#merri mumbles

[merrilark]

Not to keep harping on TUA S4, but that last anon reminded me that it's kind of hilarious how I actually got a lot of things I wanted out of the season, just in the wrong ways.

"I hope Ben doesn't have a romance with Jennifer!" = Technically doesn't because it's forced onto them by the marigold/durango reacting to each other, but it's still a "romance" by TUA standards.

"I hope Diego and Lila break up, or at least that the writing will acknowledge they're not healthy!" = They do, but in the most agonizing way possible with no resolution to the point that I can't be relieved.

"I hope Klaus has an intimate relationship with a woman, even in passing!" = He does, multiple times, but it's because he's being trafficked.

"I'll take any ending as long as it's not a time loop!" = Weeeell...

Truly a Monkey's Paw kind of situation and I need to be clearer about my wishes in the future. "The Unbearable Tragedy of Getting What You Want", indeed lmao

[mumblers-lobby]

i'm cooking up something for christmas AND I GOT MYSELF INTO A GIFT EXCHANGE FOR IT SO I WON'T PROCRASTINE IT OUT OF MY BRAIN

you'll be feed soon my dears nvfdkjgnf

[mandiemegatron]

𝕊𝕦𝕣𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕖, 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕖

𝕂𝕒𝕜𝕦 𝕩 𝕔𝕚𝕤!𝕗𝕖𝕞 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣

ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕: 𝟙𝟠+. 𝕄𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 (𝕗𝕖𝕞. 𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕖𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘), 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕪-𝕕𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕪 𝕂𝕒𝕜𝕦 🤭💖

𝙈𝙄𝙉𝙊𝙍𝙎, 𝘿𝙊 𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝙄𝙉𝙏𝙀𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙏. 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙒𝙄𝙇𝙇 𝘽𝙀 𝘽𝙇𝙊𝘾𝙆𝙀𝘿 𝙊𝙉 𝙎𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏!

𝘈 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 @wolfegoddess ! 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘯, 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘭 ��𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 🥺💖💋 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘴, 𝘏𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘏𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘠𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺!

Being the partner of Kaku meant keeping private was a must.

No one really knew you existed, but you knew it was for your own safety. Being part of CP9 was difficult enough for Kaku, but having a weakness, such as yourself, made the man incredibly anxious.

You sighed through your nose as your Den Den began ringing again, not even an hour after you'd already hung up on your lover. Rolling your eyes slightly, you lifted the receiver and drawled out,

“Yes, my love?”

There was silence on the other end before a soft chuckle rang through, the sound making your heart leap in your chest as you realized it was not Kaku on the other line.

“Y/N.”

Your jaw dropped in shock and nervousness, a shaky laugh leaving you as you nearly coughed out,

“Ah, Mr. Blueno sir, I am so sorry, I was not expecting your call.”

The Den Den frowned slightly, showing the expression of the man on the other line as he bit out jokingly,

“I couldn't tell.”

There was a more comfortable silence after a moment, your eyes unwavering from the Den Den Mushi as you finally asked,

“Is… is something wrong?”

Blueno cleared his throat gently before replying,

“Kaku asked me to check on you.”

You couldn't stop the slightly annoyed groan that left you, holding your burning face in a weak palm as you barely got out,

“I'm so sorry.”

There was confusion from the man as he asked,

“Why?”

You sighed softly through your nose before you replied,

“You have much more important things to do with your life, I know this for a fact.”

There was silence from Blueno for a moment before he commented lightly,

“You are important to Kaku, which makes you important to all of us. It's no bother.”

You frowned slightly, metaphorically holding your heart in your hands as it raced. It was rare for Blueno to speak to you, let alone to reassure you like this and it made you feel… special.

“... Thank you, sir.”

You could practically hear the amusement in his voice as he commented back,

“You're welcome. I'll call again soon, if he asks. Kaku apologizes for being so busy.”

You shook your head even though he couldn't see it, throwing your Den Den a soft look as you laughed slightly,

“I'm not bothered, truly. I know how important his job is, and I understand how hard it is. I'm not worried in the slightest.”

There was another moment of silence before you continued,

“... He always comes home. No matter what.”

Blueno gave a hum in response, clearly impressed with your answer.

“Enjoy your afternoon, Y/N.”

“You as well, sir. Thank you.”

Click.

Sighing to yourself, you hung up the receiver and fed your Den Den a piece of crisp lettuce, his favourite snack. Patting his little eyeballs gently, you then moved away from your comfy chair and decided to pass time with a bath, making your way to the washroom and grabbing a change of clothes on the way.

It wasn't long until you were resting comfortably in the bath, the tub filled to the brim with vanilla scented bubbles. You had your eyes closed, soft music playing from a radio off to the side. After what felt like at least an hour, you sat up and ran a lazy hand through your now soft hair, breathing a gentle sigh as you peeked your eyes open, only to shriek as you suddenly came face to face with someone.

Whipping a hand back, you punched out, quick and hard, just like Kaku taught you and you hit flesh, hearing a crash and a groan as you pulled yourself up from the tub. Breathing heavily, you peeked over the massive amount of bubbles and gasped in shock as you saw none other than Kaku laying on the floor, a dazed expression on his face with a red welt steadily growing on his cheek.

“You… did great, my love,” he croaked out, slowly, groaning to himself as he pulled himself into a cross-legged position. Your mouth dropped open in shock, staring at your lover (who was not due to be home for another few days, mind you) before you nearly leapt from the tub, tears and bubbles stinging your eyes as you crashed into him.

“You're home,” you blubbering out, pressing your naked and soaked body to his as you peppered his face with warm kisses. Strong arms wrapped around you and your favourite sound of chuckling met your ears as calloused fingers ran over your slippery back.

“I sure am, little filly mine.”

Sniffling with a sad frown, you stared up at him with wide eyes, confused though elated he was home so early.

“But… Mr. Blueno called… he said-”

Kaku laughed, his cheeks tinted pink as he stared back with a bright reply of,

“All part of the plan!”

He grinned and pulled you closer, pressing a hot kiss to your forehead before he murmured gently,

“And I think I pulled it off pretty well.”

You laughed in response, curling into him for a moment before pulling back, slightly embarrassed and flustered as you pulled him from the floor.

“I'm so sorry my love-” you started, only to be cut off as Kaku pulled you into a deep kiss, one of his hands cradling the back of your head. He pulled back for only a moment to reply softly,

“Never apologize for being on your toes. You did good, my darling.”

Next thing you knew, you were both back in the tub, your back pressed against his toned chest as he pressed butterfly kisses to the side of your face. You turned your head slightly and pressed a kiss to his nose, pulling a weak chuckle from him as one of his hands wandered lower.

Your head fell back against the front of his shoulder, cradled against the side of his face as his fingers pressed over your warmth.

“I'm going to make it up to you,” he murmured against your hair, his eyes shut as he breathed you in.

“You have nothing to make up for,” you replied just as softly, one of your hands moving to hold his face in your palm. He practically purred into your touch, a low rumble vibrating from his chest against your back.

“I've been away too long,” he continued, almost as if you hadn't even spoken. His fingers pressed into you, and your eyes rolled back, the familiar feeling of him filling you making your stomach filp and your heart stutter.

Kaku's voice held a tone of certainty as he promised,

“... I'm going to make it up to you.”

[maraschinomerry]

Okay this will probably mean very little to most people but I think it's so wild and so lovely

So in the wake of Spotify Wrapped I downloaded all my data and got premium stats.fm so I could do a deep dive. Then I remembered this account is only a few years old after I lost access to my old Spotify, but with a very helpful customer service member I was finally able to access the data from the account I've had since college and add that to my stats.

One of the things it shows is when you first listened to your artists. Big Country: 17th October 2014, that makes sense as they were one of my first artists. The Amazing Devil: 23rd January 2020, I know I got into them on my year abroad so that also makes sense. Frank Turner: 30th July 2015. Hang on a second. I started listening to Frank in earnest after I saw him live in May 2022, after realising I'd had Sailor's Boots in one of my playlists for a couple of months. 2015 can't be right.

No, apparently at some point in college I listened to almost all of Four Simple Words for a single time (4:38 listened out of the 4:56 track). I have no memory of this, clearly it didn't leave much of an impression, yet now he's the number 6 artist of my stats lifetime and has been in the top 3 ever since I started listening properly. I just think it's a fascinating example of how the things that are supposed to be in your life can come back (and funnily enough, the reason I saw Frank live in the first place was because of MCR, who I have also been listening to since 2015 and who are one place above him in my lifetime stats).

[mavis-merry-magnolia]

I don't think there's ever going to be a Madoka related joke or frame that will ever make me laugh harder than, in the loop montage episode, seeing Homura canonically used google to learn how to build bombs. Like there is at the very least One timeline where she is on a List.

[diapereddarling]

//hits Dorian with lactose intolerance beam

[couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name]

you can call me babe for the weekend 🍾

[coastxlwaters]

Merry Christmas!!! :]

God how did i not see this?!-

[cr0ws-cha0t1c-c0llect10n]

we’re rlly in it now cough coffeester chew toy salami lord mocha frappuccino crunkle crawl constantinople lucky charms choc doc ii 😔

[sexy-monster-fucker]

Overstimulated at the family function, the only tradition im keeping alive this holiday season

[merrilark]

Life is good when your cat chooses to sleep with you.

They may take up an absurd amount of space for such a small beastie, but it is more than worth it.

[mailmango]

MERRY CHRISTMAS/HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!! IT’S CHRISTMAS FOR MEEE

[orlamccools]

WHERE IS MERRY CHRISTMAS PLEASE DONT CALL

[apileofmoss]

merry man smoocher monday

[maraschinomerry]

True to form I'm a day late but happy 10th anniversary to The Screaming Staircase! (And thank you Linnie for your post which reminded me this is a thing and inspired me to post my own)

Lockwood & Co as a show had been on my radar pretty much since it launched - it must have popped up on my Netflix at some point, and I already had a couple of mutuals posting about it. I saw and liked the gifsets with the spirit of "I don't even go here but this looks cool", finally in March I went "wait, why don't I watch this? There's literally no barrier beyond my own stubbornness" and thank goodness I did.

I still cannot get over how deeply I connected with the show, and the way it taps into everything I'd have loved at 13 or 18 alike and is equally enjoyable now at 25. The unabashed love shown between the Iron Trio is so refreshing and sincere, and it gives me hope for my own place within the group I've chosen as my second family. The world that Jonathan Stroud has constructed is amazing and I would love it wherever it was set, but like my other favourite shows/universe (Morseverse) being so intrinsically linked with Oxford that I can spend days there just wandering between locations I love that Lockwood & Co has a deliberate and well-established base in London. A few months ago I passed through St Pancras alone and was so ecstatic to be sharing in a little of Lucy's journey, and just last week I excitedly pointed out Sidcup on a station departure board when I was down there with my brother.

Of course, I couldn't talk about Lockwood & Co's impact without expressing my eternal gratitude to the show and the fandom for reigniting my creativity. I haven't finished it yet, but I'm further into The Screaming Staircase than I have been in a book for years. I'd been in the most intense artistic slump, having barely done anything creative in months, but then I was able to dedicate a good 10 hours to my Lockwood portrait and close to that on my unfinished George one, which in turn gave me the energy for other projects. In 2020-2022 I published just under 10,000 words of fic across 2 fandoms, plus about 2500 words earlier this year of one I'm still undecided on posting. In the 6 months since I started watching Lockwood & Co, I have written a whopping 46,610 words of published fic, with about 750 words towards some of the 12 requests I have yet to finish (side note: thank you so much to everyone who has been patient with all these unfinished requests, I know it's been months for some but I promise they'll all get finished eventually!) I cannot even begin to fathom that number - that's nearly 50,000 words, written entirely of my own accord, when by comparison my 3 years of essays for my degree probably amounted to a very forced 30,000 words. All that fic I owe to the beautifully characters created by Jonathan Stroud & brought to life by Ruby, Cameron and Ali, but I also couldn't have done it without the overwhelming support of everyone who has read, liked, commented, reblogged and requested. There aren't enough words to tell you all how grateful I am, and this post would be a mile long if I named everyone personally, but I wanted to take the time to thank some of the people who have made my experience so special.

@ettadear @givemea-dam-break @honey-with-tea @ikeasupremacy @marinalor @neewtmas @oblivious-idiot @personinthepalace @reckless-enough-serenade @tangledinlove @wellgoslowly @wordsarelife

If I've missed anyone important I'm so sorry, but I love you all and am so glad to have had this time with you! Happy 10th birthday to The Screaming Staircase and the wonderful fandom it's led to 🫶

Just reckless enough.

Love, Merry ❤️ xx

[mavis-merry-magnolia]

Look I know there's a good bit of a learning curve and playing on the actual hardware can be kinda challenging with pricing on the secondhand market but like even if you gotta emulate it I IMPLORE you, the reader, to give the Etrian Odyssey series a try.

There's nothing as fun or immersive than making your guild and mapping out a 3d dungeon yourself. Make brand new ocs that fit the world! Make your existing ocs and put them in! Put you and your friends in and pretend you've all been isekai'd! I assure you if you can get past the early adjustment phase you'll have the time of your life!!

Be excited for the HD remasters coming out in June! Especially for 3, which never got a proper remake like the first two did!!!