, so obviously he wasn’t in a good mental state. being taken in by his aunt was a type of salvation, but being acknowledged by xie lian (someone whom he admires so much, the one person qi rong didn’t believe weak, someone who would never be pushed down and ridiculed — hah!), becoming like xie lian, that, too, was salvation to him but................ his anger and his pain got the better of him and he went waaaaaayyy off into the wrong path. to me it seemed like his family just kinda gave up disciplining him, and i understand his aunt’s position: he’s her late sister’s child, not her own, she didn’t want to disrespect her memory by disciplining her son too strictly, so all she could do was give him a metaphorical slap on the wrist while he got away with worse and worse each time. xie lian was also very young himself, it wasn’t his job to control him, but it also made me really :’( to see how qi rong was always so excited to be with him and xie lian kinda brushed him off (sometimes with good reason, others...) taking a child’s toy away is just gonna make them throw a tantrum and get more aggressive; this happens every time qi rong gets reprimanded and “punished”. he got worse because no one really taught him any better, and if they did, they dubbed him a lost cause, but it really comes down to "a lot of things could’ve been avoided if his family had known how to treat him more appropriately" because back then he was just a child who dealt with his trauma in all the wrong ways until there was no turning back, and now he's just like this. me thinking abt how xie lian wanted to save everyone but qi rong wanted him to save him too and he Didn't: guess i'll die!

  ˚ʚ ⁀➷ㅤ𝐎𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐋𝐄, 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆/𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍:

personally i really like the sound of night drifting as opposed to night touring [green lantern] beccause drifting implies a lack of direction, gives a sense of wandering without real purpose, not knowing where you’re going but still walking, maybe because you’re being carried or pushed by an outer force, usually unseen. all of these really resonate with how qi rong refuses to see himself but are ultimately the way he is — he’s constantly drifting between who he is, who he thinks he is, and who he wants to be, which causes him to be all of those and yet none at all at the same time.  he has a very skewed view of himself, he gives off the vibe that he doesn’t even know who he is, so he imitates other people and to us spectators it makes him feel like he has a very fragile identity. who is he without the help or influence of others, directly or indirectly? who is he aside from his blood relation to xie lian, who is he without the tactless imitations of hua cheng and hei shui?  touring has somewhat different connotations than drifting, but touring does give off an air of not belonging to the places you’re visiting, which also fit qi rong really well!! he doesn’t belong with any of his family, not with the common people, not with the ghosts, obviously not the heavens either. no matter where he goes, he just does not belong anywhere.

˚ʚ ⁀➷ㅤ𝐎𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐘:

him imitating the other calamities is the same shitty behaviour he used to have as a kid imitating xie lian because back then, to him, his cousin was the paragon of strength. he thought if he were to be more like xie lian he’d never be pushed down and mocked again, thus he desperately wanted to be like him (with all the wrong methods). qi rong hates feeling weak, it throws him back to the times he was a defenseless child who was beaten or ridiculed by everyone, so xie lian, who was strong and respected, was literally a god to him. of course, coupled with qi rong’s temper and lack of empathy and morals, that was just a recipe for disaster, and it carried over to him seeking strength via imitation of those whom he deems the strongest, because he never really learned how to do it himself.

˚ʚ ⁀➷ㅤ𝐎𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐆𝐔 𝐙𝐈:

he doesn't fully realize it himself, but he's definitely attached to that kid. i joke about him loving his new son, but it IS the closest thing he's felt to loving someone and being loved back since he was a human child... and it is the first time he has family who loves him unconditionally. family who actually cares about him. i can't help but think that part of qi rong sees his old self in gu zi, because they both came from nothing and had abusive fathers. hell, gu zi's dad was so terrible that compared to him, gu zi thinks qi rong is kind. this definitely rattles qi rong in a way he's not used to, so while he's still an awful influence on the poor kid, he does canonically watch his behavior around him as to not cross the line and upset him. really does goes to show that all qi rong needed was a family who could both love him and be firm with him.

[shinobirain24]

Green Lantern (Year 2036)

Real name: Martin Jordan II

Eye color: Grass green

Hair color: Brown

Family: Hal Jordan (father), Carol Ferris (mother), Martin Jordan I (Paternal grandfather, deceased), Willard Ferris (maternal grandfather)

Occupation: Green Lantern Trainee, Pilot of the Titans, Superhero, Member of the Titans

Affiliation: Green Lantern Corps, Titans

Species: Human

Biography:

Martin Jordan II was the grandson of the late pilot, Martin Jordan I. Born to Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris. Currently 15, he was among the many teenagers captured by the Light and turned over to the Citadel to be forcefully experimented on to become a metahuman. Only to be saved when Lian Harper broke out of the control of the Female Furies, and saved him along with the other captives to escape.

After Lian teleported back to Earth when a few captives were killed, Martin was one of the few survivors stuck in the Citadel. While fending off against the Gordarian army, he was once again aided, but this time it was a Tamaranean Green Lantern, Lumian'dr (Moonfire in translation).

Lumian'dr was injured from her previous fight against Parademons that were mutated. And she told Martin and the other teens to run. But Martin stubbornly saved Lumian'dr from a pack of Gordarians before they can reach her and carried her to safety, disregarding his own.

While Martin tried to help the Tamaranean that saved him, Lumian'dr was beyond saved, but she felt a strong sense of will in Martin as the ring also does. Lumian'dr chose Martin as her successor, seeing the resemblance between him and his father, who is her predecessor, the late Hal Jordan. Realizing that the person she selected was her predecessor's son. Lumian'dr died after giving Martin the ring.

And with that, Martin became a Green Lantern. Later on, he was befriended by Superboy II, and later, Nightstar, the adoptive sister and protege of Moonfire. Together, the three escaped with the remaining captives.

After he, Superboy and Nightstar become members of the Titans. Martin had some trouble creating constructs with the ring. Nightstar offers to train with Martin, as she had warrior training before Lumian'dr died. The two became fast friends. He also befriended a Xudarian Green Lantern, Tomar Tu, after he also became a member of the Titans, following Kilowog's suspicion on the Daxamite that entered the Science Prison.

Aqualad II, the leader of the Titans appointed Martin as the Ace Pilot of the Storm Shark, a ship the Titans used for transportation. After seeing his piloting skills.

Martin did not have much memory of his parents, but had a photograph of them to know who they are and what they looked like. And did not know of his father's history with the Green Lantern Corps and the Justice League. But that would lead him to be targeted in the future.

Personality:

Having survived the invasion of Apokolips, Martin learned skills of being a a survivalist. And pretty much handles things on his own. Due to his lack of involvement from relatives after his parents disappeared, Martin was used to being alone.

But his skills of survival are proven to be useful, such a setting up a campfire, hotwiring the car when it is needed to go to one place to another.

His social interaction with the fellow new gen heroes, prior to becoming a Green Lantern, he was mostly silent since he was still used to be alone surviving the apocalypse. And seemed to be interested in physical activities like boxing, lifting weights.

However, his will and heart is in the right place, despite being stubborn at times. Sometimes he would have to abandon orders to save his comrades. Having to meet Nightstar, he grew close to her and would confide in her at times. Treating her with respect.

When interacting with younger teammates, such as Jon Kent or Damian Wayne, he would refer to any of them as "kid." Despite being young himself.

Though he had not know Lumian'dr well, she inspired him to continue the fight against Apokolips. And Martin decided that he will honor her without vain. As wielding the ring his father, Hal once wield.

However, Martin wasn't sure if he has the right to wield the ring. His own conflict was his own self-identity. Having to endure the pressures of the fight in the war. Even if Martin was upset that his father never told him before his fate was sealed. Martin knew he had to accept his destiny as a Green Lantern. Hearing his father's message through the ring, Martin grew to respect his father's bravery and will, after learning he was Lumian'dr's predecessor.

[blacknbluejustice]

EVERYTHING IS FUCKING DEPRESSING- LETS CHANGE IT!

Can we please share a little fucking hope?

Just some to remind people, there is a way out?

I know I already had a mental break down like sometime this morning (Maybe even a few times earlier this week) but I don’t want to drag people down! The world fucking shit and its getting worst but WE need to get together and make it a better place!

We need to fill it with Hope!

It’s so easy to give up right now but we CAN’T afford to lose this fight!

This isn’t just for us! This is for our people, the men, the women and nonbinaries! Those who are older than us, those who are our age and those who are younger than us! We have to try to make things better!

Taking away people’s rights one by one is something we should NEVER stand for! It is disgusting and horrific! They are forcing people to not get the treatment they fucking need! There are so many reasons for a person to want and need an abortion but there are so many fuckers that IGNORE that! People IGNORE the health complications- despite many of them leading to some DIEING! There are people ignoring that the adoption centers aren’t a solution for unwanted pregnancies- becuase they are for AFTER birth, not during the birth. Let alone all the bad things and horrific shit that happens when kids are thrown in a system treats children as shit! Lets not forget the horrors that they have to go through! THIS ISN”T A SINGLE THING! THIS IS MULTIPLE LIVES BEING RUINED IN SO MANY UNCOUNTABLE WAYS!

I know this sounds cheesey as fuck but remember the Blue Lantern Oath. Remember the Violet Lantern Oath- REMEMBER THE GREEN LANTERN OATH! ALL THEIR OATHS ARE SOMETHING WE SHOULD REMEMBER FOR WE HAVE TO FIGHT BACK! We have to get through this and fight together!

REMEMBER THAT EVEN IN THE DARKEST OF NIGHT AS SHIT IS GOING TO HELL, WE HAVE TO STAND TOGETHER TO FUCKING FIGHT BACK! WE HAVE TO TAKE A STAND TOGETHER TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE COMES OUT OF IT!

We will lose some people but we can not let their loses be in vain! Stand up and FIGHT!

Who the fuck is with me?

[thefreakydeaky]

Entrapment

Part 16: Alibis

Shane Walsh x Reader

Negan Smith x Reader

Summary: Stuck in an unhappy marriage, Y/n finds herself drawn to the attentive and charming health teacher/baseball coach she meets at work. There's only one thing standing in the way, her husband's volatile temper.Y/n had long thought what she lacked in her life was love and acceptance, but her choice in partner would suggest something much darker.

⚠️Warnings⚠️: Angst

Shane was there for you for everything. He helped you to plan the funeral. He was patient and remained by your side. He kept you informed on Negan's case although all the information they really had was that the unknown perpetrator was driving a dark green truck or suv.

Shane held you at night when the tears wouldn't end and you thought you could not go on. He stayed up with you when sleep wouldn't come. He was so attentive, meeting your every need and want without you asking him to.

     Nothing felt right. When you tried to make plans it just reminded you of the fact that Negan was no longer a part of them. Eventually, Shane asked you to move back in with him. He told you that having you close by would allow him to be there for you.

You didn't say no. You had no job and you weren't feeling stable enough to make a plan of your own. That was when you decided to tell Shane you were pregnant. He asked the very question you had been dreading and because it was easier than the truth, you told him he was the father.

*******

Five Years Later

*******

Your little boy's hazel eyes were wide with wonder as he took in the halloween decorations hung up around the neighborhood. He looked a lot like you and a little like Negan. Although not enough for Shane to question you yet. You missed Negan everyday. You survived off of your memories of him and the time you spent raising your son, Max. You smiled fondly at the sight of him in his cowboy costume. The wind carried a late autumn chill. You wished you hadn't left your sweater in the truck. You paused as Max stopped walking and tugged on Shane's hand.

"It's scary, Daddy." He complained pointing at another kid wearing a shark costume.

Shane smiled at the small boy and picked him up.

"Don't worry, Buddy. Remember what we talked about? Halloween is just like playing pretend, alright?"

Max thought about what he was being told for a moment. Then he nodded. Shane let him down when you reached the door of the next house. The two of you stayed  behind the group of kids asking for candy.

"You know why he's afraid of sharks?"

You shrugged.

"Sharp teeth?"

Shane shook his head, displeased with your nonchalant attitude.

"You gotta stop watchin' that shit when he's around." He nagged.

You rolled your eyes.

"I told you, he was asleep. I didn't know he had snuck out of bed. I stopped the movie as soon as I saw him." You put on a smile as Max walked back towards you.

Shane did the same. Hand in hand the three of you made your way over to the next house. Your gaze remained on your child as he held out his candy bag toward the elderly lady at the door.

"You should have known. You should have seen him sooner."

You could feel Shane glaring at you. You hated being reprimanded, but for Max you could endure anything. You held your hand out and your child took it.

"I do the best I can." You uttered in a sing song voice and walked away, ignoring his scathing stare.

These arguments were common. Shane had calmed down quite a bit since your child was born.You knew it was because of Max. The two of you had agreed not to fight in front of him. Sometimes, Shane needed reminding. It burned your pride to have to be the one who gave in the majority of the time, but your son's well being was your priority.

At a house with no other decorations, but one lone jack-o-lantern, you walked up to the door with your little one.

"Trick or treat!" The kids called out.

A burly man in a white undershirt came to the door. He didn't look the type to celebrate the holiday. He didn't even smile at the kids. His attitude was that of someone who had given in to obligation. He deposited a handful of wax paper wrapped taffy candies into each child's bag.

He looked up when he noticed you standing next to your kid. His eyes slid over your form, making you very uncomfortable.

"Ain't you a little old to be trick or treatin'?"  He remarked, smirking at your red and white cowboy hat.

You laughed it off.

His eyes caught on something over your shoulder.

"Hey, don't I know you?" He said.

You followed his line of sight to Shane.

"Nah, Man. You got me mixed up with someone else."

You frowned. You knew that tone. There was a definite threat being implied.

"No. I know I seen you before." The man's eyes narrowed as he scrutinized Shane.

"I'm telling you, you haven't."  Shane's hand closed around your upper arm. "Let's go."

"Ow!" You complained as he pulled you away from the porch.

"Shit, I remember now." The man called after him. "I sold you my truck."

What an odd thing to say.Shane had leased a brand new Dodge Ram a few months ago. The truck he had before that was a lease too. What this guy had to do with it, you couldn't imagine.

When you reached the end of the block, Shane let go of you. You rubbed at your arm.

"Who was that guy?" You asked.

"Beats the hell outta me." Shane didn't look you in the eyes.

"Ready to go?" He didn't wait for a response either. He picked up your son and started off in the direction you had parked your car, leaving you staring after him.

****

"You're right." Shane remarked as you brushed your teeth.

You raised an eyebrow, looking at him in the mirror.

"We should move back to your hometown."

Your eyes widened. You spit and rinsed. Then turned to face him.

"Really? I've been telling you that for years!"

He took off his shirt and threw it in the hamper.

"Yeah, well, Now feels like the right time for a move."

You put your arms around him, leaned up and pecked him on the lips.

"Have I ever told you, what an amazing husband you are?" You crooned.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." He scoffed, but pressed a gentle kiss to your temple all the same.

As you lay in bed that night, you thought of Negan. He was supposed to be the one laying next to you. He was supposed to be the one raising Max with you. The three of you were supposed to have had a life together in your home town. How different your life would be if that one afternoon had gone differently, if you had suggested Negan wait until the following day to take those things to Simon's. A thought came to the front of your mind, the weird man and his insistence that he knew Shane.

     Negan's case had gone cold. The police hadn't been able to identify the driver that ran him off the road. Nor had they been able to figure out for certain what vehicle it was. They had nothing.

I sold you my truck, the man had said. A chill ran down your spine. You sat up in bed. Your eyes searched your husband's sleeping countenance. His face was free of worry. Could a man who had committed a murder ever sleep so easily?

You watched him for a moment.

Shane was a lot of things. He could be cruel, but he could be tender. He had anger management issues, but he loved Max to the moon and back. He wasn't a murderer. He couldn't be.

     You took a slow breath in, held it, then let it out. You repeated the process over and over, until the tension melted away. Your body, now relaxed was able to lay down again. You turned onto your side and let the terrible idea go. Sleep enveloped your senses, cradling you in blessed unconsciousness.

[alecmagnuslwb]

Pumpkins Scream in the Dead of Night

Read on AO3

They’re definitely going to be late and Lian is going to kill them when they are.

A little pre trick or treat patrol that’s all this was supposed to be, a quick sweep of the neighborhood to make sure nothing unsavory was happening and the kids could have a nice night. The rest of the Arrows were set to keep watch for all the after dark Halloween hubbub, this was supposed to be the easy part.

The eight-foot-tall living Jack-O-Lantern with flickering angry flames in his eyes had a different plan for the evening however.

Roy dips up from where he’s made camp behind a row of old sofas set out to the trash. He hears Jason fire off a round of shots from the other side, the hits not even causing the pumpkin to flinch. He draws his bow back just about to fire off three arrows simultaneously when his phone rings.

“You’re late,” Jade says as soon as Roy’s pressed the answer button with absolutely no greeting.

“I know,” Roy says ducking as the Jack-O-Lantern breathes out fire at him. Fucking fire breathing pumpkins, for a second he wonders if they’re still in Gotham. This feels like some crazy Gotham shit, not Star City.

“I assume you’re holding things up and not Todd,” she says the clicking of her long green nails against some surface so loud he can hear it through the line.

“Have I mentioned,” Roy grumbles firing off his three arrows and ducking back down. “That I hate that you too are friends now.”

Jade just chuckles on the other line, absolutely reveling in his misery.

“I believe it’s healthy that the mother of your child and your boyfriend who is co-parenting said child have some sort of comradery,” she says and Roy can just imagine that wicked ‘it’s your fault we’re close’ smile she’s giving. “In fact you are the one who quite insisted we make some sort of attempt from day one.”

And there it is. “I wanted you to get along, not end up liking him better than me,” Roy says shooting off a few more arrows the pumpkin batting them down out of the sky. On the other side Jason fires off a few more rubber bullets angering the pumpkin further. Roy fires off another perfect shot right into the triangle eye of the pumpkin not taking it down, but distracting it enough that Jason can make a run for it and fall at Roy’s side.

“Well, that’s not hard,” Jade chuckles and Roy rolls his eyes. Lian had been so delighted when he told her that her mom would be in town for Halloween, she’d been even more delighted when Jade had agreed to join in on their group costume, so he can take a little teasing as long as Lian stays so damn happy.

“Rude,” he says knocking another bow as Jason settles down by his side reloading his guns.

“Is that Jade?” he asks popping up for a second and only narrowly missing another wave of flames his way. The flickering fire just grazes and crisps the end of his white tufts of hair.

Roy nods in the affirmative reaching out a hand to brush at the singed bit of his boyfriends’ hair.

Jason smiles a bit jumping back up and firing off a few shots.

“Tell her I said hi and this is your fault,” he says as he falls back down. Roy rolls his eyes again, they’re drinking buddies, a thing they knew he couldn’t and shouldn’t participate in, absolutely gossiping about him when he’s not around. He never should have let them spend time alone.

“I will not,” he huffs. His boyfriend can be so annoying sometimes. It’s not his fault they’re fighting this pumpkin, unlike Jason he just didn’t think it would be cool to ignore it and drive by. He shifts his words back to Jade. “Tell the princess we’ll be there in twenty minutes, no more than that, costumes at the ready and everything. We promise.”

“Promises, promises,” she says promptly hanging up without any warning. Phone etiquette is not her forte.

“We need a plan or we’re going to be facing a very angry seven-year-old, which frankly I prefer the evil pumpkin to that,” Roy says turning to Jason. Jason nods his head solemnly in agreement before eyeing their surroundings, Roy does the same a lightbulb going off when he catches sight of a bright yellow fire hydrant and the metal sheets that were once the protective guard for a business lying beside it.

Jason’s gaze follows his and from the corner of his eye Roy can see his boyfriend already getting on board with the plan he’s concocting.

“You dose it,” Roy says pulling two arrows from his quiver, knowing which ones which by touch alone. He hands one to Jason tapping at the explosive end. “I’ll stab it,” he says twirling the remaining arrow between his fingers. “Then we classic trick or treat it and stomp the damn thing out.”

Jason smiles one of those unfairly attractive, slightly dangerous smiles of his.

“You’ll know when,” he says. He presses forward kissing Roy once hard on the lips before gripping the arrow tight and taking off in the direction of the fire hydrant without another word.

Roy loops his bow over his head and turns backing up a few feet in a crouch. He isn’t even phased by the explosion when it hits. Next thing he knows there’s a spray of water falling down around him before it’s redirected the sound of it pushing against metal takes over. The pumpkin focuses its attention on Jason coughing and spitting out a few sorry flames as the water bursts it back two steps for every one it takes forward. The pumpkin continues to fight not producing a single significant burst.

Roy takes that as his queue. He jumps up rushing towards the old couches and using them to vault at the large leggy gourd his arrow at the ready. The force of his hit knocks the pumpkin back stumbling as Roy holds on pressing his arrow through roughly where he assumes a pumpkin creature would have a heart if it had one. The pumpkin trips on some rubble falling back hard into the concrete, Roy presses the arrow in deeper when it lands flicking the barely noticeable switch on the side that causes the arrow head to expand in four blades that dig into the concrete pinning the pumpkin to the ground.

Roy jumps up off of it, Jason coming up to stand by its head that thrashes about.

“Good thing I wore the steel toed boots tonight,” he says with a chuckle lifting his foot and bringing it down hard on the pumpkin head. It thrashes a little less as Jason continues his assault, Roy joining in next to him crumbling the pumpkin’s head to nothing but pumpkin pie in a matter of minutes. The rest of its limbs stilling completely.

The sounds of sirens finally ring in the distance when they’re done, the cops deciding to descend on the area now that it seems they’ve solved the problem.

“There’s a strong chance that thing was being controlled by someone and it wasn’t just a sentient freak of nature pumpkin,” Roy sighs looking down at the shattered head. He doesn’t want to have to pick up a manhunt tonight. There’s a little girl dressed to the nines ten blocks away waiting for them that will absolutely burst into tears if they don’t make it.

“Already texted Connor, Kyle’s Earth-side for a few weeks and they’re already on it,” Jason says brushing the pumpkin guts off his boots.

Roy takes back what he said about Jason being annoying, his boyfriend is amazing. He could kiss him. He can kiss him.

Roy brings both hands to Jason’s face and pulls him in kissing him hard. “Well then what the fuck are we doing standing here?” he says when he pulls away jogging towards Jason’s bike. He tosses the keys to Jason and pulls a duffle bag from the back of the bike.

“You’re driving,” he says folding up his bow and securing his quiver to the side. “I can quick change under pressure faster.”

He starts pulling at his clothes changing his pants right there in the street as blue and red lights flash closer. Jason doesn’t say a thing, doesn’t quip back like he usually would, a reaction that makes sense when he looks up and catches Jason’s eyes lingering.

“Perv,” Roy jokes shoving at him to get on the bike. Jason chuckles not looking one bit ashamed at being caught as he straddles the bike and starts it up. Roy slides onto the back holding onto Jason with one arm while rifling through the duffle bag with the other as Jason pulls away leaving the clean up to the proper authorities.

Somehow despite it being incredibly dangerous Roy changes his entire outfit on the back of the bike, only needing Jason to catch him once when he started slipping off the edge. He’s grateful for the relative simplicity of Lian’s chosen costume this year.

“You could have just waited till we got here,” Jason says slipping off the bike. Roy tosses the duffle bag at him.

“Our neighbors have seen me naked enough times,” he says securing the sandy blonde wig on his head in Jason’s side mirrors recalling the many times they’ve forgotten to close the curtains when Lian’s not home and Roy has rolled out of bed in his birthday suit.

“Well that wouldn’t be the case if you ever remembered to close the curtains. That is what they’re for,” Jason jibes shouldering the bag. Roy reaches over and grabs him by the jacket pulling him back with a shake of his head.

“I had Jade promise we’d be here in costume in twenty minutes or less, you’re flashing the neighbors today buddy,” Roy says with a goofy smile. Jason rolls his eyes but doesn’t argue. He’ll do anything to make Lian happy, anything, so he grumbles while he changes into the white sweater and flared blue pants, but doesn’t say a word otherwise.

“Mmm,” Roy says stepping close as Jason secures the ascot around his neck, the final piece of his costume. “The preppy boy look works for you.”

Jason rolls his eyes and slaps a not quite as appealing as the rest of the look wig on his dark hair. Roy smiles stepping up and pressing a quick kiss to Jason’s lips.

“I always thought Fred and Shaggy should make out,” he says entangling his fingers with Jason’s and dragging him up to the apartment. He expects a rush of excited, ready for candy seven-year-old to mow them down when they enter their home, but instead she doesn’t even notice them too busy rolling around on the floor playing tug-o-war with Ace the Bat-Hound, their own personal Scooby Doo on loan for the night.

“Seventeen minutes,” Jade’s voice says softly beside him only causing him to jump just a bit. “Not bad.”

She practically floats as she glides around them pressing soft kisses to each of their cheeks.

“Would have been longer if this one had fallen off of the back of the bike trying to change his shirt while I drove,” Jason says shaking his head and stepping into the living room patting Ace on the head first, then Lian.

“Silly boys,” Jade says patting Roy on the cheek. The red wig on her head slips slightly and Roy reaches out to fix it.

“She give you any trouble?” he asks watching as Lian twirls around in her orange and red outfit showing it off to Jason. He picks up her fake glasses from the floor as she nearly steps on them, truly putting to character Velma behavior.

Jade crosses her arms, her long dark green painted nails tapping against her arms. They don’t quite match her Daphne look, but some things Jade will never change.

“She was an angel,” she smiles. Roy smiles back chuckling when Jason slips the glasses on Lian’s face and she squints at him playfully.

Jade adjusts her green scarf and chuckles at the scene as well. “The butler makes quite the quality costume,” she says straightening out her sleeves.

Roy nods. “Alfred can do anything, I’m not entirely convinced he doesn’t have some sort of superpowers,” Roy says completely seriously.

“Nor would I, there’s members of the League who fear him more than the Bat,” Jade says with a smirk. “Don’t ever tell the Bat I said that of course, he’s bad enough without such a massive ego bruise.”

Roy laughs drawing his fingers against his lips in a ‘my lips are sealed’ gesture. Lian giggles across the room when Ace licks her face fogging up those glasses that he’s certain won’t survive the night. Jason slips them off again cleaning them with is ascot before handing them back. Lian reaches up adjusting Jason’s ascot and Roy could just about die from how sweet the whole picture is.

“Hey kiddo,” he shouts over to them. “Ready to get some candy and solve some mysteries?”

Lian claps excitedly rushing around the living room grabbing her Scooby Doo pillow case for her candy and Ace’s leash clipping it to his brown and black spotted harness.

“Candy! Candy! Candy!” she shouts Ace walking dutifully beside her as she tugs Jason along by the hand. Roy opens the door wide for them the trio rushing through, he bows slightly for Jade to go first when it’s just the two of them left behind. She rolls her eyes following along and then catching up with Lian when she shouts back for her.

Roy’s smile grows impossibly wider as he watches his little Scooby gang trail down the hall. There’s not an evil jack-o-lantern in the world that could ruin tonight for them.

[drabbles-of-writing]

Reverse Au! Dump

Don’t mind my idea dumping here. Brain decided to have fun while I was at work and I have too many wips as it is, so… Thought I’d ask before I dumped, experience. Used morningmark’s comics as a base, so if you want reference. Now this isn’t all that well compiled, but here it goes.

~

Magic in the Other World is varied as it is crazy. So many styles over the generations and not a lot of organization. There are some that try to categorize it all, but that works as well as you’d expect. Some were lost, some erased, some weren’t passed down/recorded because “the power is all mine! Ahahaha!” It took a lot of time and collaboration, but eventually a sort of system was installed to help out. Still a lot of work to do, but its a step forward. Nowadays the term Wild Magic is generally reserved for those that aren’t all that well documented and understood.

Some Magics are very powerful and desirable, but also tend to be very high risk/high reward, kinda pass/fail, pretty literally Do or Die most times. So not a lot of people can use those or are even willing to. Story says this one guy named Odin hung himself on a massive tree by his own spear for nine days, no food water or rest in constant pain before he could unlock the secret of Runes. But it’s also said he gouged out his own eye to drink from the Well of Wisdom so… 

There are lots of different ways to channel magic too: wands, staves, jewelry, certain gems, familiars, potions, enchanted armaments, chants, scripts, etc. Each tool has its own advantages and disadvantages and play into a Witches’ style. Every Witch has at least two methods of spellcasting. Only children have one. Haven’t thought of how Luz gets her Palisman though. Maybe its one of those magic Artifacts like Dr. Strange’s cloak, Elder Wand, Thor’s hammer, or a Green Lantern’s Ring. Something that can’t be recreated because the secret is lost, materials no longer exist, too hard/dangerous to make, accident that can’t be recreated, etc. Happens more often than people like.

Camilla is sometimes called the Blue Witch. She’s a healer by heart and trade, but push her and she will become a one Witch Battleship. Bismark who? Aaaaand she just deleted a whole battalion. And the fortress behind them. Hide me. There are the very rare occasions, like count on one hand rare, when someone near and dear to her heart is in trouble that she takes up her other job. She’s especially terrifying when she decides to torture, those who know how to heal the body know best how to break it. Many shades of Blue, some are very close to Black. She doesn’t necessarily hate Humans exactly, but doesn’t have the highest of regard from past experiences.

Luz has training and is a proficient Witch for her age. Camilla and her father were adamant about having a general knowledge/skillset alongside her specialized skill. Jack of all trades and a master of none, still better than a master of one. She has gone through the system for her magic with varying success. Oracle magic? Zero talent. Bard classes? She can play an instrument, but can’t sing at the same time. When she does sing she tires too hard and messes up. It’s only when she doesn’t try, like absently singing along with a song or playing by her heart, that she’s good at it. Beasts? Can use them, but would rather play with them. Bleeding heart and all that. She does have a good handle on healing magic partly due to Camilla drilling necessary skills into her and partly osmosis. Her father arranged for some CQC lessons from an old friend of his which the girl loved. You get the idea. It wasn’t until she discovered Glyphs that she found her niche and her skills took off. Glyphs are one of those ‘eccentric’ or 'archaic’ styles since they haven’t been used in so long after being lost and are barely understood. She still has a long way to go, but she is on her way.

Luz never really had much in the way of friends, partly cuz of high profile parents which leads to certain pressures and a target on her head, partly because of her magic style and personality, and partly because of the trouble been going on. Luz grew up her whole life with this tension of a group of anarchists trying to burn society that’s just trying to do the right thing. The anarchists started small, but have been a growing problem the past few decades with talk how to 'reshape the world’ in not a good way. Anyone with critical thinking skills can tell this is a bad idea, but they are too brainwashed to notice. They harass anyone who doesn’t follow their rhetoric and attack anyone who even questions them. Luz’s parents put a real kink in a lot of their plans for years, which makes Luz guilty by association. 

Luz got caught in one of those sudden larger scuffles and was accidentally chucked/blown through a portal created by an attempted tactical retreat that went off course. Hence why she can’t go home because she hasn’t learned how to do portals yet. Those are high level anyway so how did these guys pull it off so easily? Luz has a hard time blending in obviously. Learning how to use a phone was a fun endeavor. Internet was a trip. Luz is amazed how these people can do all this cool stuff without magic. Keep a low profile sure, she can pass off as a weird out of town kid. Keep the beanie on, underperform in gym and stuff because some things don’t change, like genetics. Someone sharp eyed will see discrepancies. The Beanie has a small Glamor spell built in that covers her witchy traits but she forgot the ears which is why it sits like it does. Luz can erase memories in case she has an accident, but it’s less of a 'remove my face from this picture with a scalpel’, and more of a 'lemme just hack off the past hour or three from your brain with an axe.’ If she tries to take any more then she starts burning into some more dangerous territory and those Wiped are groggy and disoriented for a while after already. Then the magic attacks start happening and her heroic instinct/anti-bystander complex kicks in and there goes that. It runs in the family so Camilla isn’t surprised in the slightest when she finds out.

“Oh titan, why did you curse me with another me?” “I’m right here Mami!”

Eda has a shack very akin to Grunkle Stan. Lots of junk that Lilith can’t believe that people are dumb enough to buy. She’s also involved in some not so legal dealings on the side. Well, Eda isn’t actually hurting anybody and the tax dollars she should be paying would only go towards some politicians’ next yacht or another pointless overseas 'investment’ instead of where it’s supposed to go so. Eda does give some good intel on occasion and a place to vent so Lillith overlooks her. Lil’s more of the secret police for witches and a petty crook isn’t part of her job anyway. Eda understands Luz’s predicament and is willing to help. The cover story is that Camilla work in hospitals and has to work crazy hours while her dad passed away so is living with Eda for a while. King is that kind of critter that grew up weird and acts like ten different animals all the time.

Gus is the nerdy kid who infodumps on everybody, even if they’re not listening. Loves anything fantasy/sci-fi related and plays Minecraft too. A good kid at heart, but needs some social skills. Keep him away from anything more sugary than tea. Luz learned a lot listening to him. Not all of it is entirely useful, but still. Some of his ramblings give her some good ideas for magic and stuff, like putting Glyphs on cards.

The Blights are the cool rich kids obviously, and have some discipline and social issues. Big family name makes them intimidating for normies and a meal ticket for the unsavory. These kids need real friends. They decided to act out to get some attention from the parents who then decided to ignore them. “If you’re going to act like a child tantrum, get treated like one.” Ed is perfect for Drama classes, if he were allowed to partake. Can’t decide what Em is great at, hacking perhaps? Amity’s car is an inheritance from the only family to treat her as such Twins aside, even if she’s too young to remember it. She only remembers that she has feelings surrounding the car. All three of them were pretty impressed with Luz for standing up to them, calling them out on their shit, and not giving a crap about their family name. Being treated like a normal person is pretty weird. Can we get her to do that again?

Amity tried dating Boscha once, didn’t work out very well. Boscha is still hurting over Amity’s comment of “I’d rather go date the new weird kid (Luz) than go back to you.” It’s one of the reasons she goes after Luz. She has that kind of Bud personality from Spider Man, feels lesser and so acts out so much. 

“Wow, this new Witch is amazing. Not as cool as the original Witch.”

“What is it with the Witch with you?”

“Oh, she’s a hero. Looks out for the city and the little guy. She inspires me. Makes me want to be a bigger person. *sees Luz* What’s up Luz-er?”

~

And that’s what I got right now. I know there was more, but it’s lost to the void right now. Might come back later, maybe not. Lemme know what you think.

............

DAMN you weren’t lying when you said you had an info-dump this is *chefs kiss* you got me intrigued now

[robinrequiems]

mmm more clishes.... Idk reverse background or personality kind of au? :/

ill do you one better 1 of my favorite mutual, reverse & personality au, they’re the same age bc I have a tiny idea *shy hands*

this is uh. a really long one thay started to lag my phone too

• oh god guys I got vivid memories of ra’s being a good grandfather and I can’t get it out of my head

• i hate it ur honor

• but ok. krypton didn’t get blown up, instead, they all migrated to earth, more specifically kansas.

• the kryptonians are angry and enraged, they are treated as if they are monsters when they arrived peacefully. they tried to kill them.

• so in return, the aliens killed the humans.

• they created a secret underground. that secret underground is to help aliens or meta humans and kill humans.

• all of them hated aliens and sought to destroy them. until kal el found a reporter trying to help aliens who were injured due to an explosion the government did to take out one of their bases.

• kal el.. fell in love with her. lois lane, she is an reporter fighting for alien rights.

• he met with her. in secret. and they.. had formed a connection. an amazing one.

• and then they had a baby.

• at the alien base, but.. she was human and people did not like that. so they wiped her mind and made her believe that they never had a kid. like the last few months.. wasnt real. she had gone missing those months since the aliens didn’t want her trying to hide the baby, they made her believe the last few months was spent in a coma and kal had found her and taken her to a hospital.

• he couldn’t see her anymore. he mourned for her lost presence, but they would have killed her if she stayed.

• but now they had precious jon el. he would be the highlight of their cause.

• they noticed his powers came in faster than kal’s, so they perfected his powers.

• he was going to bring humanity down on order of his grandfather, jor el

• kal saw his son break slowly. loses that childhood innocence that kal tried to maintain.

• his sons amazing bright blue eyes dulling, loses the spark that he cherished.

• kal was going to get him out of there, try to refuge the remaining childhood he had. even if it killed him.

—

• damian wayne! the bright bubbly and prodigal son of bruce and talia wayne ( b & t are married, suck my— ). the press loved him, he was just.. him. he was the baby and was cute, the cutest ever

• he was an expert in martial arts due to the training his grandfather, father, mother, & so much more gave him

• ra’s owns a farm. he’s.. sorry all i get is farm ra’s vibes due to.. something:) think endgame thanos, yk?

• he was the baby robin, one that you never messed with due to the herd of heroes who would come save him

—

• kalel left jon with Lois, a brief note explaining the current situation

• it was weird, jon was ten and was meeting lois for the first time

“Hi, honey.. I’m lois.”

“I know.. Dad told me about you.”

“Oh.. right. What do you want for dinner?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“You have to eat.”

“No! I’m not hungry!”

• an explosive, superpower alien. Lois is way out of her head.

• he had outbursts, a lot of them. it was hard, really hard for Lois; she took some time off from the planet and focused on jon

• he broke a lot of stuff. he sometimes could not control his strength, but she was working with him

• but then one night he ran away, or flew away. he felt remorse for making Lois cry. she saw this as a win, but she lost her kid

• but then a little robin found him

“Um. Are you okay?”

“Huh-what- what do you want? Why are you talking to me?”

“Because you look sad? Yknow - hugs make people feel better. My ahki ( brother ) hugs me when I’m upset and it makes me feel better.”

“Don’t touch me.”

*Damian walked to him, smiling softly* “cmon, i won’t hurt you, silly. I’m robin.”

“A bird?”

“Haha- no, a vigilante- i sorta snuck out. My family can be a bit overbearing- and I sorta embarrassed myself at this theater thing.. some person—“

“Did I ask?”

“No.. sorry.”

“Hey— what are you doing - !”

“Hugging you.”

Jon won’t admit that he likes it, it’s different and weird, like this traffic cone in front of him. Jon pushed him off though, making himself stumble and fall on his ass.

“Ow..”

“Don’t touch me.” With rhat, Jon flew off into the night. Damian didn’t know who this boy was. But he intended on finding out. Even if it killed him. ( maybe not that extreme, but- )

• look damian was smart, right? smarter than average, and smarter than everyone in his school. teachers included ( ha ha )

• so he had to find this boy! so he started looking into aliens. until his family put an end to it

“Damian, this is dangerous.”

“But baba ( dad )”

“No. Go to your room.”

“Ugh!”

• he did slam his door shut if you were wondering

• he will find the mysterious alien boy, okay? he will!

• his brothers teased him and said he had a crush

• no he didn’t! the boy was really mean, he pushed damian- why would he do that? whatta jerk!

• but damian did find him again when he ventured off to metropolis to visit an old friend, colin.

“Alien boy!”

“That’s not my name, bird boy.”

“And that’s not mine. You didn’t tell me yours!”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“It’s safer for you.”

“I can defend myself. You sound so silly, please tell me your name?”

“No.”

“‘Least the first initial?”

“Fine. J.”

“J it is.”

“Yours?”

“Wha- what? I told you my code named.”

“It’s only fair.”

“.. Okay. D.”

“D. Okay.”

• damian talked to him for a bit before jon did fly off when damian was talking about the stars, damian knew he was getting closer to him

• but he got grounded. whoops. he wasn’t supposed to go out

“Give me your phone, Damian.”

“What if I go out? I need a phone, baba.”

“I.. Your computer”

“School work.”

“Switch.”

“What! No- but-!”

“Damian.”

• yeah damian was very mad, but what made him madder was that apparently, his family was listening to the secret conversations between J and him. but d didn’t know that yet..

• his family needed to track down J, they didn’t care if people were aliens, the JL had aliens.. but they had no idea who this boy was, and the way damian was looking into the underground alien sanctuary, that worried rhem. Damian was smart and cunning, but he is able to portray an innocent persona, they all had the habit of undermining his intellect, so if damian began looking into this, it was for a reason

—

• jon found that D rambled. A lot. Even when jon didn’t respond. Jon doesn’t even know how D always found where he was. It’s so weird.

• but Lois noticed a change in jon.. he was. calmer. she didn’t know how, but when he went out, he came back calmer.

“I have to go to Gotham for a gala hosted by Bruce Wayne, would you.. like to come?”

“Do you want me to?”

“I’d like you to, but you don’t have to.”

“.. Fine.”

—

• lois walked to bruce with Jon in tow.

• “bruce.” “Lois, looking lovely as always.. who is this?” “Jon, my son. Say hi, Jon.” “Hi..” “He can hang around one of my sons— Damian, if you want? I’m sure him and his friends would love to have Jon around.” “What do you say Jon? Would you like that?” “Not really..” “I assume you, Damian doesn’t bite. Not anymore. And he’s pretty accepting.” “.. Fine.”

• damian was called over by his father and he did a double take. J. Was here. In front of him. Damian just internally shrugged and held a hand out, “Hi! I’m Damian! Wanna go play with my friends! there’s a game room so we don’t have to be with the gross adults.. you can also just.. sit there. My friends are pretty.. Loud?” “Okay.”

• jon had to take his hand back from damian since damian began eagerly tugging him.

“Damian seems to be accepting him pretty easily.” “I hope they can be friends, Jon.. doesn’t have any. I have only recently got him from his.. father.” “Odd, does he go to school?” “No, not yet, I’m still trying to get him adjusted.” “Ah.. Damian goes to West-Reeves. Maybe he could go there?” “That private school? Bruce.. I cannot afford that- not all of us are millionaires.” “Mhm.. I could pay.” “I can’t let you do that.” “He could get a scholarship.” “In what?” “Academics or athletics.” “Ill.. Talk to him about it. “ “well, ms lane, I just go talk with potential partners, I’ll see you later.”

—

• j got accepted into west reeves under a athletic thingy.

• that was cool. they became best friends!

• sorta

• flashforward 5 years to 15, their dynamic only grew. Damian told Jon his identity, jon didn’t become a hero, but did learn how to stitch damian up because tje idiot showed up bleeding a lot.

• everything was going great

On the phone, Damian: J! J! Guess what’

J: you’re so loud, D, what?

D: I got the lead! In the play!

J: no fucking way?

D: way!

J: Good j—— *crash*

D: J-?

D: J- Jonathan?

D: oh no.

• the call was ended abruptly. Jon always finished his sentences. Something was wrong. Something was really wrong.

• so damian called Lois quickly and ran downstairs to the batcave, lois wasn’t picking up either, she normally always picked up or at least sent a text. She did neither

“Baba!”

“Damian? You should be asleep.”

“Something’s wrong! Somethings really wrong!”

“Jon and Lois- Jon- I heard a crash- and- and”

“Habibi.”

“Mama?”

“Breathe; tell me what’s wrong.”

“I was on a call with Jon.. I told him about the play since I wanted him to go and stuff. Then I heard a crash. And then the line went dead. I’m scared— what if something happened!”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions, what happened with Lois?”

“She didn’t pick up the phone— she normally does! Or she texts me and says she will call back!”

“Maybe she is asleep.”

“No! You need to believe me!”

“Damian, calm down, I do, we will go to see if they’re okay, you get back to bed.”

“No. I’m coming with.”

“No you arent.”

“But!”

“Listen to your father.”

• okay fine. He’ll listen, damian went back up to his room for half an hour before calling his friends to do a rescue mission. He had an extra suit in his room, he can do this.

• with his team, it consisted of shazam, abuse, nobody, and green lantern, himself too, of course.

• captain marvel picked him up once he was ready and they met up with the other 3.

Maya: you said he’s in trouble?

Dami: Yes.

Colin: than let’s go save him!

• they went and saved the bestie, nearly got killed too

• oh and now damians sorta probably grounded when batman shows up 🤡

J:You came for me..?

D:We all did.. why are you so surprised?

J: * wraps his arms around damian * thank you

D: i- yeah.. anytime. what’re friends for?

• friends. Jon liked that. Jon also liked the way Damian’s cheeks went red when jon hugged him

• jon knew he chuckled before Damian’s arms wrapped around him. hard. Damian was a hard hugger

• jon became a superhero at 16. Damian had even more of a reason to sneak into his window every night now! Lois had began thinking the two were dating

D: Us? Dating? Please! He is way too good for me!

J:

L: awwww, gosh, how haven’t you been swept off your feet yet?

J: he has, but he has rejected them all

D: what can I say? I’m a gay theater kid ( this is a /j i promise a big big joke ) so they gotta be dramatic enough to put up with me, AND they need to do something big and bold to actually catch my eye

L: *laughs* take notes, jon

J: mom!

• jon has gone to a few of Damian’s plays and to dress rehearsals

• he was also there to watch damian wreck a car during his drivers test

D: there was a fricking squirrel there, J!

J: are you sure? maybe you’re just a shitty driver?

D: you’re a shitty driver!

J: cmon don’t pout

D: ‘m not!

• he was pouting. oopsie. jon did get him ice cream after

• jon goes by abnormal, because he’s an alien and because I don’t have any other ideas

J: this girl asked me out

M: oh? who! tell us!

D: ..what?

J: yeah, in my physics class

T: ooh! get it, jonno

M: give us a name, coward!

J: her name is Charlotte— but she goes by charlie. she’s.. different. red head. pretty freckles—

M: pretty freckles? does Jonny have a crush?! Oh my gosh, our sons growing up, Tai!

T: im about to start sobbing

J: fuck offff— D?

D: huh?

J: you’re being quiet, you plotting??

D: uh. yeah! duh- *he nudged jons shoulder with his, forcing a grin* figuring out ways to embarrass you in front of your girlfriend.

J: sucha brat- * jon ended up putting Damian into a playfully chokehold *

• damian just played along. he just smiled and watched as jon began walking with her instead of their friend group

M: hey- kid- you alright?

D: I’m onto a year younger than you Maya.

M: tou didn’t answer the question

D: I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be? You’re silly.

• tai ended up pulling him aside

T: when are you going to tell him?

D: how am I supposed to when he basically has a girlfriend now?

T: are you just gonna sit there and pine all day??

D: yes, thank you for understanding

• he’s a stubborn little shit and will absolutely not confess, his best friend is happy, who is he to ruin that?

T: he’s totally jealous.

J: so- do you- do you think it’ll work? That he’ll be surprised?

T: totally

J: thank you for lending me your girlfriend, Maya

M: anytime- not literally- you aren’t having her again

• this was all a trick, sorry, d.. jon does like you

• ( hope you all saw that foreshadowing earlier :) )

• damian needed big and dramatic. jon was gonna do that. even if he was uh. sorta aloof and shy.

• he learned how to sing and play the guitar for Damian. maya and tai were gonna scatter flower petals onto the floor for Damian to follow ( they will tell him too too )

• the whole school will probably watch as Damian finally gets a big dramatic proposal

• damian will love it

M: just follow the petals!

D: I’m confused

M: trust us

• damian did and followed the petals and low and behold, jon kent with a guitar and small smile

D: j-jon?

J: hey. I wrote you a song

D: no you didn’t

J: shut up and listen dumbass

*after that amazing song of how Jon asked damian out to homecoming*

D: that was amazing

J: dramatic enough for you?

D: YES! ( damian went and sprinted to jon, hugging him so tightly before leaning in to kiss him ) we are boyfriends now right

J: yeah, idiot

D: ur the idiot

• I can’t add anymore because myphones really laggy, I hope you enjot

[stopbeingrude]

Hellooooo guys. This time the chapter turned out to be longer than I expected. I hope you won't mind... ,, I like the rain, it always seemed like the only thing that was like me…" Chapter 3 In Tempeville. The sun was setting so it must have been after 8 p.m. The couple sat quietly in their wagon, trying to occupy themselves with talking. The conversation quickly turned to the topic of their wedding, which was to take place in 5 months. However, the ice mage couldn't help but feel, that his fiancée was somewhere else with her thoughts. Several times he caught her not listening to him... And don't get him wrong Gray was aware that Juvia had been going through some really tough times over the last few days, but that didn't change the fact that he felt a little neglected. - "Darling..Juvia is sorry , but she's really tired , you won't be offended if she takes a nap for a while.... right?" - said Juvia, looking completely exhausted. - "Eh no..come on , lie down"-he sighed, then covered his fiancée with a blanket when she rested her head on his lap. All these events must have worn her out. No wonder. As he stroked her blue hair, the boy looked at her face, which was even paler than usual..In addition to signs of fatigue, worry could be seen all over it. He felt a strange prick in his heart. It was true that they had explained everything to each other recently, but he still couldn't push away the strange feeling that it wasn't all. -'She already told you everything, what are you so worried about? That you're not the center of her attention? Since when do you act like a brat?- he asked himself- 'Everything will turn out fine. We will find the information about the place of his death and everything will be back to normal. WE will be back to normal '- he encouraged himself. After all, the patient ones shall be rewarded… *******************************

When they reached their destination, it was little before 10 p.m . With lanterns everywhere, Gray was able to get a very clear look at the area, despite the prevailing darkness. Tempeville was a fairly small town. Definitely smaller than Magnolia. With the map in their hands, they headed towards the center of town, passing many houses, a library and the occasional store. When he turned his gaze toward the train station, he was greeted by acres of forest. Hills of green surrounded the town on almost every side, making it seem even smaller. To be honest, the place seemed quite charming to him. Surely, once they had rested after their journey and found some time, they would go for a little walk to explore the surroundings. Juvia could use a little stress relief... They headed for the nearest hotel to finally get some rest. To Juvia's shock, she came face to face with Mrs. Revee. It surprised her immensely. What could this woman be doing here at this hour? 'Right, she told me about her new business, back when we talk at the market …'- reminded herself, water mage - "Oh Juvia?! Darling, what a coincidence. I never thought I'd see you here… Did you decide to visit us after you met me? Oooh I'm so flattered... ..And who might be this handsome gentleman with you, Hmm?. Like mother like daughter, she always attracted the best looking ones too yohoho."- the lady laughed loudly -'Ymm what's going on here? '- thought the slightly embarrassed man. He really felt out of place. They only came here to find a room for the night. He wasn't looking forward to chatting with some strange woman… - "Juvia is also glad to see you. I decided to go on...a little vacation to some places I have visited in the past.....And this is my future husband Gray."- The girl said with a smile, turning her gaze towards her fiancé. The look she gave him, full of adoration and love, made the man feel a pleasant warmth. The blushing man returned the smile. Oh if only they were alone at this moment. -"Hmm..H-hello , Gray Fullbuster.."- he extended his hand towards an older woman. Lydia was a rather short ,plump lady. She looked like she could have been in her late forties. Her brown hair was tied up in a ponytail and her teal eyes, despite her age, still shone with a youthful glow. The most striking thing about her, however, was the sheer number of pins in her hair. - 'God...I understand that some hair is difficult to handle, but what the hell is this?" - thought Devil Slayer...Suddenly he was pulled out of his thoughts by a woman's shout. -"EXCUSE ME ?! HUSBAND ?! OH MY GOD!!! "- screamed the woman loudly, VERY loudly -"...JUVIAAAA! Who would have thought?! It seems to me that not long ago you were learning how to read...time flies so fast..! - she wailed, pulling the girl into a hug, almost choking her to death -'Well, it's clear who influenced Juvia's emotional side '- observed Gray, then he spoke to weird brunette -"I really don't want to disturb you, but we're a bit tired after our trip and we'd like to rent a room…" - "..You don't have to tell me anything Honey, I got it. You'll get the one on the second floor…number 14- she handed him key-…. Boy what are you doing?!" - The woman said as Gray pulled out two sacks full of jewels. - Hmm....I wanted to pay you….How much is it? Probably something over 8,000 jewels per night, right? - "NO, NO, NO,... Sweetie, you'll pay me when your time here is up...besides why would you pay me that much..Pftt..? "- Lydia chuckled. - "..Mrs. Revee, Juvia...we can't abuse your hospitality like that..!"- said the terrified blunette. After all, they didn't know how long they'd be staying... -"...~Oh..Cut the crap, baby. You're not just a customer, after all. I'll take you to the bedroom now. Breakfast is at 8:30 a.m .Dinner at 1:00p.m . Remember that…~." ******************************* - "Dear God. I thought that woman would never go away..." - Gray sighed, throwing himself onto their bed after making sure Lydia was gone. Juvia looked at him slightly amused. - " Don't exaggerate , she was just happy to

see me..."- Juvia said with a smile, while taking off her boots - " I would like to remind you that you have seen each other before. Like 2 days ago? Besides, she didn't need to call her family and staff just to say hello to us..."- stated the black-haired man , already fixing his pillow. - "Juvia, for one, was very happy to see people treating her nicely" -said Juvia, slightly offended by the fact that her beloved was so mean towards Mrs. Lydia. Admittedly, she was always...quite loud and sometimes unpredictable….but that doesn't change the fact of how loving, understanding and caring Mrs Revee was. She was more of a mother to her than..... -"Okay, but it's almost midnight and no one in their right mind would be having a chat at this hour. " - answered the ice mage. He did not want to seem rude, but let's remember that a few hours train ride is not necessarily the most pleasant and relaxing experience. -"Okay, okay...You're tired. I understand. No one will bother you anymore. Sweet dreams, my poor baby..."- she said jokingly, heading towards the bathroom, while trying to untie her green corset. This action did not escape the attention of the black-haired man. - "...Oh?..Are you….going to take a bath?...Actually, I could use one too..."- started the man with a small smirk, already getting out of bed. ... Honestly..It's been like two weeks since they... - "You were tired just a minute ago. Didn't you? Good night…~"- the woman slammed the bathroom door behind her before the man had time to say anything. Despite the closed door, he could clearly hear his Juvia laughing. Offended, Fullbuster went back to bed. What did he do to deserve this kind of treatment? Fully awake by now and bored, Devil Slayer decided to look at the newspapers. As he flipped through the pages, he came across many articles. However, the ones that caught his attention the most were about the dark guilds. What? Dark guilds are prowling in such a tiny town? What would they even be looking for here? Before he knew it, he was looking through older ones, from weeks, months ago… He eventually came across an interview from about a year ago in which the township mayor Bernard Nirious was interviewed. -"Mr. Nirious, for many long years your town has struggled with the problem of attacks by Axel Ventro's gang. We know that the police have already taken all necessary measures to catch those people. However, do you have any suspicions as to why they continue to return to you over the course of several years?" - "But of course, Margaret. The matter is very simple. It's all about revenge. Some of you may not remember this anymore, but almost 30 years ago Axel's father Caspian and his men attacked Tempeville. It was a terrible slaughter, I get chills every time I look at that damn forest... If it hadn't been for two powerful mages who suddenly appeared on the day of the attack, I don't know what would have happened to the town... Fortunately, everything ended well and old Ventro was put behind bars. But let me tell you, he didn't last long there. About a year after the incident he managed to escape. When police finally got on his trail, they found him, but he was already dead. The kid wants revenge on our heroes, because he believes that they were behind the murder of his father." - "I see, so don't your saviors feel threatened?" - "Well...Miss Lockser has been dead for about 25 years now…" 'Lockser ?!'- immediately noticed Gray. 'So it was Ms. Eliana who saved this town…….which means the other one must have been…' -".. It's really sad to see such young people leave this world, but unfortunately she was struck down by some bloody disease..... As for our other hero Jeremiah Agam, he lived in our village for quite a while. If my memory serves me right, he took care of Eliana's baby for a while. Poor little thing...To lose parents at such a young age? Horrible..... In later years Agam began to leave, as he said himself, on business matters, so he was seen less and less. He must have died on one of his missions, because after year x773, we

completely lost contact with him... - "If they are both dead, why does Ventro still not give up?" -" I think that question would have to be asked of Axel himself…" Gray decided to put his thoughts in order. Jerry took a new job. Juvia mentioned that this job was the reason he left her…..because it was too dangerous. Since suddenly out of nowhere Jerry stopped coming back to Tempeville... is it possible that he knew about this whole Axel guy...? His thoughts were interrupted by Juvia, who finally decided to come out of the bathroom. -"What are you reading?" - She asked while wiping her hair dry. - "Juvia! Come here quickly and read it "- the man wasted no time throwing a newspaper in her direction. Juvia, taken aback, started to read. Gradually new emotions began to appear on her face. First surprise, then unrest, and finally... Anger? To her fiancé's astonishment, she reared up with sudden fury. - "..What kind of bullshit is this?! This idiot is invading a town just because he thinks Jerry killed his old man..?! Jerry?! Of all the people in the world... ?! " - deep down she knew that she shouldn't scream at this hour, but she couldn't control herself. Gray was afraid to speak up. He had seen her angry, but not like this...Plus she had never cursed before. Juvia took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She had noticed lately how tense she was and how easy it was to piss her off ....She should probably start drinking those teas , she's been hearing about. - "Juvia...I didn't mean to upset you. I was just saying that if Jerry started leaving the village, maybe he knew about those guys. You told me yourself that he claimed his job was dangerous. I'm not saying he was directly responsible for the old man's death, but maybe...."- he gulped- "...he was connected to it in some way...?- Gray uncertainly raised his gaze towards his beloved, being prepared for another outburst, but instead of that he saw that the girl held a hand to her temple area. Juvia didn't know what was going on. She suddenly felt intense pain, was it from the stress? She needed to sit down...or - "Oi , what is going on?!' - asked the frightened mage, immediately appearing at her side -" My head... It's ... Can you give me some water? - the man did it right away. -"There must be some painkillers in here somewhere...Give me a moment," - said the concerned fiance, as moved towards his suitcase. Juvia kept sitting on the bed. She couldn't believe that Jerry would hurt someone like this. He fought with such people quite often, but everything always ended in a fairly peaceful way. These people ended up battered, but that's about it.. Why did Gray think that he might have…. The moment when he said goodbye to her appeared before her eyes, the woman felt suddenly cold. -"......I've always been aware of the fact that one day I would be in danger. But you have nothing to do with it. I won't let anything happen to you…'' 'Jerry... Are you... No…' -".. it's nice that you don't hold a grudge against these children....But in my opinion, not everyone deserves forgiveness.…" '..No , that doesn't..' -"...People are capable of many things when something threatens them or their loved ones" -'...Calm down, take a deep breath..'- blunette said to herself, trying with all her might to calm herself down. Just like a few nights ago, tears started running down her face. No matter how hard she tried to convince herself otherwise, what Gray was saying was highly possible... - "Juvia I have it.....Juvia?! Does it hurt that much? Here...Swallow it quickly...Maybe I'll put some ice on it..or.." - " Gray…"- said man suddenly froze. -"......Y-yes..?" -" You might be right..about Jerry...." -" I..Juvia...listen to me, I understand that this is a lot for you....Come here - the boy wrapped his arms around her -...I didn't say he was responsible for the murder, just that he might be connected to it, or at least to the group. That could be the key to finding some information about him... Do you get it..?"- water mage nodded. -"I'm sorry, I shouldn't yell

like that...." -'' Well being honest you gave me quite a scare "- he said with a chuckle. - "It's not everyday you see the polite and refined Juvia Lockser, using such vulgar words..." - the man added cockily. Blunette couldn't help but smile. How is it that he can be grumpy and mean one moment , tender and caring next and then playful and cocky another? Gray Fullbuster is really an interesting case.... - "Now let's go to sleep, it will do us good... and tomorrow we will try to do something" - he said covering them both with a quilt and they both fell into a deep sleep. Neither of them realized, however, that their rather loud exchange of words had not escaped Lydia's ears. - "So this is about Jerry after all?"- she said to herself as she sipped her tea in her private room. - "Of course it had to be about him. Do you really think after all trouble she's been through she'd want to come back here out of her own free will?" the woman continued. That boy's words still rang in her ears..

He could have been connected to the group, that's why he started to leave.' Something didn't feel right here. Jerry always despised these kinds of people after all. Why would he be connected to them in any way? Brunette woman had no idea. It didn't sound like something he could do at all. But what could she know? Yes, she and Jerry rather liked each other. You might even say they were friends. But that didn't mean she knew everything about the golden-haired man. This is where someone closer to him would come in handy. A picture of a man she knew well suddenly appeared before her eyes. -'' It's possible that he has already come back" - she thought, running towards room 7 on the first floor and then bumping into the man she just wanted to find as soon as possible. - "Hi, Lydia, I didn't expect to see anyone so late at night. I hope I didn't accidentally wake you up, I tried to be as quiet as a mouse - he answered with a light laugh. -" No, no, no... You know.., I was just about to go to you. I...need your help - the little woman looked at the man. - "Oh really? What could you possibly need at this hour…"- the man asked with a big grin-"...Is this about…." - "It's about Jerry…"- she interrupted him. The smile was completely gone from the huge man's face. Instead it was replaced by anxiety. Why had she decided to talk about this subject? - "....I...Lydia, I've mentioned many times that I don't know much myself…" - "...I know there are some things you don't want to tell me about. I get it. Really. But..Juvia is here and I'm sure you're aware of the fact that she would want every last bit of information.... "- determined woman looked at the man in front of her, waiting for any answer. But the man stood completely still. Revee did not know what was happening at that moment. It was strange to see a talkative and cheerful doctor, standing completely silent, looking somewhere into the distance. Had she said something wrong? She thought that since Toshi and Jerry were close friends maybe he would be able to… - "Juvia?.....You mean Eliana's child?...Juvia Lockser... she's here?" Toshi asked, agitated. - "...Yes, she arrived here about two hours ago... I accidentally heard that it was just to find out what exactly happened to Jerry. They...well she and her man.... think he was somehow connected to the Ventro attacks." After a brief moment of silence, probably to collect his thoughts, Dr. Toshi Rall, whispered - "T-tomorrow...tell her I want to see her aroud 12.... I'll do my best...For now, I need to sleep...G-good night...-the doctor headed toward his room. The brunette also headed towards her bedroom. She didn't know if she did the right thing...but one was certain. Poor Juvia could not leave town without answers. ******************************* Side note: I've noticed that some people want to be tagged when they follow some fanfiction or author. So I thought, why not? So if anyone wishes to do so, let me know. Previous chapters

https://stopbeingrude.tumblr.com/post/662943372250677248/to-save-you-time-i-like-the-rain-it-always

[ladykissingfish]

Halloween with the Akatsuki

Konan

Dress-up isn’t really for her, and neither is going out to join in any festivities. She prefers to go the homemade treats and scary movie route, staying either by herself or with her fellow Akatsuki members who think the same way. She’s the one who will decorate the house (often with Tobi’s help) with orange and purple lights, hanging ghosts and witches, and an entirely too-real-looking scarecrow. Might decide to wear some spooky-printed pajamas and/or a matching robe. Also makes herself of use to anyone who’s dressing up and needs help applying face paint or makeup. She also stays up the latest to ensure that those who do go out make it home safe and sound, although she doesn’t tell anyone that this is why she’s still awake.

Deidara and Hidan:

Normally these two don’t get along (to put it mildly) and avoid each other like the plague. However, on Halloween, it’s a different story. These two are the youngest in the Akatsuki and therefore much more into the “holiday spirit” than the others. They’ll help each other with costumes (Hidan figures that his normal getup/ritual black and white paint is scary enough, and Deidara will dress as a literal “bang”; bright, flashy clothing ((definitely with a cape)) with small handmade explosives set to go off at regular intervals). Deidara will likely be made to take Tobi trick or treating during the early hours of the evening, and Hidan will tag along; not because he likes candy but because he figures the sugar will give him a needed boost of energy for the rest of the evening. Once Deidara finishes with Tobi, he and Hidan will set out for some greater fun. Haunted houses are their favorite; they can separate themselves from the crowd and hide within the exhibits, to scare the bejesus out of everyone else. Deidara can throw as many bombs as he wants ((and at point-blank range)), and Hidan can lure countless unsuspecting sacrifices people into the darkness; and the best part of it? Everyone thinks it’s just part of the show. It’s only when the others realize that the “fake blood” and “fake dead bodies” aren’t so fake that they decide to dip out. Likely to end the night sneaking Kakuzu’s sake from his room, getting completely shit-faced, eating ALL of Tobi’s candy (which he’ll cry about to no end in the morning), then passing out face-down on the floor. Will have to be dragged to their own rooms by Sasori and Kakuzu, and in the morning Kakuzu will be as loud as humanly possible to punish the two hungover idiots for stealing his alcohol.

Tobi

A holiday whose sole purpose is to get as much free candy as possible? Sign. Him. The FUCK. Up. He doesn’t really bother with much of a costume (after all he’s already wearing a mask that greatly resembles a lollipop) but might adorn it with a set of cat ears and tail. He’ll beg his senpai to take him trick or treating (which will be refused at first because “You’re a grown man for fuck’s sake, hm!”, but then Pein and Konan will use some “gentle persuasion” on the blonde until Tobi’s wish is granted). He’s thorough with it; he’s had Zetsu infiltrate houses for weeks beforehand to find out who has what candy, so he knows the best route to take. When he’s done (or rather when Deidara’s patience has run out) he’ll go back to the hideout and start eating his hard-earned treats. But not too much; because Konan is also making pumpkin and ghost shaped cookies and green-dyed hot chocolate. Will end the night watching scary movies (during which he’ll hide behind a pillow) with Konan and Kakuzu (Kakuzu insists the movies are boring but for some reason he has yet to leave the room). Sometimes accidentally slips into Obito voice when talking about how much he “gets” Michael Myers. 9/10 will fall asleep and be covered with a blanket to stay on the couch. Also 9/10 will wake up to find his candy gone because of senpai and the jerk Hidan, and will sob about it until Deidara caves and goes out and buys him several bagfuls of (now conveniently discounted) Halloween candy.

Kakuzu

Likes to answer the door for trick or treaters, but instead of candy he’ll give out what he feels is “more helpful”. Like, pamphlets on how to start a 401k, or advice on what stocks are a good investment, or tips how to save the most when shopping at the grocery store. Most children are unappreciative of the old grouch’s “treats”, however, and the Akatsuki house always ends up heavily egged and TP’d. But hey ... that means free eggs ((the ones that aren’t too damaged, anyway)) and free toilet paper: win-win. When not answering the door, he joins some of the others in their “scary” movie fest. Not because he thinks the flicks are in anyway scary ((to him they seem more like comedies)) but he likes to analyze the actions of the main characters to see how and where they went wrong; good practice for future missions.

Pein

Thinks the “holiday” is utterly pointless, but gives his blessing for the others to indulge in in however they see fit.

Zetsu

This is the night of the year that Zetsu brings in the most revenue to the Akatsuki. He scopes out what places are having costume contests with cash prizes, and he enters, and literally always wins first place. Nobody can figure out how he “made” a costume so wonderfully realistic, with the unique dual skin-tone and the lush foliage. This is also a good time for him to indulge in sweet treats ... and NOT the candy kind. Lots of dumb teenagers like to wander out to the woods and have Halloween parties; their exuberance and intoxication lets them see Zetsu as just another guy with an awesome get-up. Getting one or two or ten of them away from the group is child’s play, and devouring them? Easier than taking candy from a Tobi. Sometimes will take a severed hand or foot and enter ANOTHER contest as a carnivorous Venus fly trap.

Itachi and Kisame

Neither of these two like to go out, so they spend time at the house together. Kisame goes out the day before and raids a pumpkin patch, and the two spend a good part of Halloween evening expressing their “artistic” sides on different jack-o-lanterns ((which will be mercilessly criticized by Deidara)). Kisame’s masterpiece is Samehada at his strongest and Itachi’s is the portrait of who he SAYS is himself as a younger man ((but is clearly that little brother of his)). Kisame is not a fan of candy, but Itachi is, so Tobi will bring him a large handful of his own to share. They will abandon their customary tea and biscuits for warm apple cider and whatever confectionary delight Konan is making. Might also join the others for scary movies at some point. Most Halloween’s end up with Deidara and Hidan coming back to the house very late, drinking too much, and falling asleep. This might be the ONLY time Itachi ever initiates an act of aggression against them, as he takes advantage of their out-of-it states to put each of their hands in a cup of warm water ((a trick he learned from Hidan himself)) and letting nature (and overfilled bladders) take its course. Kisame sees him doing this and laughs himself sick; it always amuses him when he sees his partner drop his ultra-serious nature and let loose like a normal young person.

Sasori

It’s always been said of Halloween for sweet-consumers to be aware of what they’re eating, as many unscrupulous people out there can hide poison in the candy. Sasori is that person who parents warn their kids about. However, Sasori doesn’t direct his malice towards children; rather, adults. He concocts a variety of poisons, sleeping agents and other horrors, laces candy or apples with it, and has his secret subordinates in other villages pass them out to pre-selected individuals ((usually people that the redhead has some sort of grudge against)). Sasori keeps careful track of his lab rats by sending small, drone-like puppets out to observe them, and record their reactions from time of consumption to whatever end comes for them. This research greatly helps him in terms of future poison preparations. If particularly bored, he’ll dress up some of his larger puppets in terrifying attire, and send them out in the darkness to stalk and frighten the life out of young trick-or-treaters. He’s likely to join some of the others who watch movies, or, if he’s in time to catch Deidara after the blonde passes out from his night of fun, he’ll take a marker and write “Art is Eternal” across his face ... in multiple languages.