#i think henry says early on he didn't know but when he calls jack all souless and creepy jack'o'lantern says ''takes one to know one Dave''

[the-acid-pear]

You know thinking of Dave (because I'm chopping onions and as a sigma I can't be seen crying for emotional reasons) and I did realize Jack really never calls him out of Henry does he? Like the one time he does is bc it was about Dee (in the first area) and in pure evil, both in 2 and 3, Jack won't tell him all Henry did to him and his family.

I need to keep chopping vegetables but don't y'all find it curious? Like I'd seen someone mention how there's no way to bring up the tapes when talking to either Dave or DTrap which admittedly I ruled off as DD just not wanting to bother writing more for an already long game but with all these other things in mind it's just strange.

[directdogman]

Dogman, how do you write SO WELL!?!? I love all your characters and I need to know what/where you find inspo from...

Ha. Every writer is just someone who apes the creative processes of their inspirations. For video game writing specifically, there's two answers for me.

Toby Fox is always gonna be a huge inspiration for me. I've written plots and characters before and had to abandon ideas after realizing I'd accidentally written part of UT again. Even some of the ideas I used were undeniably inspired by UT in a subconscious way and ofc, I included several explicit references to UT in my last series. Toby's a very clever guy who likely pays very close attention to the art he consumes and tries to figure out how to maximize how much his work connects with his audience. Whatever his process is, it works.

The other answer is a lil funnier: Scott Cawthon, but specifically the legend, not the man. For context: Back in the earlier days of the FNaF fandom, people had a hyper-inflated view of Scott Cawthon's writing skills that largely came from how little of a presence he had back in those days. In the vacuum of Scott actually explaining his own process in detail, people got caught up in his genuinely creative way of hiding exposition in his games using cryptid and (then) unexpected methods, and a narrative formed (one that he's since refuted.)

While he never implied it tmk, fans broadly believed that he constructed these sweeping and complex narratives with tons of cohesive moving parts, with the games essentially acting like the mere tip of his lore iceberg. People even thought he wrote so much that he had whole games worth of lore outlined from the beginning! In the first Dawko interview he gave, he clarified that this wasn't the case and explained roughly what his process was (basically just outlining rough theme ideas + aesthetics for future titles.)

However, that legend made younger-me's mind run wild and any time I wrote a story, it became very difficult for me to not keep writing down ideas while completing the grunt work that followed me finishing my scripts. When I finished DSaF 1, I already had DSaF 2's draft written and by the time 2 was done, I had enough lore for a 3rd game on paper (and a lot more stuff that I didn't use.) By the time three was out, I had pages upon pages of unused concepts/story ideas and more or less just had to decide to call it quits or else I'd be pumping out entries forever!

That's why if you go back to those older games, there's references that directly refer to future plot-points in pretty casual/easy to miss ways. (Like Henry's mention in DSaF 1, Dave being heartless in DSaF 2, Jack being soulless in 1, and even Blackjack being Jack's soul in 2. Most of 3's major plotpoints are implied somewhere in 2 and some of 2's in 1.)

DT is much the same. By the time I finished writing it, I had fairly detailed drafts for arcs for each of the characters, some early material ended up getting completely recontextualized (and even modified in small ways to not conflict with the wider ideas I came up with.)

I get really into writing my stories/characters and I always wonder exactly how things ended up where they are, what characters think about but don't say, etc etc. This is why I have an obscene amount of Crown lore that I have very little to do with rn (since he impacted the whole world so deeply.)

This extra stuff also includes plenty of sequel material ideas, though I didn't think I'd even get a chance to use them since DT performed pretty meagerly before the big release and I was expecting to have to move onto something new. Though it turned out that Scott didn't actually write his games this way (by his own admission), it's the correct answer for what my core writing inspiration for writing game narratives is.

Hope this helps!

[bau-drabbles]

a/n: creds to the prev people that did this! :)

your insta but you're dating aaron hotchner, part 3

okay i promise this is the last time 😭 i made this in such a rush, it's so ooc. pls forgive me and enjoy 🤍

part 1, 2, 4

liked by itslukealvez, reid.gram and 500 others

y/n_xo: aaron and his dimples 😍🫶

view all 240 comments

d.morgan: and then you have reid who's standing behind him like a skin walker

its.emilyp: he looks like a kid who's gone to tell his dad he ate all his food including the veg

itsjj: he looks like henry when he vomited at 2am and came into my room to announce it

penny.garcia: my sweet boy, he looks like he needs a big long hug!! 🥹🥹

d.morgan: he's fine sweetness, he's going to live 😐

its.emilyp: its okay derek, spencer loves you too

d.morgan: i already know, who wouldn't 😏

y/n_xo: this is not tinder pls, i just wanted to appreciate aaron's dimps 🥲

itsjj: aww father and his son 💗

a.hotch: one is enough, thanks

d.morgan: loool you heard the man, reid. no one likes you

a.hotch: you leave him alone right now 🤨

reid.gram: you heard the man, morgan. no one likes you 🥱

liked by its.emilyp, penny.garcia and 490 others

y/n_xo: he's so cute 🤍🥹

view all 301 comments

d.morgan: yknow sometimes i forget hotch is a whole father

reid.gram: same. he's so angry all the time. i can't fathom him showing any other emotions beside it

y/n_xo: he's so nice to jack, i can't remember last time i even got a kiss 🥲

itsjj: this morning when we walked by your office 🤨

penny.garcia: or last night when we were at the dinner 🤥

the.davidrossi: or literally anytime you both are together 😐

a.hotch: i literally kissed you just a minute ago. but okay

its.emilyp: ignore them all, baby. i'll give you all my kisses 👭

its.emilyp: has he been working out? 🤨

a.hotch: it's all natural, i assure you

d.morgan: he's lyin. he asked me to help him work out

a.hotch: have you never heard of privacy before??

itsjj: i was going to say, he's been looking.... a little bigger lately 🤔

y/n_xo: JJ 💀💀

itsjj: is that not what the kids are calling muscular?

penny.garcia: right?? recently he's been coming in sweaty like he's been running for miles

y/n_xo: sometimes he does ;)

itsjj: 👁👄👁

reid.gram: i am so close to blocking you from my phone

d.morgan: i really did not need that vision in my head 🤢

penny.garcia: i also did not need to see our boss in that light please

y/n_xo: shouldn't have asked 😌🫶

the.davidrossi: i think its time to slip into early retirement

y/n_xo: finally❤

liked by a.hotch, itsjj and 578 others

y/n_xo: i love u my grumpy man

view all 309 comments

a.hotch: i love you more, my sweet ❤

its.emilyp: wake up and break up rn

reid.gram: the way i fell into a endless void of nothingness for all of eternity

itsjj: aww you guys are so cute😁🔫

penny.garcia: right, you guys are so adorable!! (i've had enough of living)

d.morgan: highway during rush hour looks mad comfy rn

a.hotch: please every single one of you seek professional help

its.emilyp: two bros holding hands 6 feet apart because they're not gay

y/n_xo: EMILY :(

itsjj: em you know he's just shy

its.emilyp: of what? me personally, i'd be flaunting y/n everywhere 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩

y/n_xo: (s)creaming 😻

a.hotch: Y/N! 😠

d.morgan: you do know... we can read these right?? 🤢

reid.gram: i think she likes feeding off our fear and horror

liked by kate.callahan, blake_alex and 503 others

y/n_xo: i'm abt to give strauss a quick call 🤨

view all 234 comments

the.davidrossi: please like erin would go for you 💆‍♂️

y/n_xo: i didn't think she'd go for a mean old pasta man yet here we are

penny.garcia: is that jealousy i smell? 🤔

its.emilyp: he's actually ecstatic that his secret is out #rotch4life😍

reid.gram: you mean *roach

a.hotch: is that how this team refers to me, as the chief supervisor? 🤨

its.emilyp: yep 🫂

d.morgan: she said it^^

its.emilyp: omgg conspiracy theory, hotch dated y/n so he could lust over rossi in private 😹

reid.gram: it's not a conspiracy if it really happened ☝

a.hotch: this most certainly did not happen!

its.emilyp: well you know what they say, guilty until proven innocent

the.davidrossi: nobody says that!

its.emilyp: okay and how do you know?? exactly you don't. case closed 🗣

d.morgan: honestly rossi... it feels like you're trying to cover up your tracks 😏

its.emilyp: the closet is glass, we know and it's okay ❤

itsjj: we all love youu 🥹🫶

the.davidrossi: all of you better sleep tonight with a lock. i'm coming after every single one

penny.garcia: if you kill me, could you try not to ruin my hair? the curls are no joke 😩

[inthememetime]

🤺with Vlad

Sorry for the delay! A fight between Clad and someone who doesn't know he regularly gets in fights with superheroes. Star's morning shift has gone Very Sideways. That's ok- the betting pool is about to make her rich.

-

Everyone knew Amity Park's mayor had the kind of self-control shared by honey badgers and angry geese worldwide. He fought with words- in person, online, or via letter- and pranks.

Argument with the US President on Chirper? Pretty normal.

Prank war with Phantom? A bi-annual event nowadays.

Hissed arguments with GIW agents? Average, and the betting pool on when he'd snap was getting pretty big.

But he didn't physically fight very often. There was that one time when Phantom overshadowed the Fenton kid, but even that was with a gun, not hand-to-hand.

If Jack Fenton ever got tired of him, he could snap the billionaire like a twig. The bets on why Maddie Fenton hadn't broken his spine yet were getting more traction than the ones about when he finally became a serial killer, if he was a mad scientist like the Fentons, and if he was actually Phantom's dad- another of Wes' theories, but a benign enough one.

That was what made The Incident so shocking. Amity Park didn't get much human crime- after all, the victims stood a pretty good chance of coming back to haunt their attackers. Every great once in a while, like that cold November morning, they'd get people they fondly called visitors, less fondly tourists, and rudely called interlopers.

The men from out of town were Interlopers.

It had started quite normally; the mayor had visited the usual 24-hour diner Saturday morning, famous for coffee with a little something extra (whiskey or ectoplasm, depending on the guest), and set out a plan with one of his many assistants.

From her position behind the counter, Star could make out it was about the annual Christmas parade, but couldn't catch the details. That was fine. If she were lucky, she would be able to catch a few minutes on her homework while they ate.

It was fine until the visitors walked in. "Hi, welcome to the Spooky Spoon Cafe! If you'll find a seat, I'll bring you menus. How many today?"

Standard question, she thought. People frequently used the Spooky Spoon for birthdays or other events. The visitors- no, the tourists- disagreed. "Three, can't you count?" One snapped with an ugly sneer, and his friends laughed.

"Right, no additional guests," she confirmed, customer service smile tight like armor on her face. She sat down the menus. "When you're ready to order, just let me know. I'm Star, I'll be your waitress today."

"So your parents gave you a stripper name, huh," one asked with a leer. "You live up to it?"

She took a step back, quickly. "Sir, I'm a minor."

"So?"

Forget tourists, these were interlopers. "Right. Well, I serve food and drinks, and that's it. Let me know when you're ready to order, please."

She stopped by the mayor's table to refill the coffee- and add a shot of hazelnut creamer to his assistant's, and ectoplasm for him. "Is everything quite alright? If you want to head out early or call in someone else to watch the counter with you, I'm sure Henry won't mind," Mr. Masters offered.

What he meant, she knew, was that he'd throw enough money around to make sure Henry didn't mind. She didn't hate the mayor, like a lot of their classmates. He was an excellent tipper- usually, she'd come away with a cool $100 tip on a $20 order, as long as she kept the coffee and ectoplasm coming and didn't bug him.

He also reminded her a lot of her grandmother's snappy Dalmatian French Poodle mix- nippy, but wouldn't really hurt you. Very high-strung- not that she'd say that in front of him.

"Thanks, Mr. Masters, but Henry and Paul both came down with Covid, so it's just me until Lea gets off work at 4. I think I've got it," she added, braver than she felt.

"Right. Well, we'll try not to bother you."

She was about to reply when one of the men whistled. "Hey lady, we're ready."

Ugh. What creeps. "Great, what can I get you?"

The food orders were pretty sensible, at least, but then they got to the drinks. "3 Irish coffees, hold the coffee," one joked.

"I'm sorry, we can't serve alcohol today, as only minors are working. We've got a lot of types of creamer, though, or ecto-"

"The hell is it on your menu, then?"

She flushed. It was 8:30 in the morning, why did they want shots anyway? "We usually have an adult over 21 in store, but not today, so-"

"Not even the cook's an adult?"

The cook was an adult, but only 18- not legal to serve it yet. "We don't have anyone who can serve you alcohol today," she explained again. "We do have an Irish Coffee creamer that tastes like the real thing, though, if-"

"Thought this place served shots."

"We're not a bar," she said, losing patience but keeping calm besides, "so we don't have a bartender on staff. We can add shots to drinks up to a limit, usually, but not today."

The asshole turned red and opened his mouth to continue, when asshole number two interrupted. "Hey, what's this about turkey or veggie bacon? Why don't you have real bacon? All the pork's like that."

"It's religious reasons on the part of the owners, so we're not able to offer pork. But the turkey bacon tastes just like-"

Asshole 3 stood up. "I think you have an attitude problem."

Another chair slid out, this time at her back. "Hmm. Three grown men crying because they can't have pork or alcohol at 9 a.m., harassing a teenage girl, and trying to intimidate her into- what? Killing a pig for you? Finding a bartender? And she's got the attitude problem?"

Oh. Oh no. The mayor was vicious in an argument, and she knew without a doubt this would dissolve into a screaming match- probably just when the brunch crowd rolled in.

Asshole one didn't let it get that far, and only years living around ghost attacks let her dodge the smack going her way. It still hit- she heard the sharp sound- but not on her.

Oh shit, was that Wes filming outside? What was he- a sharp crunch sounded before a shout of pain, and asshole one's face was bleeding profusely. "Get out," the mayor said simply. Calm- but years of hearing arguments between him, Danny, Phantom, and others told her it wouldn't stay that way for long.

"Fuck you, you old-"

"I'm calling the cops," she managed to squeak, and one of them rounded on her, only to be bodily picked up and slammed, hard, on the carpeted floor.

The mayor didn't look winded. In fact, he almost looked happy, maybe excited. "Go ahead, Star. Call the police," he said calmly as the third guy started smacking his friend's face to wake him. "And maybe an ambulance if they don't grow some common sense."

Well, she was gone. "What happened?" Ray asked when she ran to the kitchen, and her locker.

"It's a 3-on-1 fight. Interlopers against the mayor, I'm calling the cops."

"Holy shi-" he ducked under the counter as a motorcycle helmet went flying over it. "Dude, I think the old man's winning," he said, impressed.

"Hi, I'm at the Spooky Spoon, and 3 guys just attacked the mayor, can you- yes, I know he's a dick, but still- oh, that guy definitely needs an ambulance now. That's a lot of blood. Huh? Oh, I'm Star, I'm a waitress here."

She popped her head up again to find asshole 1 covered in blood and unconscious under the table. Number 2 was on his knees clutching his throat, and 3 was- throwing a really bad haymaker.

Just. Objectively bad. Phantom when he just started bad.

The mayor didn't even move, just let it miss, and she hissed and winced when the final man was lifted a few inches from the force of the punch into his diaphragm. That was going to hurt for a while.

"Oh, Star, wonderful. How far away from us are the police?"

Number 1 lurched to his feet, but the old man idly tossed him back down like a child would a ragdoll. "Hush, you had your chance."

She swallowed. "They say about 15 minutes."

He scowled. "The response rate is supposed to be a maximum of 10. Andrea, do you- Andrea?"

His assistant was gone. "Hm. She won't last long," he muttered ominously. "Regardless- you might want to call Henry and tell him. I'll pay for the damages, of course."

"Um. Right."

Wait- she had $50 on him being a secret badass. Ooh new school year, new outfits here she comes! Or better yet- a car!

[crazedhatesoul]

The News

tw: death mention, suicidal ideation

reggie always hated this part of the job, whenever there was a surviving family member that needed to be told new no one ever wanted to hear. rusty had stopped by the station and it being so early in the day he hadn’t suspected anything was wrong until he got a closer look at his face and then was told.

he sat back and waited for rusty to finish telling henry the news and then had to make their way out to the scene with the rest of his colleagues.

the time came and went, the scene was processed as best as possible because of the previous nights rain. it felt gloomy despite the weather, it was never easy being told a body was found and reggie could tell that rusty wasn’t taking this well already which he made point to talk to him about later.

then it came time to do the worst part of the job. he volunteered to tell his sister and had what little belongings were on his body to give to her since they weren't needed, it was really just the boys wallet filled with everything he'd left in it.

with that reggie made his way to the parson's house slowly. he thought about what he was going to say to her, how honest he'd be about what they saw there considering how brutal the scene itself looked. fast forward to the knock on the door, having told sunflower ahead of time about the news and asking if she was even there so he wasn't wasting his time and having to come back later since he'd rather rip the band aid off now before she heard it from anyone else.

when he arrived, he asked if someone could grab olivia for him and waited to the side in another room, asking the people who were in there if they could have some privacy for now.

olivia had stepped into the room and reggie gestured for her to sit down. she felt a pit in her stomach, just like the day of her parents accident. it was a familiar feeling and the look on the deputy's face was the exact same look the police had in new york.

"no. no don't you fucking dare tell me what i think you're about to. where's dakota? where's my brother?!"

fuck reggie already hated this, he was never good at hiding when he had bad news for someone.

"i'm so sorry.." he reached into his pocket and pulled out the wallet he'd brought with him, hitting it in his hands a couple of times before he continued. "we found his body this morning, it looks like he tried to camp out for the night and didn't notice a tear in his tent." or at least that's what they'd seen at the scene itself, she didn't need to know all the details. not right now.

she could feel the tears already forming as she wiped them away quickly, grabbing the wallet that he'd handed over and opening it to see dakota's ID which caused her to finally breakdown to tears. olivia collapsed to her knees on the floor, holding the wallet close to her chest which caused reggie to reach out to hold her, letting her get it all out.

olivia was angry. she felt heart broken. she felt guilty. she knew the whole reason they were even in this stupid town was because she suggested they take a road trip.

"get off me!" she shook reggie off of her and stood back to her feat, heading straight for the front door and trying to go towards the forest while reggie followed quickly behind her. "i need to see him! i have to!"

"olivia you can't, not in the state that he's in." he tried to reach for her shoulder, getting met with her almost swinging on him essentially which he dodged quickly. "please let's just go back inside."

"go fuck yourself."

"olivia please."

"no. no! i don't care! this entire town can go fuck itself! you can! the mayor can! the sheriff, all of you! all of you so called people in power don't actually do shit when it comes to protecting people because news flash! people keep dying around here and no one's doing jack shit about it!"

"..."

"exactly! you can't even say anything because i'm right! so no, i'm not going to go back inside. i'm gonna go drink my weight in moonshine at the bar and maybe i'll fucking join him tonight."

"olivia."

"what?!"

"i can't let you do that, please let's just go back inside and we can talk."

"there's nothing to talk about now leave me the hell alone."

she walked over going directly to the bar to do exactly what she said she was going to do as reggie just had to watch her walk away unsure of what else to do. he knew he was going to have to tell henry what she'd just said and go from there but for now he knew it was best to give her space and keep a close eye on her in the meantime.

[nealiios]

The Supernatural 70s: Part I - Corruption of An Innocent

"We're mutants. There's something wrong with us, something very, very wrong with us. Something seriously wrong with us - we're soldiers writers."

-- with apologies to the screenwriter of "Stripes"

Dear reader, I have the darkest of revelations to make to you, a truth when fully and wholly disclosed shall most assuredly chill you to the bone, a tale that shall make you question all that you hold to be true and good and holy about my personal history. While you may have come in search of that narrative designer best known for his works of interactive high fantasy, you should know that he is also a crafter of a darker art, a scribbler of twisted tales filled with ghosts, and ghouls, and gargoyles. I am, dear innocent, a devotee of horrors! Mwahahahaha!

[cue thunderclap, lightning, pipe organ music]

Given the genre of writing for which most of you know me, I forgive you if you think of me principally as a fantasy writer. I don't object to that classification because I do enjoy mucking about with magic and dark woods and mysterious ancient civilizations. But if you are to truly know who I am as a writer, you must realize that the image I hold of myself is principally as a creator of weird tales.

To understand how and why I came to be drawn to this sub-genre of fantastic fiction, you first must understand that I come from peculiar folks. Maybe I don't have the Ipswich look, or I didn't grow up in a castle, but my pedigree for oddity has been there from the start. My mother was declared dead at birth by her doctor, and often heard voices calling to her in the dead of night that no one else could hear. Her mother would periodically ring us up to discuss events in our lives about which she couldn't possibly have known. My father's people still share ghost stories about a family homestead that burned down mysteriously in the 1960s. Even my older brother has outré memories about events he says cannot possibly be true, and as a kid was kicked off the Tulsa city bookmobile for attempting to check out books about UFOs, bigfoot, and ESP. It's fair to say I was doomed - or destined - for weirdness from the start.

If the above listed circumstances had not been enough, I grew up in an area where neighbors whispered stories about a horrifically deformed Bulldog Man who stalked kids who "parked" on the Old North Road near my house. The state in which I was raised was rife with legends of bigfoots, deer women, and devil men. Even in my childhood household there existed a pantheon of mythological entities invented explicitly to keep me in line. If I was a good boy, The Repairman would leave me little gifts of Hot Wheels cars or candy. If I was being terrible, however, my father would dress in a skeleton costume, rise from the basement and threaten to drag me down into everlasting hellfire (evidently there was a secret portal in our basement.) There were monsters, monsters EVERYWHERE I looked in my childhood world. Given that I was told as a fledgling writer to write what I knew, how could anyone have been surprised that the first stories I wrote were filled with the supernatural?

"The Nightmare" by John Henry Fuseli (1781)

My formative years during the late sixties and early seventies took place at a strange juncture in our American cultural history. At the same time that we were loudly proclaiming the supremacy of scientific thought because we'd landed men on the moon, we were also in the midst of a counter cultural explosion of interest in astrology, witchcraft, ghosts, extra sensory perception, and flying saucers. Occult-related books were flying off the shelves as sales surged by more than 100% between 1966 and 1969. Cultural historians would come to refer to this is as the "occult boom," and its aftershocks would impact popular cultural for decades to come.

My first contact with tales of the supernatural were innocuous, largely sanitized for consumption by children. I vividly remember watching Casper the Friendly Ghost and the Disney version of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I read to shreds numerous copies of both Where the Wild Things Are and Gus the Ghost. Likely the most important exposure for me was to the original Scooby Doo, Where Are You? cartoon which attempted to inoculate us from our fears of ghosts and aliens by convincing us that ultimately the monster was always just a bad man in a mask. (It's fascinating to me that modern incarnations of Scooby Doo seem to have completely lost this point and instead make all the monsters real.)

ABOVE: Although the original cartoon Scooby Doo, Where Are You? ran only for one season from 1969 to 1970, it remained in heavy reruns and syndication for decades. It is notable for having been a program that perfectly embodied the conflict between reason and superstition in popular culture, and was originally intended to provide children with critical thinking skills so they would reject the idea of monsters, ghosts, and the like. Ironically, modern takes on Scooby Doo have almost entirely subverted this idea and usually present the culprits of their mysteries as real monsters.

During that same time, television also introduced me to my first onscreen crush in the form of the beautiful and charming Samantha Stevens, a witch who struggles to not to use her powers while married to a frequently intolerant mortal advertising executive in Bewitched. The Munsters and The Addams Family gave me my first taste for "goth" living even before it would become all the rage in the dance clubs of the 1980s. Late night movies on TV would bring all the important horror classics of the past in my living room as Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, the Invisible Man, the Phantom of the Opera, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and Godzilla all became childhood friends. Over time the darkened castles, creaking doors, foggy graveyards, howling wolves, and ever present witches and vampires became so engrained in my psyche that today they remain the "comfort viewing" to which I retreat when I'm sick or in need of other distractions from modern life.

ABOVE: Elizabeth Montgomery starred in Bewitched (1964 - 1972) as Samantha Stephens, a witch who married "mortal" advertising executive Darren Stephens (played for the first five seasons by actor Dick York). Inspired by movies like I Married a Witch (1942) and Bell, Book and Candle (1958), it was a long running series that explored the complex relationship dynamics between those who possess magic and those who don't. Social commentators have referred to it as an allegory both for mixed marriages and also about the challenges faced by minorities, homosexuals, cultural deviants, or generally creative folks in a non heterogeneous community. It was also one of the first American television programs to portray witches not as worshippers of Satan, but simply as a group of people ostracized for their culture and their supernatural skills.

Even before I began elementary school, there was one piece of must-see gothic horror programming that I went out of my way to catch every day. Dark Shadows aired at 3:30 p.m. on our local ABC affiliate in Tulsa, Oklahoma which usually allowed me to catch most of it if I ran home from school (or even more if my mom or brother picked me up.) In theory it was a soap opera, but the show featured a regular parade of supernatural characters and themes. The lead was a 175 year old vampire named Barnabas Collins (played by Johnathan Frid), and the show revolved around his timeless pursuit of his lost love, Josette. It was also a program that regularly dealt with reincarnation, precognition, werewolves, time travel, witchcraft, and other occult themes. Though it regularly provoked criticism from religious groups about its content, it ran from June of 1966 until it's final cancellation in April of 1971. (I would discover it in the early 1970s as it ran in syndication.) Dark Shadows would spin off two feature-length movies based on the original, a series of tie-in novels, an excellent reboot series in 1991 (starring Ben Cross as Barnabas), and a positively embarrassingly awful movie directed by Tim Burton in 1991.

ABOVE: Johnathan Frid starred as Barnabas Collins, one of the leading characters of the original Dark Shadows television series. The influence of the series cannot be understated. In many ways Dark Shadows paved the way for the inclusion of supernatural elements in other soap operas of the 1970s and the 1980s, and was largely responsible for the explosion of romance novels featuring supernatural themes over the same time period.

While Dark Shadows was a favorite early television program for me, another show would prove not only to be a borderline obsession, but also a major influence on my career as a storyteller. Night Gallery (1969-1973) was a weekly anthology television show from Rod Serling, better known as the creator and host of the original Twilight Zone. Like Twilight Zone before it, Night Gallery was a deep and complex commentary on the human condition, but unlike its predecessor the outcomes for the characters almost always skewed towards the horrific and the truly outré. In "The Painted Mirror," an antiques dealer uses a magic painting to trap an enemy in the prehistoric past. Jack Cassidy plots to use astral projection to kill his romantic rival in "The Last Laurel" but accidentally ends up killing himself. In "Eyes" a young Stephen Spielberg directs Joan Crawford in a story about an entitled rich woman who plots to take the sight of a poor man. Week after week it delivered some of the best-written horror television of the early 1970s.

In retrospect I find it surprising that I was allowed to watch Night Gallery at all. I was very young while it was airing, and some of the content was dark and often quite shocking for its time. Nevertheless, I was so attached to the show that I'd throw a literal temper tantrum if I missed a single, solitary episode. If our family needed to go somewhere on an evening that Night Gallery was scheduled, either my parents would either have to wait until after it had aired before we left, or they'd make arrangements in advance with whomever we were visiting to make sure it was okay that I could watch Night Gallery there. I was, in a word, a fanatic.

ABOVE: Every segment of Night Gallery was introduced by series creator Rod Serling standing before a painting created explicitly for the series. Director Guillermo del Toro credits Serling's series as being the most important and influential show on his own work, even more so than the more famous Twilight Zone.

[the-gay-prometheus]

1 for René, 2 for Cadieux, 5, 7, 14 for any you want/all, 18 for the Ingolstadt Boyfriends™ and 22 for all :3

Oh Mist you really out here keeping me busy huh. Get ready for a long-ass post.

1. Were they named after anyone?

>Nope - neither for his deadname nor his chosen name. His mom just really liked the name she chose as his deadname, and as for his chosen name, he just liked the symbolism of it. René means 'reborn' if anyone didn't know.

And I chose it for its symbolism too.

2. What is their background? How big was their family? Do they have a good relationship?

>Cadieux was raised in Brest, France along with his older sibling, born to a single mother who made her living... at the docks. Said mother went missing when they were young and left the two of them to kinda fend for themselves. So needless to say, small family, got even smaller. Cadi had a really great relationship with his sibling. He looked up to them a lot and still talks about them even though he's not sure where they ended up.

5. Are they religious? What is their opinion on the teachings they grew up with?

>Victor: Absolutely not. Victor is about as far as one could possibly get from being religious. Luckily his parents weren't super religious either, so he didn't necessarily grow up around a lot of religious dogma. What religious teachings he did hear he just laughed off. Even when he comes face to face with the god-like, he sees himself as equal and therefore really doesn't give a shit.

>Henry: Henry is more spiritual than he is religious. He believes in a higher power, but he doesn't really see that higher power as being separate from the world. He finds sanctity in pretty much everything, and believes that as long as you mean well, that's all that really matters. His family wasn't necessarily very religious either - his father didn't really see the use in it and though his mother regularly went to church she never really brought it up at home.

>Agape: He'll take whatever Henry's having basically. Sure he was introduced to Christianity very early in life, but at that point he hadn't seen it as religion and saw it more as just... historical fact, until he eventually learned otherwise. Since he felt so inhuman, at the point when he learned Christianity was more of a human ritual type business, he mostly rejected it. Henry's belief that the sacred lies in all things was very comforting for him though, so he's chosen to take up pretty much exactly the same beliefs.

>Ernest: Similar to Victor except more that he just... doesn't care. He tries to focus more on what he can do for others just because he finds a lot of comfort in helping others rather than doing it for any religious reasons. Not to mention as far as he's concerned, what benevolent god would just create someone with the kind of health problems he has?

>Elizabeth: Elizabeth is kind of the odd one out in that she actually is Christian, but more in the casual sense. She'll go to church every now and then, she says her prayers, she believes in heaven, all that fun stuff. But she isn't going to sit there and tell you that everything in the bible is pure fact and that if you don't repent you're going to go to hell. Her beliefs are more aligned to how Caroline felt about religion - in that it can be a good way to find hope in otherwise difficult situations, but that it can also be toxic if you let it control not only your life but others as well.

>René: Nope. René flips god off daily.

>Percy: Percy is too busy focusing on equations to think about religion. He was raised in a pretty religious household, but he just kinda ignored it all.

>Alex: Alex has religious trauma. His family was extremely religious. So he would rather not be even asked this question. Needless to say, the answer is no.

>Jack: She believes in folk tales and old gods, much like her father.

>Cadieux: Calls himself Christian but only in the "do unto your neighbors and you would have them do unto you" way. He wasn't raised in a Christian environment, but he sort of gained these beliefs during his time in America for the revolutionary war.

7. Are they interested in science? Do they know of any significant discoveries/inventions from recent years? What is their opinion on the Enlightenment and the desire to learn/discover everything about the world?

>Victor: What would Victor be without science? And significant discoveries and inventions? As far as he's concerned all of the significant discoveries and inventions from recent years are the ones that he himself made. His opinion on the Enlightenment is "Yes." That's it.

>Henry: He thinks science is neat because Victor thinks it is. He's aware of discoveries and inventions and finds them fascinating, but he's more concerned about whatever it is Victor's doing when it comes to science. His thoughts on the Enlightenment are "learning and discovery is all well and good, but where is the fun in taking the mystery and the magic out of everything?"

>Agape: At first he very much doesn't like anything science related because, y'know, trauma. But when Victor starts teaching him things he actually becomes super interested in it and loves to learn about it. Hehe - he is a discovery/invention. Good for him! And his thoughts on the Enlightenment are somewhere along the lines of "we should strive to learn everything we can, but we should also understand that it's a goal that cannot - or maybe should not - be obtained"

>Ernest: Science is so cool! He doesn't fully understand it, but he thinks it's really neat - especially what we know as biology and ecology. The extent of his knowledge of recent discoveries primarily came from Victor, because not saying Victor was a better teacher than Alphonse but.... Victor was a better teacher than Alphonse. As for the Enlightenment, his opinion is "Why shouldn't we try to learn everything we can?"

>Elizabeth: Really not her thing. She honestly couldn't care less about the actual science behind anything, though she always loved seeing the results of Victor's experiments and she's certainly fond of the outdoors. She doesn't really know anything about recent inventions and ... again she really doesn't care. Her thoughts on the Enlightenment are "Why??? What is the purpose?? Why can't we just let things be unknown???"

>René: Absolutely loves science and, if it wasn't for his situation, he absolutely would have probably been a biologist or a physician (and would've been damn good at it too - probably even better than Victor would have been). He's not super aware of the new discoveries and inventions of the time, but that's only because he was rarely in a position to learn of them. His thoughts on the Enlightenment are "We have every right and capability to know anything and everything about our surroundings, sure, but maybe let those who can't fucking afford to go to school or whatever learn too."

>Percy: Science is ok but math is better. The only discoveries and inventions he's really interested in are in arithmetic. Enlightenment? As long as it means he can be enlightened in manipulating and theorizing about numbers, then he's interested.

>Alex: Botany is his thing, so sure he thinks science is cool! He knows a bit about current inventions and discoveries, mostly from class and classmates at Ingolstadt, but he's more interested in old discoveries regarding plants as medicine and trying to find the science behind those discoveries. As for the Enlightenment, "If it means we can help more people and if it means we can stop even a smidge of the amount of religious violence over beliefs and theories, then I'm all for it."

>Jack: Literally does not care about any of it. If it's not helping her make sails or cause chaos, she's not interested.

>Cadieux: He doesn't really have much of an opinion on any of it either. He knows his sibling was very interested in it, but neither of them had the tools or the ability to explore it so it didn't matter much to him.

14. Are they aware of any issues of the era they live in? Do they care, try to make a change, or do they feel there is no point?

>I'm actually not sure how to answer this one quite yet so- I'll get back to you on this at some point.

18. Can they dance? Do they prefer folk dances or more formal ballroom dancing?

>Percy and Alex? Of course! Percy is much more of a dancer than Alex is, and much prefers folk dances (which Alex is more than happy to watch). Alex on the other hand does enjoy a good ballroom dance, but mostly he just likes watching Percy do his thing.

22. How superstitious are they? Do they have any personal rituals/traditions?

>Victor: Used to be a bit superstitious in his little occult/witchcraft phase, but really isn't anymore.

>Henry: He finds superstitions interesting and fascinating, but doesn't really believe in them. As for rituals/traditions, I'll call endeavoring to sit outside for at least one hour every day a ritual.

>Agape: Agape should be very thankful he isn't surrounded by superstitious people because if he was, he very much would be. As for rituals/traditions, he's latched onto that 'sit outside for at least one hour every day' thing that Henry does.

>Ernest: Not superstitious whatsoever. He thinks superstitions are silly. As for traditions/rituals, he didn't really have any until he got livestock onto the estate. Now he makes sure to go and spend time with the goats every day, mostly because it's good for the goats to get used to the presence of people, but secretly because he just... really needs company that isn't Elizabeth.

>Elizabeth: Same as Ernest. They used to pester Victor about his superstitiousness during that phase of his life, and thankfully Victor knew it was all in good fun. Or... well- at least he didn't care whether it was or wasn't, because he really didn't care about what anyone thought about him except for Henry. Anyways - back to Elizabeth. She has a tradition of sketching at least one thing she can physically see every night before she goes to bed. It helps her fall asleep!

>René: René would set up a ladder just to walk under it. He would steal a mirror just to break it. That being said... he absolutely insists on wearing mostly red because he thinks it's a lucky color.

>Percy: A very superstitious lad, surprisingly - if a superstition exists, he probably believes it. His way of warding off bad luck is keeping a rabbit foot on him at all times!

>Alex: His life goal is to get Percy to stop being so superstitious. He probably won't succeed but that's alright. He doesn't really have any traditions, but Percy gave him a rabbit foot and - despite not believing it does anything - he still keeps it with him all the time because it makes Percy happy.

>Jack: Is only superstitious to scare everyone else. She'll make up superstitions on the spot just to cause chaos among the more impressionable people in her life. She carries a raven feather with her wherever she goes though, sort of as a good luck charm.

>Cadieux: He thinks superstitions are pretty silly, but he respects anyone that believes in them and will absolutely do everything in his ability to make everyone feel safe. That said.... he insists on wearing at least one red thing because he thinks it's a lucky color. hm...

[ari-shipping-stuff]

Monochrome Week 2020

Day Three - Fake Dating AU

———

@monochromeweek

———

The night was alive. Colorful lights pulsing like a heartbeat. Lively disco music pumping everyone up like an adrenaline rush.

Weiss usually scoffed at parties like this. Ugh. Dance clubs. So crowded. No oxygen. But surprisingly, she found that she could finally stop holding her breath.

Henry wasn't there, forcing her to dance. Or talk about him. Or stay at his side at all times because he had no life. She could bop her shoulders to the music in content freedom. Full-out dancing had always been Ruby and Yang's forte. Which was why she stayed back at the bar to talk with Blake.

They hadn't seen each other in nearly a year, ever since Blake transferred schools, which was a shame, considering that was the year their friend circle had formed.

Weiss was the tech-savvy one of them four. She kept tabs on everyone's social media (even if they didn't want her to) and had noticed several changes on Blake's account. She was never one to post selfies. Just pictures of cute cats and her dark academia. And even if she didn't post anything in months, Weiss thought her latest picture was something worth noting.

She took a sip from her Jack Frost, swirling it around to play with the ice.

"How's Adam?"

Blake nearly choked on her drink, coughing when she put it down.

"What?" she croaked.

"When were you going to tell us about him?" Weiss tilted her head.

Blake sighed, rubbing her temple.

"We lasted like a month, Weiss; there's nothing to tell."

Weiss raised a brow. "A month, huh? What happened there? You guys looked pretty sweet in that photo together."

Blake snorted. "He posted that one. Wanted the world to know I was his whore."

"Sounds bad."

"It was bad. Still is. I broke up with him, but he's just not giving up," she grimaced, downing a gulp of purple cocktail. "Bastard."

Weiss snorted.

Pause. Then—

"Your dad still brainwashing that Marigold guy?"

Weiss groaned, throwing her head back in frustration.

"He doesn't even need my dad to tell him to do stuff anymore. He just goes ahead and thinks I'm infatuated with him or something. You know, that 'hard to get' mentality or something."

"Yeah, I know the type." Blake replied dryly.

"You think they'd leave us alone if we got into a relationship?" Weiss snickered.

Blake snorted. "Yeah, maybe."

They settled into a comfortable silence then. Weiss accepted that statement as the joke it was supposed to be. But it began to resonate in her head. The more she thought about it, the more it began to make sense in its own ridiculous way.

"Weiss?"

"Hm?"

"What are you scheming in there?"

Weiss paused. She downed the rest of her cocktail.

".. What if we did?"

"What if we what?"

"What if we were in a relationship?" she said. "That would get them to piss off."

Blake raised her eyebrows, glancing away nervously. She bit her lip.

"I.. I don't know, Weiss.." she said. "Seems a little extreme, don't you think? A-And are we even sure it'll get them to leave us alone?"

"But it makes sense!" Weiss exclaimed. "You know they won't take our word for it, Blake. Neither of them will get the picture unless they see that we're interested in someone else."

Blake drank down the last of her Purple Rain, deep in thought. Weiss distracted herself with the lavender glitter on Blake's eyeshadow.

Blake pulled her phone out of her pocket.

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "What're you doing?"

"Texting Yang. My place or yours?"

"Wh-What?"

Blake glanced at Weiss, standing up.

"So we can plan." Blake said. "We'd have to start as soon as possible, right?"

Weiss blinked up at her.

".. My place."

•

In all the years she knew Weiss, this was admittedly the first time Blake had ever been inside her room.

She thought it was regal-looking, to say the least. Perfectly cleaned. Icy white walls, silk curtains and sheets.. Like some ice castle.

Blake put down her bag, laying it next to the mountain of pillows at the head of the bed. She looked back at Weiss, only to see her pulling up a large frame of wood from a nearby chest.

Blake raised an eyebrow.

"Do you really need that corkboard?"

"Of course, we do!" Weiss said. "If we're going to make a game plan, we're going to have to do it properly!"

"You mean, we can't just do PDA and act like.. I dunno, Qrow and Clover?"

Weiss would've laughed at the inside joke, if not the circumstances. Instead, she shot Blake a sour pout. Which was far from the desired effect.

"Blake, if we're going to sell this to the public, you need to be serious about this," she scoffed, spreading out her arms for emphasis. "Like I said, we have to do this properly!"

"I am serious!" Blake exclaimed, crossing her arms. "If you're so experienced about stuff like this, why don't you tell me what your 'properly' means?"

Weiss blushed furiously, jabbing a finger at Blake. She opened her mouth, as if trying to say something. But nothing came out. She didn't know either.

Blake just sighed, propping herself on her arm.

"I'm starting to regret agreeing to this." she mumbled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss cried, crossing her arms defensively. "I'll have you know, I'd make a great fake girlfriend if you were actually cooperating with me!"

"Uh-huh."

Weiss huffed, looking away, a pout on her lips. But her gaze found her clock. Then her expression softened. She punched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head.

"We've spent all this time arguing.. My father will be home soon, and we don't even have so much as a first move!" she groaned.

Blake looked towards the white alarm clock, wincing. 10:50.

"Alright, look," she spoke up, surprising Weiss. "Let's say our relationship started off as a secret. Several months ago. And by secret—"

"—Not even Ruby and Yang would know." Weiss finished. She nodded. "Yeah, that'll work. Then.. We're going to make us public."

Blake pursed her lips. "I.. I'll ask around about you. Pretend I'm interested. Get people talking. Would that work?"

Weiss nodded, the tiniest of smiles forming on her face. It was a little infectious, prompting a grin from Blake.

"And," Weiss added. "There's a party tomorrow night. Ruby and Yang's place. It's a little less of your scene, but if we're seen dancing together or holding hands, it'll probably do something."

Blake nodded. "Yeah."

"That should be all we have to discuss now." Weiss said. "We'll think of more at the party, alright?"

Blake nodded, standing up. She reached towards her bag, only to have Weiss get there first.

Weiss raised her eyebrows, laughing lightly, handing it back.

Blake smiled a bit, glancing to the side.

"Looks like we never needed the corkboard, after all."

Weiss glared at her. "Just shut up and leave."

•

This was a slightly smaller party compared to last night. There were a few dancers in the middle of the living room. But mostly, people were in pairs or three's; talking in the corners. Fairy lights. Finally, some punch that wasn't spiked.

Weiss lounged on a bean bag with her usual group, in a circle on the couches they claimed early. But instead of contributing whatever bizarre shower thought debate was going on, Weiss just sipped on her punch, her mind far away.

"Hey, Weiss?" Ruby whispered. She sat on the couch right next to Weiss, so she only had to turn her head.

"Hm?"

"Did you and Blake talk much last night?"

Weiss already knew what prompted this question. Though it didn't stop her heart from racing.

"I guess so, yeah." she shrugged, feigning nonchalance.

"It's been a while, huh?" Ruby grinned crookedly. "Since the four of us were together in one place."

"Yeah," Weiss sighed, turning to check the door. "It was."

"So why'd you two leave early?"

Weiss flinched from the question. She took her time in answering.

"Winter got worried. She called and told me to come home. Guess Klein didn't tell her where I'd be." she shrugged. "Blake just wanted to walk me home."

Ruby's smile grew at that. "Mhm.."

Weiss raised an eyebrow at her best friend, who swirled her punch around the red cup with her evil 'I'm planning something you definitely won't like' grin.

"Ruby.."

"Yes, Weiss?"

"Ruby."

She only giggled. She put her elbow on the armrest, with her face in her hand.

"Blake just texted us last night. Aand she was asking about you."

"Uh-huh. And?"

"And—" she raised her voice, prompting the rest of the party to join the conversation. "— it wasn't just me and Yang, Weiss. She texted all of us! Right, guys?"

There were collective sounds of agreement around the table. Weiss rolled her eyes.

"And?"

Ruby groaned.

"Well," Nora interrupted. "She kinda sounded like she was interested."

Ruby stood on the couch, gesturing to Nora with extreme exaggeration.

"Isn't she with that Adam Taurus guy you told us about, Weiss?" Jaune piped up. "The one in her picture?"

"They broke up." Weiss replied simply.

"Looks like someone asked." Yang smirked.

"Blake's fair game now." Nora added, sipping her punch.

If one could drink punch slyly, Weiss was certain Nora was doing it right.

"And Henry Marigold?" Oscar added quietly. He recoiled at the disappointed expressions he got from the majority of the group. "Not that I like him.. It's just that he's been pining for Weiss even before I got here. Wouldn't he take action?"

"So you do believe Weiss and Blake are getting together?" Nora asked, jabbing a chip in his direction.

Oscar shrugged. "Yes? I'm not Ren."

"Hey!"

Weiss sighed. Thank their lack of focus. At least, she wasn't being focused on anymore.

But then, as if on cue, Weiss caught the distant sounds of door chimes. She spun towards the door, and there she was, nervously recoiling into herself. It might've been the fairy lights, but Weiss could've sworn her cheeks were alight with pink.

She was about to get up to get her until she heard the obnoxiously loud coughing from behind her. Weiss gritted her teeth, smiling sarcastically at the group.

"And I suppose Blake just showed up because she wanted to?" Yang teased.

But as it turned out, Blake didn't wait for Weiss. She found the group herself, especially with Ruby's frantic waving.

"Blake!" she exclaimed, her voice reaching up a few more octaves. She gave Weiss a knowing sideways glance. "What brought you here~?"

Blake twirled a strand of hair around her finger.

"Oh, uh.. Weiss invited me last night."

"She did, did she?" Nora raised an eyebrow, elbowing Jaune excitedly.

Weiss buried her face in her hands miserably.

"Anyway.." Blake continued awkwardly. "I hope it's no trouble if I just, uh.." she reached down and gently grabbed Weiss's wrist. ".. Borrow Weiss for a minute?"

Yang cleared her throat.

Ruby grinned encouragingly, reaching up to whisper in Blake's ear. Whatever that was, caused Blake's face to grow increasingly red. She didn't say anything else and pulled Weiss up.

"Come on, Weiss." Blake sighed amusedly, dragging her to the dance floor.

Blake gingerly put her hands on Weiss's waist, bringing an intense blush to the shorter girl's face. She could still feel the burning gazes of her schoolmates in the back, and so desperately wanted to ignore it.

A cold jolt went up her spine when Blake took her hands, bringing them up to her shoulders. Weiss raised an eyebrow at her.

Blake could only shrug, looking down.

"You were zoning out." she mumbled.

Weiss nodded, moving forward, so that their bodies were touching.

It was Blake's turn to give her a questioning look.

Weiss hesitated, but she shrugged as well, laughing a bit.

"We look like we're being forced to dance."

Blake nodded. "Fair enough."

They swayed in silence from there, perfectly content in not talking. After a few minutes or so, Weiss saw cameras flashing in the corner of her eye. They were doing this for the public, weren't they? To shove it down the boys' throats.

Without a word, Weiss leaned her head on Blake's shoulder, breathing in a musk of honey.

"Convincing, right?" she whispered.

Blake snorted, a soft smile on her face.

•

They left as the party lost its swing. Blake's old school would certainly have something to talk about tomorrow. Weiss Schnee, leaving her Prince Charming for an old sweetheart. If Blake's friends weren't attending said school, she'd have no reason not to despise it.

Instead of heading home right away, they decided the night was still young and went to a restaurant near Blake's house. They were both so focused on their so-called 'photoshoot' they forgot to grab a handful of chips on the way out.

Next thing they knew, they were laughing so hard, they were choking on their sandwiches.

"I can't believe you would do me dirty like this!" Blake mocked, barely containing her laughter. "Oh, god, are you sure you guys were never together?"

"News spreads fast, doesn't it?"

"Especially when Ruby and Nora are the ones spreading it." Blake chuckled.

Weiss grinned. "Anything from your side?"

Blake snorted, shaking her head. "Honestly, I'm almost scared for when he does."

"Why's that?"

Blake shrugged, smirking sarcastically. "Let's just say he'd be far more intense than whiny texts."

Weiss frowned worriedly, tilting her head. Hesitantly, she laid a hand on Blake's shoulder.

"Blake."

Something churned in the pit of Blake's stomach. Not in a bad way. Like light little flips. Flaps. Butterflies. But she couldn't wrap her head around it. Maybe it was something in the way Weiss could say her name like that. It soothed Blake easily. Even if just a little.

"I'm fine." Blake sighed, taking a mournful bite out of her grilled cheese. "He just texted me earlier this morning."

"He did?" Weiss murmured. "What'd he say?"

Blake took her time in answering, chewing ever so slowly. When she finally swallowed, it felt sharp.

"Just.. He called me out for avoiding him. Even though I explicitly told him we were over, he still thinks entitled to me." Blake growled. "He denied stalking me, manipulated me, and now he has the gall to say I'm overreacting? He's just unbelievable!"

Weiss felt her blood boil. This guy walked all over Blake, called her the bad guy, even after all that? She couldn't wait to meet this guy. If only to break his legs.

She carefully brought her hand to Blake's, gently stroking the back with her thumb.

Blake's eyebrows raised at the gesture. Instinctively, she stretched her fingers outwards, fitting them between Weiss's.

"I'd never do that.." Weiss mumbled.

Blake didn't know the thought process of that statement, but she appreciated it nonetheless.

Then Weiss's eyes snapped up, meeting Blake's gaze. But Blake was losing her mind. Noticing everything.

Her heart stopped. She could smell Weiss's faint vanilla and petrichor musk. The usually-invisible specks of indigo in Weiss's large, sapphire eyes were easy to spot. As well as the faded scar running down her left eye.

This was the closest they've ever been to each other. Not just in the physical aspect. This was just so much more intimate than the dance somehow. Blake felt close to Weiss and it was driving her insane.

"Thanks."

———

this ended up being too long, which was why it took me ages to post. and this will also have a sequel on day five

though, this whole thing was my favorite to write ^^

— ari

———

part one | part two | part three | part four