#but i felt like i slayed the costume party and that’s what matters

[adamlowsy]

felt like posting my taylor swift costume I wore to a party a While ago because I’m too scared to post it anywhere else ✨😅

[floggingink]

OH HERE WE GO LADIES IT’S RIVERDALE, CHAPTER EIGHTY: “Purgatorio”

I’m tuning in to be VERY entertained on the grounds that I missed almost the entirety of S4 and will not understand anything

we open with an incredible analogue comparing the football team to the Army, as men do construct rituals: football players get blown into the sky, etc., in a heartrending mash-up of Archie’s innocence + the American ideal/expectations/pipeline of masculinity

Archie Company is decked out appropriately to storm Hürtgen Forest

that art direction trope where a character’s hearing goes EEEEEEEEEEEEEE after an explosion……...delightful

the Vixens and friends cheering him on from the sidelines as if Archie can only process his unprocessable present through the lens of his past………...hits the spot

distressingly wood-based rifles for our purposes

Archie > Dawson: I don’t mind telling you I felt emotion upon Archie hoisting his war buddy over his shoulders to that quadruple-toned “Chivalric Archie Using His Strength for Good” tune, like when he broke his whole hand busting Cheryl out of Sweetwater River

WHEN HE SAW HIRAM LODGE, I’M TELLING YOU! 

Hiram’s dragon-scale gloves? absolutely savory; he would

“Yonkers” is one of those New York place names I don’t totally buy is real (Poughkeepsie is another)

the sepia-toned light in this hospital room rings true judging by all the Captain America fanfiction I’ve read; I also like the mint-colored hand towels draped on Archie’s bedframe bought, one assumes, using the Department of Defense’s Kohl’s Cash

Archie made Sergeant, which is the best ranking for a fictional character: important enough that they can be a leader, get into trouble; low-profile enough that you don’t have to write them in the room making terrible decisions; probably won’t die immediately, as a Captain or Private might be

Fifth period is AP English: Archie reads A Farewell to Arms to Corporal Jackson, a WWI novel by Hemingway that Jug definitely turned him onto

Christ, Archie looks good in that on-leave jacket thing

I like Jackson’s subtle graph paper-print hospital gown

Gay?!: was Jackson in love with Archie? is he gonna bus to Riverdale once he’s off his pain meds? RAS, is that you in there?

God you know I love that haunted-ass Exorcist wooden bench bus light lighting

how long has the WW been relocated under Pop’s??? I do NOT know what happened to La Bonne Nuit

Sexy, aesthetic Southside: Fangs’ hair? his Tony Stark glasses? the girls’ “I’m a Slave 4 U” Burmese pythons? Toni’s headdress and immaculate glossed lip? 

Sixth period is Intro to Film: the only part of From Dusk till Dawn I’ve seen is Salma Hayek putting her toe in Quentin Tarantino’s mouth but judging from that I figure I’d like the rest 

The female gaze: Jesus Sweet Pea still looks good

Toni’s stage is flanked by twin pillars of melting candles and I would like someone to track those down for my bathroom

if they lay one hand on Pop Tate…

Betty appears to be, on her own, running the FBI training course. Betty is such a freak

Betty’s FBI-appointed psychologist is “Dr. Starling,” wears a great yellow blouse; Betty eats what appears to be a mini-sized Milky Way

her blond FBI trainer-boyfriend (uh) Glen appears to be an unholy fusion of Jimmi Simpson and that one actor with brown hair and really sharp light eyes whose acting credits I can’t think of right now, you know who I’m talking about (not the guy from Vampire Diaries)

I quite like her patterned blouse and I hate his yellow (gold?!) and blue tie

Please protect Betty: obviously we stan the Silence of the Lambs shit even as it remains infuriating Bryan Fuller couldn’t get his hands in it

Betty’s cat’s crying was so disturbingly baby-like that I had to leave the room once I realized it was in fact a cat

I’ve watched the Elisa Lam tape too many times in recent hours to handle this hallway shot

REALLY GROSS LICKING NOISES

the Trash Bag Killer coming at her was scary :(

Betty’s lovely blue knit cardi with the puffed sleeves!

50 Shades of Betty: clearing her throat before the doctor quite finishes her sentence—Lili Reinhart continues to be great at conveying “slightly perturbing subterranean tension”

was Charles a serial killer too??? oh damn!

Betty has been successfully holding off giving Glen a key to her place until now, an era that must come to a close

fellas, “Do I at least get a kiss?” is a bad move

Veronica was rich: Veronica’s new digs: exposed brick, bougiely avant-garde chandelier; possibly an elevator door right there behind the dude?

Veronica has married Hiram, to no one’s surprise

Chadwick looks like Jimmi Simpson and brunet Evan Peters plus a jaw

Veronica’s single-puffled-sleeved gown…..madamn (she has absolutely been taking secret birth control pills)

Summer + Blair = Veronica: of course Veronica would be great at Howard Ratner’s job; I MUST know what “specialty showcase haute couture offense” Vinnie has committed

T-Dubbs’ green jacket

Veronica pretended she was working at like, a department store? but she MISSED the EDGE post-day-trading

their apartment is so expensive that their bedroom is totally exposed

oh my god, Hermione

Best costume bit: please get me these satiny green high-waisted slacks?! and ugh her blouse has shoulder tassels……..she’s flourishing

“That’s threatening to an alpha like Chad.”

yes, they have a private elevator. fine.

Glen and Chad get their ties from the same Men’s Warehouse

“When that helicopter went down on the way to Martha’s Vineyard…”

you know kissing is 4-real when one person cups their hand to the back of the other person’s neck all close

I don’t understand the drop of the Glamergé egg but I appreciate that there is one and that Veronica is like, get this the fuck out of my house

Veronica’s shiny cropped tweed two-piece, Yvonne’s weird feathery coat that matches her bf’s shirt (you know she’s supposed to be “too much” because she’s got big hoop earrings)

God, Jughead is next and I’m not gonna be able to handle it

OH GOD IT’S SO MUCH WORSE THAN I THOUGHT

Alphabet City?! the piano?? the fucking East Coast Beat typewriter shit—the day robe? I’m—READING CLUBMASTERS? FORSYTHE???

OH GOD HE’S DATING ANOTHER WRITER (she has nice pants)

Jughead eats: “that place you like” is a HOT DOG STAND in the middle of SOME GRASS

I’ve seen Brick like thirty times: Jughead wears high-ankle light blue jeans, grey socks, and spectators that blend to create the illusion of wading boots. I’m going to commit a crime

Jughead doubts it: “So did Kerouac. And Hemingway. And Fitzgerald.” 

fuck yes I love Floundering Jughead, and his Pushy Agent who pronounces “career” like “Korea,” and the continuing tradition of Jughead getting kicked out of his house

I like Literary Grifter’s sweater

the Brat Pack, and most of the Rat Pack for that matter, were actors, but I assume RAS couldn’t resist the rhyme 

I was 100% afraid we were about to learn Cora was an uncomfortably-young undergrad

the musical cue as she reaches into her bag is absolutely as if she’s taking out a gun, and it might as well be! it’s the scariest thing in NYC: an unpublished manuscript

showrunners doing a classic I Love Lucy job partially concealing Vanessa Morgan’s pregnancy via medium close-ups, draping black clothes

Cheryl slowly turning to ask if doesn’t she look okay 10/10 icon

Cheryl’s pins: she has either a tiny spider or maybe a tick

Cheryl’s sheaths: the lacy red thing, amazing

why is Cheryl’s left hand gloved?

Cheryl’s a chaos angel from hell: Cheryl’s going to forge a Rembrandt, which unfortunately means she’s my favorite person on the planet (she does not look happy about doing this)

btw is Nana Rose an Immortal?

please tell me about Toni’s eyelashes

EXTREMELY HAUNTED DOLL?!

“Damn good coffee”: Archie’s earnest “Where are people gonna sit for the bus?” slayed me

fuck YEAH Ghoulies party house! terrible music but really good skull spray paint art

Jug looks LOW lol

Veronica’s blouse + buttons, impeccable

I’m writing a scene where it’s gay.: Tabitha/Squeaky

the hellscape semi’s red backlighting and its skeleton’s red eyes

I like Linette’s glossy bomber!

the trucker who’s about to kill her can’t also be the Trash Bag Killer….truckers have to stick to too much of a schedule….but he could be Betty’s meandering serial

I loved this episode

NEXT WEEK: Archie brings the FBI down on some people paying their rent :(

[wordsfromthesol]

Safety Precautions (2/2)

Author: @wordsfromthesol Taglist: @zphilophobiaz @malfoys-demigod Pairing: Dick Grayson x Reader Summary: Things got a little complicated and the bats definitely know way too much about your personal life now. Too bad they are necessary in stopping your past.  Warnings:  Fighting, wounds, cursing, all the good stuff. Word Count: 2.1k

Part One

“Well, where is she?!” You almost screamed as you rushed into the batcave, only to realize no one was there. 

“Give Red Robin time, we don’t know how far away she was.” Nightwing tried to settle you down, as Red Hood disappeared in the elevator.

“Shouldn’t have been more than 2 hours. That’s what we agreed on.” You paced back and forth as Red Hood reappeared with Alfred.

“Miss Y/N. May I check your wounds? I hear there was another scuffle.”

You glared at Hood, but ultimately complied. Alfred had just finished putting fresh bandages on when you heard footsteps. You raced over, enveloping Lily in your arms.

“He found you. Oh thank god, I thought I may have been too late.”

“I was hesitant to come with the brat, but then…he’s back?”

“Back with a vengeance. Though I suppose he never really left.”

“No, but we escaped.”

“Some of us.”

“Sister, you can’t keep blaming –” Lily cut off as she realized the three vigilantes staring at the two of you. “Maybe we should discuss this somewhere private.”

“Oh, uhm, of course.” Nightwing stuttered and motioned for you to follow him into a room. As the door shut he raced back out, to find Red Robin had already pulled up the video and audio feed from the room.

“You know they are probably still listening.” You chuckled out.

“Yes, but I can pretend. And hopefully still get some real answers from you. You didn’t meet up with me. That day.”

“I, uhm,” you looked around, hoping to find the listening device before you had to tell your story. You sighed when nothing caught your eye and continued. “I didn’t get out. I had to make sure the girls did. Helios did not let me go. After that, he made sure I was always injured, never able to get too far from him. That day…he ruptured my femur and branded me.” You tugged at your shirt to reveal his mark burned into the skin over your heart. “He said this way I would know that I was always his. He made a slight error 6 months ago, that the simple pain of a dislocated shoulder and some bruised ribs was enough to keep me there. I made allies with those out there almost as soon as I escaped, I think that’s the only reason he didn’t attack sooner. Once he saw I enlisted there help to find you, he knew he had to act soon.”

“How do you know he hasn’t gone after the girls?”

“Sister, he wishes for you and I. He knows we were Eclipse. That we got the other girls to safety.”

“But I wasn’t Eclipse.”

“Maybe not all the theatrics, but you helped form the plan. You gave me courage and you gave me hope. I could not have donned the persona without you. And I thought I had lost you, my beautiful sister.”

“You forget that bastard trained me as well.”

You smirked, “and he unknowingly brought upon his own demise with that.” The two of you walked out of the room, well aware that the costumed men before you heard every word. “Alright, we need to find him. He wants me, I’ll be bait.”

“Like hell you will.” Nightwing said almost before you finished your sentence.

“I agree. He wants me more. I’ll do it.” Lily spoke up.

“I can’t really agree with that either. You are a civilian.” Nightwing played along as if he hadn’t heard your conversation.

“I’m hardly a civilian. Now, let’s head out.”

**

You stood on the nearby rooftop gazing down at your sister when Nightwing came to your side.

“You can’t be okay with this.”

“I do not like it, but it’s the right play. I trust her to keep herself safe, just as she trusts me to take out Helios.”

“Hm –” Nightwing’s words were cut short when Tim came over the comms.

“I see movement coming from the south. Be ready.”

Helios was there in seconds. Grasping for Lily when you swooped down, kicking him back. Red Robin, Red Hood, and Nightwing landing just behind you.

“You didn’t really think I would leave her here alone, did you?”

“No. In fact I was hoping you’d be here, to see my work.”

“Your work?” Just as the question left your lips 6 girls appeared behind Helios. “No,” a gasp escaped from your throat.

“Oh yes, now. I’ll take Lily.”

“Wait!” Helios tilted his head, an invitation for you to continue. “You can have me. Just let Lily and these girls go. Let them have a choice and I’ll be yours again.”

“Deal.” Helios raced over and grabbed you before anyone could protest. “Girls, you are free once I am.” They all nodded and turned towards the heroes before them. However, as soon as Helios was out of view they collectively stopped. Without hesitation Nightwing sped after you. One of the girls looked at remaining people, settling on Lily.

“She was Eclipse.”

“She was.”

“We all thought she was but a myth.”

“Who are you all exactly?” Tim questioned.

“I’m not sure –” Lily was cut off by the girl.

“It is not a happy tale, but perhaps it will help your friend find Eclipse. So I will tell it.” Red Hood nodded in agreement, passing his earpiece over.

“So Nightwing can hear.”

The girl took it from him and placed it securely in her ear before beginning. “I’m sorry,” she looked towards Lily, “if this was not meant to be shared. Helios trains us, molds us. Beginning at the age of 8 he is a benefactor, supplying our family with the means to make us succeed in both school and athletics. By 10, if we are deemed good enough, he slaughters our family and takes us under his tutelage. A school of assassins. Eclipse, however, was different. She was not under observation; her older sister was, Lily.”

A cracked sigh came from Lily as the young girl mentioned her name. Tim passed her his earpiece in an instant. She continued the story, looking at the girl.

“I am her. Lily.”

“Helios did not kill you?!” The girl was shocked, clearly the myth of Eclipse had been distorted over time.

“No, but Eclipse made sure everyone thought he had. To keep me safe. I took our mother’s maiden name, to distinguish us even further. Eclipse was only 6 when I was to be taken. When she was to be murdered, along with our parents. Helios slayed our parents in front of her, but when he turned the knife on her…well she did not go down easy. The frightened child he expected was not present. So instead, he took her as well. Eclipse was born that day. His best student. She plotted against him from the day he brought her in. I don’t even think he knows how many girls were saved from his wrath because of her.”

“The count, in the stories passed, is over three thousand. We were being trained in a two-story wooden house 16 and a half miles from this location.” Tim quickly pulled up a map and showed it to the girl. “Here.” As she pointed Tim sent the location to Nightwing, motioning back for his earpiece.

“Nightwing, is that where they are headed?”

“Looks like it. You coming to join the party?”

“Always. Me and Hood are on the way.”

“And me. She’s my sister. My baby sister.”

Red Hood looked at her dead in the eyes, “Be ready for a fight.”

**

Helios slung you against the wall as you entered the building. “You know they are going to follow me, right?” You wiped the blood from your lip.

“Of course, but I don’t plan on keeping you alive long.”

“All of this just to kill me?”

“All of this?! Your little persona has created chaos in my schools. They think there is some savior coming to rescue them. They’re wrong. Once I have that stupid mask as a trophy, they’ll all know.”

You screamed as you charged at him. Both of you dodging and throwing punches, knowing each other’s exact moves. It felt more like sparring, after all, you’d done this thousands of times before. Helios pushed you back towards the door, as he did you heard the faint sounds of a motorcycle. Nightwing. Suddenly, you charged at Helios, vaulting over him and forcing him to keep his back to the door. Watching the door creak open, you slid to the ground hitting Helios’ legs as Nightwing jump kicked his back. Scrambling you pinned him, his face pressing into the ground. You knew you couldn’t hold him long, so you pulled out a dagger and lodged it into his bicep and the floorboard below. You then focused your strength to holding him down.

“Do you even know their names?!”

“Of course not. I know them by what matters, their rank. Still no one has been able to surpass you, number one.”

“Don’t call me that.” You gritted through your teeth. If Nightwing wasn’t standing there, you would’ve killed him by now. Instead, you planted one final punch. Hearing his skull crack as it embedded itself further into the flooring. Just as you were standing, Red Robin, Red Hood, and Lily came through the door. You ran to your sister, enveloping her in a hug and pulling her away from this place. It was too similar to your own childhood in Helios’ clutches.

Nightwing looked at his brothers, “We need to get him to Arkham.”

“Heh, well don’t ask me. If I’m alone with that bastard, I will put a bullet through his skull.” Red Hood commented as he sauntered out to meet up with you and Lily. “So you’re a legend now?”

“Heh, tragic backstory and all.” You chuckled out. “At least those kids have a say now. We didn’t get one.” You blinked trying to contain the tears brimming at your lids. “Caden didn’t get one.”

“Woah, I thought it was a girl’s only school…” Red Hood questioned you.

“Yeah, he was our brother. Four years old. Helios took Lily to the school and then came back for us. We were both forced to watch as he slit our parent’s throats. As he came towards me, I bit him and yelled at Caden to run. I would’ve bit his finger off, but he slung he across the room and ran after Caden. When I caught up to him, his fingers were wrapped around Caden’s throat. He forced me to watch the life drain out of our brother’s eyes.” You had forgotten the comms were still on. Nightwing’s voice rang in your ears.

“I’ll kill him!” You looked back at the house, as Red Robin was attempting to hold NIghtwing back.

“I better go get him.” Hood commented.

“You never told me that before…” Lily whispered to you after Hood left.

“I didn’t want it to burden you, as it has me. I always think, if I had been a little faster, or brought a knife with me, or I don’t know. Done something different.”

“The result would’ve been the same. You were six. You should’ve never had to endure that to begin with.” You looked up from your sister and watched Nightwing exit the building.

“Hey, uhm, can I bring you home?” He mumbled.

“Lily, will you be alright?”

“I’ll be fine. I’m not leaving this bastard until I see him surrounded by steel.”

You nodded and followed Nightwing to his bike. The two of you rode in silence to your apartment, but when you got there, you couldn’t seem to dismount the bike. You sat there, arms tightly wrapped around Nightwing’s waist, unwavering. After a few minutes he finally spoke.

“I’m going to take you to my place, is that okay?” You still didn’t speak, just nodded. Once he felt the movement of your head on his back, he took off. Even at this unfamiliar place, it took you several minutes before you got the courage to let go of him. He didn’t press you, just took your hand in his and led you in the right direction. Before you realized, you were sitting on his bed, him in sweatpants, a tshirt, and no mask sitting next to you.

“It’s over.” You finally stuttered out. You turned towards him and collapsed in his arms.

“I’ve got you. You can rest now.”

[prose-for-hire]

I know what you did last Halloween...

Part Two // Part Three // Part Four

Pairing: Scooby gang x reader (platonic)

This is a platonic story with the reader as part of the Scooby gang. Set season 3. It’s going to be a small multi-parted serial killer/slasher fic for Halloween. Reader lives with Giles, but is not related. The deaths in this part are not described in much detail. 

Not sure how popular it’ll be with you guys, but I’ve enjoyed writing it so far !! 🖤🦇

Warning: It is a serial killer fic, main characters are going to die (I’m sorry, it’s Halloween). Violence. Blood mention. Threat.

Sunnydale Scare? Scythe-wielding killer strikes again

Sunnydale Express, October 1999.

Sunnydale High school, not used to such horror inflicted on their student body since Principal Flutie’s unfortunate death in office [His memorial will be on the 31st as his family reveal it was his favorite time of year].

The scythe-wielding killer, who was seen wearing all-black with a festive mask, has claimed his most recent victims. Two members of the swim team found themselves in hot water after they were found with brutal and fatal injuries. The wounds matched the scythe that is commonly associated with the widely termed ‘Sunnydale slasher’.

It makes us wonder at the Sunnydale Express, why and how this idyllic town has managed to create such a monster?

You and the Scoobies were good friends. You helped save the world more than once whilst fighting algebra homework and Principal Snyder. You had moved from your hometown to Sunnydale at the same time as Buffy, meeting her on your first day and becoming best friends since that day. You had moved into Giles’ spare room after your parents had wanted to move on again. You had been sucked into the slaying and you couldn’t leave the others. Giles had been very accommodating and very much like a parental figure. Things had been going well, you were close to graduating and finally getting the hell out of there until one life-changing event that would forever be ingrained in your minds.

You and your friends were sat around the school canteen. The mood was pretty low and you were collectively checking over your shoulders every so often. You had been discussing the latest spate of murders. Surprisingly, it was widely covered by various news outlets and hadn’t been brushed under the rug as the usual demon relating killings were.

Buffy and Faith had been doing double patrolling, making sure there was always someone out after dark. Giles had been pleased but he wasn’t aware of the real reason. Although he had noted a difference in your mood in the past year. Despite the extra patrolling, no matter how many demon-snitches they beat up and threatened, there was no changing the answer they didn’t want to hear.

“So this… slasher? He’s-it’s-she’s-?” Xander spluttered through the pronouns in his disbelief.

“Yep. Human” Buffy shrugged, sighing and staring down at her food. Nobody had eaten anything. The lunch you all had set out in front of you was just for show. None of you could stomach much at the moment.

“Shouldn’t we have found them by now?” Willow wondered, her brow furrowing in frustration.

“It could be anyone. And I’m guessing they’re not exactly wearing their ‘I’m a killer come catch me’ sweater”

“Yeah, Giles says he’s gonna look into it, but unless it says ‘Scythe killer was here’ in one of those big old books…” You tail off as Buffy picks up your sentence.

“We’ve got zip. Nothing” Buffy nodded again. Conversation then turned. You had been in a deep discussion of something in low murmurs, that was until your best friends boyfriend walked in. A dead silence blanketed your table.

“The blank stares and silence make me feel at home” oz deadpanned and you all laughed slightly too loud at this. He squinted around the room, shrugged and then kissed Willow’s forehead before staring around at the odd vibe. He had noticed that none of you had been the same for at least a year, but anytime he tried to talk to Willow about it she just shook her head vigorously and locked herself in a different room until he dropped it.

“Well, I have some place to be that’s else. Or about three tables that way” He gestured with his head to where one of his bandmates were sat. Willow assured him she would come over and sit with them in a minute. After you finished a very important conversation.

“I can’t do this anymore, lying to him hurts my heart” Willow said sadly, shifting uncomfortably as if her heart was physically aching her, “I have to tell him”

“And how’re you gonna do that exactly, Will? Oh, hey there Oz remember last Halloween, well we-” Xander cut in harshly, trying to make Will be realistic.

“Stop it! We can’t talk about this here. Anyone could overhear, they already suspect I’m a slayer” Buffy said firmly.

“We have big mouths, sorry” You shrug, smiling tightly.

“This isn’t funny!” She snapped, the events of last year had her wound even more tightly than usual. She had more responsibility than she could handle on her shoulders as it was, let alone this secret weighing down on her like a

“I’m not laughing, Buff… I’m sorry” You whisper. You did feel guilty. You felt horrible. Some nights you barely slept, and when you did you had these horrible nightmares.

Oh, right. That guy that you killed. Well, it was a total accident and you were all very sorry at the time. I mean, you still are. But, thing is, you just didn’t happen to tell anyone or alert the correct authorities. Must have slipped your mind.

Let me paint the picture in case you managed to forget…

Last Halloween, you and your friends had been attending a Halloween party. Your collective night off from saving the world. Oz, who didn’t appear to be wearing a costume, had explained it was a shindig and you had all enjoyed the live music and spooky theme. Even Buffy had managed to relax.

Buffy had chosen little red riding hood and Willow was dressed as a knight in historically accurate chainmail. Cordelia was a cat, it was the back-up she always had in case her first choice fell through. She had shrugged, at least she looked good in it. You had decided on a werewolf, after apologising profusely to Oz who didn’t appear phased.

Xander was walking around in a karate outfit, something about being inspired by the copious violence he enjoyed on screen. Every so often he did a karate chop in mid-air and you and your friends would share a collective eye roll. Especially when he chopped some jock guy that he spent the rest of the evening hiding from. Whereas Faith was wearing as little as possible and appeared to be dressed as herself.

The band was playing decent music and the atmosphere was electric. You and Buffy had danced together while Willow and Xander laughed by the punch bowl. Out of nowhere, Faith joined the both of you and muscled you out of the way to dance with Buffy. You rolled your eyes, but knew better than to make a fuss so you went back to your other friends and joined them in conversation.

Buffy had borrowed her Mom’s car and had sneaked out while Joyce was sleeping. Joyce had been feeling a little under the weather and hadn’t noticed. When it was time to leave, she drove (badly) through the streets to drop everyone home. Oz was doing another set and would get a ride with the rest of his band.

You were squished in the back with Cordy, Xander and Willow. Faith had called shotgun. There were more people than there should be, with Cordy sitting precariously on Xander’s lap. It meant you and Willow were crushed together sharing an annoyed look as the pair continued to kiss.

Buffy looked out of the side window for a nicer view and managed to hit something in the road. You all screamed as she broke suddenly. You had hit something. Something big. You all got out to investigate and saw that it was a man. You went and shook his shoulder and he immediately sat up and grabbed at you. His grip tight and strong. You screamed as you looked at his face, there were fangs and his face looked bumpy. The others saw it too and Buffy pulled you away as Faith moved in and staked him.

The man struggled for a moment before going still. Blood had started to run from his heart and the stake that had been stabbed through it. You all just stared.

“W-why isn’t he going poof?” Willow whispered as you all just stared in horror. He had been human after all.

“It was a costume!” You shrieked in horror. Everyone’s blood turned cold. 

“We’ll have to bury him” Faith said quickly. Xander stayed silent, his eyes glazed in fear.

“We can’t!” Buffy said firmly.

“Look, it’s that or another stint in juvey and I’m not goin’ back there” Faith muttered and you all frowned, having not realised she had ever been.

“I think we should see if he has any ID, maybe we could-” You started, Willow nodding along.

“No, Faith’s right. We bury him” Xander said suddenly.

“Who made you decision-gal?” Buffy said, her usual fun language lost on the moment as she stared through Faith.

“I’m a slayer too, B. You’re not the boss” Faith tilted her head to the side and shrugged. You paused, thinking it over for a while.

“Buff, we can’t risk it. You and Faith are needed here – we can’t go to prison” You sigh, not sure if you fully believed what you were saying.

“Th-that’s actually true…” Willow said eventually, not looking anyone in the eye. It was hurting her conscience.

But that’s what you decided. For better or worse. You were all complicit now as you put him in the trunk and buried him in the graveyard in the early hours of the morning.

Nobody spoke as the sun started to rise and the plot you had chosen was no longer vacant. It had been hard to come to terms with ever since.

Missing – have you seen this man?

Sunnydale Express, 1998. November 2nd.

Mr Bates of Sunnydale California has been missing since Halloween night. Last seen leaving a party in the early hours. His wife and children are anticipating his return, although with the current rate of people vanishing often with no trace the Express, with their condolences, fears that Mr Bates may be one of a hundred Sunnydale citizens on Halloween night that will never return to their families.

This begs the question, where are all the missing going? Sunnydale has one of the largest cases of missing persons never being found in the state of California and statistics suggest it has the highest number compared to towns in neighboring states.

It had been a few days and something had shifted. Your friend’s mood was lower than ever and you were really worried about her. The guilt was eating away at her. It was so bad she finally had to talk to someone about it. Buffy was the most outwardly guilty one of you all. Covering for this went against everything she believed in. Fought for. Which is why she was probably being targeted the most.

You closed your locker and jumped, she had been standing behind it, waiting for you to notice her. She gave you an apologetic glance but still asked, “Hey, y/n, can we talk?”

“Sure, I didn’t wanna go to English anyway” You smile at her as you walk to the usual place under the stairwell you would hide when you needed to talk. She pressed a note into your hand which you unfolded and read:

‘I know what you did last Halloween…’

You gasped, looking around before looking back at her for some kind of explanation, “It was in my history textbook, so, it might have been there for at least a month” Buffy said “Did you get one?” she whispered. You shook your head, nobody had left anything for you. You would remember. Buffy’s note struck a sense of fear you hadn’t felt since that night. A bubbling guilt that was squeezing your insides and threatening to spill them out. You had felt numb since then, unable to cry or even think about the events.

“We need to tell someone. Maybe Giles? I can see how much this is killing you, Buff…”  You say, trying to comfort your friend the best way you knew how.

“I know, I try and I try but I can’t tell him. He’ll get all moral and Giles-y”

“Maybe we need that. What we did was stupid, but still an accident. I wish I had never agreed with Faith�� You muttered as Buffy nodded along silently. She wished you hadn’t agreed with Faith too, you had been the type people came with for answers. Advice. So you agreeing with Faith was probably the deciding vote. She told you she would meet you later and appeared to be in deep thought as she walked away.

Willow and Cordy looked spooked, sitting down silently during the break between classes. Their notes had fallen out of their lockers and they were afraid they had been seen picking them up. Buffy revealed to the others hers had said the same thing just as Xander ran in, very visibly panicking and checking behind him with every step he took.

He just slammed the note in the middle of the table without comment. He had nothing he could say. No jokes could mask the horror that came with

“That settles it. We go to Giles” Buffy said firmly. 

“No-” Xander tried to assert, but he was outvoted this time.

“We have to. He’ll help us, I know he will” You confirmed, “Walk home with me tonight, we’ll tell him then” This was to give you some time. None of you could face going to the library for the rest of the day.

The bell rang and it felt as if it were tolling for a funeral march. The walk to Giles’ house was slow. You had swung by Faith’s motel on your way, taking a detour as you explained you would have to tell him. She surprisingly didn’t put much of an argument against.

The door creaked open and you shouted to announce your presence. But when you get there, you felt it instantly. You dropped your bags and walked into the living room. Every step felt heavy and echoed around the room. 

There he was. On the floor. Surrounded in his own blood.

Your knees buckled and you had to steady yourself against the sofa. The blood-stained sofa. Someone’s arms held you up. There were gasps and mutters but your ears were ringing, you felt very far away. He was cold, his body mutilated.

It took you longer than the others to see the new centrepiece of the room. 

‘I know what you did last Halloween’ was written in what could only have been Giles’ blood smeared across the wall of his living room. It was your warning. Your note.

A warning that turned your stomach. Knocked you all sick. He was one of you and he was gone. You tuned back into the conversation around you after having stared at the words. The words meant for you. Every time you blinked, those words were now stamped into your vision.

“It’s the same thing that was written on the notes”

“Oh, I got one of those but I threw it in the trash” Faith shrugged, but she wavered. This was hard to look at.

“We’ll have to clean it up” Xander said flatly. Gesturing at the writing.

“What?! We can’t-”

“Xander Harris, your brain is barely functional anyway - but this is totally the worst thing that’s come out of your mouth!” She shouted, her voice getting higher as she continued, “I am not cleaning the bloody writing off our dead librarians wall!” She warned. They had broken up since everything had happened. Everyone collectively winced as she said Giles was dead. It hurt. It sliced too close to the bone. At least when it had been a stranger, there was some degree of separation. But now it was even worse. 

“They’ll know or start to look into it - we gotta do it” 

You stayed silent this time, every time someone’s eyes looked at you you kept your expression blank. Until you were handed a cloth and some bleach and you grimaced but followed the others. Cordy joined you, nodding her understanding at your blank look. She took the cloth and the liquid from your shaking hands and started to help with the clean up.

Teen scream

Sunnydale Express, October 1999.

Reports of a large number of young people are now rejecting the upcoming holiday in an attempt to preserve their lives. Many say that this is a kneejerk reaction and that many will lose out of the best years of their lives to fear – which is what the killer will want.

Despite this, there has been a curfew agreed amongst the young people of the town and the Mayor’s office, reports suggest. Time will tell if this will be kept or if it another attempt by those cautious to get a re-election rather than improving the spate of missing persons that has only doubled since the year previous.

You were all waking in a group. You couldn’t face staying at Giles’ place so you were going to stay over at Buffy’s for the night. There was still an argument going on around you that you weren’t listening to. Faith had lit up a cigarette and kept telling everyone to calm down. That nobody could know or people would be hauling you all off to jail. That you had chosen the right thing.

“I’m sick of you all, I’m going out. There’s a party down the block. Anyone coming?” She looks around. This, you had heard. You shrug, resigning yourself to it. You made plans based on alibis now. With this cynical thought, you manage to convince everyone else to come too. You never know, it might relax them.

...Or not. 

You and the others all sat around in silence as the bass, and Faith, jumped around you. You barely spoke, you just stared into your cups. There had been some hugging when you first left the house but since then you all felt so alone. So disconnected despite being in this together. What you had chosen to do didn’t feel right and without your constant, your compass that had been Giles you didn’t know what to do.

 “Hey, man, it’s not Halloween yet!” Someone shouted. It caught all of your attention. A collective feeling of dread. That had been before all of the screaming had started.

The figure loomed over you. Everything about him screamed menacing. He frightened you more than any demon. He was stood in a Grim reaper costume, complete with blood stained scythe. He turned, spotting you finally. He had been slicing kids down as he walked. He wasn’t aiming, just wildly enjoying the chaos he caused.

He stopped in the centre of the room, facing the group of you that had just risen to your feet. He pointed. He stood still and pointed at you all. The Scooby gang.

In that moment, you knew. You knew he was the one that was taunting you. And so did every one else.

“Well, one of us has a brief scythe of life” Buffy stated, “…and it isn’t me” She ran at him, her fists raised as Faith came up behind her. In the chaos it was hard to see what was happening, all you could feel was this descending feeling of foreboding. You knew it had happened before you saw it.

To be continued…

[v-hope]

One Night Stand

Pairing: Kim Seokjin x Reader

Genre: Fluff, College!AU

Word Count: 1.3k

Request by @luosofthespirit:

4. “What God-awful demon possessed you to wear that?”

11. “Well, they were out of men's costumes so…”

Warnings: Mentions of... a one night stand. Shocking, I know, but there's no smut, you pervs.

(cr.)

If there was anything Kim Seokjin slayed, was being confident. Or so he liked to think, because when it came to you, things were not really like that, which was the reason he freaked out the second he entered the last costume store in the city, only to find out that it, too, had ran out of men's costumes. He cursed his friends under his breath. Honestly, not only had they planned on going to the party as the seven dwarfs without telling him, also deciding on him being the one to go as Dopey, but they didn't even have the decency to rent him a damn costume?

Now, he could've gone as Snow White out of revenge and steal their thunder. He knew for a fact he would rock it anyway after all, but a) He also knew his confidence would wash away the second he saw you and would most probably end up looking like an idiot, and b) Even if he didn't have a nice rented costume, he still had one thing he knew would be of use: his witty humour.

So, going back home, refusing to give up and stay in, he came up with an idea. No matter what, he was not missing that night's epic party – not when the one throwing it was you, the one person he so hopelessly had fallen head over heels for ever since the first day of college.

And so, almost two hours into the party, he finally arrived. Ringing the bell, he anxiously waited for you to open the door, and when you did, he couldn't help but suck in a breath at how stunning you looked dressed up as no other than Snow White. That made him glad he hadn't rented that specific costume, while another part of him instantly made him feel like an idiot. There you were, being so undoubtedly gorgeous, and there he was…

“What God-awful demon possessed you to wear that?” you let out as soon as you laid your eyes on his outfit.

Yup, he definitely felt like an idiot.

Your adoring smile and sparkling eyes, however, made him feel a lot better – it always did whenever you looked at him like that.

“Well, they were out of men’s costumes so…”

“So you came as something more neutral,” you understandingly nodded your head, although you did not understand at all. “A table”.

He laughed. Maybe he should've worn a sign so people didn't have to guess, but where was the fun in that?

“Now, let me enlighten you and introduce you into the wonderful world of puns, my gorgeous princess” Jin acted confidently this time, trying to go back to being his normal self. People found confidence attractive after all, didn't they? It was actually your turn to be shy at his words – more like flustered, to be honest. “You see, I am not just a table”.

“You're not?” you amusedly cocked one of your eyebrows.

“I am not” he confirmed. “As you may see, in my head, there's a lamp”.

“Yeah, I can see that”.

“So, if I'm a table with a lamp on it, that makes me…” he dragged on the last vowel, gesturing with his hands for you to finish the sentence.

“A nightstand?” you furrowed your eyebrows before it finally hit you. “You came as a one night stand?” this time you giggled.

His mind, you swore to God.

“Ding, ding, ding!” he imitated that sound of a bell ringing, being impossible for him not to mirror your smile.

Another laugh escaped your throat as you shook your head in disbelief.

“Well, punny boy, you have earned your entrance” you informed him, moving aside so he could come in, “the remaining six of my now incomplete group of dwarfs are over there” you pointed to the other side of the room for him to go to his friends, more like his traitors.

For the rest of the night, Jin didn't mind about his friends’ constant teasing, or about having to explain to some people with zero knowledge in high class jokes what his costume meant. Honestly, all he cared about was you and how he wished for a moment you didn't have to either act as a good host nor be a social butterfly. He wanted you to be with him, as selfish as that might sound, because although he was a nervous wreck whenever you were near, he knew there was something going on between the two of you.

Yes, maybe you hadn't gone out on dates and stuff, but the two of you were kinda closer than usual – not quite as much as he would like to yet, but enough for him to have make you develop feelings that returned his. Your eyes going back to him from time to time confirming his beliefs. Then again, it could've been just to take a look at his ridiculous costume, but Jin liked to think it was because of your undeniable crush on him.

It was only after a few hours, when it was late and there were not many people left, his own friends talking about leaving soon, that you went back to him.

“Did you have any luck finding another one night stand to match your needs?” you wondered as you handed him a drink, which he gladly accepted.

He raised the glass until it touched his lips, taking a small sip of his drink to try and hide yet another shy smile caused by you. “Nah, I think I'll just head home completely defeated” he shrugged.

Not that he was interested in anyone else anyway.

Looking up at him, you smiled brightly, forcing yourself to gaze away as your heart bumped loudly against your chest. “I mean, I don't have anyone witty enough to match your costume, but I do have a nightstand I wish you could replace once everyone leaves”.

Kim Seokjin? Choking on his drink? Yeah, that just happened.

Fixing his eyes on you, he desperately searched for any indications of you being drunk. When your eyes went up once again, locking them with his, he felt his heart speed up and an intense wave of heat run down his body as he confirmed you were, in fact, not even tipsy.

Trying his best not to let you notice how much your words had affected him, he placed his drink on the table by his side before both his hands were firmly placed on your waist, pulling you closer to him – only as much as he could, given the box he was wearing over his shoulders as a table didn't really allow him to do much more. God, he couldn't wait to take it off.

“On one condition” Jin stated, making you raise one of your eyebrows for him to continue, “your words are merely for my pun purposes and I get to be more than just a one night stand”.

Giggling in a way he swore he could never grow tired of, you struggled to loosely wrap your arms around his neck. “You should know by now you're way more than just that to me”.

And that was all it took for him to quickly get rid of the costume, so he could move freely in the black shirt he was wearing underneath. Smiling just as much as you, he wasted no time in cupping your face and leaning down to seal the pact with a kiss, internally thanking the six now very grossed out dwarfs right next to him for having left him without a costume, for that was the reason he was calling it a night with you by his side.

[mashitandsmashit]

America’s Got Talent: Season 14 - Auditions 4

Terry’s really establishing his presence on the show now! It’s early to call, but he might go on to be the best host of this show to date!

He’s making such an impression that a man played the flute AND stripped! It’s like he came SPECIFICALLY with the intention of baiting the host to join him and combine his two most well-known talents!

Anyway, enough about the obligatory weekly joke act, because boy do we have quite a few quality acts to talk about for THIS week!

10: Ansley Burns. Once again, the bottom entry is a generally solid singer...But she’s pretty much more or less at the same level of Angelica Hale (right down to having the same monkey ears!) I guess give her props for performing an upbeat and fun song, not to mention an Aretha song that ISN’T “Natural Woman”! (She’s allowed to be remembered for other songs! GRAMMYS!!!) I suppose I could complain about Simon doing that “Stop! Redo!“ thing again, but I think he had a good enough excuse this time, as the track WAS drowning her out, and it’s not like he made her perform a different song...It’s just that we’ve seen dozens of young girls sing at this level on the show by now, and in an ideal world, that girl from last week (who was ALSO infatuated with Simon) will outlast this one...

9: Dominguez Poodles. I will admit, when I watched the preview videos for this episode, I wasn’t exactly optimistic since they usually preview some of the highlights, and neither of the two acts previewed really excited me...But they ended up being the bottom two entries of this list anyway, and I certainly didn’t dislike either of them...It’s just that aside from putting the little girl in that cute little costume, this didn’t do anything that I haven’t seen from every other dog act to date...Extra points off for the dab! But maybe they’ll find something new with this act for future performances...I just stifled a laugh...

8: Cirque de Sewer. Yup...I’m putting the rat act over the dog act...What of it!? It’s mostly an amusing little party act, but it entertained me...And I guess pervs got a good look at the lady’s underpants as the rat crawled across them, something that would evoke a blood-curdling scream from most women if it was them in her place, so extra points for that...(Perhaps the rat SHOULD be named Hentai as some Youtube commenters mistook to hearing...)

7: Sos. So...did he steal his name from his dad, or is he Sos Junior or something? I’m confused...Anyway, while he does already have more to offer than his parents ever did, I was mostly pretty bored with the performance...Nothing super surprising or anything...Maybe he will improve in later rounds, but for now, it felt generic and kinda empty...

6: Detroit Youth Choir. I suppose this is the weakest Golden Buzzer of a host since the stripping grandma, but I’ll let Terry have this one since they clearly hit the big guy in the feels...(All I could think of is this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsAyiElQKtM) Choirs are a hard sell for me, but when they manage to be entertaining enough, they can stand out...In terms of entertainment, I’d place this performance as weaker than Angel City Chorale’s first two performances last year, but stronger than their later two...While I definitely would have preferred someone else...Meh, I’ll take them! (PS, that wide-eyed kid peeking in from the back killed me!)

5: Voices of Service. Everything about this act just screams, “GIVE US A GOLDEN BUZZER!!!” Perhaps they will get it at the Judge Cuts...In fact, I won’t be surprised if they intentionally schedule them for the one where Brad Paisley’s the guest judge...But I do really like their harmonies, and the token female alone just commands the stage! Honestly...I’m kinda rooting for them! Sure it’s pandering like nobody’s business, but they’re talented enough that they can kinda get away with it...

4: Andy Rowell. Well, I think it’s pretty obvious that this man takes a lot of inspiration from a certain other late comedian named Andy, and while this may not even approach the brilliance that is the “Mighty Mouse” routine, it was still great seeing someone recapture the spirit of it! (What next? Is he gonna impersonate Elvis? Wrestle women? Spend five minutes on stage eating ice cream?) But like that comedic contortionist from a few weeks back, he will probably end up being pigeonholed as “The Karaoke Guy”, no matter how funny his later performances are, and it will probably hurt him in the long run...Still, this is an audition I will remember, and on a less excellent night, would easily make the Top 2 or 3...

3: ADEM Dance Crew. Ranking the Top 3 of this episode will not be easy, as they are all VERY close together and are among my favorite auditions of the season so far! I’m almost inclined to tie them all! But I guess at the end of the day, this was, by a VERY tiny margin, the least unique of the bunch...Saying that about a bunch of dudes dressed like bootleg “Mortal Kombat” characters is a testament to the two acts that beat them...But the body-popping was at a whole new level from what I’ve seen in the past, and how Not-Sub-Zero managed to keep himself in that position in the end is insane! If it was a lesser man, it would FINISH HIM! This whole performance was a FLAWLESS VICTORY! And like Julie said, they slayed everyone! FATALITY!!!

2: Berywam. I just didn’t want this to stop! Just listening to these guys makes me want to get up and dance with them! As much as I love Pentatonix, they got NOTHING on this group!

1: Marcin Patrzalek. Here’s one pretty-boy with acoustic guitar who I want to go all the way in this game! And as long as he has both the horny ladies AND variety voters backing him, he could very well do so! One of my favorite talents on this show is taking a rather mundane instrument and doing something extreme and different with it, and that is exactly what he did with an instrument usually associated with the most trite and boring AGT contestants...This might be my favorite act of the season so far!

Now THIS was a show! Hands down the best of the season so far!

It looks like next week will be the final audition, so we’ll just see what kind of act Julie picks to stamp her endorsement all over throughout the season...I might already have an idea what form this act will come in (as may you if you’ve watched the early promos), though I don’t know yet what the talent is...But they’re hyping it up quite a bit, and I even remember Howie saying somewhere that one of the GBs will make your jaw drop...None of the other ones so far have exactly done that, so I’m preparing for something crazy...

Kodi Lee’s still looking like the star player of this season so far (which translates to biggest front-runner), but we’ll see if that changes next week...

[tenebraetrash17]

how exactly are ravus and lightning alike? I think they're too different from each other since ravus was evil :/

W e l l, yeet, you have a point, Ravus was kind of “evil” but it was more of a necessary one? He was doing what he could to protect his sister and wanted to make sure she wouldn’t suffer too much.

But ok! Onto the points! I’m going to be looking at this with FACTS AND LOGIC and not a ship standpoint, so I remain a neutral ground!

Ok! 

APPEARANCE.

So first off, we can go into design choices, I’ve made joke posts about this before, but the manner of dress these two have is actually quite similar. 

Lightning’s theme is consistent with mostly white collared tops, other than her “Knight Of Etro Garb” and in her “Savior’s Garb” she adorns a strange armored piece-shield on her left arm, which looks more fancy than practical tbh.

On the flip side we have Ravus, who is only ever seen in one costume, Tenebrae Raiment, which consists of a white collared coat-thing and a gauntlet on his left arm

Interestingly enough! If you happen to put them up side by side

You can kinda see a bit of a theme here, not to mention thigh high boots and apparently battle undies. 

We’ve got the gray-black, the white, and the coloring! Which the purple and red are pretty close on the spectrum too I suppose, or are a bit of complimentary colors?I guess it depends on points of view!

Ok, but slightly similar clothing is not enough to convince anyone, I hope.

So here we go:

STORY.

Revolves around their sister.

M O V I N G O N-

okok just kidding!

But this is honestly the truth of the matter, Luna/Serah is the end goal. Serah/Luna is why they did all this. The reason they sacrificed everything? Why they gave up their childhood? The reason why they were willing to, and in Ravus’ case, give their life away? 

It was all for Serah and Luna.

Stories can often be boiled down to a single point.

Motive.

And the motive behind Ravus and Lightning? Saving their sisters from fate.

Although…in Ravus’ case, he didn’t succeed, but that will be touched upon later.

PERSONALITY/CHARACTER TRAITS (?).

Ok, so, here we go!

Two stone cold soldiers, born and raised lacking in parents, their only weakness is for their sister, yet they slowly learn to trust others.

Well that was oddly simple.

Although I feel as if I should go more in depth because I’m trying to explain…so…

Ravus and Lightning both became emotionless out of necessity, Ravus out of need to let the Empire think his loyalty remained only to them, and Lightning because she felt the need to be more mature. And since they were both young, they decided that was the best way to do it.

They both have, in a sense, a pretty fancy way of speaking, or at least talking too much. Because, alright, let’s admit it, Ravus is a chatter box who rants and Lightning vents a lot because the world is going to shit for both of them and DAMNIT THEY NEED THIS.

Also, a little thing which kind of amuses me!Sister has a fiancé? HATE THEM WITH EVERY FIBER OF YOUR BEING, THEY ARE IDIOTS AND THEY ARE UNDESERVING OF YOUR PRECIOUS LITTLE LIGHT OF YOUR WORLD, HIT THEM, CHOKE THEM, A N Y T H I N G. But, y’know, eventually grow to have a begrudging respect and not hate them nearly as much as you once did. Friendship is wild yo.

The enlisted in the army part isn’t really a “character trait” and Square likes that theme, so you know, perhaps not the strongest thing going for them.

RANDOM/STUFF I DIDN’T KNOW WHERE TO PUT IT.

I had no idea what to call this section.

Ok, so I’ve seen a few people talk about how “Versus XIII″ was supposed to be, in a sense, an anti to 13. While XIII was meant to be about “Change your fate”, Versus XIII and XV are about accepting it.

VERSUS [vur-suh s, -suh z]

Against (used especially to indicate an action brought by one party against another in a court of law, or to denotecompeting teams or players in a sports contest):Smith versus Jones; Army versus Navy.As compared to or as one of two choices; in contrast with:traveling by plane versus traveling by train.Abbreviation : v., vs.

Versus XIII was to contrast XIII, and it carried over in XV as LITERALLY NO ONE decides. “Hey, you know what? I know it says this, but let’s do this instead!” 

Ravus remains as the only person to keep this mentality, his ffbe profile even goes as far as to have him speak about slaying the gods. SLAYING THE G O D S.

He tries multiple times to save his sister, willing to tear apart the prophecy and basically insist that she won’t die. He won’t allow it. He says follow your calling, but in reality he meant for himself overturn it. He raced through Altissia hoping he wouldn’t be too late!

And even in the end, his death is nigh, it’s probably foretold, but he believes he can win. He believes he can see it through to the end. Only he can’t. Because he’s not the protagonist. He can’t defy fate.

An interesting thing to note is that it’s Ravus who screws over the prophecy in the Episode Ignis ending, making it so Noctis doesn’t die. So I guess in a sense, he does overturn fate, although it wasn’t the outcome he wanted because Luna is still dead.

Ok, that was a bunch of rambling about the whole fate thing, but it is interesting since Ravus is the only one who had that mentality in cannon throughout the game. While the same could be said for Ignis, keep in mind that it was only the Alternate ending where he decided he wouldn’t let the gods have their say.

Oh yeah, not to mention that he’s the only one with the “Daemon Transformation” but it looks more like a Cei’th one. Just a little thing I’d throw in because I forgot this was talking about how alike Raves and Light are and not another one of my “last connections to versus” rambles oops.

ANOTHER POINT

Lightning: Serah! Wait, don’t go! Please! Don’t leave me alone!

Ravus: Oh sister, please don’t go! Please don’t leave me….

Like, sure, it’s probably a basic plea, but it’s almost word for word? 

If you want to talk parallels, let’s talk this!

Let’s also get into how Lightning was considered holy as “the Savior” while Ravus comes from the holiest bloodline? Which in fact, purges the darkness from one’s body and soul while Lightning….YEP, saves them souls! Gets them gains! whatamItalkingabouthere?

Ok, back on subject, remember how I said I would address Ravus loosing Luna again?

Well, I actually wonder if Ravus is Lightning but led astray in a sense, it might seem crazy, but his story apparently hasn’t changed since the Versus days from what most sources say. So given that he still has a stronger link with XIII, would it be so crazy to assume that Nomura would want to explore that possibility? Because rumors have it that Ravus was also going to be another ‘chosen one.’

Ravus could very well be considered as Lightning, but he never could achieve victory. Because unlike Lightning, he still lost his sister, the world still fell into ruin, and he still lost his life. And he even went as far as to fall into the chaos scourge.

Yeet, it’s a far stretch, but given the somewhat strange and weirdly specific personalities, I wouldn’t leave anything out.

But one thing to note is that while, despite similarities, they are different characters, so they will not be exactly alike!

I do realize that despite my previous posts, this isn’t an attempt to convince anyone to ship them, just kind of take note of just how many similarities the two have because it kind of is an interesting study! Especially considering the shared universe background they started out with!

This all sounded so much better in my head, it’s like, I had thoughts that were all super factual but I couldn’t write them ????

Oh well. Hope this satisfies you!!

OH YEAH, I ALSO FORGOT THAT THEY BE STORM RELATED!! SHOCKY SHOCKY BANG BANG!

[yaachtynoboat711]

At First Glance: Ch.1 ✨💃🏽

A/N: Get ready to learn about the journey out favorite couple has gone on before the Gala! I struggled with this chapter all week. Thank you, @great-neckpectations and the group chat for helping me get out of my block. Love y’all 😭.

Pairing: Winston Duke x Black Plus-Sized! OC

Word Count: ~2.8K

Warnings: language, fluff, Yaa won’t let that petty go 😭

The annual Black Yale Alumni Association Benefit Ball was in full effect.Every year, the BYAA hosted this event to raise funds for their scholarship fund to help Black undergrad and grad students. This was the most anticipated event for Black Yale of the year for both alumni as well as current students. With the event always falling around Halloween, the Ball was a costume party and had a different theme. This year’s theme was “Music’s Icons”.

Even though she had just graduated Yale Law School in the spring and was slated for graduating with her Ph.D. in the December, Khalida Abdullah was NOT missing her first Black Alumni function. Since Yaa had been at Yale, she’d been one of the best-dressed people at the ball. She was always slaying the theme, no matter how vague or specific the theme or the guideline’s would be. It’d helped to have an interest in historical fashion and a sister in the fashion industry. The process for that one night was a strenuous process that lasted for months, with most time being spent in researching ( Yaa’s undergraduate was after all in History, so research came naturally to her in all facets of life). When the theme was announced in late June, Yaa knew she was going as Selena.

The easiest part of Yaa’s decision was picking which musical legend she was going to be for Ball; the hardest part would be which iconic outfit to choose from. Anything Selena put on her body would be replicated by fans and stans for the next 20+ years after her unnecessary death. Either you slayed Selena’s fit or it slayed you; most would fall victim to the latter. Yaa decided on Selena’s outfit from her last concert. It was definitely one of her most iconic and most difficult outfits to pull off. Months of preparation continued until an email was sent regarding the ball. This year’s Best-Dressed would not be granted so easily.

October 26, 2013.8:49 pm, Yaa’s AirBnB.

It was finally time for the turn up. Everything was laid out: the earrings, the custom wig adorned with Selena’s signature bangs, the makeup, even a replica of her lipstick-adorned microphone (Yaa practiced her routine while wearing red lipstick for the effect) were ready for Yaa. Yaa was precise with every detail of the ensemble. In the midst of all the preparation, Yaa’s best friend Tanisha, offered her nervous friend some comedic relief. “

“DAAAAAAAAAAAMN, K.D.! The way you looking and the way this tight ass suit is fitting on ya, you gon’ fuck around and hook a nigga!”

“What are you talking about, Neesh? You always say I’m getting wife’d up at any function I go to. The hell they lookin’ for? I’ve come to this every year since I’ve been in New Haven and nothing. Well, besides being with Quin, but that’s the same as saying nothing. Only reason I’m going is to take pictures, socialize, and say ‘thank you’ to the board and other people for helping me make it through Yale...that’s it. Ain’t no husbands coming this year!” Yaa yelled from the bathroom as she was finishing up her makeup and making her way back into her room. She watched Neesh as she transformed into Donna Summers.

“Do you even wanna get me started?” Neesh inquired as she helped her best friend put on her silver bootie heels, “ Sis, at 22, you were the VALEDICTORIAN of 2013’s Yale Law School class. It was like damn near 700 folks in that hoe and you was the smartest bitch in that bitch, not to mention the fact that you still gotta whole Ph.D. coming in December. You the shit and I just hate that you don’t relish in that. It’s a nigga right now gettin’ ready as we fucking speak going into this function totally oblivious to the fact that a thick ass angel in a tight ass purple sparkly catsuit and a damn wig is finna ‘Bidi Bidi Bom Bom’ her way into his simple ass life. Give it a chance, I know you a young genius but live a little,bitch. He’s gonna be there.”

Yaa chuckled in confusion, “Neesh you dumb as hell for that. Also, you sound pretty confident that he, whoever he is, is going to be there. Please God don’t tell me you’ve played matchmaker again. Bitch I swear to God I’m slappin’ the shit outta you and that’s on muvas.”

“I’m sorry,sis, but I couldn’t let this one pass. He’s the sweetest and most down to earth guy ever. He just graduated with his Master’s in acting in the spring.” Neesh replied.

“Where?”

“Yale.”

Yaa’s reluctant spirit began to soften. “How did I miss him? Is he Black?”

“Bitch, I oughta choke you. Of course he is! Now I must warn you, he, too, just got out of a relationship and he’s never been with a Black woman before.”

Yaa side-eyed Neesh. She knew deep in her heart that Neesh was trying to help. While she appreciated the notion, Yaa was very reluctant to throw herself back into the dating market after her break-up three months ago. “Ok, but please know that you’re still on indefinite suspension from the position of matchmaker.”

The last time Neesh played matchmaker, Yaa’s ex, Quincy ended up being bout crazy as hell. He was very charming, yet manipulative. Yaa was many things, but being to put up with Quincy’s shit wasn’t among them.

At this point, Neesh was begging: “I promise you, K, this one is so much different from Quincy. I’ve been observing him since we started the program. He’s amazing; if I wasn’t such an amazing friend and he hadn’t been in a relationship, I woulda kept him for myself. But I decided not to and we wouldn’t have worked. I know I fucked up but please give this guy a chance.”

When Yaa met Neesh , Neesh was in her final year in Yale’s Theatre program. Neesh was a graduate assistant and the creative genius behind every Yale production. She mastered everything: makeup, costuming, wigs, lighting, you name it. However, she loved costuming and makeup. The two met at an Alpha party the semester Yaa arrived to Yale. Being that they were both SGRho’s and had much in common ,the pair had basically been inseparable since their first conversation. Since graduating, Neesh moved to New York where she became the Creative Director for an off-Broadway theatre company.

Yaa felt sorry for her friend pleading the way she was. Yaa wanted to be stubborn but something was telling her to meet this mystery guy. She finally broke her contemplative silence: “What’s his name,sis?” Neesh was radiating with joy. “His name is Winston. Winston Duke.”

Yaa’s eyebrows went up in curiosity. “Hell kinda name is Winston?” Yaa asked as her head fell back in laughter. Yaa was now wondering what this Winston character looked like. He clearly had to be attractive, or else Neesh wouldn’t have given him a second thought. This was definitely a move of redemption. As the two friends took pictures, Yaa began to get excited about meeting that Winston fellow? Was he tall? Was he Greek? She’d figure out at the ball.

10:54 p.m., The BYAA Ball

The function was going up by the time Neesh and Yaa arrived; that was the plan all along. The vibrations of the loud music pulsated against the walls and floors of the venue. Waves of excellence and Black splendor filled the room.The pink and purple lights juxtaposed the white curtains and couches throughout the club in which gave the space an inviting and jovial energy.

The DJ was blasting that good shit and everyone was going up.

All eyes were on the pair; Donna and Selena were in this bitch and everyone took notice. They took pictures at the photo booth and went their separate ways to socialize with their separate circles. Yaa was the belle of the ball; the moment she walked into the room, Winston saw her and let her and her tight ass purple ass catsuit Bidi Bidi Bom Bom her way into his heart. He watched as she basically floated across the room,socializing with everyone that knew her. Then she smiled. Winston was slightly turned on by the warmth and calming beauty in this Cinderella girl’s candy apple red-colored trillion dollar smile and angelic glow of her caramel hue.

“Wow”, he thought to himself, “She’s a vision of beauty...is that—is that a dimple? GAH!!! It’s just one? My God, she’s perfection. She’s so fuc—GET IT TOGETHER, DUDE!” If there were a control center operating his brain right now, they’d be in overdriven crisis mode. Never had Winston ever felt butterflies for anything other than maybe an audition, but here he was, falling madly in love with a girl that just walked into room. Then she turned around—my God. Winston just about died. Winston wasn’t a guy that obsessed over body features on a woman, but trust Khalida Abdullah’s ass was too much for him.

“Well,I’ll be damned; this tree ass nigga here fine as hell! If he keep looking at me like I’m a jug of water, he gon’ have to buy me dinner. Mmm! Chocolate ass. ” Yaa mentally stated.

The man in question was a rather tall individual. He was clean-shaven, a beautiful milk chocolate toned and had a rather ambitious,yet shy energy about him. Judging by the outfit, Yaa figured he was dressed as Don Cornelius. While he was looking away, she saw him smile and saw only one thing: a gap. Yaa was mysteriously obsessed with gapped teeth, especially on guys. She didn’t know this man from Adam, yet she was feeling him from a distance.

Completely entertained by the mutual eye fucking before them, Neesh and one of Winston’s colleagues and friend, Lupita, smirked to themselves as they mentally devised a plan to get Yaa and Winston together. “Peet, we better not be thinking about the same thing.”,Neesh remarked with a smirk. Lupita chuckled,”Yes. They need to be next to each other. She’s perfect for him!” The friends gravitated towards their gentle giant of a friend. Winston looked at them with confusion,”What’s up, ladies?” Lupita and Neesh looked at each other before Neesh spoke:

“ You remember that lawyer friend I was telling you about?”

Winston nodded,”Yeah, I remember. You never confirmed nor denied if she was cute. I’m still waiting on your answer,Tanisha.”

Neesh rolled her eyes, “ Boy, shut up and follow me.”

The thought of finally meeting Neesh’s lawyer friend made a usually calm Winston a little anxious. The walk across the venue made his chest tighter the closer he got. He still didn’t understand why he was so nervous. His loud friend didn’t settle his nerves either as she practically yelled towards her lawyer friend.

“AYO, K.D.!” Yaa almost got whiplash from turning her head at the rate in which she did. Her eyes widened as the fine guy she was looking at earlier was coming towards her. Her heart almost stopped when he stopped in front of her. He was much taller than she’d imagined, but you wouldn’t catch her complaining. Sis was completely shook. Neesh cleared her throat louder than normal to break the two from the trances they were in.

“Wow. You’re tall.” Yaa stammered.

“Nah, I’m Winston.”, he replied as he smiled and shook her hand. She was NOT about to be out-pettied by this man. If it was a petty war he wanted, then by all means a petty war is what he was going to get.

“Wow, that was corny. That’s what they teaching y’all in the theatre program now?” Winston’s heart fluttered as Yaa’s Southern accent got the best of her. It only came out when she said certain words or phrases.

“Ok, Elle Woods, I see you got jokes, too.”

“One, my name is Khalida Abdullah. Two, coming from a nigga named Winston, I know you got jokes.” Both Lupita and Neesh were damn near on the floor laughing at the exchange. They both knew Yaa was going to win this fight.

“I’m glad they taught you how to be observant in law school.”

“Yeah, of fucking course. You seem to be pretty damn good at observations too, nigga.” Winston was shocked. His train of thought stopped as he realized his attempts at sneaking looks at her failed. He hid his shame and defeat with a rather stoic stare; Yaa returned his stare with a petty stare. After what seemed like forever of staring at each other, Yaa walked closer to Winston and signaled for him to match her height. “You actin’ like I didn’t see your tree ass eye-fucking me all night from all the way over here. Yes, I’m short, but that doesn’t mean I don’t peep shit, Big Fella. I’m about to head to this here cash bar. You coming or not?” Yaa whispered in his ear. She walked away with an extra pep in her switch. She wanted him to know that the ass he was staring at all night wasn’t restrained by the confines of a Spanx. He followed her like a little puppy.

After getting drinks, they began talking; their connection was instant. He found himself making jokes just to hear her infectious laughter. She found herself falling in love with his gap-toothed smile and hearty laughter. They discussed each other’s costume and found many common interests.

“So you’ve really been a Selena fan your entire life?”, Winston inquired, “ I just saw the biopic two years ago and I’ve been a fan ever since. I don’t speak Spanish, but her music is everything.”

“Yeah. When my dad was teaching me Spanish, my personal goal was to translate Selena songs without a translator. It also improved my Spanish skills before I needed them.” Yaa answered.

“So you’re fluent now, yeah?”

“I’m fluent in four languages.”

Winston was shocked, “Seriously?!”

“Yeah, there are a lot of things, you’ll learn about me.” She winked.

Suddenly, “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” came on. The DJ acknowledged Yaa as she made her way to the dancefloor, mic in hand. The DJ started the track back again. Yaa transformed into her idol and the force of the Tejano Queen was with Yaa. She glided as she danced around the dancefloor. Winston watched in amazement. When she finished, the crowd erupted into applause and cheers. Winston was the first one to greet her she left the floor. He told her how amazing she looked and how he felt like Selena was on the floor.

For the remainder of the night, Yaa and Winston talked on the balcony of the venue in the cool nighttime October breeze. They exchanged numbers and social media handles as they walked towards Yaa’s car. He almost stepped on her to get the door for her. “I’m sorry, but you won’t touch that handle, at least when I’m around.” Yaa looked at him with a shocked expression on her face. “You sound pretty confident you’re staying around, Mr. Duke. Tanisha didn’t tell you I drop niggas like a bad phone call?” Winston smirked. “She did,but that doesn’t apply to me.” He closed her car door and waved as she drove away.

When Yaa finally got home, Tanisha was on the couch waiting for her.

“BITCH! You got that nigga in love with your little ass.” Neesh interjected as her head fell back in laughter.

“Whatever. I hate to say it, but you were right: he ain’t that bad. Quincy could never.”

“Yeah,yeah. Thank me at y’alls wedding.”

Yaa rolled her eyes. “Bitch, fuck you.” she laughed. “We have a date in three weeks.”

Neesh’s eyes and grin grew wide. “A WHAT?! Does he know you’re in D.C. now?”

“I mean, I wouldn’t have said yes if I didn’t know how my situation would be.”

The two talked about their night and how boo’d up Yaa was. Though she wanted to deny it, her glow and goofy grin were saying otherwise. “I think it’s him.”

The The peanut butter to my jelly:

@great-neckpectations @randomwordprompts @blackgirloneshots @babygirlofwakanda @kumkaniudaku @royallyprincesslilly @eriknutinthispoosy @teheeboo @texasbama @wakandan-flowerz @soldierandawar @summertimesadnesswithadashofsass @vanitykocaine @sarahboseman @niquelafleur @blackpantherismyish @pastelastronomy24

[dork-empress]

Yellow Flowers and Punch

Rating: General Audiences

Category: M/M

Fandom: Trollhunters (Cartoon)

Relationship: Steve Palchuk/Eli Pepperjack

Characters: Steve Palchuk Eli Pepperjack Toby Domzalski Darci Scott Mary Wang Shannon Longhannon

Additional Tags: First Dates Homecoming Bad date Bullying Alcohol

Eli waits anxiously for his first 'date' with Steve, but some of Steve's friends arrive to spoil the party

I was going to have this as one section of a 5+1 I'm writing, but it exploded so I'll do something else for that section.

Goes along with my fic 'You're Alright' but can probably be read independently, theres just reference to the fact Steve asked Eli to homecoming.

“Mooooom,” Eli whined, “It’s not prom, you don’t need to take pictures.”

“But you have a DATE!” She said, practically jumping up and down, “And you look so handsome and fancy! We have to commemorate the occasion.”

Eli groaned and mumbled under his breath that it wasn’t a date. Though, truth be told he wasn’t sure about that. Steve had asked him out to the dance while they were stargazing and had spelled out the question in christmas lights, which was romantic as all hell and made Eli strongly believe his heart was going to burst. But still, Steve had never said it was a date, and Eli didn’t want to assume.

Then again, he’d never said it was ‘just as friends’ either. His heart did a little jump every time he reminded himself of that.

The doorbell rang. “Oh! That’s probably him!” His mother squealed, going to answer before Eli could move.

“Mom don’t--” Eli wasn’t even sure what he was going to warn his mother against, but he felt like there should be something.

Ignoring her son, Mrs. Pepperjack opened the door to reveal Steve, standing with a flower in hand. “Oh, how sweet! Eli, come look.” Eli came over, shrugging his shoulders. Flowers...that was DEFINITELY Romantic, right?

Steve smiled. “You look nice,” Eli looked down at his own outfit, a green button down and khaki slacks. His mom made him wear a tie, shiny and silver. She had to tie it for him.

“Thanks,” He said, rubbing the back of his neck, “you too,” Steve was a bit more classic, white shirt, blazer, and bow tie. Eli wondered if he was nervous too.

Steve handed him the flowers, “here,” he said a touch too forcefully. Eli smirked, taking them. They were yellow, and didn’t look in the best condition. Yellow flowers meant friendship, right? Oh god this was confusing.

“Thanks,” He said nervously.

“Here, let me take those and put them in water,”Mrs. Pepperjack snatched the flowers up and rushed to the kitchen, “don’t move! I need pictures of the both of you!”

“Mooom,” Eli whined, but Steve snorted.

“No worries, Mrs. P!” Steve smirked.

Neither of them met each other’s eyes or spoke as they waited. The photos were stiff and awkward, and then Eli rushed them both out of the house.

“I am sooooo sorry,” Eli said instantly, as Steve led him to his Vespa, “she gets excitable.”

“Gee, I wonder who that reminds me of,” Steve said. Eli frowned at him, “you’ve never seen the way your face gets when you talk about conspiracies have you?”

Eli covered his face, “is it bad?”

Steve chuckled, “Nah. Not at all.” He got on his Vespa, “Come on, let’s do this.”

Eli started shaking as they made their way into the gymnasium, while Steve stood up taller, emboldened by the presence of his schoolmates. Eli was not emboldened. Eli was terrified.

Immediately they were immersed in the low buzz of chatter covered by the music booming from the speakers. They’d gotten Krel to DJ this year, and it seemed like he was still trying some of his more experimental stuff. It was early enough in the dance that people weren’t really dancing yet, just milling. Eli’s eyes darted around the room, seeing where they could go, or what they could do.

“Hey, Steve,” A cold chill ran through Eli’s spine as he recognized the voice belonging to Brad, one of Steve’s football buddies. “What took you so long, man?”

Brad and their other friend, Kevin, came over, full bro stride in process. Eli knew exactly how fast he would have to walk to try and escape that stride, but he fought his instincts and stayed in place. “Hey, guys!” Steve said, grinning broadly, and unintentionally copying their posture. Eli wasn’t even sure he knew he was doing it. “Whatsup?”

Brad and Kevin came over, giving Steve the traditional bro-hug. Their eyes inevitably turned on Eli, and Kevin’s smirk turned to a scowl. “What’re you lookin’ at?”

Eli shrunk into himself, wishing upon wish that he could face high school bullies with the same confidence as he faced literal monsters.

Thankfully, he wasn’t alone this time. Steve shoved Kevin back, “Not cool man.” he said, frowning and beefing himself up to the perfect ‘alpha male’ posture. “I told you to lay off him now.”

“Yeah, man,” Brad said, snickering, “Didn’t you here. Little buddies a full-grown freak-slayer now.” Brad hooked Eli into a half-Nelson and noogied the top of his head. It was a stupid thing to be thinking about, but he worked hard on his hair! He didn’t want it messed up.

“Well, takes one to slay one, I guess,” Kevin said, laughing, “Steve, come on, Brad got stuff to spike the punch bowl, it’s gonna be hilarious.”

Steve actually laughed, and it felt like a punch to Eli’s gut. “Yeah, sure, sounds fun,” Steve said, “I’ll keep cover.”

Brad and Kevin walked as non-chalantly over to the snack table as they could, which wasn’t exactly subtle. Steve went to follow and Eli grabbed his arm. “You’re not actually going to spike the punch bowl, are you?”

Steve shrugged, “Why not? It’s funny.”

A hundred responses flew by Eli’s mind, and he didn’t know where to start. “You’re going to get in trouble!” he said urgently, wishing he could whisper, but it was impossible with the music. It sounded like whale songs.

“Only if I get caught,” Steve said with a wink, that Eli would have found charming if he weren’t so devastated. “I’ll come find you after, ok? The dance should have picked up by then. Alright?”

Eli wanted to explain how what Steve was doing was wrong, wanted to yell at him for leaving him two minutes after they arrived...but all he did was say, “Alright” and watch as Steve ran off.

And there he was, stranded in a hot, stuffy room with all his classmates. In other news, his worst nightmare. Well, one of his worst nightmares. It was in the top 5.

His tie started feeling too tight, and no matter how many times he adjusted it, it felt like a noose. The music was pounding in his ears with no sense of melody. Whatever it was made his blood feel like it was pulsing out of his eardrums, ready to burst.

He heard a familiar voice and picked his head up. “Hey, Eli!” the words became clear through the music. Toby was calling him. “Come over here!”

Reluctant to move from his spot, Eli made his way over. Toby was with Darcy (dressed in her mascot costume for some reason) Aja, Shannon, and Mary. Darcy and Shannon were chatting about something, Mary on her phone, either trying to text, take a selfie, or both, it was unclear, and Aja was dancing along to Krel’s odd music, in moves Eli had never seen. “Hey, what’s up!” Toby said, “You ready to battle it out for homecoming king?”

“Oh, y-yeah,” Eli said. He’d been so consumed with worry about his date, he’d forgotten the competition, “Can’t wait.”

“So, we’re trying to form a dance circle,” Darcy said, being pulled from her conversation with Shannon, “You know, really get the party started.”

“You can dance with me, for now!” Mary said, “My date from Northwest Oaks is running late, and Shannon says she’ll dance with Aja.” They all turned to the platinum blonde briefly, but then Mary put a hand to her mouth and did her best to whisper, “Although we haven’t figured out HOW yet.”

Eli swallowed. It was nice of her to say so, everyone knew the popular girls didn’t really like to be seen with the complete-total-loser boys. The very cynical part of Eli’s brain wondered if it was because she knew he was gay, and was only willing because she might get a ‘cool gay best friend.’ Some girls had tried to put him in that position before. It did not work out. “Um, actually,” he said, “I’m with someone.” He didn’t specify whether he meant at the dance or in life. Frankly, he didn’t know.

The girls didn’t mind, cooing as one “oooOOOOooooh,” “Eli’s got a date!” Shannon said.

“Oh my gosh!” Mary said, jumping on the balls of her feet, “WhoisitwhoisitwhoISIT?!”

Eli blushed and massaged the back of his neck. “Steve,” he said, soft enough they might not have heard.

Their blank stares told him they did. “Wait,” Toby said, blinking as though he was trying to figure out a math problem. “You mean, Steve Palchuk? That Steve?”

“Yeah,” Eli said, shifting uncomfortably. It had seemed like such a wonderful idea at the time, but now….now he wasn’t sure.

“Wow,” Shannon said, trying to sound intrigued, “I--definitely wasn’t expecting that.”

“Yeah,” Darci agreed, “I mean, I heard you guys were doing that...that creepslayer thing, right?” Eli nodded, “Well, I guess he’s changed a lot in the past year.”

“He has,” Eli said, meaning it, as he smiled. “We’ve spent a lot of time together this summer, it was great.”

“Aw, thats nice,” Mary said, “Where is he now?”

Eli’s face fell. He didn’t know how to explain or excuse what Steve was doing.

“Well, as long as you’re happy,” Shannon said.

Was he happy? Eli shifted uncomfortably. “I…” Eli swallowed, “I have to go.”

He ran out of the gym as quickly as he could without bringing too much attention to himself. He wasn’t sure how much success he had there, but it was an attempt.

As a general rule, he tended to avoid public school bathrooms, choosing instead to go right before class, and once right when he got home. It was dirty and covered in graffiti, a great deal of it inappropriate, and he didn’t even want to think about what was under his shoes. Still, this was his best shot at avoiding Coach Lawrence wandering around the school looking for strays.

He locked himself in a stall, resting his back on the back of the door. He took a breath, trying to figure out whether it was worth calling his mom to come pick him up. He sniffed, remembering how excited she was. Remembering how excited HE was. He really thought he and Steve had a chance.

The bathroom door opened and he stood still. “Hey, Eli, you in here?”

Eli stood perfectly still, trying to move as little as possible. It was Steve. Eli wasn’t sure he wanted to see him right then. “Eli,” Steve said, “I can see your zip slips underneath the stall door.”

Dammit. Reluctantly, he stepped out of the stall, hanging his head. “Hey,” Steve said, his voice going down to his kind voice and reaching out to hold Eli’s arms. “What’s going on?”

Eli shrugged, and tried to turn away, but ever so gently, Steve turned him back. “Talk to me.”

“Why would you want to talk to me now?” Eli muttered, “you seemed fine just talking to your friends.”

Steve frowned, “What? Are you talking about Brad and Kevin? We were just messing around a bit, I told you I’d be right back.”

Eli rolled his eyes, “That’s what you call ‘messing around?’ Spiking everyone’s punch?”

“Oh come on,” Steve said, “It’s funny!”

“It’s not!” Eli said, his voice raising, “It’s bullying!”

The word hit Steve like a bulldozer. He visibly recoiled, letting Eli’s arms go. “What? No it isn’t! It’s just a stupid prank, we’re not picking on anyone.”

“Getting people drunk who don’t want to be is mean!” Eli said, “Even if it’s not directed at one person, it’s STILL mean!”

Steve gawked at him, like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “It--It’s just watered down vodka!” he said, “People probably won’t even notice that stuff.”

“If they won’t notice, what’s the fucking point?” Eli said, feeling all his despair turning to anger. Steve gaped at him, not able to respond, “God, why do you even hang out with those guys?”

“What, Brad and Kevin?” Steve said, “They’re my friends!”

“Are they?” Eli asked, “You never saw them over the summer, I know ‘cause you were with me most of that time. You guys only seem to hang out at football or when you’re picking on people.” Eli very generously said ‘people’ and not ‘me.’

“Hey, we’ve gotten a lot better recently,” Steve said, “We’re learning.”

“YOU’RE learning,” Eli said, “Around me, at least. You go right back to being mean and aggressive when they’re around. And they….” he trailed off, not even knowing how to describe Kevin and Brad.

Steve’s brow furrowed. “Eli, have they done something to you when I wasn’t there?”

Eli didn’t know how to answer that either. They respected Steve’s wishes to leave Eli alone, with physical stuff at least. They didn’t stop their snide comments, though, and Eli would always remember being in middle school with them. Steve didn’t know how awful they could get. “Kevin literally just called me a freak in front of you.”

“What?” Steve asked, “No he didn’t!”

“Brad said I was a ‘freak-slayer’ and Kevin said ‘it takes one to slay one.’”

Steve spluttered, “That--that was just messing around,” Steve said. “He was just teasing you, we tease each other all the time.”

“Well his ‘teasing’ feels a lot like ‘bullying,’” Eli said, “And I would know.”

Steve actually flinched, and that made Eli feel both guilty and a bit satisfied at the same time. “We didn’t mean anything,” He said, “I’ll tell them to stop.”

Eli took a deep breath, “Fine,” he said, “And you have to tell Coach Lawrence about the spiked punch.”

“What?” Steve said, “Come on, Eli, it was just a joke!”

“It’s mean!” Eli said, “There are ways to pull pranks without hurting them! And besides that it’s just a jackass move!”

Steve blinked at him, “Did you just call me a jackass?”

Eli swallowed, his sudden burst of confidence starting to fade. “Well, you’re being one right now.”

Steve bit his tongue, turning to lean on the bathroom wall, something Eli would not have done, especially in Steve’s nice outfit. “This is a pretty terrible first date isn’t it?”

Eli blinked, feeling a shock go through his system. “So, this WAS a date…”

Steve looked up, in shock. “Of COuRSE it was a date!” he said, his voice breaking. “I LITERALLY spelled it out in lights and...and I took you out stargazing….and I. I got you flowers!”

“See, I thought that,” Eli said, blushing, “But you hadn’t said it, and like, the flowers were yellow, and I think that means friendship? Or I heard that once, anyway.”

“They do?” Steve said, “Flip!” He sighed and looked off to the side, “I knew I shouldn’t have waited til last minute to buy those.”

Eli bit his lip, stepping forward. “Well, I did WANT it to be a date…” Eli said, rocking himself back and forth, “I mean, that’s why I wasn’t sure, I thought maybe I was just looking to into things or maybe had wishful thinking or something.”

Steve frowned at him. “Stop it,” he said.

Eli tilted his head, “Stop what?”

“Stop being so cute.” Steve said, “I’m in emotional turmoil here.”

Eli couldn’t help but chuckle. He stepped forward, “I’m sorry for yelling at you. And lecturing you. And calling you a jackass….”

Steve sighed, “No, you were right. I am a jackass.”

“Hey,” Eli said, “Look, you really HAVE been being better. I wouldn’t have agreed to what may possibly have been a date if you hadn’t.” He stepped right in front of Steve.

Steve hung his head, “I just….I want to be a good person. I’m trying. I just keep messing up.”

“That’s ok,” Eli said, Steve frowned up at him. “No, really. Look, you were….kinda terrible for a long time.” Steve winced, “But no one’s cursed to be like that. You’re trying to be better, and thats huge. One mistake doesn’t set that back. It’s just a matter of KEEP trying.”

Steve groaned. “It’s hard.”

“Being a good person usually is,” Eli agreed, “But that’s what it means to be a creepslayer.”

Trying to be encouraging, Eli held up his half of the symbol. With a smirk, Steve completed it. “I’m glad I have you around to help me.”

Eli smiled, “Of course.”

They both dropped their hands. “Hey, Eli,” Steve said, “Can I ask you on a date? A real date? Next Friday, maybe?”

Eli nodded, “Yes.”

Steve’s face broke into a grin. “Nice,” Steve got back up and wrapped Eli up in a hug. Eli froze up for a moment, but relaxed, holding Steve close.

Eli smiled to himself, resting on Steve’s chest. Steve rocked him slowly back and forth. “Hey, Steve?” Eli said. Steve hummed in answer, “As romantic as it is standing in the middle of the boys’ bathroom…”

“You wanna head back to the dance?”

“That would be best, yes.”

They seperated and Steve held out his hand. Blushing, Eli took it and let Steve lead him out.

Back in the gymnasium, the dancing had picked up, playing some modern EDM music. Eli enjoyed the snack table while Steve went over to talk with Coach Lawrence, before making his way back. “Well, I’m grounded,” he said, “AND I have Saturday detention, which I think having one person give two different punishments is just too much,” He scowled over to where Coach Lawrence was removing the punch bowl, “But, I get to stay at the dance.”

Eli smiled, “That’s great,” he said, getting Steve a cookie. “I guess we’ll have to push the date back?”

“Oh flip,” Steve said, sighing. “Well...the grounding only lasts until the detention next week. So, why don’t we have the date then? I’ll pick you up after?”

Eli nodded, “Sounds good.”

Steve smiled, reaching down to grab Eli’s hands, pulling him to the outskirts of the crowd. “Wait,” Eli said, pulling back, “Steve I’m really bad at dancing.”

Steve shrugged, “Me too,” he said, “Come on.”

And they were. They were so bad at dancing. If either of them were trying to do it themselves, no doubt they would be embarrassed, but together, they had fun. Eventually, Aja wandered over to them, seeming to be inspired by their erratic movements, which brought over Toby, Darcy, Mary, and Shannon.

They retired back to the tables, laughing together and eating way too many unhealthy foods. Eli could feel some of his classmates stares at them, and worse, saw Steve noticing them, and looking a little self-conscious. He knew the both of them must have seemed like an odd pair. Still, Eli had fun.

The music died down, and people looked up at the stage. “Settle down, students!” Ms. Janeth said, “It is now time to announce the homecoming king and queen. This year’s queen, is…Darcy Scott!” Darcy cheered in her mascot outfit, but more than her, Toby was practically jumping up and down. The both of them ran up to the stage, the crown lowering a crown onto Darcy’s head.

“And this year’s King is….Eli Pepperjack.”

Eli’s eyes went wide as he stared up at the stage, unsure if he could trust his own ears. Heads from all across the gymnasium turned to him, “Come on, Peppers!” Steve said, grabbing his shoulders, “It’s the year of Eli!” He pulled Eli up onto the stage, like a marionette on strings being poorly puppeted.

He then felt like his strings got cut when Steve let him go so Ms. Janeth could put the crown on his head. He turned all around, but in that half second, Steve had disappeared, Toby was there, smiling at him and clapping, as was Darcy. In the crowd he saw Brad and Kevin snickering, and it made him more afraid the longer he didn’t have Steve next to him.

“Steve?” He said softly, “Steve?”

“Right here,” Steve said, appearing at his side, “Just had to talk to Krel.”

“Krel?” Eli asked, confused under the heavy lights. He felt like he was going to fall over as he twirled to the DJ. Krel was going through a playlist, frowning, and picking one.

Familiar synth notes filled the gymnasium, making Eli perk up his head even through his anxiety. “Is this...is this what I think it is?” He asked

One moment later, they were being serenaded by the wonderful voice of Cyndi Lauper. Steve shrugged, “You like 80’s music right?”

Eli blushed. He never thought he would have his first real slow dance to the song ‘Time after Time,’ but he wasn’t sure if he could have picked a better one if he tried. MAYBE ‘Take my breath away’ but he was happy with this.

Steve pulled him in, grabbing his hips. Eli felt embarrassed that he seemed to be doing the ‘girls’ part, but even with a growth spurt, Steve was appreciably taller, so that helped. Across the stage, Darci and Toby were dancing. “So,” Eli said, “I guess this makes you my duke,” he said, as they both awkwardly swayed back and forth. It probably looked so dorky, but in the little bubble of Steve’s arms, Eli didn’t care.

“I’ll take it,” Steve said, swaying with him. “I guess this is me coming out to the school, huh?” He self consciously looked over his shoulder.

“I would tell you it gets better,” Eli said, “But it kinda only JUST did for me, so, I don’t know what’s going to happen now.”

Steve shrugged, “I mean, I kinda knew what I was getting into here,” he said, “I guess all we can do is just...keep dancing?”

Eli smiled and laid his head on Steve’s shoulder, “Sounds good to me.”

[royvdhelart]

So...as I've been sick for the last week, I kind of needed something to cheer me up a bit and something to get the Art-passion flowing again. So, I decided to finally redo Emil's reference sheet, as I never liked the old one, after designing him a new outfit <3

This was a bunch of work but boy, I can not recall having this much fun with a drawing and I'm actually hella proud of it for once :D I hope you like it as well!

--- Just to be clear btw: This Art is NOT for free use. ---

Callname: Emil/Baltazar Full-Name: Baltazar Emil A'zam Duman Jaren Qazir Languages: Common, Dwarfish (future: draconic)

Age: 26, born on the first day of June Sex/Gender: Male Height: 1,95m/6'4 Race: Human Class: (Lore) Bard (level 9) (future: Draconic sorcerer)

Background: Entertainer/Noble Sexuality: Bi-Romantic

Favorite Instrument: Violin. Alignment/Personality: Neutral Good, optimistic, Drama Queen, charismatic, polite, group-mom, party-guy, curious, creative. Flaws: Drama Queen, has a big mouth and turns into an awkward/clumsy dork when he has a crush on someone. More about his family: https://sta.sh/014wc8gu8y2p Background: Baltazar was born on the first day of June in the city Setus. He was the 7th and youngest son of a wealthy merchant family, having 4 brothers ( (35) Amin, (33)Kareem, (30)Jarah, (27)Gabriel, and ( and 2 sisters (Farah (31) and Iris (35) above him.  Baltazar had always been the "runt of the litter". Tall but lanky, Emil wasn't strong, and always out searching for trouble. This often caused him to clash with his parents, who really wished Emil would become more serious instead of going on about silly adventures and hanging around in inn's every night. Actually just fearing for his well-being.

As a proper noblemen's son Baltazar was learned etiquette from a young age, getting schooled by a wise old teacher (Nazim), who had years of experience teaching his older brothers and sisters. Emil wasn't the best student however and caused quite the frustration to his teacher. He skipped classes, pulled tricks on his teacher and rarely did the work he was expected to or find some kind of way to do his tasks with the least effort possible. Emil was much too busy learning plays out of his head, creating new songs or just dreaming about what it would be like to be actually free, to travel the lands, slay monsters, be a hero, to do such boring and repetitive tasks. It didn't matter anyway, he was the youngest, he would one day be married of to a rich woman/man and that would be it. He often worried about this future, a future, which in his opinion, could only become boring. The moments he spent on stage, telling people silly stories when he played his violin, were the moments he actually felt alive, at those moments he could feel a kind of power flowing through him, which could vaguely be described as a warmth but different. To him, it seemed that all that they wanted to do is take that from him, make him "more serious" as he would never honor his family's name as a simple entertainer. One day Emil had pushed his parents too far, he missed his teacher's lessons again and had a big fight with his father. All Emil's frustration and fear for the future came out at that point. Which ended with Emil, angerly saying that he was going to leave the city and that he would prove them that he would become worth something, he would become a great entertainer, a Hero even, his name would become known! With that, he packed his stuff and left the next morning. Quite quickly Emil found out that traveling was definitely not as easy or fun as he expected and regretted his decision quite quickly as he started to run out of gold, the city Setus was mostly surrounded by desert and small villages, where there was no way for him to make any profit. After traveling for days, he decided that he really wasn't ready to cross an entire dessert after having a nasty run-in with Goblins. He finally reached a cross point between three larger cities. He decided to travel between the cities, to try out work as an entertainer to earn some gold. For a few years, he played music at inns, took on small roles in plays and did some odd jobs to earn some extra gold. In these years he discovered the kind of power within himself again, a power which he studied and could control more and more each day as he got mentored by another bard called "Rafael". Who saw potential in him. Eventually, he learned how to control magic with his voice, movements, and music. Even though he enjoyed entertaining, with his new found powers and being able to do whatever he wanted, he realized he became somewhat stuck there, unable to grow, he was running out of ideas for songs or tales. But what was he supposed to do? He couldn't go back home and wasn't confident enough of his abilities yet to go on actual adventures alone, as he and Rafael split up after a year, his powers seemed mostly passive, supporting at most. Contemplating his options, he almost stumbled over a black panther which seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. He looked back at the table which the large black cat was laying against, sitting around it he saw what could only be described as a perfect example of a knight in shining armor drinking a large pint of... milk? and a younger somewhat odd hooded figure, bright red with a large bird emblem depicted on his back in gold. Emil was immediately intrigued by the curious figures, decided to buy them a round and started talking to them. The knight was apparently the Paladin called Adil Fahd, somewhat of a folk hero, who he actually recognized by name as he had heard it before. The hooded young man was called Yashan, a Phoenix sorcerer from far away, this apparently meant he knew a lot about setting things and himself... on fire, he was apparently on a holy mission to find a religious artifact called the Sun-Stone. He spends the rest of the evening talking with the adventurers and eventually convinced them to let them join their group. A few months later, they met their newest members to the party "Kakaah" a odd but smart Kenku Rogue and a sassy Fighter called Ustrom and with the party complete they would face many adventures, from fighting as gladiators in the area of a savage dwarf Island, to Dyeing Ogers hair to get out of trouble, surviving many of Adil's bad ideas, dangerous sea-trips, a trip to the Underdark, meeting the Evil beholder called Kazejux, retrieving priceless artifacts,  fighting a Demon called Kalahai who is wanting to take over the world... and many more and many more more to come. Extra/Random Facts about Emil: - Emil is a very charismatic and likes to flirt but is absolutely terrified of sex because of a mix of bad/silly experience and anxiety. He gets nervous about the subject and panics as soon as things become too hot and heavy. - Emil has a huge weakness for smart and dorky, guys/girls <3 - He learned the tips and tricks about being a Bard from a Bard called Rafael, with whom he has a somewhat competitive-love/hate friend-relationship as their friendship got a little complicated at the end of their showbusiness-partnership. Rafael is a stereotypical bard, very charismatic, party-animal and somewhat of a nymphomaniac. - Emil used to own a tiger when he was younger, who he shared with his brother Gabriel, which is supposed to be depicted on his bracers. Gabriel, after being reunited with Emil again 3 years after Emil left home, decided to also engrave his name into the bracers, in a way, so he'd be with him on his adventures. -Emil grew up with two mothers and a father, his biological mother is called Anjah, she is smart, smoll and scary, his second mother is called Dolunay, Cool, collected and wise, and his father's name is Azam who is intimidating but too sweet for his own good. His parents are in a Poly-romantic relationship and don't appreciate the "He is rich so he has more than one wife"-talk/ habit, the relationship is shared between all of them and they all love each other equally.

- Aside from the strings, his Violin is made out of Wood, Gold, and Ivory. It's called "Yarro" and is named after the Yarrow Plant. - He was thought to shoot his crossbow by his older brother Amin, who is good at handling most weapons known to that region, and an avid collector. Currently, Baltazar owns a magic Heavy Crossbow which is able to cast the spell "Tenser's transformation". - Emil is familiar with wearing drag or being scarcely clothed on stage as he used to be a part of a show in an "Entertainers-bar" for about a year. His drag is now one of his costumes next to his dessert robes... this job wasn't one of his favorites... but it was where Rafael discovered him, which would change his life forever. (He is dangerous with a pair of heels.) - Emil recently acquired a sentient cape, called Thanatos, a cured copper dragon with a ton of attitude. He allows Baltazar to Fly, be resistant to fire and look very extra. - His feather ear-ring is supposed to resemble a phoenix feather, however, he has no clue if it's real, as he bought it on a market from a somewhat sketchy guy. - Emil lost his finger for a while after using a magic artifact to save his ass... (Future: luckily he was able to get it back!) - Emil has a birthmark on his left hip. - (When compared to the real world) Emil would have a combination of Arabic/Indian/maybe a bit of Egyptic heritage. - Emil Knows gods exist but isn't necessarily a follower of any. More Baltazar: - https://romyvdhel-art.deviantart.com/art/OC-Spectrum-Meme-DnD-Characters-724820026 - https://romyvdhel-art.deviantart.com/art/DND-Reference-Baltazar-Emil-Qazir-707607613 - https://romyvdhel-art.deviantart.com/art/DnD-Sketchdump-VIII-717548901

[montybadun]

THE HAPPENING → PARTY

TAGGING → Monty Badun & Pari Nasir (@perfectlypari)

TIMELINE → May 19, 2018

SETTING → Walt High Gymnasium

SUMMARY → Monty does his best impersonation of a ‘prince’ to try and give his friend Pari the perfect night at morp.

Pari couldn't believe how well the morp was going. She had said sophomore year was going to be her year, and here she was, starting a whole new tradition in the school and making her mark. It felt pretty great. And it definitely helped that she felt super cute in her outfit and was getting compliments left and right for the decorations. After making her rounds on the dance floor, taking selfies with friends and such, she spotted Monty off to the side, very characteristically standing in a corner with his Freddie Kreuger outfit on. With a smirk, Pari took up some bloody punch in two plastic cups and approached him. "So? Are you like slayed, O M G murdered, O M G hashtag-dying in a good way, or totally hashtag-kill-me in a bad way about this dance? It's okay if it's the latter, I'm open to criticism!"

Monty had been spending so much of this evening avoiding his cousin and any weird prodding about girls he should be dancing with that he’d accidentally ended up avoiding everyone. It wasn’t bad, though; there were few people he really liked talking to anyway, and the less people that got near him, the less likely he was to be called out for having taken off the finger-knife component of his costume. Still, Pari’s excited face was a welcome change from the watcher-on-the-wall act, and he offered her a half-smile, better than anyone else had gotten all night. “Can I create a new hashtag? I don’t want to have to share with Brandon,” Monty grumbled, even though he’d been having his own version of fun. “Hashtag-Pari looks like she’s having an awesome time so Monty’s glad she convinced him to come? Or is that too long?”

Pari couldn't contain the little squeal that rose up in her throat from learning that Monty was having fun. If he was able to enjoy himself, this dance must have really been a success. "Ah, you're having fun!" she exclaimed, clutching him by the bicep out of excitement. "That's great, though, I'm so glad this thing is really coming together." She bit her lip and glanced around the gym, unrecognizable in all its horror-y goodness. "And I'm glad that you're glad you came -- and dressed up. You look really good!" she eyed his Freddie Kreuger getup with a nod of approval, and crossed her arms over her chest.

Monty looked around. He didn't go to a lot of parties, but it seemed like it was a good one. Better than the cheesy Valentine's decorations and how nervous and weird he'd felt when he'd gotten paired with Ember after his dumb secret admirer gifts, at least. "Yeah, the decorations are cool. I hope they give people nightmares, how totally real would that be?" he asked her, wondering if he started to sound too much like Brandon around her. But oh well. She was his friend; she made it easy to get kind of excited and almost care about stuff. "Yeah! Also part of the whole nightmare thing, not just me being mean," he promised, tipping his Freddy hat towards her. "I mean, your costume's like you just walked out of a bucket of blood, the least I could do was wear a sweater and say '1, 2, Freddy's coming for you' when I want people to go away." He stood a little straighter at the compliment, still not used to them even after almost two whole years in Walt. "So did it turn out the way you wanted it to? I mean, it doesn't look like anything's missing, right? Except maybe your Boo-shadow, but I'm sure he'll find you again soon."

Pari laughed at Monty’s idea, knowing better than to be fooled by his costume and think that he was suddenly some social butterfly. He was still telling people to go away, and for some reason she was glad he hadn’t changed. It just meant she could keep trying to get him to come out of his shell, and even if he never did, at least this little game was fun. She shrugged at his question, beaming at the entirety of the dance. “I mean....I dunno! It’s horror and stuff, and it’s a huge success so I’m so grateful, but — and I wasn’t gonna tell anyone — but it’s also my birthday...? So I was kind of hoping for something a little more....magical. No matter how off-Brand and counterintuitive that would make this whole thing.” Pari shook her head, laughing at herself. She was just never satisfied, that was all.

Crap . Monty should have known when her birthday was, but he'd been completely unprepared for that. And he'd proven firsthand how rotten he was at gift-giving, but if he'd remembered he would have at least tried to do something nice for her. Now all he could do was be nice with his words, and that was always awkward for him; nice things didn't just flow out of his mouth without any effort the way they did for other people. "That's cool! So it's like, an unofficial party for you, everytime you see someone having fun you can think that it's in your honor," he tried tentatively, but the words felt clumsy and off-brand coming out of his mouth. Monty cleared his throat and tried again. "That's not dumb. I mean, if you said you wanted like, someone to carry you around while you sat on a throne or something and strangers showered you with presents, that would be dumb. But what, you just... want morp to be more like prom? With like, someone to give you flowers and dance with you and kiss you and tell you look pretty and stuff? Seems normal," Monty shrugged.

Pari scrunched up her nose at the idea of it being like a party for her -- that was so bougie, throwing an entire dance just to feel like people were celebrating her birthday. "I mean, kind of? Not really? I honestly forgot my own birthday when I planned this," she shrugged, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Okay, getting carried around on a throne and showered with presents doesn't sound bad..." she chuckled, "I'm totally joking. But yeah! I was so anti-prom but I guess since the Valentine's Ball went so bad for me, I feel kind of robbed of a magical night or something." She loved it all, but totally wished she could be wearing her pretty red dress and sparkly flats at an event that was so successful, not her bloody everything. Twiddling her thumbs, Pari looked up at Monty and gave a sigh as the song that was playing on the dance floor slowed down to a haunting balld. "Will you dance with me, Monty? I know I like to force you to do things out of your comfort zone but that isn't the reason I'm asking this time. It could be like a birthday present."

Monty scrunched his face up in disgust. "Nope, no way, if you're putting me on a portable throne you better be taking me to an alligator pit, because all the attention will make me want to get ripped apart by a bunch of chomping gators or something," Monty informed her matter of factly. "You're also just a sophomore and not allowed to go to prom anyway, so like... screw the system. But mostly screw the jerk who ditched you on Valentine's Day. Did you ever figure out who it was?" Monty tried to ask the question casually, but if Pari did know... well, Boo probably would have beaten him up already, but for Pari? Monty would definitely go back and beat him up again. Or at least pee in his shoes or something. Monty got distracted by Pari's question instead, though, and he swallowed the lump that instantly formed in his throat. He was a terrible dancer, and Pari would just end up disappointed... but even as he started to shake his head no, his words betrayed him. "You're not going to have fun, Brandon would be way better at this, but uh..." Monty rubbed his gloved hands together, giving Pari a second to change her mind, but when she actually seemed serious, he said, "But yeah, of course I'll dance with you. I got a little practice on Valentine's Day, so at least it was good for like, one thing." Monty extended his arm to her, using his free arm for a one-shouldered shrug. "Most magical dancing I can muster, here we go."

Pari laughed quietly at Monty's joke. "Attention isn't bad!" she smiled, "Except when it is bad. But most of the time, it's fun." That was one thing she'd learned this year -- that attention sucked when everyone was making fun of you, but was great when everyone was wanting to be your friend. "Yeah, screw him I guess -- and no. And I kind of never want to find out, for his own safety," she chuckled. Not that she would do anything, but Valentine's Day proved that she had some very dedicated friends and she didn't put it past Ember or Boo to fight for her honor or something. She shrugged when Monty responded to her request, having expected some kind of resistance from him. "I don't want to dance with Brandon, I want to dance with you," she chuckled, taking his arm and leading him out to the dance floor. "Oh yeah, you and Ember! How'd that go? Your secret admirer thing was super cute -- I hope it paid off," she smirked, putting her arms up on the boy's shoulders.

Monty pretended to gag, even though Pari was right. Monty just wasn't used to attention, at least not in any sort of normal way; and even if he started getting it now, he doubted it would be the good kind like Pari wanted and deserved. It wasn't about him, though; it was about her, and he was totally happy to step up and help her out whenever she needed him. "Hey! If you really didn't want us to hurt him, I'd just send Brandon to annoy him to death, that would probably be worse anyway," Monty grinned, amused by his own terrible ideas. "Okay, if I have to," Monty added, but he was still smiling; Pari would know he didn't mean it. Even if he'd been scowling, he had a feeling she knew he liked her enough that he didn't mean it. "Oh -- uh, she didn't think I was a total creep? She just also didn't like me, which is fine. I like, temporarily lost my mind anyway, I'm not like the secret admirer type," Monty shrugged as he gently put his hands on Pari's waist, hoping he was doing this right. It was what he'd done before, and for some reason, he was just as nervous tonight as he'd been at Valentine's Day, dancing with a pretty girl who was totally way too cool for him but who was like, willing to hang around him anyway. "Besides, if it had gone well, I'd probably be here with her tonight and then I wouldn't be able to be your poser-prince."

Pari stifled a laugh at the boy's jab at his cousin. She loved Brandon, really, she did, so that's why she didn't want to outwardly LOL at Monty's comment, but she also very much understood where Monty was coming from. "That really does sound like a better plan!" she mused, nodding with a giggle. Once they were dancing, Pari settled her arms around his neck and gave a contented sigh. This was nice -- exactly what she'd hoped for out of prom night (er...morp night). "She didn't like you?!" she asked, admittedly a little shocked -- Ember was so cool and so was Monty so like, why not? "That sucks, but at least she didn't think you were a creep. That's good," she chuckled, holding him a bit closer once his hands found her hips. "Yeah, I guess that's true! But I mean, there's nothing bad about being a poser prince. Aladdin posed as a prince and he got his princess and a whole kingdom," Pari shrugged. She'd always loved listening to her dad tell that story of how he helped a street rat woo the princess. "So you could totally be Aladdin in this scenario."

Monty pursed his lips. "Close enough," he admitted. He wasn't sure if Ember had actually said those words directly, but it had felt a lot like an I don't like you to his fragile ears. Enough like one to where he'd managed to put the other girl out of his head almost entirely since Valentine's Day had happened, at least, and just focus on the friends thing. He didn't want to be gross and extra like Brandon was about that Liam boy, anyway; if something ever did work out between Monty and a girl, he had every intention of being more cool and chill about it. Or at least, he thought he did, but hearing Pari talk about how he could be cool like Aladdin gave him a weird surge of confidence. Aladdin was cool, Aladdin got the princess, Aladdin was all kinds of stuff Monty usually was not. But tonight, maybe Monty could be. He seemed to be doing a good job of giving her the fantasy night she wanted, dancing with her and complimenting her and stuff, but didn't prom movies always have kisses? Without overthinking it too much, Monty ducked his head down and pressed his lips to Pari's, like cool guys always seemed to do at the end of the stories she liked so much.

Pari gave a small, sad sigh when Monty admitted to Ember not liking him. That must have really sucked — he went through so much effort just to get kind of rejected, and on Valentine’a Day, no less! And she had been so engrossed in her own drama that night that she didn’t even notice. Planning this morp had really taken a lot out of her — she was so out of the loop from her friends’ lives. Giving him a little ego boost with the Aladdin talk seemed like the best she could do. But then, suddenly, Monty’s Head dipped down and his lips were on hers. Pari’s eyes widened at first, glancing around to be sure this was really happening. She’d never been kissed before, and once she got over the initial shock, it felt...great. She kissed back for just a second before pulling away. “Whoa,” Pari gulped, looking up at Monty’s eyes with a little bit of confusion and fear in her own. She was speechless. Part of her wanted to know what possessed him to do that, and the other part of her didn’t care — she just wanted to kiss him again. But the first side was winning, and she continued to stand there, staring at him, frozen.

Monty hadn't really been reading any logical, decipherable signs to get to deciding he was going to kiss Pari; he'd just sort of lost his mind and let it happen. At least this mind loss was more spontaneous than his weird gifts for Ember, although he'd been scared it was about to have the same results. But then Pari kissed back, and Monty stopped worrying if he was doing it wrong or if his friend totally wanted to slap him or get Boo to murder him instead and just went with it, for as long as she seemed like he wanted to. It felt good, and he almost wished he'd thought of kissing people as like, a thing he could actually do way sooner... Except a part of him sort of thought kissing other girls wouldn't be as good. Pari was his favorite one, even if he'd never thought about just how much better he liked her than the other's before. "Oh, uh -- was that a good prince impersonation, or would I have been a better prince if I'd asked if it was okay first?"

Pari gulped, gazing up at Monty. She was unsure of what was supposed to come next. She'd never kissed anyone, let alone a good friend. Where were they supposed to go from here? In movies, this was where the credits would roll -- but then again, if this were a movie, there would've been some kind of epic narrative that all led up to this. As Pari started recounting what had to have been romantic moments with Monty that she'd somehow missed in their time together as friends, he asked some kind of cute and funny question and her mind went blank. A smile grew on her lips and she stood on her toes to kiss him again before deciding this would be a good time to 'go check things' as the organizer of the dance. But really, she just wanted to leave things on a positive note without them getting too awkward. "No, you were a perfect prince," she nodded, before kissing him firmly one last time. She pulled away and started backing up into the crowd. "I'm gonna go check around. See you at school on Monday!" And with that, Pari ran off into the crowd with the biggest, dopiest smile on her face while she tried to process what could've possibly just happened.

[roxxdafoxx]

Why I stopped celebrating the holidays...

for me holidays were always a disappointment the decision to not celebrate the holidays can save you money and  your sanity its definitely a “rich mans holiday” my grandmother always made it a point to make sure i felt valued she always got me a gift and a birthday cake My great grandmother an I shared the same birth date and having a birthday with my great grandmother was the best now with the exception of a few cousins and my children now that my entire family is dead and after spending every holiday in the hospital ive had a lot of time spent in isolation to learn and get to know myself and God on a more intimate and deeper level not being with family always being depressed during the holidays made me realize why am i allowing these holidays cause me anxiety get me all upset about being able to afford gifts for everyone especially when u have a big heart and the desire to give to everyone id give to almost everyone in the entire world if i could but feeling that way during holidays never sat right with me it would ruin my mood my self esteem/self worth i would feel i had no value like i was never good enough no matter hat i did or gave would never be good enough i would find myself damn near balled up in a corner crying on a day that was supposed to be happy my birthday being so close to christmas put my birthday in the my mind in the  “you dont matter box” lol im sure most can relate if their birthday is during that time when most people are getting ready for the holidays while everyone else gets both a birthday present and a christmas present for christmas babies your lucky if you even get a gift in general trying to throw a party around that time is equally as difficult people are just too busy the holiday its supposed to be about Jesus and his birth and birthday although its not even the day he was born a lot of people aint even really thinking about Jesus at all some celebrate christmas and dont even believe in God its just tradition for them and a reason to celebrate and get gifts and its origins have nothing to do with God!!! The origin of Christmas is completely opposite of what most think theyre celebrating and most are in denial that they continue to celebrate a lie with a dark origin they say halloween is a devils holiday but Christmas is too!! the reason the birth of Jesus is not listed in the bible is because God never planned or commanded us to celebrate his birth because he doesnt have a birthdate he has always existed the bible even calls it foolishness (Jer 10) this is the reason people cant wait for the holiday cram to be over with because theyre busy trying to please everyone except God being selflessly selfish and putting themselves into debt is that really the correct way to show people that you care?  When u travel a bit when u go through some things when u see people struggle just to have a roof over their head are homeless or living in a shelter or if you think of people in other countries who are just grateful for a pair of old worn out shoes you realize how vain the holidays really are the bible even calls it “vanity” when you look at all the beautiful decorations all the money spent on trees and lights etc u start to see it for what it really is its all “vanity” please believe im not being judgemental i celebrated this holiday before i somewhat celebrated it even tho i was in the hospital i mean you really cant avoid the celebration because the majority is celebrating and it will trickle its way on down to you in one way or another for instance i no longer celebrate and this is my first year deciding not to the nurses bought me gifts along with a santa claus hat that ive been wearing because i love hats its warm im into costumes and fashion but even fashion can be considered vanity we have put ourselves in a place and position that we forgot where we came from and what our ancestors went through.. I loved planning birthdays and surprises for friends, but when it came to me, the favor was never returned. That's when I realized that planning my own birthday or holidays or others birthdays that it was too much pressure trying to please others. it still makes you feel inadequate and terrible. nobody cares  Let's be real Everyone is already in debt. Your birthday just became another errand on their daily to-do list. If you invite a lot of people they dont show up or might not bring anything some folks just really are there for the food and a party could care less about you but its just something to do it could mean you have false friendships/relationships in general and you're just there hoping for gifts even fake friends buy gifts too u just never know .... the dark origins is really what made me give up on holidays valentines day is supposed to be about love but i never felt more unloved than on that day halloween aka “the devils day” you get more gifts of candy from strangers than any other holiday ironically and its like the  day where being scared is supposed to be fun the bible clearly states fear is not of God a lot of people like that stuff and like the feeling of being afraid until its a real situation then its not so fun.. i can barely watch horror films i honestly dont know how people come up with these crazy scary movies how do they film them write them and play these characters i mean acting is most def a talent...If you’ve never researched where our Christmas traditions come from, if interested in the truth look into it. I started to share them here, but it would take me FOR.EV.ER. to go through all of the names, dates, traditions, etc. But look into where Dec. 25th came from.  the Yule log, the Christmas tree and its ornaments and lights, holly, mistletoe, wreaths, the Christmas ham… look up Winter Solstice and Saturnalia. If you are really interested in knowing where your traditions come from and what they mean… do some studying.Suffice it to say, what we are doing when we partake of the traditions of Christmas is nothing more than imitating the pagan’s worship of the sun god. And i no longer can stand to have any part of spitting in the face of God. (Sorry, I know that sounds harsh, but this is how it makes me feel.)For a long time I tried to rationalize that it was okay to continue enjoying the festivities. After all, we weren’t doing it to worship a sun god, we were honoring the birth of Christ! Right? Well, after much prayer and studying God’s word, one day the Lord revealed this analogy to me.Let’s just say that your spouse has cheated on you. After all, the Lord does call his people an “adulterous bride” after they went chasing pagan gods.Let’s say that your cheating spouse has come back to you, and asked your forgiveness. All has been made right again.Now, let’s say it’s your birthday. And your spouse wants to honor you on this day. (Although, in an appropriate analogy the celebration wouldn’t even be on your actual birthday!its on the other womans/guys birthday)But instead of giving you gifts that you have clearly expressed a desire for, your spouse gives you things that his lover enjoyed! He made his/her favorite foods, wanted to enjoy his/her favorite activities with you, lavished you with things that would have delighted him/her! Now, would this honor you? Would you feel loved and esteemed in this situation? Of course not!!! You’d be Livid!!! Is this not what we do to Christ, when we say that we are honoring Him by means of pagan traditions!? Being me,.. I wanted to find something in Scripture to solidify my convictions. Would God see the intentions of my heart, and understand that I’m just trying to please Him? Or would He be angry as I know I would be in that situation?...YHWH brought me to Exodus 32, the story of the Golden Calf. Remember that one? Moses had gone up onto the mountain to speak with God (and bring down the 10 commandments), but he took so long in coming that the people began to wonder what had happened to him. They asked Aaron to make a golden calf for them to worship, and he did so. But I thought this was fascinating, in verse 5 of that same chapter Scripture says, “And when Aaron saw it (the golden calf), he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD.”Do you see what he was doing? The people had fallen back into pagan practices, and were worshiping an idol, yet saying it was to honor God!!  The next verse goes on to say,“And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.”Wow. Sounds like they were having a very fun celebration, huh?! Did the Lord look at the rejoicing of their hearts and feel honored? Let’s find out…In verses 7-9, YHWH speaks to Moses and tells him what the people are doing. He says that they have “corrupted themselves”, and “turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them”.Then in verse 10, YHWH says, “Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them…”.He was SO ANGRY! He was ready to destroy them all! Evidently, He was not pleased at the way they were trying to honor Him… mixing worship with pagan traditions. Mixing the holy with the unholy. water oil Vinegar type mix Just. Like. Christmas.....As I continued to study, I also came to 1 Samuel 15…This is where King Saul went out to destroy the Amalekites. But the Lord specifically told him (through Samuel) that he was to “utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.” (verse 3)But if you read on, you’ll find in verse 21 that they did not do as the Lord had commanded, and had in fact brought back with them the best of the sheep and oxen instead of killing them. Of course, when Samuel confronts him about it, Saul rationalizes that they did it “to sacrifice unto the LORD”.Here again, man is disobeying the Lord’s commands, yet saying he is doing so to try to please God. What does the Lord say? Verse 22-23, “And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to “OBEY” is better than sacrifice”!!!, .For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”God didn’t want the sacrifices. He wanted obedience!!!.Here’s another in Deuteronomy 12:29-31; He is speaking to the Israelites before they go into the promised land,“When Yahweh your Elohim cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, `How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’You shall not worship Yahweh your Elohim in that way; for every abomination to Yahweh which He hates they have done to their gods…”We are specifically told NOT to worship God with the ways of the pagans!! Jesus himself said in Matthew 15:7-9, “Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”I don’t want to worship in vain, forsaking the commandments of God and clinging to the traditions of men. (also in Matt. 15:3)I don’t want to have anything to do with the unholy.Ephesians 5:11, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”In fact, the recurring theme all throughout Scripture is for God’s people to NOT follow the way of the pagans (in other words, go along with what the rest of the unbelieving world does), but to be set apart as holy, and to honor YHWH by obeying His commandments!If we profess to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, then we cannot ignore the very character of God as repeated to us throughout Scripture. He is a loving God, yes, but He is also a jealous God. He will not share His people with idols.“For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” Exodus 34:14 But let’s just say, for the sake of argument, that Christmas traditions don’t really have pagan roots. Let’s just pretend that’s a bunch of baloney.Even still, nowhere in Scripture is it commanded to remember the birth of Christ. In fact, what we are commanded to celebrate are the Biblical Feasts of the Lord (given in Lev. 23), including Passover in remembrance of Christ’s death. Yet, far too many Christians have never even heard of the seven Feasts of the Lord, or they think they are “Jewish” celebrations. Scripture doesn’t call these holy days (not holidays) “Jewish feasts”, but the LORD’s Feasts. And everyone who calls himself a child of Elohim is to keep them. Forever.And so, we have chosen to give the Lord the gifts He has specifically requested, and honor Him through celebrating and remembering the Feasts of the lord.Loved ones, I know that Christmas is a special time of year, and that people get very caught up in its traditions and festivities. But our hearts yearn to honor the Lord… above all else. And this is something that i feel is non-negotiable.So, im  saying “No”: to the holiday rush, and fighting over the latest toys for my kids, and inflatable yard decorations, and the lies of a bearded man who claims to have the powers of God (all seeing, all knowing, all present), and the Great Big Toys “R” Us Book, and “Yuletide” carols, and guilt induced credit card spending, and drunken company Christmas parties, and everything else that the world gets so wrapped up in during this time of year.For me, it really only comes down to one thing:“If you love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15 And I think I’ve laid out pretty clearly what i believe the Lord expects from us.  one holiday i like which is the 4th of july because it summer and there’s fireworks in the sky and bbq but what is the true origin of 4th of july? i wish we didn’t have to have wars i wish people could just live and let live without hurting anyone why steal why not just learn from each other share a world without greed would be beautiful but also when u have nothing really left and after you have gotten rid of all the fake people in your life u find no real reason to celebrate if you have no one to celebrate with with my family all passing away the money has been short after being  locked up in an institution it puts a damper on things i feel like these holidays are made up just to make the rich get rich yes we all want to have fun and have a good time but id rather celebrate with the right people for the right reason without any ulterior motives that battle against principalities ans spiritual wickedness against rulers of darkness evil spirits in high places the fowl of the air id much rather sell things to people who do celebrate these holidays because at least it can help with bills instead of be a hindrance and burden in my life i’m not judging anyone who celebrates holidays i use to celebrate them too i’m just sharing why i have chosen not to  honestly i celebrate everyday i buy gifts throughout the year why celebrate when the government wants us to? so they can capitalize on the citizens have us participate in their hellenistic rituals that we aren’t even  made aware of until we do the homework and learn about them for ourselves these traditions were forced on us we weren’t given a choice and to think we were told that by celebrating these days we are honoring God and all along we arent we are honoring other gods celebrating holidays that have origins of other gods and not the true God the bible doesn’t encourage us to entertain these practices why even celebrate anything that has the potential to be a set  up for disappointment by not celebrating it eliminates any expectation of having a day that you really only see in the movies on the hallmark channel i’ve also noticed people dread and just cant wait for it to be over like a funeral and its supposed to be a joyful prosperous time its even programmed to be called the most wonderful time of the year i tell ya satan is a sly trickster i chose life and freedom from the imprisonment that i feel when it comes to the holidays so while everyone else is celebrating i decided to be happy and enjoy myself in my own company with God the real comforter snuggled up to him in worship and gratefulness as an introvert id rather spend the days away from all of that i enjoy being an introvert i enjoy being in my own company creating with the creator holding me down and uplifting me and perhaps the holidays have turned me into  a “scroogey your highness grinch” because i view things differently now but with that comes the freedom of me not having to do what everyone else is doing setting myself apart from the masses (mass level of destruction lol insider) i’m living my life by my rules by my preferences and spending time with God my best friend God never asked for anything but for us to live right and be holy because he is holy this is something to be celebrated always everyday everyday is our unbirthday one day out of the year is a day we were born on and we shouldn’t feel pressured or disappointed because someone didn’t get us a gift or acknowledge the fact that we are here another year and alive if anything we should spend our birthday alone with God because for sure its facts that you’ll feel value and loved in the arms of God i feel we should do something special for ourselves no one will ever love us like God can no one will ever love us like the self love we give ourselves truth be told people will always fail u people will not always be there for you people die there are no guarantees in life except the existence of God and his everlasting word anything else is temporary everything we see will one day no longer be  so i make it a point not to depend on external happiness internal happiness is the greatest gift we can give to ourselves  always do you stay true to yourself get rid of old habits that dont benefit your soul and be happy do what makes you happy there’s always room to learn more and to improve in certain areas in your life in all areas a friend once told me and it will forever stick with me and that is we aren’t perfect we are not all knowing we are forever learning and correcting things we are all a work in progress give to others keep yourself in alignment with the word of God by giving to others its like youre giving to God and it will be given back to you within the same measure you gave with so just be a happy cheerful giver give from you’re entire heart good things will happen just dont give and expect something back giving to receive doesn’t work like that...another thing  don’t wait for their birthday or a man made holiday to do things for people some might not even live to see another birthday this kinda follows the saying don’t wait till i’m dead to buy me flowers or wait till im gone to finally miss me invite someone to dinner just because why wait until thanksgiving to feast and be thankful around your loved ones thanksgiving a day where we are actually celebrating stealing the land from the people who were already here thats like allowing someone to move in with you you teach them how to grow food and make a living for themselves and then they rob you and kick you out of your own home and force you to pay them to live in the street and first and foremost last but most assuredley not least never allow the holidays to validate you your value doesnt depend on gifts u get or didnt get or the people around you i like small numbers i think God prefers small numbers too because quality is and always will be better than quantity id rather have 1 real friend than a thousand fake friends even if my only friend is myself i remember in elementary school they would give out secret candies on valentines day some student s would recieve like 30 gifts because either they were that much admired and popular or they bought themselves gifts and made it look like someone else did it for them to make themselves appear to be better but i wonder if fake love makes them feel better its kinda like today how they buy followers do me a favor be happy keep the fake stuff to the side seek to be happy internally so nothing or no one can take that from u people and material things are all external things theyre all temporary the things money cant buy the things we cant see are the more permanent things our bodies are also temporary but these souls of ours are gonna be with us a lot longer so make sure you take good care of it and of you real love is internal and eternal and its the best gift we can give to ourselves signed #EternallyYours #EternalLove