Minding My Own Business…

Hihi! I was wondering of you could write something about the ghouls (big or small) trying new foods? i think it could be really cute.

This idea just wouldn't leave my head after I saw this! Hope it's ok!

Cw: food, and not a warning but Dews words for things

It's a joy they never thought they'd have, something so small and simple was hugely important and brought more happiness than they could ever put to words.

They never thought that beyond a bottle and occasional oatmeal that the baby would ever really eat, it wasn't something they gave much thought to. But he'd made leaps and bounds in his healing and now...

"Dat?"

Rain blinks away his thoughts and looks over to what Dew is pointing at on Rain's plate.

"That is a shrimp." He holds it up for Dew to look at closer. "Do you want to try?"

He looks like he'd rather go eat dirt. "No. Ew bug!"

"It does kind of look like a bug." He kisses the top of Dew's little head. "You don't have to try it. Would you like more green beans?"

"Bean beans p'ease!"

Rain happily goes to grab him more and watches how he studies them, playing with them before he finally starts chomping away. He never knew something so simple would make him so proud.

He's not the only one. Every single one of them is happy to be a part of his journey, showing him new things to try.

He's perched on Mountain's knee one day out in the sun while the giant eats some grapes and Rain watches him bite them in half, being sure to pull the skin off before offering the baby little pieces.

He doesn't seem to like the purple ones, blowing raspberries and shaking his head, but green seem to be fine. Rain smiles at Mountain's unending patience, how he just let's Dew squish and explore without a care in the world simply because Dew is happy and bright.

His little hand touches Mountain's lips and he holds up one of his grapes. "Dis?"

"Grapes. Weintrauben."

He's not interested in repeating either word but he continues snacking and Mountain smiles down at him, nothing but peace in his eyes.

Swiss wasn't sure if Dew would be willing to try any of his food, tending to make his pretty spicy but he beamed when Dew eyeballed his plate one night and pointed at his rice, something more mild than usual.

"Dat?"

"Arroz Al la Mexicana." He offers a little bit on his finger and Dew stares at it for a while. Swiss almost pulls his hand back but Dew chomps down before he can. "Eat the rice but leave my finger you little devil!"

Dew giggles and Swiss watches his face as he decides if he likes it or not and he nearly jumps up with an excited cheer when he asks for more.

It doesn't always go well, sometimes he's just not in the mood, cranky or tired, or just simply more in the mood to play with it instead.

Aether has him in his highchair one morning while he sips his coffee and makes Dew a plate of fruits that he knows he likes. He keeps a mental note of Dews favorites but apparently he has other plans.

He growls at the plate when Aether sets it down and he watches him squish each strawberry.

"No tall babies!"

Aether can't help but laugh. "You like strawberries!"

He flings a chunk at Aether, clearly unamused by such an accusation.

"No tall babies!" He settles once he's got them all off his plate and is left with his watermelon and blueberries, eating happily and babbling away.

He catches Mountain later to ask if he knows what suddenly changed Dews mind about the strawberries.

"Oh, there were a bunch of wasps near the bushes the other day when I took him down to pick some. He was pretty unhappy about it, guess he holds a grudge."

Aether shakes his head and updates his mental list that "tall babies" are now a no.

Phantom is on the couch with their snack bowl while they watch tv and have an afternoon snack, even the other littles aren't spared from Dew's curiosity and are happy to share.

Dew pulls himself to stand in front of the couch, pointing at the puffy Cheetos Phantom is currently eating.

"Me p'ease!"

Phantom giggles and climbs off the couch. "H-hold on!" They run to the kitchen where Swiss is getting dinner prepped. "C-can Dew have s-some of my Cheetos?"

Swiss laughs when the baby crawls in behind Phantom, eyebrows pinched as he looks up at the bowl.

"Yeah, just keep him in here with them ok?"

Phantom sits on the floor and hands Dew one of the puffy, cheesy snacks. They giggle when Dew blows a raspberry at it at first but eventually he decides he likes it enough to ask for another one.

"G-good?"

"Teese toes!"

Phantom laughs so hard Swiss almost worries they'll run out of air but Dew claps and Phantom hands him another one.

There are still things he refuses to eat. He hates peas and carrots, he doesn't like things that are too sweet like cakes or cookies, he hates eggs and won't even look at them if they are offered.

His favorite is still broccoli and if he had it his way he'd have it morning, noon, and night.

It quickly becomes their favorite part of dinner when Dew is dropped and in a good mood, trying out new recipes to see if he will try it and even better, if he'll like it.

They don't take it for granted no matter how small it may seem because it shows his healing and how far he'd come and they will happily cheer on every single step out of the dark that he takes.

Mushy May 2024

Animals - Copia/Aurora

Ft. Dew, Swiss, Phantom and Mountain

Thank you to @forlorn-crows for organizing Mushy May for the second year in a row!

Divider by @ghuleh-recs

No major CWs - unless you’re afraid of rats

1924 words below the cut (ao3 soon)

The following is based on true events. Though it was only one of my rats that escaped and made her way into the kitchen cupboard. Although my rats are gone, I still have the carrier with the giant hole. Along with the hole in my heart now that they’re all gone. Also this is rambling and boring and sorry. I don’t have the brain power to make it better.

It was with unexpected enthusiasm that Copia had agreed to allow for two of his precious rats to be cared for by the ghouls.

Aurora assumed that when she widened her gait to catch up to Papa as he hastened through the hallways.

“I’m sorry dear, I don’t have much time to confab with you today. The big release and all.”

Aurora swallowed hard, trying to steel her nerves to both ask the question. And to imagine what it’ll be like seeing herself up on a giant screen. She loved to perform, but she wasn’t so sure she liked to watch herself perform.

He was already getting away as she became trapped in that anxious thought for just a few seconds. Running to catch up with him, and maybe a little out of breath, she thought now or never.

“Papa I was just thinking, and only if you think it’s a good idea, and I promise I’ll take such good care of them, and only if you think they would be okay with it, and - and -“

Copia finally slowed down and came to a stop, resting his hands on her shoulders, to reassure her and to maybe get her to slow down so he could make sense of what she was saying.

“Aurora, I’m sure whatever you’re going to ask does not require this much preemptive reassurance. What is it?”

“Well,” she digs her toe into the stone floor and looks up at him, the way her eyes truly sparkle, she must be doing that on purpose.

“I was thinking that while we’re on break, you might consider letting me take care of one of your rats.”

“Oh, dear, you had me so very worried for a moment. I thought you were going to ask me for something truly insane. Like when Delta asked my brother if they could add Egyptian crocodiles to the lake. As much as I’m sure he’d enjoy communing with them, I think we all want to enjoy a summer dip with our limbs intact.”

“So?” Her voice carried the upward inflection of hope, and Copia met her with a crinkly eyed smile.

“Yes, of course.”

She wanted to jump up and down and shake him by his robes but she settled for a light hug.

“I promise I won’t let you down! I’ve been reading all about their care for weeks! I’ll make sure they have a safe exercise area, and plenty of enrichment in their cage, and I’ll make them a healthy snack every single day!”

“I believe you, just coordinate with that sibling who helps me with uh - you know.”

“Your administrative assistant, David, who’s been your assistant for the last 6 years?”

“Ah yes! Tricky, that name. David.”

Aurora just shook her head, “Will do! Thanks Papa!”

Impatient as ever, Aurora charged straight over to Copia’s quarters to gather supplies.

“Yes, he told me you were coming.” His flat affect had nothing to do with his mood, she was told. She assumed that is what happens when you put up with the chaos of a silly satanic pope for 6 years straight.

Aurora gathered the supplies first, David thoughtfully offered her a wagon to drag most of it back, at least the massive cage was on wheels.

She returned a few hours later, after masterfully setting up the cage with hammocks and tunnels and hides, litter boxes, food bowls and water.

She stood back to admire her work as Phantom walked past. “I’m kinda jealous, Rory.”

“You can spend time with the rats too?”

“Nah I mean the cage. I wish I could live in there. Looks so cozy.”

She gave him a playful shove and went to collect the final and most important thing, the rats.

She peered inside the plastic carrier and found two sisters sleeping around each other like a yin yang, one dark grey and the other white with brown spots.

“They are sisters, Madonna and Magdalene.” David need not bother to tell her to take good care of them, she had already assured him that she would about 800 times in between trips back to the ghoul wing.”

She walked slowly, trying not to jostle them while they slept. Beyond ecstatic that she had not one but two to care for.

“They don’t like to live alone. Pack creatures. Like you ghouls.” Aurora quirked her eyebrow at that. Normally the siblings who could be trusted to know still didn’t say it out loud. But then again. David was a strange one.

She then sat patiently on the sofa waiting for them to wake up so she could introduce them to their new home. She made sure to put some of the items in from their last cage so it would smell familiar. Including a half-shredded tissue box that they apparently were quite fond of.

She was beginning to doze off herself when she heard some movement in the carrier on her lap.

She held it up at eye level just in time to see Magdalene, the white and brown rat, stretch out her little front legs and yawn.

“So freaking cute.” She mumbled at her new friends. “I’m going to call you Maggie and Mads for short!”

She carried them over to their new home and unlatched the door to both the cage and the carrier and let them wander in at their own pace.

She decided that she would leave them be for the night to get used to their new surroundings. She found them asleep in their fleece hammock when she brought them their evening snack, snap peas and cucumber and a small piece of banana.

She couldn’t help herself, arranging it on a tiny saucer like dinner at a 5 star restaurant.

“I don’t think that’s going fill you up.”

She spun around and smacked into Swiss, who was looking over her shoulder.

“It’s not for me!”

“I know, doll, just kidding.”

The next day, she decided to check if they were interested in meeting her. Wearing one of Mountain’s stolen hoodies, she held her arm inside the cage. They both sniffed her curiously.

“It’s okay.” She whispered. “We have all the time in the world to become friends.”

But to her surprise, they both climbed up onto her arm and onto her shoulder. Soon she was in a fit of giggles as they tangled themselves up in her hair, and tickled her skin with their whiskers.

It was safe to say from then on, that if Aurora was awake precluding certain activities, she would likely have a pair of rats traveling in the hood of her sweater, up her sleeve, or in the front pouch of her overalls.

It finally came time to clean their cage, so she deposited them back into the plastic carrier they arrived in. She began the tedious process of removing all of the soft fabric items to wash, so she could wipe down the hard surfaces with the enzyme cleaner - which was nowhere to be found.

“I’ll be right back, don’t go anywhere”! They pressed their little noses up to the metal grid of the door as if to say how could we?

She returned some 20 minutes later after being redirected to several different locations until it ended with a supply closet on the opposite side of the grounds.

A logical place she supposed as it was near the exit to the very micro farm that Ivy had insisted upon. She imagined he was out there now, communing with his chickens or milking a goat.

She finally finished scrubbing down the cage and placing all of the toys and hides back inside after what seemed like hours. “Actually broke a sweat doing that. What do you say ladies? Incoerce one of the boys into doing this for me next time?”

She lifted the carrier to release them, but when the pair didn’t come scurrying out she flipped the carrier around to look inside. That's when she noticed the giant hole chewed into the side of the carrier.

“Oh - oh fuck.”

Aurora began looking inside the cage, around the cage, the book shelf, media stand, sofa, and every other nook and crevice in the common room.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

The Abbey was massive, the walls had cracks in them, there were doors they could easily slip under, staircases to hop down. They could be anywhere. It only took a few seconds for panic to dig its claws in and not let go.

And this is how Dew found her, sitting in the middle of the common room floor, couch cushions in disarray, the coffee table emptied, drawers open, pillows tossed everywhere.

“Rory?”

“He’s gonna kill me, Dew!”

“No one is killing anyone. What happened?”

Aurora recounted the events leading up to this moment in rapid fire succession, but Dew understood the most important part. Maggie and Mads were missing.

Dew’s mind was reeling in a similar fashion, the Abbey’s endless rooms, sprawling passageways. Parts deep beneath the ground he’d never been brave enough to venture to.

However, rather than upset Aurora further - if possible - as she was already sobbing on his shoulder - he decided to try and be the calm presence she needed.

“Don’t worry Rory, we’ll find ‘em. You know how smart they are. They’ll probably come right back to their home when they’re ready.”

Aurora garbled something into his shoulder he couldn’t make out, but he was pretty sure she was disagreeing with him.

When Dew finally dislodged the panicked ghoul from around his neck he decided to make use of the group chat that he normally had muted.

Soon enough the rest of them emerged to help look for the missing rodents.

Trouble is they weren’t really sure where they could look that Aurora had not already.

After many hours of searching, and coming up empty handed, they moved back to the common room and sat in collective silence.

Rather than make empty promises, Mountain offered to make Aurora’s favorite cookies. A small concession, but he needed to do something. The anxiety of not being able to fix the problem was beginning to drive him mad.

Aurora nodded weakly, imagining with horror the look of disappointment, or quite possibly anger Copia would have when she told him.

The room was silent save the sound of cupboards opening and ingredients being laid out on the counter.

Suddenly Mountain yelped, causing each last one of them to jump out of their seats.

They all gathered in the doorway, they were already on edge and him sounding the alarm bells did nothing to soothe their collective frayed nerves.

“Mount, what is it?”

Standing there with the pantry door open, a bag of oats in his hands.

“I found your friends Aurora.”

He handed her the bag, two sets of beady eyes peered back up at her as they stuffed their faces with rolled out flakes.

“You little fuckers! I can’t even be mad, cause you’re so cute!” Aurora carried the bag back to their cage and deposited them along with a small pile of oats.

“Shouldn’t be getting treats, you were bad ratties!” Aurora wagged her finger at them but they paid no mind, digging into the pile of flakes.

Mountain looked between the rats in the cage enjoying their spoils, and the big bag of oats with a hole chewed in the side.

“Well, I can’t make your favorite anymore. Would you settle for regular chocolate chip cookies? Minus the oats?”

“Deal.” The usual cheer returned to Aurora’s voice. “I’ll help.”

going through a really bad bout of remembering trauma, thinking about swiss so overwhelmed with stress and not wanting to bother any of the ghouls, going to seek papa out for comfort. he doesnt shy away this time, takes a deep breath and ratters on the door to his office, papa giving him work to do and praises to get everything off his mind :,) hes not even little he just doesnt know how to cope properly or live with himself, sorry for the constant asks!!!! - 🗝

First I'm sorry this took so long to get to, but ...life did life things. Also, I didn't really follow the prompt because apparently Swiss had other ideas but I hope it's ok.

And most importantly, I hope you're doing alright 🩷🩷🩷

Cw: Swiss can't sleep, storms mentioned, Swiss climbing things he probably shouldn't be lol he's fine he doesn't get hurt but Copia isn't a fan!, middle Swiss (as usual I do refer to him as the little ghoul because they all get physically smaller but he's a middle I just remember there was a little confusion before 🩷), cg Copia

Sleep doesn't always come easy for Swiss, especially when he's dropped and had been on edge all day. It wasn't a bad day, but a storm was coming and he could feel it in his veins and it made him antsy. It was fine during the day when he was busy, he didn't really have time to focus on it, but now, laying alone in his bed it's all his mind can do.

He pushes himself up with a heavy sigh, he knows he's not going to be able to sleep any time soon and just laying there isn't going to help anything. He opens the window and shoves his head outside, he can smell the storm, it's closer but not quite here yet and he groans. If it just started he'd feel better.

He grabs a few of his comics and his blanket and heads down to the common room. It's hardly the first time he's done this and he usually wakes up tucked in with his head pillowed on someone's lap. He knows he could go wake someone up for company but he doesn't want to be a bother, especially with something that none of them can really help with.

It's usually completely silent when Swiss sneaks down like this, if anyone was still up they are usually in their rooms but he definitely hears something in the kitchen. It's not totally out of the realm of possibility that someone got thirsty or something...

When he peeks around the corner he expects to see Phantom, maybe Dew or Ifrit. He's definitely not expecting Copia.

He's in his sleep pants and an old band t-shirt and he's got glasses on but he just looks...tired.

"Papa?"

He jumps at Swiss' voice, turning with his hand over his heart. "Lucifer! You scared me Piccola tempesta!" (Little storm)

"Sorry...wasn't tryin to sneak up on you...whatcha doin?"

"Well I..." He drags his hand across the back of his neck. "I can't seem to get to sleep and I was hoping some of Mountain's tea would help but...I don't know where he keeps it."

Swiss sets his comics on the table and drapes his blanket on the back of one of the chairs.

"I can help, I know where it is. What kind do you want?"

"He gave me a lavender one the last time."

"Ok!" Swiss climbs up on the counter and Copia races to stand behind him, hands nervously fluttering around him in case the little ghoul slips.

"Please be careful!"

Swiss laughs a little. "I do this all the time! I like climbing. You know that big tree down by the greenhouse? I can get really high in there!"

Copia groans dramatically. "Do you want my heart to give out?"

Swiss giggles again and grabs the tea, lowering himself carefully before hopping off the counter.

"See? I'm a pro!"

"Yes, but I think I may have a few more grey hairs." He says it with a soft smile and starts getting the kettle ready to boil. He notes Swiss is fidgeting, eyes not staying on Copia. "What's the matter amore Mio?"

"Nothin....I just can't sleep..." He shrugs. "Just gonna read on the couch."

Copia hums. "Well, would you like some company? I can't sleep either, maybe you can tell me about your comics."

Swiss' eyes light up, bright gold like stars. "Really?"

"Why don't you put a little snack together and I can make you a hot chocolate."

Swiss chirps and bounces over to the pantry to grab out the crackers with cheese in the middle. He grabs a handful of marshmallows, some chocolate chips and heads to the fridge for some berries and cheese cubes.

Copia watches with a small smile, happy that the little ghoul feels a bit better.

They make their way to the couch after the drinks are done and Swiss scoots close, his back pressed to Copia's side while he starts talking about the comics he's currently reading. He listens intently, asking questions occasionally until the answers start getting more spaced out.

Copia peeks down at his face, his lashes fluttering as he struggles to keep his eyes open. He moves the snack off to the side, shushing the half hearted protests of the little ghoul still happily snuggled into his side.

"Just moving it to the table, you can still reach it if you want." His voice is soft and he adjusts the blanket over Swiss.

"Still....still wanna hear 'bout the next one?"

His voice is slurred with sleep and Copia struggles to not laugh at the jumbled words.

"If you'd like to tell me."

"Well it starts with..." His head lolls to the side as his words taper off, eyes closed as he drifts away to sleep.

Copia adjusts his head up against his shoulder so his neck won't be sore in the morning. He kisses the top of his head, tightening his arms around him when the first flash of lightning lights up the room, a low roll of thunder quickly following.

The little multi ghoul looks peaceful, his face relaxed as he sleeps against papa, breaths deep and even. Copia watches the storm through the big window, takes note of how Swiss relaxes just a little more with each flash and loud boom. It's fascinating and he's so grateful for each of his ghouls and how different they all are.

He rests his head back against the couch, allowing his eyes to shut so he can just listen to the storm and Swiss' breathing.

"Dormi bene, mia piccola tempesta." (Sleep well, my little storm.)

The band Ghost is so fucking funny to me. Their frontman currently looks like this:

Or some version of a horny goth clown, but the guy underneath it has got the wettest saddest eyes I've ever seen. Just look at him:

This man admits to being very sensitive and cries at the drop of a hat.

He has a wife and kids.

He wears the costume because he doesn't like the way he looks on stage as a rockstar.

He treats the audience like his children. They're officially called the children of Ghost for that and also because of the play on "children of god."

The band literally fucks around on stage while riffing this badass music. They go through physical comedy skits every concert like the three stooges. For example:

Two demons throw guitar picks at each other when they get angy.

One guy grinds and licks the stage like a cat in heat.

One of them shakes their tits at goth clown man and scares him shitless.

One of them twirls goth clown man like a ballerina as he dances by them.

Several of them slap goth clown's ass when he waddles by.

He created the band to make people happy, to celebrate being a fucking weirdo because he always felt left out, and to make fun of Christianity because it makes people feel bad. He lost his older brother, and it tore him up so bad that the music he made as a result launched him into a worldwide music career.

This man ends every concert "ritual" with three things:

1. Be nice to each other

2. Help each other

3. Go fuck yourself

(Literally and figuratively)

Their music is 70% "fuck me I'm so horny", 10% "I love you so much" and 20% "ethereal badass metal".

Look at how much fun he's having, dude.

It's literally just a rock band filled with the nicest people on earth wearing costumes like a Shakespearean play. And all they do is make up funny little lore stories and serve cunt.

Gonna need yall to stop putting Biden is Just As Bad propaganda on my dash. Had to unfollow someone because I don’t want to a start a fight with them over it, but I’m about to bite the next person who puts that shit in front of me.

If you don’t like Biden, vote in your god damn local and mid term elections for third party or further left candidates so that we get better democratic candidates for future elections. But this one is already fucking decided, and I’m NOT ending up under a Trump led dictatorship because yall value protecting your personal sense of moral purity over the collective good. Whether it offends your personal morals to vote for Biden is IRRELEVANT in the face of the alternative.

This isn’t a lesser of two evils situation. One guy sucks. The other guy is LITERALLY PLANNING TO OVERTHROW OUR DEMOCRACY AND INSTALL HIMSELF AS A PUTIN STYLE DICTATOR.

PLEASE look up Project 2025 and stop acting like abstaining is some kind of personal ethical decision!

Easter egg for office workers: if you go onto Excel and press ctrl+left, then ctrl+down, you will reach cell XFD1048576. If you put a dot in there, then ctrl+A and fill every cell in black, you can then print 34 million black pages from your office printer and get fired

If you see this you’re legally obligated to reblog and tag with the book you’re currently reading

Great, now I'm gonna be staring at every pic from now on to try and see the mesh part of the mask.

Fuck. Look at the EYES

Idk if i’m looking for things that don’t exist or something, or if i’m really late to this realization cause i haven’t interacted with ghost content too much in like a year, but i noticed that sodo almost always gets called dewdrop in fics, but on social media and irl, he more often than not gets called sodo.

Ppl probably already came to that conclusion but i still wanted to share cause i was happy i noticed it

-🪱

Yes!! This is a THING.

Unmasked Dewdrop actually goes by "Sodo" (or Sodomizer) in real life and has for like....15 years at least.

But there are a lot of fans who don't know that, or don't care, and have heard him referred to that way and have decided that Dew is actually Sodo.

To me, personally, it's a big ick. And it makes me uncomfortable to refer to the character as Sodo. If we're talking about the musician? He's Sodo, for sure. If it's the ghoul? Dewdrop. I just need to keep that separation. They're not the same person. Sodo plays Dewdrop. But Dewdrop isn't Sodo. Like I can't even read fanfic where he's called Sodo. It makes me feel weird.

Also everyone pronounces Sodo wrong but that's another rant for another time.

Or other e-readers. I have a entire folder filled with epubs. I save all my favorites.

Tumblr. Why did I only just realise I can download directly from ao3 onto my kindle? I’m glad I only downloaded like 6 the hard way before realising!

*runs directly to @jimothybarnes latest post to download all the things*