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#mexican candy skull
ladynahualli · 5 months
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Feliz día de los muertos. Happy day of the dead.
Heres a painting of mine
Title: Until death do us apart
Composition: Acrilic on canvas
Sold
Aquí una pintura mía
Título: Hasta que la muerte nos separe
Composición: Acrílico sobre lienzo
Vendido
And this side of me I havent show but my paintings we're part of many exhibitions in the museum of Cozumel Island. I even had the oportunity to share my work along with a famous muralist that worked with Diego Rivera, the husband of Frida Kahlo. I have many recocnitions from my exhibitions to prove this, no cap. 🧢
I'm doing paintings upon request at $150.00 dollars each, if interested please email me at [email protected]
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terracegallery · 7 months
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Day Of The Dead
I’ve been enjoying some of my Labor Of Love style recently. Skulls are perfect for the fun whimsical floral design of my Spring Maidens. A Day of the Dead beauty! GET It HERE!
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fliponline · 5 months
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💀 Today is Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead, a celebration of life and death, featuring calavera, skulls, skeletons and graveside visits. #Lazarusheart exclusively at @Redbubble... 🔴 www.redbubble.com/people/lazarusheart/works/129521567
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brights-place · 24 days
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Slenderman is Goddess! Spouse
Pairings: Slenderman X la Muerte! Reader
Warnings: Murder, Gore, Supernatural, Fluff, Angst, Cussing
A/N: Okay so I had this idea slenderman dating an godess of life for example like La muerte who I think is SO FUCKING HOT! she is amazing and Slenderman dating someone like her would be so fun to write!
- When the creepypasta members saw you they first thought you were an intruder you were human - before they attacked you slenderman appeared right infront of you bending himself down to face you properly "(Name)" "Slender" You said smiling softly to him as you both disappeared once he gave you his hand - When you both are alone he picks you up like you are a teddy bear and makes you lay your head on his chest as you chuckle - You and Slender kept your relationship an secret until Jeff entered the office to hand over his report but walked in on you kissing Slender is cheek - As his spouse he makes sure to take care of you - he keeps his scary and tough demeanor but around you? he just tries his bets for you not to show PDA in public he had to keep his scary demeanor! - Due to Slender Man's history being completely unknown it is hard to determine just what he is thinking, although he is commonly seen as a cruel, sadistic, manipulative, predatory, misanthropic demon. It is entirely unknown if Slender Man actually cares for his proxies' safety, or if he's just using them in order to get what he wants, showing his controlling and tyrannical personality - Yet... he married you !! an Human? a basic human who... who didn't even he was just so CONFUSED! well he thought you were Human... - You were gonna be his victim, you were going to die in his hands yet he didn't even do that he just stared at you - He was confused on how everything around you bloomed and became more colorful showing life - You two were the opposites of eachother Slender Man is a mystery. He looks like a human being, but doesn’t act like one. It is uncertain if he is a social creature, understands human languages or behaviors, or even why humans appear to be his primary targets while you were a 'human' who was positive and shown to be a largely kind and loving woman, showing a deeply caring and welcoming attitude to almost everyone you have meet. You were free-spirited and festive. It is believed that the kindness and love of mortal-kind stem from your own - He loves to slow dance with you but he always has to bend down when you were in your Human form of course - He found it peculiar when flower petals always walked behind you - When slender cut Rogue by accident cause she was in the way when he was throwing Wilson the basher against the wall for failing his mission - Slender never told any of his useless proxies or the lower Creepypasta's knew about you but when you appeared from thin air staring at Slenderman who dropped Wilson and the other proxies who failed the missions down quickly turning his ehad towards you the dark appearance and shadowy places that where showing disappeared as he felt his blood drain - You satred at him eye twitching as your fists balled as your human form turned to you true godess form as you shouted loudly "SLENDER!" Slender spoke quickly "My love-" - He watched as you scolded him but he couldn't help but admire your appearance
- Despite both of you being as old and ancient as time itself,you kept youe vision of youth and radiant beauty as you were made entirely of white sugar candy with knee-length H/c licorice hair that is tied in a low ponytail with bangs split on either side and multi-colored glowing eyes with aqua eyeshadow that are in shades of gold and red. While your red dress decorated with cempasuchil (Mexican marigold flowers) all over and marigold flowers with lit white wax candles at the hem of your dress. You also wear an extremely large, wide-brimmed sombrero bedecked with more lit candles and marigolds, small skulls, pink-plumed, curly, swirly feathers and palm leaves. Also wearing a circular gold locket on a choker that he had given you - The proxies were smirking happily being protected by the goddess of life - He makes sure on November second that he comes with you cause you say its the most special day to you which was the day of the dead - You both Slow dance together listening to Classical music -  Though you two have a complicated relationship with due to your different beliefs and the completely different, opposite antagonistic lands and realms you both ruled. - As your husband he does his best to make time for you - When he is out "working" in his words he is just getting victims while you on the other hand would scold him but knew it was his only way of well eating - You knew that Slender wins over the confidence of children but adults are repulsed by fear. - He chooses children because he can take longer to nurture their fear, stalking them for years before attacking them as adults. - He brainwashes children, using them to further his own (unspecified) ends as Proxies. Children are simply easier for him to hunt and eat - You spend time with the younger Creepypasta's and make sure that they are patched up - The other creepypasta's were weary of you and still are - But DAMN! you knew how to cook some good food - If the creepypastas are close to the brink of death they literally scream in their heads for slender to get them or have backup which slender does... sometimes - But if they shout your name at all within any space giving life well Poof your their in an second taking them and scolding them for almost getting caught - Slender makes sure to try maintain his anger issues but he does lash out of the Proxies if they do anything wrong - When you two argue about the creepypastas you speak up "Anyone can die. These kids, they will have the courage to live and fight" you said as slender argued back to you "They are adults My love" "Yes but what has happened to them they were only mere children! well some of them!" You said back as slender groaned in annoyance pinching the bridge of where his nose would be... if he even had one
- Yes you two have different perspectives on humankind for example you believe that humankind is completely good, true and pure while Slender thinks and believes that humankind is selfish, greedy, sinful and concerned only in its own interest on the other hand. - Despite your differences and occasional conflicts you two complement each other perfectly.
reblogs + comments are appreciated ⸜(。˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡
©brights-place 2023 — do not repost on another platform, copy, translate or edit my works! if you fit my DNI list please don't interact!
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crystalofmoon19 · 5 months
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Día de los Muertos (Day of Death) - Striker x Mexican Catrina Reader! 🌼🌹💀
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POV: You invited your boyfriend, Striker, to the Día de Muertos celebration with your family. Striker doesn't know much about the holiday, luckily you were there to help him.
"So you're saying you don't celebrate Halloween, darlin'?"
"No, mi amor, I celebrate "El Día de Muertos" with my family."
"The what?"
"The Day of the Dead, as they usually call them on this side of Wrath."
"Oh yeah, The Day of Death, I've heard of that. Is it the day where they dress up like skeletons?"
"Those are called the catrinas and the catrines, mi amor."
Striker looked at you a little confused, to which you just laughed, you had invited your boyfriend to celebrate the "Day of the Dead" with your family. Your grandma was preparing the food together with your aunts and your mom, your dad was preparing the altar with your uncle, your younger siblings were playing while painting their faces like skulls and you and your siblings close to your age were decorating your home. Around him, more people came to see the wonderful altar that you and your family had made together.
Striker, although he had accepted your invitation to spend the night with you and your family, he was still confused about the holiday, he knew of its existence but did not understand the great background behind it.
Luckily you were there to help him.
"What do you want to know about "El Día de los Muertos", mi amor?" .- You said caressing Striker's cheek, which made him rattle his tail like a rattlesnake and laugh a little, you knew how to make your boyfriend happy when he was disconcerted.
"Well, sugarcube, I'd like to know what exactly you're celebrating? And why are you celebrating death?"
"You know what? I think I'd better show you! Come on, Striker! Do you want to see my family altars?" .- You took your boyfriend's hand and your eyes lit up like stars.
"I'd love to, darlin'. Besides, I can't say 'no' to your pretty face."
"Okay let's go!"
You led Striker running out of your house and took him to where your father and uncle were, they greeted you and your boyfriend, you told them that you were going to show Striker your family altar. To which your dad, a little distrustful of Striker, admitted that he doubted your idea, but in the end you convinced him to give in so your dad and your uncle left for a moment; although your father gave Striker a questioning look and made him adjust his hat a little nervously but you comforted him by taking his hand.
"Look, Striker, this is the tradition of the Día de los Muertos, the altar; here we place a photo of our relatives who have passed away and on this day it feels like they come to visit us. Because as long as we remember them, they will continue to live on our hearts!" .- You put your hand to your heart while you continued explaining.
"In addition to the photos, we place candles to light the way of their arrival, we put the cempasúchil flower..."
"The flower of what...?" .- Striker interrupted you, confused about the Spanish name of the flower, to which you just laughed.
"It's the marigold flower, Striker!"
"Oh, good. Go on, darlin'."
"The name of this flower means "twenty flowers" or "several flowers." Its yellow color made our ancestors associate it with the sun. That is why they always placed them in their offerings!" .- You explained, putting a cempasúchil flower in your hair and smiled. Now Striker had no doubt that you were a radiant sunshine in his eyes.
"We also place typical food of the festival such as bread of the dead, tamales, hot chocolate, candy skulls and the favorite food of the beloved one who has the altar. For example, my grandpa loved my grandma's enchiladas, that's why they're here! So you better not try to eat anything!" .- When you looked towards Striker, he was already about to take one of the snacks from the offering. His snake-like appetite may have gotten the better of him but you weren't going to allow him to eat anything.
"Striker!" .- Your hand slapped Striker's hand who was about to steal a candy skull.
"What? We can't waste food!"
"It's not wasted food if it's for those who come to visit us! Plus if you're hungry we can go eat, I'm sure my grandma already has the food ready."
And said and done, your grandma called everyone to eat, with this you indicated Striker to follow you to the dining room of your house. So when they entered, the table was full of delicious food, which included pozole (a broth seasoned with vegetables such as corn, chili and meat), mole (a sauce that is a combination of several types of sauces seasoned with chili peppers and spices), and tamales (food made from corn, filled with various ingredients, cooked in a package of vegetable leaves).
"Hey darlin'?"
"Si, mi amor?"
"Are you sure your family isn't from Gluttony, instead of Wrath?"
"Why do you ask, mi vida?"
"Because I see that you and your family eat a lot, and you have also served me a lot of food." .- Striker said, satisfied with his food but that he still had not been able to finish his plate. To which you just laughed.
"And wait until you eat the bread of the dead with the atole, mi amor."
"IS THERE STILL MORE?"
"Ay mijo, you are so thin, you should eat more!" .- This time your grandma spoke, serving Striker more pozole, which made him throw his head back, although she thanked your grandma for this. You just laughed softly.
"If you're not from Gluttony, then you must have like three stomachs, right?"
"Yeah, something like that." .- You said enjoying your food while your family also ate theirs. Although Striker still couldn't stop looking at the huge appetite your family had, he had seen many Wrath imps be hungry, but you and your family were on another level.
However, Striker did not mind this trait of you or your family, on the contrary he was grateful that your family was very warm to him (perhaps with the exception of your father) since they let him be there as part of one of them, He also felt that this had been one of the best meals he had had in a long time. There were days when he would only eat a can of beans or instant noodles for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and now having an entire feast with you and your family was something that had warmed his heart as well as his stomach.
So Striker took advantage of the fact that no one was looking to hold your hand under the table, which made your cheeks turn pink, and you also held his hand while they ate.
Later, when they finished eating, it was already starting to get dark and you told Striker to take care of your little brothers while you waited in the living room. Clearly the rattlesnake demon was quick to protest.
"Hey, I'm not gonna-!"
"Do it!" .- You gave Striker an angry look and how he already knew that if he didn't obey you it would end up with him sleeping on the couch for a week or more.
"Fine." .- The rattlesnake demon said resignedly as he watched you climb the stairs of your house in the company of your sisters.
"Just wait until I finish getting ready. I won't be long!" .- You told Striker until you went up to the second floor of your house. But Striker knew that when you said that, it was actually going to take a long time, so he just resigned himself to taking care of your little brothers while he waited.
Which wasn't an easy task, Striker wasn't one to take care of children, but your little brothers were getting on his nerves. Since they started running around the room and even though the cowboy scolded them not to do it, they did it anyway and one of them stole his hat.
"Give that, you little one!" .- Striker said annoyed while only your little brother made fun of him by sticking out his tongue and putting on his hat even though it was too big for him.
The only one who didn't seem to cause Striker any problems was your little sister, who was the youngest of the family, barely being about two years old, as soon as she had found Striker's leg she clung to his. For a second Striker calmed down a little for the baby, he even carried her to his chest, everything was fine until the baby started crying.
Striker complained loudly, he swore that he would be careful not to have as many children with you, at least in the amount that your parents had. He really felt that time flew by when he was taking care of your little siblings, although he was able to retrieve the hat from him he still wasn't enjoying this and when he was close to catching one of them that's when he saw you coming down the stairs. stairs.
You were dressed as a catrina, where you had made up your face as if it were a skull, you combed your black hair in a braid and you were wearing a red dress with an opening on your right leg that was decorated with yellow flowers very similar to the cempasúchil flower that decorated your entire outfit. You were also wearing red shoes along with a red hat that matched your dress and was decorated with flowers and pink feathers.
Striker when he saw you, his tail stood on end and his eyes widened when he saw how beautiful you were, you had practically left him speechless by your beauty.
"Y/N! You look so pretty!" .- One of your little brothers said when he saw you.
"Gracias." .- You thanked your little brother as you went down the stairs and headed towards where Striker was.
"How do I look, mi amor?"
"You look like a real angel in hell, darlin'." .- As soon as you approached him, Striker had taken your hand to kiss it, to which you laughed.
"Gracias, mi amor." .- You smiled at your boyfriend, who now approached to kiss you, but you stopped him with your hands while you laughed.
"Eww!" .- Your little brothers said in chorus for the show of affection.
"Not in front of my little siblings, Striker!"
"Why not? They are not your dad."
Without warning your dad appeared and stared at you and your boyfriend, this made Striker eat his own words and with that he distanced himself from you. You reassured your father that everything was fine and with a lot of effort on your part, you managed to get your father to leave you alone, with this done you had fun with Striker for the rest of the night.
There was a moment when you returned to your grandpa's altar, there you noticed that Striker behaved differently than usual, so you asked him what was happening. To which he in response tipped his hat to you.
"Is something wrong, mi amor?"
"I... I'm very grateful to you and your family for showing me the "Día de Muertos" holiday, did I say that right?" .- He asked you, seeking your approval in the pronunciation of his Spanish.
"Yes, that's fine."
"Well, I also enjoyed how well your family treated me, the delicious food I ate, and seeing you more beautiful than ever." .- He said caressing your cheek to which you smiled and took the hand he was caressing you with.
"Oh, mi amor, I'm glad to know that you liked the celebration."
"And I want to show you somethin' too, darlin'." .- He removed his hand from your face to take out a somewhat neglected photo from his jacket pocket and showed it to you.
At first you couldn't tell who it was, it didn't look like anyone you'd ever met, until when you looked closer at the photo you noticed that it was a snake demon. She was a young woman, with a green scale and snake fangs but she had white hair, when she saw her eyes that were an intense yellowish green you immediately knew how much the woman looked like Striker.
"Striker, is that your…?"
"Yes, that's my ma'." .- Striker answered you before you finished asking.
You looked closer and compared her to Striker, the resemblance was undeniable, you were sure that if Striker was a full snake demon she would completely resemble his mother.
"Mi amor, I haven't seen your mother before, what happened to her?" .- You tried to sound as soft as possible, but you still couldn't stop Striker from lowering his gaze a little.
"She was murdered by royalty." - Striker said with some resentment in his voice.
"I'm so sorry, mi amor. I had no idea." .- You put one hand to your mouth and another to your heart surprised.
"It's okay, darlin'. I didn't want to tell you about my ma' before either, because I didn't think you were close to those deceased relativies until now." .- This time Striker sounded a little more understanding, leaving his resentment for royalty aside and he did something you hadn't seen him do before; he took off his signature red handkerchief and handed it to you.
"Striker, what are you doing-?"
"This used to be my ma's and she gave it to me when I became independent enough from her." .- Striker explained, adjusting his hat again while he looked at you.
"Listen, darlin'. Before I met you, I used to think that life was something to be taken for granted, and death was the only way to give value to a life. When I was in a near-death situation I would run away fearing for my life; but when I met you, you gave value to my life and taught me the purpose of this holiday, I remembered ma' and the good times I had with her." .- You noticed how your boyfriend's tone of voice had changed and it was the first time that he was vulnerable to you in this way and you were going to support him.
"Your mother is here, Striker. She will continue to live as long as you remember her in your heart, and when you remember her you will always feel the warmth of her, but it is similar to the love you feel when you are with your loved ones." .- You said, putting your hand on Striker's chest and smiling at him with your warmest smile while still holding the photo and his handkerchief in your other hand.
"Can you feel her?"
"I think… I can feel her."
You smiled as you silently handed Striker the photo of his mother and placed his handkerchief around his neck. The rattlesnake was nostalgic. This gesture had not worn his handkerchief like that since he was a child. It reminded him of his mother, you may not have been a snake demon like her but you still had the same love that she gave and you gave it to him as his lover.
Striker moved much closer to you and you gladly accepted it, moving closer until his lips were a few centimeters away.
"Can I-?"
"Yes, you can." .- It was your turn to interrupt your boyfriend so that you could give him a kiss on your lips and he gladly reciprocated while both of you put your tails together and your hats fell to the ground but that didn't matter to you now.
You had a "telenovela kiss" with Striker, like he was taken from a clip of a Hell-a-Novela episode with Gabriella kissing Alejandro. After the party you told Striker that next year you were going to prepare an altar for his mother and he couldn't but agree with that and even told you that he was going to help you do it as long as you told him how to do it. one.
Thanks to you he not only now had a new favorite holiday and now he could always honor the memory of his mother thanks to you.
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morvantmortuary · 6 months
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sugar high -
(Hector Morvant-Casares x Reader)
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summary: Hex invites you along for an afternoon errand.
warnings: brief descriptions of a depressive episode. a shit-ton of fluff. like, syrupy, frothy fluff. I’m not kidding. you watch your teeth.
general: for Spooky Season in the Barrens: apple cider, candy corn, skulls. 🍎💀
I’ll be honest, Hex is not usually my go-to fluff guy, but goddamn if he doesn’t have a whole mushy side when you let him talk a bit.
Any corrections on his Spanish are appreciated - I double-checked everything and tried to stick with Mexican localization, but I’m still learning. :’D
also, I know so much more about the making of calaveras than I did last week. hot damn, those can get involved. any suggestions or needed corrections there (or with any discussion of the holiday) are also appreciated.
reader is as always genderqueer/non-binary (but I stuck to feminine endings for Spanish bc those are what I’m more familiar with, sorry :’D), and I write them as bisexual but that’s not explicitly mentioned here. any tweaks to language so people can have a more seamless experience are always helpful.
okay, hope this helps brighten your day a bit. 🖤
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You didn’t even have to look up from your book to know who was calling you, and wasn’t just texting like a normal person.
Without looking up from your page, you reached over and answered with the tap of one finger, then put him on speaker with another. “Who dares?”
“Hey, so, I’m madly in love with you. Do you wanna go out with me? Like, right now, or I’ll die of loneliness?” Hex said it like he was asking about the weather. The mustang’s motor purred in the background, and the faint thud of some dance remix on low drifted through your phone’s speaker like a tinny distant dream.
You smiled, closing your book and setting it beside you on your mattress. “Hmm. That depends.”
“Depends? Ouch. After my very sincere confession?” Hector laughed, making you smile wider. “Depends on what?”
“We-ell.” You stretched the syllable out as you stretched in turn, then collapsed back onto your pillows. “I’m very busy having a lazy afternoon, you see.”
Pale autumn sunlight danced in dappled patterns on your ceiling. You’d successfully managed to change from your pajamas to your comfiest sweats after taking a luxuriously long bath. This was only topped by the fact that you were currently cozy in a bed with a book that had been on your TBR for months, that you’d been swearing you’d get around to, for real this time.
“Is that so?” You heard the click of his turn signal, apparently not given pause by your demurring.
“Yes, and I’ve had it scheduled all week. I simply can’t cancel on myself again,” you explained, waving a hand lazily. “…Unless.”
“Te escucho,” Hex prompted. You heard him tapping on his steering wheel with his index fingers, restless. “Come on, lay it on me.”
“I could only be convinced to cancel on me if you had some really, truly spectacular, showstopping way to sweep me off my feet, that I just had to drop everything for right now.” You fought to keep your tone as serious as possible. “So this better be a really fabulous proposal, whatever comes next. Lots of pressure. Definitely overthink it.”
Hex sucked his teeth audibly, pretending to think. “Damn, I was just gonna ask if you wanted to go grocery shopping with me.”
“I’ll get my jacket.” You slid off your bed, stretching again from where you’d be laying there in a marathon session with your novel. “How close are you?”
He laughed again, low in his throat with that little bit of rasp that felt like his fingers in your hair. A second later, you heard the short beep of a car horn in your driveway.
“Oh, shit. Be right there!” You grabbed your phone off your bed and hustled now for the door to your room.
“Relax, baby, no hurry,” Hector said, his voice echoing slightly in your hallway as you moved. “Maxi just asked me to pick some stuff up for this pre-need thing he’s throwing tomorrow.”
“Yeah?” You slid into your shoes where they were piled by your entry way, and then grabbed your bag for whatever wouldn’t fit in your pockets - charger, headphones, anything you’d want if you headed to his place after. “…What’s a pre-need again?” You topped all this off by pulling on one of Hex’s hoodies that you’d stolen from him ages ago, fitting you comfortably as it did every time. You’d have to sneak it back into his laundry soon, you knew — it was beginning to smell more like you than him.
“Ugh, don’t worry about it.” Hector sighed so loud you could almost hear his eyes rolling. “Basically lots of little old and anxious people start getting antsy and thinking about death in October, because skeletons, so he offers this afternoon thing where he teaches them how to set up all their funeral stuff in advance. Es hella aburrido, which is why he has to offer the free food.”
“Ah. That all makes sense.” You stepped outside and made a point to lock your door. Granted, Hex was the only person you could conceive of who had ever broken in - or who would ever want to break in - but still. Greymoon was a weird town.
One never knew what, exactly, was going to turn up as dusk claimed a larger and larger share of the hours.
You hung up the call as you pulled the passenger door open, leaning over to kiss him before you closed it. “So what all do you serve at a funeral tutorial-thing?”
“Oh, you know— hey,” Hector paused, eyeing your clothes critically before looking at you with theatrical levels of suspicion. “You told me you hadn’t seen that one.”
“What, this?” You feigned innocence, looking down at his hoodie. “Oh, I thought you meant your… other one.” The man had like ten, this wasn’t impossible. “Do you want it back?” You widened your eyes and pouted just the tiniest bit, certain he wouldn’t say no, but wanting to lay it on thick.
“Let me see.” He leaned over abruptly to take an exaggerated sniff of the hood and your hair, making you giggle and try to lean away. “Nah,” he concluded, sitting back up. “That needs another day.”
You were still giggling, adjusting the hood around your shoulders. “Another day for what?”
Hector took the car out of park, looking over his shoulder to pull out of your driveway even though he could do it in his sleep. “It needs time to get that good You smell in there. What is that, anyway? Perfume? Shampoo? Essence of angel?”
“Shut up, corn lord.” You swatted his shoulder, making him smile. “I only wear it as long as it smells like you, anyway.”
“Really? Aw. Sorry about that.” Hector grinned when you laughed again. One of his hands fell to its usual place on your knee as he pulled out onto the main road. “The hell do I smell like, anyway? Film developer and sadness?”
“No.” You intertwined your fingers together and squeezed his hand. “You don’t smell like sadness, Señor Artiste.”
Between Hex’s constant connection to the world after this one, his resulting insomnia, and his… already artistic temperament, you knew he occasionally had to fend off the depression that seemed to run in the Morvant line. Whereas Maxi diverted his restless version into constantly fixing and cleaning, and Rora’s manifested in squalls of anger and verbal venom, Hex’s ennui would lay him out flat for days — occasionally, weeks. You’d spent time before helping him excavate his bed from under piles of unfolded laundry that he’d just been sleeping around, and braiding his hair when he couldn’t find the energy to wash it. You knew he worried about letting you see him like this, and he’d confessed to you once during one of the worse episodes that he was scared it was too much to expect you to handle.
But just like the ghosts he channeled, it would eventually release him from its grip, and he would make a point to be just as sweet to you when it was your turn to deal with your inner demons.
“News to me.” Hector’s smile was a little more subdued now. “So, what, just film developer? Dusty house?”
“No, you smell like… hold on.” You held your free hand to your face, inhaling deeply from your sweater-paw. “You smell like… cinnamon. And coffee with chicory — like there’s any other kind down here.” You took another sniff, taking your time. “And something, like, incense-y? Is that from the viewing room?”
“Oh, nah.” Hex was quiet, and it stretched as you found yourself weirdly waiting for an answer.
He kept his eyes pointedly on the road and cleared his throat. “I keep some of the stuff my ma used to use in my closet. For emergencies.”
You blinked. Hector didn’t bring up that side of the family a lot. He didn’t really bring up either side, if he could avoid it, but definitely not hers. “Your mom burn incense a lot?”
“Yeah. Just for, like… ritual stuff. She was into that sort of thing.” He paused, and when the two of you were stopped at a red light, he lifted his steering hand to smell the hoodie he was currently wearing. “Weird. I’d totally forgotten it was up there.” He held it out and scrutinized it, as if to search for visible traces on the fabric. “Guess I’m just noseblind to it now.” He shrugged, but almost a little too hard. Like he was trying to shake off the idea.
You hesitated as the car pulled forward again, wanting to respect a sensitive topic, but still curious. “…What qualifies as an ‘incense emergency’?”
“Oh, the usual. One of the ghosts in the House gets too full of itself after a seance. Rora fucks up another taxidermy resurrection. Maxi gets a body for restoration that’s been in a car for a week.” He winked at you when you shuddered at the thought. “Any of the very sexy circumstances where you’d rather smell like something burning, or burning something beats something else in supernatural Rock-Paper-Scissors.”
“Yikes. I’ll keep that in mind.” There were a million more questions about it on the tip of your tongue, but you kept them in check as he parked in front of the smaller grocery store in town — the one that had the more unusual finds, depending on the season.
You were always slightly amazed at how he managed to pull the mustang in between some of the ridiculously large trucks that populated most Greymoon parking lots. Somehow, he always found a convenient spot for his little black car. Like magic, if magic could be used for something so mundane.
As the two of you got out, there was still the slightest shadow on his face as he closed his door. “So does that not, like, bother you?” When you gave him a confused look as you closed your own, he nodded to the hoodie. “I’ve had it in my closet forever; it must smell pretty strong.”
“Oh! No.” You circled around and wound your fingers through his again as he locked the car. “I like it, actually.” As the two of you headed inside, you found yourself swinging your hands together like a little kid; you were determined to lighten the mood back up to what it had been. “It’s layered with so much other stuff — your cafe con leche, your detergent, your developer. Your beard oil,” you added, which made him laugh sheepishly as the two of you passed through the automatic doors. “It just smells… I don’t know.” You racked your brain for the word. “Safe? Yeah.” You nodded. “You smell like home to me, you know? Now.” You wanted to keep talking, distract him from that earlier doubt with your current task. You scanned the aisles. “Do you have a list, or—“
You had to fight not to stumble when you were still walking and realized Hector wasn’t.
When you turned to check on him, he was looking at you with such soft, sincere eyes, you almost forgot the two of you had come to a stop next to a cluster of shopping carts.
Quietly, he lifted your intertwined hands to his mouth, kissing the back of yours with a sweetness that seemed all the more so in his silence.
You couldn’t look away, your own tongue once again tied.
It was one of those moments that he made you feel like you were the only two people left in the world.
“…’Shut up, corn lord,’” he echoed at last, his dark eyes sparkling with mischief as he watched you over your own knuckles.
“You shut up, whatever.” You felt your face grow warm in a way that had nothing to do with the indoor heating against the October chill, and stuck your tongue out at him. “You know what I’m saying.”
“I do. But I still like it when you say it.” He winked at you again, and this time there was a trace of the casual cockiness you’d seen when the two of you had first started flirting.
The difference was that now, you knew it was a front. Hex’s confidence was low key when it was genuine — a quiet, unflappable certainty.
He only played slick when how much he actually cared could overwhelm him entirely.
“I really mean it, Hex,” you protested quietly, squeezing his hand. “You have to know that by now.”
“And take that sweet shit for granted? Qué va.” But he still took his time letting go of you.
He sighed as he had over the phone, back to pretending this was a chore. “Alright, let’s get this over with.” He shoved a hand in a pocket of his own hoodie and pulled out his phone. With a couple of taps, he pulled up what looked like a text chain — you could see “pinche maxi” as the contact, followed by three skull emojis. “Got the list.”
You muffled a laugh, not wanting to be caught snooping. “Basket or cart?”
“The hell are you talking about?” Hector jokingly looked at you like you were crazy, before nodding pointedly at something ahead of you. “This is absolutely a cart situation, Bonita, come on. Eyes on the prize.”
Puzzled, you followed his gaze - and grinned, realizing exactly why he’d picked this store.
The Halloween candy display on the far side of the room was massive… but the stock floor was blessedly deserted.
You and Hex whizzed across the vacant produce section — taking turns balancing on the cart and pushing the other person — with only a brief pause to pick up a pre-cut veggie tray.
“There,” he said, before hastily checking off multiple items on the list.
You looked from the list to the tray, positive you’d seen ‘carrots,’ ‘celery,’ ‘cherry tomatoes’ as separate items. “Yeah, that has those.”
“Maxi’s going to complain and say he could’ve done it all himself,” Hector sighed, placing it carefully in the cart. “But he forgets how fucking picky he gets about setting up the extra chairs and the projector in the parlor, and stuff. That, plus having to cut everything just-so and arrange it on his little crudité board? He wouldn’t have time.”
You shrugged. “He can still put it all on the board if he wants to. It’s not like they’re gonna know.”
“That’s the spirit.” Hector snapped and pointed at you. “Primo needs to learn about artfully half-assing stuff. He takes all this pointless detail shit too seriously.” He paused to turn back and pick up a similarly packaged collection of cut fruit. “See? Boom. He didn’t even have those on the list; I’m just that thoughtful.”
“Clearly.” You couldn’t resist a smile. “Okay, so what else?”
“Cheese,” Hector said, as if this were obvious. “You always gotta feed grief with cheese.”
“But I thought this was for planning their own stuff?”
“It is, but have you seen how expensive shit is lately? They’re going to be grieving their wallets.” Hector pulled the cart behind him towards the dairy section with you balanced behind the handle. “You thought groceries were bad, you should see getting buried.”
“But isn’t your cousin on that whole...” You squinted as you tried to remember, gesturing vaguely. “Somthing-something against funeral poverty?”
“Yeah, doesn’t mean Louisiana isn’t still broke as shit. I swear to god, if it wasn’t for the damn House…” Hector sucked his teeth as he trailed off, staring down at two different cheese plates, then squinted at his phone. “Did he say…? Nah.” Seemingly satisfied, he picked up one of each and set them in the cart.
You raised an eyebrow. “Y’all expecting a big crowd?”
“Oh, hell no. We never get more than a few people at these things.” Hector looked at you, pointing to the plate with the slightly nicer variety. “That one’s for family.” He drew a loop in the air with his finger to rope you into the collective - something that still brought a bubbly warmth to your chest, even after you’d been dating this long. “We’re having that after, let the plebians have the cheap cheese.”
You laughed. “So glad I get to be included in the fancy cheese. I’m honored.”
“Only the fanciest of cheeses for you, mi amor.” Hex leaned up, giving you an obnoxiously loud kiss on the cheek. “Come on, we still need the important stuff.”
“Oh yeah? And what’s—” You were interrupted by your own delighted squeak as Hector rocketed with you and the cart towards the Halloween candy.
You couldn’t remember the last time you’d giggled this much while just doing errands with someone. It had to mean something that you could leave your ideal day alone to go out and do something you normally dreaded, but still have more fun than your books could have ever promised.
Hector only just pulled you to a stop before any displays suffered an unfortunate collision, and you hopped off the back of the cart, the two of you sizing up the waiting shelves.
“Maxi said I could get Halloween stuff for this, but he said it had to be ‘tasteful’.” Hector gave the word some lazy finger quotes and rolled his eyes again. “Like I didn’t just see him buy one of those twelve foot skeletons. ‘It’s for the garden out back, Hex, it’s not the same’,” he quoted some little tiff they’d clearly had, doing a surprisingly good impression of his cousin’s accent around his own.
“So we’re definitely serving bleeding eye gumballs and gummy brains then?” you joked.
“I wonder if they still sell those plastic molds of hands.” Hector stroked his beard, pretending to ponder. “We could make ice hands with red food dye to put in the lemonade.”
“Crazy tasteful.” You nodded in agreement. “Or feet molds? Do they make those?”
“Ew, don’t be weird.” Hector gave you a look of fake disgust, making you both laugh before you split apart to browse in earnest.
“What about, like, mini chocolate bars? They’ve got like a million kinds.” You scanned the different shelves for the usual variety packs, finding a plethora of different groupings in brightly colored bags.
“You’d think, but no. Chocolate can melt and smear if people forget about it. And someone always forgets about it,” he added from the other side of the aisle, with a touch of that special exhaustion that comes from dealing with strangers. “And nothing that could’ve been remotely near peanut butter or nuts, Maxi said he needs a new epi-pen for the first aid kit.”
“Sure, fair. Can’t have anyone dying at the meeting about how to plan for dying. So that rules out…” You rotated slowly in place, taking stock of your options. “A lot.”
“Hey, that just makes my job easier.” Hector popped around an end cap, holding up two different versions of those holiday-themed marshmallows that had started solely as bunnies. “Skulls or ghosts?”
“For the thing or for us?”
“The thing.”
“Dude,” you laughed. “Like those little old and-slash-or anxious people won’t flip if we give them ghosts or skulls at a funeral planning seminar? You think they have enough whimsy for that?”
“Come on, it’s like, the whole reason we’re there. They gotta lighten up, man.” Hex rolled his eyes again. “Fine, I’ll just put them in the cart for after. Maxi can’t get mad at me if I bring him some, he loves this kinda shit.”
Your eyes fell on shelf of some old-fashioned candies. “Oh my god, I’m an idiot, this is so obvious.”
“How obvious?” Hector asked from the other side of the shelf.
You grabbed a bag of candy corn, inspecting the ingredients. “Nut-free factory! That’s a bonus!”
“Man, those poor factory workers.”
“Ugh, low hanging fruit.” You rolled your eyes, picking up another bag. “Come here.”
“Make me,” Hector teased, suddenly directly behind you.
“Jesus!” You whirled on the spot, startled at having not heard him sneak that close. “Behave.” You whacked his shoulder lightly with one of the bags you were holding.
“Jesus never behaved, that was like his whole deal.” Hector just plucked the bag from your hand, inspecting it before raising an eyebrow. “Candy corn?”
“What little old person doesn’t like candy corn?” You made an incredulous gesture with your free hand. “And like, these candy pumpkins.” You picked up a bag of the traditional pumpkins with the similar texture. “It’s classic for a reason.”
“Yeah, cultural indoctrination.” Hector smiled. “I can’t believe people actually eat this stuff willingly.”
“Oh, come on, it’s nostalgic as hell,” you said, placing the bags in his waiting hands. “It’s like being a little kid in your costume again.”
“Doesn’t mean it actually tastes good.” He nonetheless held still, tilting his head to look at the bag’s contents. “But sure, he can put them out in little decorative bowls or some shit, he loves those.”
You turned to set a last bag in his hands. “You honestly mean to tell me you don’t like candy corn?”
“I mean, I’ll eat it,” Hector said, sounding resigned. “But for the same reason as when I was small: because it’s there, and because it’s what we have, but not because I actually think it’s any good. Not that one,” he said, nodding to the last one you were holding. “We have enough.”
You frowned at the couple of bags in his hands. “You sure?”
“Positive.”
“Okay, so at least there won’t be any leftovers.” You shrugged, then beckoned for him to follow you onto the next aisle.
“Are you kidding? The old people aren’t gonna make a dent in this, candy corn multiples the minute someone turns their back on it.” Hector followed you. “Don’t you know Halloween math?” He continued as you burst into laughter. “The same thing would always happen: Tia Mathilde would buy some candy corn, or those tiny pumpkins, and then the bowl in the kitchen would just keep refilling itself all season. It’d never get any emptier, even when I was sure the twins ate so much they were gonna puke.”
“Maybe she just kept buying more bags?” You looked over your shoulder at him, raising an eyebrow. “Like how it works in the real world?”
“Nope, I’d check the trash whenever the bowl was full again!” Hector shook his head. “You watch, we’ll put this out, and then we’ll still be eating it until…”
You paused, turning once again to find Hector stopped behind you. “Babe?”
Hector didn’t answer, squinting at something on a shelf you’d passed.
“Something jumpscare you?” You walked back to peek over his shoulder.
“Yeah, those.” Hector nodded to a plastic box holding three small decorated sugar skulls.
“Oh, hey! I didn’t know they started selling those here.” You paused, surveying the surrounding products. “I didn’t realize they sold imported anything here, to be honest.”
“Those aren’t imported,” Hector said, nodding at the label. Sure enough, it was one of the generic store holiday brands. “They’ve just realized they can sell them and actually make some money. Check the piping around the eyes,” he gestured loosely with the corner of one of the bags. “There are people who work for months to get the decorative ones right, the legit shit. Even the ones you give kids to eat, they take their time with. That looks like someone put the icing on with their eyes closed.”
“Oh.” You leaned forward, inspecting for yourself. The piped icing to decorate the facial features looked very haphazardly applied, some of it smeared against the plastic during transport. “I see what you mean, yeah.” You glanced back at him. “It’s like, the opposite of artful half-assing. Half-ass art-ing.”
“I don’t think that’s even half an ass’s worth,” Hector said, smiling again when he made you laugh. It faded though as he looked back the store brand calaveras. “And they’re charging how much, for that quality? En esta economía? Hell,” he shook his head. “If that’s what people will pay around here for shitty ones, I should throw a bunch together and sell them at the House. Maybe be able to afford that new lens I want.”
“I didn’t know you knew how to make those,” you said, looking between him and the sad little skulls. “I mean, I should’ve guessed, what don’t you know how to make—“
“I don’t,” Hector said, glancing at you. You giggled, and he grinned. “I’m serious. I mean, in theory, sure: it’s like — what’re those fluffy stiff fuckers — meringues, right? Eggs and sugar? Mold it and wait? But my mom always went down early and bought ‘em from this artist lady she liked. For the ofrenda, and an edible one for me so I’d stop trying to lick the decorative ones when her back was turned.”
You paused in your laughter at that image, hesitant. This was the second time his mom had unexpectedly popped up this visit, and the first time hadn’t been… happy, per se. “Did you guys do that every year?”
“When we lived here? Not always,” he shrugged. “Sometimes she couldn’t get down and back in time, so we’d just leave some extra treats out and hope people coming back to visit would understand. Plus, when Tia Mathilde was in a bad mood, she’d get snippy about what room Ma could set stuff up in. Eventually, she just kept a small ofrenda in her room so she didn’t have to deal with Auntie griping about the marigold petals on the carpet.” He sucked the inside of his cheek for a minute, his eyes distant. “…She always remembered when we lived with her folks, though.” He looked away for a moment, pretending to inspect his sneakers. “But by then I usually spent the day elsewhere. It was kinda crowded. Anyway. Come on, beautiful,” he said, looking back up at you abruptly. “We got veggies to put in the fridge, get my cousin off my back.”
“Yeah, definitely.” You were sure that wasn’t what was actually what had him preoccupied, but you didn’t press. You followed him back to the cart, the two of you heading for check out. Though he was friendly as ever with the giggly (clearly somewhat smitten) cashier, you noticed Hex was subdued again, not even making his usual joke of buying out all the day-old donuts with Maxi’s credit card.
By the time the two of you walked out with your bags, you were scrambling slightly, trying to figure out how to bring him back to the present so he wouldn’t linger too long in his reverie.
As the two of you loaded the groceries into the trunk of the mustang, you spotted it: a little tent set up on the far side of the shopping center, with a handmade sign and two elderly people bundled up in lawn chairs. “Hey.”
“Hm?” Hex looked up from closing the trunk when you tugged his sleeve, eyes refocusing like he was emerging from a daze.
You thumbed towards the cider stand. “You want some?” You smiled, hoping you weren’t being obvious. “My treat?”
“Absolutely not.” Hector shoved his hand in his pocket, quickly producing his cousin’s card once again. “We’re still on a very official mortuary errand, let it be Maxi’s treat.”
“Then shouldn’t we bring him some?” Your smile felt more genuine as Hex took your hand, threading your fingers back together as you crossed the cracked little parking lot. “Since he’s being so kind?”
“Eh, it’s a had-to-be there thing, he knows how it goes.” Hector shrugged a shoulder. “Nothing personal, this is purely business.”
“Ahuh.” You muffled a small laugh. “And Rora? None for her?”
“Nope,” he popped the ‘p’ emphatically. “La Reina made it perfectly clear she didn’t wanna come along. She didn’t help with grocery shopping, so she doesn’t get to reap the rewards of honest work.”
“Damn, you guys are cold-blooded,” you teased, hip-checking him lightly.
“Hey, I warned them fair and square, I didn’t wanna mix business and family.” He spread his free hand in an exaggeratedly helpless gesture. “This is what happens. It’s cut-throat.”
You were still laughing a little when the two of you reached the tent, and you couldn’t miss the rosy-cheeked elderly couple sneaking each other a knowing smile when they greeted you and Hex. A yellow lab sat up from where it had been laying sweetly at their feet, shaking itself and mirroring its people with a panting, tongue-hanging smile of its own.
You watched silently as the cider folks poured you both a full styrofoam cup and chatted with Hex, wondering if they maybe saw themselves in you two. If they had been like you once, feeling like there were only endless unknowns ahead of them, but had finally settled into a gentle present together - from the gentleman’s brief conversation with Hector, one filled with their apple orchard and their dogs, selling homemade cider on crisp afternoons.
As the two of you took your cider (with an extra cinnamon stick for Hex, since he asked the elderly woman with a polite yet roguish smile), you both made sure the lab behind its ears, Hector reminding her in multiple languages that she was a good dog before the two of you took your leave.
That wouldn’t be such a bad forever, you thought to yourself as the older folks waved goodbye. Just the two of you doing something little to make some extra cash, sitting together in the sunlight and chatting about everything and nothing while you waited for people to swing by. Riding home - a shared home, a house for both of you - in his old car, the tired quiet comfortable like a well-loved quilt.
Your thoughts were interrupted by the happy little noise Hector made as you both leaned against the trunk of his car, and you turned to see him enjoying a long sip with both cinnamon sticks still in the cup.
“Good?” you asked, smirking.
“Mmhm.” He pulled the rest away as if to inspect it, licking his lips. “Their spice blend is really killer. Fuck a PSL.”
“That’s why Greymoon never gets a Starbucks, they just know they couldn’t compete.” You took a sip of your own, and unwittingly made a similar noise. The taste that flooded your mouth was immaculately golden, the kind of distilled late afternoon sunshine from the romanticized autumns of years past. “Holy shit, you weren’t kidding.”
“Right?” Hector nodded. “I didn’t think we had any witches around lately, but now I don’t know. Little lady over there might just be hiding a pointy hat at home.”
“Now watch, we’re both going to be magically enthralled to some ancient Apple God when we least expect it.” You took another long sip nonetheless.
“Hey, beats my current thing.” Hector shrugged, downing more of his.
Oh. Right. That.
The small hitch in your soft little idea of forever.
You took another sip, your mind torn in both directions: his mom, which was what you’d been originally trying to distract him from, and now the issue of his necromantic Chain, which you were wondering if you needed distracting from.
“You having flashbacks on me?”
You blinked, looking up to find Hector watching your face. His head was tilted, his small smile looking crooked as he searched your eyes. “Where’d you go, preciosa? You got all thousand-yard stare for a sec.”
“I’m good.” You smiled, trying to prove it. “Just… Fall.” You gestured to the gorgeous day, the drinks in your hands.
“…Ahuh.” Hector said, clearly skeptical. He took one of the cinnamon sticks out of his drink, sticking the end that had been in the cider in his mouth. “Try me anyway?”
You hesitated, not wanting to bog down the moment. “…Why do I get the feeling you did the cinnamon challenge when it was a thing?” you asked instead.
“Nuh-uh,” Hector lied, the way he turned from you slightly to chew on the stick giving him away.
You laughed, immediately picturing the worst. “It didn’t go well, huh?”
“No, because I definitely didn’t do it in a room full of people at a party. What’re you, a cop?” He pointed the stick at you accusingly as you laughed even harder, nearly snorting cider as you went to take another sip. “You got your little FBI man in your phone to go through mine for proof or something? That’s low, that sneaky bastard, he’s supposed to be on my payroll.”
“I love you,” you said through the giggles you were trying to smother.
“Obviously.” Hector threw his hair dramatically over his shoulder, but he couldn’t quite hold the bravado as he looked at you, his gaze softening back into that look from before. “…I love you,” he repeated quietly, his version somehow warmer than the cider in your hand.
You leaned your head on his shoulder, and he slid an arm around your waist as he kissed the top of your skull. You stayed there, enjoying the smell of the fresh cinnamon and the hoodie he was wearing.
“…Earlier,” you spoke just as quietly, afraid to burst this little golden bubble. “When we were inside, you said something about ‘if it weren’t for the damn House.’” You angled your head so you could see his face. “What’d you mean?”
“Oh.” Hector rolled his eyes somewhat, his hand moving your waist to fiddle with a drawstring on your borrowed hoodie. “I just meant we’d be outta here already.”
You blinked, forcing yourself to hold off on the automatic hurt that wanted to leap to the forefront. “‘We?’ Like you and the twins?”
“Eh, if they wanted to, sure,” he said, shrugging. “But we’d find each other again if we needed to, they know that. I meant you and me.” He looked down at you. “I’d take you and we’d move somewhere beautiful, like, tomorrow. Get the fuck outta here, go somewhere with something going on. A real art scene, or at least someplace with actual nightlife, maldita. Or maybe we’d be like those weirdos that live in a van,” he went on. “Move around a bunch of places for a while. Like, we’d live at the beach, until you got tired of the beach, and then we’d try the mountains or something, y’know?”
“Oh, so you’d take me, huh?” Your grin threatened to split your face, it was so hard and so real.
“Obviously,” he said, his bravado back with a wink that made you laugh again. “I’d have to, before you had a chance to think it through.”
“Hey, I might be more game than you think.” You reached up, twirling a lock of his hair around the end of your finger. “What about where you’d want to live, though?”
“That’s the easy part.” He hip-checked you gently, which just pushed you more against his arm as he squeezed you in a hug. “Long as you’re there, I’m good.”
You looked at him for a long moment, pretty sure the warmth in your chest now had nothing to do with the cider or your hoodies in the sunshine. “You wanna head back?” Your hand dropped to tug lightly on his sweatshirt. “So we can put the groceries away before we get completely distracted making out, and so we don’t have an audience?” You glanced out of the corner of your eye at the tent in the distance.
“Yeah, sure babe. One sec.” Hex’s arm supported your back as he dipped you backwards, holding you steady as he made a show of kissing you in front of the grocery store.
It took you two until the lab started barking across the lot to remember you needed to actually get in and start the car.
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(perhaps I was the real corn lord all along. :)
if you read this far, I hope you treat yourself to something delicious today 🥰)
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irenadel · 5 months
Text
Due to the Dead
A Pygmalion Story
Set in the Pygmalion verse but no clear timeline because it doesn’t fit with the show dates. Whatever. I do what I want. No proofing we die like Aztec warriors. I’ll come fix it later. I just wanted it done today.
This is for @theonlymanintheskyisme because sometimes you just wanna spend these moments with the people you love. Wherever they are.
“No, that’s fine. If you can handle the tissue paper flowers I got some real ones in Little Oaxaca,” you panted tiredly into your phone, regretting the choice to walk instead of waiting for the bus. “Chocolate skulls too. Pretty good. Pan de muerto is still a no go but I got the candles. Yeah. Yeah. I’ll see you at home. Got papel picado too.”
“Should you really be eating all that Halloween candy, young lady?”
You nearly jumped out of your skin, phone still tightly clutched in your hand, but bags spilling out onto the questionable pavement of Park Avenue. Or at least they would have, if the man who had so cruelly and with malice aforethought startled you, hadn’t also been possessed of superspeed. And the uncanny ability to detect when whatever he was pulling off would have been Going Too Far. He caught everything in the nick of time (you had to admire the showmanship) and even deposited the last potted marigold right into your unbelieving hands.
That did make you drop your phone.
“Well,” he said, smiling so smugly it was a wonder no one threatened to slap it away, super powers or not. “That one is entirely on you, and it better not be the phone I got you, missy.”
And you were, suddenly, irresistibly, unsurprisingly delighted to see him. Because you always were and because in the strange dance of your friendship, you’ve come to realize, holidays aren’t really a thing in Homelander’s world.
It’s one of those things you resentfully blame on Vought.
“It’s not Halloween candy,” you answered, your own smile echoing his, making it lose some of that sardonic tilt to it. “It’s for my ofrenda.”
He offered you his arm, using the other to carry the shopping bags you had been struggling with moments ago. You took it, not bothering to hide the renewed joy in your face at his visit. The street was dark and empty as it usually was whenever he came looking for you, respecting always your desire to avoid the spotlight. There was an extra pep in his step and you wanted to believe (but never trusted) that it meant he was happy to see you too.
“Is this more of your unamerican crap?” He teased you, delighted when you took the bait. He liked hearing you get outraged.
“That’s right it is!” You beamed at him. “They’re for my dead! Day of the Dead baby! Time to invite the fam back for dinner!”
He blinked. Twice.
“Come again?”
You rolled your eyes at him. “I celebrate Halloween and the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead.”
“Like in that Coco movie?” The one that had (briefly) knocked that year’s Seven movie out of the top spot at the box office.
“That’s right! We light candles to guide the dead home and we set the table for them. Anything they liked to eat or drink when they were alive. Next day, you eat it, and it’s like you share a meal with your dead loved ones again.”
He made a mock grimace at you and you elbowed him companionably right back. You’d never admit it, under threat of torture, but this was the best part of your day. When he would show up out of nowhere and be yours for however long he could spare. So, you took it in stride when he clicked his tongue at you, playful smile so pleased it had a hint of fangs to it. “That’s a little morbid even for you, don’t you think?”
“That’s just your gringo sensibilities,” you quipped back, your turn to look smug. “I got my Halloween candy from Costco ages ago. The chocolate skulls are for my dead. They’re meant to represent each person the ofrenda is for. So my grandparents. My aunt. My cousin who committed suicide in 2011–“
“It’s a family thing.”
Homelander didn’t ask it, not exactly, but you got the lilt right at the end. The little inflection that signaled interest and deep hurt. Even now you were still surprised by the whiplash of his moods. The way his whole face tensed in that moment and how he looking straight at his own reflection in an empty storefront window. His arm firmly wrapped around yours but somehow still a thousand miles away. You’ve learned he will do this when he’s deeply considering something. You thought it vanity at first, him staring at himself, now it just makes your heart ache for him.
“No,” and you rested your head on his shoulder, navigating his ridiculous pauldron, because you understood. This was important. “My ‘aunt’ was my mom’s best friend when she was studying abroad. She used to visit us when I was a kid. No blood relationship. I just loved her a whole lot.”
He said nothing, and neither did you. But you tucked the potted marigold under your arm and brought your hand to cover his. He didn’t quite recover his smile, but you saw the set of his shoulders relax.
“We’re putting the ofrenda up tomorrow and receiving trick or treaters all night if you wanna—“
It was the wrong thing to say and you knew it the moment he cut you off.
“There’s a Halloween party at Vought,” he said, letting go of your arm. A simple but effective gesture. No more fondness in his tone, just exasperation. As if you should have known better than to ask. Because ultimately, his tone said, he was too important to deal with you more than he already did.
“Yeah?” You tried for cheerful teasing but found yourself putting a little more bitterness in it than you had bargained for. “What’re you going as? Homelander?”
A dignified sniff. “Of course!”
“Why am I surprised at this point!” And this time you did try. You caught up to him, hooked up your own arm to his and found yourself relieved at how mollified he looked by the gesture. “You’re such a nerd.”
“What are you going to be for Halloween, smartypants?”
You turned crimson and avoided looking at him.
“Work and ofrenda prep have fucked up my time. I’ve been up and down all Madison and Park Avenue and no one sells pan de muerto anymore. And if they do, they’ve run out by now. I’m probably just gonna be a sheet ghost or something.”
Homelander rolled his eyes dramatically and sighed, this time his exasperation so clearly an act, that you almost cried with relief. You really did hate hurting his feelings.
Hands on his hips like he’s posing for a poster, he looked you up and down critically, and you knew exactly what to expect. He did this whenever you complained about not having time. Or when he wanted to knock you down a peg or two. It never worked, because you enjoyed it too much.
Over his shoulder you went, bags of candy, marigolds and all, effortlessly, like you weigh nothing at all. It always took your breath away.
“Who’s the lame one now?”
You screamed back YOUUUUU as he lifted off and your answer was lost in the rush of wind and your delighted laughter.
——-
It had been such a simple thing, he’d been surprised you’d managed to fuck it up.
Homelander was supposed to swoop in, tell you about the costume gala and the exclusive one of a kind ticket he’d gotten for you (so you could meet some of the publishing execs, of course… of course). You would have been awed and grateful and there. At the masquerade. Available whenever he needed a break from everyone’s bullshit. You’d have laughed and been nervous and he’d be able to tease you and hear you make catty, and yet somehow impossibly naive and optimistic, comments about Vought…
It would have been so good.
But you had to get all sentimental on him. Show him your silly little art project, with your silly little tissue paper in different colors, and your stupid food for people who weren’t really going to come to dinner. Their pictures, which you set up fondly (people who weren’t him), taking your time and space and thoughts.
He didn’t get it. It all seemed so typically stupid of you. Insufferably sappy.
(So far removed from him. In that strange realm you inhabited where there were childhoods and parents and dead loved ones.)
In Homelander’s world, there were masquerades with professionally tailored costumes. A beautiful woman in a very tight Morticia Adams gown who had tried to chat him up. Her Halloween themed cocktail bubbling and smoking into his eyes.
(You’d said a friend of yours would lend you a bat onesie which he’d laughed at. You’d proudly presented him with a Frankestein green colored flavor powder for milk that you just had to get for the occasion.)
There was also WORK to be done! It wasn’t just fashion models in witchy corsets and perfectly arranged hats. There were senators and congressmen and investors to woo. There was Maeve, already on her third tequila sunrise with eyeballs at the bottom, to keep under careful watch. There was Starlight to control, make sure she didn’t say anything stupid.
(You’d been singing this is Halloween, this is Halloween, while handing him the tail end of the brightly colored banners he’d offered to hang from your ceiling. Loud and off-key, like some bad attempt at a Halloween carol and when he’d complained that didn’t sound very Mexican, you’d reminded him since he was here, this was officially a Mexican-American celebration now.)
Starlight was the only one who had insisted the Seven should’ve worn different costumes. You’d have liked her, he thought with a smile. Equally stupid, the both of you.
“Nice seeing you enjoying yourself for once, Homelander.”
Some nameless politician he barely recognized. No one important. But he’d seen the brief elusive twist of his mouth. He almost lasered him then and there for the intrusion. But damn it, he was trying to work. You had no right to interrupt him like this when he was at work.
He listened to the man drone on about oil imports and the need to protect global human rights, while he thought about the pumpkins you’d bought. Too little to carve, scattered around your ofrenda thingamajing. Water and salt, candles to light the way home for your dead, and to represent fire. Incense too. The paper crafts (jeez you were such a child) were meant to be the air (papel picado) and the pumpkins stood for the earth. It was supposed to be in tiers, because of the various underworlds in the afterlife.
You can add someone if you want, you’d told him and he’d felt like you had knocked the air out of him. Or at least how he imagined that would feel. It’s really a multiple day holiday. The 31st is for dead babies and then November 1st is for children. So you can come over anytime up until the night of the 2nd and we can add whoever you want.
Your roommate had been so cheerful she’d even managed to look like she didn’t hate him quite so much. (You just ran with people with terrible taste). Yeah! Get your contacts at Vought to hook us up with some pan de muerto and you can add anyone you want to the ofrenda.
You’d had to explain what that was. Sweet pastry with orange blossom water and sugar sprinkled on top. Good for dunking in milk, you’d teased him. The dead liked it. But he didn’t have to bring any, just a picture of his dead if he wanted. He’d scoffed. Had told you he wasn’t like you (sentimental, prone to losing, weak). You hadn’t pressed the issue.
(He’d never even asked her what food she liked. He didn’t have a picture… did he?)
It took no more than a second to decide.
“Excuse me, senator Brown.” He clapped the old man’s back, making him let out a small umphhh of protest. Homelander smiled wider. He could already feel his mood improving. “I’ve an important meeting to attend. No, no, sir. Thank you for your time tonight.”
He didn’t even bother to respond to Maeve’s frown of surprise or Starlight’s questioning looks. Let them deal with his absence for now. He owed them no explanations or concerns. He called Ashley not to give her any warning but to put in an order. They should know a good bakery, right? Anything for Homelander, right? And if that wasn’t right, then he’d be making it wrong for everyone else.
He just needed to pick up a couple of things from his suite.
——-
“Is this it?” He’d asked climbing through your room’s window because the living room one was papered over in papel picado. He hated the worried edge to his voice but felt his ruffled feathers soothed both by your look of surprise and then your arms thrown around his neck.
“You made it! Thank you! You didn’t have to but, boy, am I glad to see you!”
He basked in it. One arm holding up the tray, the other snaking around your waist, feeling glad, feeling strange, feeling welcome. You didn’t look so bad in your bat onesie.
“Brought a costume too. See?”
Bared his teeth at you, exposing the fake fangs he’d gotten last minute. You’d assured him his own were more than enough to give vampire if he just let you get him a Bela Lugosi cape. He already had the widow’s peak.
“Let’s go decorate and spread rabies together,” you’d said, taking his hand leading him to the living room. Your roommate had been delighted at the pan de muerto and he’d felt so unwarrantedly pleased with himself that you’d laughed.
He’d missed that.
Homelander was, of course, placed on treat giving duty and only got a little upset when an snotty eight year old told him point blank his Homelander costume was lame. You’d made him promise not to laser anyone.
“I could slice the bread with my lasers. Nice and toasted,” he’d suggested with a shit eating grin, the moment you handed him a glass of Frankenstein green milk.
“We don’t eat it tonight! It’s until the 3rd of November. So you’re just gonna have to stay over and watch scary movies with me in the meantime.”
He couldn’t help smiling. Not even when your roommate put on Nightmare Before Christmas and he complained this was clearly disloyalty to Vought. Betrayal for Disney. He even smiled through your rendition of oh somewhere deep inside of these bones, an emptiness began to grow and felt it (not at all, never, would not have admitted it if you asked) like a lump in his chest when you looked directly at him and mock gestured through the rest of the song.
It was good. It was good and warm and safe here. And he thought it nothing to hand you the picture, the one he’d picked up from his suite, from a too painful, forgotten place underneath his bed.
Stormfront in her wedding gown.
You said nothing for a moment. Couldn’t begin to explain to him what he was asking of you. The deep roots of this holiday and the pools of blood it had waded through to get to you. Through a dead people and countless enslaved others. That it hadn’t started with the Nazis but there they were, clear as day, the far point where every nation that conquered another could arrive.
But you could almost hear yourself telling him. For your dead. So you know your loved ones are still with you. My cousin who killed herself, she liked chocolate and that’s why we use these kinds of skulls.
You had no heart to deny him his dead. And he could see it in your face, a shame shared between the both of you perhaps, that you would have considered saying no. That he knew you could have because in spite of his bluster and confident security in your feelings for him… still he knew that he was asking a lot.
You took the picture from his hands and because the sigh he heaved was as much hurt as relief, you took him in your arms too. You held him because the dead were meant to bring joy and comfort and it was a hard lesson to learn. You held him because his dead could not.
“If she ends up scorching the place and scaring off the fam it’s on you!” You heard your roommate shout from the kitchen, having caught a glimpse of the ofrenda’s new resident. You laughed together, and if his laughter had the hidden hint of a sob, well, it was only natural.
Tonight was for mourning and celebrating and being together. And that’s what you would do.
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There Is No God But Death
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Walking downtown in the Zócalo district can be overwhelming: A thousand sights, sounds, and smells bombard your senses. The beautiful, wafting scent of freshly baked conchas clashes with the nearby stink of dog shit.  A motorcycle nearly runs over my foot as I make my way among other pedestrians, street performers, and vendors. I keep my hands in both pockets in case someone tries to lift my phone or wallet. In the heart of downtown is a well-traveled street full of regional restaurants, perhaps for Mexicans who moved to the big city but miss the kind of food their mother back home would make. Grasshopper tacos are available, if that sounds appealing. As I sit and enjoy my meal I can see a life size statue on the corner, looming over those passing by. She is tall and thin, merely a skeleton, robed in black and unmoving. At her feet people have left offerings of coins and candy. To someone from the U.S, she resembles the Grim Reaper, missing only a scythe. Who is she and why is she here? 
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Unlike many Western cultures that do their best to ignore death or mitigate it through heaven or salvation, death has always been a part of life in Mexico. The Aztecs saw death as meaningful because it could serve a greater purpose: Dying in battle or childbirth was a death that brought honor both to the individual and society. Human sacrifice kept the universe running. Death was never far from any living thing, the Aztecs might have reasoned, so it is foolish to pretend otherwise. The skulls in modern day Mexican life and art are a modern adaptation of that memento mori mentality. 
The modern worship of Nuestra Señora de la Santa Muerte, or “Our Lady of Holy Death”, is also an extension of that worldview. Death is the only certainty in life and yet most of us try to avoid thinking about it. And yet the followers of Santa Muerte put death at the center of their faith. It is believed that one of the first worshippers of Santa Muerte asked for deliverance for a very sick loved one that was suffering (if this is beginning to sound like the Many-Faced God from Game of Thrones, that’s because it basically is). But then over time, followers of Santa Muerta began to ask Death for things they wanted in life: To find a job, a partner, protection from one’s enemies. At times, Santa Muerte wears different color robes and these signify different things people ask of her: Gold for wealth, red for love, black for protection against black magic. Believers leave offerings at the base of statues in exchange for her protection and blessings: Money, soda, fruit, cigarettes.
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“The Skinny One”, as she is also known, exists outside the official organization of the Catholic Church. The church leadership does not accept the cult of Santa Muerte as legitimate Catholic practice, calling it “pagan” and “death worship”. Perhaps the church does not like the great focus on death when their doctrine teaches that for the faithful, heaven is the ultimate destination. Because the Skinny One is an outsider of the official Mexican religious establishment, she attracts outsiders as followers: Sex workers, thieves, and cartel members. It has been reported that drug traffickers brought their guns to a ceremony in Mexico City so their weapons would be blessed by Santa Muerte. This known association with undesirable elements does not help her reputation with the more mainstream masses. 
But what is the history of this shadowy saint? Are her origins Catholic, traditional or more contemporary? As is often the case in Mexico, it is a little bit of everything. 
Journalist Daniel Hernandez, an important source for this post, writes: 
"Some believe the image is a descendant from pre-Hispanic times, on the lineage of the Aztec god Mictlantecuhtli. Anthropologists maintain the Santa Muerte is a refashioning of San Pascual Rey, a Catholic saint with a long cult history in the Mayan lands of Chiapas and Guatemala, and whose traditional image is a frightening skeleton. Historican Claudio Lomnitz casts Santa Muerte's following in an economic light, arguing that it exploded after the onset of the American Free Trade Agreement, when the northern exodus of Mexican migrants across the border really took off."
Wherever she came from, Santa Muerte is incredibly popular in ways the traditional church is not, so the Skinny One is here to stay. I am not a religious person, but passing by I place a few coins at her feet and ask her to not let Donald Trump be re-elected. I don’t believe in these types of things, but “when in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Whether I like it or not, I am living in her country now. It never hurts to make friends. 
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This privately owned shrine in Mexico City has public services twice a month.
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The Big Three (from right to left): Saint Judas, a popular saint in Mexico City, Santa Muerte, and Jesús Malverde, a "Robin Hood" style figure who is venerated by drug traffickers.
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happyforevertv · 6 months
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what costumes are the gang gonna wear for Halloween and what are they gonna do? Also what are their opinions on Halloween and their favorite monsters and favorite Halloween candy?
Tyler's costume is a red robe and skull mask. Tyler likes trick-or-treating with Happy. Tyler likes Halloween for the candy and spending time with his children. Tyler's favorite monster is either a werewelf or mummy. Tyler's favorite candies are Twix.
Dylan's costume is a pirate costume. He likes spending time with his Happy. Dylan's favorite monster is a gremlin. Dylan's favorite candy is chocolate coins.
Danny's costume is a minotaur, and his favorite monster is a werewolf. Danny's favorite candies are gumdrops, lollipops, and other gummy candy.
Doctor Hypno- Doctor which he goes as every year, he's going to hand out candy, he likes Halloween but worries he eats too much candy, his favorite monster is humankind, he likes the weird candy that hasn't been sold since the 50s or 60s.
Ick- He goes as a knight, he eats all the leftover candy and watches horror movies, he used to love Halloween but only likes it now, his favorite monster is his ex-not girlfriend, his favorite candy is the spicy Mexican candy he wasn't allowed to have as a child.
Frankie- Sexy nuclear weapons, she’s taking Misery out for trick or treating, she loves Halloween, her favorite monster is the horrors of nuclear apocalypse, her favorite candy is warheads.
Walter- He doesn't wear a costume but everyone thinks he is, he's going to make candy to give to children but he ends up eating it because nobody trust what he made, he barely stands the holiday until children exist then he loves it, his favorite monster is himself, his favorite candy is candied meat.
Buddy- He's going as a miner, he's going to drag Ick around to do adult Halloween stuff, he likes Halloween but is confused by everything, his favorite monster is the tickle monster, and he is candy so all candy.
Happy- He's going to be silly, Tyler already told you, he finds Halloween fun but scary, his favorite monster is the scary, and he love chocolate.
Plum- She's not dressed up but she's a magical girl, she's going to make coconut candy, she's confused, her favorite monster is an old legend she had in her culture, her favorite is coconut.
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adaricruz · 5 months
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unfortunately i couldn’t finish my halloween connor drawing for this year, i started my own tradition of making a piece of connor w tate’s skull makeup every year, & i wanted this year’s to be even more elaborate bUT i didn’t have much time ( or motivation ) .
i also had in mind to finish it for dia de muertos , but i thought it wouldn’t be rlly fitting to make a drawing of a white american for that 🧍🏻🧍🏻 ( was going to make one of miguel & connor to at least use one (1) mexican character LMFAO but again , couldn’t find the energy )
SOO take con’s corpse bride post as this years halloween post <3
AND here’s some headcanons to make up for it ! ( for my own version of connor )
- i believe connor wouldn’t enjoy halloween as much now that he’s older & he’s gone through all the consequences of his past actions . he would stay at home under a million blankets , listen to the kids laugh & ask for candy with melancholic nostalgia & try not to cry his eyes out . he misses when he used to take zoe trick or treating with silly matching costumes & make her give him all her sour candy ( in exchange , he would give her the coconut ones )
- throughout my lore , connor meets various characters that could be considered friends ( i write as connor , & the friends are usually my writing partner’s oc’s or other canon characters for crossovers ) some that he’s grown very close to & he would def go have some fun with , but he would still feel very melancholic during halloween , & prob walk around with a very sullen expression & ask to leave early bc he’s just not doing well .
- my version of zoe is very resentful towards connor , but she looks back to their halloween memories with fondness , so she would probably come home & leave some sour candy for connor to find on his door .
- connor’s costumes would consist of characters from very niche source materials or from classic films . i once dressed him up as alex delarge ( from clockwork orange , matching with tate , since i hc that it’s his fave film & novel ) frank - n - furter ( self - indulgent since it’s my fave film , but unrealistic since connor is very insecure of his body so a revealing costume wouldn’t rlly be his go to ) & this year corpse bride mostly for the ship art & character design ( wouldn’t be canon in the lore since the movie didn’t even exist in the 90’s ) he would also prob do pun halloween costumes or use the ‘ this is my costume ‘ shirt .
- in conclusion , connor thinks of halloween with excitement , but his demons are far too strong for him to be able to enjoy it now .
if you read these , thanks ! will prob finish this soon (?
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elisdodo · 5 months
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Things You Might Not Know About Halloween
Amidst the myriad oddities of Halloween, how much do you truly know about this spooktacular holiday? I wager there's something in the following tidbits that might surprise you.
1. History of Halloween: The history of Halloween can be traced back over 2,000 years to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. Samhain marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. It was a time when the boundaries between the living and the dead were believed to blur. People lit bonfires and wore costumes to ward off wandering spirits. Over time, these traditions merged with the Christian holiday of All Saints' Day (also known as All Hallows' Day), and the night before it became known as All Hallows' Eve, or Halloween.
2. Halloween vs. Day of the Dead: While Halloween and Mexico's Day of the Dead share some similarities, they are distinct celebrations. Day of the Dead, or "Día de los Muertos," is a Mexican holiday focused on honoring deceased loved ones. It is known for its colorful sugar skulls, altars, and marigold flowers. Halloween, in contrast, emphasizes costumes, candy, and spooky themes.
3. Origin of Jack-o'-Lanterns: The tradition of carving jack-o'-lanterns originates from an Irish myth about "Stingy Jack." According to the story, Jack was a deceitful man who tricked the devil. After his death, he was neither allowed into Heaven nor Hell and was left to roam the Earth with only a burning coal inside a hollowed-out turnip to light his way. When Irish immigrants brought this tale to America, they found that pumpkins, more abundant than turnips, made excellent lanterns.
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4. Unlucky Date: Some people believe that Halloween is an unlucky date, often due to its associations with the supernatural, witches, and dark magic. As a result, they may avoid scheduling significant events, like weddings or major meetings, on Halloween. This superstition varies by culture and personal beliefs.
5. Confectionery Delight: Halloween is a candy lover's dream. It's estimated that Americans spend billions of dollars on candy during the Halloween season. Stores and households are stocked with various sweet treats to give out to trick-or-treaters.
6. Halloween Costumes: Halloween costumes offer people a chance to become someone or something else for a day. From classic monsters like vampires and werewolves to beloved movie characters and superheroes, there's no shortage of imaginative outfits to choose from. People of all ages participate in this tradition, from kids to adults.
7. Global Celebration: While Halloween has its roots in Western culture, it has spread worldwide. Many English-speaking countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, observe Halloween. It's also gaining popularity in other parts of the world as a fun and spooky celebration.
8. Superstitious Beliefs: Halloween is often associated with superstitions. Many cultures believe that during this time, the boundary between the world of the living and the world of spirits is thinner, making it easier for ghosts, witches, and supernatural beings to roam the Earth. Wearing costumes and masks is thought to confuse and ward off malevolent spirits.
9. The Great Pumpkin: In 2018, a farmer in New Hampshire, USA, grew a record-breaking pumpkin that weighed 2,528 pounds. Giant pumpkins like this one are a common sight at fall festivals and contests, with participants vying to grow the largest and heaviest pumpkins.
10. Trick-or-Treating: Trick-or-treating is a cherished Halloween tradition, especially among children. Dressed in costumes, kids visit homes in their neighborhoods, ringing doorbells and saying "Trick or treat!" Homeowners typically give out candy or other treats. The "trick" part of the phrase implies that if no treat is provided, a prank or harmless mischief might befall the household.
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There are many things that you may overlook without a thorough understanding, just as you might not know much about us. To make it even more memorable, consider screening classic Halloween movies like "Hocus Pocus," "The Nightmare Before Christmas," and "Beetlejuice." Now, imagine a unique twist on Halloween celebrations with "Spooky Drive-Ins." Families can create their very own drive-in movie experience using wireless carplay adapters like CARLUEX. Park the car in the driveway, project eerie Halloween-themed movies or shows, and enjoy a night of treats and spooky entertainment right from the comfort of your vehicle.
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✨Lady✨
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The creation goddess herself…she cries out tears of pure gold dust that heals anything it touches and brings life back to ensuring that death is swift and painless…if consumed it is said to taste just like sugar candy…she can transform into a giant figure….can interact within dreams…
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A WIP on what lady would wear, she was inspired by La Muerte, who was based off of Nuestra Señora de la Santa Muerte and La Catrina (I’m biased and I made my Lady indigenous Afro-Mexican). It really fits my Lady’s role, as she’s always surrounded by marigolds and like Kyle/Proteus, has marking to symbolize her status/position as a ruler(her’s are more based off of sugar skulls and facial painting in Dia de Los Muertos, his are more Hindi based) but unlike him, she is able cover them up with magic 🪄 
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A quick sketch ✍️ I did of Lady while figuring her out, I’ll digitally doodle her soon with a certain group of ghosts (just say that she let her hair loose instead of her traditional dreadlocks) 
anywho hope this makes up for the lack of art c u all very soon peace ✌️ 
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bubbles25454323245 · 1 year
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I really don't like the trend of Pokemon basing starter designs on careers rather than animals. I reeeeaalllyyy dislike it. The whole concept of Pokemon is that they're monsters. Yeah, there have always been Pokemon based on people, but the starters, up until gen six, we're based on animals. Venusaur is a giant toad. Charizard is a dragon. Blastoise is a tortise. But then Chesnaught is an armored knight. Rillaboom is a drummer. Don't get me started on Incineroar, the most disappointing starter final evo imo by a LONG shot. Yeah, obviously they still have animalistic features, but they've stopped prioritizing the animal as the most important part of the design. And it kinda sucks. I want to train an axolotl into a big giant salamander monster. I don't want to raise a little child with a bunny ear headband into a soccer player with a bunny ear headband.
I understand wanting to incorporate aspects of human things into the designs, and I think samurott does a great job of melding the base animal with a human career. Samurott is very clearly a sea lion. He just so happens to have aspects that are based on samurai armor. And these aspects blend into his design very well! He has some shell plating that, yes, resembles the plating if a samurai suit, but the shell plating could also be a very useful adaptation in the wild. It's flexible yet durable protection which is something that a highly territorial and aggressive animal could end up evolving over time.
The gen 9 starters (and gen 8 too, to be fair, but gen 9 is more relevant rn) are a great example of basing Pokemon designs on humans rather than animals. They all seem to be based primarily on circus performers with slight Iberian, Mexican, and Brazilian cultural and animal influences.
Sprigatito, to everyone's dismay, immediately stands up when it evolves. It's final evo is a magician or jester or smtn.
Fuecoco, while he does end up looking more crocodilian than human, does kinda stand up when it attacks from what I've seen, has clown makeup, clown hair, and a clown nose. It could be argued that he's moreso based on Mexican Dia de Los Muertos skull candy designs, and there seem to be some nods to that, but in my opinion it's not similar enough of a design for that to translate very well. Skull candy designs are more finely detailed and intricate than the blocky bright color splotches on Skeleridge's face. Y'know who do have white base paint with big color splotches? Clowns. Not to mention the big orange firey clown nose and unkempt, silly clown hair. The only thing about it that makes me think of Mexican influence is the fact that it's name is SKELEridge and that it's a ghost type.
Quaxly's evo looks like one of those performers that ride the horses around mixed with a somewhat subdued Brazilian carnival dancer costume.
Idk I'm just tired of raising my cute little animal into someone who should be helping me pay rent, y'know? I want my monsters back.
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deadlydominik · 1 year
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It had been hard to be without Demi when she was in Australia visiting her family but it had opened Dominiks eyes to something. The two were spending a lot of time together but he hated when one of them had to leave, usually him since they spent more time at her place. She had a fur family and he didn’t so that made more sense than to uproot them for her to come to his apartment. Truth was he only got the apartment to be closer to her instead of flying back to California every week. His father hated that he was uprooting his life for a woman that in his father's words, “You barely know her, Dom. Your family is here, your life is here.” Being in Florida, he felt free and able to do what he wanted with who he wanted and that was spending time with Demi. 
He had given her roses on his arrival along with two pink and red wrapped boxes and of course a box of chocolate candy. Dom looked up at her after finishing their Valentine's dinner they had ordered in. “You should open your presents.” Inside one was a black leather jacket and the other a skull from that oddities store she liked to visit and buy things from. He loved that she embraced that spooky side since he was as much a fan of Halloween as she was and he also celebrated Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday. “I have a question and if it’s crazy or you hate it then it’s okay.”
@brutalitybennett
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kaileeandag · 2 years
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Rose’s Collection!
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Meet Outfit (Mexico soccer team shirt, black jeans, and black Heelys shoes with white socks) Meet Accessories (’R’ Limited Too initial handbag with Sailor Moon wallet containing a pretend $25 Limited Too gift card, Salon Surprise Teresa doll, July 2001 People en Español magazine, Selena Dreaming of You CD, and pretend Bubu Lubu Mexican candy bar) (the CD plays 30 second samples of these songs: Dreaming of You, I Could Fall in Love, and El Toro Relajo)
School Collection: -Rose’s Backpack and Supplies (Sailor Moon backpack with these supplies: three Pokemon pencils, 4th grade Math book, black FiveStar brand notebook, all items come in a Hello Kitty pencil case) -Rose’s Lunch Box (Sailor Moon lunchbox containing these pretend food items: peanut butter sandwich with strawberry jelly, HandiSnaks cheese and crackers, pouch of grape Kool-Aid Jammers, granny smith apple, and Scooby Doo fruit snack)
Holiday Collection: -Rose’s Day of the Dead Set (comes with a black and red traditional dress with a large black feathered hat, sugar skull mask, and a piece of pretend Pan de Muerto bread) -Rose’s GameCube and games (games are case only and the console is purple, comes with screenshots from these games: Pikmin, The Simpsons Road Rage, and Luigi’s Mansion) -Rose’s Pajamas (Winnie the Pooh shirt and pajama pants) -Rose’s New Barbie (is a Princess of the Incas doll, kept in the box) -Rose’s “Back to School 2002″ outfits (comes with these clothes: Limited Too black polka dot skim dress and black leggings, Limited Too cropped black hoodie, Limited Too blue jeans with flower decal, Limited Too navy daisy crop top cami, and blue Limited Too daisy shirt)
Birthday Collection: -Rose’s Birthday Cake (pretend gold cake with chocolate frosting and Sailor Moon decal, a ‘10′ candle and Feliz cumpleaños, Rose! written in green icing) -Rose’s Birthday Party Set (comes with a rectangular table and Barbie tablecloth cover, three plates, three Barbie cups, and pretend jug of water) -Chair Flair Teresa doll
Summer Collection: -Hot Pink and White polka dot tankini with Hamtaro towel -Resident Evil 2002 Gamecube game (case only, comes with screenshots from the game) -Super Mario Sunshine Gamecube game (case only, comes with screenshots from the game)
Winter Collection: -red jacket with pink hat and mittens -black snow boots -Rose’s Sled (sled is green) -Metroid Prime Gamecube game (case only, comes with screenshots from the game) -Hamtaro: Ham Hams Unite Gameboy game (cartridge is non-functioning, comes with screenshots from the game)
Bedroom Collection: -Rose’s Bed and Bedding (full bed with Rugrats bedding) -Rose’s Josefina Montoya doll -Rose’s TV and Entertainment Center (Gamecube from her Holiday collection can attach to the TV, DVD player does not function. Comes with screenshots from these shows: Pokemon, Ed Edd n Eddy, Spongebob Squarepants, Dexter’s Laboratory, Powerpuff Girls, and Scooby Doo Where Are You?) -Rose’s Sailor Moon doll (made by Irwin toys) -Rose’s Sailor Pluto doll (made by Irwin toys) -Rose’s Abelardo Montoya plush (Abelardo is Mexico’s equivalent of Big Bird, got this as a little girl from when her aunt Inez went to Mexico City) -Rose’s Limited Too Nail Dryer (color is blue) -Rose’s GameBoy and GameBoy games (clear non-functioning Gameboy Color with a Pokemon Yellow game in the slot. Comes with screenshots from these games: Pokemon Red, Pokemon Yellow, Pokemon Gold, Pokemon Crystal, and Pocket Monsters Midori) (got the Pokemon Green game from her aunt Inez when she went to Tokyo for an interview in 1996. Her sister Bridget has a copy of the Japanese Pokemon Red game)
Extra Accessories: -Rose’s Hair Dryer (sparkly blue hair dryer from Limited Too) -Sparkly Blue Limited Too GirlCare Caboodle
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dazfashionz · 1 month
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Mexico 🇲🇽
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Traditions
If there’s one thing, Mexican is known, for, it’s the celebrations such as Dia de los Muertos, and Quinceaneras. Values such as family and friendship are deeply embedded in this country is culture.
Piñatas
A popular Mexican tradition is the piñata. It is commonly used as a fun game at birthday parties, but its origins are very symbolic.
The Piñatas Bright colours were designed as a symbol of temptation, the stick representing the will to overcome sin.
The blindfold, symbolises faith, while the candies and the other goodies are added, symbols of the riches of heaven, tumbling down on the heads of those who defeated the evil.
Nicknames
In Mexico people often give each other nicknames, all of which match the playful and endearing nature of the culture.Some of these include chaparrito, meaning “short one”or mi cielo, “my sky”.
In more rural area of Mexico, nicknames are so big that you’re likely to have better luck, asking for a person by nickname then by the persons real name.
Mexican hat dance
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The Mexican have dance is Mexico’s national dance, began as a courtship dance and dates back to the 18th and 19th century.
The outfits of the dancers are beautifully decorated and represent traditional garb worn by Mexican men and women.
The dance itself is intended to be lively, which is why the music is typically played by mariachi bands or bands that use only string instruments.
Los muertos
Day of the dead, Día de Muertos is one of the most important celebrations in Mexico. they saw death as an integral,ever-present part of life, and believed mourning the dead would be disrespectful.
They use different decorations that all have a meaningful significance to the day of the dead.these are, colourful skulls, marigolds petals, confetti and many more to make a pop of colour.
They use face paint during dances to respect the dead.Make up is done creatively like skulls.
History
Day of the dead originate, several thousands of years ago, with the Aztec, Toltec and other Nahua people, who considered mourning the dead was disrespectful. Death was a natural phase in life’s long continuum. The dead were still members of the community, they were kept alive in memory and spirit during the Los Muertos ceremony. Meaning (temporarily back to Earth).
Day of the dead flowers- Marigolds
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These flowers are used mainly for the los muertos ceremony to decorate and show respect for the dead.
The use of flowers during Dia de Muertos carries deep culture and spiritual significance. Similar to flowers, our time on earth is limited, and therefore on the day of the dead l,flowers symbolise the ephemeral nature of life, connecting to living with the souls of the departed.
Their bright orange petals and fragrant scent are believed to guide the souls of the departed back to the world of the living.
Marigolds, with their vibrant colours is a symbolic of the sun, are commonly used to create a path from the front door to the ofrenda for the spirits.
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There are many different marigolds with different shades of colours and shapes suck as these.
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Traditional clothing
Traditional Mexican clothing has a rich and vast history. While many historical styles are going out of fashion, you can still see the tradition Mexican dress around certain holidays and on special occasions.
Women’s traditional style
The culture of Mexico is vast, much like the clothing which does not lack for originality and colour. With a beautiful blend of Spanish and native elements. These designs are bold, colourful and unique.
Huipil
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This is a colourful piece of clothing for a women to wear as it consists a blouse called huipil which is a simple square of fabric with a hole in the centre. It is embroidered around the neck and folded in half and has stitches at the sides. The embroidery tends to be very elaborate and meaningful. this design represents the cosmos,gods and their helpers.
Blouse
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This is a modern version of the huipil,the blouse is a decorative shirt with short sleeves. Traditionally made with white , hand-woven cloth. The neckline is edged in braid or embroidery with colourful designs.
Mexican mens clothing
Traditional outfit for men are less elaborate than a women’s outfit. Most men traditionally wore shirts, pants and boots of one colour. However, there were few distinct traditional elements that men wore.
Sombrero
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These are traditional hats Mexican men wore for events and carnivals such as Los Muertos ceremony.Mainly that are musicians and play in bands would wear this. These are made out of straw to keep the sun from their faces.
Sarape
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A cross between a poncho and a blanket, the sarape was used to keep warm in the winter. Typically made out of wool or fleece, everyday wear comes in muted tones of greys and browns for shepherds. However for festivals, they use bright colours with multicoloured patterns such as red, yellow, purple blue and so many more.
Mexican folklore Dresses
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Bold and beautiful is the aim of this dress when it comes to Puebla or Mexican folklore dress, which is made for folk dancing. This is far more colourful than a traditional wear clothing. The blouse could be a different bright colour such as pink or red with contrasting colour details. The skirt is long,flared and had different patterns on this filled with embroidery and ruffles.
Charro Suit
These are worn by conquerors of Horsemen, the history of the Charro suit is as vast as the suit itself. This suit consists of a jacket,shirt, tie, pants and belt. The fabric of the suit might be made of wool or cotton and can come in vibrant blues , purples, yellows or muted black and browns. The jacket and trousers typically are decorated with elaborate embroidery and embellishments. The buckle of the belt is also elaborately designed.
Vallarta’s Blog. (2022). Top 5 Mexican Traditions You Have to Experience! [online] Available at: https://www.hotelmousai.com/blog/destination/top-5-mexican-traditions-you-have-to-experience/.
Wikipedia. (2022). Mexican marigold. [online] Available at: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_marigold [Accessed 25 Mar. 2024].
en.m.wikipedia.org. (n.d.). Day of the Dead - Wikipedia. [online] Available at: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead
Victoria and Albert Museum. (2018). V&A · Traditional Mexican dress. [online] Available at: https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/traditional-mexican-dress.

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