#Benson the duck light

[youwereeverything]

my greatest accomplishment will always be the fact that I got a Frenchman to praise Tubbos duck light Benson

[kat-soop]

Sadness.

[visceravalentines]

sugar stuck in your teeth

They're grimy and tired and Benson's neck is sore. Randy gives him a shoulder rub and thinks hard about the allure of being a biological organism.

2.5k words. canon divergence, boys on the run. established relationship. implied sexual content, nothing explicit. sweat and oil and general nasty. sharing of a toothbrush. so fluffy i'm spinning it up and putting it on a stick and selling it at a carnival. read on ao3 here if that's more your speed.

They spend a full day on the road. Seven hours across Texas through scrub and sand. Nothing to see. No end in sight. Randy falls asleep in the dead-eyed sun of mid-afternoon and wakes up in the dark, dry air whipping through the car from Benson's window rolled all the way down. 

"Hey." Randy sits up, disoriented, mouth gummy and tasting of bygone Mountain Dew, bladder fit to burst. "Why didn't you wake me up? You've been driving for hours."

"Didn't want to stop." Benson's voice is rough. Randy can read the exhaustion in his posture, the way he grips the wheel with both hands. "Besides, you looked like you could use it."

Randy shifts in his seat. He hasn't slept well all week. "Well…it's my turn now. Let me take over."

"Nah." Benson rolls his neck slowly. "Town's up here in like ten minutes. Figure we stop for the night."

Randy peers through the bug-splattered windshield and sees lights in the near distance. "You wanna find a motel?"

"I'd fucking love a motel. Gimme that lukewarm shower and a box spring mattress. Fucking luxury."

As it turns out, they get none of that. The only place in town has a sign that says Closed and no lights on in the lobby. Doors all locked, despite Benson's best efforts to rattle them open. 

He doesn't say a word, doesn't even curse, just slumps defeated back to the car with Randy in tow. "You want the backseat or the front?"

"Benson, I slept for hours, I can–"

"There's not another town for forty miles and if I spend one more second on that fucking highway I'm gonna peel the skin off my face."

Randy doesn't argue. "I'll take the front."

"You sure?" Benson tosses a weary look at him over his shoulder. He squeezes the back of his neck and winces. 

Randy nods. "Yeah, I'm sure." 

The front sucks. You either have to fold your legs to fit around the steering wheel, or risk nailing the thing with your arm or your head. One time he hit the horn with his knee and scared them both so bad they ended up packing up and driving through the night because neither one could fall back asleep. 

He's had plenty of rest. Benson should get the back. 

They leave the car parked in the rear lot of the motel and pick their way through the scrub in the dark to take a piss, elbow-to-elbow. Randy barely feels self-conscious anymore. At the start he used to walk ten paces away and make Benson turn around. But that seems silly now. Benson's seen and touched every inch of him. This is nothing.

Benson zips up and takes off down the sidewalk with a haphazard sense of purpose. Randy has to jog a little to catch up. Benson holds out his arm and he ducks beneath it, the weight comfortable across his shoulders. By now Randy feels like he belongs there, pinned against his side. 

He reeks. They both do. It's been three, almost four days since they last had a shower, been making do with baby wipes and clean underwear since they left Tennessee. Randy almost can't stand it. Back home, he showered every day, sometimes twice a day if work was rough. Right now, he could scrape the grime off himself with a fingernail. 

He's adjusting to this level of awareness of his own body, like he's just now cognizant of the way his skin fits. It makes him sort of anxious. But he's coping. He doesn't really have a choice. 

And it's funny–Randy doesn't mind Benson's stench at all. He's uncomfortable with his own stink, but he actually thinks Benson smells kind of…good, maybe. In a gross kind of way. It's such a foreign concept that he keeps inhaling a little too deep at this distance just to prove it to himself. 

"What're you doing later?" Benson asks, oblivious. 

Randy clears his throat. "Um…not much." 

"Oh. Huh." Benson squints down the road towards the distant light of a gas station, the only thing in town that looks alive besides the two of them. "Well, how about I take you to dinner?" 

A smile steals its way onto Randy's lips. He hooks his pinkie into Benson's pocket. "That might be nice." 

"Yeah?" 

"Yeah." 

Benson takes a deep, thoughtful breath. "There's this place…Seven-Eleven?" He casts a dramatic sidelong glance in Randy's direction. "You heard of it?" 

"Yeah, I…I think so." 

"It's just fantastic. The beer list? Unbelievable. And the atmosphere, well…there's really nothing like it." He's talking with his hands, throwing them off balance. Randy stumbles happily along with him. 

"I don't know, um…I've heard they don't have Pringles. Like, the big can. Just the little ones." 

Benson scoffs. "Well, now, don't you worry your pretty little head about that. You can get two of the little ones if you want. It's on me." 

"Wow." 

"I know." 

"That's–that's really generous." 

"Well, you're gonna have to put out." 

Randy coughs out a laugh, looks at his shoes to hide the heat in his face. "Sounds, um…sounds fair." 

"Randy, come on." Benson laughs, gives his shoulder a shake. "You're giving it up for two cans of Pringles? You gotta know your worth, man." 

He'd give it up for less, but that's beside the point. "Maybe toss in some peach rings and we have a deal." 

Benson gives him a squeeze. "Fuck yeah, alright. Now we're talkin'." 

They pick their way through the snack aisles of the gas station, select a few staples they aren't sick of yet. Benson salutes the clerk behind the counter like he's an American hero. They make their way back down the road to the motel in silence save for the crunching of chips and cellophane. 

It's a beautiful night, still warm from the sun, everything orange beneath the sodium streetlights. Not a soul in sight save for them. This town looks like every other one and Randy likes that, likes that it's starting to feel like coming home when they stop for the night in a new place with a single stoplight. 

They lean against the trunk of the Chrysler and pass the Big Gulp back and forth. It's too late for caffeine so they got root beer, extra ice, because Benson likes to fish it out and chew on it. There's too many streetlights to really see the stars, but that doesn't stop Randy from trying. He sucks the sour off a peach ring and feels a little bit nauseous and a lot filthy and an overall, bone-deep sense of contentment. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Benson twist his head, trying to roll out his neck again. It's not the sharp jerk of his familiar tic, not quite, but it makes Randy nervous. He's been doing it all night. He wonders if it was something he said, something he did. He still doesn't know what exactly he's trying to shrug off every time, but he knows enough to tread that ground lightly.

"You okay?" he asks, tries to make it casual. He swallows the peach ring whole and has to fight it all the way down his esophagus. 

"Yeah." Benson nods, winces slightly. "Yeah. Just sore." He grips the back of his neck and stretches, lips hitched in a grimace. 

Randy can imagine. Slumped in a car days on end, cracking the damn thing all the time. He sets the Big Gulp on the trunk, thinks, hesitates. Commits. 

"Would you, um…would you want me to rub it out for you?" 

Benson looks at him warily as he considers the offer. He's slow to answer, but Randy is patient. Doesn't push it. Lets him think about it. 

Finally he nods. "Sure. Why not." 

Randy clambers up on the trunk and sits behind him. Benson leans back between his legs, rests his elbows on Randy's knees, hangs his head forward. The space between them is awkward all of the sudden. Too close, not close enough. Too many clothes on. Too much skin exposed. 

Randy is nervous and he's not sure why. He thinks fleetingly of their first time, his first time, and the way Benson's hands hovered an inch over his skin and shook a little bit. This isn't that, but it feels kind of the same. "You can…tell me to stop if you want. Whatever you want. It's okay." 

"How about you start and then we'll see." 

Randy brushes the curls at the base of Benson's neck hesitantly with his thumb before he wraps his hand around the muscle of his shoulder, gives an experimental squeeze. "Right…there?" 

"Higher." 

He moves his hand up and tries again. "There?" 

Benson hisses through his teeth, cringes. "Yeah. Fuck." 

Randy sets his hands on either side of his neck and squeezes gently. 

"Yeah. Right there."

Benson's all tension beneath the skin, stiff and warm under his cold fingers. Randy thinks about the color of his muscles, the white of bone underneath them. He's pretty sure he's never touched anyone like this before, not even Benson, not like this. Not friendly or sexual, just…intimate. 

"If you want me to stop, just–just say so, okay?" 

Benson grunts an affirmative. His skin is oily and his muscles are taut as bowstrings, so riddled with knots it feels like buckshot lodged in his flesh. Randy presses his thumbs in deep and pushes up along his spine, again and again, feels a flush of satisfaction as Benson melts back against the car. 

"Fuck," he moans. 

"Hurts?" 

"Yeah. Don't stop." 

Randy's nothing if not good at taking orders. He falls into a rhythm, slow and steady, works over his neck and shoulders and back again. Benson swears up a storm and lets out a low whimper whenever he hits a sore spot. 

"Sorry," Randy murmurs every time. 

Benson never replies, but that's okay. He doesn't tell him to stop either.

At first his hands are balled into fists against Randy's knees, but after a while they go slack. He relaxes, finally, allows Randy and the car to support his weight. It's a selfish thought, but Randy hopes he's the first person to do this for him, or at least the first in a long, long time. Benson doesn't have a lot of firsts left. He wants this one. 

Before long, his hands are cramping and he worries he's going to rub his neck raw but doesn't want to stop touching him, doesn't want to forfeit this new familiarity with his body. So he eases up, cheats a little bit, combs his fingers through his greasy hair and scratches at his scalp. It makes his chest feel tight, the way Benson leans into his touch with his eyes closed and groans under his breath. 

When he finally pulls away, Randy tries to subdue his disappointment, until he turns around and reaches up to hook a hand behind Randy's head. 

"C'mere," Benson mumbles, tugging him close and meeting him halfway for a kiss that tastes like peach rings and root beer. Randy grips his forearm and for a second, in his mind's eye, everything drops out and disappears into the void, save for them and the car and the stars. 

When he breaks the kiss Benson doesn't let him go, holds him in place with their foreheads pressed together. Neither of them speak. Randy focuses so hard on Benson's breathing he forgets to breathe himself. There are words, but they creep by in silence like animals in the dark. 

"We still got water in the back?" Benson says at last. 

"Mmhm." 

"I'm gonna brush my teeth. Change into my jammies." His jammies are a pair of basketball shorts made of more holes than fabric. 

"Okay," Randy says. 

Neither one of them moves. The crickets chat amongst themselves in the brush. 

"You still want the front?" Benson asks. 

"Sure." 

"Thanks." 

"No problem." 

Benson sighs softly through his nose. He lets go of him and steps back, shuffles from one foot to the other and stares at Randy for a long time, hair sticking up in all directions. Finally he goes to dig through the backseat for the water jug. 

"Looks like a bunch of fuckin' raccoons live in here," he mutters. 

Randy chuckles, looks at his hands palm-up on his lap. He's got Benson's skin beneath his nails, his sweat and oil worked into the whorls of his fingerprints. He's never been so close to another person. Spent his whole life maintaining a safe distance from everyone around him, treating his body like a blast zone. Now the idea of distance is laughable. They share everything but toothbrushes. Hell, he's been inside him. Randy always figured he would never reach that level of connection with anybody. 

He brings his hand to his face and hesitates for just a second before he sticks his thumb in his mouth. The salt of Benson's sweat is familiar on his tongue. He tastes his skin on his skin. He knows him. He knows him. And Benson knows him right back. 

He's craved this sort of intimacy his whole life. Laid awake alone countless nights and ached for it, mourned bitterly for what he never had and assumed he never would. But now he lies awake with Benson beside him and basks in how wrong he was. In how real he feels in his arms, wearing a second skin of grit and spit and whatever else. 

He doesn't want to sleep in the front. 

Randy twists to call over his shoulder. "Hey…um, Benson?" 

"Yeah?" he says around his toothbrush. 

"You think we could…both fit in the back?" 

Benson spits on the asphalt. "No." 

"Well…could we try?" 

Benson snorts. "Fuckin' clingy, huh?" he says, but he sounds amused. Randy feels those dark eyes appraising him like a pair of hands fumbling at his clothes. He tugs absentmindedly at the collar of his shirt. Well, Benson's shirt. "Yeah. We can try." 

Randy hops off the trunk and joins him in the evening routine, bumping shoulders, bumping elbows, their voices small and close in the night. 

"Gonna sweat to death together back there," Benson says. 

"That's okay." 

"If you say so. Think I might skip the jammies. That cool?" 

"That's–that's fine, yeah. That's good. Hey…is that my toothbrush?" 

"No, yours is green."

"That is green." 

"No it's not." 

"Yes it is, the light makes it look weird." 

Benson looks at the thing again. "Oh. Whoops. Does it really matter?"

Randy gives this serious consideration, thinks about his mouth and everywhere it's been. Thinks about the state of the rest of him. Thinks about pressing his body to Benson's in the backseat, sticky with sweat, breath on his neck. 

He wants to say yes, it matters, but he doesn't feel it. He tastes salt on his tongue instead.

"I guess not," he shrugs.

Benson hands it to him. 

"Your turn, then." 

[robinsnest2111]

thinking about.......

An unusually busy day at Burgers Burgers Burgers. Randy having trouble keeping up with all the orders and getting them to the kitchen. Most customers are very patient and understanding, willing to wait a couple minutes for their meal. Some others, not so much.

One especially short-tempered middle-aged man starts verbally chewing Randy out at the cash register, essentially trapping him, holding the entire business up. The man keeps laying into him, spewing the most hateful degrading insults and keeps threatening him with legal action and whatever else one can think of in the throws of anger.

Randy is frozen, like the proverbial deer in headlights. A barely perceptible tremor running through his entire body, clenching his hands into fists at his sides. He knows he should send the man away, take care of the other waiting customers, keep things running, not let the man's words and threats affect him. Water off a duck's back.

But he can't. Can't speak, can't move. Nothing. Just as the angry man is verbally attacking Randy for his pathetic tearful eyes, asking if he's gonna cry now like a little baby, the kitchen door swings open. The action drawing everyone's attention.

Benson has been wondering why the orders stopped coming in, and when the loud chatter from the dining area died down, highlighting a single man's agitated yelling, he got worried.

He's now standing in the door frame, staring straight at the man insulting his new coworker. He tries to stay cool and collected on the outside, expression blank and unreadable. He cracks his neck as he walks up to the man who has now turned his attention to Benson.

"What is going on here?"

The entirety of Burgers Burgers Burgers is focused on the scene unfolding at the cash register, Benson's question ringing loud in the silence.

The angry man starts up his tale of woe, trying to twist the string of events in his favour. Too bad for him Benson isn't having any of it. One single look at Randy and his pleading tearful eyes is enough for him to know what's going on.

"You, sir, have earned yourself a lifetime ban from this establishment. We do not tolerate any kind of abuse of our staff. I must ask you to leave."

The man is about to protest, redirecting his anger towards his new target.

"...or do I have to call the police? I'm sure they'd be more than happy to escort you out of here. And take witness statements while they're at it."

That shuts him right up and sends him out the door immediately.

Everyone is breathing a quiet sigh of relief.

Randy is in no state to go right back to work, so Benson pulls him to the side, leans him against the wall of the short hallway leading to the stockroom, finds and grabs a grumbling Jess to take over the register while he goes back to finishing up the orders.

Once the midday rush is over, Benson walks right back to Randy, still leaned against the wall. The boy has calmed significantly but still looks shaken by the incident. Benson takes him by the arm and walks out the backdoor. Once they're both situated in a somewhat comfortable crouch with their backs against the brick wall, Benson fishes a cigarette and his lighter out of his pockets, lighting up, taking a long drag and letting it out in a slow exhale. After a moment, he looks at Randy out of the corner of his eye.

"Something like this happens again, you call me over immediately. I'll handle it. No more of this deer in headlights stuff."

Randy manages a hurried little nod, followed by a small "okay", choked off by a voice crack.

Working in fast food is turning out to be pretty scary, but at least there's someone looking out for him...

[bullet-prooflove]

Past Mistakes Part Fourteen: Plan B - Mike Duarte x Reader

Tagging: @crazy4chickennuggets @kmc1989 @oureternalbond @nessamc @jayblackpanther @mysoulisasunflower @littleone65 @thesandbeneathmytoes @katluke25 @mydarkestsecretlol @evee87 @wooshwastaken @hearthockey @justreblogginfics @im-just-a-mississippi-girl @rosaliedepp @storiesofsvu @smellsliketeensspiryt @legit9thlunaticwarrior @xoxabs88xox @kiwiithecrazybird @spooky-pomegranate @chavez-ashley @telepathay @weiwei0210 @spaghettificationandpretzels @plaidbooks @irishavengersassemble

Past Mistakes Series:

Part One: Try - Mike turns back up in your life after three years apart.

Part Two: Hope (NSFW) - Mike and you get reaquainted.

Part Three: California - Mike and you discuss the past.

Part Four: Favours - Mike asks Liv for a favour.

Part Five: Choices - Mike comes face to face with someone from his past.

Part Six: Truth Hurts - Mike begs you to tell him the truth about what happened three years ago.

Part Seven: Sharing - Mike and Joe have a conversation.

Part Eight: Buried - Mike discovers that McGrath’s misdeeds go far futher than he thought.

Part Nine: Complicated - Mike discusses moving forward.

Part 10: Feral - Mike returns to the apartment to find you’ve disappeared.

Part Eleven: Torture - You wake up in the basement.

Part Twelve: Fire - You and Joe discuss moving forward.

Part Thirteen: Lost Time - You and Mike get real on his porch.

The precinct is practically empty when you show up to Hate Crimes a couple of hours later, showered and dressed in fresh clothes from your holdall. The bruising on your left side of your face is starting to flourish, hues of purple bleeding into your skin. You feel more human, more like yourself. You know you can’t return to the girl you were three years ago, but the fundamentals are still there. Being around Mike and his things is familiar, he’s a safe space for you after what you’ve endured.

Captain Declan Murphy sits at his desk, toying with a pen as he reviews you and Mike perched in the visitor’s chairs across from him.

“You’re a pain in the ass, you know that?” He tells the two of you, jabbing his pen in your general direction. “The point was to get you out of here so that you could recover without McGrath breathing down your neck. Now I hear you’re sticking around for the time being?”

“I’m just here to give my statement.” You explain to Murphy, your hands coming to rest in your lap. “I’ll be out of your hair and the city tonight.”

Murphy leans forward, his eyes studying you. You’re anxious he can tell, it’s in the way you keep smoothing your palms over the fabric of your jeans, it’s a grounding technique he recognises. He doesn’t blame you. Tonight, was traumatic, he can tell you’re still riding the survival wave, you haven’t even begun to process what happened to you. He knows when it hits it’s going to hit hard.  

“Captain Benson and Sergent Khaldun are waiting for you in the next room.” Murphy tells you, tilting his head towards the office door. “The two of us can talk afterwards.”

There’s a lot that needs to be discussed but he wants you in the building for as little time as possible. He trusts his people, but he doesn’t want to give McGrath any opportunities to get ahead of this thing. They only have one shot and Murphy wants to have his ducks in order before he takes it.

You raise to your feet, your hand gently squeezing Mike’s shoulder as you brush past him, before you close the door to Murphy’s office quietly behind you.

“And you?” Murphy questions, tipping his head towards Duarte. “In light of your suspension, are you going with her?”

Duarte inclines his head in response. The suspension had come down a few hours ago after news of the raid had gotten out. McGrath had been furious, especially when he discovered the information had come from the Bronx Gangs Unit. The first thing he had done was call IAB about the undercover operation Duarte had been a part of three years ago. Murphy didn’t know the ins and outs, but the fact Duarte hadn’t been arrested spoke volumes. Whatever McGrath thought he had, there wasn’t enough evidence to support it.

It was a message, fuck with me and I fuck with you.

Duarte was stripped of his command until further notice and Murphy thought that might be a blessing in disguise. It would give him the time and space away from the job to focus on you. You needed someone in your corner and Murphy knows from the look in the other man’s eyes that Duarte would do anything for you.

“A guy I know has a place up in Mattituck.” Duarte tells him. “He’s letting me have it for as long as I need, no questions asked.”

Plan B, Murphy realises. Men like the two of them always make sure they have alternative choices. It’s coded into them from years of mistrust.

“You knew there was a possibility she wouldn’t go, didn’t you?” Murphy asks him.

Duarte tilts his head towards the window, he watches the rain patter on the glass before he answers.

“The best thing would have been for her to go to California but what’s best for me isn’t necessarily what’s best for her.” Duarte informs Murphy.” I wanted to give her some options. She hasn’t had a lot of them lately.”

Murphy nods his understanding before tapping his pen on the surface of his desk.

“She’s going to crash soon.” He says quietly. “She’s going to need you there when she does.”

“I know.” Duarte tells him, the muscle in his jaw twitching. “All of this right now, it’s just too much for her to process.”

“Have you talked about…”

The look Duarte gives him stops him in his tracks.

“She wants to move forward with it.” Duarte tells him, crossing his arms over his chest. “She doesn’t think she’s the only one he assaulted, she said he was too practiced with it.”

 “She hopes that others will come forward when the indictment comes down.” Murphy summarises before he leans back in his seat. “I don’t know how realistic that hope is. McGrath has been getting away with this for years. I wouldn’t be putting her through this if it didn’t speak to his motive behind why he suppressed the evidence she collected against the First Nationals.”

Duarte shakes his head. When he saw you in those surveillance pictures a couple of weeks ago, he had been so focused on getting you out he hadn’t stopped to think about everything that followed. He hadn’t anticipated any of this.

“I think it’s wise to get out the city for a little while. Give the both of you some time to recuperate without this hanging over you.” Murphy says softly. “You know it happened to her, but it happened to you too. You have to take some time to deal with that.”

“I know. Ever since she told me what happened…” Duarte says, his fingertips tapping the space where his heart resides. “All I can think about is how she handled it alone, how she spent all that time protecting me and I hated her for it. I thought she’d left me and…” He trails off pursing his lips together grimly.

He doesn’t have to say the rest, Murphy gets it. He’s lived through his own version with Amanda. It’s not the same, but he knows what it’s like to have your life flipped upside down. To think one thing and then discover another.

“It takes time.” Murphy says knowingly. “To come to terms with it, to adjust.”

“Yea.” Duarte sighs. “I know it takes time.”

Love Mike Duarte? Don’t miss any of his stories by joining the taglist here.

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Like My Work? - Why Not Buy Me A Coffee

[pocket-sized-nightmare]

teehee!!! sneaks over here in my mothman costume and knocks politely on ur door. trick or treat!

happy halloween, my friend — what a delightful costume! i bestow upon you a mini chocolate bar and an equally moth-ified headcanon: pearlescentmoon is attracted to light as a moth hybrid, which may or may not mean that she has a sizable collection of cute nightlights <3 (one of them, of course, is a benson the duck. she couldn’t resist.)

[lavender-gayz]

Lizzie the musical at Southwark Playhouse Elephant - some little moments that I love, part 2/?

Previously: [Part 1]

We left off with Bridget announcing that it was time for Mrs Borden’s tea :)

Shattercane and Velvetgrass:

THIS IS MY JAM

Bridget brings in a tray with a teapot and associated accoutrements and starts singing about making tea while Lizzie reads aloud from a book on household poisons and forms a bright idea

Their voices are so gorgeous together

The last(?) time they do the chorus, Lizzie brings down the teapot dramatically and it hits the beat just right and it’s super satisfying

Bridget gives it her ALL in the last verse. FIRE BURN and TOIL.

A fun thing I notice on the final night in London sitting in the right-hand balcony: while Bridget and Lizzie perform this educational masterpiece about poisons and teas, a shadowy figure stands in the aisle separating the middle section of the audience from the left section and leaves after a little bit. It’s Emma! There is no spotlight on her so I only realise it is her because she lets in a little light when she opens the door to enter and leave the theatre.

(Tbh my initial interpretation was that Bridget was cheerfully planting the idea of poisoning the Bordens in Lizzie’s head of her own volition, but I’m not mad about this revelation)

2. ‘To...clean a stain?’

Lizzie x Lying is a close second to Lizzie x Alice for me.

Quick break for me to gush about Lauren Drew’s performance as Lizzie because this feels as good a time as any! I just love the physical ways in which she conveys how deeply awkward Lizzie is – her posture is terrible and she blinks a lot when she’s nervous. It’s in her manner of speech as well and I just find it so compelling. At the same time, we obviously get these powerhouse vocals when she’s singing about her feelings – the contrast is fascinating.

3. Alice makes good on the invitation from this morning and comes over to hang out! Lizzie says she’s sorry but she must go to Benson’s Pharmacy.

‘Why?’ – Alice sounds so unguardedly baffled and offended and I personally find this hilarious.

4. ‘Are you well?’ is Alice’s first reaction to Lizzie freaking out about Alice calling Mrs Borden Lizzie’s mother

She cares about her so much, I wail

5. Lizzie in Kronk mode is one of my favourite things. The milk, the milk that comes in a can, the milk that leaves behind an empty can. The canned milk.

6. That awkward moment when the girl next door – in a kindhearted attempt to ease your mind! because she loves you! – casually pokes holes in your plot to poison your stepmother and you have to pivot and talk about your struggles with sleeping at night. 

7. Will You Stay:

So! Much! Anticipation!

How does one sing these suggestive lyrics about gathering ripening pears in skirts and biting through skin to the sweet flesh within while smiling (and sounding) like an angel? How?!

Alice sings, ‘let me bring back your smile’ and it does actually bring a tiny smile to Lizzie’s face :)

Lizzie says she has to go and things escalate rapidly

IT’S JEALOUS PEAR TIME

Maiya’s delivery of ‘she’s always eaten ingreathaste’!!!

And also the vocal acrobatics in ‘will you bite through the skiiiiiiiiiiiin’

Alice literally guides Lizzie’s hands down her neck and her torso and the whole time I panic while gay.

(NOT to be mistaken for the strategy of legal defence where a straight person argues that they found a purported same-sex advance so horrifying that they reflexively reacted violently!)

Alice promises to keep Lizzie safe while she sleeps. She has this cute smile when she ducks her head and says she’ll keep one eye open half the time

8. AND THEN THEY ARE CONSUMED WITH PASSION AND KISS FOR SEVERAL SECONDS AND THEN BREAK APART AND KISS AGAIN

I have Notes from watching this from multiple angles

Hands-down the funniest view was when I was in the front row in the central block but at the last seat from the right and so could not see the actual kissing and just admired the braids in Alice’s hair the entire time

I have seen some clips from other productions on Youtube where it kind of looks like Alice is pushing Lizzie into the kiss? Happy to report that this is not the case here! They both lean in. Maybe Alice leans in a tiny bit more / first but Lizzie is definitely enthusiastic and wraps her arms around Alice. HA.

9. Alas, Bridget comes in bearing bad news and a bagful of dead pigeons.

10. Why Are All These Heads Off:

Somehow, another banger!

‘Wait, wait, wait! Everything is fine Lizzie, we will find a better way’ – there is audible laughter from the audience at this on the last night and, well, I get it.  

A fleeting moment of peace as Alice presses her forehead to Lizzie’s

A tug-of-war between Alice and Bridget before Lizzie strides forward in the middle and makes her choice

‘I'm standing looking forward in the dark / A feeling brushes past me / And I know the wind has changed’ – it’s like Lizzie's carving these words into stone. CHILLS.

11. Mercury Rising: the lyrics are so archaic and poetic. More chills.   

12. Somebody Will Do Something:

!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bridget whips out her microphone to announce that Mrs Borden is ‘ALL…BY…HERSELF’

‘AXE FALL RIVER RUNS RED’ is amazing to witness up close (the upshot of missing the kiss!)

‘My eyes they never saw it / But my hands they found the axe’ – BRIDGET is the one to hand Lizzie the axe – I don’t know if this is how they do it in all productions, but I love how integral she is to everything here.

There’s also something about the practised way in which Bridget shifts her grip on the axe just a little bit when giving it to Lizzie that has stuck with me!

Lizzie darts offstage to look for her stepmother

(A quick note on the staging: there’s a doorway with sliding…doors at the centre of the stage. For this scene, the doors are open and there are PVC strip curtains hanging from the doorway. You can see this in the eighth picture in thegirl20’s lovely collection of production photos here: [link])

Lizzie attacks Mrs Borden with her axe behind the PVC strip curtains while the 40 whacks rhyme is projected onto the wall

Another fun thing I notice while sitting upstairs: Shekinah and Maiya pop up in the balcony and sing about being afraid somebody will do something and that somebody will dieeeeeee! Such rockstars!

‘OOH Miss Lizzie you startled me’ is Bridget’s v chill response to Lizzie when she emerges from the murder curtains with blood all over her. Bridget’s reactions and harmonies are always top-notch.

Lizzie sounds so exhausted and on the edge when she says she might go out too. I know she's just violently killed her stepmother, but I do also want someone to wrap her in a blanket and give her some cookies (maybe no coffee).

Anyway, one final push! ‘HE’LL WISH HE’D HAD THAT SON,’ Lizzie declares to the balcony while holding aloft her axe.

Lizzie murders her father as well and immediately asks Bridget to summon Miss Russell because she does not want to be alone.

13. Lauren Drew looks really, really good covered in fake blood.

It’s time for the interval!

[toptrendingproducts101]

Duck Night Lamp

[water-writings]

You asked for this Mel. Challenge accepted.

Yuriko x Chicken Shit

Casali x Space Daddy

Maiko x Mitsuya

Tracey x Bucky

You’re a menace, Jo. You’re pulling up old ships too omg!!

Here you go.

Casali and Din Electric Boogaloo

opening credits: Supermassive Black Hole - Muse

meeting for the first time: Sugaan Essena from Jedi Fallen Order - The HU

hey, i kinda like you: Just a Cloud Away - Pharrell Williams

i’m going to kiss you now: Hey Mando! - Ludwig Göransson

falling in love: All is Found - Kacey Musgraves

your place or mine: Waiting for the Lights - Alan Menken

naked in bed: Trouble - Cage the Elephant

first fight: Sunflower - Post Malone, Swae Lee

maybe we should take a break: Don’t Bring Me Down - Electric Light Orchestea

i want you back: Kamado Tanjiro no Uta (Frkm “Demon Slayer”) - Akano

will you marry me: Can’t Help Falling in Live - Hailey Reinhart

first child: Jude’s Song - Connor Price

we’re getting older: Brown Eyes - Fleetwood Mac

if you die i’ll go with you: Game of Survival - Ruelle

end credits: Lights Are On Instrumental - Edith Whiskers

Yuriko and hawks

opening credits: Hide - Juice WRLD, Seezyn

meeting for the first time: Brand New - Ben Rector

hey, i kinda like you: Noreen - Skye Townsend

i’m going to kiss you now: Shallow - Times Profitt, Fleurie

falling in love: Something I Need - OneRepublic

your place or mine: Lost My Pieces (Toradora! Original Soundtrack - PianoDeuss

naked in bed: Come Fly with Me - Michael Bublé

first fight: Until I Met You - tyDi, Cameron Forbes

maybe we should take a break: Holding Out For a Hero - Annapantsu

i want you back: Healing Hands - Conrad Sewell

will you marry me: Defying Gravity - Rachel Tucker

first child: Might*U - Yuki Hayashi

we’re getting older: Orpheus - Sara Bareilles

if you die i’ll go with you: Unsteady Erich Lee Gravity - X Ambassadors, Erich Lee

end credits: Check Yes, Juliet - We The Kings

Maiko and Mitsuya

opening credits: Fire on Fire - Sam Smith

meeting for the first time: Like Other Girls Milan 2 - Judy Kuhn, Beth Blankenship, Mandy Gonzalez

hey, i kinda like you: What Was I Made For - Billie Eilish

i’m going to kiss you now: Something That I Need - OneRepublic

falling in love: You Are All I Want - Duck Fizz

your place or mine: Für Elise - Ludwig van Beethoven

naked in bed: All Your Lies - Morgan Clae

first fight: Fight Song - Rachel Platten

maybe we should take a break: What About Us - P!nk

i want you back: Dangerous - Royal Deluxe

will you marry me: IDK You Yet - Alexander 23

first child: Shiawase - Hinata Tachibana (CV: Azumi Waki)

we’re getting older: Beautiful Things - Benson Boone

if you die i’ll go with you: Let You Down - NF

end credits: La Fille Mal Garder: Pas de (arr. March): Act III: Moderato: Women’s Variation - March, Peter Ludwig Hertel

Tracey and Bucky

opening credits: Love Me Like You Do - Ellie Goulding

meeting for the first time: Moonlight Serenade - Glenn Miller

hey, i kinda like you: So Close - Jon McLaughlin

i’m going to kiss you now: I’ll Never Smile Again - Frank Sinatra, Tommy Dorsey Orchestra

falling in love: Girl on Fire - Arshad

your place or mine: Multiplied - NeedToBreathe

naked in bed: Heartbeat - Carrie Underwood

first fight: This is War - 30 Seconds to Mars

maybe we should take a break: The Winter Soldier - Henry Jackman

i want you back: Wonderful Tonight - Michael Bublé, Ivan Lins

will you marry me: Anna Sun - Walk the Moon

first child: I’ll Be Good - Jaymes Young

we’re getting older: In The Mood - Glenn Miller

if you die i’ll go with you: If You Could See Me Now - The Script

end credits: Sucker for Pain - Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, Imagine Dragons

[nothoughtsjustbensontheduck]

20 reasons i’m epic and you should love me:

1. i’m benson

2. i’m a duck

3. i’m benson the duck

4. i light up

5. i’m epic

6. i like burning buildings

7. sometimes i cry

8. i have a cool hat

9. i sit on a throne of books occasionally

10. people have made fan art of me and my brethren

11. refer to 3

12. i’ve touched grass

13. i’m loved by tubbo

14. i’m a homosexual

15. refer to 5

16. i will arson ur enemies house

17. people love me

18. it would be homophobic to hate me

19. I have an epic music taste

20. i will cry

<333

[mochitoaster]

Clown dolls have been stolennnn

Tagging: @burning-sol @saiiboat @canyourlawnmowerdothis @ishhbowl @jortstorm !!!!!

I came across this tag game and thought it looked fun so let’s do this. In this game you pick stuff from your room and have people vote on which one they want to take home.

I tag: @samblerambles @vizishereig @resident-rats @goodpointsandbadpoints @thebrandywine @lliinno-blog (anyone is welcome to participate honestly)

[littlemanwithlonghair]

I’ve decided to get my own benson (it’ll show up in the mail at some point) ... but I wanna name it something that’s not benson, so any name recommendations??

[lynxalon]

On Twitter they were doing bensona's, which I thought was super cute so now I'm gonna show y'all mine ^^

This is Bynx! It was very fun to doodle this, usually I don't color these in cause that takes a lot of time, but I needed Bynx to be very pretty pretty green OwO

[heartofaspen]

tubb n benson :]

something something he’s back

[image id: a digital drawing of cc!tubbo against a light blue background with triangles of varying shades of yellow. tubbo clutches a white plastic duck to his face (benson), grinning. end id.]

[maple-leifarts]

STEALING YOUR DEMON HOODIE HEHE >:D

oooh thanks for the tag vhas @chrysofightme !! <3

tagging some usuals and also some moots i haven’t rlly interacted w :0 @habizuh-studios @l7k-a @yanweiism @caeprus and anyone else!! no pressure <3

[ethotv-archived]

i present to you: the cc!tubbo iceberg

explanation of all points under the cut!

dyslexic: self explanatory

bees: tubbo is known for liking bees. its his Thing

likes south park: hes been watching that show for years and references it often

dream smp: hes on the dsmp

tubbox: tubbo. in a box!

tubbolive: tubbos alt twitch

-

tubboinnit: one of tubbos old minecraft igns, changed at tommys insistence

benson: a light up duck he bought in the first shopping stream

lives with ranboo: ranboo moved in a week ago (as of today) after knowing tubbo for around 7-8 months

plays ukulele: self explanatory. he sold one as merch!

cnn10: recently he watched cnn10 on stream and the anchor/host replied to him on twitter

eye discourse: theyre grey.

smpearth: tubbo was invited to smpearth a few weeks after its creation

kpop fan: tubbo likes a couple kpop bands

-

national trampolinist: when he was 13-14 tubbo was a nationally competing trampolinist, but gave it up to be a streamer

voltz wars: modded mc youtube roleplay series with ranboo, jack manifold, captain sparklez, and some youtubers tubbo watched as a kid, fmb

the pastel cafe: tubbo has talked at length about how when he retires he wants to own a pastel cafe

dropped out of school: he just stopped replying to their emails

never eaten asian food: tubbo didnt know what sushi was!

called himself a tweek kinnie: when he was told what kinning was, he began his "kinlist", with tweek tweak from south park being number 1

tall guy short guy: a script tubbo began on his alt of the adventures of tall guy and short guy, who definitely arent based off him and ranboo

was gonna buy the strawberry dress: when niki and eret bought theirs, tubbo was going to too, until he realised how revealing it was

orphictubbo: another one of tubbos old minecraft igns. this also used to be his twitch name

eldest sibling: both his sisters are younger than him!

made his own hack client: self explanatory. he also played 2b2t often and had his own anarchy server (poggop)

-

800 page script: tubbo wrote 800 pages of a medical drama when he was like 11. he read some out on stream with ranboo and karl once

played dwight (from the office) in chess: pogchamps was a wild tournament. apparently the actors son watches tubbo

plays badminton: self explanatory. plays with his mum

got turned away from age of ultron for looking too young: when he was 13 he wasnt allowed in to see the movie because he was too short and they thought he was 11

-

creek shipper (and wrote comics+scripts) self explanatory. creek is tweek and craig from south park, and tubbos favourite episode involves them

quig date: tubbo went on a minecraft date with quig on smp earth

the skirt clip: in september/october, tubbo wore a skirt (over his jeans) for a minute as a subgoal

bunnyglittergirl: the original name of tubbos minecraft account. pretty sure he bought it secondhand

blue turtle: tubbos minecraft lets play channel from when he was 13

-

fallen kingdom princess: on captain sparklez minecraft server (fallen kingdom), tubbo was assigned the role of princess in capts kingdom (they were really fun streams)

weird teeth: he still has his baby teeth? apparently?

was a fortnite streamer: self explanatory. he also streamed csgo and pubg

mizkif being his alt: once, while vcing with mizkif and some friends, tubbo was given mizkifs stream key and streamed off mizs account. he still has it