@daphartwood - Tumblr Blog

Outside the visible tattoos on his arms already— all not very big, and the couple that littered his body hidden mostly by clothing — this one, option two was going to be the largest. "You giggled? You're a freak." He joked, lulling into a nudge all the same. Not two weeks ago he'd rounded a night out again here too, the Jets logo around his ankle an indication of intoxication supreme and a pool lost. Not the worst, but damn it if it didn't hurt. "I didn't hate getting the one I got here —" he started, raising an arm to point to the shirt covered spot along his ribcage. "Kinda a good burn. Told it was one of the worst spots pain wise but as I found out don't agree. But this guys a biggie, might take you up on that." He'd already had too much in his system it seems when the artist, Joe, was wiping the blood away left and right, shaking his head with a knowing not again tell in his eyes. Just one of those nights— CJ turned to watch Daphne like a pro seemingly barely winse. He answered her, "Solid. Like gold, don't feel a thing. Nope, not like it's burning to the bone, nah, just you know, rippin' through my veins. Stir Frying the hell out of my arm." He said with a forced chuckle and a wince, a wince of many winces to come. Through gritted teeth and a gum show of a smile, pointing with the free hand, "You're mad. I know that's gotta kill."

Daphne snorts in amusement, smirking proudly at CJ’s comment, “Thank you, thank you very much. I do my absolute best to remain far from the norms of society.” That and she was almost positive her giggles were just some reaction to the needle poking her skin for what felt like an eternity at some points. Just glancing at his tattoos, she wondered how often he visited the shop. Maybe they could come back again very soon and he could hold her hand while she got her detailed butterfly tattoo. Her gaze travels to his raised arm then follows his finger to the spot he was pointing to, his covered ribcage, “I gotta admit, you’re braver than I am. I’ve heard the stories of how painful rib cage tattoos can be and it’s made me hesitant to try it out.” Daphne chuckled, “Now isn’t that just some form of irony or something? Spooky Queen scared of ribcage tattoos.”

The buzzing of the guns, followed by the constantly stabbing of the needle, was a sign that things were going according to plan. Unbeknownst to CJ, Daphne was actually in a bit of pain at the moment and trying to ignore it by distracting herself with him. He described it perfectly, burning to the bone. "Ah, lovely. Stir frying your arm and burning your bones. I'm so happy we decided to willingly come in here and do this to ourselves." Her tone was teasing, followed by a playful smirk. But she can't help the giggle when he points to her, "What are you talking about? I feel great. It feels like barb wire scraping against my bones, again and again. It's fantastic." Once more she was kidding, this time she adds, "I'm joking. It actually does kind of hurt. The outcome is going to be so worth it, though." At that, her tattoo artist wipes a bit of blood and ink off before continuing.

After a couple of more buzzes, needle pricks, some head shaking from both of their tattoo artist, it was over. She starts to get up from her chair, smiling brightly at her piece, allowing the artist to clean and bandage up the area. "You ready for that pizza and movie-thon? I hope you like wine because that's all I've currently got at my house alcohol wise."

He caught her pinky promise enthusiastically before she could put it away, that laughter stalled when an oomph from behind calmly plowed through, no fucking way, was all he could think of. His expression clear to that when his gaze followed the zombie Freddy Krueger. "You're kidding me right?! That's fucking weird." He mused, breaking into a perplexed fit of laughter too. That dust settling, and just like that they had new plans— relieved at that because he wanted to keep hanging out with her and also had been getting an itch as well for a new tattoo, two birds. "Oh, oh I don't like dogs. Can't do it. Nevermind." He said sternly until he wasn't, breaking into a smile. "Hell yeah, pizza or it's Chewy. No one wants that." ~~~~~ the black lotus~~~~~~

The time was ticking and almost their turn, girls he maybe recognized comforting each other over the heavy rock music that played overhead. A couple arguing out front about the cost of their names in fancy font, the place was bustling truly. CJ skimmed through one of the design books, Daphne the expert obviously, he leaned in, flipping where he had three fingers bookmarked, "alright. you tell me, we got this. He got men, eough said. This. It's me. Totally, deep in my bones. Or, that one." He shrugged, "In case I eat Chewy."

She was sure that he could see her heart shattering when he mentioned not liking dogs at first, still she playfully nudged him when he breaks into a smile. Of course, now she had to make it a point to pull a prank of the same nature later on now. "We'll have to make sure we get one of those big chocolate chip cookies on the side too, just to make sure your temptation doesn't become too much. I've got some ice cream we can scoop on top too. Whatever it takes to keep my Chewy safe," she says, nodding. That and perhaps she wanted an oversized chocolate chip cookie with ice cream on top, sharing it with CJ was just an added bonus.

Daphne's gaze had wandered over to the couple arguing over the cost of getting their names in fancy font and she wanted to tell them that perhaps it was a sign that it wasn't the best idea to do that. She looks back to CJ for a second, then glances down to the designs he had picked as potentials. Each one was a great option and his reasoning behind them were also pretty good. Though she once more playfully nudges him when he mentions eating Chewy, "I'm starting to change my mind about this Twilight-athon." She says in a stern voice, before breaking into a smile. Small bit of payback for the earlier prank, "Gotcha." Her gaze drops back down to the book, turning to the second one he had chosen, "I think they are all great choices, with pretty solid reasons behind them, but this one here is my favorite. However, I fully support whichever one you pick."

Before she knew it, the time had come for them to take their seats in the back rooms. As they were walking, Daph turns to CJ, she leans in a bit, "Let me know if you feel like you need a hand to squeeze or anything. I promise I'm not trying to be funny, but you know...everyone reacts differently to tattoos. I giggled during my first one," she chuckled, "needless to say, the artist was both confused and relieved." Now in the room, they were each escorted to one of the two chairs. She showed her picture to the artist sitting next to her, made polite conversation a bit, then lowered her shirt a little, nothing scandalous, but so they could have access to the right spot. The buzzing of the guns fills the room now. Daphne turns to look at the other, "How is it going over there?"

#daphne.#(just wanted to do a little spooky vibes thing :D )

It's Spooky Season 🎃

benji-parsons-deactivated202502

He blinked up at her and flipped his book around and slid it over to show her. The page was covered in sharpied black birds in various bird poses. They were stylized, of course, but detailed enough to get the point across. “Um. Crows. Or maybe ravens? I’m not sure. There really isn’t much, um, anatomical accuracy to them so it’s hard to say. Maybe it’s both and some are just closer to the viewer. Like the forced perspective in Lord of the Rings or something. I dunno. Earlier, it was rabbits." He flipped back a few pages to show the rabbits, more detailed and haunted-looking than the nebulous black birds. "I’ve been on a real rabbit kick lately, I dunno why. Maybe the universe is telling me to watch Watership Down again. Or my brain is.” Then the thought that his brain and the universe were both the same thing and the idea of that made him pause, looking rather bewildered.

“Uh.” His gaze fell on ‘Thriller’ and the bewildered expression turned into a bit of a grin. “Thriller? That’s a um, that's a good one. Halloween party or just a need for pop zombies and Vincent Price monologues? Either’s cool.”

She looks down to the page covered in all the birds, tilting her head a little to the side as she looked at every single bird. "Maybe both? Either way, they are not too shabby. Mine usually end up looking like checkmarks or potatoes with wings." Her gaze is attentively focused on the sketchbook, more than happy to see whatever he's comfortable showing her. Her eyebrows lift a little at the sight of the rabbit, a small smile now tugs at the corner of her lips, "I liked your birds, but I love your rabbits." One hand reaches out to gently trace the outlines of one of the drawn rabbits before guiding her finger to one of the rabbits more towards the center of the page, "This one here reminds me of Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog. It's tough to say, either Holy Grail or Watership Down."

She lifts the album in her hand, looking at the cover, grinning, "I'm afraid there's no party happening tonight, at least not any official one. But I'm always in need of pop zombies and Vincent Price monologues. What's that he says? No mere mortal can resist. Ohh. Would you happen to know if you guys have Alfred Hitchcock on vinyl?"

#chats: daphne& benji

"A dead world." He answered her, wide grin on his face, even though it was clearly rhetorical. Somehow their fictitious Disney nightmare realm became at least a bit metaphorically speaking very real. He almost felt bad for being the bad guy in their zombie world. Reminded of the tik toks he'd get sent by his sisters. Always choose the bear right? "That's a lot of confidence. Never's bold. I think I'll hold you to it..." he said, adjusting the position of the chomped up surfboard. "Yeah hey, fuck Freddy." He said loudly, almost a chant before going suspect quiet again, "...watch him turn that corner—" nodding in the direction of the crowd of zombie folk bar hopping, making a face when instead there was a Jason zombie in place mixed in, mask up to chug down a can of beer. "Alright close enough. Guess Jason won huh? Might've been onto something there, should've stayed awake." He said through a surprised laugh. CJ leaned over, cupping the phone in his hands to see the picture of the bat tattoos. "I think they're fucking sexy. Sexy spooky." He said through a light laugh, rolling up his wet suit to expose a blank canvas of skin, "I was actually gonna see if you wanted to hit up Black Lotus right now —you get yours, finally, I'll get something. I'm good on my zombie-watching for the year. Maybe take you up on that Twilight-athon...what'd you think?"

"You got me there." she replies, matching his wide grin, happily accepting defeat. Although, in truth, Daphne did not think he'd actually turn on her. Even if they were stuck on the ride as zombies. She thought about telling him that but instead left it in the back of her head. All she could hope for is that he didn't actually think she could picture him as a villain in any realm, apocalyptic or not.

"You want to lock it in with a pinky promise? Cause..." she lifted her pink up, jokingly wiggling it. "And yeah, fuck him!" Her gaze travels to the corner he nodded towards, but Daphne ends up snorting when she spots the Jason zombie instead. "Technically, if you ask me, I'd say so." Just then someone from behind them clears their throat, quickly passing them up, it ends up being a Freddy zombie. Daphne watches the person power walk away for a moment, before turning to look at CJ, and suddenly she bursts into a small fit of laughter, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

For some reason, at the invitation of going to Black Lotus, Daphne found herself biting the inside of her cheek so as to stop herself from smiling a little too much. She clears her throat, casually replying, "I think that sounds like the perfect ending to a zombie filled day." Then her dog pops into her mind. "Fair warning, if you're coming over my place for the Twilight-athon, Chewy is going to bombard you for pets. He's such a spoiled little dog." Daph shook her head but smiled regardless. "Perhaps we should snag some take out or pizza before heading to settle in for the movie." She teasingly adds, "I gotta make sure we keep your brain cravings at bay."

MINI TIME SKIP TO BLACK LOTUS

The Black Lotus Halloween special had really taken off, keeping the shop a little busier than usual. "Okay, so we've got a couple of minutes before we are up." Luckily, it was just one person ahead of them. "Do you have an idea of what you'd like?"

nancysandoval

Already a pitcher deep, Nancy lounged back in one of the uncomfortably stiff, plastic seats that lined each lane, one leg crossed over the other with her foot bobbing rapidly -- the clownish, two-toned bowling shoes were doing nothing for her Catwoman costume. She'd been shooting for Michelle Pfeiffer, but landed in the realm of streetwalker wearing a latex bodysuit. She laughed at Daphne's forewarning, shrugging a shoulder while moving to stand. "Lemme show you how a pro fails," she teased with a grin. When selecting a bowling ball, Nancy neither tested the weight nor inserted her fingers in the appropriate holes, instead cradling it to her belly to save her nails. And then, positioned at the end of their lane, she really granny'd it; legs bowed out, arms swinging low, and letting it rip towards the pins… where it surprisingly made contact. "Oh!" She stared in surprise as the fallen pins were cleared away, only two left standing. "Huh." Nancy twisted on her heel, walking back to the ball return. She wiggled her fingers at Daphne on her way, "Maybe Satan's on my side tonight."

Daphne laughed at the tease and watched as Nancy went to pick a bowling ball. "I bet you're going to get a strike right away; you're just being nice. I'm on to you, Selina Kyle." Her gaze follows the other as she makes her way from the bowling balls over to take her place behind the red line; that marked the separating point between the slicker wooden floor that made the lane and the one they could safely walk on. The sound of the ball meeting the pins soon filled the air, "What did I say?" Daphne was impressed, granny technique and all. She got up now to take her place behind the red line, also grabbing the first ball that she could snag. She stuck her fingers in the bowling ball, stuck the tip of her tongue out, closed one eye, and tried to align herself as best as possible. In one swoop the ball goes flying to the pins, landing with a rather loud thud before taking off, and it managed to hit all except the front middle one. "I can't tell if Satan is on my side or trolling me. But you know what I do know, we could use a pitcher of beer or something this way. What do you say?"

#chats: daphne & nancy

CJ winced at being trapped on the sing-along-hellscape that was It's A Small World for longer than the five minutes it took to make it through normally. "Alright well I'm turning on you then on that one—there's no way I'm doin' it again. Your zero pulse neck is mine." He teased, but pointedly aiming a gunslinger finger at her white as snow neck. There wasn't any way she could know her words triggered something akin to sad in him. Sobering really was more like it— the accident, he was reminded at random would never actually leave his conscience. His expression though unchanged and the corners of his lips upturned in an easy smile, though he swallowed hard and he could feel himself staring. "Thank you, thank you." The jester's tone easy enough to toss out there as it broke the millisecond daze he'd allowed himself to go into. "And if I told you I kinda, sorta, maybe a liiiitle, fell asleep? Would you hate me?" The marathon as it turned out not the best idea to start at 2 AM with a couple blunts and some red wine in. "Does it count I liked the one with Jason? Corny as hell but that was the best part." She was an interesting one, sweet but also maybe an actual vampire or some shit. Charmed a little. He met her with the secret, bringing a finger to his lips when she revealed her shameful truth. "Twi- twilight?- never heard of it." Teasing, he whispered too with a shrug. "...Is this the same tat you were thinking about before, when I met you? What're you doing now?"

"On me?! Whaat! We are supposed to be a team. Through thick and death, I thought!" Daphne exclaimed, jokingly. She brings a hand up to her chest, "I feel betrayed. What world are we living in when you can't even trust your own zombie partner in crime?" Her tone was laced with playfulness and a slightly over dramatic bit. Although she truly couldn't blame him for turning on her, the song could be quite maddening after a while.

For a second, she swore she felt a small shift in the air around them. CJ looked the same and different all at the same time. Daphne couldn't quite put her finger on what it was though, so she kept her casual and playful demeanor. Maybe she would bring it up later, just so she could clear her head of the thought. She can't help but to lightly laugh when he admits to having fallen asleep because she had definitely done the same thing before. "Well, you don't have to worry, I can tell you with full confidence that I could never hate you. I can't say that I haven't done the same. It's actually kind of funny, because the one thing you are not supposed to do when Freddy is roaming is to fall asleep, but you know what? I think we could beat Freddy if he tried invading our dreams."

After all, they were zombie partners in crime. The fact that he made it to Freddy Vs. Jason was pretty impressive in it's own. "I say it counts. I liked that one too, even if you could just guess what the ending was going to be. It's definitely part of my Halloween movie rotation. Who doesn't like a good ol' cheesy horror movie? "

He was kindhearted, funny, easy to talk to, and like a breath of fresh air. Part of her felt like they had known each other longer than what they really did. "No? If you're ever interested in killing a couple of hours... I'm up for watching them with you some time. They are just the greatest thing to watch with a cup of wine, perhaps a joint or two as well, if you like that." Admittedly, that's kind of how she watched a lot of her movies these days. Hearing him mention the butterfly tattoo caused a warm smile to spread on her lips, "I'm afraid I am once more putting it off for something else. One day, though, it'll happen. For now, I kind of want to do this," she pulls her phone out to show him the picture, "in the spirit of spooky season. What do you think?"

draumas

GRACE VAN DIEN 2024, ph. Neave Bozorgi

#daphne.

"Wait, what do you mean ,we not doing any Disney terrorizing? Thought that was the whole gig." He asked, teasing of course their little makeshift scenario now though sounding the most ideal—flesh eating aside. "Good. Good? I don't know how to answer that, haven't lost a limb by shark yet, have passed my drivers test. Oh you'll like this one, watched all the Elm Street movies, the remake too. Forced to tackle this spooky season head on with the 'classics' as I'm told." CJ laughed, finger quotes very much present. "What about you? How you been?"

"If we terrorize people at Disney then we won't have anyone to operate the rides for us. Can you imagine being stuck on the 'it's a small world' ride," she jokes, using air quotes at the mention of the ride. The idea of going to Disney with him was sounding better by the second and a part of her wished they were actually making said plans.

"Congrats on passing your drivers test and not losing a limb. I happen to think your limbs are perfectly fine just where they are but watch out roads of Asbury Park. CJ is on the loose." Daphne teased, chuckling a bit. "Oh, you did? That's awesome! What a perfect way to start the season. Did you enjoy them? You can't tell me the ending to the first one isn't just.." she holds a hand up to do a chefs kiss motion, nodding a bit as well. She really was a sucker for a classic.

"It's been alright on my end. I've been thinking of getting a new tattoo, but otherwise I haven't been up to too much. Been kind of laying low, you know? Now that spooky season is among us, I figured it's my time to come back out. Although," she leans in, as if she's about to whisper to him her biggest secret, "I've been getting this urge to drink and watch the Twilight movies. Keep that between us, okay?"

#daphne inspo.#possible future tattoo

samfitz

Asbury Lanes was usually a fun time but tonight it looked especially cool, all of the venue glowing under UV blue-and-purple lights. Sam didn't dress in a costume, he considered himself too old for that kind of thing at his big age, but he did wear his oversized, black Korn hoodie that had the voodoo doll from the Issues cover on the back of it. That was sort of festive. "Whatever you say, Queen of spooky," Sam said half jokingly, his hands buried into the front pocket of it. He stepped up to the plate since Daphne didn't seem to want to go first. "Yeah I will. Fair warning," he shot right back, "I'm ridiculously good at this. Like, bowling league good. And I don't go easy on people just because they might be rookies." Too bad they were only giving prizes for best costumes and not games won, they could've had something on their hands.

#chats: daphne & sam #( hi lovey! thank you! i am so happy to be back with you guys!#i still love sam very much hehe <3 )

Sam's hoodie, in Daphne's opinion, qualified for more than just being in the spirit of the season. It was surly a testament to Sam's good taste in music, at least she thought so. "Queen of spooky?" She grins, "You know, you don't have to butter me up, I already think you're the King of Amazing Hoodies and Music." Daph moves over to take a seat while he took his turn, watching him as he gave his warning to her. "How can you not go easy on me? I am a damsel in distress!" She joked, laughing a bit, playfully rolling her eyes. "I am glad you're not going to be taking it easy on me. How am I supposed to not suck if you did that? To beat the best, I've got to learn from the best. Or however that saying goes. Who knows, maybe we'll become the next badass bowling duo to grace Asbury Lanes."

He barely recognized her —the girl with the scream tattoo— in fact took a good stare down for five minutes for it to click as it was. Pleasantly surprised by the revelation, "Oh hell yeah, my zombie stomach is already growling. You got that whole sugar skull thing going no one will suspect while I tear up from behind. Can we hit Venice Beach first?"

Daphne snorts, "Are you kidding? It would be a crime if we didn't hit up Venice Beach first. Also, I want to go to Disneyland after. But after that we can go terrorizing people." She chuckles, warmly smiling. Well as much of a warm smile as she could give off, given the face paint she had on currently. "How have you been since we last ran into each other?"

#asburyopen #( feel free to assume connections <3! )

for: open location: asbury lanes, halloween bowling night

Daphne lived for the Halloween season. In fact, in October, she felt the most alive around this time. Normally she would try to binge watch as many horror movies as she could squeeze into the month and attend any haunt houses that pop up. This year, she was determined to hit up as many of the events around Asbury Park as she could manage to get to. Tonight happened to be Halloween Bowling Night at Asbury Lanes. "Now, fair warning, the real horror of tonight is going to be watching me bowl. I'm not the best at bowling," she warned, giving a guilty grin. While she didn't come dressed up in a costume tonight, she was wearing her glow in the dark hoodie. "Do you want to go up first? Spare me a couple more minutes before embarrassment."

benji-parsons-deactivated202502

Who: Open Where: Groovy Graveyard When: Friday Afternoon

There was lull in traffic for the store for which Benji was terribly thankful. It wasn't that he disliked his job; quite the opposite, really. He got paid for listening to music all day. It was a pretty sweet gig, as far as he could tell. Sure, he had to talk to people occasionally, but it was mostly talking about music or movies or something so it wasn't as bad as it could be. The thing was, though he liked his job and tolerated talking to the customers, the job was much better when there weren't customers to tolerate talking to.

He changed the record that had been playing over the sound system and perched on his stool behind the counter. Sketchbook flipped open, he began absently doodling with a sharpie.