𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒚 30: 𝒃𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕

Hi Moony!

I realized something today that made me a little (a lot) sad, it feels so silly to be sad about but I realized I only have 5 cows out of my cow collection I've had since I was little, and one of the ones I can't get back I'm really sad about because he was the perfect hugging cow. As always you can ignore this if you aren't feeling it but I was wondering if I could ask for something about Mountain with Acker? I really miss my cows and I Mounty with his cows is always so cute and comforting. 🧡🖤

🎃

This is just a small thing but I hope its ok 🩷

Mountain frowns as he looks over his stuffies. He always tried to make sure they all got attention of course but he seemed to have been neglecting someone and now he felt bad.

He grabbed Acker off the bed and crushed him to his chest, apologizing into his fur. Somehow he'd overlooked his cow! Somehow he hadn't spent any time with him.

“I'm sorry Acker! I didn't mean to forget about you!” He hugs the cow as tight as he can, Dews voice from the speaker box breaking the silence. “We can have a whole day together, just me and you!”

He carries him down the stairs for breakfast, making sure Acker gets served too. Swiss smiles and cuts a tiny piece of toast for the stuffy, patting his head the same way he does to Mountain.

They chat and eat breakfast and Swiss smiles when Mountain takes his napkin and wipes Ackers mouth with it. When they are done, mountain hugs Swiss and heads back upstairs to get dressed. He packs his backpack and heads to ask permission to head outside.

He finds rain on the couch in the den, his crutches resting beside him.

“Hi pere.”

“Hi fluer!” He smiles wide at the little ghoul. “Going somewhere?”

“Can I go outside with Acker so we can draw?”

Rain sits up and glances at the window. “Only right there where I can see you. I'm pretty sure Secondo is out there somewhere ok?”

“Ok! Thank you pere! Feel better!”

Rain laughs as Mountain rushes outside. He finds his spot by the window where Rain can clearly see him and he sets up his art supplies, keeping them right between himself and Acker to be easier for sharing. He lays on his belly, his legs kicking up behind him, humming as he draws himself and Acker running through a field of flowers.

He talks to his cow, sharing secrets knowing they're safe with his stuffie, giggling to himself as he imagines what he would sound like if he could talk.

When he gets chilly, he packs everything up and carries Acker back up to his room for a story before nap time, mountain's not tired…of course not, but he thinks maybe Acker is. They get comfy on the bed and Mountain starts reading, only making it two pages in before he falls asleep with his cow tucked in his arm.

Dew finds him just after lunch, gently waking him up with a snack plate ready. Mountain shares with Acker again and Dew sets up a movie for them to watch together. Mountain explains certain parts to his cow just in case he's confused.

Dinner does the same as breakfast, only Mountain keeps Acker on his lap while they eat. Cumulus kisses the top of each of their heads and everyone makes sure to greet his cow after saying hello to the little ghoul.

“Oh cool acorn is joining us!” Phantom laughs from his spot, winking at mountain at the nickname.

It always makes him laugh and this time is no different. “We had a whole day together!”

Dew puts an arm around the back of his chair. “What did you guys get up to today?”

He tells them all about their day and everyone listens intently, agreeing it was a lovely day that he and Acker had today and how special that was.

Acker sits up on the sink while Dew helps Mountain in the bath and they all snuggle with Dew and rain afterward, the water ghoul ready to read them a bedtime story. Mountain kisses his other stuffies first, tucking them in under a soft blanket before he climbs into bed with Acker.

Rain reads until mountain drifts off, tightly clinging to his cow. They kiss his head and Ackers,wishing them good dreams before they shut the door.

Actually I'm okay with spoilers as this isn't anywhere near me. Here's to hoping there is a streaming release.

the ghost teams tips for the movie 💯

Mushy May Day 31: Looking at/Taking Pictures

The fridge in the den kitchen tells a lot of stories.

Thank you so so so much to @forlorn-crows for putting Mushy May together again this year, and to @ghuleh-recs for making us the dividers. Love you guys, cannot thank you enough. I had so much fun doing this again <3

Arguably, the kitchen is the central point in the entire ghoul den. It seems like someone's always there, cooking or cleaning or making a snack, coming in from the gardens or slipping out to have a smoke.

So naturally, it makes sense that the fridge is the pack corkboard. Magnets from just every stop the band's ever made cover the stainless steel, holding up shopping lists, reminders on bright colored sticky notes, a calendar, but most frequently, photos. Polaroids and glossy film and printed out on paper, the kitchen fridge is an amalgamation of the big moments and the little ones.

There's one right next to the freezer handle, a little blurry, out of focus. It shows the inside of the band tourbus, a soft purple blanket covering two sleeping forms. It's dark, but if you look close enough, you can make out Dew's spindly fingers, arm wrapped tight around Aeon's waist as he big spoons them. Rain had taken it, the first night they had shared a bunk, early into Aeon's first tour. It makes the little quint blush every time they see it, but the way their tail wags betrays any semblance of embarrassment.

There's one in the center of the fridge, a polaroid film, the flash bright and a little over exposed, two ghouls with their backs to the camera. Aurora is easily recognizable, her hot pink hair covering the bottom quarter of the image. Dew's in the background, sitting in Mountain's lap, a little out of focus as he throws up an As Above gesture. Rain's the star of the show though, his blue black waves pulled back into two French braids, decorated with clips and baubles and ribbons. Dew's hair is in a similar state. There's a caption written in Aether's blocky handwriting below it that reads "Playing Barbies."

A glossy 4 by 6 print is stuck to the fridge with a magnet shaped like a palm tree, from Cirrus's disposable camera. It's summertime at the Abbey, taken from the edge of the dock. Mist's perched on Alpha's shoulders, successfully shoving Dew from Swiss's shoulders in a game of chicken fight. She'd taken it at the perfect moment of realization, Dew's eyes wide in panic just as he tips backwards. They had all laughed when she had gotten the print developed, even as Dew grumbled. He couldn't hide the fond look on his face when it had been pinned up, though.

On the side of the fridge is a picture of Omega and Terzo, the big ghoul sprawled out in an armchair during one of the pack's frequent movie nights, Terzo practically in his lap, smudging paint against the side of Omega's neck. They both had passed out within the first half hour of a particularly loud action movie, much to the snickers of the pack.

There are several from the road, new scenery and places and tourist stops, a polaroid of Aurora proudly holding up a soft drink that's almost the size of her torso captioned "Baby's First Big Gulp." One of Aeon sticking their face through a cut out that makes them look like a video game character in some mall. Swiss giving Dew bunny ears while the fire ghoul takes a picture with Rain and Mountain. Cumulus floating on a blow up raft smuggled into a hotel pool. All three of the ghoulettes squeezed onto a greenroom couch in a way that cannot possibly be comfortable but they had sworn up and down that it was.

There are close to two dozen pictures with a similar set up, the entire band and crew all lined up on stage after the last show of a tour. The lineup changes and shifts, familiar faces running through several photographs, looking bone-deep exhausted but with grins on their faces, satisfied with a job well-done.

Aether approaches the fridge, a photo in hand, searching for an empty magnet. He finds one, chuckling as he grabs one shaped like a bat but in a hot pink plastic, pinning the picture front and center. It shows Aeon and Aurora, both ghouls grinning, wearing cheap plastic party hats, the elastic hooked under their chins. There's a cake on the table in front of them, a sparkler candle lit in the middle. There's words frosted on it, in red frosting in Mountain's loopy handwriting that proudly display "Happy First Summoning Day."

He sighs, smiling at the picture of his newest packmates, before his eyes drift up to a picture pinned to the top corner of the fridge. Aether always looks to it when he's in here, feels a warmth settle in his heart as he takes in the picture. He's memorized it, it will be seared into the back of his eyelids for the rest of his time Up Top and long after that.

It's him and Dew, standing at the front of the chapel, grasping each other's forearms as Copia wraps a multi colored cord around their wrists, the fondest smiles on each of their faces. The cord was a four stranded braid of ribbon, he remembers, purple and black and blue and orange. He remembers the warmth of Dew's hand on his arm, the glint of the gold jewelry in his ears, hair soft and falling over his shoulders, every inch the ghoul he had fallen in love with the moment he had arrived Up Top.

Aether smiles, running a finger along the edge of the photograph reverently, reaching up for the bunch of bananas on the top of the fridge, breaking one off and going to rejoin the pack with his snack.

I mean the veil is on a separate layer so I might as well show this to u guys…mountain’s little Romeo

Poor Kevin

Kevin is absolutely annoyed by ghouls and would like to send them all back to the pit

cw: hate, politically incorrect, humiliation

Not because he's afraid of them, no, on the contrary, you can't have less respect for them than Kevin. He just thinks they're annoying little beasts, like particularly vicious chihuahuas from hell. Dewdrop, Phantom and Rain especially get on his nerves. Phantom because he's always clinging to Kevin like a leech. Dewdrop because he's a little gremlin who just causes chaos that Kevin then has to clean up. And Rain isn't that bad but he isn't good at speaking human language that Kevin usually doesn't understand what the water ghoul is stammering anyway. Well, Kevin could speak ghoulish if he wanted to, but in the end these pests would annoy him even more.

Kevin hates ghouls with a passion.

The worst is when he has to fix something in the ghoul wing.

For example, the other day, when he just wanted to clean the clogged drain in the kitchen sink, he was surrounded by ghouls within a few minutes. They reminded him of a bunch of starving cats, the way they stalked around him and cast curious glances over his shoulder.

Phantom was immediately glued to him again, practically tugging at Kevin's hair and clothes. Then Aether, who kept his distance but intermittently gave advice that Kevin hadn't asked for. "You should unscrew the drain pipe first" and "Are you sure you've mixed the cleaning concentrate sufficiently? Otherwise it could damage the pipes."

Kevin wanted to hit Aether in the face. But instead he contented himself with glaring at the sink while he worked.

At one point he accidentally hit Rain's forehead with his knee because Rain was squeezing himself on the floor between him and the bucket that Kevin had used to catch all the muck from the drainpipe. With an annoyed look, Kevin noticed that the water ghoul had started collecting small pieces that had landed in the drainpipe from the bucket.

"Stop that! You're just making everything dirty," he growled as Rain pulled his hands back and placed a marble, dripping with dirt, on the ground.

Rain just babbled incomprehensible things as he began to dig in the muck again.

"Why do you forbid Rain that?", whispered Phantom and came so close to Kevin that he felt the ghoul's warm breath brushing over his ear.

Kevin sighed with the burden of a man who would rather tend a sack full of fleas than a handful of ghouls.

Why couldn't the clergy have chosen other demons? There were many species that were less unruly than ghouls. Kevin even had the feeling that chaos ghouls not only enjoyed themselves, but that they actually drew their energy from it. He had once expressed this thought to Sister Imperator, but she had just laughed at him and said that he just had to learn to assert himself. That could only come from someone who didn't have to deal with these plagues on a daily basis.

Annoyed, Kevin stuck the spiral into the drain to push out the last bit of snot, while at the same time swatting away Rain's fingers that had appeared on the edge of the sink.

Since Copia had risen to the top of the ministry and had a bit more say, Kevin was no longer even allowed to sprinkle holy water on the ghouls to keep them away. After all, that would hurt the ghouls, the youngest Emeritus brother had explained his decision. Simply ridiculous. When Kevin had started working for the clergy, ghouls had just been treated like ghouls. But since Copia had shown up here, Kevin had to treat these creatures as if they had more feelings than lust, hunger and thirst.

Finally, the resistance in the drain was released and with a slap, a pile of mud landed in the bucket.

"Is that...sand?" asked Aether, astonished. Kevin shrugged his shoulders in resignation. "How do I know what kind of crap you always pour down the drain?!" He pulled the spiral back and knelt under the sink to screw the pipe back on.

Phantom also knelt down next to him and grabbed one of Kevin's long strands of hair to chew on.

"I'm clearly not being paid well enough for this," the brown haired growled, shooing back first Phantom and then Rain, whose hand had already disappeared back into the bucket.

Under the curious gaze of the ghouls, Kevin screwed the pipe back on, sat up with his aching back and picked up the bucket.

"It would be nice if you could just stop breaking or clogging anything for more than three days," Kevin grumbled, looking sternly at Aether. The quintessence ghoul had spent the last few minutes watching with his hands on his hips and a critical expression. "I'm doing my best, but you know what they're like." Kevin only snorted in response. He watched as Aether disappeared into the living room before he too turned to leave. The ghoul was talking to Kevin as if they were eye to eye. Kevin shook his head.

Ghouls.

He was about to close the door behind him when Rain slithered through and tugged at his sleeve. His big blue eyes bored into his.

"What?" Kevin asked slightly suprised. Rain's mouth opened and closed a few times without any words coming out. Then, finally, when Kevin's already extremely thin thread of patience was about to snap, Rain managed to say a word.

"Encore."

He had always thought that Rain simply didn't speak human language, but apparently the ghoul was just stupid. In a good-natured tone, as if he was talking to someone particularly retarded, Kevin replied. "I know you did a great job on the ghovie. We're all very proud of you. But I," he pointed to himself, "have to go now," he pointed to the door.

Rain tilted his head, confused. He's probably doing this so that the few brain cells he has will slip into the same corner, Kevin thought spitefully.

The water ghoul tugged at his sleeve again, this time more frantically. "encore, encore, encore Dew."

Confused, Kevin turned around and froze.

Dewdrop stood at the sink and calmly poured a thick liquid into it. Kevin now also noticed the penetrating smell of ammonia. The damned ghoul poured wall paint into the sink. Kevin blinked. The man was too stunned to even utter a word.

He definitely needed a bottle of whiskey tonight. Better yet, two. And brandy. A lot of it.

Mushy May Day 29: Girls' Night

Cumulus, Aurora, and Cirrus take a night to unwind in the middle of touring.

Thank you so much to @forlorn-crows for putting Mushy May together, and to @ghuleh-recs for making us the dividers <3

We're in the home stretch!

Above them, the fluorescents buzz, just faintly flickering like one of the bulbs needs to be changed soon. Aurora leans heavily into Cirrus's side as they wander down the aisles of some local drugstore she can't quite remember the name of, and she wraps her arm around the littlest ghoulette's shoulders. She doesn't need to be quintessence to feel just how tired Aurora is. She knows the feeling intimately, the exhaustion sunk deep into the hollows of her bones.

They're picking up toiletries, Aurora's just about to run out of deoderant, Cirrus out of glasses wipes (she doesn't wear glasses, but she keeps them on hand for her mate because Lucifer knows Cumulus can never find them when her glasses are smudged)

"You doing alright, Borealis?" Cirrus asks, leaning to press the words to the crown of Aurora's head. Her hand rubs soft circles on Aurora's shoulder.

"Mhm," she hums, leaning further into Cirrus's side, fingers curled around the handle of their shopping basket.

Cumulus turns into the aisle they're in, hands full of bright colored foil packets, a bright look in her eye. When they had parted ways as they stepped into the store, she had looked just as tired as the two of them. Cirrus chirps curiously, quiet enough that none of the human shoppers can hear her.

"They've got face masks, and they sell liquor here, should we sneak a bottle of wine onto the bus and have a girls' night when we get to the hotel?" Cumulus asks, slipping the foil packets into the shopping basket without waiting for an answer.

Cirrus's posture eases, pulling Aurora tighter against her side as Cumulus gently takes the basket from her. "That sounds fucking wonderful, songbird. Rory, how about you?"

She shifts, tucked under Cirrus's arm. "Sounds fun, I mean, I don't think I'm up for drinking tonight. But I'll do everything else."

"Then we can skip the wine," Cumulus kisses her cheek, smoothing back bubblegum pink hair. "Though I did see, when I was getting the masks, there's a sale on nail polish. Maybe we redo those pretty claws of yours."

It's Aurora's turn to light up, and the three of them head back to the cosmetics aisle, picking a few bottles of bright, fun colors. Before they head up to the register, they make a quick pit stop in the snacks aisle, tossing a few boxes of assorted chocolates in the basket as well as a few salty snacks.

They smuggle their haul onto the bus, careful to make sure that the boys don't see what they're up to. Though, Cirrus thinks, it must be totally obvious that something's up. They're all much lighter on their feet, a little brighter eyed than they were fifteen minutes ago.

When they get to the hotel, the pack splits into their usual pairs. The girls slip into their room, flicking the deadbolt and tossing their duffle bags onto the far bed, the one that will go unused as the three of them curl up into their roost for the night.

Aurora takes one of the drugstore bags to the bathroom, setting out the face masks, not wanting to get them on the white hotel bedding, while Cirrus and Cumulus set out the snacks. "Who calls dibs on the shower?" Aurora asks as she comes back into the main room, moving to her bag to find a clean set of pajamas.

"How about you, borealis?" Cirrus hums, nudging her back towards the bathroom. She chirps in thanks, glamour fading away as the peach-colored gills on her throat flutter. They each quickly shower, scrubbing the grime from travel from their skin and hair, before settling at the bathroom vanity, looking at the various masks they'd picked up from the drugstore. Aurora pulls her phone out, turning on a playlist the three of them had curated on a low volume.

Cirrus sits on the closed toilel, eyes shut as Cumulus hums, carefully smoothing on undereye masks while Aurora braids her hair back. She passes packets of peel off mask to Cirrus and Cumulus, and Cirrus smooths the mask over Cumulus's face, caressing her mate's cheek.

It's quiet, save the music playing from the phone speakers. Cumulus turns, paints Aurora's mask onto her skin, and the little ghoulette leans into the touch, her feather-tipped tail wagging happily, thudding against the vanity. The bottles of nail polish sit on the counter, pinks and purples and blues, and the energy's lighter than it's been in the last week of Rituals and travel.

There are snacks waiting for them, and maybe the bed's not as familiar as the three of them would really like. But it's there, ready for them to cuddle up, feeding each other chocolates and salted nuts and dried fruit, talking about everything and nothing at all until they fall asleep, refreshed for another round of Rituals.

Two Benadryl, two melatonin and a half a bottle of wine will also do the trick Dewrop.

Dew, brewing a pot of sleepytime tea: "Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble... With this magic potion-" -popping open a bottle of benadryl and taking two out- "-and these magic beans, this bitch is gonna sleep tonight or I'm personally gonna strangle the sandman."

Mushy May Day 14: "Shut Up, I'm Taking Care Of You"

Mountain makes Cumulus tea when she's coming down with a bug.

Thank you to @forlorn-crows for putting Mushy May together, and thank you to @ghuleh-recs for making dividers for us <3

Another bonus prompt today!

It's early, sky starting to shift from black to blue, the promise of a new day. Mountain pads into the kitchen, having already been up for a while, still. There's a basket of vegetables fresh harvested from the greenhouse tucked under his arm. He heads to the sink, washing them before setting them aside to dry.

Mountain whips to face the door when he hears a hacking, wet cough behind him. He thought he was the only ghoul awake, sun just barely beginning to peek out from over the horizon, but he was wrong. As he turns, he finds Cumulus, hair tied back and deep circles under her eyes.

"Hey, hummingbird," he says cautiously, shutting off the sink. "What're you doing up so early?"

She shrugs with one shoulder, rubbing her eyes under her glasses. "Couldn't sleep." Her voice is stuffy, and she sounds miserable.

Mountain hums, taking the kettle off of its element and filling it with water. "You don't sound so good, Cue. I know you don't like tea that much, but it might make you feel better."

She mumbles something under her breath, coughing again, before sitting at the kitchen table, covering her face with her hands.

"What was that?" Mountain asks, not turning to face her as he sets the kettle to boil, digging through one of the cabinets for a specific jar of loose leaf tea, one of his own blends.

"Said you don't need to stop what you're doing to make tea, Mount. You know I prefer-" She freezes as Mountain peers over his shoulder, an emerald green eye meeting hers, eyebrow raised

"Maybe I wanted tea," he teases, grabbing mugs and the diffusers he likes to use. "No, but seriously, hummingbird, I love you. You sound like shit. Let me make you a cup."

"Mount-"

"Cumulus, shut up, I'm taking care of you," Mountain interjects, firmly but kindly. "Let me make you tea, it sounds like your throat hurts something awful."

"It does," Cumulus sighs, slumping exhausted into the kitchen chair. "I think it's why I couldn't sleep." She coughs with a wince. Mountain nods, reaching for one of the honey jars.

"I'd imagine," Mountain says, humming low in his throat in sympathy as he spoons the tea leaves and herbs into one of the diffusers. The kettle whistles, and Cumulus jolts in her chair, laughing weakly at herself for startling. Mountain takes it off of the element, pouring the boiling water into Cumulus's favorite mug and leaving it to steep.

"Now, I'm no Aether," he says, bringing the mug over to the kitchen table, setting it in front of her. "But I think breathing in the steam while it steeps might help some."

"Thank you, Mounty." Cumulus carefully takes the mug, the long sleeves of her sleep shirt pulled up over her hands as a makeshift potholder. She takes as deep a breath through her nose that her sinuses will allow, eyes flickering shut as she smells the ginger and peppermint of this particular blend.

He pours water into his own mug, his preferred green tea in his. He lets it steep, watching Cumulus fondly as she sticks her face closer to the steam. "Of course, hummingbird. Once that steeps, I'll put some honey in it. Know you like it sweet." He hipchecks her chair gently, boyishly grinning ear to ear.

"Mount," she whines, still stuffy but she's laughing, and that's all Mountain could ask for.

"Is the steam helping?" Mountain says, eyes glancing at the clock on the stove, keeping track of how long their teas have been steeping. He rummages through one of the drawers for a spoon, opening the jar of honey.

"Think so," Cumulus says. "Though it's fogging up my glasses something awful."

"Yeah, makes you look real dorky," he says, carefully taking the mug from her and pulling out the diffuser. He stirs in a large spoonful of honey and passes her the mug back.

"Mount." She laughs, blowing softly at the mug, and Mountain can feel the tingle in the base of his skull that means she's using her magick to cool it. Cumulus takes a long sip, shutting her eyes. "Thank you."

Mountain smiles a little wider as he takes a sip from his own mug. "Any time, hummingbird."

Love that little green bean

silhouette

I really wanted to do something involving all the papas and on a whim decided it was scenery painting time featuring their respective color themes! This was really fun to work on but a LOT of work, I hope you guys all enjoy them! :)

ID in ALT text; Photo ref credits under the cut!

Photos Referenced:

"The Devil's Eclipse right above a church" by Peter Wienerroither

"Iceland Church" by Remo Daut

"Val Gardena Dolomites, Italy" via anonymous uploader to Peakpx (unfortunately, the uploader seems to have sold rights to a domain and I could not find their name)

"Villa Monastero, Italy" by sae_snaps on instagram