#I'm halfway through little shop of horrors!

[milkyberryjsk]

(logs back in, covered in blood) hi!!!!!

[golden-cherry]

deal - cl16 (24/?)

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x Reader

Series Summary: Your whole life has gone to shit. Your boyfriend broke up with you, you just lost your job and the Monegasque, who suddenly stands in your doorway, claims that it’s his apartment.

Chapter Summary: Furniture shopping is more exciting when there's talks about buying new stuff - like a bed.

Warnings: 18+ (mentions of smut), fluff, Kika is the bestest friend on this planet

Word Count: 3.4k

series masterlist

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A/N: hello loves! part twenty-four is here and I hope you enjoy it! feedback is appreciated!!!

The fact that Kika is just lying on your bed instead of snuggling up completely in your fluffy blanket is a miracle. 

"I liked the light blue mom jeans best," she says as you stand in front of the large mirror leaning against the wall next to the door to your room and look at yourself. "With the white oversized turtleneck - smash."

You look at her through the mirror. "Haha."

"I'm serious." She leans on her elbows and tilts her head. "If you wear white sneakers with it, it'll even work with the sandwich method. I've seen it on TikTok. And I swear to you - people will turn their heads to look at you."

"I don't want people turning their heads at me," you confess quietly, adjusting the soft fabric of your top. "I just want to look halfway okay."

"Trust me. You look more than okay."

After Kika and Pierre have stormed your apartment with their spare key - which at first annoyed you, but in the next moment made you feel quite relieved - your girlfriend has taken it upon herself to unpack your suitcase and pick out an outfit for you that matches your trip to the furniture store.

Unpacking your suitcase simply consisted of pulling out one item at a time and tossing it aside if it didn't meet her expectations. The pile of clothes next to the bed is the result of her search.

" Let it go," she warns you as you adjust the position of the hem of the sweater on your shoulder. "You look good. When I think about my first outfit as Pierre's girlfriend - it was pure horror."

"But I'm not a girlfriend," you reply as you reach for the jeans Kika is holding out to you. "I'm his friend. His roommate. Nothing more," you exhale, "and nothing less."

The Portugese woman watches you slip into your pants. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Caught off guard, you look at her. Are your feelings for the Monegasque so obvious that she can even see it on your face? Is your affection written all over your forehead? You can't name your emotional state, you can't say a word that could even begin to describe what you feel for Charles - but there's no question that it's definitely something other than pure friendship. 

No matter how often and vehemently you try to convince yourself that Charles is your friend, you are an incredibly bad liar. 

"I remember being incredibly nervous the first time we went out in public. I think I changed outfits three or four times before I was halfway happy."

Oh.

You sit down on the edge of the bed with her. "I want all of this. I want him." You clear your throat as Kika gives you a meaningful look. "His friendship, that is. And I'm also willing to take the risk of people not liking me and talking badly about me." You clasp your hands in your lap.

Kika sits up straight. "But?"

You curl your lips into a thin line. "I - I don't know." How do you explain to her that you're worried that his fans could dislike you so much that they doubt Charles? You're going public as friends, something that bothers you a little more than it should. But the Monegasque has also said that people will think what they want. 

What if they hate you so much - your looks, your mediocrity, your being - that Charles catches on and he realizes they're right in their opinion?

"I just want to make a good impression."

Your friend reaches for your hand. "You will. And after all, you're just friends. The public's opinion isn't all that important." You don't see her look, which says so much more than what she actually says.

"Right."

Kika lets go of your hand and stands up from the bed. "I'll be with you the whole time. We'll work it out. I promise." She tosses her long hair over her shoulder. "So, let's get going. This room is pretty bleak and could use some color," she says before pulling you off the bed and out of the room.

As you slip into your shoes at the front door, the men join you.

"So, Pierre and I are sitting -" Charles begins, but suddenly stops when he sees you. His eyes wander over your body and goose bumps spread along their path. He remains silent until Pierre nudges him. "Uhm, sorry. Yes. We - um - we're both going to sit in the front of the car because -" He scratches the back of his neck nervously, but can't take his eyes off you. "The plan is for Kika and you to go through the furniture store together and Pierre is coming with me. Just so that we are seen together as little as possible, but are still out and about together," he explains. 

You understand why this is all going to happen. He wants to protect you and you want to let him, but you can't stop your heart from getting a little bruised. 

When Kika notices your offended look, she crosses her arms in front of her chest. "So much planning for simple shopping with friends? Is that really necessary?"

As you look up from your shoes, you look straight into Charles' beautiful green eyes. Something that looks exactly like how you feel flickers across his face. "It is." He stands up straight. "Shall we?"

Kika smiles gently at you. "Let's liven this place up a bit, then." She grabs Pierre's hand and together the two of them walk out of the apartment towards the elevator, while Charles and you stay behind. You both look after them. 

"Is everything all right?" asks the Monegasque and stands next to you. 

"Everything's fine," you answer him curtly. You don't dare look at him. 

"Y/N," he says as he gently grasps your wrist and turns you towards him. "Mon amour, you know why I'm doing this, don't you?" His hand slips a little lower so your fingers can intertwine.

"'Mh-hmm." 

"Hey." His other hand rests gently against your cheek, making you look at him. "Hey." His thumb gently strokes your cheekbone. "I'm trying to protect you. That's my priority. Making sure you're okay is my priority. And if that means we can't walk through any stores next to each other for now, just so the public can get used to you, then I'll put up with it." His gaze twitches briefly to your mouth. "Even if it's not what I want."

You nuzzle your face against his warm hand. "And what do you want?" you ask softly. 

"You." 

His answer makes the blood sizzle in your veins. It feels as if the warmth of his skin is burning through your face, as if the nerve endings under your skin are sending little electric shocks through your muscles and forcing your heart to stop. You take a deep breath.

"I want you near me." He squeezes your hand twice before pulling away. Your skin feels cooler without his touch. "But I'm responsible for what happens in public. And I don't want to risk anything happening to you because of me."

You nod weakly before wordlessly following the befriended couple. You hear Charles behind you, but you don't wait for him as you walk quickly to the others. The atmosphere in the elevator is tense as you are transported towards the underground garage, but no one tries to ease the tension. Kika and Pierre look at each other a little uncertainly, something that doesn't escape your gaze, and you can't blame them. The situation is just awful.

Pierre has thought far ahead, because when he presses a button on his car key, a large SUV opens up in the underground parking garage, sure to fit some decorative items. Charles' Ferrari, or God forbid your old Renault, might have been able to fit a picture frame, or at most a small mirror. 

You sit behind Charles, who has taken a seat in the passenger seat. Kika and Pierre are talking through the rear-view mirror while you look out of the window.

The longer you think about what Charles said - or didn't say - the more uncomfortable you feel. The hem of the sweater seems to have slipped, the collar feels too tight and the sleeves are scratching your elbows. You're not sure what you were hoping for, what the right answer would have been. But you're not particularly happy with the one you got. 

You also want to be close to him, permanently. And you can also understand why the plan involves you staying away from each other inside the furniture store. But is that really necessary if you're just friends? Has he done something similar with his other female friends, or are you the only one who has to put up with this fuss? 

Your thoughts are going round and round in your head, but as if by magic they suddenly come to a standstill. But it's not magic, it's Charles' hand that has squeezed past his seat on the right and is now gripping your leg. You feel his fingers slide under the fabric of your jeans, where they rest against your calf. 

You try to regulate your breathing, but you can hear the blood pounding in your ears. Charles touching you is nothing new. You've been touching each other non-stop since last night, which doesn't help your feelings or your friendship, but it still feels indescribably good. 

It feels right the way his calloused hand wraps around your soft calf. It felt right the way his thumb stroked your cheek. It felt right to lie half-naked next to him in bed. 

It felt right to want him as something more. More than a roommate. More than a friend. 

And that's exactly why you slide your foot towards the car door, so that Charles can touch you more easily. You block out the voice that keeps whispering hypocrite to you as best you can. And the warmer his skin feels on yours, the tighter his fingers close around your calf, the better it works. 

"I'll let you both out right at the entrance and we'll park in the back of the parking lot," Pierre interrupts your thoughts before they're no longer PG. "You can go inside and we'll follow. That's the easiest way."

"Thank you very much," Charles says. "I'm sorry we're shamelessly taking advantage of you."

Pierre has to grin. "You're welcome to give me a position in Bahrain, then we'd be even."

"You'd have to get close to me on the track first."

The two men argue amicably until the car comes to a halt in front of the deserted entrance. Just as you are about to open the door, Charles's fingers gently squeeze your leg twice and you have to suppress a smile, otherwise Kika would tease you endlessly. As you both get out and the car drives away, she latches on to you. 

"Are you ready?" she asks as you walk towards the glass door together. 

"Definitely."

Kika has very good taste in decorating and if she hadn't become a model, she could definitely have worked at Ikea putting together those fake rooms. As you push a shopping cart in front of you, she skips through the aisles, grabbing anything that matches in color or style. Picture frames, vases, mirrors and fake plants that would look good on the windowsill in your room. 

She's examining which of the candles in front of her would go better with the vases in the shopping cart when your cell phone vibrates in your pocket. 

Charles: If one of the candles burns down our apartment, I'll have to charge you rent. 

Confused, you read the message before looking up and around. Charles is standing about twenty meters away from you, smiling at you over the shelves. You bite the inside of your cheek.

You: You don't need my money, Mr. Ferrari. After all, you make millions a year. 

You raise an eyebrow challengingly as Charles reads your message. You can see his grin clearly, even from this distance. 

Charles: If you burn down my expensive apartment, I'll have to find a new one, and they're not exactly cheap in Monaco, as you know. 

You: I thought it was our apartment?

Charles: If you let it burn down, you're welcome to keep it.

You: So you'd let me keep it? Our apartment?

Charles: I'd give you anything, mon amour. You just have to ask for it. 

You don't have time to think about his answer because Kika throws a stuffed animal dinosaur in your face. 

"Are you done flirting?" she asks, playing annoyed. "I'm trying to decorate your room and you'd rather flirt than help me."

You feel the blood rush to your face. "Excuse me?"

Her grin almost reaches your ears. "Gotcha."

"You can't possibly have caught me doing something I wasn't doing," you try to wriggle out of it, but Kika has bitten down like a little terrier.

"And why are you looking like you've eaten the last spoonful of tiramisu without asking if anyone else wants the rest?" 

"I haven't eaten any tiramisu," you defend yourself and hug the green stuffed animal tightly to your chest. 

"Not yet," she says gently and puts one of the candles in the cart with the rest. "But I'm afraid you could get diabetic if you're not careful with the tiramisu. A small piece is fine, but a double portion could almost be too much." 

You narrow your eyes. "I haven't eaten any tiramisu." Without taking your eyes off her, you put the green dino in the shopping cart too. "And I don't intend to."

"You're a bad liar," she says and stands next to you, wrapping her arms tightly around you. "But that's all right. I still love you. And when your room looks really cool soon, I'll take the outfit pictures for my Instagram in front of your mirror."

She gives you a peck on the cheek and you roll your eyes. "Charles was right. We need to change the locks, then you can't disturb us anymore."

"Disturb? Disturbing what? Eating tiramisu?" she grins and you would have loved to suffocate her with the green dino. Apparently Kika can read minds, because she quickly lets go of your arms and continues to skip happily through the corridors while you follow her with the shopping cart. 

"How much do you think the things you picked out for me cost?" you ask her as she picks out more plants.

She takes a look at the shopping cart. "Something between two hundred and five hundred euros," she replies with a shrug.

"Kika, that's too much. Way too much," you try to stop her as she walks over to the rugs on display. "I can't pay for it. I'm unemployed, remember?" You're about to turn the shopping cart around and return the selected items to their rightful places, but Kika stands in your way. 

"Charles offered to pay for this," she says, confused, resting her perfectly manicured hands on the metal grille of the cart. 

"He what?" you ask, looking around in the hope of spotting Charles somewhere. But he's nowhere to be seen.

"Pierre sent me a text message to leave the car at the checkouts when we're done. He said that Charles wanted to pay for it and that we should wait outside for them," she explains, tilting her head. "I thought he would have told you. I know you're unemployed, but because of the text message, I thought that - I assumed we could just pick out nice items without looking at the price."

You run your tongue over your teeth. "Give me a moment, please," you say briefly and leave her standing there with the shopping cart. 

You walk through every aisle, looking over every shelf in the hope of seeing Charles standing somewhere. And when, after ten minutes, you spot his brown curls in the furthest corner of the store, you don't care if the two of you are seen together. He's standing in front of a gray, hip-high box spring, with nice, dark bedding and comfortable-looking pillows placed on it. When you stop next to him, he doesn't look at you.

"I want to buy a new bed," he begins the conversation. "The one I have now is too low for me. What do you think of this one? I've tried it out. It's really comfortable and the perfect height for -" He falls silent before he can finish the sentence. 

"Kika says you want to pay for my things," you change the subject without answering his question. You don't take your eyes off the bed either. 

"That's correct."

"I don't want that," you say tersely. "I don't want you to pay for it."

"But I want to," he replies, looking at you out of the corner of his eye. "Think of it as a gift."

"As a gift?" You raise an eyebrow. "As a gift for what?"

"For your friendship."

"You can have my friendship without buying me new things," you assure him, but you fall on deaf ears. 

"But I want to. I have so much money that I can't spend on my own, so I want to buy you nice things." He leans a little towards you so that your hands touch. "How expensive are the things? One thousand, two thousand euros?"

"Kika says five hundred at most."

"Then think of it as a small, early Christmas present," he says gently. Before you can object, he continues. "I want you to feel comfortable and if it costs me some money, then so be it. And it won't hurt my bank account in the slightest. So just say thank you and accept the gift."

"Thank you," you whisper reluctantly, but you know that it wouldn't do any good to go against his wishes. "Did you find something you want to buy?"

He smiles. "This bed, apparently. And bedding. And a mirror."

"Doesn't sound bad. I just hope you have as good a taste as Kika. After all, our things have to match," you joke.

Charles turns his head in your direction. "Then lie down on the bed, mon amour. I'd like to see how you look on it before I spend thousands of euros on it." As he says it and his fingers curl around your wrist, that feeling blossoms in your chest again.

You want to throw him on the bed in front of you, kiss him until you can't breathe and touch him until you can see stars. You want to feel his warm skin under your fingertips, feel his muscles tense as he pulls you on top of him and presses you against his firm body. You want to feel his weight on you as he lays you down on the bed and his lips trail down from your mouth. You want to - 

"Do you really think I'm going to try sleeping without you again when we've figured out that we both sleep better when we're together?" he asks, gently stroking the thin skin on your wrist with his thumb. You hope he can't feel your racing pulse underneath. "When we first met, you said that you hadn't had a decent night's sleep in a long time. And if it means I have to hold you in my arms so you can get a good night's sleep, then so be it. And it's not as if I don't enjoy having you close to me."

Before you can answer him, you feel a person standing at your other side and when you look, Kika is standing there. Her gaze flickers briefly to your hands before she turns to the bed as well. "Do any of you fancy a bite to eat?" she asks. "There's a restaurant nearby that serves incredibly good tiramisu. And it's never busy. We can go there if you like." She turns slightly in your direction and nudges you. "What about you? Do you want some tiramisu?"

More like a need than a want.

[tallgirl14]

Chilchuck angst

I love this lil middle age man but i aslo live for angst so her are few my ideas because I need tell someone and if you have angst dm me we can talk about it

He carries a wallet size family portrait (when his girls were little) with him when he goes down in a dungeon, and he looks at it when he miss them. ( I feel like photos are probably pretty 💰💰 so they only had few consist wedding photo, baby photo mayjack she's fist born, then one of the whole family ) and this photo is chaotic and It makes him smile.

This is the ONLY photo he has of his entire family and he hasent seen them in few years with his kids grown living there own lives and him and his wife are split this photos all he's got.

How far would this man go for this picture. I can see chilchuck getting badly hurt because he went back to grab it and as Marcille is lecturing him about his reckless action as she's healing him.

Marcille: "What could have been so important that you risk your life over??"

Chilchuck: "my family or what's left of it"

He shows her the photo and marcille feels her heart drop she finally got to learn something about him and its sad ( this miscommunication leads to his group to believe chil family is dead )

Chilchuck taught Mayjack how to pick locks, and in the manga, he says when he dies, if they need someone, she'd be their first choice. SO he obviously took her through dungeon showing her how to navigate because being locksmith in a shop vs. dungeon is night & day different, dungeon being high pace environment.

Could you imagine how traumatizing that would be if saw her dad die in front of her AND NOT KNOW THEY COULD BE REVIVED!! (Seeing anyone die would be scaring) Especially if she felt it was her fault.

At first, Mayjack was curious about going into a dungeon with her dad to see exactly what he does she rember as kid seeing him come home late tired excused but mostly worn down.

Whenever she asked him about his work as a kid he was always vague or if he did talk about it was pg version and normally he was just trying scare us about going into dungeon. BUT one thing he made very clear, he didn't want any of her or her sister near the dungeon, but now that she's an adult, he couldn't stop her.

" I still don't want you near the dungeon, but you are a skilled locksmith, so you would be valued and well paid. IF you're still interested, I'll have you shadow me on my next small job so you can see what it's like."

At first, it was like any job we met with the client went over to the terms dad took payment, and then we headed over to the dungeon. I was awestruck by the new environment, but it quickly became overstimulating it took me a moment to adjust. the first few levels, dad had pointed out things to avoid what were scams & how to detect traps and walked me through a few I felt confident. Most importantly, when talking jobs, always have a skilled healer. Now I realize why as we enter new room dad was working on trap I was observing the room when I noticed treasure chest peaking out corner not knowing it was a mimick.

Chilchuck was Halfway through picking his lock when his dad sense went off. He quickly looked around room and spotted may messing with mimick

Chilchuck: "MAYJACK TIMS! get away from that!!" He starts running towards her

May turned to look at her dad, confused " why I already unlocked it?"

Her body stiffened as she could feel presents inside the chest, but before mimick could attach, chilchuck pushed her out of the way taking damage as it jabbed one of its claws through his neck causing him to bleed everywhere all mayjack could do was watch in horror paralyzed with fear trying process what happened. One of group members took care of mimick while she scrambled to her feet to get to here dad trying to put pressure on his wound tears flooding out

"Nonononno im sorry I'm sorry 🥺 "

As chilchuck lay there dying, he was more concerned with the fact he could comfort his daughter. This wasn't how he wanted to see death for the first time. Afterwards, the healer from their group came over and assured her he was going to be fine as she worked on reviving him.

Chilchuck let out a gasp and cough out some blood that had remained stuck in his throat. He turns to mayjack " that's why I told you to stay near me..." He moves toward her noticing her hands are strained with his blood. " are you hurt?... may? "

She shakes her head, and tears start to fall down her face he pulls her in for a hug. " it's ok, I'm ok ... I'm right here. " she hugs him tight, and they stay in that embrace for a while. When they finally break the hug, chilchuck wipes tears from her face.

" im sorry you saw that... do you want to go home.? "

" but the job?"

Chilchuck shakes his head " don't worry about it I brought someone along for that exact reason"

[alchemistc]

Couched In Metaphor

"You want a beer man?"

Eddie tilts a look over his shoulder, already halfway through the doorway to his kitchen, and Tommy shoots a glance at his watch. "Mmm, no can do. I'm meeting Evan in a bit."

"Is this my cue to act a fool for your attention?"

There's a moment where Tommy wants to double down on defense for Evan, but it's a joke, it's just a joke and if Evan were right next to him he'd definitely enjoy the gentle ribbing. He tries not to examine the immediate desire to defend him too closely. Too much, too soon, it's barely been a few months.

"And he's got jokes, ladies and gentlemen."

Eddie grins: wide, amused. It's what he came for - the chance to get Eddie out of his own head for a few hours. "You guys doing anything special?"

"We're on a mission to pick out a new couch, apparently."

When Eddie stills, Tommy swears it's like he's just been frozen in place; the beer in his hand raised halfway to his mouth, lips pursed, brows raised, a cartoon character stuck in time. He plays it off a moment later, hastily lowering the bottle, nodding. "Don't let him bring a clipboard."

It's Tommy's turn to wrinkle his brow.

"No good can come when that man's got a prioritized list, Tommy, I'm serious."

"So we're ignoring the fact that there's apparently something about tagging along for furniture shopping that just made you freeze frame?"

Eddie tilts his head, squints his eyes, takes a drag off his beer. "That's a Buck and Tommy conversation, not an Eddie and Tommy conversation. You wanna know more about the clipboard, though, I've got about thirty horror stories."

---

"I feel like maybe I've been bamboozled," Tommy says, three furniture stores in. The couch Evan is currently testing is -- just like every other couch they've looked at so far.

"None of them have been right."

He's got that look in his eyes like he's been knocking on doors in a structure fire for too long.

"Are we worried about aesthetics, here, or comfort, or whether or not they fit the space? Eddie warned me about Clipboard Buck but maybe you should pull up your notes app and make a pro con list."

Evan flushes. Darts a glance down at his feet, and his thumbs dig into the seams of his hoodie pocket. "I just thought I'd walk in and find what I was looking for. Sort of thought it'd just - call to me, or something."

"It's a couch Evan, not a lifetime commitment."

And Evan flushes deeper, cheeks pinking, lips twisting. Tommy, who's been hovering nearby while Evan tests out what feels like half a million identical couches, feels himself sigh, bending and twisting to settle next to him, one hand reaching out to squeeze at Evan's knee.

"So it seems like maybe there's a story here I'm not aware of."

It sort of tumbles out of Evan, then, a rush of half apologies and stumbling explanations, and Tommy thinks of the snatches of conversations they've had about their past partners, their admittedly not great parents.

"And - you know, I just thought. I mean. I figured." He gestures, vaguely, and then more pointedly, a glance from beneath his lashes to catch Tommy's gaze as he waggles a finger between the two of them.

Oh.

Tommy waits a beat. Sometimes it's better to let Evan work it out in his own head for a second.

Also, he's - sort of reeling, a bit. Too much, too soon, he'd thought, but here he was, unaware of the significance of being asked on this little errand until he suddenly wasn't, and -

"Sorry. That's - it's not like - anyway, I've clearly put way too much weight into the couch thing, you're right, it's just a couch."

He's been ignoring the urge to curl his fingers around Evan's for the better part of two hours, now. He doesn't question it, usually, but in this specific scenario it's felt too couple-y, too forward, too much like begging a sales associate to make some assumptions Evan wasn't prepared to deal with.

Evan's still twisting his hands together inside the pocket of his jacket, and Tommy makes the snap decision before he can talk himself out of it - two fingers tucking into the pocket, pressing into the meat of Evan's palm, pressing up and pulling without any real force, and it's like Evan deflates, a bit, hand immediately following the soft drag out of the fabric to curl four fingers around Tommy's palm.

"It doesn't have to be just a couch."

---

They have their first fight, navigating the stairwell up to Evan's floor, and situate it in the room in stony silence. Tommy considers leaving, once it's exactly as Evan wants it. He's good at that - jumping ship at the first sign of trouble, and he has to swallow the urge down while Evan glares a hole into the armrest.

He's just opening his mouth to speak when Evan's voice drifts over to him, quieter than he'd expected. "I really don't want it to just be a couch."

And Tommy's never -

He's dated plenty of people - cared for less, and loved very few, but he's never steeped shit in metaphor and he's also never gone from "attracted to the straight guy again" to "this inanimate object is a symbol of our relationship" in -- ever.

"Evan."

There's a flatness to his voice that only ever comes out when he's truly upset, and he hates it, hates that he can just shut it all off. He makes a conscious effort, unfurls the fists shoved into his pants pockets. Tries again.

"We're hiring someone if you ever wanna move that damn thing again."

Evan's smile splits across his face like the sun breaking over the horizon.

---

Christopher eyes the couch with suspicion.

"It's a lot bigger than your old ones," he finally manages, with a shifty glance between the two of them, and Tommy has to remind himself that Evan had gone down a rabbit hole of research trying to find the best way to clean leather once they'd finally gotten over themselves and proceeded with the making up part of their argument.

Eddie clocks the look running across his face, and makes a face at Evan. Evan tucks his tongue into his cheek, but he can't quite hide his grin, and Tommy tries not to imagine the next time they'll need to go furniture shopping.

---

"Can I admit something?" Evan asks, fingers shifting across the expanse of Tommy's chest, head tucked neatly beneath his chin.

Tommy hums, still half asleep, trying to ignore the crick in his neck and the wide expanse of his lower back that keeps sinking into the crack between the cushions.

Evan presses his lips lazily into the side of Tommy's neck. "I actually hate this couch. It's the worst."

Tommy laughs, and laughs, and laughs some more when Evan presses up on his elbow to pout straight into his face.

Tommy can't help but curl a palm around his jaw, ring and middle finger sliding up to cup his cheek, reaching for the marks at his brow. "Can we skip the torture of another horrendous shopping trip and just toss this one to the curb when I ask you to move in with me?"

He only stills for half a moment, eyes already bright and wide and happy before he nods. "When?" he repeats, all puppy enthusiasm as he buries his face back in Tommy's neck.

"Keep it to yourself, though, I haven't decided how I'm gonna ask. Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise."

Evan hums, fingers drifting down his arm, now - it's a familiar, teasing path that always drives Tommy a little wild, and - yep, they skate over his wrist, dancing right along the length of his fingers and down across his hip, little finger spreading wide towards his inseam.

---

Evan breaks his couch the first night all his things have been unpacked.

He makes a little pleased hum, low in his throat, when Tommy pulls up the same site he'd used to buy it, adds three to his cart, and passes the laptop off to Evan for opinions. Curls a warm hand around the back of Tommy's neck, presses his lips to the crown of Tommy's head. Tommy takes a moment to enjoy the feel of it.

"Pick one," he manages through gritted teeth when Evan nips at his earlobe.

"It's just a couch, babe, whichever one you want."

[forsinnersandsaintsalike]

Billy’s spoiled little sister

Protective Older Brother Energy

Billy absolutely dotes on you, though he'd never admit it out loud. He plays the "tough guy," but he's the first to step in if anyone messes with you.

You never have to ask twice for something. Whether it's a ride, a snack, or even skipping school to avoid a bad day, Billy makes it happen.

He's always slipping you extra cash "just in case," even though you both know it's for things you don't need.

"You're My Favorite, But Don't Push It"

You get away with things no one else can. Stu's even joked that you've got Billy "wrapped around your finger," which earns him a death glare every time.

"Don't tell Dad" becomes Billy's go-to line after he covers for you when you break curfew or skip school.

Billy constantly complains about how much trouble you are, but the moment you look upset, he's back to spoiling you rotten.

Billy takes you shopping whenever you want. Clothes, CDs, makeup-whatever you need, he's got you covered.

"This is the last time I'm buying you something this ridiculous," he says while handing over money for a new pair of boots. Spoiler: it's never the last time.

If anyone so much as looks at you the wrong way, Billy's ready to throw hands-or worse.

"Who made you cry? Tell me their name," is something you hear more often than not. You've learned not to test him because he will follow through.

Stu gets a kick out of Billy's overprotective streak and loves to egg him on. "Man, you act like she's a princess or something."

"She is," Billy snaps back.

He might not be openly affectionate, but he shows his care in little ways. He'll leave your favorite snacks in the kitchen, fix your car when it breaks down, or let you hog the remote during movie nights.

If he notices you're having a bad day, he'll casually suggest grabbing your favorite takeout or letting you pick the next horror movie (even if Stu whines about it).

"You're so annoying," he grumbles after you steal his hoodie for the millionth time, but he never asks for it back.

Stu loves to tease you but also enables your spoiled behavior. "Princess gets whatever she wants, huh?" he jokes while handing you the last slice of pizza.

If Billy's being too overbearing, Stu's your go-to for lightening the mood. "Relax, dude. She's fine. Let her have a life."

Billy has a sixth sense for when someone's flirting with you, and it sets him off instantly.

If it's a random guy at school, Billy steps in, calm but menacing. "Hey, she's not interested. Move along before this gets ugly."

The guy usually backs off, sensing that Billy isn't bluffing, but if they don't, Stu is there to play bad cop to Billy's even-worse cop.

"Ooooh, big mistake, pal," Stu says, slinging an arm around the guy. "You don't mess with Billy's little sis." Cue unsettling laughter.

Billy doesn't like to make a scene unless absolutely necessary, but once the guy's gone, he gives you a stern look. "You need to be more careful."

"Careful of what?" you argue. "I wasn't even doing anything!"

"Careful of attracting idiots," he mutters, dragging you away.

If it's someone Billy knows personally, the reaction is even worse. He feels betrayed and furious.

"Seriously? Out of all the people in the world, you think it's a good idea to hit on my sister?"

The guy will either stammer out an apology or get defensive, but either way, Billy makes it clear: "Don't let me catch you looking at her again."

Stu, meanwhile, finds it hilarious.

"Dude, chill. It's kind of a compliment, right? She's hot."

"Don't ever say that again," Billy snaps.

You've learned that Billy has a tough exterior, but he can't say no to you.

"Billy, I need a huge favor," you start, knowing you're already halfway to getting what you want.

"What now?" he asks, pretending to be annoyed.

"Can you drive me to the city?There's this concert I really, really want to go to, but no one else can take me."

He sighs like you're asking him to move mountains, but after a long pause, he tosses you the car keys.
"Fine. But you're buying me coffee on the way."

Stu loves to tag along during these moments, adding to the chaos. "Road trip! I call shotgun!"

"You're not even invited," Billy groans.

"Please?" you ask, giving Billy your best puppy-dog eyes. Stu joins in, mimicking your expression.

Billy can’t help but roll his eyes and give into you both “Fine. Both of you shut up” You and Stu giggle while you pile into the car.

[the-fiction-witch]

Safe Place

Media - BBC Accused Character - Jake Murry (Age Up) Couples - Jake X Reader Reader - Y/n (Lawyer) Rating - 15 Dark! Abuse! horror! terror! trauma! Word Count - 3083

Simple to say but Jake hadn't had an easy time of it all. He has found himself in utter puppy love and rushed into things with a… less then nice young lady. And a whirlwind of physical, and emotional abuse and manipulation. Later he'd married her in the courthouse and moved in with her. but things were never good. She was emotionally abusive manipulating him with her constant threats of hurting herself which broke Jake's heart. But whenever she got angry or notably jealous she'd snap and begin to throw things at him, kick him, punch him, and threaten far worse. Many nights he'd spend being given the silent treatment while he bandaged bruises. But he stayed because he loved Elsa and he couldn't bare the idea she'd do something drastic.

That was until Jake best friend of the last nine years, Y/n one day finally snapped and asked questions about his constant injuries.

Jake broke and told her everything, and needless to say Y/n ushered him out of there like a knight in shinning armour. Jake was currently living with Y/n in her house. Far from Elsa and their old apartment. She was very sweet and very gentle with him as he was understandably very traumatised and full to the brim with anxiety barely even able go out shopping without clutching Y/n's hand in fear. They'd have a few run-ins with Elsa and they'd never been pleasant at times downright horrific to the extent of police being involved. Jake had filed for a divorce but the process would be long and difficult as Elsa refused to give in, Y/n as his lawyer had even managed to get him a restraining order even if Elsa often ignored it. But for now, he was safe, and actually getting to enjoy himself a little as they prepared for Christmas.

Elsa never let him do anything more than get halfway through a Christmas movie before going into one of her moods. But Y/n gave him full reign to decorate, blast Christmas music, and watch whatever he wanted. So of course the house looked like an absolute Christmas grotto but he was happy so Y/n didn't mind. Christmas had started to become his safe place and a way to find comfort and stability after everything that had happened. the town he'd been working on had become a kind of soothing piece of mind for him. a thing he could focus on to stop his thoughts drifting to other places

Jake stood humming along the festive music playing while hanging lights for the third Christmas tree inside the house. While Y/n was making cookies, as she was baking she accidentally dropped the bowl on the counter making a loud banging.

Which immediately put Jake into fight or flight. Jake's body tensed and he froze up in his spot and as he stood there like a statue he looked around her alarmed and anxious.

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm sorry Jakie. It slipped out of my hand. But it's all okay." She gently told him as if speaking to a spooked animal as she slowly picked up the bowl and set it gently down on a kitchen towel to muffle its sound, "You alright?"

"I… I'm… I'm o-okay…" he muttered as he shakily went to place down the lights he was hanging and he tried to slow down his breath as his heart raced fast inside his chest. He looked over at her and tried to give her a calm smile but his hands were shaking ever so slightly and he was clearly struggling to hold it together,

"I'm so sorry Jakie," Y/n said gently making sure not to raise her voice offering her arms in her flour-dusted apron in case he needed to hold her.

he let out a quiet sigh and he immediately went to her, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug. he held onto her tight as he buried his face into her shoulder and he just took in shuddering breaths. he mumbled something incoherent into her but by the sound of it he was apologising,

"Sh sh sh…" She cooed stroking his blonde hair, "It's okay, it was an accident everything is fine. Nothing broken. No one's hurt. It's all alright. You’re safe." Y/n reassured him "It's all okay…"

his shoulders still trembled and his breath came in shaky huffs but he slowly began to relax in her arms as she soothed him and gently stroked his hair. though he still held onto a fair amount of fear and anxiety, her voice and comfort were helping to bring him back down from the edge. "I'm s-sorry… I know it was just… the noise. It… it s-scared me… Sorry…" he muttered into her shoulder, his voice quiet and almost timid

"you have nothing to be sorry about." Y/n cooed, "I'm sorry for spooking my little Jakie fox." She laughed, "This is why I need to remember to use the kitchen roll. Muffles that loud counter."

he let out a shaky laugh and he hugged her tighter. his heart was still beating faster than normal and his body was still filled with tension and adrenaline. but her embrace and her voice were soothing him, making him feel safe again, "Yeah… that c-counter is too damn loud…" he joked with her

"too loud indeed. Who said counters should be stone? Absolute fools." Y/n laughed pressing a little kiss on his forehead to calm him down. "Okay? Everything alright?"

he hummed at her question and closed his eyes as she kissed his forehead, taking in deep breaths to try and finally calm down his heart which was still pumping a little faster then it should be and the adrenaline that still coursed through his body. but he was mostly relaxed in her embrace as he let out a soft sigh of relief. "Yeah… Yeah I'm alright… I'm s-sorry I got spooked by such a dumb thing…"

"it's okay, it's not dumb you just got spooked. Any little fox would be spooked. Would you like to lick cookie spoon?"

he chuckled and pulled back from the hug a little to look at her with a small and soft smile, "Do I get to lick the spoon and help decorate the cookies?"

"you can lick the spoon now, and we can decorate them once they've cooled. And if you like I can help you with your Christmas town while we have cookies, that sounds nice?" Y/n offered trying to let him have fun but also slightly relinquish a little bit of control.

Christmas had become Jake' hyper-focus for good reason. It was pretty, calming, and gave him something he had complete control over. The town especially as he'd been working on it for three days and not even a quarter done setting up all the tiny roads, buildings and people. It was his and completely his control but she tried just to see if he'd let her in yet.

he nodded a little at her offer and he hummed as he thought for a few moments. "Yeah… Yeah that sounds… okay to me…"

Y/n smiled "You don't have to let me, I'll happily drop you off some cookies and let you work if you'd prefer"

he smiled back and gave a small shake of his head "No no… I think it's a… it's a good idea… You can help… if y-you want to…" he said with a slight shyness to his voice. he knew she wouldn't make him do something he didn't want to, yet there was still some fear, some anxiety that she'd get mad or impatient. so a part of him just wanted to do it himself so that she wouldn't have to deal with all that

"Okay," Y/n smiled giving his forehead another kiss, "after cookies." She smiled letting him relax a little and prepare himself as it wasn't going to be immediately. Y/n returned to baking cookies. And Jake returned to working on his tree "So what's the theme for this one then?"

Jake smiled a little and he watched as she baked and he hummed a soft Christmas tune as he hung lights around the tree. "A-A winter theme…" he said as he looked over the tree, eyeing his progress. it was coming along well, the lights were almost done as only a few were left and he was about to start with the different decorations

"oooohh." Y/n cooed "All white and snowy?" She smiled looking at the box of decorations

he hummed again and nodded as he took out some of the white and silver and light blue decorations and he began to put them on the tree "Mhm… And some glitter… s-so there's a little colour to it…" he said as he began decorating the tree, picking out the most Christmassy and festive of the bunch

"always need glitter for Christmas time." Y/n laughed. "where's this one going then?"

"Living room, I think…" he commented as he hung another shiny bauble on the tree. it was the perfect spot for a small Christmas tree, near the corner on the side of the couch. he hummed and he added another decoration to it, his face slightly lit up as he smiled and started to become more excited about decorating "I think it'll look nice there…"

"if that's what you want that's where it'll go." She cooed "oohh the little ice fairy might look nice on that tree if you'd like her."

he hummed and looked through the Christmas decorations, searching for this 'little ice fairy' she was talking about. he found her in question after just a few moments. the little winged creature was made of white plastic and her dress was covered in snowflakes. he hummed a smile and took her out "She looks… p-pretty… can we put her on the tree?"

"of course put her wherever you'd like to. Maybe on the top as an angel for your little winter tree." Y/n suggested

he smiled and he nodded "Mhm… Yeah… I like that…" he said as he went to put the little ice fairy on the top of the tree and he held her up there for a few moments, testing out how it'd look before he finally secured her in her spot and smiled, satisfied with his work. he hummed happily as he looked at the tree and the shiny new decorations and lights and the ice fairy he'd placed on the top of it

"beautiful." Y/n smiled "Oven." She called giving Jake a few seconds to prepare for the oven being opened and closed for the cookies. She always warned him whenever she opened the oven as it was a very loud and frankly insane noise

he let out a hum of agreement at her compliment and then he nodded as he heard her warn him before she opened the oven again. he had learned by now to expect the ear-splitting sound that came from opening the thing. despite the warning and being able to brace himself, he still winced a little as the oven slammed open and shut.

"… God damn I need a new oven." Y/n sighed

Jake chuckled a little at her comment and he hummed in agreement "Yeah… It's… It's a bit loud..” he agreed with her as he leaned on the countertop, watching her move as he thought for a few moments. though it didn't take him too long to speak up again "… Can I… Can I ask you something…?"

"of course ask away little fox." She cooed cleaning up from the baking

he hummed as he fidgeted with the sleeve of his shirt and he bit his bottom lip for a few moments as he thought over his question. but he took a small breath before he spoke up. he didn't look at her as he spoke, his gaze remaining on the floor as he muttered "Do you… Do you think I'm being silly…?"

"how so?" Y/n asked trying to see why he asked that

he fidgeted a little more as he answered her, his hand gripping his sleeve and holding it tight. he looked down at the ground rather then looking up at her, almost ashamed that he himself didn't even know if he was justified for asking the question "With… with the Christmas stuff… A-Am I… Am I silly for decorating so much…?"

"it makes you happy." She shrugged "why would you be silly for doing something that makes you happy."

he let a small sigh at her answer, he felt relief that she was answering him how he'd hoped. yet there was still that little part of him that doubted himself, the part that was scared he was overreacting or being silly "Okay… b-but I'm not… I'm not going overboard… a-am I…?" he mumbled out, needing that little extra reassurance that he wasn't being irrational

"if you want to cover this whole house in glitter and Christmas lights to make yourself happy then you go ahead as do so. If you want to build yourself a Christmas village one to one scale with all of London then you do so. Whatever you want to do, that will make you happy." She smiled taking his hand and kissing his forehead "it's Christmas, everyone goes a little crazy anyway." She reassured

he closed his eyes and gave a soft sigh as she kissed his forehead again. the slight doubt that lingered in his mind was quickly fading away and he found himself relaxing as he leaned against the countertop. and he allowed himself to release a soft smile "You… You're always so s-sweet to me…" he mumbled to her, looking up at her with a soft gaze

"its not so much I'm sweet, it's more… Your not used to kindness"

he let out a quiet hum and looked down and away again, taking her hand in both of his own. he played with her fingers and he held her warm hand in his own, letting the feeling of her touch soothe and bring him comfort. a few moments of silence passed before he spoke up again "I really… I really don't deserve you…"

"of course you do, you deserve to be happy." She reminds him

he let out a small scoff at her words and he shook his head a little. she was always so kind and supportive to him, she always reassured him. yet he sometimes had a hard time trying to believe some of the things she says. the doubts and anxieties were often a little deafening at times, but he was trying his best to beat them. for her sake if not his own "How can you be so… so sure…?"

"because everyone deserves to be happy, especially those who have suffered so much." She said offering her arms once more

he let out a shaky exhale. his body trembled for a few moments as he tried to process the words, letting them sink in before he finally gave in. he stepped forward and buried himself into her hug, clinging to her again and taking the comfort he needed from her "I… I don't… I don't know what I-I'd do without you…"

"shhh shhh it's okay, you don't ever need to worry about that. I'm here and I'll always be here."

he hummed as she whispered her reassurance, her voice was so sweet in his ears and it was so soothing to hear her say that. he closed his eyes and he let himself melt into the embrace, taking comfort in being by her side "I… I love you, Y-Y/n…" he spoke up after a few moments, his voice was quiet and a little shaky, but it was so full of love and gratefulness

"humm?" She asked unsure of she heard him right, he'd never told her that before. She was a little worried about making him clarify it incase that set him off on another wave of anxiety. But she felt she needed to know the context behind the words

he realized she didn't understand and he hummed again. he lifted his head up to look at her and he repeated himself, his voice steady with a hint of confidence and he looked at her with love filling his gaze "I said… I love you…"

"I love you too, you know I do." She nodded "it's… In what context you love me that I need to know." She said doing her best to be firm and get an answer but also not frighten him

he hummed at her response and he took a small shaky breath before he continued, still holding her tight with his head in the crook of her neck. he spoke quieter then before, a hint of nervousness and vulnerability in his voice, but he told her the truth all the same "In the… the romantic sense…" he confessed

Y/n hummed for a moment and petted his head, pressing a kiss to his cheek "I love you too, I do." She nodded "but… Your still recovering, from a very big change. Give it time and space and I promise if it's still what you want then that's what we'll do. But I don't want to rushing into things emotionally okay?" She said very gently and calmly

he let out a small hum, he'd expected that would be her reaction, she was cautious and careful and wanted the best for him. and he knew she was right, that rushing into this wouldn't be the smartest thing to do. so he gave a nod, even if it's a reluctant one "Okay… Okay, I… I understand…" he said, his voice was quiet and slightly shaky, he didn't want to wait of course, but if that's what it took, then he'd make himself wait. Jake held her tighter for a few more moments, taking comfort in being close to her. and then he finally started to loosen his grip a bit, slowly pulling away from the hug but still keeping one of her hands in his. he looked up at her, giving her a soft and slightly shaky smile before he spoke up again "I… I should go finish decorating the tree…"

"of course little fox. Enjoy your tree." She cooed giving his hand a kiss

he hummed again at her affectionate name and he chuckled softly when she kissed his hand. his smile widened and his heart fluttered in his chest. he still couldn't fully believe that he was being treated this kindly, this gently, by someone so beautiful, but every day he was always reminded that it was real "Yeah, I will… See you in a bit…" he said, giving her hand a small squeeze before he let go and left the kitchen to go back to the tree.

[oneinathousand]

I'm halfway through Gravedale High and I think I get the gist of it, so here are my random thoughts about it:

Of all the celebrity cartoons, this is one of them. Joking aside, this probably is legitimately one of the better ones from this time period. I am not distracted by Rick Moranis's presence, and I'm glad he's not going full nerd as in his usual typecasting. I keep expecting to see a Ghostbusters or Little Shop of Horrors reference, since this show sure does love its pop culture references, but so far, they've had the restraint not to do it in a direct way except for one of the background characters in one episode looking like a terror dog, but that could be a coincidence. I guess I'll find out eventually if they actually do make a reference.

I can't watch a lot of it in one sitting because if I try, I know I'll be filled with homicidal rage at all the constant catchphrases and verbal tics and schticks that every character has.

Gotta love how the creativity of the main cast ranges from "Personifying the trope of zombies as commentaries for consumerism with a wealth-obsessed, literal mall zombie" to "what if creature from the black lagoon but surfer".

J.P. doesn't seem to be any kind of monster in particular, Peter Lorre parodies are just their own Halloween species lol

Vinnie may be the Fonz as a teenage vampire, but it was very big-brained of whoever the character designer was to give him black nail polish in 1989-90. For all this show's problems, the character design for the most part is not one of them, even with how dated many of them are fashion-wise they're still very charming.

Sure, I ship Vinnie and Reggie. Before I watched this show, I assumed it was just typical shipping of best friend characters, but when I got to the famous ear-scratching scene from episode four, I was like "yeah okay I can see where they're coming from".

Of the main cast, Sid is probably my favorite because everything about him is so hilariously dated above all the rest, which is saying something: The rapping, the baseball cap, the pattern on his shirt, the random impressions... he's so lame that he circles back around to being funny. And apart from the irony, an invisible kid becoming a class clown so people won't ignore him anymore is one of the more genuinely creative concepts here.

Oh, but speaking of Sid, who's voiced by Maurice LaMarche... It was pretty awkward to watch Sid whenever he talked about his dreams to become a stand-up comedian, knowing what I know about what happened with LaMarche's own desire to rise up in the stand-up world on the same month that Gravedale High coincidentally premiered in. I don't know if this is common knowledge, but I won't go into it here because this post is supposed to be about a silly cartoon. If you're curious and can handle emotional matters, go read about it on his Wikipedia page under the Career section and see the events leading up to him becoming a full-time voice actor after September 1990.

Anyway, this is one of those cartoons where you can see a lot of potential, but since this came before or at the same time as other more ground-breaking cartoons like Ren and Stimpy or Tiny Toons, you get the feeling Gravedale is still shackled by 80's cartoon trappings despite its occasional dark jokes and pop culture references. If I were to make a new version, with or without Moranis, I would go for something a little edgy to make it stand out from Monster High and other shows of its ilk, do for horror what Clone High does for teen shows, either in a PG or TV-14 way.

[practically-an-x-man]

This isnt TST but an idea I had: Your OCs and their plus ones are all going to a halloween party and they come to you for extreme hollywood level makeup/effects/costuming. What do they get transformed into.

Bonus if you wanna write a fic/ramble: After the party you find out you're a Super whose powers are transformstions. All those partygoers are now really what you made their makeup/costumes for...

Ooooooh, thank you!! This will be fun!

Think I'm gonna skip that bonus part, just don't have the mental energy for it right now, but it's a cool idea!!

Talk Shop Tuesday (I'm still counting it lol)

Rae & Warren W: Honestly, I think they'd just be like "gimme the scariest thing you got", they're both pretty daring and adventurous people who are down for just about anything

Robin & Peter M: Frankenstein (it's frahnk-en-steen!) and the Creature from Young Frankenstein, Robin's favorite movie

Madison & Alex: They'd pay extra for all-night makeup service, they've got a plan. Both appear at the party looking completely normal, dressed in fairly plain clothes. Halfway through, they disappear - when they come back, Madison's a little scratched up, Alex has patches of fur and Wolfman claws, and both their clothes are torn. By the end of the party, they both disappear again, and later Madison is found on the floor of the kitchen, covered in blood and gruesome wounds with Bravo (her wolfdog) standing over her looking menacing.

Ophelia & Peter P: Oh, they don't need me. They both show up in intentionally-shitty costumes of the other's hero persona, having independently decided to try and fuck with each other in the exact same way.

Gia & Kate: Assuming Gia would even agree to going to a party in the first place... I could see them going as classic Goosebumps monsters. Gia's the humanoid plant from Stay Out of the Basement, Kate's a scarecrow from They're Alive! Alternatively, I could see them as a genderbent/WLW Seymour and Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors, with Gia's clover mixed in with her prop Twoey (ok ok, that's partially bc it gives Gia an excuse to have her clover with her and fend off a little of that anxiety... but mostly because Gia as a character is based on Seymour originally and I think it's playfully ironic)

Jasper & Kyle: Frank N' Furter and Rocky, of course! Kyle brings a robe since it would get a little uncomfortable to just wear the Speedo the whole time, but he does wear it.... the things people do for love, lol

Kestrel & Warren B: Warren's the only one who needs a costume, Kestrel will just shift into what fits with the theme. And honestly, with that freedom, it could be just about anything. Probably something Indiana Jones-themed, since they're Warren's favorite movies.

Katherine & Ahk: Honestly, Kat would probably just revisit her Bastet costume from that first Halloween party and clean it up a little, and Ahk would wear what he normally wears.

Quinn & Billy: I can't imagine Quinn would want particularly heavy makeup, since she would have to have to deal with removing it all after the party (when she's already tired and in pain from being on her feet). Maybe Morticia and Gomez Addams? That would be fun, and if Quinn wears her platforms she can really make the height difference pop (she's 6'3" without heels, Billy is 5'11"). And of course, Billy's so undeniably smitten he doesn't even need to act the part of Gomez.

Eris & Rick: Hm... tough question. On the one hand, I could see Eris getting really into it, spending weeks putting together the perfect costume only for it to be some historical figure that nobody besides them even really remembers. On the other hand, I could see them being pretty open about it, and willing to follow Rick's lead with whatever costume he decides on - as one of Eris' little hidden gestures of how much they care about him. Sorry this one's a non-answer, I just can't really think of something specific for them.

Nikoletta & Abner: Honestly, I don't know that they're the type for costumes. Neither of them really grew up in an environment where they celebrated Halloween much (save perhaps for Nikoletta being exposed to all the tourists flocking to New Orleans for the holiday), so there's not really nostalgia in dressing up, and they wouldn't be motivated to spend their hard-earned and limited money on costumes or makeup. I could see them agreeing to a group costume (probably at Harley's insistance), but they wouldn't come up with anything on their own.

Jimmy & Lars: Honestly, it would be fun enough just to play up the whole Ghostbusters thing. They're something of local celebrities, but with Lars being more of a behind-the-scenes guy and Jimmy being... well, a ghost that doesn't look like a ghost, everyone just thinks it's a damn good costume until they demonstrate the reality of it. If Lars can get his idea for a painless proton stream worked out in time, he'll make a spectacular show of "catching" Jimmy. If he can't, he'll just make a spectacular show of missing.

Spider (pre-apocalypse, attends alone): Would show up with a detailed sketch of a monster of his own devising, something super creative and super creepy. Hell, he's probably got four-leg stilts and an articulated costume tail of his own, just to add to the effect - he's a film guy, he takes Halloween seriously!

[valeriana-dioica]

Getting to know others meme

i was tagged by @friendamedes !!

last song: Little shop of horrors intro song/prologue! very fun musical. also not my last song but I have been really obsessed w "Amarillo by Morning" by George Strait lately... country music is very fun to sing

currently watching: I'm not watching anything rn but i recently finished season 2 of good omens and I watched the 2021 sequel to Candyman earlier today and enjoyed both of those things

currently reading: Making my way through Carmilla rn, and am technically halfway thru Good Omens but that one's been on pause for a while bc i got busy w school stuff and then forgot to get back to it lol. Also hoping to start and finish ancillary sword before i have to return it to the library lmao

current obsession: obviously tlt which is. the same story as it's been for months. however i also have been really into horror as a genre for a whileee so lately i've been trying to watch more horror movies and curate a list of good horror books to read and i'm very excited about that ! so if any of u guys have recommendations for good horror novels/short stories/movies/tv shows etc i am all ears 👀

i will be tagging uhhh @garaks-padded-bra @ds9jack @nomorethoughts

[fire-bear]

First & Last Lines

So, I was tagged in this wee game on the 10th of December by @evenfallreads, but I was attempting to keep up with writing a story a day, so I decided to put it off until I'd finished.

But that does mean that my last ten stories are actually these short stories. So, I'm putting this under a read more so I can actually do two lists - one for my most recent postings, and one for the ten most recent that weren't part of the Christmas prompt stuff.

Brief warning! Most of the stories in the first list are so short that the last line is a massive SPOILER, so read at your own risk. Or, I guess, if you've already read them.

Also, I'm meant to tag a bunch of people to spread the game, but I can't be bothered figuring out who I should tag. Besides, it's Christmas Day, and I've mostly only got my laptop on for the Christmas music. (I just wanted to finish this off since I started this last night before I stopped to watch the Rocky Horror Picture Show - apparently that and Beetlejuice are Christmassy enough to be shown on Christmas Eve?

First off, the prompts:

Experience First: The party was fun, so far. Sure, Neil didn’t go to many Christmas Eve Eve parties, but he was smiling more than he wasn’t. Last: Neil laughed and pulled Andrew into the bathroom with him.

Lodge First: Neil had never gone on a school trip before and was very excited to be going on Palmetto High’s Christmas ski trip. Last: Andrew tried to leave, but Neil used his grip on Andrew’s hand to pull him into another kiss.

Shopping First: “So,” said Dan as she sat beside Neil in the staff room. “Have you sorted all your Christmas presents yet?” Last: As Andrew slid down to his knees, Neil idly wondered just how much wrapping paper he would need to cover himself for Christmas.

Ornaments First: Neil had been given a room all to himself when he started his Junior year at Palmetto Academy. Last: Neil was glad he hadn’t tried to decorate on his own; he would have missed out on this joy if he had.

Attitude First: Before she got pregnant, Mary Wesninski, née Hatford, had been a ballet dancer. Last: It was only when he was halfway there that he realised that his fists were still clenched and he was still holding onto the ballet studio’s key.

Quiet First: Edwin strode to the chair behind the desk, taking his jacket off as he went. Last: They passed an hour or two like that and Edwin was sure it was the best Christmas he’d ever had.

Whitechapel First: Andrew struck a match against his boot before holding it to the end of his cigarette. Last: It would be the last time Andrew would see Neil for the rest of 1888.

Family First: Aaron was stressed. When he and Katelyn had sat down to plan their Christmas out, the lists hadn’t seemed so long. Last: Neil laughed, and Andrew had a certain glint in his eye, but Aaron was the most relaxed he’d been since the start of the holiday as he closed the door behind them.

Party First: “What is happening?!” Crystal snapped. Last: And, as happened so often in their cases, all three of them began to run, dodging around partying people as they went.

Crash First: Charles wasn’t sure he should have been surprised when his friends all turned on him. Last: Even if he did feel a little woozy, the AoG was probably after him and Edwin, and the cold world they were on was going to do its best to kill them both before they could leave.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And then the other stories:

Of Christmas Present First: They had been circling each other for months. Last: This was his Christmas present and he was going to enjoy it for as long as he could.

The Butcher's House (chapter 11) First (from chapter 1): Ever since the sale had gone through, Andrew had felt like something was off. Last (from chapter 11): Without a word, Neil turned and left. He didn’t flicker or fade once.

The Pretty Things That Greet My Eyes (there's only one chapter up so far) First: Damianos of Akielos was in the middle of something when he received the summons from his father. Last: The night was bittersweet, but Damen made sure that both of them enjoyed the taste.

Freedom From Libertia (chapter 4) First (from chapter 1): As a prince, Alfred was used to getting his own way. Last (from chapter 4): A crack appeared on the outside of the tube and Alfred stared, frozen, unable to move in the face of Francis’s fury.

Rooftop (part of the AFTG Bingo that I got a couple of lines for) First: The book from the library was very informative, Andrew found. Last: Orion’s Belt was the last thing he saw as he let the roof’s door swing closed behind him.

Keys (also part of the AFTG Bingo, chapter 2 - it's a second part in the same universe but which doesn't follow on directly from the first chapter) First (chapter 1): Neil trudged into the town and wondered where he could stay for the night. Last (chapter 2): Neil closed his eyes and thought of Andrew as he was dragged from the garden.

Things That Aren't Acceptable in Light (chapter 4) First (chapter 1): “Damianos.”  “Yes, Father?” “Do you remember your training?” Last (chapter 4): With that ominous declaration, Laurent took his leave and Damen slumped back onto the bed, closing his eyes in defeat.

A Thousand Dollars For a Kiss (another AFTG Bingo story) First: There was a vague, blurry memory that Nathaniel had that he had never been sure was real. Last: Neil smiled again, secure in the knowledge that he would be well rested in the morning, safe with Andrew so close.

Let's Go Hand In Hand (another AFTG Bingo story) First: Abram was five years old when his father started to hurt him. Last: Somehow, he found himself wanting to see more of it.

Not Just a Little Dead (chapter 4) First (chapter 1): It was Senior year. So Nicky kept telling him, at least. Last (chapter 4): He would let Nicky off the hook - but Neil was going to tell him everything when Andrew next saw him.

[thedaveandkimmershow]

If I had to guess, I wouldn’t really know what we did in October.

A lot, apparently.

First up:

It's SCHOOL again.

Well, not again... pretty much this has been ongoing for over a year now.

Of course Kimmer’s in the full throes of the current semester of her doctoral program. So, on top of her day job and the charting demanded by that day job, she’s also researching, writing, testing, collaborating in-class, and commiserating with fellow students in this fast-track program. 

The workload is insane… and Kimmer’s managing it on top of everything else.

For me, professionally, the month kicked off diving into and crafting the first cut of a large project about youth incarceration.

A lot of footage covering different points of view, narratives, and circumstances. Definitely the biggest, one of the biggest, projects of the year. I had the first cut done about halfway through the month. 🙂

Linzy had a bit of a month this month…

Although nothing like what’s coming up November and December. Among her gigs in October, I'm thinking about one of the many in Woodinville, this particular time at Efestē Wines where I ran into friends from a lifetime ago and we got to catch up.

And catch up.

And catch up.

Talking shop. Talking family and future with people who get it. You know?

Birds of a feather.

It was really really fun with Linzy providing the soundtrack.

Due to scheduling, our friends had to leave before Kimmer arrived. The timing was still good, though, ‘cause Linzy was on a quick break so we got in a little family time at the bar of all places. Afterward, she returned to her third set while we commenced date night. 

After that, we got all of Linzy's gear packed up and moved our van but somehow managed not to leave. We hung out at the back of the van talking shop like our family does.

Apparently.

I don't even remember what all we talked about. It was a bit stream of consciousness. But it was lovely still.

😊

Linzy’s gig calendar had something on every Friday of October.

Winery gigs on three of them. A Midnight High show on the first Friday of the month. There was a Palisade restaurant performance on the last Wednesday of October but the BIG deal was Linzy’s Dream Patrol show at Sunset Tavern in Ballard, Tuesday the 22nd.

The show was the best one so far. Between the production quality of the recorded tracks playing back through the house sound system, the writing, the arranging, the mixing, the layering of the songs, a pair of her Midnight High bandmates, masters both on bass (Tim) and lead guitar (Skylar), expert stage lighting from mains to accents, smoke, disco balls, and then Linzy's performance itself that was an aligning of planets, a coalescing of iconic look, vocal performance, and lead singer attitude.

No joke.

This was some next-level magic.

One of the Dream Patrol songs Linzy premiered at the show’s called “halloween” and a coupla days before I got it in my head to see how feasible it might be to make a music video for that song using the Text to Video function of RunwayML.

Turns out: very feasible. The thing knocked my socks off. And Kimmer’s. And the producer I’m working with. And the other editor who works with that producer. And so on. 😁

And yeah it's age-restricted due to language and horror elements. So Beware!

I said before that I completed the first cut of the youth incarceration project halfway through the month.

The big deal there was that it was a work in progress until it wasn’t. Meaning, I didn’t have a sense of the full piece until I was in sight of the finish line. So. End of the day, the producer and I watch it in its entirety. For the first time. And it’s spectacular in its polished, first-cut iteration. 😁😁😁

By the way, did I mention Kimmer made costumes?

Yeah. The Dream Patrol show was actually billed as a “costume event” and we were all-in from the get-go. I can’t remember what I thought of first for a costume but the second costume I thought of was Nevermore student vampire. It took a coupla weeks but Kimmer found the pieces for it, included her dark round lensed glasses, and crafted the formal jacket herself with blue and black stripes along with the Nevermore logo. Classic!

For herself, Kimmer made…

Actually, she found this fantastic silver material, an oversized dress actually, and was immediately inspired to craft an Eiffel Tower costume. She bought additional materials and had a sort of first draft laid out on our dining room table prior to sewing it all together. It would've been AMAZING.

What happened, though, is that Kimmer was at Value Village and ran across a purple T-shirt illustrated with the gang from It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! in their iconic costumes.

Later she was telling me about it and how she was thinking about getting it for me to which I replied

“Why didn't you???”

So next thing we're in the car to Value Village where we snag the shirt (thankfully still hanging there in the costumes section) and since Kimmer’s always looking… she finds this year’s costume. Actually, she finds it in pieces. 

The first piece Kimmer finds is kind of a lamp shade deal where, instead of shade, there are strings of reflective wires. So she grabs it, thinking how it might go with her Eiffel Tower costume still in the works. But then…

Then she finds an outfit that we don't know what it is but it looks cool, fits comfortably, and makes a statement.

What statement?

No idea. 

It has kind of, sort of, maybe a Jetson’s vibe? But then put the reflective headpiece on her head and now she looks like a lamp?

Sort of?

Kind of?

Maybe?

So she buys both pieces on the spot and then a few days later finds the ankle boots to go with it. White leather. Platform. And now with this third piece she definitely has a look.

Again, no idea what that look is, but then we're in Ballard walking to the show at night. We're both wearing our costumes, me without the sunglasses yet, she without the reflective headpiece yet. Nearing the venue, we pass a group of revelers and one of them pauses to tell Kimmer how much she loves Kimmer’s outfit.

Get it? Outfit?

See, this is October 22. Costume parties won't start ‘til Friday afternoon. So I'm pretty sure she thought Kimmer was normally just dressed this way and looked cool.

I thought that was very sweet.

And Kimmer did look cool. ☺️

By the way. That music video I made from Text to Video prompts? That was definitely on my own time but it did pay off professional dividends in that I now have a method of working with this particular AI tool and can actually explain it to another human being in a way that makes sense.

Ish.

Okay so last thing:

We watched and watched and re-watched The Diplomat on Neflix earlier this year and have been anxiously awaiting the dropping of season 2 that happened at 3AM Eastern Standard Time, October 31st, which meant midnight Pacific Standard Time. Which meant that's how we ended our Wednesday night, October 30.

Which.

We.

Did.

We watched the first two episodes straight through for ninety minutes.

Last I looked at the clock it was about quarter of two Thursday morning.

The 31st.

The End.

😊

[thorfemmes]

Hii I got this idea because of seeing so many tiktoks of how the stranger things characters would react if they walked in on you changing and I was wondering how you think Eddie would react walking in on the reader naked or in the shower? Him and reader have been friends for a little while and he’s got a crush on them and then accidentally seeing them naked? Im sorry if this is stupid though😅 thank youu 💖

Hi! Thank you for the request. I'm lowkey obsessed with this one so I hope you enjoy!

a/n: both Eddie and reader have graduated high school in this and are 20+ years old.

Saturday nights were movie nights for you and Eddie. They have been since you met back in freshman year of high school and you discovered that you both loved Star Wars. This particular weekend, you had worked a double shift the night before and had basically slept most of Saturday.

When you finally got up, you had about three hours before Eddie was supposed to arrive (he was supposed to be at band practice at the moment, then he was going to swing by Family Video to pick up some movies for you to watch). You quickly ate a haphazardly thrown together meal, and set out the snacks and candy you got from your weekly grocery trip with Eddie.

It was kinda cute the little routine you both had. Mondays were saved for grocery shopping together, Saturdays were movie nights. Ever since you both graduated you had less time to spend together because of work so the little scheduled hang outs were cherished by you both.

Still having at least two hours, you hopped in the shower.

Meanwhile, across town Eddie was wrapping up band practice early. They didn't have a show next weekend and he was in a bit of a hurry to see you. But he was keeping it subtle of course, only checking his watch every 30 seconds to the point that Jeff called it in early.

Eddie rushed to Family Video, thinking it might be a nice surprise to arrive a little bit early. Anything to spend more time with you. He grabbed three VHS tapes so you had choices, darting the teasing from Robin and Steve.

When he arrived at your apartment he was surprised that you didn't answer the door right away. He could've sworn you didn't have work today. He reached up to the top of the doorway where you kept a key especially for him, and let himself in.

"Hey honey, I'm home!" He jokingly shouted throughout the apartment.

He didn't get a response, but heard shuffling in your room. He knocked on your bedroom door this time and still didn't get a response.

"Babe, you in there?"

He heard a muffled sound that sounded like "come in," so he quietly pushed your door open and was greeted by you with your headphones on and your Walkman playing, and your towel clad body just before you unwrapped yourself to get dressed.

"OH MY GOD!"

"OH MY GOD," You screamed, wrapping yourself back up again. "What are you doing?! There's no way it's five o'clock yet!"

"I was going to surprise you! Why are you listening to your Walkman wet out of the shower?!"

"My neighbors complained about my music!"

He looked you up and down, greedily enjoying your almost naked body. His eyes widened, realizing what he was doing. "Oh my God!"

He quickly shut your door and went and sat on your couch, sitting up straight and twiddling his thumbs like a child in trouble.

You cleared your throat to announce your presence. "So, what movie choices do we have tonight?"

He smirked at your ability to quickly change the subject. "Uh, we've got Little Shop of Horrors, Nightmare on Elm Street 2, and House".

"Ooh a horror night. Let's start with Little Shop of Horrors. Let me grab the snacks".

As the night went on, tension grew. While you'd usually be cuddled up together cracking jokes about the movies, you sat on opposite sides of your couch -stealing glances at one another. Halfway through the second film you'd had enough. Grabbing the remote and pausing it, you turned to look at him with a huff.

"Can we talk about it? You saw me naked".

"Yes I did, y/n," You cringed, he never called you by your name. "I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have been snooping. I shoulda waited in the living room".

"Yeah, but it happens right? Sometimes friends accidentally flash each other?"

"I mean, not really but, eh".

"Eh?"

"N-no! You're not 'eh'! Far from it!" He was rambling now. "You're actually kinda hot".

You raised your eyebrows. "I'm hot?"

"Very. I've always thought so, but that just confirmed it".

You didn't know what to say. Neither did Eddie, he was surprised that he even said anything.

"So I'm hot, and you've always thought so?"

"Yep".

"Okay".

You both sat in silence, taking in what he said.

"Look y/n, I just-" He took a deep breath. "I've always been attracted to you. I've liked you for a while now. I just didn't want to ruin what we have".

"How long?"

"Since sophomore year, when we went to that triple feature of all the Star Wars movies and I made you laugh so hard you choked on popcorn".

You smiled widely. Crawling over to him, you gently grabbed his hand and rested your head on his shoulder. "You know, I've had the biggest crush on you too. Pretty much since I met you, so it's really comforting to know you feel the same way. Even if it had to come out this way," You laughed and nudged his shoulder.

He laughed with you before going silent. Looking into your eyes with his large, kind brown eyes he quietly asked "Can I kiss you?"

"Please do".

And finally, finally your lips connected.

[dangerouscommiesubversive]

prompt #2: reika/magine, "i do adore" by mindy gledhill!

This song is super cute, I can't stop singing it to myself. Also, I had way too much fun writing Zyuran in the first scene of this story.

Song: "I Do Adore," Mindy Gledhill (Spotify)

i've noticed you're remarkably relaxed (and i'm overly uptight)

“Welcome to Colorful, what can we—hey there, missy, you’re looking sharp! Almost didn’t recognize you without your Legos getup.”

“Logos.”

“Right!” Zyuran leans on the shop counter like a genial bartender, hoping she can tell that he’s smiling—some humans have trouble with Kikainoid facial expressions. “Anyway, been a minute, hasn’t it? What brings you around these parts?”

Reika stares at him for a long moment, white-lipped, as if trying to decide how aghast to be at Zyuran’s familiar mode of address. Finally she says, “I was…in the area.”

Zyuran nods. “You looking for Magine?”

Her expression morphs from aghast to stricken. “How did you know?”

He taps his temple. “Old man’s intuition. She’s out with her little friends, promised them a trip to a haunted house, she’ll be back in a bit. Why don’t you have a seat and I’ll do you a hot cocoa and you can wait for her.

---

By the time Magine returns from the haunted house tour, Reika is on her second cup of cocoa and halfway through a small packet of cookies. “Our parents took healthy eating very seriously,” she’s saying to Zyuran as the door opens, “and they believed sweet foods were childish, so until we were adults my brother and I never—”

“Oh! Miss Reika! How did you get here?”

Reika’s cocoa doesn’t quite spill, nor are any of the remaining cookies lost to the floor, but it’s close—she leaps to her feet, standing nearly at attention for a second before bowing stiffly to Magine. “Miss. Miss Magine.”

Yatsude and Gaon are both practically hanging over the counter. Zyuran is at least attempting to hide his interest, although poorly.

“Would you. Do me the honor.” Reika is still bowing, her gaze fixed on the floor. “Would you do me the great honor of accompanying me to dinner.”

Magine lets out a trill of surprise. “Oh. I’d, I’d love to. Um, tonight?”

"Y-yes. Tonight." Reika straightens up just as abruptly as she bowed. Her expression is unchanged, but there are spots of bright red high on her cheekbones, and her ears have gone bright pink. “If that’s acceptable to you, of course.”

"That's, um, yes! That's acceptable, that's great!"

"Then I'll call for you at, at half past five." Another stiff, visibly nervous bow, an uncomfortable pause, and then Reika walks out, not quite rushing, leaving her unfinished cocoa and half-empty packet of cookies behind.

Magine stands there for a moment, hands clapped to her face in surprise, as the others stare at where the door curtain still swings a bit from Reika's hasty exit. Then, abruptly, she lets out a little distressed cry of, "Oh no, I haven't got anything nice to wear for a date!"

"Well, I think you're a little tall for my old things, but I'm sure we can find you something," Yatsude says comfortingly, reaching over the counter to pat her on the arm. "Now, does one of you want to let me in on who exactly Magine's young lady is?"

---

"Yeah, she's here," Flint says over the phone, "she just showed up, like the engine room door opened and it was going to a library or something instead of the engine room and there she was. Apparently her weird brother took some kind of...impression of the ship, when we were bringing them home?" There's a pause, and then, in a tone of contemplative horror, "If he shows up because he wants to ask out my weird brother than I am going to shoot him. Just so you know."

---

"So how did you get here, Miss Reika?" Magine has been trying not to do so much nervous fluttering this evening, at the very least out of a desire not to catch the sleeve of the dress Yatsude lent her on the grill. "I thought the pirates had to bring you and your brother home last time."

"I had to ask my cousin to make a Book Gate for me specially," Reika says, taking a minuscule sip of wine. She's blushing again, which is really tremendously cute of her, Magine wants to tell her so but maybe that would be too forward. "He's an engineer for the order, he does most of the equipment and Book maintenance for Northern Base, and he appreciates challenge." A pause to flip a few pieces of meat over on the grill. "Of course," and her mouth purses into a little irritated moue, which is also very cute, "Ogami was there the entire time I was asking, which was. Uncomfortable."

"Oh, why, do you not get along?"

"Not especially, for fairly valid reasons, but the man's also...he gets this look, you know? An 'oh, I know what you're up to,' look, and then he. He said, 'So is he cute?' and he winked at me." The corners of her mouth go tight for a moment. "I don't know what my cousin sees in him, Tetsuo's such a serious person."

Magine's heart falls slightly. "Do you...prefer when people are serious?"

Reika's eyes go wide. "Um! No, no, I just. Dislike being teased. By him specifically."

"Oh, well, well that's fair. I think this is, here, these ones are done." Magine grabs her own tongs and moves a few pieces of meat from the grill onto their plates.

For a couple of minutes they just eat without talking, and then Reika straightens up suddenly and says, "Oh."

"Oh! What, what is it?"

There's a moment of carefully non-frantic scrambling before Reika pulls something out of her jacket and offers it to Magine with both hands, gaze nervously averted. "I brought this. For you. It's a gift."

Surprised, Magine takes the gift from her hands and peers down at it--a smallish hardback book with a lushly illustrated cover. "Ka...kaamira?"

"It's an illustrated translation of Carmilla, by Sheridan le Fanu. I...haven't read it myself, I don't. Read much fiction. But I asked the novelist--I asked Kamiyama for advice and he said he thought you would enjoy it." Reika isn't quite looking at her. "I had to make sure to bring a--in Logos families a book is the traditional first, ah, courting gift."

Magine's only been half-listening, paging through the little book and marveling at each exquisitely illustrated plate, but at that last comment she goes very still and says, "I, nu nu nu, I, oh my." She presses a hand to her cheek. "I don't know what to say. I mean it's, it's beautiful, I love it, I'm very excited to read, did you say courting?"

Reika's ears go pink just like they did earlier and she's so cute that Magine can't stand it. "If that's...acceptable to you."

Magine nods, maybe a little too enthusiastically. "It is, it really is, it's very acceptable, I mean. Oh my."

[tick-tick-moo]

Hey Moo, got any musical recommendations you can give me?

I've watched/listened to:

-Hamilton

-Les Mis

-In the Heights

-Come from away

-Dear Evan Hansen

-Into the Woods

Ooo I'm on a bit of a musical listening spree myself! I love what you've got so far! I've got plenty for ya, I'm flattered you have trust in my musical taste 😁 (it got a little long lol)

- Hadestown: This one is one of the newer and more popular ones, but it is amazing! Relevant to a lot of modern themes of climate change, working class disparity, and politics. (plus the only thing more genius than the lyrics is the music, it's awesome)

- The Six: Also new and popular, but I have to mention it. Cool retelling of an old story. The ending is weird and I don't particularly like it but it is still good music. It's got ups and downs, as musicals do, and it's generally a feel-good musical.

- Bridgerton: The Unofficial Musical(yes, the tik tok one): This musical is actually amazing, the music itself is amazing and I can totally imagine it going onto an actual stage. You don't need to have watched the show to understand it but I'd recommend reading a summary beforehand to understand who's who.

-(for Halloween) Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street: Amazing musical, very disturbing. Cannibalism is involved but the story is cool and the music is cooler. This is another long one.

- The Sound of Music: A CLASSIC and a great feel good musical. Not Broadway, I think the movie is on Disney Plus, but its long and old fashioned so if you don't feel like sitting through it, just listening to the soundtrack is all right!

- RENT: The story is def wack but this is another awesome musical. I like it more for the music itself than the story. And pretty groundbreaking considering it was brought contemporary music to Broadway. There is a filmed version on YT if you wanna watch it.

- Wicked: Another awesome musical. Full disclosure, I've only made it about halfway through so I can't vouch for the ending yet but everything so far is awesome and I've heard a lot of good things.

- Phantom of the Opera: Another classic. The music is out of this world and there have been a few movies so hopefully it's more accessible if you want to watch. I love this musical so much.

- Tick, Tick... BOOM!: If you want to listen to it ahead of the movie release. The musical cast recording is also on YT and it is awesome(fun fact, this is one of my favorite musicals).

- A Chorus Line: THIS ONE IS HILARIOUS, its relatable in the stupidest ways possible. Another one that I've yet to finish though, but I have listened to the finale already and am very excited to finish listening through it.

- West Side Story: Another classic! You've probably heard of it, it's awesome. The movie is older and I have some problems with the plot but overall its touching. It gets cheesy and the make up is terrible in the movie but music is awesome and the story is cool.

- Newsies: Movie also on Disney Plus, this is a fun and sad one. I haven't listened to all of it yet but I'm working on it hehe.

- 21 Chump Street: Ok, this was only performed once and it's a one act with, like, six songs but its super catchy and it's a LMM one. It's only 14 min and its on YT!

- Little Shop of Horrors: The title lives up to its same. The music is fun and its kinda too weird to take the murder seriously(yeah, murder btw). Overall fun musical but it is certainly a ride!

Some that I haven't listened to/have only heard one song of but have good things about/more classics/are on my 'listen to' list: Sunday in the Park with George, Fiddler on the Roof, Once on This Island, Miss Saigon, Oklahoma!, Company, and the Tina Turner Musical.

These are mostly really popular or older ones, so you've probably heard of most of them but they are all worth a listen! There's prolly a bunch more that I'm disgracing by forgetting to mention them but oh well!!

Thank you for asking and stop by anytime 😁

[marley-manson]

If you're still doing the ships meme: Count D/Leon (because I've been reading fic of them lately lol) and/or Fraser/Ray (because I'm curious 👀)

Thank you!! Especially for giving me an opening to talk about Fraser/Ray lol.

Send me a ship and I’ll answer three questions based on if I ship it or not.

D/Leon

Ship It

What made you ship it?

I read Pet Shop of Horrors because I knew I'd be into it, but what made me shift from 'they have a fun vibe' to 'oh they're in love in love' was D running away because he doesn't know how to love a human and Leon running after him.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

Bickering frenemies who get really attached and fall in love. Leon coparenting his kid brother with D while still regularly accusing him of every felony under the sun lol. Going on a family vacation together. The hilarious "...him?" factor of mysterious supernatural being D falling in love with Leon of all possible people. The epilogue with Chris' drawing of them as a family as the thing Leon wanted to find D to return to him 😭

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Idk I vibe with the fic pretty well. Mmmaybe my semi unpopular opinion is that D's the one who needs to change to make a relationship possible, not Leon. I'm not really into fic concepts where Leon has to like, spend his time tracking D down bettering himself to be worthy or whatever. And I also got the vibe from the sequel (mediocre as it is lol) that part of the point is D changing and coming to like humanity more at least on an individual scale, and I dig that.

Fraser/Ray V (lmaooo okay so you didn't specify which Ray, because obviously you don't know that Ray was replaced by a character with the same fucking name, so I'm doing them both.)

Ship It

What made you ship it?

SO I'd heard about Due South because back in like 2005/6 when file sharing comms got popular on LJ there was a burst of fandom activity in a lot of old fandoms as people shared the episodes around and they got easy to get into. Due South was one of these because it was very homoerotic and had an ending that involved Fraser and Ray riding off into the sunrise together. I was like, sounds fun, I should check it out!

It was playing in reruns on tv so when I checked it out to give it a shot the first thing I ever saw was the last five minutes of the second episode of season 1. The scene was Ray V handing Fraser a wolf license, and Fraser being shocked and overjoyed. "I only mentioned it once, and you got it for me?" "Well yeah, you asked for it right?"

And I was like, okay, I'm on board, let's go.

I only realized about halfway into season one that there were two Rays and the ship everyone talked about and hyped up was a completely different ship lmao, but it was too late, I was already sold.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

I absolutely love their mildly fucked up dynamic and the show's self-awareness about it. Fraser's central character trait is his devotion to duty at the expense of himself and his personal relationships, and Ray's is his devotion to Fraser at the expense of himself, and there are multiple episodes that exist to examine it - a little imperfectly, maybe, and without full resolution, but very intriguingly.

Ray took an explosion for Fraser in the first episode and then crawled out of the hospital and flew to the NWT just to tell Fraser something he realized about his father's death. He mortages his house for him, he takes a bullet for him - twice - he carries him on his back through a forest, and nearly every time Fraser fucks him over in return, and Ray knows it, and he keeps sacrificing himself anyway.

I also think there's some deliberate classic gay subtext there, from certain lines and relationship parallels to the overarching themes. The first season is about Fraser being on a pedestal and Ray like, looking up at him in awe, and getting real, real weird about the possibility that his sister slept with him towards the end of the season, which reads as jealousy but also a sort of rejection of the idea of Fraser being touchable. And then he confronts his sister about it, and her response is to tell Ray that he's afraid to dream and reach for what he really wants. Which, I mean, come the fuck on, there's literally only one thing that could possibly apply to. And then the finale happens and that's all about Fraser falling off his pedestal and turning out to be human after all.

I also like that season 2 puts them on a bit more of an equal footing. They hash a lot of this out in the first chunk of season 2 after the season 1 finale shitshow, and Ray sees Fraser's flaws more clearly and Fraser starts to appreciate Ray more. By the end of the season they're pointedly very in sync. But their issues are never completely resolved either, which makes it like, perfect for fic imo - you can see how their relationship would develop further and how those flaws could be fully resolved with Fraser's continuing growth as a person.

Oh also I love Ray's constant constant bitching in contrast to his extreme loyalty. He will do uncountable amounts petty dumb annoying shit for Fraser and whine about it the entire time, but also if it's serious, he'll do it without ever saying a word about it. I love that Ray will bitch Fraser's ear off about having to drive him around the city during a basketball game he wants to watch, but he'll sing duets with him while carrying him around the Canadian wilderness.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Hmm. Idk, I think most people who ship it have a similar take on their relationship to some extent. Well, I don't think this is unpopular (but it's maybe not the most popular interpretation), but I really like the idea of Ray's stupid intense loyalty to Fraser easily overcoming the internalized homophobia he'd have from his roman catholic upbringing and abusive father. Like flipping a switch - oh Fraser is dtf, well then no problem, not even an issue, what's a sexuality crisis after nearly dying for this guy fifty times?

Fraser/Ray K

Don’t Ship It

Why don’t you ship it?

I tried, I genuinely really did lol. I really wanted to like it so I'd be able to enjoy all the fic, and I knew I might have a loyalty issue wrt Fraser/RayV so I specifically started watching the RayK seasons while I was still going through season 2 the first time to try to combat that.

Didn't work. My problem isn't the ship, really, it's the whole show. I don't like how it changed after Paul Gross took over - even mid season 2 has some of these problems tbh, though not quite as bad. But yeah I don't like season 3/4's tone, the themes completely shifted to basically the exact opposite (let's just say Fraser returning to the Canadian north would not be a happy ending according to season 1), the scope got way too big, the magical part of magical realism got too excessive, and, frankly, the writing got kind of shitty lol. I legitimately consider Due South season 1 to be the best piece of episodic storytelling I've seen. Season 2 is mostly fine. Seasons 3+4 just get purposelessly wacky and weird.

There's one episode I legitimately thought had to be a fucking dream sequence when I first watched it because it was so nonsensical and weird, and that's about when I knew I wasn't gonna be able to get into it.

What would have made you like it?

Better writing probably lol.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

Facilitates Ray/Ray which can be pretty good.

[100sunny]

MayoBits Part 2

(It was too big for the ask box and Tumblr wouldn't let me submit this anonymously. I'm sorry for everyone I'm about to disappoint, I'm not a writer, I'm just part of the "make bits snap" competition. It’s a series now so I have to try to make it more series-ous).

Refusing to face the world as the walking embodiment of mayonnaise, StrawBits MayoBits ran straight back their room and hid under the covers of their bed.

“This has to be a dream… or a nightmare,” thought the Bits. “Surely people don’t randomly turn into mayo… do they?”

Bits cried softly as they slowly slid the covers off their upper body, once again revealing the shiny yellowish-white color their skin had become. As they did so, they watched in horror as pieces of their mayonnaise skin stuck to the fabric. It didn’t hurt, it was just disgusting.

Sighing, Bits reached for their cellphone to check the time. More mayo stuck to their phone. Only a few hours had passed since the avocado incident and yet they were already falling apart.

Bits couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if the rest of their skin fell off throughout the day. What even was their bones? Egg shells? Potatoes? Pickles? Perhaps there was no underlying structure holding Bits together at all. Maybe they were Boneless Bits. Whatever was in there, Bits didn’t want to know.

These thoughts began to take their toll on Bits’ mind. Bits didn’t want to disintegrate into nothingness, at least not until their Ao3 account was banned. Something must be done about this and it has to be done quickly.

Bits completely threw off their bed covers and left the room, leaving a foot trail of mayonnaise behind their path.

The soft plopping of mayo could be heard with each step, but Bits ignored it. There were much more pressing matters to attend to.

“What can be used to fix this…” thought the Bits.

Suddenly, realization hit them. They just needed to replenish the mayonnaise as quickly as it left. Bits ran to the kitchen and swung open the fridge door only to find... 2 slices of Kraft Singles American Cheese and a browned avocado with one bite missing. Disappointing.

Bits wished they hadn’t forgotten to purchase the rest of their groceries earlier. Now they would have to face the public as MayoBits.

They got dressed, donning their sunny shirt, a black jacket, and some gray sweats. Noticing how the moist from their mayonnaise skin was already seeping through the threads of their clothes, Bits stared at their shoes. It one thing to wash your clothes, but cleaning your shoes is just impossible. Washing by hand was out of the question considering how soluble mayonnaise was. Sure, you could throw the shoes in the washer, but then they’d never feel the same again.

Bits shook their head, deciding against wearing the shoes, and returned to the kitchen. There was only one option for footwear and that option was… cheese. Bits opened the fridge and grabbed the two slices of cheese. Slowly, they peeled the wrappers off and slapped the cheese against the bottom of their feet. Now they had footwear. Excellent.

It was time to go. Bits opened the front door and began their trek back to Walmart.

The journey to Walmart was fast and uneventful. MayoBits loaded up two full shopping carts with all the mayo and kraft singles American cheese the store had to offer. A few shoppers shot them dirty glances while the cashier had looked incredibly concerned. Embarrassing.

Bits eyed their large purchase as they walked out of the store. There was no way of carrying all this mayo and cheese home. Why did they walk here? Why didn’t they drive? Walmart was only a mile away, but this was a medical emergency!

“Yes… This is a medical emergency…”

With that thought and against all morals, Bits stole both shopping carts.

While the walk to Walmart had been short and swift, the walk back had become agonizing. Perhaps it was due to the fact that they were pushing and pulling such a large load.

They were about halfway home now. MayoBits decided to stop at a bench to take a breather. Bits noticed the cheese on their feet had slowly fell to pieces. What was left was starting to become infused into their skin. Sighing, Bits peeled off the remnants before slapping a replacement slice on their feet.

The sun was beginning to set and traffic was dying down. Bits could feel the afternoon heat slowly melting away their skin, literally. They rolled up their sweat pants legs and leaned back against the bench, closing their eyes in the process. It felt nice.

Something brushed against their leg. Bits eyes shot wide open only to find that they had been surrounded by 17 furry little creatures. Kittens to be precise.

Wait a minute… Kittens… Cats... Allergic.... Oh no.

They could already feel their throat beginning to itch and eyes water. Panic.

The more Bits tried to shoo them away, the more they rubbed against their legs. Bits grabbed both shopping carts and ran home.

Finally in the safety of their abode, Bits parked the shopping carts inside the kitchen and grabbed a jar of mayo. They walked upstairs to their bathroom ready to assess the damage the kittens had delivered.

Cat hair was infused within the mayo skin. Every time they tried to remove a cat hair from their leg, said hair would stick to the skin on their hand. It was impossible to remove.

Bits gave up, accepting the fact that they will be forever itchy.

Bits began to cry as they opened the jar of mayo. With their hand, they scooped out a large glop of mayo and began rubbing it on their skin, successfully replenishing the pieces that had been removed earlier.

Bits then acknowledged that this is something they will have to do every day now. From the day of the avocado incident to the day they die, Bits will wake up to a jar of mayo. They will forever smell of mayo. Sadness.

“An awful day of agony, but at least sleep will always bring peace,” thought the Bits.

Bits fell into bed and relinquished their body to sleep. However, peace does not come easily to those who hate the best condiment named mayo. Our mayonnaise will follow you into your dreams…

Bits didn’t dream well that night. They opened their eyes to a yellowish-white space. There were no walls or ceiling and the floors were shiny and sticky.

It was then that the Bits realized they were not alone. They heard a voice from behind them.

“Welcome to MayoSpace…”

Bits turned around to face whoever had spoken to them. But as they turned, their face contorted with fear for in front of them sat the one and only… Bowmeowi… sitting on a throne of mayonnaise jars…

He only said one word.

“SUFFER.”