ladies don't start fights

Iris knew, she knew she had too many references, too many photos she’d left to sit on her phone immediately after she’d taken them, scribbled notes of scenes in whatever she’d been watching that had stood out to her only to never be followed up on - but she also knew that if she needed to learn how to light every possible scene, then she needed to practice every possible scene, and to practice every possible scene, she needed a record of every possible scene. It wasn’t as if she had her phone’s camera on constantly, but it was good to know that she had it near, just in case there was a moment that had some colour, some reflection she needed to capture she couldn’t usually - and this was one of those moments.

“Hang on a second, stand still! Sorry, sorrysorrysorry, just - would you mind if I took a photo? It’s just for reference, for the colours and all that, I promise I’m not one of those guys in those movies and shows who take photos and hang them up and is just a real creep about the whole thing, and you don’t have to say yes but I promise it’ll be deleted as soon as I can get the lights down, and just - don’t move - would it be okay?” The words were tumbling out of her at a hundred miles a minute as she rushed to explain, grabbing her phone from her pocket. Sure, she could remember it just fine if she wanted - but it was always good to have something to double check with, wasn’t it?

@sunnysidestarters​ 

After finishing her drink, she’d paused to touch up her lipstick that the straw wore off a little when she heard someone speak. Or rambling seemed a better way of describing how the other was currently communicating. “Um... I wasn’t even thinking about creeps taking pictures until you brought that up.” She replied a little cautiously. Yes, she knew logically that it happened, but having it as a conscious thought did not fit with her need to see things through rose-tinted glasses. “You can take a picture though, I don’t mind. Call me biased, but I look especially good today, since it’s the first week of breaking out my winter clothes. Well... At the least the clothes that match a winter aesthetic because... what is winter around here?”

open event starter @sunnysidestarters​

Blowing out a huge breath of air, Tinsley puffed, “Phew, it is so much warmer here underground than I could’ve imagined.” Granted, her decorated stingray costume wasn’t made of the lightest fabrics either but something about Oogie’s place made her shiver in a feverish way. Fanning herself as best as she could, she raised her glass and said to the person next to her, “I swear if I was able to reach behind me and pour this down my back, I literally would.” The small blonde forgot to laugh with that so it may have not been all too clear to everyone that she was merely joking.

Letting out a soft chuckle, she had to admit she was impressed with Tinsley’s costume. It probably shouldn’t have been a surprise that the other would think a little more out of the box, but the whole thing was genius. It may not have been Marie’s aesthetic, but she could still appreciate genius costumes. “You look amazing though, very clever costume, which means feeling like an oven is totally worthwhile. Looking good isn’t always comfortable, right?” She joked, though those were words she lived by. Half of wardrobe was incredibly uncomfortable - but it looked amazing, which was what was important to her. “If you don’t mind me asking, how did you come up with it?” 

“you don’t think it’s actually haunted, do you?” she loved halloween, at least she thought she did but there were rumors her building was haunted and she wasn’t sure if she believed it. old water heaters and rusted pipes could sound just like ghosts and ghouls after all.

“Ghosts aren’t real, so I’d put my money on no.” A statement she wasn’t entirely certain that she agreed with, but it was what she wanted to believe. She didn’t need to panic more over an unexplained noise, so she decided ignorance was bliss. “Do you think it’s haunted?” 

— Most of the guys at SFD blatantly wagered that Phillip wouldn’t be able to pull off the look. There’s the hair, the outfit, the makeup, and where the hell will he get the space gun? The solution: careful planning and YouTube how-to videos. And now here he is, making his way inside Oogie’s infamous underground casino. There was a bit of cat-calling, and he looked over to throw a pointed look. Either his costume was effectively fooling that people (a cat-costumed group at that), or manners are lacking. “Oh, sorry,” he apologized as he bumped into a Green Power Ranger on his way to the bar.

“Oogie’s being generous this year, isn’t he?” Phillip says, turning to look at the person next to him and smiling. “Do you think these are cocktails or mocktails?” He wondered, gazing at the array of drinks on the table in front of him, glasses in all kinds of shapes and colors.

@sunnysidestarters​  ( ooc; for context, phillip’s costume is princess leia)

Fixing the hairband sitting atop her head, she snapped it round to look at who had spoken - momentarily taken aback by the costume before moving on. “If I was a betting gal, I’d say cocktails. Mocktails doesn’t exactly scream Oogie.” She mused, though it didn’t make much difference in her world - she’d gladly skip alcohol as long as the drinks looked good. “I have to ask... Why not go for the gold bikini? I’ve never actually watched the movies, but it seems more iconic.” 

            dismayed, eve crosses her arms. this time of year is always beautiful in sunnyside, but the absence of winnie seems to have put a damper on the entire town. every roof’s colors seem a little bit duller, and she isn’t sure if even some nicely placed hydrangeas could fix it. she turns to the person beside her, flashing sympathetic eyes.

“  isn’t it sad ?  the town, i mean… look how colorless and dull everything seems. ”

[ @sunnysidestarters​ ]

“You could look at it as sad...” And many did, as would she if she didn’t like to pretend everything was constantly picture perfect - therefore leading her to ignore everything that contradicted it. “Or, you could say hey this town needs some more colourness around, and try to bring it back. Then maybe it’d catch on and everyone else would follow suit.” 

ₒ°❂ — WALKING around oogie boogie’s halloween party, fred was fully in his element. halloween was probably his favorite holiday, simply because it was a day where no one, him included, was considered a nerd or a weirdo. it was a day where he didn’t have to be scared to show his own creativity. this year was the first year he designed his own costume from head to toe. he wasn’t dressed as spider-man or captain fancy like the previous years, but he came in his very own fredzilla costume, the superhero persona he had invented for himself. so far, he had been mingling with the crowd, getting quite some positive reactions. he had no idea who 95% of the people he had talked to were, but he didn’t mind at all. since his costume didn’t show his face, he planned to stay anonymous too. just to pretend and keep the mystery alive.

“ oh no, i can’t possibly tell you who i am underneath this suit. i need to keep my true identity a secret, you know, in case there’s someone out there who has it out for me. besides, peter parker doesn’t just casually reveal to the world he’s spider-man either. it’s too risky, ” fred told the person he was talking, with a deep and mysterious voice, trying to keep up his act.

〖 costume: x x 〗

In all honesty, Marie hadn’t been too focused on trying to work out who was behind what costume - that was until someone said they wouldn’t tell her, then it became need to know information. Leaving things well enough alone, wasn’t exactly her forte. “What about Iron Man doesn’t most people know who he is?” Not that she’d really focused on the movies, but she was certain that had been a scene - she appreciated dramatic flair after all. “Besides, what’s the fun of coming up with a costume, if you don’t want to show it off and get the credit for it?”

                     “ IT’S ALMOST HALLOWEEN and suddenly all of the creeps come crawling out. “, audrey said as she rolled her eyes, arms crossing in front of her chest. “ i mean, the other day i fixed up this guy’s car and as i gave him back his keys, he asked me ‘ since it’s halloween, how about the two of us get freaky tonight ‘. “, she continued, “ the only freaky he got was a freaky black eye. “.

Face contorting into a strange mix of disgust and sympathy, she let out a small huff. Pick-up lines could be cute if the person tried hard enough, but lines like that should be banned. Unless someone knew it was awful and was using it ironically, even then they were skating on thin ice. “I have a saying - ladies don’t start fights, but they can finish them. I think disgusting pick-up lines should one hundred percent count as starting a fight, so you have been entirely in the right if you did reward his efforts with a black eye.” Decorum was important, and one had to put their best image forward - there were simply times where someone didn’t deserve politeness. “I think some of them forget that even if they’re dressed up as someone else, they still have to deal with the consequences of their actions. On a brighter side - do you have a cute costume picked out?” 

Lock looked more relieved than anything else at her protest, as if her saying anything else would have been a crime punishable by death - which, in his eyes, it was. If there was one type of person he hated more on Halloween than the ones that didn’t give anything, it was the ones who only bought one 20-piece bag of chocolates and called it a day - they deserved whatever punishments the kids they had to turn away (including himself, years ago) dealt upon them, no matter what onlookers might yell. It wasn’t trick or treat for no reason. “Thank fuck, okay-“ for a moment, he seemed as if he’d be willing to let her just go back about her day (a rarity for someone like him) but then, she mentioned something that suddenly caught him off guard, “What do you mean you don’t hand them out?”

At the profanity, Marie had to fight to keep the disapproval from her face. She may not have approved of foul language, but sadly she seemed to be in the minority there. About to turn on her heel, she paused at the question promptly giving a shrug. “If it’s on actual Halloween, I’m normally at some party - so that means I’m not there to hand it out. If we’re talking about a Halloween party I happen to be throwing, it’s normally the weekend before Halloween, and a good hostess can’t keep excusing herself to hand out candy. In that case, I normally ask someone from the local theatre group if they want to hand it out - they of course get paid for it. That way they can come up with something creative, and the kids get candy with a little bit of flair. Seems like the best solution for everyone.” 

“Do I hear ‘Monster Mash’ playing?”, Tiana wondered out loud as she walked towards the Old Mill. “Or is my brain so fried after listening a Halloween playlist tha I’m listening things. You hear it too, right?”

“I don’t know, I tend to tune that song out for as long as I can.” She admitted, face scrunching in distaste at the thought of it. “It’s a cute song for Halloween, but I don’t need to hear it all October long, you know?”

“Did you know they used to carve faces on turnips?”. Belle was changing the bookstore display, the theme was the evolution of the Jack O’ Lantern, so there was a beet, a turnip and a pumpkin, all carved and illuminated with fake candles. “They’re meant to ward off unwanted visitors”.

Upon entering the shop to get  book she needed for class, that was the last thing she expected to hear. Hoping she quickly recovered the initial shock, she hummed in thought. “I guess it makes sense.. I don’t think I’d want to go near somewhere that had turnips sitting about, let alone carved ones. It’d be a pretty effective way of keeping away visitors, maybe also some wanted ones.” 

“c’mon, marie,” he pleaded, drawing out the last syllable of her name. “i can’t remeber how many times you puked on me when you were tiny, you owe me this one. besides, my hair is nice and soft, i used your shampoo,” he said, grinning mischeviously. “is there such a thing as pumpkin shampoo? i don’t think so.” he really hoped there wasn’t- pumpkin pie smelled good, and so did pumpkin spice lattes, but that was mostly becuase of the suger. “hey, i like orange. and how dare you disrespect rafael.” 

As ‘puked’ was mentioned, her face instantly contorted in distaste. There were certain things people should never speak of - and that was certainly one of them. Reaching for her notebook, she took out a piece of paper, promptly crushing it into a ball before throwing it his way. “Decorum Toulouse, I know mother taught you about it.” The words came out in her usual haughty tone that seemed to slip out, whenever she thought someone was bringing up unsavoury topics. “I know you didn’t use my shampoo, I doubt you’re that brave.” Dropping her voice to sound threatening despite it being a non-issue. “You get pumpkin everything, you really think they wouldn’t have shampoo? Though pumpkin does contain potassium and zinc which are both good for your hair, so that at least makes sense.” Not that he’d asked, but... Well she’d never shied away from a chance to educate people on the beauty world. “Rafael doesn’t count, the inherit cuteness of cats overpowers everything else. It’s not my fault that orange doesn’t come in a pretty pastel shade - and everyone knows knowing can beat a good pastel - have I taught you nothing?” 

He actually had to stop and think about the question posed by the girl. Nobody had ever really asked his opinion – they pretended to, but they only wanted to hear it so long as it was agreeing with them. “I always liked hellebores, and they’re nowhere near as difficult to care for as poinsettias. I’ve never seen a flower more picky than a poinsettia. Did you now that to even get it to bloom it needs a strict light and dark regimen?”

“Ooo, they are pretty. I do so appreciate flowers that come in different colours, there’s something about them that makes them seem nicer.” Not that he needed input considering he had to know what flowers looked nice and what flowers were best depending on the time of year - but she’d always loved hearing people agree with her, and it never registered that other’s wouldn’t. “I’ve heard that they’re hard to care for, but I can’t say I know considering I don’t have first hand experience. I know how to put together a nice bouquet of flowers based on aesthetics, but i was not blessed with a green thumb - so I normally ask someone else to look after plants. They shouldn’t have to suffer because I’m not the best at something.” 

Elsa gave a small, stiff nod. Focus was definitely what she needed… too bad it wasn’t what was actually happening and her book was the last thing she wanted to look at. “I’m taking business courses at the university, and it isn’t that I’m not understanding the material, it’s just that’s there’s so much of it that I’m finding it hard to focus.” She scrunched her nose a bit. “It’s just all so overwhelming.”

“I get it.” She replied softly with a nod. As much as she hated admitting that she wasn’t always naturally talented at what she wanted to do, admitting the truth on that occasion, seemed a lot nicer than pretending she’d never been overwhelmed. “Maybe if you take a breather, it’d be easier to focus when you go back to it. It’s like that saying ‘there is virtue in work, and there is virtue in rest, use both and overlook neither’. It sounds dumb, but I can’t say the amount of times taking a minute to get my mind of the work in front of me, actually helped when I went back to it. Business sounds like an interesting degree though, I can imagine a lot of work but - I also imagine it being worth it in the end.” 

“Oh believe me, I’ve got legs for days, I want to accentuate ‘em with a pair of heels!” She giggled, holding the cup out to Marie before she realized she hadn’t asked her to sit with her. “I don’t mind at all–how are ya going to know if ya like if ya don’t try it? And please, join me! I always like to have a little company when ‘m out an about in town!”

‘I knew you had good taste! Legs should definitely be accentuated, if you have long legs may as well show them off.” By ‘good taste’ what she truly meant was taste Marie happened to approve of, which was synonymous with good in her mind. While she didn’t have the longest legs, she had other parts she liked to show off, and would always cheer others on in whatever they happened to want to flaunt. “You are too kind.” She gushed, taking the cup. “See! I’m the same, but people seem to tire far too easily when they’re out and about. Whereas I like to make a day of it. And since it’s almost the holiday season, there’s even more reason to spend time around time. It’s only fair you search everywhere to find the best presents - and the best outfits to wear. Everyone deserves the best of the best, don’t they?” She asked, taking a small sip of the drink as she finished. “Oh that is so good! Just sweet enough, without being overpowering. And... Cliche as it may be, it gets points for being pretty.” 

@sunnysidestarters​

“weird question, but-” toulouse paused and bowed his head forward, “does my hair smell like pumpkin?” he took a step forward for good measure and shook his head so his curls moved around. “i had the kids carve pumpkins all day today and i showered but somehow i feel like i still smell like goddamn pumpkins.”

“I can’t believe this is a sentence I need to say out loud... But I’m not smelling your hair.” She scoffed. “Besides, it’s close to Halloween, lots of things are pumpkin scent, if anyone questions you - say you used one of those products. Next time pick a non-pumpkin related activity. Because nothing good comes in orange.” 

The one thing Vinny disliked about the nearing end of the year was the amount of poinsettias. They weren’t even that great of a flower in his opinion, but every year without fail, everyone wanted poinsettias for their holiday celebrations. He grumbled as he unloaded the last of the season’s first truck load, knowing the rest of his year would be filled with the things. “I can’t believe this. It ain’t even Thanksgiving and we’re already gettin’ these things in. Can we have one holiday before moving onto the next?” He nodded at the next person walking by, pointing at them. “You know what I’m saying, right?” / @sunnysidestarters​

“Some people like to be prepared?” She mused, attention more on the dahlias in front of her than on the other. She had to admit it was a tad early to start purchasing Christmas flowers, but she also happened to be one of the people who planned how to decorate their house far too early. Sue her, winter meant getting to cover things in glitter and that she was a fan of. “Okay, if you want a change from  poinsettias what flowers would you recommend for this time of the year?”