#willex for the soul

[interestinglittlerelationship]

We Should Kiss Like Real People Do

It’s finally time! This was so much fun! @jatpfebfanfest

This is for @princessmuk

“Wait, wait, wait, explain this to me again?” Julie says, tilting her head at him in confusion.

“Aragagh,” Alex groans, “I’ve explained it twice already,” he tilts his head at her, “Shouldn’t you know all about this, already? Willie is basically your brother.”  

Julie flings herself down next to him, “I know about the stupid family reunion thing, yeah, but why are you going?”

“Because Willie doesn’t want to go alone,” Alex supplies.

“Right, but…” and then she seems to stop herself, “You know what? Never mind. So, Willie asked you to be his fake boyfriend, and you said yes?”

Alex face plants into Julie’s pile of pillows, “Yes,” he mutters. This does nothing to block out the sound of Julie’s giggles, “I hate you,” he adds, rolling over and hugging a pillow to his chest.

After a moment he feels Julie’s arm press up against his side, “I’m sorry, Lexi,” she says seriously, “this is just a situation so ridiculous only you could have managed to end up in it.”

“Thanks, that just make me feel loads better.” 

Julie sighs, “It’s really going to be okay, Alex.”

“You think? Because I think I’m gonna get my heart broken.”

“I’m fairly confident that’s not going to happen, besides you already said yes,” she points out.

“I know,” he whispers.

“So, what are you going to do?”

And that’s the thing, isn’t it? There’s nothing he can do. Willie is his best friend and he needs help. Alex has to do this even if it destroys him, “I’m going to be Willie’s fake boyfriend.”

The time of his demise is delayed slightly by the fact this “favor” Willie asked him for is actually a week away. For someone with a normally functioning brain that might be a good thing, but Alex is far too anxious, and simply comes up with ten new ways it could go horribly wrong with each passing day.

His friends are unsurprisingly the opposite of helpful. Bobby straight up laughs in his face when he finds out, pats him on the shoulder, and says, “Good luck with that.” Reggie gets really excited and insists that this is the start of Alex’s very own rom-com, and then goes on a long-winded tangent about movies where the two main characters start fake dating and end up falling in actual love. Luke, at least, seems properly sympathetic but offers exactly zero practical advice.

Willie, for his part seems remarkably unconcerned about the many possible ramifications of this deal of theirs. Then again, Willie seems remarkably unconcerned about most things. It’s part of the reason Alex likes him so much, Willie balances him out somehow. Calms the whirlwind in his brain.

Willie is holding his hand.

Honestly, he’s having a hard time focusing on anything other than that fact. And he knows it’s for show, that they’re walking up Willie’s uncle’s driveway and someone might see, but none of that matters because Willie is holding his hand.

“This is going to be easy. You already know everything about me and they know practically nothing. You probably won’t even have to lie that much,” Willie is saying and Alex is nodding like a bobble head even though he’s only half listening, “Besides,” Willie adds, “it’s only for the day anyway.”

And that snaps Alex right back to reality. Because tomorrow he’s going to have to go back to pretending like he isn’t in love with his best friend. And he’s going to have to pretend like that fact isn’t slowly killing him. And none of this is real and Alex sort of wants to cry.

Instead, he says, “Right, no big deal.”

Willie yanks them to a stop on the bottom step, tugging his lip between his teeth for a second, “Seriously, Lexi, thank you for doing this.” And then he does the most unbelievable thing and reaches up to tuck a strand of hair behind Alex’s ear. It does absolutely nothing since his hair is not actually long enough to stay put, but Alex melts anyway.

“Hey,” he says, squeezing Willie’s hand, “anytime.”

Willie blushes, “Yeah,” he breathes, turning away, “um, ready to do this?”

Alex shrugs, “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

As Willie introduces him around, Alex starts to relax. Really, pretending to be Willie’s boyfriend is not nearly as hard as he thought it would be. They hold hands and when anyone asks how they met, they tell the truth, “We were friends first.” Willie calls him truly ridiculous pet names like, “Hotdog” and “Honeyboo” which make some of his aunts coo at them.

Willie had basically said that he didn’t want to go to this party alone because all his relatives were awful, but that he’d only be allowed to bring someone if they were dating.

And yeah, Willie’s aunts and uncles are all a little distant and awkward, but seems mostly unbothered by their snubs.

His cousins, on the other hand are admittedly sort of awful, the kind of spoiled rich kids who think their money entitles them to look down on everyone else, but they pretty much leave the two of them alone too.

Willie’s mom had been the black sheep of the family, a free-spirit artist, who had run off with Willie’s dad right out of high school. Willie had never seen his mom’s family growing up, but after she and his dad died in a car accident, his attendance at these yearly reunions had become mandatory out of some twisted sense of duty or something. The rest of the year, Willie lives with his dad’s best friend, Ray, who is apparently not allowed to attend either.

Alex isn’t quite sure how to help, but Willie never once lets go of his hand, so maybe just being there is enough.

It’s a long afternoon, but only slightly painful, and then suddenly they’re climbing back into the car.

It takes a few seconds for Alex to realize that Willie hasn’t actually put the key into the ignition, or for that matter, let go of Alex’s hand.

“Hey,” Alex murmurs, “you okay?”

Willie drops his head onto Alex’s shoulder, “It’s just so exhausting, you know?”

Alex hums, because he doesn’t really.

“They’re all so fake, being all polite, and acting like they want to know me, but they didn’t fucking want me.”

Alex realizes then that Willie is crying, and he tries to shift so he can pull him into a hug, but Willie won’t let go of his hand.

“And I love Ray, I do, and it’s not like I want to live with them, but they spent my whole childhood pretending I didn’t exist and then when they were forced to acknowledge me, they still didn’t want me. And I lied to you. Ray usually goes with me and they wouldn’t have cared if I’d brought a friend as long as they could put on their little ‘happy family show,’ but I wanted you, and I wanted to be able to hold your hand, and now I don’t want to let go because I love you so much, but you probably don’t want me either.”

And Alex is, well, Alex is trying to wrap his head around the fact that his whole entire world just got rewritten. Because even if that was a bunch of heartbreaking word salad, he’s pretty sure Willie just said he loved him.

And this is why he doesn’t respond nearly fast enough, giving Willie the time to realize what he just said and freak out about it. Honestly, it’s all very Alex of him.

He tries to pull away, but this time, it’s Alex who won’t let go.

“Hey,” he says softly, and when Willie just keeps fighting against him, he says it louder, “Hey!” Willie freezes, staring at him, wide-eyed, “I’m, like, stupid in love with you too.”

Willie blinks, and Alex has a feeling his whole world is rewriting itself too.

“Oh,” he says, “Well, that’s convenient.”

Alex smiles at him, “Yeah, it is, isn’t it?”

The sit there smiling at each other, and they’re both crying still too, but none of that matters because Willie loves him.

“So, um, I’m gonna kiss you now,” Willie whispers.

“Okay,” Alex whispers back.

[narcissusbrokenmirror]

I think abt Caleb Covington being simultaneously a terrible guy and also supporting of gay rights.

i mean, did he wanted to trap three teenage boys into his club and force them out of their freedom of choices and decisions to work for him forever with the threat of putting an end to their existence if they refused? yes.

But he also was bringing willie's boyfriend closer to him.

[legolasghosty]

Omg, please tell me about "TELL ME WHAT YOU ARE!!!!" (incredible title lol) and "The One Where Everyone Dances in the House", I am very intrigued!! 👀

Hi hello my love yes of course!!! Sorry for the delay, the spoons have been low!

Okay, so TELL ME WHAT YOU ARE is the super descriptive name I gave to a file after uncovering it and having no idea what it was supposed to be. Like, there was like 3 paragraphs in it and I had no clue where I was planning on going with it.

So now I have turned it into a cute little Willex 3+1 of them making little memories and generally being adorable and in love. Have a snippet!!!

“Penny for your thoughts?” Willie asked, his chin resting on Alex’s shoulder.

Alex turned his head to look at them. It was dark outside, only the lights on the outside of Willie's parents' RV cutting through the forest night. The sky above them was clear and bright with stars. Willie's arms were looped loosely around Alex's waist, their chest against his back. 

"Only if you promise not to laugh," Alex responded.

"Well what are the consequences if I laugh?" Willie teased.

Alex hummed, pretending to be deep in thought. "I suppose you'd owe me something," he decided.

"Like a kiss?" Willie suggested, nuzzling the side of Alex's neck.

Alex repressed the giggle that formed in his throat as Willie's breath tickled his skin. "That doesn't seem like much of a punishment," he retorted. 

"I do like kissing you," Willie agreed. "I guess I'll just have to not laugh then. What were you thinking about?"

The One Where Everyone Dances In The House is another 5+1 type deal(which I really wanna get back to writing, cause it's so cute and I love the idea!) where the whole gang has a giant house together and Willie has only moved in semi-recently. So it's all these shots of Willie walking in on his friends dancing together randomly for various reasons, and then 1 time when someone invites them to dance too!

If I ever finish it, it will be the sweetest, most tooth-rotting fluff on the face of the planet. Snippet time!

Willie stumbled into the entryway, almost tripping over a pair of Luke’s vans. He dropped his dance bag under the coat hooks, draping his black and white checked jacket over one of Reggie’s red flannels on a hook as they headed for the kitchen. They just had to get a quick snack, then they could retreat to Alex’s bedroom and curl up beside their boyfriend and rest.

As he turned the corner into the kitchen, it took a second for it to register that the space wasn’t empty. Julie was on the other side of the kitchen island, leaning against Alex’s chest as he spun her slowly around the space. Alex was wearing his pink hoodie and some basketball shorts Willie knew he slept in, his hair a mess from being trapped under his hat all day most likely. Julie’s hair was braided back and she had on an old, white t-shirt over fuzzy cat pants. Willie noticed her glasses on the counter beside some crumpled tissues. A mug of tea sat on the stovetop, likely cold by now.

Willie returned his gaze to the pair as Alex brought them to a slow stop, still swaying a bit as he rested his chin on the top of her head. He murmured something to her in a low voice and she nodded, not removing herself from his embrace just yet. Alex squeezed her tightly one more time, then turned around, letting the girl climb onto his back. Then he carried her out through the other side of the kitchen, probably heading for her and Luke’s bedroom.

Thank you so much for sending these in, I still love both of these so much even though I haven't actually done anything on them in ages!!!

(Look through my list of WIPs and ask me whatever you want about them!)

[1mnobodywhoareyou]

I uh... Did a thing?

And I kind of wasn't going to post it here because I wanted here to stay as anon as possible for processing reasons but also... I'm really proud of it and this is the only place that makes sense to share?

Also the external validation is doing things so.

Embracing the scary things.

/end rambling

[mac-lilly]

As always, shares are greatly appreciated. 👻

[lou-writes-things]

jatp/willex spirited away au would be fucking rad btw. and not just cause I watched it last night. smh

just like a little more ghosts and hauntings than spirits.

- Alex as chihiro

- Caleb as yubaba who traps Luke and Reggie at the beginning and does something (?) with them.

- Willie as haku

- the hgc as the bath house.

- instead of names, Caleb takes souls, and Alex has to get a job at the club, and give his soul away to caleb to avoid the same fate as Reggie and Luke

- Flynn and Julie as Lin/workers at the club

- Dante as the 'boiler man'

- the hgc is in like, a super old hotel, that's magical and does things hotels aren't supposed to do.

- everyone is ghosts instead of spirits.

someone validate me I'm a genius.

[innytoes]

Guardian Angels AU + Criminals AU for Willex please :D

-Alex is a guardian angel, and he's trying to convince his manager to give him harder cases. All he got to do was keep himbos alive. Like that guy who tried to fix his amp in the rain. His soul was sunshine yellow, and glowed. And the run away who nearly ate poison hotdogs, whose soul was a deep blue. He wanted more than himbos, come on, he was ready.

-So his boss gave him a new charge. Who was a criminal. Doing crimes. Like, all the time.

-And when he asked what he was supposed to do with this, his boss just smiled and told him to figure it out.

-So he did. Guardian Angels were supposed to safeguard not just the person physically, but also their soul. He was pretty worried, but when he looked it up in the Soul Room, his criminal's soul was as clean as any of his himbo charges. His soul was a bright, vivid green, like a newly formed leaf. Which was weird. Weren't crimes Bad? Shouldn't his soul be dull and tarnished?

-He talked to some more experienced Angels. Rose cooed and patted his halo, telling him humans were more complicated than that. She told him to look into what exactly Willie was doing.

-So he did. Whenever his alarms weren't blaring because Yellow was trying to befriend a dog about to bite his fingers off or Blue's blood sugar got dangerously low because he'd been writing for hours, he watched Green.

-And he learned that most of his Crimes were just... art. He was making the world more beautiful. Sure, he was trespassing and climbing places he shouldn't and technically defacing property. But Alex could also see the joy it brought others, the hope.

The way that old lady who never got out anymore would look at the bird he'd painted on the side of a building, and smile. The way the little stickers Green would doodle and slap over hateful symbols not only removed some ugliness from the world, but also make people laugh with dumb puns.

-Sure, there were also other crimes. He stole sometimes. But it was only so he could eat. He even shared his meals when he could, often with people younger than him, more vulnerable.

-And okay some of the crimes had to do with harassing those in power but really, Alex had seen the souls of those people. They could use a little chaos.

-Angels didn't have favourites, but Alex found himself watching Green more often than not. Not that he didn't like listening to the music in Blue's soul, or experience the joy of Yellow helping animals at the animal shelter. But something about Green fascinated Alex.

-So he kept cops from bothering Green while he was making the world more beautiful. He made sure to preform some little miracles that meant that maybe that box of stolen food had more in it than it should, so that everyone Green shared it with could have some. He saved Green from getting hit by a car when he was skating in traffic, though he couldn't help but make it a close call, in the hopes that he'd learn skating in traffic was bad.

-Rose was the one who noticed first because of course she did. "I will have your back no matter what, but you be very careful and think very hard about what you're going to do, mijo," she warned, even though Alex was just doing his job. He was doing it better than he ever had, really. He stopped futzing around as much with Blue and Yellow, trying to get them to meet already, which his boss was happy with. (Of course, his boss didn't know it was because he was too busy obsessing over Green.)

-He didn't understand what Rose meant until it was much, much too late. Until he was falling, falling, right into the path of an oncoming skateboard and...

-"Oh man, you dinged my board!"

-"You ran me over!"

-Being human wasn't really what Alex had been expecting. He sometimes missed his wings, and the fact that it was so dark out without his halo. He didn't like having just two eyes. It gave him anxiety, not being able to see the world in five dimensions.

-But he knew Rose was looking out for him, and he knew he was where he was meant to be. Here with Willie. He couldn't see his soul anymore, but he knew it was still as bright and beautiful as ever. Just like Willie himself.

[seance]

You better get out of here, before Caleb catches you with us.

[beingthirteenwascrazy]

LOOK, I love that Willie is not a villain because he’s just not that type of person—BUT, imagine how cool it would’ve been to see Willie be evil. Betray Alex and his friends. And of course Willie has more power than Caleb, that was just a little ploy to confuse the dudes. But anyways, Willie changes his ways or whatever because friends to lovers to enemies to lovers. OR, Willie and Alex still love each other but power is still Willies 1 boo, so Alex has to defeat Willie, and it ends in a sad little scene with stupid “I love you”‘s and Willie fading away. Is that too much to ask for??

[daisiesmakingchains]

Julie and The Phantoms Appreciation Week

Day 3: Favorite Ship

Willex

[julieandthequeers]

Willies hands on his hips as they watched Alex try to lift the bench

Willie’s lil finger wiggle to signal Alex to grab their hand

THE EXCITED FACE WILLIE MADE WHEN ALEX WAS ABLE TO LIFT IT AND THEIR LOOK OF REALIZATION WHEN ALEX TOLD HIM HE HAD 10 SECONDS BEFORE HE DROPPED IT

[interestinglittlerelationship]

Ooo tell me about That Fleeting Thing Called Memory?

Would be part of my Until I Can Stay series on AO3

Summary: Willie wants to remember Alex forever, but he of all people knows that’s not always how it works. He’s trying though.

[sunsetsandcurves]

I just had a dream in which Alex traded his soul for Willie's in the second season of JATP and the whole last episode was about saving him from Caleb but at the end Alex saves his own soul outsmarting Caleb and it was kind of sad but I'D WATCH THE HELL OUT OF THAT

[legolasghosty]

Clearly Zombie Apocalypse AU ;D

Hah yesss!!! Okay, someone else asked about it too, so part 1 of this au is here!

Continuing on... (Gosh I'm so sorry for how long this is getting...sorryyyy ignore meeee! I'm just being weird!!!)

It takes them a few weeks into the whole apocalypse situation to find Willie. It's not for a lack of trying, Alex almost runs himself into the ghostly ground looking for him when he's not helping the Molinas. Turns out that Willie got stuck helping clear out the HGC when stuff first hit.

Caleb had been gone a lot before the zombies, and so he'd figured out a magical way to basically tie all of the ghosts he owned the souls of to the physical club location, on a very short leash. And well, rich people aren't really known for taking emergencies like spreading viruses or, say, a zombie apocalypse very seriously. Sooo what happens is that one zombie gets in, starts biting and infecting people, and suddenly you have a bunch of ghosts trapped with a ton of zombies in a fancy jazz club.

The ghosts can't get bit and infected, so eventually they manage to take them all out. And there end up being a handful of new ghosts from the people dying. But Caleb is still gone, so Willie and a few other ghosts figure out how to break into his office. They find all the contracts binding their souls and set em on fire. As soon as Willie knows that everyone at the club is going to be okay, he takes off to find Alex.

SOFT WILLEX REUNION!!!! He finds them in the middle of a supply run and Alex just freezes when he hears them call his name. Julie turns to ask him what's up and sees Willie too. And then Willex are hugging and Reggie is super excited and the adults are yelling at Julie that she can't just stand around, keep moving! Alex makes a joke about them being homophobic and Willie laughs and kisses him and it's just VERY CUTE AND SOFT OKAY?!

So then Willie joins the crew! Ray and Tia and Carlos are VERY confused as to who this fourth invisible person is that Julie is talking to all of a sudden. Julie's drawing skills come in handy, cause no one else has any idea what Willie looks like. Hey, they don't become visible when doing music with Julie, so...

Willie doodles around the edges of Julie's drawing of him to make it look like a wanted poster.

Willie is also really good with vehicles and tech. No one is really sure if that's cause of the ghost magic or if he's just really handy. Willie isn't sure either. But they become the mechanic of the gang!

SWITCHING GEARS, Flynn gets adopted into the crew almost immediately. Her parents were out of town on a business trip when everything started, so she's alone. The Molinas adopt her immediately. She pokes fun(and occasionally her sword) at the ghosts constantly. She takes to firearms rather quickly(which is only slightly terrifying...) and develops a taste for sniping.

And yes you read that right, Flynn also has a frigging sword. Her Mama was really into that kind of thing, so there was just... an actual sword, sharp and everything, on the wall of their house. Flynn isn't the best melee fighter, but that thing is NOT to be messed with. It's really pretty too, leather bound handle and the whole deal.

The only person other than Flynn that's allowed to touch it is Julie. Sometimes Julie will borrow it for a particularly large gang of zombies, since it tends to make faster work of the zombies than her usual arsenal. But it's special. Reggie keeps asking if it has a name. It does NOT, REGINALD! (It totally does in Flynn's head, but it's a nickname her Mama used as a kid, a bit personal to just share...)

Ray is still a pretty basic cook, but he's surprisingly good at the whole survival thing. Who knew he was paying so much attention when Carlos was in boy scouts? He learned a fair amount of first aid too when Rose was sick. (It was largely due to the reoccurring nightmare of his kids getting hurt too and being helpless, but he didn't tell them that.) So he remains the dad figure in the crew, even though most of them aren't his actual kids.

They do find out that ghosts can get hurt the hard way though. Not from zombies and bullets, but if they're focusing on being tangible to carry stuff or something, they can get hurt by natural causes. Mostly it's bruises and stuff, but Reggie falls onto a pile of scrap metal at one point.

Ray has to talk Alex through giving Reggie stitches, cause he can't touch or really see Reggie. The drummer has the steadiest hands of any of the people who can touch the ghosts. Luke is too fidgety, Willie gets really bad hand cramps when trying to do anything that delicate, and Julie almost throws up when she first sees the injury.

Alex is freaking out the entire time, but he makes it through. Reggie has to keep his eyes shut and hang on to Luke and Julie's hands. Though after it heals, he boasts all the time about the wicked scar.

Eep okay this is wayyyy too long and probably more than anyone wanted to read ever about this AU. So I'll shut up now! Thanks for humoring me and sending this in!!!

(Send me an AU and I'll give you 5+ headcanons about it!)

[ghosthimbos]

You know what I would like to see?

Willie asking Julie for advice or rather pouring his heart out in front of her because after the whole thing with Caleb he still feels guilty and now that Caleb‘s not in the club (because he possessed Nick and I‘m assuming he‘s not gonna be in the club for a while), he worries about it and thinks he‘s not good enough for Alex.

And Julie is just there, listening to him and promises not to tell anyone because she‘s the good soul of the group and whatever someone tells her, stays between the two of them.

[mac-lilly]

JATP fic ideas that live rent-free in my head

A compilation post to keep track of all the jatp stories that I will never write ...

Stuff I've actually written

Juke:

Juke Kitchen

Alone Together

Strumming the Soul

Beautiful

Heartbeat

Willex:

Hotdog and Cold dog

Cross my heart and hope to die (again)

A night to remember:

Just one more night (Luke)

Tomorrow (Reggie)

Ghostwriter:

Snippet 1

Snippet 2

Snippet 3

Hamster!Luke

Doodle

Canon-Compliant (kinda)

The inevitabilities of (after)life

(Boys coming back to life but without memories - Juke)

After their performance at The Orpheum, the guys suddenly start seeing a magical light, and they figure it's time to cross over. Before they leave, however, Julie and Luke accidentally seal a magical pact with unfathomable consequences. (And they kiss.) And then the boys are gone.

However, a year later, just after coming to terms with the guys' departure, Julie's world is turned upside-down (again) when a very alive Luke suddenly reenters her life. And it's not just him -- Alex and Reggie are back too. But to Julie's horror and agony, all three have lost their memories. (And not just them. With the exception of Bobby, nobody remembers them.)

And so, Julie has to make a decision: Fight to unseal their memories or let them live their new-found lives without her?

It's an easy choice, really. Plus, she has to make her resurrected Phantoms stay alive. Because there's a series of uncanny and nearly fatal accidents that always involve her boys and, weirdly, Nick.

(There are 1.75 chapters of this on my PC.)

Ghost license

(inspired by the movie "Hui Buh" - no focus on romance)

The boys get tasked to obtain a ghost license for the Molina house. Otherwise, they have to leave the place and become wayward ghosts (and have to return to Caleb.) And thus, the Phantoms are forced to attend a school for ghosts -- exams included.

Random character stuff:

Julie's doodling

Luke's room

AUs

Songwriting Journal of Fate

(A Kimi no Na Wa AU - Juke)

Part I

Part II

Part III

Snippet 1

Snippet 2

Show me how to be whole again

An arranged marriage/enemies-to-reluctant-allies-to-friends-to-lovers Juke AU

Plot

BAM! I'm actually writing this one.

AO3 Link

Image Board

Sweet Home Alabama AU

Yet another enemies-to-friends-to-almost-lovers-to-enemies-to-friends&lovers Juke AU.

Teaser

First & Last Scene

"Life with Derek"-inspired AU

Teaser/Prologue

Rivers of London AU

Julie, a witch in training, and Luke, a ghost

Snippet 1

Snippet 2

Snippet 3

Phantom Thieves

(A Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne AU (without the religious stuff) - Juke)

Julie makes a deal with Caleb: She helps him collect/steal possessed artifacts, and in exchange, he'll grant her a chance to talk to her mom again.

At first, it goes pretty well. She steals the objects and hands them over to Caleb. But soon, she gets a rival. Another thief shows up, who is way too cheeky and attractive, and he starts snatching those items Julie is supposed to steal from under her nose. Julie is not amused by his attitude, and Caleb tells her that he probably wants to use these magical items for evil.

At the same time, Julie makes acquaintance with three guys who just transferred to her school, and she may or may not develop a crush on one of them. (And Julie can't help but see certain similarities between Luke and her new-found thievish rival ... but surely that's just a coincidence, right?)

Mind the Gap

(A Neverwhere AU - Willex & (minor) Juke)

Alex lives a pretty normal life. Sure, after he came out to his parents, he's become an outcast. But he's willing to put up with this shit anyway. (What are the alternatives?)

Then he encounters Willie, an extremely weird but also handsome guy who tells him that he is being hunted. Confused, Alex helps him hide. The next day, Willie is gone, and suddenly his life seems to vanish. His parents, his peers -- everyone seems to forget that he exists.

Determined to set things right, Alex sets out to find Willie, hoping that he (or the person he's running away from) has the power to give him his life back. He enters the World Below -- the place where all the people who've all fallen through the cracks stand. However, as he keeps gathering a group of unlikely and way too cheerful acquaintances who quickly become his friends (and more), he starts questioning his desire to return to the normal world.