#they’re just some silly little guys making fun music

[psychoticwillgraham]

one of the bosses grandkids is here and he’s watching the AJR ‘worlds smallest violin’ video and man I’m glad the youth have some good music taste

[corroded-hellfire]

Infestation, Oppression, Possession - Eddie Munson x Reader

Summary: You warn Eddie about playing with a Ouija board, too bad he doesn’t listen.

Note: As a horror movie junkie, my personal favorites are the possession ones (esp The Conjuring, where the title of this comes from) so here’s a little Halloween horror starring Eddie

Warnings: playing with ouija board, possession, general spookiness because tis the season

Words: 2.7k

“Please promise me that you won’t play with it,” you beg your boyfriend. “They’re dangerous.”

Eddie chuckles and shakes his head. “Babe, it’s just a piece of wood with some paint on it. How could it be dangerous?”

You eye the Ouija board sitting on his bed, the planchette inconspicuously resting on top of it. There are no shortage of horror stories and cautionary tales warning people away from playing with such a dangerous game. You’ve spent the better part of the last hour relating these worries to Eddie, who seems to think nothing of them at all–or about the fact that he bought it to begin with. It doesn’t seem to matter how much the whole thing bothers you. 

“You never know who or what you’re communicating with,” you tell Eddie. “You could be opening a portal for something evil.” “So, you think a demon is going to decide to come here to little ol’ Hawkins? And will want to possess me? I’m flattered.” Eddie raises his eyebrows and lets out a small chuckle. A groan slips from your lips as you rub your hands over your face in aggravation. 

“Just…please,” you beg as you stand up from where you’re perched on Eddie’s amp. “For me? Just throw it out.”

“Sweetheart,” Eddie says as he takes a few steps over to you. He places his hands on your shoulders and presses a soft kiss to your forehead. “Relax, okay? I’ll be careful.”

“Can’t you just–”

“Baby,” Eddie interrupts you. “Go to work, okay? I promise I’ll put it away.”

“You should throw it away,” you say sternly. “Or burn it. You’d have fun doing that, I know.”

Eddie chuckles and presses another kiss to your head. He slips his arms around you and tugs you against his chest. “Come on, sweetheart. It’s okay. Just go to work and try and forget all about it, yeah?”

“Yeah,” you mumble, pulling out of his arms. “Serving greasy burgers to angry truckers is really going to take a load off my mind.”

Calloused fingers gently grip your chin and tilt your head up. Soft but chapped lips press against your own and you close your eyes as you lean into the kiss. 

“I love you,” Eddie whispers against your mouth.

“I love you, too.”

“Everything is going to be fine,” Eddie assures you. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? Bright and early with two coffees.”

“Make sure you don’t drink half of mine before you get to my house this time,” you say as you swipe one of your boyfriend’s hoodies from where it’s sprawled across his desk.

“No promises,” Eddie tells you as you slip the sweatshirt on over your head. 

You press one last kiss to his lips, avoiding looking at the devil board on his bed, before heading out to work.

Eddie huffs a laugh to himself once you’ve left. He’s surprised that you’re so worried about the Ouija board. Usually, you’re so cool and collected, always logical and tactful in your way of thinking. It’s not like you to believe in some silly superstition. Maybe it’s just getting too close to Halloween, Eddie thinks as he picks up the board and planchette. Corroded Coffin should be by in about twenty minutes for a songwriting session, but first, Eddie thinks, perhaps the guys will have some fun and try to scare one another. 

The next night, Eddie’s lounging on his bed, guitar perched on his lap as he strums a few new chords that the band came up with last night. His amp is on since Wayne isn’t home, turned down just enough so the neighbors won’t complain. Fingers glide over the strings as Eddie plays around with the sounds of a possible new song. A beautiful melody flows to meet Eddie’s ears, but the moment he lets his eyes slip closed to lose himself in the music, the amp cuts out. 

The sudden silence has Eddie sitting up and frowning at the amp in confusion. Gently setting his sweetheart down on the bed, he leans over to fiddle with the controls on the amp. It’s still turned on, all the dials are set just as they should be, so why did it go quiet? Eddie pushes himself off the bed to make sure the plug hasn’t come loose. A deeper frown etches on Eddie’s forehead as he sees the plug snugly in place in the outlet. 

“Stupid old trailer,” Eddie grumbles as he gets down on his knees. “God damn electric problems.”

The outlet above the one the amp is plugged into has Eddie’s lamp connected to it–the same lamp that’s currently on and shining brightly next to his bed. Yanking both cords from the wall, Eddie tries putting the lamp’s plug into the bottom outlet, just to make sure that’s what isn’t working. The moment the prongs snap into the wall though, the light illuminates his dark room again. 

“What the fuck,” Eddie mutters under his breath. He switches the lamp back to the top outlet and puts the amp back into the bottom one. “This amp is new, what the hell? Stupid piece of–”

Earsplitting feedback abruptly rings out through the amp, causing Eddie to fall back on his ass and cover his ears. Heart beating faster than a hummingbird’s wings, Eddie stares at the amp with wide eyes. The racket only lasts five seconds, but it’s enough to freak Eddie out. 

“O-Okay…” Eddie says as he pushes himself back to his feet. The room is quiet once again. The lamp is on, his guitar is still nestled against his pillow, and the amp sits there inconspicuously on the stained carpet. 

“Jesus, this place is a shithole,” Eddie says, trying to convince himself it’s just some faulty wiring in his old home. He sits back down on his bed and the moment he grips the neck of his sweetheart, the bleating sound of the phone ringing in the hallway has him jumping out of his skin. Once his mind registers what the new noise is, Eddie laughs at himself as he sets his guitar back down and heads toward the phone. “You’re a wuss, Munson. Yeah, yeah, I’m coming, keep your pants on. Hello?”

“Hey, Eddie,” your cheerful voice greets through the phone. 

“Hi, babe. Hmm, I take back what I just said then.”

“What?” you ask.

“I told whoever was on the phone to keep their pants on as I walked down the hall. I take that back now.” You can practically hear the smirk on your boyfriend’s face. 

“Who said I’m even wearing any?” you tease.

“I’m listening.”

The mystery of the faulty sound equipment quickly fades from Eddie’s head.

Eddie huffs as he uses a flashlight to look through the pantry. The damn lights in the trailer are flickering like crazy and it’s driving Eddie up the wall. At first, he’d thought it was just the lights in his room, but it seemed to follow him down the hall and into the living room as well. 

Searching for something to eat, the aggravation only hits a new high when the flashlight in Eddie’s hands also starts flickering.

“Okay, what the actual fuck?” Eddie demands. He bangs the flashlight against his palm and the beam becomes steady once more. “Thank you.” 

As if the lights heard his pleasure, they all turn off at once–even the flashlight. 

“Are you shitting me?” Eddie shouts. The darkness comes on so quickly that Eddie’s eyes take their sweet time adjusting. He bangs his head on a cabinet as he shuffles out of the kitchen. Like someone flipped a switch, the lights come on all at once–even ones that weren’t turned on before. The sudden brightness burns Eddie’s eyes, and he drops the flashlight to cover them. Slowly, the lights fade back to their usual strength and Eddie is able to open his eyes without pain. He blinks them a few times, still getting them to adjust to the brightness when the front door opens and Wayne steps inside.

The older man shrugs out of his jacket and hangs it on a hook near the door. He eyes Eddie where he stands, eyes watering from how sensitive they are right now.

“What’s with you, boy?” Wayne asks.

“Did you pay the electric bill?” Eddie asks in return, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands.

“‘Course I did. Why?”

“Because these damn lights are going crazy,” Eddie says, flinging one hand in the direction of the nearest lamp. “Just wait, they’ve been flickering for an hour now.”

Wayne stands near the door with his hands on his hips, looking around the room at the different lights that are on. Eddie squares his jaw when not even one little flicker occurs. 

“Smoke a little too much tonight?” Wayne asks with a chuckle as he walks past his nephew and into the kitchen.

“I didn’t even…ugh, never mind.” 

“You want a grilled cheese?” Wayne asks, opening the fridge.

“Sure. Thanks.” Eddie plops down on the couch and stares at the ceiling. The lights had been going crazy–right?

“Did you sleep at all last night?” you ask Eddie at lunch.

Dull brown eyes slide over to you, dark bag eyes beneath them puffy and prevalent, and seem as if they look right through you.

“A little,” Eddie says with a shrug.

“Dude, you look like shit,” Gareth says.

The Dungeon Master raises his hand to flip off his friend while he lowers his head down to the lunch table. He felt like shit too, but he wouldn’t give his friends the satisfaction of knowing that.

Over the next few days, Eddie only looks worse and worse. His face begins to look drawn, his skin a sickly shade of greenish gray. His clothes are more unkempt and wrinkled than normal, appearing as if he’d slept in them the night before. Every morning on the way to school you’d try to get out the knots that had accumulated in your boyfriend’s hair during the night. There hadn’t been a time when his hair had been this much of a pain before. Eventually, you just slip your red scrunchie from your wrist and tie his hair into a ponytail at the base of his neck. 

“Are we getting pizza tonight?” you ask as Eddie parks his van in the Hawkins High parking lot.

“Babe, I’m not even going to Hellfire tonight,” he tells you, all emotion zapped from his voice.

“You’re not going to Hellfire?” you ask in shock. 

“No,” Eddie grumbles as he pulls the keys from the ignition. 

“Why don’t you just go home, baby?” you suggest as you reach over and move a few loose strands of hair out of his face.

“Maybe.” Eddie gives a half-hearted shrug and shoves the van door open and slides out. Frown still pinched on your face, you follow him out and stick by his side as long as you can until you have to go to your separate first periods. 

Your phone rings as you’re buttoning your jeans the next morning, and you hop over to pick it up.

“Hello?”

“Hey, sweetheart.” There’s no energy in Eddie’s voice, the sound raspy and gravelly. “I can’t take you to school today. Not getting out of bed.”

“Aww, baby,” you coo. “I’m going to come over and take care of you. I’ll be there in twenty.”

“No,” Eddie responds. “You’ve got a test today, go to school.”

“Can’t hear you. I’m coming over. Bye.” You hang up before he can protest again; because you know he will. Eddie’s hoodie from the other week is still hanging over the chair in your room so you toss it on before heading out the door to your car.

Eddie looks as shitty as he sounded when you get to his place. He’s sprawled out in bed, the covers tucked up under his chin and his eyes half-lidded as he tries to focus on you. You sigh as you sit down on the edge of his bed. When you reach up and move some hair off of his forehead you feel that his skin is surprisingly cool against your fingertips. You’d expected heat there–most likely a fever raging inside of his body. 

“Are you cold?” you ask. Eddie nods, seeming like he hardly has the energy for even that. “I’ll get you another blanket.”

The room feels chilly to you as well, but not enough to warrant two heavy blankets being piled atop of you. Something is definitely going on inside of his body. As you open Eddie’s closet to grab another blanket, your eyes land on the Ouija board sitting on top of a pile of dirty clothes. The room suddenly feels hot as your temper flares. Anger builds up in your chest and your nostrils flare as you snatch up a blanket. Spinning around to face Eddie again, you stomp over to him.

“What the hell, Eddie? Why is the Ouija board still here?” you demand.

Eddie groans and turns his head to bury it in his pillow.

“Talk quieter, please,” he begs.

“Answer. Me.” Despite your anger, you’re not heartless. You lower your volume as you shake out the blanket and lay it across your boyfriend’s body. “Did you play with it?”

The guilty look that crosses his face gives you his answer before he opens his mouth to croak out, “Yes.”

“Eddie,” you whine, running your hands over your hair. “What if that’s what’s wrong?” You gesture to him lying down on his bed, lethargic and exhausted. 

“Stop,” Eddie groans, squeezing his eyes closed. “M’just getting sick. Or worn down.”

“But you don’t know–”

“Babe, calm down,” Eddie begs, trying to inject as much fervor into his voice as he can. “It’s not from some dumb game. That’s ridiculous.”

The only reason you bite your tongue is because he looks so miserable bundled up in the middle of his bed. Deciding to let it go for now, you sit down next to his head and card your fingers through his curls.

“Can I get you anything?” you ask him softly.

“Just you,” Eddie answers, mustering up a small smile to give you. 

As you lean down to press another kiss to his forehead, you swear he feels even colder than he did a few minutes ago.

Eddie still isn’t back to himself the next week. In fact, he says he feels worse. You weren’t able to take the whole time off from school or work, but any moment that wasn’t spent somewhere you were obligated to be, you were at his side. He refused to go to the doctor and even Wayne couldn’t get him to go. It seems the shittier Eddie feels the more stubborn he is. 

On Thursday, you don’t have work, so you head to Eddie’s place straight from school. He hasn’t been able to answer the door since he’s been staying in bed most of the time, so you just let yourself inside as usual. 

“I’m here, Eddie,” you call out, not too loud though, in case he’s asleep. Your sneakers join the small pile of shoes near the front door, and you pad down the hallway to your boyfriend’s room. Confusion furrows your brow when you don’t see him in his bed. A glance behind you confirms that he’s not in the bathroom, so where else could he be? You take a few steps into his room and spot Eddie standing near the closet, his back to you. His back is straight as a rod and his stained Marlboro shirt and blue plaid pajama pants hang loose on his thin frame, even thinner from lack of food lately. 

Cautiously, you take a few steps in his direction. The hair on the back of your neck is raised but you’re not sure why. It’s just your boyfriend.

“Eddie?” you ask timidly. “Are you okay? What are you doing out of bed? Eddie?”

A few heavy silent moments hang in the air. Then with a sudden sickening cracking sound, Eddie’s head snaps towards you. With a gasp, you take a step back. His eyes are entirely black. No trace of the dark brown that you love so much or the white that should be there. Pure black, darker than night. A sinister, toothy smile slides onto the mouth you’ve kissed so many times before. Your body trembles from the inside out as you stare in horror at whatever you’re witnessing in front of you. Eddie’s mouth opens, but the growling voice that comes out does not belong to him.

“Eddie isn’t here anymore.”

[thoughtsforsoob]

places in Tokyo that they take you to :)

a/n: idk if y’all can tell but i visited Tokyo, Japan not so long ago and absolutely fell in love with it. it was such a beautiful experience and I hope that if you ever do go, you have fun too. please don’t skip out on it and make time to visit it if you can! this may be a little specific but i know this is self-indulgent. please let me know what you think of it !!!

yeonjun

team planets! i see him liking how artsy and pretty it is. he loves seeing you enjoy the different exhibits and takes so many pictures of you there. he whines when he has to take off his shoes for the water experience part (which is so beautiful btw). he whines because he knows you’re gonna tell him to “put his damn dogs away”. i think his favorite part of the flower room because he loves how you look among all the flowers. Says some corny ass shit like “yeah, they’re pretty but not prettier than you.”

soobin

Tokyo Disneyland! He is a total nerd so he would love this place. He makes you get up super duper early and rewards you with coffee (tullys tho omggg). You guys arrived early enough and are there for rope drop. He even dresses up all nice for the day. He buys the both of you matching character hats. He totally insists on porky and slinky hats (he begs to be porky so you let him). He loves getting on all the ride but his favorite was beauty and the beast. he loves the attention to detail. he even gives you a little kiss while the ending scene is happing and def makes you blush. Don’t even get him started on the parades. He watches every single one of them. Especially the last light show. He holds you close to his side and wraps his jacket around you. The whole moment just feels so sweet and romantic and he lives for it.

beomgyu

harajuku enjoyer for sure. he loves all of the clothing shops, shoe stores and everything else. He for sure goes into all of the stores and tries on a million things and has you give your opinion. Don’t worry, after all of that shopping, he’ll make sure to get you a treat! He’ll fill you both up on Okinawa ice cream, cheesy 10 yen coins and plenty of coffee!! I feel like he’d also take you to music stores. You both comb through the many floors of Tower Records and find your favorite albums. Also..what’s harajuku without a photo booth session :)) he makes you take one of those silly ones that make you look like a doll. Silly gyu

taehyun

sensō-ji! I feel like he really appreciative of older places and places that make for pretty pictures. he def makes you both put on kimonos for the whole experience (don’t be like me and def watch your step when walking in these narrow shops…aka: don’t skip down the stairs 😜) he loves the whole touristy vibe and he hopes you do to. He obviously also stops at all the food stalls and buys you and him treats to try. HE also takes a pretty picture with you in front of the temple…one where he even kisses your cheek. He is in that good of a mood omg. You two also do fortunes at the temple and you both get bad luck :(((( sorry I don’t make the rules

huening kai

snoopy museum for sure. Yeah ik this place is technically in yokohama but like…idc :) anyways, huening gives snoopy lover vibes so he would def love to bring you here. he loves looking at all of memorabilia with you and if you’re a snoopy enthusiast also, he asks you questions and makes comments. he def begs you to take a pic with him by the giant snoopy in the middle of the room. he keeps it in his wallet forever. he also loves the stuffed snoopies so you get matching ones!

[kaz-oooo]

I’ve already done music recommendations so, you can check out these posts (playlists and list of artists) if you’re looking for that specifically. But Wilbur made a lot of content over the years and idk, i figured I’d make a a list of recommendations for similar content to fill that void as well :)

Minecraft SMP’s (specifically DSMP)

The same SMP’s but other POV’s — I’ll just start with this cos it’s the most iffy. There’s plenty of enjoyment to be had with these fandoms still, and I personally don’t think we need to let the actions of a couple shitty guys ruin the silly Minecraft roleplay we all enjoy. That said, if you aren’t comfy watching these anymore that’s perfectly valid as well, especially since Wilbur’s character will be lurking around in the background of plenty of these. But yeah, we can also uplift other creators by watching the fun stories they made, especially those who got buried by bigger creators at the time. So Dream SMP, QSMP, Origins SMP, SMP earth, SMPlive all have content you can enjoy.

Different, completely unrelated SMP’s — hermitcraft, the life series, empires SMP (shubble was involved in this one, I’m planning on watching her POV when I find some time) etc. I’ve had plenty of people recommend these to me before, from what I’ve seen they’re very enjoyable :)

Hamilton — not even joking, if you enjoyed the L’manberg era of DSMP and you didn’t watch Hamilton, I’d heartily recommend it. Great music, lots of politics but all in a fun and silly way, also tragic endings!

Editor Wilbur ARG (I’m a massive ARG fan so I have tonnes of recommendations here)

Generation Loss — Ranboo’s very awesome Horror project that they’ve been working very hard on!!! Ranboo’s been teasing new content lately as well so that’s exciting

Analog horror series — Local 58, Gemini Home Entertainment, Mandela Catalog, Kane Pixel’s Backrooms videos, etc. All very good and spooky videos, definetely an inspiration for Gen Loss, and I know Wilbur enjoyed this content as well (though the editor Wilbur arg predates a lot of this genre) those are some of the biggest on YouTube atm, and some of my personal favourites, but there’s plenty more to find (I recommend channels like Nightmind and Nexpo who do analysis videos for all this horror and ARG stuff if you wanna find more)

Marble Hornets — gets its own category! One of the original analog horror genres (predated the genre actually) it’s basically one of the biggest and most comprehensive Slenderman series out there. There’s a LOT of content here and lots of lore and mystery (though a lot of the game clues have been lost to time) (Jack Manifold also reacted to this on stream, it was very chill and good fun)

Horror podcasts — Magnus Archives and Magnus Protocol, Malevolent and Archive 81 are some of my favourites, but there’s plenty more out there to find and enjoy :). Also very spooky with lots of mystery to involved, the Magnus Protocol is very new as well so great time to get into that!

Just Chatting / Geoguessr / other chill content

Geoguessr streamers / YouTubers — honestly I genuinely didn’t watch much geoguessr content outside of Wilbur’s streams so, I don’t have many recommendations here. I know Eret has been doing geoguessr streams lately and their content is very good and chill. Jacksuckatlife plays as well and last I watched he was fairly good at it (like similar skill level to Wilbur), otherwise Rainbolt is a geoguessr legend, he terrifies me a little ngl.

Other streamers — I think the thing with the just chatting streams is that we watch for *that specific streamer’s* personality. It’s hard to really make recommendations other than just saying go watch more of the streamers you enjoy. Personally I enjoy Phil’s hardcore streams, and Sneegsnag’s Crime Time the most, but there’s plenty of other people both in this MCYT space and outside of it that you’ll probably enjoy :)

Sorry boys (unlike horror I don’t watch much comedy so, sorry, this’ll be lacking)

Just Roll With It — Charlie Slimecicle’s DND podcast. I’ve only listened to a little bit of this but it’s really good and REALLY silly (oh, and emotional sometimes, gotta have a bit of angst y’know) Wilbur was a guest on a couple of episodes, but you can always skip past those if you want.

Tommy’s videos — so Wilbur features in a lot of the early vlogs and *minecraft but* videos, but Tommy’s content has always been good fun, his recent stuff is excellent as well! He’s been doing a lot of comedy content lately, specifically a live show so definitely check that out if you want :)

Smosh pit — not something I’ve watched a lot of, but I’ve seen clips of their try not to laugh videos and they’re definitely on par with the bat shit improv you get from Sorry Boys.

Game changer — again, not something I’ve watched much, mostly consumed through osmosis, but the show is funny, the cast is always silly and it’s a lot of fun all round

Whatever else Sorry Boys make after this — judging by some of the responses to Wilbur’s “statement” I think it’s fair to assume if Sorry Boys do continue making content Wilbur will be cut from the group. Of course don’t feel obligated to stick around if you don’t want to, but Wilbur won’t be compensated if he’s kicked and the rest of the guys are still fun :)

YLYL and similar goofy stuff

Just… other streamers again — Jack Manifold does YLYL streams with his friends. James Marriott does a lot of reaction videos as well, sometimes YLYL, sometimes reacting to content his viewers send in (like TikTok’s and break up texts), those are my favourites atm.

YouTubers — that niche between video essay and reaction content, people like Danny Gonzales, Drew Gooden, Kurtis Conner, Pinely, all good fun YouTube channels that make good, silly, and easy to consume content.

Other gaming streamers and YouTubers — Slimecicle, Ranboo, Games Grumps, RT games, and SneegSnag all play a wide variety of games, they’re all relatively chill but none of them take the games all that seriously either so it’s fun and goofy as well :)

And of course Fanfiction!!!

I might be a little bias here cos I write myself but fic is created by and for fans and it exists to give you even *more* content about the stories you love, whether it be reimagining canon events or just dumping your favourite characters into a silly au.

I know a lot of authors (myself included) are feeling super conflicted and weird about writing Wilbur in the future. Plenty of authors have been moving onto new fandoms so if you find something you enjoy make sure you check out the author’s other work and who knows, maybe you’ll find some cool new fandoms that way!

And do the same for artists and other creators, or even go check out some of your mutuals fandoms, you guys might have more in common than you originally thought!

[howlingdemon13]

You could use a buddy~!

Guys, you have no idea how happy I am that this is complete! You know I'm gonna be supper obnoxious now that I can turn into a demonic ghost with mommy issues. 🤪 Anyway, some notes and thoughts on this cosplay that no one asked for and no one wants~!

First and foremost, this cosplay is sort of a clonesona. I feel like (if given the chance), Beetlejuice would play around with how his clones look. Obviously on stage it’s impossible to find actors who look identical to the lead, but I like that the fandom has embraced BJ being unable/unwilling to create clones that are a 100% physical match. If that’s the case, I’m sure he throws in a more fem-presenting clone once in a while.

This doubles as a feminine-presenting form for Beetlejuice himself, too (Toonjuice has no issue changing his gender presentation at will in a bunch of scenarios, and I like to think that Musicaljuice would be the same/similar). I guess a version of Beetlejuice that’s female would be fun, but I prefer the idea of BJ shapeshifting to look and present the way he wants to (or to have fun with unsuspecting victims).

Even from the early development of this cosplay all the way back in October, choosing between a dress and a suit was like pulling teeth. I love the suit an unhealthy amount, but I wanted something distinct from other interpretations. That, and I was hesitant to lean into the hyper-sexualized looks I’ve seen from officially licensed offshoots of the character. Beetlejuice, while a self-proclaimed sexual being, doesn’t read as the kind of entity to go from generally masc-presenting all the way to hyper-sexual fem-presenting. Also, where the hell is the grime on all these fem designs???? Why does she look clean? Cowards!

I think BJ would settle on a fem-presenting form in a suit, but I also think he’s just as comfortable in a dress regardless of the pronouns/physical characteristics he’s using at any given moment. He likes his dresses and we love him for it.

Anyway-

I wanted a dress that felt “old” but not dated,so I settled on a shirt dress. They came about in the 1920’s, but didn’t become super popular until the 50’s. The cut of Beetlejuice’s suit is somewhere between modern and a style that would have been popular in the 50’s, too.

I also think shirt dresses are pretty “neutral” in that they aren’t form-fitting and they read more like a shirt from the waist up. I didn’t want anything dainty, but I wanted some movement to the fabric, and a dress does that a bit better than a suit imo. It’s why I love Beetlejuice’s first 15 minutes on stage in the trench coat. I know it’s a callback to when we first see him in the movie, but it adds a ton of secondary movement and looks cartoony when coupled with very exaggerated movements typical of a stage show. It’s why I love watching Collette especially bounce around on stage because istg he knows this (or that him growing up with the cartoon make him really lean into over the top body language and the trench coat just adds to it).

Like, look at that! Are you seeing what I’m saying? If I could animate, that would be a dream shot!

Oops, can’t go 15 minutes without thinking of the silly.

All that is to say that movement and form in an outfit, especially one for a character as chaotic as Beetlejuice, was super important to me. It’s also why I settled on long, curly hair, kept the tie, and added a bow. All of that breaks up patterns, adds movement, and is something I can put moss on. Anyway, this cosplay has a lot of little nods to the musical, cartoon, and film (but is mostly based off of the musical).

Cartoon: bugs!! Toonjuice is sometimes seen with small beetles chilling on his suit (which he inevitably snacks on). I love the idea of Beej being covered in bugs, so I felt compelled to include them on the dress and hat. It's a subtle reference, but one that I really wanted. They’re made out of scrap polymer clay and painted. Here are a few:

Film: The guide hat! It's iconic. I know that the hat made it into very early versions of the musical and promotional materials, but how it got thrown by the wayside is beyond me.

Musical: the grime and disrepair! I was heavily inspired by an early suit that is absolutely covered in moss!

I also added a lot of grime to the shoulders and hem as a callback to later versions of the suit and especially the tour version of it. I also added some x stitches since I really like the way they look on the current tour suit!

Oh, and the banjolele! Can't forget my favorite prop!

Miscellaneous: I love giving supernatural characters pointy ears and fangs, so you best believe I’m going to do the same for BJ. Slightly related, but I love the tour makeup so much. The makeup artists really lean into Beetlejuice being corpsey and I’m here for it (I essentially combine the tour and film makeup to get the look I’m after).

Oh! And snap bracelets! I remember hardcore stimming with these as a kid to the point of destroying them (then it was goodbye snap bracelets), and you cannot tell me Beetlejuice, neurodivergent-coded demon ghost, wouldn’t be the same way. Full disclosure, I had to wrap them around metal bands because these snaps are rubber and the texture is a nightmare for me, but I was determined to include them. They’re also a substitute for Beetlejuice’s watches in the film.

God/Satan, that was a lot of rambling. If you survived all that, thanks for reading!

[kadextra]

q!Forever & q!Bad, comedy and tragedy are two sides of the same coin

(little meta rp analysis & appreciation)

Comedy and tragedy- complimentary concepts when it comes to the dynamic that is these two characters.

Their lore together is truly like a soap opera to me in the way it operates, entertaining in how goofy it is- I laughed so much during interrodate. They had a whole elaborate musical prank war over a stolen gun (which neither of them even had, they’re just too dedicated to the bit.) The first thing they say to each other after q!Forever returns from the nether is “You look terrible!” 💀 and my guy gifted a bloody chainsaw as the flower of the day to q!Bad in purgatory 1 which was happily accepted.

Even when the characters show attraction for each other, it’s usually through some ridiculous romcom thing. q!Forever is in love with q!Bad dressed as pink barbie and thinks photos of her are the best gift a person could ever receive?? 🤨 q!Bad daydreams about q!Forever as a lobster with blonde hair and a six-pack??? brother be projecting him onto larry the lobster from spongebob squarepants dude what is wrong with them 😭 sometimes I wonder how they’re able to do all these bits in improv and take it seriously, it’s impressive

The characters are not normal, their relationship is not normal, it cannot be viewed normally. the ccs know exactly what they’re doing in creating whatever *gestures* this is, and it’s amazing. over the top, cute, played perfectly for comedy

But the characters aren’t just that, you can’t have them without the inverse 🎭 like a punch to the gut after all the sillies, they really know how to do tragedy well.

I very much look forward to whenever they’re at the top of their angst game, bc they both LOVE to make their cubitos suffer. to an insane degree. My god these two can’t go 3 days with their characters experiencing some peace and joyful whimsy, they *must* rp their ocs actively dying, horribly diseased, going crazy

And they go hard with it. I’m very serious when I say multiple times during the lore I’ve had to get up and walk away to calm down because it was too intense. super special shoutout to the q!Forever first happy pills arc stream & October 1st q!Bad psychotic breakdown stream. I’ve never been so shocked as I was watching those live, the stamina to do highly emotional rp like that is actually nuts. some of the most angsty mfs on this server fr (the #1 spot goes to quackity though. hey maybe i’ll make a tierlist)

So when Bad & Forever bring the best of their angst ability into serious rp interactions together that Aren’t comedic…? we are in for a treat. that talk they had right when q!cellbit died to the code, the richas rescue mission, the election, voting arguments, post-ron kidnapping, colorblind test/therapy, flower of the day. many scenes that are seared into my mind, but none is more so than The Happy Pills Proposal. goosebumps whenever I think about it… the scene ever. the way it was framed, the lines they said, how it had tense, chilling buildup before a literal explosion. how are these people capable of doing the most silly things and then turning around to stab us in the heart 50 times

So you bet I’m crossing my fingers for a meeting between @v@ & q!Bad. Forever is absolutely killing the role so far. If q!Bad gets involved I can already taste the glorious angst…. since he has specific traumatic experience in also being possessed, & having killed his possessed friends in another life. he recalled the memory when talking about how to save q!Forever last night. fun! *shaking*

anyways that’s all :D love these characters, I had been wanting to do a little meta appreciation post for a while so I thought why not now ^^

[pebblume]

guys i haven’t had time to write in weeks and it’s driving me INSANE. to help cope here are a bunch of percabeth fic ideas i have rattling around my brain that i may or may not get around to writing at some point

annabeth is assigned for cabin inspection and percy slept in (cue speed cleaning and attempted flattery and bribery to avoid punishment). this one is deeply unserious

since we didn’t get it in the show with the spider trap in the tunnel of love i’d love to write some other situation where annabeth gets scared by spiders and percy helps her through it and they talk about their fears 

ok ok. hear me out. pjo tv trio watching the lightning thief musical. i’m normally not into “characters watch their own media” type fics, but i think it could be fun to write while also allowing for some introspection! they’re just experiencing this weird uncanny valley where everything is familiar but it’s so different at the same time and also everyone is singing?? percy laughs at his own jokes of course and grover is a theatre kid so he’s nerding out and annabeth is confused (the only musical she’s ever seen is the wizard of oz) but entertained. i think it could be silly

lovesick au with an extra dose of angst. percy gets accidentally drugged with aphrodite’s love magic (and naturally annabeth is the first person he sees) so now she has to deal with a very clingy percy who's sweet and considerate and would do anything she asked but it's not her percy. like she wanted him to like her back but not like this ;-; happy ending tho obviously

hypervigilance and hyperfixation - annabeth has always had to be aware of her surroundings and never let her guard down (ptsd from her childhood and being a demigod), until this boy comes into her life and now all her attention zones in on him whenever he’s within a 50 yard radius. just a little drabble on all the little things you notice when you’re constantly aware of your crush and how even their annoying habits or flaws become hopelessly endearing

annabeth with glasses would be so cute?? (credit to @vicwritesfic for the idea!). basically just some percabeth moments told through glasses: annabeth first getting them and percy helping her feel comfortable with them when she gets self conscious, annabeth losing them in the lake and percy retrieving them, percy trying her glasses on because i think that’s a universal glasses wearer experience, percy finding her asleep at her desk with her glasses askew and taking them off gently, etc. etc. you get the idea

ok y’all know that saying that’s like “you know you like your crush when they get an awful haircut and they’re still attractive to you”? that’s it, that’s the fic. i’m thinking percy gets an unwilling haircut and he gets all embarrassed because his head is a fuzzy egg now, but annabeth still finds him cute because she's down catastrophically bad. he gets his curls back at the end tho don’t worry!

percy is cursed to be honest when he lies to a god and now he can’t stop telling annabeth how pretty her eyes are and how much he admires her; he can’t even use sarcasm - he’s defenseless! basically an excuse for me to torture percy and make him finally talk about his feelings

post tlt. annabeth ran away again after fighting with her father, but instead of going back to camp she goes to stay with the jackson’s (with the obligatory shows-up-on-their-doorstep-sopping-wet-and-pathetic scene and sally decides to adopt her immediately). it was supposed to be for a weekend, but percy convinces her to just stay until they have to go back to camp (about three weeks) and cute domestic shenanigans (and angst) ensue!

percy just got his driver's license after the titan war and takes annabeth for a ride to montauk to meet grover (she obviously has to tease him about the time he was 12 and crashed a car because he was too busy looking into her eyes). they sing along to their favorite songs and percy gets road rage and they stop for ice cream. basically a chance for them to be normal teens because they deserve it!

pen pal au where percy and annabeth write each other letters during the school year (takes place after tlt). just little moments in their lives told through letters and photos and mementos (sally insists on express mailing annabeth blue cookies after a fight with her parents ofc). it’s not the same as having each other there in person, but it helps with the distance. my way of coping with the hiatus between tlt and SoM ;-;

bi percabeth my beloved!! fic about percy’s bi awakening after reflecting on all his boy crushes (childhood friend, luke, beckendorf, etc). he comes out to annabeth after the war and they have this very touching moment where they talk and hug it out. then annabeth is like “oh also I like girls” “you couldn’t have led with that??” “i didn’t want to steal your moment!”

i've also been drafting out some percy pov chapters to my fics "i miss you like a little kid", "nothing's going to hurt you baby", and "punched in the gut (feels like being in love" so those are in the works!!

phew. and that's not even all of them (i think about them an unhealthy amount). i miss writing these two so much, but i won't really have a chance to breath from my school work until spring break so wish me luck ;-;

as always you can find my finished fics here :3

[nitrokiraru]

madatowa drama cd notes as someone who has very limited jp knowledge. i am simply using my 4 yrs of high school japanese, google translate, and a dream. just posting this for fun so it’s not like an official translation or anything it’s just basically me describing what’s happening to the best of my ability and also being insane about them

major events that happened that i could make out as like a tldr

-mada reunited with someone he knew when he was little

-towa learns abt mada’s past, mainly around a guy named “kurahashi”

-mayu eiji and kotarou appearance :D being sillies as always

-two yowie moments. first one in an alleyway second one presumably in their home. both are freak nasty as usual madatowa shenanigans

notes:

track 1

-LOTS of fighting noises in this

-towa and mada have a coffee and say it tastes like shinkoumi. some dudes come up to em and try to fight

track 2+3

-somebody notices them and gives them a job. presumably to fight people

-towa fights some people and it riles him up

-this part has already been translated but i just wanna scream abt it here bc!!!!!! towa brings him and mada into like an alleyway or something and he goes “hit me. it has to be you.” and mada says something like “you really are a lost cause/what am i going to do with you, huh?” hits him n his mouth fills with blood and towa kisses mada to make him taste it dnnsjdjd ❤️

-they have a quickie in the third track in said alleyway like the freaks they are

track 4

-a character (acquaintance of mada) called him “kei” which was kinda crazy to me since nobody called him that in the vn

-theyre in south america i believe? it’s funny in drama cds when they go to a country outside of japan and still speak japanese

-this character knew mada when he was little??? omg

-KAGA MENTION

-somebody came up to towa and madarame and said “forget everything you saw/heard today”?!

-there’s a VA in here that lowkey sounds like koujaku dmmd but idk how to check

track 5

-it’s funny how some tracks in here are like 2 minutes and the next one is 20

-dude i forgot how good nitroplus’ like sound effects are these mfs sound like they’re in my ROOM

-towa n mada having a convo abt the previous day. i think they may be arguing slightly? tone feels passive aggressive

-birds chirpin’ and towa’s breathing. he just woke up

-he just said madarame in the softest voice ever… 💔💔

-i think he woke up on their bed and mada left before he did

-towa: where did you go?😕 *track ends*

track 6

-footsteps. towa in a coffee shop once again

-MADA FIGHTING THAT DUDE HE KNEW

-cut back to towa. beep beep boop. towa calling somebody? ITS MAYU KOTAROU AND I THINK EIJI OMGGGGG T__T I MISSED EM

-i missed mayus silly voice

-they keep talking about somebody named “kurahashi” related to mada and kaga

-sasaki and toono mention?

-mayu: did something happen between you and madarame? did you two fight? (in the most teasing lil shit voice ever)

towa: *exhales smoke probably abt to hang up the phone* i’m done. -__-

eiji: HE WAs JUST KIDDIN-

-eiji: mata!! (see you!)

kotarou: mata na.

mayu: mata ne~ ^__^

the difference in tones was cute

-towa walks out of da shop. the dude from before comes up to him and asks if he wants to know what he and mada have been doing

-he like grabs him?? menacing music playing

-ok towa said let me go i think he pushed him up against a wall or something

-this dude is asking towa if he knows abt mada before he joined the takasatogumi. some massive lore bits goin on here (i understand about 20% of it)

-from what i got: madarame and kaga had a promise. lots of talk abt this promise. lots of talk abt madarame’s history with his siblings and takasatogumi. this entire bit is probably really interesting lore wise but i can’t understand most of it…💔 apologies

- enter madarame from the distance to save towa from this dude’s grasp

-he walks away.

-madarame: that guy…what happened?

towa: nothin. we just talked

madarame: really?

towa: yea. (he lyin)

track 7

-they go back home (i think) and enter.

towa sighssss. towa and mada talk time it seems ^__^

-madarame’s voice is so soft when he’s w him…cries

-towa: mentions something abt kurahashi

music: gets Suspenseful

-towa talks abt the stuff that dude told him

-towa ran away into a room?! (once again this would make me more sense if i even understood the weight of that dudes words and the lore of what happened)

track 8 (pretty sure this is the beginning of disc 2? however i’m listening from dlsite so it just shows up as track 8)

-this track is 20 minutes oh god pray for me as i try to even figure out what the hell is happening

-towa goes to see kurahashi and some dude tells him he needs an appt lawl… he lets him in tho

-“you came after all, towa” *suspense music starts*

-there’s a new takasatogumi?¿

-the dude who calls madarame “kei” is here telling him this. actually i think this is kurahashi i’ve just been calling him “the dude” this whole time but maybe it is kurahashi LMFAO i’ll just call him that

-wait the interrogation/euphoria music is playing? they’re still doing this segment in the drama cds omg

-towas voice still remaining the sexiest shit ever god

-IS HE TRYING TO SEDUCE INFORMATION OUT OF HIM or is it just his voice. maybe both

-more lore bits abt mada that i can only get bits n pieces from

-towa provoking da hell out of this mf.

-literally what the HELL is happening some other dude came in i hear clothes rustling and towa said Unhand Me

-HELLO GLASS JUST BROKE THAT SCARED ME WHY ARE NITROPLUS’ SOUND EFFECTS SO REALISTIC

-ITS MADA LMFAKOOK HE BROKE IN AND ASAID “towa. u in here?”

-the guy who sounds like koujaku is back apparently w him. they saved towa :D

-OK WHERE DID EIJI MAYU AND KOTAROU COME FROM I MISSED SOMETHING. i did.

track 9

-more kotarou eiji and mayuuuu. looks like they’re with towa and madarame now

-ok they left lawl

-everything’s all chill now i think that last track was the drama. i can’t wait until somebody translates the whole thing so i can actually understand what da hell happened

-once again their voices when they speak to each other alone are just 💔💔..

-it got a bit intimate at the end there i think i’m abt to hear a secks scene ngl

track 10

-YUP THE JAZZ MUSIC PLAYIN AND THERES KISSIN

-blood and knife(?) mention oh it’s abt to get real crazy in here

-mada: want me to cut you (non-verbatim ish)

towa: yes…..!!

-i’m punching the air.

-*cut sfx* mada: did that hurt?

towa:… feels good

-towa is such a fucking freak (affectionate) my god

-i think mada is licking the blood up oh my goodnes i’m abt to pass out and i’m only 2 min in

-oh he’s . towas whimpering . i’m normal (yes they’re fucking now)

-towa: cut me more. i want it to hurt

-mada keeps cutting him and towa keeps doing that little whimper FAWKKKK I CANR

-after they finished

towa: you’re covered in blood.

mada: whose fault is that?

towa: yours, isn’t it?

-ok that just changed me and i am very glad i bought this CD so i can now listen to it for the rest of time.

track 11 (last one!! ;_;)

-outside ambience. towa talking abt da sky

-at the coffee shop again talking w da waiter

-melancholy music playing.. why am i feeling emotional

-if i heard this correctly mada and kaga had coffee together that tasted like what they’re having rn?¿ madarame talking more abt his past but like. fondly i guess

-madarame said something that kind of gagged towa but IDK WHAT IT WASSSS HE SAID “who knows”

ARKTA song once again for the ending! AND IM DONEEE

ok so. i’m not gonna give a full review since i didn’t understand all of what they were saying but i saw on twt some people are going to start translating it? so perhaps i’ll relisten once a translation is out and give my full thoughts but as of now i loved it regardless. i missed towa and madarame a lot i love their dynamic 💔 just a bunch of freaks fighting mfs occasionally and going anywhere but still sticking beside one other. im rly glad i actually bought it because i get to listen to it whenever AND it’ll probably feel like the first time once i finally listen to it along with an eng translation so i actually know wtf is GOING ON

anyways hi and thank u if u read this whole thing. ’m gonna buy the rest of them soon and also make a review post but probably not as long. the reason is because god i MISSED TOWAS VOICE SO MUCH LOL i must hear it again. that is all

[rhoorl]

Delta Landscaping Chapter 11: Right on Target

Series Summary: In this AU, the boys of Delta Force start a new business post-Colombia. 

Series Masterlist | Chapter 11 A03 Link

Rating: Explicit (18+) No smut in this one, just some angst.

Word Count: 6.8k

Previously on As the Mule Falls: We got a heavy dose of Frankie, learning a bit about his backstory as well as the relationship between his sister, sister-in-law, niece and nephew. Valeria is a detective, literally. Did you catch who her partner was? 😉 Benny signed up for a fight a little sooner than he’d like, but thanks to Will and Connor, he’s going to start training. The Neighborhood Watch learned a bit about Cousin Joel thanks to Melissa’s research. 

On this Episode: Frankie is still in Dallas, being the best uncle. We get a scene with the Pikes. Will and Katie get in their own heads. Benny and Santiago go to Melissa’s for a consultation. Connor helps scout some of Omar’s fights. There’s a Target run, literally. Will and Katie go to Target on the hunt for birthday gifts for Olivia’s boys. Will and Katie open up. (I made a little moodboard for this episode).

Chapter Warning: Difficult parent relationships. Unsupportive partners. Domestic Marcus Pike comes with his own warning. 

If you ever have questions about any of the content, please reach out. The last thing I want is for someone to have a negative reaction. Overall this is a happy, silly series but it is grounded in some reality. 

*Cue the theme music and roll opening credits*

TUESDAY

“Hey Hermano, how’s it going? How’re the kids?” 

“Oh they’re great, they’re already so big, Pope” Frankie chuckled. Santiago called to tell him that the cleaning lady needed to reschedule for later in the week. Frankie had a few moments to himself while Valeria and Alyssa got the kids ready for bed so he was happy to catch up with his friend. “Leia is so beautiful man, and Antonio is a lot of fun. Took him to his first Rangers game today.”

“Nice! He like it?”

“Loved it, especially once V told him I used to play. I bought him a baseball and we found an old glove of mine Pops kept. We’re gonna toss the ball around when he gets home from school tomorrow.”

“I’m glad you’re having a great time man, I really am.”

“Thanks, me too,” Frankie smiled to himself. “How’re things there? You behaving?”

“Funny,” Santiago rolled his eyes. “Yes. I’ve been busy, had a date last night, and may have another one tonight.”

“Nice. You been over to Benny and Will’s?” 

“No, haven’t been that way at all since you left. But I will tomorrow, Benny and I are headed over to Melissa’s.” Frankie gave a sarcastic grunt, prompting Santiago to fill in the gaps. “I texted him earlier today, by the way. We’re all good. Did you know he signed up for a fight?”

Frankie sighed, “Will told me. I wish Benny would have said something before he called Herb. That guy’s going to feed him to the damn wolves.”

“You think it’s going to be bad, huh?”

“Not if we can help it. The guy was a boxer, so not the most ideal match-up for Benny’s style, but we’ll figure it out. When I get back we have to make sure he’s sticking to his training. Hoping this compressed timeframe makes him focus.”

“Yeah, he doesn’t have a lot of time to prep, huh?”

“No, but if anyone could do it, it’s Ben. Oh shit, I gotta go. I have to read the kids their stories.”

“Tio Francisco to the rescue!” Santiago laughed. “Ok man, hey I’ll see you in a few days. Can you text me your flight stuff Thursday night? I’ll set an alarm for myself for Friday so I don’t forget.”

“Sounds good man.”

WEDNESDAY

Will shuffled into the kitchen, surprised Benny wasn’t already up making himself an egg white omelet and coffee. Another difficult night of sleep made Will extra groggy, so he grabbed one of the larger coffee mugs and brewed two K-cup pods in succession. This morning he had an early volunteer shift at the VA after switching shifts with someone the day prior. He wanted to have time to come home and get ready for whatever the evening may hold with Katie.

Although they were on a mission to buy birthday presents for Olivia’s twins, Will hoped they would have some time to hang out afterward too. He was enjoying getting to know Katie. She was funny, smart, and had a calming presence, which he didn’t realize how much he needed. It was nice to have someone other than the guys to talk to.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of heavy steps coming from down the hallway. Benny turned the corner, his red and black basketball shorts slung low on his hips. His silver pendant rested in the patch of hair on his chest, glimmering as the sunlight caught it. Will assumed Benny had a shitty night too based on the state of his brother’s hair, which was sticking up in various directions.

“Hey man,” Benny yawned as he walked towards the coffee maker. 

“‘Sup Ben.”

“You’re up early.”

“Can say the same for you,” Will leaned against the kitchen island watching as his brother grabbed some coffee creamer from the refrigerator. 

“Hmpf,” Benny scoffed. 

“Shitty night?”

“Yea. You?”

“I’ve had better,” the corner of Will’s mouth slightly went up. “What’s the plan for today?”

“Welp, I’m gonna go to the gym here soon, or go for a run, I haven’t decided, maybe both. Pope’s coming over around lunch and we’re going to Melissa’s.”

“That will be interesting,” Will chucked.

“Yeah, no shit. Anyway, we’ll see how that goes. But I was thinking of having Connor over later. Gonna start to go over some film of this Omar guy. The kid found some of this guy’s fights on YouTube.”

“Oh really? Nice, that’s good.”

“Yeah, figured we could order some pizzas or something if you want in on that.”

“Oh ah,” Will rubbed the back of his neck. “I have plans tonight.”

Benny perked right up at the sound of this, the corners of his mouth going up slowly before he was full-on grinning. “Oooo, what plans do we have tonight?” He waggled his eyebrows. 

“Nothing like that,” Will rolled his eyes. “We,” he pointed to Benny and then back to himself, “need to get a gift for the twins. Party’s on Saturday and I don’t want to scramble at the last minute. I mentioned it to Katie and she said she’d help me out.”

“Oh, I’m sure she’s going to help you out in more ways than ow-” Benny feigned an injury, even though all Will did was push him in the chest. “You can’t injure me, I need to be in fighting shape,” Benny could barely get that out without busting into a fit of laughter. 

Will tried to keep a neutral face, but he cracked a smile. “Don’t be dramatic. And I’m not trying to put any pressure on it man, she’s nice. I’ve … I dunno, I’ve liked having a friend.”

“I’m your friend,” Benny offered, giving some puppy eyes coupled with a dramatic pout. 

“You are Bean, but with her, it’s…different.”

“How different are we talking?” His eyes narrowed over his coffee cup as he took a sip.

“I’m,” Will sighed. “I’m trying to figure that out. There’s clearly something there, but I don’t know what that something is right now. I...I don’t want to mess shit up.”

“I get it, she’s special to you, I can see that,” Benny smiled. “She’s cool as shit and for what it’s worth she seems to really dig you too. She’s always all smiles when you’re around.”

Will got a distant look in his eyes, which Benny knew well. His brother was processing, trying to sort out his thoughts. 

“Look, don’t try and figure it all out on your own,” he clapped his brother’s shoulder. “Have fun. Enjoy time with your …um…friend. See what happens…”

“Yeah, we’ll see.”

__________________________

“Vic? Vic, where are you?” Marcus called out as finished buttoning up the cuffs of his dress shirt. He and his family were living in a short-term apartment the local FBI office set up as part of his relocation package. It was…cozy…to say the least and his wife, Victoria, was chomping at the bit to close on their dream home and finally move in.

He came around the corner to their kitchenette, where Victoria was busy cutting up some strawberries to top Nicolas’ stack of pancakes. The boy quietly sat at the coffee table in the living room doodling in a coloring book, while his little sister Mariella happily sat in her highchair smearing some yogurt around. Victoria looked up as she heard Marcus’ footsteps, her eyes softening at the sight of her husband.

“It’s not a big place, Marc, I can’t go far,” she laughed as Marcus came up behind her, kissing her neck. “Mmm, I like this suit. Que guapo,” she turned around in his arms, straightening his tie before resting her hands on his chest.

“You know you’re as beautiful now as when I first saw you?” He wrapped his arms around her waist, making her giggle as he kissed her.

“Ewwww no kissies!” Nicolas called over, prompting Marcus and Victoria to pull away from each other with a smirk.

“Hey! I just love your mom, Nico,” Marcus smiled over to his son. “Besides, I have some good news.” His eyebrows shot up and he was trying to suppress a big smile.

Victoria tilted her head to the side, observing her husband. He was usually chipper, especially in the mornings, but something seemed different. “Ok, shoot, what is it?” 

“Ah, I thought you’d never ask!” He put his arms on her shoulders, squaring her up to look at him. “What if I were to tell you, we’d be able to cook breakfast in our own kitchen by next week?”

There was a pause as Victoria took in what Marcus said before glee danced across her face. “Oh my gosh, are you serious?” She squeaked, throwing her arms around his neck as he lifted her off the ground.

“Just got a text from Ethan. Everything went through, the sellers are going to virtually sign. We could close as early as Monday, but since you start work next week I wanted you to tell me what you want to do.”

“Shit…I mean shoot,” her eyes cut over to Nicolas, who was in his own little world coloring a dog with a green marker. “Well, let me talk to the school and see what we can do. Vanessa is moving down this weekend, so she can at least help with the kids. I can’t believe we’re so close!”

Marcus smiled back at her, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “Whenever you want to do it, he said he could make it happen.”

“Ooo, actually, I wonder if we can make Monday work! Tuesday is the 4th so I’ll be off and daycare is closed, we can start to move some stuff that day.”

“I think that’s a great idea, I’ll text Ethan later,” he kissed her forehead.

“Mariella!” Victoria turned around to see her baby, smearing yogurt around her high chair. Just as she was about to reach into her hair, Marcus intervened.

“Slow down there pumpkin,” he cooed. “You eat the yogurt, see,” he pantomimed eating the yogurt, which prompted a fit of giggles from Mariella. 

The ring of his phone alarm snapped Marcus back to reality. “Ugh, shoot, I have to get going.” Victoria gave him an exaggerated pout, which turned into a smile as he kissed her. “Have a good day. I love you.”

“Te amo,” she kissed him back.

____________________________

Today’s workout was a tough one for Benny evidenced by the way his shirt drenched with sweat clung to him. His muscles felt heavy, no doubt due to the quick ramp-up in activity thanks to his upcoming fight. He decided today called for some cardio and weight lifting.  

As he walked through the front door, he figured he had just enough time for a quick shower and a power nap before Santiago showed up. It was times like this he was thankful his friend was always late to everything. He decided to take a quick detour to the couch, sprawling out to stretch his muscles a bit. As he scrolled through Instagram his eyes got heavier and heavier and eventually, he closed them for just a moment. 

Pounding at his front door combined with his phone vibrating on the coffee table woke him with a bit of a startle. As if by instinct, he immediately shot up and took in his surroundings, on the defensive in case any threats were around. Realizing he was in his own home, and not in a jungle with a rifle in his hands, he blinked and slowed down his breathing. He heard his name being called and once he registered it was Santiago’s voice, he let out a breath and opened the door.

“Hey Pope,” he gave a half smile, ushering Santiago inside.

“You look like shit, you just wake up?”

“Fuck you….maybe.” He ran his fingers through his hair and his eyes narrowed. “The fuck is that?” He pointed at Santiago’s neck. “Someone give that to you or d’you get so desperate you used the vacuum cleaner, ow!”

Santiago smacked him upside the head with one hand while the other covered his neck. “First of all, fuck off. Second of all, yes someone gave it to me.”

Benny tilted his head. He couldn't help the accusatory look that swept across his face. 

“I went on a date last night, nice girl I found on an app…and before you make a smartass comment, it was a real dating app.”

Benny threw his hands in surrender, “I didn't say anything. You planning on seeing her again?” 

“I dunno we'll see.”

“Well…she certainly um…left her mark,” Benny was ready this time, blocking Santiago's arm and the two play fought for a second. 

________________________

The day was dragging on painfully slow for Katie. The start of a new month meant lots of planning meetings where people droned on and on about goals while offering the most bullshit rah-rah speeches for motivation.

She'd been texting with Megan off and on all day about random things, their usual daily stream of consciousness coupled with funny memes and gifs.

Megan: So Wine Wednesday? 🍷

Katie: Can't. I have some errands to run tonight.

Megan: Oh what's on tap? An exciting run to Target?

Katie: Damn, actually yes. Am I that predictable? I'm going to get a gift for the twins. 

Megan: Wait, I thought you already got them those Lego sets? 

Damn, she doesn't miss anything.

Katie took a deep breath before composing the next text, knowing what the response was going to be.

Katie: I did, I'm helping Will. 

She waited, no immediate quippy response. Instead, she saw the chat bubbles start and stop before she finally got a response.

Megan: Nice! What else do you have planned 👀😏

Katie: Not sure, I told him I'd help him wrap it. Figured we'd pick up dinner. Idk I haven't planned it too much.

Megan: Yes, please help him wrap it. 😆

Katie: What's that supposed to mean?

Megan: Make sure he wraps his 🍆

Katie: I'm sorry, did David steal your phone? Where is Megan and what have you done with her?

________________

“So you have any idea what she may want us to do?” Benny readjusted his baseball cap, flipping it backward as he and Santiago walked over to Melissa's.

“Just vaguely, some stuff in the backyard, I don't know the specifics.”

“Hmpf.”

“What?” Santiago countered with a pointed tone.

“Just, you're not one to jump at the chance to get your hands dirty. It's one thing to help us because we force you, but it's something else for you to do it willingly.”

“I'm trying to be nice. Besides, who knows? Could be fun…I had a lot of fun fixing up your place. It was nice for us all to…I don't know, be together again. Working on something and seeing it come together.”

This admission made Benny stop in his tracks. “Damn, Pope…that's…really nice, man. It's nice to hear you say that,” his face softened, one of the corners of his mouth curling up as he reached for Santiago's shoulder.

Santiago gave a forced smile before clearing his throat, “ok, enough with the sappy shit. Let's go.”

Santiago rang the doorbell and the door flew open a few seconds later. Melissa was all smiles, although Benny noticed her head slightly cock to the side at one point when Santiago turned his neck and his hickey was visible. 

It was a rather quick consultation. She had a blank canvas to work with in her backyard. Benny brought his notebook and quickly started to sketch a few ideas down which she loved. They went back and forth a bit, Benny drawing and erasing several times since she was a bit indecisive as to the placement of a few things. They finally landed on a couple of flower beds, some rockwork, and a few palm trees. Nothing too elaborate. They reasoned it would take a couple of weekends to do at most.

“Can I keep this Benny? I'll show Danny when he gets home this weekend and then we can start. Maybe next week?” 

“Yeah, of course, wanna take a picture of it on your phone? May be easier to have a digital copy.”

“Oh yeah, sure.” She snapped a couple of photos of the pages in his notebook. “Well, thank you boys again. I'll uh…see you around.” And with that, she politely ushered them out, closing the door a bit forcefully.

Benny waited until they were well down the block before he broke the silence. “Damn, she's maaad at you.”

“Huh?”

“Dude, she barely looked at you. It's the most she and I have ever talked. Your little friend there seemed to rattle her,” he gestured towards Santiago's neck. 

Santiago shook it off, “Nah. I think you're reading into it.” Wanting to change the subject, he quickly transitioned to asking what Benny and Will were up to this evening.

“Will's hanging with Katie and Connor is coming over to watch some fights with me. Wanna help?’

“Sure. Yeah, sounds good.”

___________________

When Will arrived back from his shift, Benny and Santiago were on the couch playing a video game. Well, Benny was playing, Santiago was cursing up a storm, annoyed that he couldn’t beat Benny. Will was a little surprised to see Santiago still there, but the two seemed to be having fun, despite Santiago’s frustration. Laughing to himself, Will went down the hall to his bedroom, deciding to check in on Frankie before he got ready.

Will: How's uncle life treating you?

Frankie sent a couple of photos. One of him and Antonio all smiles at a Rangers game wearing matching shirts and the other of him lying on the ground of Valeria’s living room with Leia crawling all over him with the biggest smile across his face.

Frankie: So fun. They're great, you'd love them.

Frankie: How's Ben?

Will: Eh, he's ok. He's been training and tonight he's going to watch some of the guy's fights 

Frankie: Benny? Watching film? Holy shit, if Coach Montoya could see him now.

Will: No shit right?

Will: Well, hey, I don't want to keep you. I'm glad you're having fun. Give the kids a kiss and tell Vale and Lys I said hi.

Once he was showered and dressed, Will walked back into the living room, a soccer game now on the TV.

“Ok, ah…don't wait up for me,” Will smirked as he grabbed the keys off the hook and checked to make sure he had his wallet and phone. 

“Oh don't worry we won't, you kids have fun tonight,” Santiago winked.

Will tried to quickly, but nonchalantly leave before his brother could make a smartass comment. Unfortunately for him, Benny was too quick and managed to make a joke about not being a fool and wrapping his tool. Will rolled his eyes and walked out the door, hand raised in the air giving his brother the finger as he closed the door.

Truth be told, it has been a while since Will had sex. He was confident in his abilities, thanks to years of practice, but Katie was different. She wasn’t some random hookup, she was someone he could see a relationship with – the problem was he wasn’t quite sure what type of relationship that would be. He pushed aside that thought and got in his Jeep for the quick drive down the block. 

When he parked, Katie was already walking out the door, ready to hop in and go. She looked effortlessly beautiful, her hair up in a ponytail with a baseball cap on. Will recognized her leggings, it seemed she had a lot of the same style just in different colors. Practical, he reasoned. She paired them with an oversized Star Wars-themed T-shirt. It was from the newer stuff Will wasn't as familiar with.

“Hey, thanks for picking me up,” she said as she climbed into the Jeep, reaching over to give him a quick hug, which he reciprocated. She breathed in his scent, which smelled like Irish Spring soap.

“Course. You're the one helping me after all,” he pulled back slightly and smiled, his hand lingering on her back just a beat before he let go and returned to face forward to put the car in reverse. “You have a good day?” He turned around looking out the rear window, one hand on the back of her headrest as he reversed out of the driveway.

“Not bad, halfway through the week so that's exciting. How about you?”

“Good, easy. Had an early volunteer shift this morning.”

“Ooo how was CVS? Pick up anything exciting?”

He laughed. “No, Mr. Andrews switched it up today and wanted to go to Walgreens.”

Katie exaggeratedly gasped, “Whaaat? No way! Look at him coming out of his shell.” She smiled as they continued their small talk on the short drive over to Target.

As they walked up to the store Will slightly turned and pointed at her shirt, “I gotta ask, who's on your shirt.”

She stopped walking. “Wait. Are you serious? I thought you were a Star Wars fan.”

Will smirked. “I am, of the original stuff. I haven't really paid attention to anything recent.”

“You don't…you haven't watched The Mandalorian? Isn't Boba Fett your favorite?” She pointed to the tattoo on Will’s forearm.

“Mandalorian…that's the one with baby Yoda right?”

Katie dramatically clutched both hands to her chest. “His name…is Grogu.”

Will laughed as he grabbed a cart, leading the way to the toy section. 

“The Mandalorian is seriously so cool, you'd love it,” she knocked her shoulder into his. “We should watch it!” She offered with a hopeful smile.

“Yeah ok, I'm willing to give it a shot since it comes so highly recommended. I trust you,” he smirked.

She gave him a quick smile and returned her gaze ahead, but he could still see her smiling out of the corner of his eye. When they reached the toy aisle, Katie went through a bunch of different options. Will was adamant about finding something different for each of the boys, figuring they each had their own distinct personalities and interests. 

Katie knew one of the boys was really into card tricks, so Will picked out a magic set. The other was obsessed with Fortnite, something Will knew absolutely nothing about. Luckily, Katie's best friend at work had a son about the same age who was equally as obsessed with it, so she knew enough to navigate the selection. She also texted Olivia to make sure the boys didn’t already have what they picked out. Will was thankful for her due diligence since they were able to make a quick swap. Apparently, David and Ty had already bought one of the items Will picked out.

The pair was efficient, a little too efficient. Will didn’t want their trip to end. He was having fun just walking up the aisles, so he suggested a loop through the store. It was surprising to him to see all the random stuff that ended up finding its way into the cart. He reasoned it had something to do with the fluorescent lights or some subliminal messaging in the soft rock playing through the store’s speakers. It gave him flashbacks to his fiance who could not be trusted inside a Target by herself for fear she'd buy the whole damn store. 

It was amusing to see how excited Katie got over the most mundane things. She smelled nearly every new scent of hand soaps and she went absolutely giddy over these fabric bird figurines donned in various themed outfits. But what Will enjoyed most was seeing her smile. Based on the limited knowledge he had about her recent past, it sounded like she hadn’t had much to smile about.

When they reached the checkout, Katie emptied the cart putting all of her stuff down followed by the birthday gifts. She slid a divider between the two sets of items.

“What’re doing?” He furrowed his brows, reaching for the divider and putting it back. 

“It's so the cashier knows whose stuff is whose silly. You really don't do a lot of shopping huh?”

Will rolled his eyes, “I know what that thing means, but no I'm taking care of it.” He started to reach for his wallet.

“What? No I…”

“I insist,” he cut her off. “This…has been a lot of fun and you saved my ass by texting Liv. Please? I want to.”

She sighed, resigned to the fact that she wasn't going to convince him. “Fine. Under two conditions.”

“Shoot,” he smirked, leaning forward onto the cart’s handles. He was amused at how quickly she folded.

“One. I get dinner. You keep that in your pants,” she motioned towards the wallet in his pocket. There were a couple of teenagers in line behind them who started giggling since all they could see was Katie pointing to Will’s pants. “Fuck,” she brought her palm to her forehead. “You know what I mean.”

“I do,” he laughed, putting his hands in his pockets. “Ok, go on, what's the second condition.”

“I get to name him Will,” she picked up one of the fabric bird figurines and held it to Will. The bird was decked out in the stars and stripes, fitting for the upcoming Fourth of July holiday. 

He rolled his eyes and chuckled, “Sure, Kat.”

___________________

“Is pepperoni ok?” Benny looked between Santiago and Connor to confirm before placing his delivery order.

“Yeah that works for me,” Santiago nodded.

“Thanks, Benny,” Connor chimed in.

“‘Course. Thanks for helping me scout the competition,” he winked. 

After placing the order Benny went to the kitchen to grab a few cans of soda. He placed the assortment on the coffee table and Santiago quickly grabbed coasters for them all, knowing how annoyed Will would be by rings on his coffee table. Benny was about to sit down when he realized he had forgotten something and ran back to his room. He emerged a few moments later with his trusty notebook in his hand and a pencil.

“Ok, I'm ready now!” He plopped down on the couch.

“You're taking notes?” Santiago looked over a bit confused. 

“Yeah…you used to take notes when we'd get briefed on missions, what's so different?” Benny countered. 

“You're right Benny, sorry. So…where's this guy from?”

“Well, I looked him up and he's from Queens.” Connor offered as he queued up the first video.

At the mention, Santiago perked up, “The guy's from New York?” Connor nodded, looking at Benny confused. “What's his name again?”

“Uh, Omar Assarian.”

Benny side-eyed Santiago, “What, you know this guy?”

“No, I don't, but I may know people who do. I mean, I did grow up in New York so, I dunno let me see.” Santiago started typing away at his phone as Benny nodded to Connor to start the video. 

They intently watched the fight and then another and then another. Benny would ask Connor to pause the video every now and again so he could take some notes. He keyed Connor into some of Omar's strengths and weaknesses along the way, noting that the man had great footwork, which made sense given his boxing background.

“You think you can beat him Benny?” Santiago cut in.

“I think so. As long as I can get him to the ground and off his feet. Not really looking to get punched in the face by a boxer if I can help it.”

“I guess I never asked, do you have like a specialty or something?” Connor asked, taking a bite of his pizza. 

“I'm good at a lot of things,” Benny laughed to himself. “Uh, I started off as a wrestler, it was one of the sports I did in high school. So I'm good at submissions I guess, and grappling. I also learned Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu which helps with the submissions. MMA to me is like…a game of chess. I know you see all of these kicks and punches and shit, and I can do that too, but there's something about finding that…weakness in an opponent and just exploiting it. That’s what I like the most.”

________________

“There, all set,” Katie smiled as she finished curling the ribbon of the last gift she wrapped. She looked over to Will, who was sitting cross-legged next to her on the floor of her craft room. 

His eyes softened when they met hers, the corners of his mouth perking up. “Perfect. Thank you, I uh…couldn't have done it without you.” She looked down and brushed his compliment aside, starting to pick up the scraps of wrapping paper and ribbon. “Besides, if I'd gone with Ben, we'd probably still be in the toy section,” he laughed. “We would have come home with a bunch of shit. I didn't realize there were so many different kinds of Nerf guns. Lil Bean would have lost his damn mind if he had that many options as a kid.” He chuckled, relieved to see her laughing.

“Wait…Lil Bean?” She furrowed her eyebrows, clearly wanting Will to fill her in on the apparent nickname.

“Ha, yea that's what we called him growing up. Joel really is the only one who still calls him that consistently, I guess because he's the one who came up with it,” he chuckled, clearly reminiscing on some fond memories. “Benny has always been tall and lanky, like a string bean.”

“Aww…poor Benny!” She stuck out her bottom lip.

“Ha it's ok, he ended up kinda liking the name. I think if I came up with it, it wouldn't have gone over so well.” He got up offering her his hand to stand up. “But since it was Joel’s idea he ended up coming around.”

“So, you're close with your cousins then?” She asked, her hand lingering in his just a beat longer than she intended before dropping it to quickly gather up the presents.

“Uh yeah, Joel and Tommy are basically our brothers too. And then once Frankie moved down the street we were a starting five,” he laughed, following her out of the room and back to the living room.

“Where does Santiago fall in?”

“Pope? Oh, I met him during basic training. He was my battle buddy,” she gave him a confused look, “we couldn't go anywhere on base alone, we had to travel in pairs. The two of us got assigned to each other and I guess I've been stuck with him since,” he laughed.

Katie observed Will’s demeanor. He was so much more relaxed and at ease when he talked about the guys. His bright blue eyes seemed to shimmer. It was clear to her that he cherished those he held close. 

“Aw that's cute, you two make a nice pair,” she winked, sitting down on the couch. She turned on the TV and started to click buttons on the remote.

“Oh please don't tell him that,” Will groaned. 

“It's so sweet that you guys have each other.” She looked over and smiled.

Will noticed her smile didn't quite reach her eyes, it was a bit guarded, a brief wave of sadness washing over her before she pushed it away. He recognized the behavior since it was something he did too. He didn’t say anything right away, letting her navigate the menu on her screen, queuing up the show.

He cleared his throat, “You have people too, right? Megan? The rest of the neighbors?”

She looked over at him with a tight smile, “Yeah. Yeah, they’ve been great. Honestly, if I didn’t have Megan…” she trailed off, shaking her head and taking a deep breath before she looked over at him. She was met with a warmth in his eyes, something she’d grown to seek. It made her feel seen. “And at work, I have Miranda. She was my first real friend when I moved down here, you’d like her she’s awesome.”

He tentatively reached his hand to her thigh, keeping an eye on her reaction, before giving her a reassuring squeeze. “Well, you have me too…ahem, and the guys. You need anything, we’re here, y’know that right?”

She put her hand on top of his, returning the squeeze. “Yeah. Thanks, Will. I appreciate that, hasn’t always been the case.”

“Look, ah, I…if you don’t want to talk about it that’s cool, but I’m here if you do.” He rubbed the back of his neck, hoping she picked up on the subject he was referring to.

“Thanks. I won’t bore you with the story, it’s not really that exciting,” she said with a tight smile. 

“It’s your…reality. I don’t find that boring.”

She turned towards him, one knee tucked up on the couch. She took a deep breath. “Things started off well. Seb was charming and swept me off my feet,” she started to fidget looking down at her hands. “But as time went on, I felt like my interests mattered less and less. It was small comments here or there, but it eventually became more frequent…like, I don’t know…like I was annoying him with the things I got excited about…So eventually I just either stopped doing those things or I’d do them in secret.”  

“You sound a lot like Benny,” he gave a small smile once her eyes met his. “His ex was like that. It was like living with our dad again. She really wore him down.” 

“Can I ask how?” 

Will cleared his throat, turning to face Katie, their knees touching as he rested his arm on the back of the couch. “Benny’s a good man. He’s a talented kid in so many ways. Good at everything, it’s actually kind of annoying sometimes,” he chuckled. “He just…finds something and suddenly he’s great at it. Happened with baseball…wrestling…the army. He was one of the most elite snipers in the whole force. He could do all of these crazy calculations in his head in seconds and was super accurate. It’s one of the reasons his call sign was Ace.”

“Wow, I didn’t realize all of that.”

“Yeah, he doesn’t like to talk about it. Don’t ever call him Ace,” he cautioned before continuing. “We’ve ah…we’ve had to do some pretty bad stuff, stuff we aren’t always the most proud of. It’s weighed on him over the years, on all of us really…” Will trailed off, realizing he had already said more than he should have. The guys all tried to be as vague as they could when it came to their military service.

“Hey, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to but if you do I’m here,” Katie squeezed his hand.

“Thanks, Kat,” he smiled, before continuing. “For as talented as he is athletically, he’s just as talented with creative stuff. Hell, he may be even more talented when it comes to that. In his heart, he’s an artist. He draws, sings, plays guitar. He had this dream when we were younger of being a comic book artist. He’d draw these little cartoons for me, all of these elaborate stories that somehow were all connected, I don’t know how he did it,” Will laughed. “But one day our dad found his notebook and lost his shit.”

Katie tilted her head, her forehead creasing, “why?”

Will took a deep breath, “Oh, it’s complicated. But I think at the core, our dad had this vision for Ben. Pro scouts were coming to watch him play baseball before he got to high school. Basically, our dad saw anything that wasn’t revolved around sports as a waste of time. Our dad is, uh, competitive. And he took a lot of pride in the fact that his boy was a prodigy.”

“How’d that make you feel?”

“Me?” Will was caught off guard. He’d never had anyone ask him that before. “Um, I guess…I think I felt a lot of things. A little jealous, I guess. I had to work my ass off to be halfway decent at anything and Ben didn’t even have to try it seemed. But I also wanted to protect him. I saw how excited he got when it came to stuff like drawing and music, it made him happy. Like really happy. Our mom supported him as much as she could. They had a little hiding spot where she’d stash some notebooks and colored pencils and stuff for him. But my dad found it one day and threw it all in the trash. Shit, he all but set it on fire before I stepped in. Stuff at home got kinda bad after that which is why I left the second I could. I always felt a little guilty I guess, leaving Benny there by himself.”

“Is that why he enlisted? To get out of a bad situation too?”

“I think it was kind of a fuck you to our dad. He turned down a full-ride scholarship to play baseball at Texas and a contract to play in the minors. Our dad didn’t talk to him for months. Benny would call home, and if Dad answered he’d immediately give the phone to Mom. But, eventually, Benny did what Benny does and he excelled. Once he got handpicked for Delta Force, our dad started to change his tune.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah…took years for their relationship to get to a halfway decent place. I think that’s why Benny has always had a soft spot for Joel. In many ways, Joel was more like a dad to him than ours was.”

“How about you and your dad?”

“Eh, it’s…complicated. The way he treated us…our mom, it’s…not how I’d do things, I’ll say that much.”

“Well, you are your own person,” she offered her hand again to him, rubbing circles on the back of his hand. “I can see how much you love your brother and your friends. They’re lucky to have you. You’re a good man too, Will.”

Will sat quietly for a moment, his eyes sought Katie’s. He felt a warmth cascade over him. Even though he was sharing a lot about Benny, his own past was wrapped up in so much of it. Opening up like this took months with his VA therapist, but Katie listened without judgment, and with genuine curiosity.

“Sorry, I kind of unloaded all of that,” he chuckled. “I guess it’s not really something I think about a lot.” 

“I hear you on that,” her eyebrows shot up, a sarcastic grin on her face.

“So what were the things you kept from your ex?” 

Katie was a bit caught off guard that Will turned the conversation back to her, she hoped that he’d get distracted by his own story and forget. She should have known better, Will was too considerate of a guy to dominate a conversation.

“Oh ah...I guess a lot of the little projects I came up with. I’ve always really loved interior design. That’s what I thought I wanted to go into when I was younger. I wanted to design houses that would end up in magazines, y’know?”

“What changed your mind?”

“I have the misfortune of being good at math,” her sarcastic tone made Will laugh. “When it came time to look at colleges, my parents really wanted me to pursue a business degree. I think my dad got a kick out of me potentially following in his footsteps. I know they didn’t mean it, but they kind of always made my design stuff seem like my little side hobby rather than something I could really do. Hell, I helped my mom redesign parts of our house when I was in high school.”

“What happened when you got to college?”

“I kept collecting photos and notes of design ideas. My college dorm room looked so nice, I had people coming to me to help them with theirs. I had like an unofficial side business,” she laughed. “Then when I graduated and I was off on my own I finally had a place to make how I wanted. And then I met Seb…” she trailed off, clearing her throat. “I eventually moved into his place. He was…particular about his space so I didn’t really feel like it was mine. I felt like a visitor. Which is why I was so excited when we finally started looking at houses. He told me I could do whatever I wanted.”

“So did you?”

“Ah, yes and no. I wanted him to feel comfortable in the space, so I’d ask questions here and there to gauge what he liked and didn’t like. He’d make…I don’t know, little comments about how something looked stupid or was a waste of time. He also wasn’t handy at all so I had to do it all myself. I guess I eventually stopped caring.” She looked down, fidgeting again with her hands.

“But you have this place, right?” He gave her a small smile, motioning to the space around them. “You can make this into whatever you want.”

“Yeah. It’s an overwhelming thought, but … I don’t know, exciting too.” She looked around.

“Hey, how about instead of watching this,” he motioned to the television, which had moved to a screensaver due to the lack of activity, “we talk about your ideas for the kitchen? We can come up with a plan for the projects you have in mind.”

A big smile came across Katie’s face, excited that Will was genuinely interested in hearing what grand plans she had for the space and that he was willing to help.

Next Time on As the Mule Falls: We pick up where we left off with Will and Katie. Frankie returns home to Tampa (for real this time, I need to get him back to Florida for…reasons). The Neighborhood Watch descends upon the local skating rink for a party that’s sure to be the best in the galaxy. 

A/N: Hello! Apologies for the delay in getting this chapter out! How do we feel about Katie and Will? Melissa was a bit salty about Santiago – do you think they’ll talk about it or avoid each other? 

Thank you so much for reading and supporting this story. Some of these storylines are starting to come together and I’m excited about where we’re going!

Taglist: @goodwithcheese / @gemmahale / @trulybetty / @patti7dc / @periodtsparadox / @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin / @maggiemayhemnj / @mysterious-moonstruck-musings / @avastrasposts / @meveispunk / @chaoticfestninja / @beboldbebravethings / @casa-boiardi / @katw474 / @linzels-blog / @laughing-in-th3-purple-rain / @pimosworld / @lynnchun / @anoverwhelmingdin /@lilmizmoz / @pedrit0-pascalit0 / @titlee78 / @noisynightmarepoetry / @inept-the-magnificent / @perennialdoll247 / @for-a-longlongtime / @readingiskeepingmegoing / @harriedandharassed / @musings-of-a-rose / @anavatazes / @sherala007 / @midnightraain / @partyofone3414 / @inthedarkestnight / @millennial-teenybopper / @csarab615 / @darkheartgatita / @southernboyfan / @weho2kcmo / @itspdameronthings

[ruggiethethuggie]

R U G T O B E R

wc: 781 a/n: i'm telling you now, I may fall short on this but we will do our best lmao and idk what happened to my cute banner. forgive me.

“♪♪ Spooky Scary Skeletons, Send shivers down your spine~”

You had been cleaning around the Ramshackle dorm all day because to be honest, it just needed more TLC than what you had been able to give it lately. It was the last day of September, but this was just the beginning of your real spooky season.

Every year you’d do a deep clean and then decorate your home in festive decorations. Bright green and purple witches’ hats and cauldrons, a bucket on every table with Halloween candies, and your favorite ghosts and pumpkins placed in just the right spots.

Decorating Ramshackle felt different than when you’d do your house back home, but you were trying to make the best of it since this was your favorite holiday. So you woke up this morning and immediately got to work and turned on your spooky music playlist after breakfast.

DING DONG !

You stopped in your tracks, trying to figure out why on earth someone would be here this early- and on the weekend nonetheless. You tossed your cleaning rag onto the couch and opened the front door. 

“Hi, I have some pumpkin spice drinks for-,” they acted like they were reading a nonexistent label on the two drinks in their hands. “For a Y/N? Do you know them? They’re still supposed to tip me for these~”

The hyena beastman standing in your doorway gave a fangy grin as he handed you one of the drinks. “Rug, what are you doing here? Do you realize how early it is?” You stepped aside so he could come inside the dorm.

“Mmph,” he said with a nod as he drank his drink and plopped down on the couch, scooting the dirty cleaning rag away from him with his hand. He placed his drink on the coffee table, making sure he was using the coasters sitting out.

“I mean, yeah, I know what time it is. It’s spooky time.” You rolled your eyes at him and chuckled. “Okay, sure, but why not come over later? It’s like the crack ass of dawn right now,” you said as you leaned over the back of the couch next to him. “What? You don’t want my help? Aren’t you putting up your decorations today? Sure looks like you could use me. Y’know I used to work for a Spirit Halloween one time. It was a seasonal gig, but this guy was the one in charge of putting up all the displays.” 

He looked so proud of himself as he spoke; he was so happy to share his Halloween decoration accomplishments with you. “Oh, wow~” you said sarcastically. “You mean I’m here with a world renowned Halloween decorating connoisseur? And to think I go to the same school as them! Amazing…”

“Alright, butthead. I guess I’ll just leave then.” He got up from the couch and grabbed his drink. “Ahhh, guess all those… fun… fall ideas I had can go down the drain…,” he said in a sulking tone as he took a few steps towards the door before turning back to look at you.

“Don’t give me those eyes, you heathen.” You playfully glared at him, racking your brain to figure out his silly little schemes. “What kind of ‘fun fall ideas’ are you talking about?”

“Oh… it’s nothing. Nothing you wanna go do with me anyways. Guess I’ll have to find another to enjoy this Rugtober with.” He had his hand on the doorknob and a wide grin on his face as he looked at you. He knew what he was doing.

“Rugtober? What the hell is that?” you chuckled as you put your drink down and grabbed your cleaning rag once again.

“Uhh?! Only the best time of the year- and if you wanna join, you have to get a ticket from yours truly.”

You narrowed your eyes at him again and crossed your arms over your chest. “What’s the ticket gonna cost me?”

Ruggie opened the door and took another big sip of his drink. “Where’s the fun in me telling you? I’ll see you tomorrow, at the crack ass of dawn again, shyeheehee~”

“HEY?!” you shouted to him, his head popping back in before the door shut completely. “You’re just gonna leave? I thought you came to help decorate?!”

Ruggie looked around and snickered. “You look like you got it taken care of, Y/N. Seee youuu tomorrroowwwww~,” he sang as the door shut. You stood there and wondered what plans this “Rugtober” season would bring to you. At least this stupid pumpkin drink he brought you was going to fuel you through your cleaning, but you couldn’t help but wonder what he was scheming.

© Pumpkin Divider | please do not copy and or repost my work as your own, my brain is massive and these are my thoughts.

[xoxoalette]

ALSO!!!! Any ideal wedding inspo for the twins mayhaps?? I know me and Education Alert only have $20 to our name, but I’ll make it work 💪😼

EDUCATION ALERT LMAOOOO

Answer is under read more cause it’s kinda long

Hmmm… Diva actually— I don’t see getting married? Or at least not the traditional marriage. If her partner wanted one, she’d just go with what they’ve planned. But that doesn’t mean she’s NOT romantic.

I imagine it’s more of— the two of you driving around a new city, on a road trip together, in a rented convertible with the rooftop down, listening to your guys’ favorite music on the radio. It’s night time with the city lights on, and you both are either heading back from having fun all day or heading to have more night fun at wherever. I think she’d talk about how much fun she’s always having with you, and that she wishes it can be like this for the rest of your lives. And when she brings out the ring,

It’s a little silly, but they’re still really cute— matching rings. Like I’ve said before, she’s not the traditional kind of girl that wants to get married, but she would still confess her love and her want to stay committed to you— she just wouldn’t care for the whole ceremony thing. I also think she’d do this if you guys were dating for like 3 years.

Here’s some photos to fit the vibes

As for Eddie? Id say he wouldn’t see himself getting married since he’s never really… thought of himself in a relationship before either. It’s all still very new to him. But if you were together for 5 years, yeah— he wouldn’t mind getting hitched.

I think Eddie would want it to be perfect, but since he has NO idea what he’s doing? He’d either let you do most of the planning OR he’d base it off the pictures and stories of his parents’ wedding.

His parents’ wedding in his eyes is the most ideal because his parents are still very much in love and happy with one another. Their wedding also fits a lot of his preferences; small and intimate, nothing flashy or expensive.

Still, he’d want it to be perfect for the both of you— so if you have any changes you want to be made, you guys will figure something out.

I imagine the rings he has are actually his grandparents’ rings, that his grandpa passed down to him when he heard his eldest grandchild was ready to settle down. They’re simple and not that grand, but it holds a lot of sentiment for Eddie. (Yours would be his grandma’s on the left, his is the one on the right :) )

And the wedding would look something like this, in a church with his family and friends and yours. (I like the decorations of one and two, but the vibes of the third pic)

Nothing too crazy, just you and him— all your loved ones, and even though he isn’t religious, part of him doesn’t mind having some higher being watching over them on their special day. It’ll certainly give him a chance to thank god for allowing him the chance to finally love and be with the only person he’d ever imagine himself with.

This is what he’d wear (in this shade or a dark grey— loid looking ass)

[bonefall]

I am a very normal person who gave her real life cats warrior names, and now I am being a very normal person who spends her lunch break translating them into Clanmew:

Owlberry: Huobayab. Huo (eagle owl) + bayab (blackberry/brambles). She’s a big, fluffy, mostly dark brown cat who is motherly and protective but can definitely be very prickly, so I think it fits well. Her real name is Cheesecake.

Batwhisker: Fepfr’hussk. Fepfr (long eared brown bat) + hussk (whisker). The first thing I said upon seeing him, an eight week old bundle of rage, was “Oh my GOD his EARS” so I love this. He’s a tuxedo with big ears and BIG whiskers. His real name is Junior Bacon Cheeseburger. Fun fact: nothing is legally stopping you from naming a cat Junior Bacon Cheeseburger.

Poppyfang: Liafiki. Liafi (poppy) + ki (fang). She’s a calico and her real name is Poptart. This sounds very dainty and pretty which is very accurate to the real cat.

Turtlecloud: this is where I need help; is there a Clanmew word for Turtle yet? Google tells me they’re not native to Britain which genuinely surprised me. Of the introduced species I found on Wikipedia, she vaguely resembles the European pond turtle, she’s a dark tortie with a few specks of very bright orange. Her suffix will be -hai (fat cloud) because good lord she is a fat little cloud. Her real name is Ginger, and she is Poptart’s wikffra.

Hazelsnap: Her prefix was originally meant to reference hazelnuts, but after searching the spreadsheet I love Geehees- (hazel slender moth) for her, because it looks pointy and weird, and the real cat was the pointiest and weirdest animal I ever met, plus she was very small and flighty like a moth. I referenced my silly nickname for her, based on the noise she used to make, to invent the word “grecc”— the “ekh” noise cats make when you startle them, the Activation Noise, a sudden surprise. Geehees’grecc. Her real name was Hazel Grace/Grecc and she has since gone to walk in Starclan, and is squinting at me judgmentally even as I type.

It is such a shame that mainline WC doesn't do more with the idea of a cat carrying multiple names, unironically they should have taken inspiration from Cats: The Musical for that. You are doing the lord's work by sharing the kittypet names, love it

I'll give you two new words plus related terms, just to get a Clanmew phrase for hazel trees out there, though I'd absolutely keep Hazelsnap's prefix as Geehees because that's perfect.

Turtle = Ooba

Turtles are an invasive species in the UK, you're correct! They are released as a product of the pet trade, where they can wreak havoc on water ecosystems. They tend to like ponds and lakes more than rivers, though.

So it's usually ShadowClan that's encountering them, and they have a FAVORITE use for the little guys... their shells make perfect soup bowls.

The word for "Turtle" and the word for "Bowl" are the same. A bowl of turtle soup is an Ooba-en-Soogwa Ooba (Bowl/Turtle-of-Soup Bowl/Turtle). Turtle shells are also valued as decorative dishes, almost like our idea of 'fine china.' It's a morbid joke in ShadowClan that the first food a bowl holds is the turtle that it used to be.

(I need to come up with some kind of phrase similar to "having your own ass handed to you" but it's "Being served in your own shell." "He made you into the bowl AND the soup")

Stumptail's daughter Turtlebelly in Clanmew is Oobaboma. Bowl-Belly.

Unfortunately for Clan cats but FORTUNATELY for the ecosystem, there aren't any turtles in the Lake territory. Not ones that breed, anyway, ShadowClan has immediately killed the 2 or 3 irresponsible releases that have occurred in the past 10 years since they've been here.

Hazel (Corylus avellana) = Ans

One of the most important trees for Clan use. It's a small, thin-wooded plant that makes the PERFECT size for harvest. It's the wood that WindClan tends to use to reinforce tunnels, it's supple and strong enough for use in building, and produces helpful "cob" nuts that can be used as a prey lure.

In BB, Hazeltail's name, her whippy tail like a hazel branch, and young wisdom were taken as a sign that she would one day be a fantastic builder. Since she's not dead in this AU she is going to be rising through the ranks there.

Most Clans don't have a particular word for Hazelnuts. They call them Nekboq Ans. ThunderClan, however, uses them as prey lures on a frequent basis. They call them Ansneb, and it is part of a 3-stem verb "to lure."

Lured/Luring/Will Lure = Ansnebok/Ansnebo/Ansneb

As a prefix in a name, Ansneb is best translated as "Cob" or "Hazelnut," but based on context can mean "alluring," "tempting," or "bait."

[enchantedchocolatebars]

Good Omens Chibi Headcanons (Aziraphale And Crowley) [Part 2: Chibi Crowley]

😈 Original headcanons 😈

😈 Ao3 version 😈

Part 1 (original) is here.

Ao3 Part 1 is here.

Updated Tumblr part 1 is here.

Part 3 (original) is here.

Ao3 part 3 is here.

Updated Tumblr part 3 is here.

(*Takes place during Season 1*)

• Okay, so imagine Crowley, right? He’s a lot cuter, smaller, more mischievous, hyper, and is 10 times more dramatic. That’s Chibi Crowley in a nutshell.

• Chibi Crowley thinks that Crowley is the coolest demon ever!

• Chibi Crowley views Crowley as a role model figure.

• Because he sees him as a role model, Chibi Crowley will try and emulate almost everything Crowley does. (Yes, that includes his walk.)

• Chibi Crowley likes that he’s allowed to sit in the front of the Bentley whenever he and Crowley go somewhere so as long as he agrees to buckle up.

• Speaking of the black car, Chibi Crowley sees and treats the Bentley as a person and friend. It was just such a great car to him! He loves how Bent (yes, he gave it the nickname Bent) is able to take him and Crowley wherever they need to go with style and speed!

• When it’s parked, Chibi Crowley likes to hop on top of the hood of the car and pretend to be driving it, making car driving sound effects.

• Chibi Crowley is an excited, squealing, happy, laughing mess when Crowley speeds 90 miles per hour in Central London. The little guy just LOVES it when his big counterpart goes fast! He also loves it when Crowley speeds past other cars because he always thought that he and Crowley were in a race and they were the ones who were winning! He’d go up to the window and make silly faces at drivers as if saying, “Na-na na boo-boo! You can’t beat us!”

• If Crowley is in the mood, I can see the two of them going on a lot of little road trips together.

• One of Chibi Crowley’s favorite things to do with Crowley when they’re driving around in the Bentley is lip-sync to Crowley's "Best of Queen" tape. It’s a fun, goofy platonic bonding experience for the both of them. And trust me, when they lip sync together in the car to Queen, they are so EXTRA about it. They even go as far as making up their own little choreographed dance for some songs. Is the dancing good? Not really, it’s actually quite dorky. But hey, they’re having fun being dorks.

• Their drama queen meters rise up incredibly high when "Bohemian Rhapsody" starts playing. The passion and extraness they put into the lip-syncing is too funny.

• When the music ends, the two can’t help but laugh at themselves. Crowley will ask Chibi Crowley if he would like to do it again for a 12th time, to which the chibi replies by nodding his head.

• The tiny demon really likes it when Crowley shows off his more fun side in the car. He’s glad to have a goofy snake friend like him.

• Their little road trips would usually end the same way. Crowley would be driving at night to his apartment and Chibi Crowley would be in the passenger seat sleeping. On the radio, the song that would be playing is “Pale Blue Eyes” by Velvet Underground. It was one of Crowley’s favorites, and the slow calming music was used to keep Chibi Crowley asleep until they returned to the flat.

• Chibi Crowley loves being roommates with Crowley!

• As soon as Crowley would arrive home, you’ll see Chibi Crowley in his snake form quickly slithering over to the other demon in excitement as Crowley opens up his hand for the little snake to crawl on. The chibi would then go straight to biting his finger. He’d be all like, “Om nom nom!”. It was his strange way of saying, ‘Hello, hi, yes, I missed you. Welcome back home.’ Since the biting didn’t really hurt him due to Chibi Crowley being the size of a tiny baby snake, Crowley didn’t mind. He found it endearing in a way.

• Chibi Crowley absolutely adores gummy snakes! He loved the chewiness! His favorite part had to be their heads. He just loved biting them right off! Crowley got a kick out of tempting and enticing his chibi with them. The serpant shaped gummies were also a great way to keep Chibi Crowley occupied while he was away.

• When the houseplants heard the news that there was another demon living in the flat, they were beyond terrified! One demon was already a challenge, BUT TWO?! Just the thought made them shiver in fear. As the plants prepared themselves to meet the EVIL, TERRIFYING, fiend, they see him and…oh. He…wasn’t as they imagined him to be. He was…small. Tiny. And…REALLY CUTE! The plants all thought that Chibi Crowley was the cutest, munchkin ever! The little demon had a problem with that. He didn’t want the plants to find him cute, he wanted them to fear him as much as they did Crowley. Time for him to install that fear into them, and that meant being mean. He would constantly glare, hiss, and yell at the plants in chibi gibberish to 'Grow better!’, but despite all of that, the plants only found him to be even more cute, which irritated him.

• Him and Crowley visit a reptile museum together, mainly to observe and check out all the cool-looking snakes there.

• Chibi Crowley somehow finds a way inside one of the snake vivariums and is amazed by all the different types of snakes he sees.

• The snakes don’t really react when they see Chibi Crowley, they just keep doing their thing. In their brains, they think, 'It’s just another snake, but... with legs, hair, and sunglasses? Odd.’

• Chibi Crowley will happily pet the snakes. Their scales have a smooth texture.

• He and the snakes are sticking their tongues at each other.

• The chibi demon sits on top of the back of a green boa. He gives the snake a loving hug, but it does not react to the affection. Instead, it slithers around and gives Chibi Crowley a sort of piggyback ride.

• When Chibi Crowley goes full serpent, he is at one with the snakes. Aaa, he loves them all! The tiny redhead wishes Crowley would allow him to take the snakes back home to the apartment, so that they could become his new pets.

• Him and Crowley both have fun scaring annoying people away using their shape-shifting abilities.

• Crowley creates for his chibi a tiny miniature wine glass so that he has something to drink wine out of.

• The bigger demon also creates a remote controlled 1934 black Bentley toy car for his chibi as a little demonic gift. The car looked almost identical to his. Chibi Crowley’s reaction to was that of a young child who had just received the present they’ve been asking for all year on Christmas, which meant lots of over-the-top squealing and rapidly saying thank you. Finally, Chibi Crowley will get to sit in the driver’s seat for once! He gets inside the vehicle and Crowley uses the controller to accelerate the car. It starts zooming all over the place! Chibi Crowley loves his sweet new ride!

• Chibi Crowley plans on taking Chibi Aziraphale on a drive with him someday in the toy car.

• Chibi Crowley and Crowley’s relationship is a mix of a close friendship and a sort of father-son bond.

• Just like Chibi Aziraphale, Chibi Crowley was also slightly envious of his bigger counterpart. Crowley didn’t have to worry about getting stepped on and could have all the wine he wanted. It wasn’t fair! How dare that snake be big enough to do all those cool things! He still loves him though.

[captain-mj]

after canon mw2, price is working alone in his office at night and shadow creature!graves surprises him because price thought graves was dead but graves is just a silly little man who's basically immortal :3c

ermm go will on whatever you wanna make this like angsty, smuty, fluffy or gen!! ^^ i wanna see ur take on this

Hey Bites!! I made him a very mischievous boy since he’s yours

~~~~

Price had music playing, turned almost all the way down. Occasionally, he’d stop to smoke some of his cigar before working on even more paperwork.

They never found Graves’s body. While it being burned was a given, there should’ve been something. A skeleton, some clothing, remnants of the fact that he had been there, but there was nothing.

It drove him up the wall.

Graves was a traitor, but before that, he wasn’t half bad according to his team. They liked the guy even.

Shame it all had to be ruined like that.

Something moved behind him and he glanced back. Nothing there. Weird.

The Floors were Old. Probably just settling for the night.

A breath right next to his ear had Price standing up with his gun in his hand.

The room remained empty. Taunting him. For a moment though, he swore he saw a flicker of movement in a shadow.

“Guess I’m more tired than i thought…” Price set his gun down slowly.

“Haven’t been sleeping well?” Graves hummed, sitting on the desk behind him. Price aimed his gun, freezing as he stared at him.

He didn’t have any burn scars that he could see. A few shadows covered his face though so maybe that was it. Their eyes though...

Price took a tiny step back, blinking. From one blink to the next, Graves disappeared again. He slowly put his gun down and left the papers as is, scattered across his desk. 

The floors creaked under his feet as he moved, trying to get to his door. He hesitated. 

“Graves?”

“Yes, Price?” Right in his ear. He could faintly feel weight on his back but no warmth. 

“Are you real?” 

“Maybe.” There was suddenly nothing again. Price could tell when he was being toyed with. He turned slowly, forcing himself to relax against the door. 

“Don’t scare me, Commander.”

“I don’t want to.” There he was. Right in front of him again. Antlers and deer ears poked from his hair. Despite the oddity of the sight, Price wanted to touch them. To feel the soft fur. “Just wanted to get your attention.” Graves smiled, leaning closer. 

“You have it. Been messing with anyone else?”

“Oh. You know. Soap may think he has a sleep paralysis demon. Nothing too bad.” He looked very mischievous, spinning away from him. His movements made Price’s eyes hurt, a slight shifting present at the edges that shouldn’t be. 

“How long have you been here?”

“Ever since you guys blew up my tank. I didn’t... My shadows were gone.” Graves stopped for a moment, becoming increasingly blurry around the edges. “I understand why. But they’re all dead now.” 

Price gently put his hand on his shoulder, almost surprised to find him solid. “You alright?”

“I was alone for a long time before I made them.” Graves said softly, smiling up at him. “I grieved when I was tormenting you guys.” Price didn’t think he had done anything that heinous, at least nothing that anyone had told him about. He pulled him closer, feeling Graves lean against him. Vaguely, he felt a soft press against his leg and looked down to see Grave’s tail. 

“Did us killing you make you like this?” 

Graves laughed. “Oh, John. No. I’ve always been like this.” 

Price frowned. “When we were fighting them...”

“They could’ve changed at anytime! I could’ve changed at anytime.” Graves turned around in Price’s arms. “Could’ve faded into shadow and snuck up behind you.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Doesn’t matter, does it?” Graves tilted his head. “I’m here now. And what are you going to do about it?”

“Get an exorcist?” Price joked, relaxing when Graves laughed. 

“Don’t tell anyone just yet. It’s fun this way.” 

“Why did you tell me?”

“So you can think of me next time you feel watched.” Graves laughed before disappearing.  

Price would have to get used to this. He fell asleep that night and when he woke up, he half convinced himself it was a weird dream. 

As he started getting undressed for a shower, the hair on the back of his neck stood up, a sense of eyes on him making him nervous. 

Very faintly, he heard Graves’s giggling. 

Price groaned. He would have to get used to this. 

[katvaramell]

And the last jumble of my JJK thoughts

Because JESUS CHRIST IT JUST KEEPS GETTING WORSE

That’s how nanami dies???? After everything???? Just being disfigured by mahito??? And itadori has to watch it after dealing with all the sukuna shit 😭

This poor little boy is 15!!!!! And now he has to deal with this and mahito is just a little shit with no emotional intelligence at all

The music during the fight between mahito and itadori is so silly I thought it was a very good opposite to the fight with choso. A lot of people think the fight with choso is the best one in shibuya, but I actually thought the one with mahito was much more compelling to watch. Even though the techniques and the mood of the choso fight were very very interesting. The best one in the arc for me has to be the sukuna fight just because of the animation of the the techniques

Now kugasaki dies as well???? Give itadori a break please he’s already so traumatized 😭😭 especially after he was so glad to know that he’s not alone, when her attack resonated through mahito

I’m glad todo found him so he’s not alone, but I hope jujutsu high has a therapist on staff for afterwards

And todos necklace having a photo of takada and itadori I can’t that’s so cute 😭 idk what it is about itadori that just makes ppl want to be his brother but it’s a much needed bit of fun. Also very smart of him to clap with Mahitos hand but if this boy dies as well im rioting

The end of the fight between itadori and mahito is a true masterpiece

I don’t know why they’re suddenly in the snow, but my guess is that that is itadoris domain. It was so thrilling to see the bunnies and wolves, especially once the white wolf with the same wound in his face as itadori turned up. The calm in itadori, finally being able to fulfill his promise. I also liked that there wasn’t really any music in the background and then the sudden geto reveal was actually surprising!

I’m quite disappointed that fake geto interrupted itadori killing mahito. Even though it may have worsened itadoris mental state it would have helped mine. And it’s nice that mahito got absorbed because it’s a fuck you to him, but it’s really really bad because now fake geto has transfiguration :((

And I think it’s so fucking funny that itadori gives off some kind of connection that makes ppl want to be his brother 😭 but very intriguing that it’s possible that choso and him are really brothers through the brain thingy. Maybe it possessed one of itadoris parents at the time, we never got to know them. Very very curious to see where that storyline goes

Am I understanding that right that literally everything is going to shit now? Just curses everywhere and complete global break down? At least Yuta is back 😔 and rika is as well???? I am very confused

I love that Yuta and yuki are allies absolutely cunt duo

Itadori cut off toges arms???? 😭😭😭 noooo pookie already has enough trauma from sukuna we don’t need that as well and poor toge hes just a lil guy 😭😭😭

AND NOW THEYRE DECLARING GOJO A CRIMINAL???? What’s that for????????? And helping him is a crime????? I am SO CONFUSED

I mean I already thought that the leaders of jujutsu society were corrupt but Jesus fucking Christ this is another level

And now they’re sentencing the principal to death??? For what? Letting two gays have a break up?

And Yuta as itadoris official executioner? I’m rioting

And what is going on in that last scene with itadori clapping and then huge curses jumping out of the water??? Give me the manga right now I need answers 😭

[fumifooms]

oh, sorry for so many asks, i also wanted to say too though i really agree so much with your chilchuck thoughts so far, even down to your personal headcanons about how things might go post-series. and you're absolutely right, i'll defend that little guy any day myself. you understand him so well and it's kind of relaxing to have someone else dish out this kind of analysis and already agree with all of it cus it's just so real, so thank you again for the Meal <- perhaps the perfect thing to say about dungeon meshi analysis when i think about it

i know you have playlists and stuff so i wanted to share a song i've been listening to that that reminds me of him: divine loser by clem turner

No worries, they’ve been a lot of fun! I do plan on getting back to each one btw, just gotta get through some other things first hopefully. Aaaah that’s really nice to hear 🥺 I do know the feeling haha, it’s always fun to have posts that Get It that you just nod along with 🤝 I’ve thought sooo much about Chilchuck I rotate him in my brain like rotisserie chicken more often than not, glad it all ended up being productive haha. Y’know recently my friends have been calling me a Chilchuck superfan/scholar jokingly and it actually made me have a realization moment of…

Bc I’ve always said Laios was my fave and like, he does mean everything to me idk if I’ve ever felt so seen as with Laios, I relate to him sooo much, but then. Okay alright that can be a different thing than a character being your favorite fine FINE I admit it Chilchuck’s my top blorbo. He’s so.🧍‍♂️I can’t even describe. He’s so….. He’s a clown but he’s also perfection in its best imperfect form I will not be taking further questions today. My friend called him my silly rabbit like that one meme and it makes me laugh sm

Thank you for the music rec!! I listened to it and yes agreed, sent straight to my Chil playlist. Songs are my bread and butter when I have character brainrot bc like with web weavings I feel like there are so many emotions and thoughts you can communicate about something so simply through one… (Which for anyone interested here’s my web weaving tag, got 2 about Chil). Gonna link all my dunmeshi playlists while I’m here: Dungeon Meshi, Chilchuck & his wife, marchil, Mithrun.

Ok everyone saw this coming but this ask ran away from me and I ramble about some song lyrics I associate with Chil & different facets of his life below the cut. Some people find my, ehem, heated rambles about Chil entertaining, this is your cue to get out the popcorn.

When thinking about songs for Chil I have 3 angles I take: About Chilchuck, about him and his wife, or about him & Marcille. Marchil is so engraved into me with their arcs together, that they’re like the concept of closure and letting go and letting yourself live again to me, sorry for all the non-enjoyers… I think currently my top song for him is Jackrabbit by San Fermin, because it combines all three it makes me go wild. It’s about trepidation… Throwing yourself into it even despite the fear (working with traps, survival in poverty where you have to rush & hustle), or just staying there paralyzed(not reaching out to his wife). Flight or freeze!! Saying goodbyes and saying hellos!! Not dying alone!! The life cycle of a wild rabbit living and dying, the baton pass race of life from generation to generation!! Chil and his daughters even!!! Going through life at a frenzied pace!! It is so Chilchuck and so marchil, and the music does give that hurried and scared energy to me too, and sigh the Marcille side to it with fear of death too…

Extra fun context but the other day on the discord server we were talking about what animal each character’s fursona would be as we do and I thought of a rabbit for Chilchuck: Quick footed, ‘cowardly’, small and frail and seen as weak 🙃, athletic and slender, pulls stunts, stressed out, has very fine hearing and has good instincts, etc. And ofc that fits really well with Marcille since she’s kinda associated with dungeon rabbits hehe~ But I think while Marcille’s 100% the cute round rabbit Chil’s more like a brown hare, more wild and like, more like a jackalope if we’re still doing monsters... I do lowkey find it more fun than his associated monster being mimics because he’s crabby, because they’re clever (with where they place themselves) and because of how he has a soft shell but soft insides, lol.

OKAY so that’s my song pick with the main 3 facets sure, now I’ll share some lyrics for each 3 sides separatedly 😈 Kinda summarizing my web weavings for him thus far. If we start with Chilchuck by himself we have… Enter One by Shelby Merry and Drunk by The Living Tombstone

With his wife, we have the bad end, and the good end for if they get back together with Lost Kitten by Metric and North by Sleeping At Last… Okay okay plus Love Like Ghosts and My Heart is Buried in Venice… Little Soldier by The Crane Wives for them also RUIN me

And Marchil… Marchil oh my beloved. Another buddy also made a full analysis on discord about Soap by The Oh Hellos for them lol, but these are Not I by I Fight Dragons and My Heart is Buried in Venice again~

Okay okay two more. Boats & Birds by Gregory and The Hawk, and Tummy by Tamino.

Finishing it up with quotes from, in order, A Softer World by Joey Comeau, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Acknowledgements by Danez Smith, The Letter by Richard Paul Evans, and last but not least posts from dead tumblr account flintcoded. I keep looking around and finding MORE fitting quotes. Someone stop me- In loving me you hold a knife at my throat, in loving you I tell you exactly where to cut. Forgive me, memory is a rope around my neck. I need you to be happy, I need one of us to be happy.

Hand in unlovable hand…

In conclusion;