#sorry guys going through my drafts in attempts to get them to under five hundred and saw this and was like 'yes i need to post this'

[that-was-anticlimactic]

thinking about ninjago s6,,, specifically nadakhan and his relationship with his crew.

i just think it’s so interesting and also think it’s bull crap that he never cared for nor wanted them. first of all, jay was also under the assumption that he didn’t actually care about delara which he very obviously does, as we can see in ep10. and jay was also just trying to escape and was using any advantage he had—his voice was his biggest advantage at the time. but it was around the time jay came to the conclusion that nadakhan didn’t care about delara when he told flintlocke that nadakhan was just using him…

see, in ep2 after retrieving the realm crystal, nadakhan spends the night having fun with his crew and they all seem genuinely happy to be there! clancee himself states multiple times that he has no reason to wish for anything and that he best fits in with and feels welcomed with the crew. they’re singing and dancing and having fun… and when nadakhan says he’s going home, he invites them all with. he had every intention of bringing them with him not as servants or underlings but friends…

i can’t help but wonder what would have been different had delara not been dead. had the cursed realm not been destroyed, thus destroying djinjago in response.

because the thing is: it’s after he gets the sword and swears revenge when nadakhan begins hiding things from his crew. it’s then when he becomes more and more desperate. the further the season goes, the more jay pisses him off and thwarts him, the angrier and more desperate he becomes. you could call it a corruption of power, the things we do / give up for love, or even recklessness due to strong emotions.

when it comes to the crew’s betrayals, i really think jay planting the seed is what did it. flintlocke was already upset that nadakhan wasn’t sharing plans with him

clancee and dogshank are the ones hard to believe

nadakhan would’ve kept his crew around had the desperation not grown as terribly as audrey two and consumed him, had clancee not whispered to jay where the venom was. i honestly believe jay thought he was speaking the truth. if s6 emphasizes anything, it's that words are powerful. jay used his words to win in the end and to plant the seeds that eventually overtook and defeated nadakhan.

nadakhan seemed to have lost faith in his friends and that was his biggest downfall and that is what made him lose everything in the end. like yes, he's the villain and tbh i'm glad jay and the ninja won, but gosh if it doesn't just break my heart as i watch him slowly lose faith in his friends/team throughout s6 and how they probably wouldn't have even become proper villains had delara not died,,,

[welllpthisishappening]

A Request for Help, Version 2.0

Hello, hey, hi there. So, yesterday, I wrote, posted and then very quickly got rid of a thing about a story I am writing because it is my greatest fear that I will annoy the internet.

Like imagine me writing and somehow being both Ms. Piggy and Kermit: 

The problem here is that I still kind of need some help if said internet is inclined to do it. Basically I have been writing this time travel story for over a year. I have aesthetic boards, Spotify playlists, character breakdowns and color coded timelines. But! When I decided I wanted to go back and edit my first draft, I was like...this is a lot. There are a lot of moving parts and visions of the future and the color coding is really necessary. 

The edit has more or less become a full-scale rewrite. There are still a lot of moving parts, but the chapters aren’t 8K anymore, some things have been changed or taken out or plot points have been moved up. I think it’s going ok, and yet. My concern is that this story only makes sense in my head. 

The gist of it is our heroine, Scarlett, just turned twenty-five and discovered that the job she’s going to interview at isn’t so much a job offer as it is the bad guy (Carter Campbell) trying to use her to take over the world. Obviously. Because Scarlett Nolan isn’t just a normal twenty-five year old, she can control all five of the ancient elements and, by extension, time itself. Our love interest, Alex, tells her that after he shows up on the Subway. Alex has spent the last two years getting randomly tugged through Scarlett’s timeline, trying to find her at this one, perfect spot so she doesn’t go to the interview with Campbell. 

There’s lots more, but that’s the general idea, plus kissing because of who I am as a person. Now, what am I asking? You don’t have to read all 15 chapters I’ve written, but if you’re interested and want to read some early ones and let me know what confuses you or doesn’t or you think should be explained more, that’d really set my mind at ease. Like I said, I’ve been working on this story for ages, so it means a lot and I’m really trying to make it the best it can be. 

Words under the cut so, if you do want to read, you can see some more about Scarlett and Alex. Feel free to message me if you want to read or tell me to shut up about my own writing or want to know what songs I think go with what characters. 

“Uh, excuse me?”

Scarlett jumped, slamming her head into the door and no one else looked. “Ah, shit,” she hissed.”God damn, that hurt. I think I’m concussed.” The guy paled at the tone of her voice, crouching in front of her and Scarlett got the distinct impression he was trying not to reach out towards her. A curl fell far too close to his right eyebrow to be fair. “Fuck,” he breathed. “I--uh, oh fuck.” “Articulate, aren’t you?” “Sometimes. Not now, obviously, but I really don’t think you're concussed.” Scarlett’s jaw dropped, reaching up to press the heel of her hand into the back of her head and she was surprised to find that there wasn’t a baseball-sized lump there. “If that was your attempt at apologizing for scaring the shit out of me, it fell pretty flat.” He smiled. It was kind of like staring at—something big and important and absolutely life-changing. “I wasn’t trying to scare you,” he said, any sense of that previous tension evolving into what might have actually been misplaced flirting. “I...well, I had a question.” Scarlett made a face, she knew she did. She had a habit. A bad one. Owen teased her about it mercilessly and Ella told her she’d make a horrible informant because every thought that flitted through her mind, somehow, ended up on her face. 

“That’s what you’re going with?” she asked, doing her best to infuse as much venom into the question as possible. His smile wavered. “I don’t understand.” “Are you fucking with me? I mean, I’ll give you points for not giving a damn. But that’s what you're opening with? After the elbow thing—” “—That wasn’t intentional.” “And the staring thing,” Scarlett continued, barely breaking conversational stride, “Were you going to ask for directions and then casually drop in that you’re new in town and looking for some company later?” He blinked. The smile was gone. “I’m not new in town.” Scarlett couldn’t imagine a situation where she’d ever though the word husky, but it seemed strangely appropriate in the moment, his voice dropping low with an obvious sense of determination and—

Frustration. 

He was frustrated. And tired and overwhelmed and actually a little concerned about her head. Scarlett could feel it, the maelstrom of absolutely everything twisting around her joints and timing up with her pulse. “That isn’t what’s happening right now. It’s bigger than that.” “Excuse me?” “You were right about the directions, as, like, a starter, but I didn’t want this to be weird—” “—Oh, you didn’t want it to be weird?” He huffed, eyes widening and it was more familiarity that didn’t make any sense at all. He looked like he hadn’t shaved in days. “So you’re just a completely presumptuous asshole, then?” Scarlett fumed. “Sometimes. Not now. This is—it’s important, I promise. I’ve been trying to…” “To what?” His exhale was barely that, a burst of air through clenched teeth and that one piece of hair hadn’t moved. It was like it was taunting Scarlett with vaguely attractive and a bit of memory and she could feel his nerves. No, that wasn’t right. She couldn’t feel people’s emotions. Least of all some creep on the uptown-6. “Ok,” he said, pressing his tongue into the side of his mouth. “I’m going to tell you something and I need you not to punch me in the face or kick me in a variety of places.” “No.” “What?” “No, stranger on the train who spent an entire commute elbowing me in the kidney, I will not promise you that.” “Your kidneys are in your back.” “Get to your point, strange train person. Is this a kidnapping attempt? Because it sucks. And I don’t want to buy your candy or support your music career.” He laughed, the sound barely making it to Scarlett’s ears before he ran a hand through his hair. “It’s not any of those things. And it’s Alex, by the way. Strange train person seems excessively wordy.” “I do not care. And I’m not telling you my name either. Was there a point to this conversation and anatomy lesson?” She was absolutely, one-hundred percent, no doubt about it, going crazy. His eyes were blue again. And Alex felt like a memory Scarlett couldn’t quite place. 

“There is, that’s what I’m getting at. I just—ok, please don’t punch and just...stop feeling things.” Scarlett breath hitched. “You need to talk. Now. Because I am getting off at the next stop.” “I know.” “Talk, strange train person!” “Alex,” he groaned. “We just did this. Alex Byrne.” “Words. Say them.” His laugh was shaky at best and terrifying at worst, hand finding the back of his hair again when he looked at her. Or, possibly through her. Like he knew her. Well. 

The train stopped, a station Scarlett needed to get out at in order to ensure some kind of future that also ensured she stayed in an apartment she was maybe only vaguely welcome in. Alex’s eyes bugged. 

Scarlett nodded once, popping her lips in annoyance and what may have been have actually been disappointment. She took a step to her left, fingers moving with practiced ease and he didn’t glance down when she pocketed his phone. “Alright,” she said. “Well, this has been as weird as my entire day so far, so, uh, it was not nice to meet you Alex Byrne, strange person on the train. Don’t be an asshole to other people.”

She didn’t wait for a response, the weight of his phone impossible to ignore in her pocket, and she almost felt guilty when she took a step onto the platform. 

Until she heard him shouting at her. He was shouting her name. 

He knew her name. Scarlett sprinted up the stairs, the cold air stinging her lungs when she tried to gulp it down as soon as she reached the sidewalk. And for as many emotions as she’d felt in the last twenty minutes, the one coursing through her was brand-new — a mix of fear and excitement and complete power. 

She tugged the phone out of her pocket, no passcode and only a few apps on the home screen. “Idiot,” Scarlett mumbled, slamming her thumb onto a social media app with three notifications. 

He hadn’t been lying about the name. It was right there, in black and white and photo evidence — a picture that didn’t look too old staring up at Scarlett and that one piece of hair falling across his forehead was apparently a trend. 

Alexander Byrne. Twenty-seven. Rhode Island native. No job listed. Less than one hundred friends. One sister. And a chat bubble in the corner of the screen. 

Scarlett clicked. 

She knew it was wrong, could hear the warning signs like that also didn’t prove how insane she was quickly becoming, but she was curious and something was wrong. About the whole day. And possibly her. 

She nearly dropped the phone. 

The messages were from a woman with thick-rimmed glasses and brown hair and they should not have existed. 

They were timestamped April...next year. 

“What the fuck,” Scarlett muttered, staring at the screen and waiting for it to change. It didn’t. Instead, she might have, the undeniable smell of smoke wafting up towards her and the phone screen shattered as soon as it fell out of her fingers. 

The same ones that had, quite suddenly, burst into flames. Scarlett couldn’t catch her breath again, dangerously close to hyperventilating on Madison Avenue when she heard footsteps and a quiet voice coming towards her. She screwed her eyes closed. He didn’t stop walking. 

It was raining. “I know it doesn’t make any sense,” Alex whispered. “But you’re ok. I just—I can explain all of that. Please.” Scarlett shook her head slowly, not sure what she was objecting to, but her hand didn’t feel like it was burning and this had to be a dream. It wasn’t real. It hadn’t been before. 

“I’m sorry,” Alex said, “this isn’t going the way I thought it would at all.” Scarlett’s eyes snapped open to find him staring at her cautiously, flames flickering in between her fingers and he kept rocking into her space. Still not on purpose. “What?” “It’s not a trick, Scarlett. It’s—it’s the fate of the entire world.” She blinked once, trying to find the lie and coming up decidedly short. “Talk,” Scarlett said, and his fingers were warm when they wrapped around hers. The flames disappeared.

[lesbian-yaoyorozu]

Atoms and Circuits, Hand in Hand

Summary: Yaoyorozu insists to herself and to Hatsume that all this "making Hatsume rare metals and materials when she needs them" business is not going to become a regular thing. 

It becomes a regular thing.

Pairing: Yaoyorozu x Mei Hatsume (Momomei)

AO3 link

I’m reposting this because I kind of messed up the tags the first time around so it didn’t show up in searches very well. Hope you guys enjoy!

With her Quirk as centered around knowing the exact structure of objects as it is, Yaoyorozu doesn’t think it’s anything exceptional that she’s interested in how things are built. Learning how to create a new object usually takes a period of days to weeks- learning or refreshing her knowledge on the required molecular structures, memorizing the layout of the object inside and out, creating several beginning, undetailed versions of the object to get a general feel for it (rough drafts, she calls them) as well as making every material individually, and finally, after much practiced visualization, making her first attempt at the finished product. She’s gotten better at the beginning stages over the years as her experience with different molecular structures and materials grew, sometimes shortening it to a day or less, but working out the kinks and then learning how to produce the object consistently on the fly with little preparation always took a long time.

Maybe that’s why she’s interested in the support course girl, Mei Hatsume. Yaoyorozu sees the way she painstakingly designs and builds her inventions and feels a small degree of familiarity; putting parts together feels exactly like putting molecules together, just on a larger scale. She’s fascinated by engineering and the thought that must be put into building something new, instead of learning how to memorize a blueprint and recreate it.

It’s obvious that Mei Hatsume is a genius. Her plan was audacious and bold, hinging on her inventions being good enough to run circles around Iida without even focusing on beating him as the objective. And it paid off- Yaoyorozu has heard that out of the fifty support companies in attendance, not one of them didn’t express interest in Mei Hatsume. This girl is going to grow up to be one of the smartest engineers and support item designers of her time, and Yaoyorozu can see it.

Despite her curiosity, however, Yaoyorozu has never found a good enough reason to spend the time to go down and meet her. Her first chance is after they start training for the Provisional License Exam, when she goes to see if her costume could possibly be improved. She can’t think of any real changes that could be made, but then again she’s not in the support course. She decides to go just in case there’s some perspective she’s missing.

She opens the door and there’s a bang, something’s rocketing at her face, too fast to react, and she throws up her hands-

It stops at the last moment. A pink head pops around it, and Yaoyorozu suddenly notices the hands clamped on either side of the object that must have caught it at the last second.

“That got away from me for a second there! ” Mei Hatsume says breezily, and swiftly yanks the device back and tucks it under her arm. Yaoyorozu blinks owlishly and slowly lowers her hands, still half-convinced she’s about to be hit in the face, as Hatsume pushes up her goggles. “Propellant devices, so hard to control sometimes- oh, you’re another one from the hero course aren’t you, looking for support items?”

In a flash, she’s back at her workbench, shoving aside a mix of papers and unidentifiable bits of metal to slam down the device with a thunk loud enough to make Yaoyorozu wince.

“What’s your Quirk, because I have a new baby- oh, never mind, it’ll work for you no matter what your Quirk is!” She whips around, a new device in her hands. “An omni-directional kickback inducer! Put it on the soles of your shoes to get just a little bit more spring in your step, and you’ll jump a whole couple of meters higher-” Hatsume’s rushing at her with an eager look in her eyes looking ready to slap it onto Yaoyorozu if that’s what it takes, and Yaoyorozu panickedly shoots a barrier out of her arm to cut her off.

“Oof-” She slams into it, and all of Yaoyorozu’s sense of shame returns at once.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, are you okay?” She steps forward to help, but Hatsume pops back up quickly. While she's distracted, the misshapen object finishes sliding out of Yaoyorozu’s arm and clatters to the ground.

“Neat, what kind of Quirk is that?” Hatsume says cheerfully without missing a beat. Yaoyorozu opens her mouth to answer but Hatsume beats her to the punch. “You’re creating something out through your skin, aren’t you, huh?” Hatsume grabs her arm and yanks it up to her eyes, studying it. Yaoyorozu realizes abruptly that seeing a girl fighting from hundreds of feet away doesn’t translate to knowing her personality.

“Er- yes,” Yaoyorozu stutters, attempting to take back some control in the conversation as Hatsume lets go of her arm, having evidently concluded that there’s nothing special to be found there. “I can create any object I want as long as I know the molecular structure of what I’m making.” Yaoyorozu suddenly remembers that she came down here for possible advice in the first place and rushes to keep talking. “My body breaks down fat cells and turns them into atoms that then are shaped into what I create. So, um, I need to eat much more in order to fuel that, and because they come out of my skin the objects I can create are ultimately limited in size.”

Yaoyorozu has been talking with Hatsume for barely a minute, but for the first time, Yaoyorozu sees her pause. Hatsume’s eyes flicker back down to Yaoyorozu’s arm for a second again before locking on hers. Her eyes are unexpectedly focused. “So, you don’t have the space for bulky support items because you need as much skin open as possible.”

Yaoyorozu nods.

They stay in place for a fraction of a second longer before something clicks in Hatsume’s eyes and she whips around, sweeping her arm across the workbench to clear space again. “Small, then? Tricky, I’ve never made something like that before. Anything on your hands, arms, and legs, anything too large on your torso, out of the question…correct?” Hatsume snaps her head around to meet Yaoyorozu’s eyes again.

Yaoyorozu nods quickly. “Yes.”

“Alright!” Hatsume barely pauses before grabbing a piece of paper and starting to write or sketch.

Yaoyorozu stands there watching, finally having a moment to think as Hatsume scribbles. That look in Hatsume’s eyes- it’s the moment of being presented with a problem, and the moment the ideas start rushing in of how to solve it.

A sense of familiarity washes over her again and Yaoyorozu smiles. Maybe she and Mei Hatsume aren’t so different after all.

But still, not too similar, Yaoyorozu thinks a little later as Hatsume yanks her back over with her usual bubbly attitude, ready to show Yaoyorozu what she’s come up with in a minute or less.

They talk for nearly thirty minutes as Hatsume comes up with a fair few ideas and makes many suggestions, half of which are unfortunately ridiculous and which Yaoyorozu has to shoot down immediately. Hatsume usually has a wide variety of support items she pushes on whoever asks, but Yaoyorozu needs items so radically different than most of what she’s designed that she has to start from scratch.

Yaoyorozu apologizes for the trouble but Hatsume cheerfully waves it off, saying she likes a challenge and that it’s never good to get too used to one way of doing things, anyway.

Near the end of her visit, they’ve mostly wound down from fast-paced discussion and transitioned into Hatsume standing there building some of the items that can be built quickly while Yaoyorozu sits quietly, chatting sometimes about random topics. They wander around, and at some point branch into discussing the curriculum at UA.

“I don’t know how it works in the Hero Course, but in Support they give you a lot of free reign,” Hatsume says, wiggling in a minute screw that Yaoyorozu can’t even see.

“Really? The lesson plan is very structured for us,” Yaoyorozu says.

“I think it’s like that because in Support it all really comes down to your own ideas,” Hatsume grunts, pulling over something Yaoyorozu can’t even identify. “Can you hold this for a second?” she says, handing Yaoyorozu the wrench she was using.

Yaoyorozu takes it, glancing down at it for a second. She does a double take- it’s the wrench she makes, the exact same one down to model and brand that she studied and learned to make back when she was learning to make tools. That’s a coincidence, but it is a common wrench.

“Yeah, anyway, it’s all about what you can create, what you can come up with specifically. But heroing has more strict guidelines on what’s the best thing to do in any given situation.” Hatsume finishes using the...whatever, and holds out her hand. Yaoyorozu gives back the wrench.

Yaoyorozu tilts her head. “That’s interesting.”

“Yeah.” Hatsume pushes at something with the wrench. “I also think that-” Something abruptly gives way and the wrench shoots forward, out the open window. Yaoyorozu jumps.

Hatsume runs over and peers down. “Oh wow, that went really far. I can’t even see it.” She turns and starts to walk toward the door. “Okay, I’m going to have to go find that, if you want to stay here-”

“Wait.” Hatsume stops and looks at her curiously as Yaoyorozu casts her mind back. “That was the Dremel brand, right, the size five wrench?”

Hatsume blinks. “Yeah.”

Yaoyorozu considers for a moment, then closes her eyes and focuses. It’s been a while since she’s practiced making any tools, but she thinks she can do it. She raises her hand up, and a size five Dremel wrench pops out of her palm, easy. “Ah, will this be alright?” sfhe says, holding it out.

Hatsume takes it and flips it over a few times, studying it, as if checking that it’s actually real and the same as the other wrench. She's had that reaction before when she makes objects for other people. "I just didn't want to have to make you spend any more time, since you're doing so much for me already..." Yaoyorozu says awkwardly, slightly regretting the impulsiveness. After a moment, Hatsume’s eyes rise up to study her.

“Yeah, this is perfect,” Hatsume says, and seemingly walks back over to her invention to keep working on it without a second thought. However, Yaoyorozu catches Hatsume looking at her thoughtfully a few times for the rest of the meeting.

---------

Yaoyorozu doesn’t think about Hatsume for the next few days as she builds some of the support items they both agreed on, except when Hatsume chases her down in the halls to make another suggestion.

She doesn’t wonder why Hatsume seemed so thoughtful when Yaoyorozu made the wrench for her; maybe it was just gratitude. Hatsume is bright and bubbly but she also seems to be something of a loner, who only talks to people when she goes over and talks to them first, usually about support items.

It’s the first time she comes back to pick up and test out what Hatsume’s finished that Yaoyorozu realizes (at least partly) the real reason.

“Right, so, I finished the headset!” Hatsume says, practically shoving it toward Yaoyorozu again.

“Really? I thought that would be one of the longest things to make,” Yaoyorozu says in surprise, taking it and flicking it on with the switch on the side. Hatsume looked borderline insulted when Yaoyorozu had told her she carried a physical dictionary in her hero costume and insisted on making a rudimentary headset for her to wear with a tiny screen and a matching computer holding all the information in her dictionary. Yaoyorozu wasn’t quite ready to switch to it immediately after it only having been built a few days ago, but the fact that it removed the largest weight in her hero costume as well as hopefully made the information more accessible was a good idea. And it would be on her face, one of the only places Yaoyorozu would almost never create something out of.

The screen flickers on with a fluorescent blue to a homepage listing all the materials and blueprints from her dictionary by group. Yaoyorozu is impressed at the depth of what Hatsume can build in such a short time.

“It was one of the more methodically difficult things to make, but a lot of the other babies need materials I don’t have, so they still need time to order and deliver,” Hatsume says casually.

Yaoyorozu blinks. “Oh, like what?”

Hatsume shrugs, fiddling with something on her workbench. “Some magnesium citrate, mostly. UA has a very wide stock but even they can’t have everything.”

Yaoyorozu turns the headset off and on again and swipes through a few of the categories to see if there are any obvious bugs in Hatsume’s coding. There aren’t. She takes another moment to marvel at Hatsume’s ability. “How long does that take to deliver?”

Hatsume hums, still fiddling. “Well, it only takes a few days to deliver. The main problem is that I could only find one person who was selling it who seemed legit, and with them it’s really expensive, so I have to spend some time saving up the money.”

Yaoyorozu instantly rockets off the table she’d been leaning on in shock. “What? You don’t need to do that!” She was already antsy about making Hatsume create whole new designs just for her, but the fact that Hatsume was spending money on this, for her, money she didn’t even have on hand, was downright distressing.

Hatsume waves a hand breezily. “It’s fine, it’s fine. Just the experience I can get from building it is good enough.”

“But-!” Yaoyorozu says, distressed.

Now, Yaoyorozu is a rational person. She believes wholeheartedly in the fact that she can’t just go around making anything for herself any time she wants. She knows that it’s virtually impossible for her to actually affect the economy on a mass scale, but it’s the principle of the thing, and the principle is to be a law-abiding citizen. She can’t just make things willy-nilly and skate by by making everything for herself without having to pay for it (especially since she already has money to spare). She makes as much of a point of it as she can to only use her Quirk in situations that really call for it.

But Mei Hatsume probably doesn’t have that kind of money to spare, and she said she actually had to spend time saving it up. For the materials to build something for Yaoyorozu, that she doesn’t even really need (it would be very nice to get it, but it’s nothing that’s going to compromise her training if she doesn’t have it) either. And Hatsume’s stubborn. She’s not going to be talked out of this.

Yaoyorozu is distressed.

Okay- just this once.

“Erm- how much do you- need?” Yaoyorozu says haltingly.

Hatsume sets down whatever she was fiddling with instantly. She’s unusually quiet and Yaoyorozu feels uncomfortably like Hatsume’s watching to see what she does. Hatsume slides off the table she was sitting on to look at her. “Four grams or so.”

Yaoyorozu grabs a nearby empty container and places her hand over it. She recalls the molecular structure (it’s simple enough) and magnesium citrate comes pouring out of her palm with a clatter into the jar. She smiles and holds it out to Hatsume, feeling deja vu to when she made the wrench. “Is this enough?”

Hatsume doesn’t even waste a second before grinning and grabbing it. “Oh yes, this is good!” She turns and sets it down easily on the table. Yaoyorozu blinks.

“You planned that, didn’t you?” she says, putting the pieces together. Yaoyorozu can’t really say she didn’t expect it- Hatsume is one of the most audacious people she knows. If she saw an opportunity, she’d go for it. Yaoyorozu sighs internally. “You were waiting for me to make it for you,” she says, crossing her arms, ready to make a show of polite and official disapproval.

“Yes and no. I wanted to see if you would,” Hatsume says cheerfully, doing something on her desk again (always something else to fiddle or work with, Yaoyorozu muses). “I wasn’t lying, it was super expensive. You can look that up if you want, where to buy magnesium citrate online, the only person selling it is way overpriced. But,” Hatsume shrugs, “you’re a nice person and all, and I knew you’d be able to make it. So I brought it up, and wow you are a nice person.”

Yaoyorozu huffs, but at the same time smiles. She’s not that frustrated for some reason. Maybe because this is just Hatsume Mei, and her absolute audacity is one of the reasons Yaoyorozu likes her in the first place. “Okay but, this can’t become a regular thing,” she says, shaking her head fondly but attempting to be serious. “There are moral and economical reasons why I shouldn’t just use my Quirk like that all the time, you know that right?”

“Of course!” Hatsume chirps, before snatching up the headset from where Yaoyorozu had temporarily set it down to make the magnesium citrate and handing it to her again. “Now, how’s that working? It’s only a prototype so I just made it a touchscreen but we’d obviously need to work on that because you might not have your hands free during battle, so maybe I could work a system where you can navigate based on coded blinks or winks- and of course the battery life is currently terrible, only about fifty minutes…”

Yaoyorozu quickly gets tugged into another discussion of support item options, and forgets about getting her point through to Hatsume about the responsibilities of her Quirk. Hopefully, it won’t become a regular occurrence, even without that.

--------------------------------------------

It becomes a regular occurrence.

“Hey, Yaoyorozu? About that glove I was working on, I think I might need something extra to make it work-”

“No.” Yaoyorozu is in the hallway between classes, and she tries to keep walking without missing a beat, the way Hatsume does things. Unfortunately, Hatsume starts walking backwards to keep talking to her without missing a beat either.

“But come on!” Hatsume gestures wildly with both hands. It reminds Yaoyorozu faintly of Iida, but more free and unrestrained. “I’m so close. It just needs something to hold it together a teensy bit better and I know exactly where to get it!”

A moment later Yaoyorozu is forced to stop as Hastume shoves a laptop- where did she pull that out from?- in her face. She has barely a moment to focus her eyes on what’s on the screen before Hatsume starts talking. “One supplier online who’s willing to ship to Japan, and he’s in Brazil. Brazil! The shipping fee is through the roof, and he’s overcharging in the first place. Look at this!” Hatsume starts shaking the laptop up and down, which actually makes it harder to look at it.

“I get it, I get it-” Yaoyorozu grabs the laptop to still it, and sees, frankly, the sketchiest website she has ever seen. “Hatsume, I think this is a scam.”

“Yeah, that’s a possibility,” Hatsume says as Yaoyorozu hands back the laptop and starts walking again in an effort to get to class. This time, Hatsume trails slightly behind her instead of walking in front. “But Kendou seemed like she really wanted the gloves.”

Yaoyorozu stops. Inside, she’s already berating herself. “...They’re for Kendou?”

“Yeah, she wanted some gloves that would stretch with her hands but also protect them at the same time. You know, because right now she has to punch things basically with her bare fists? It seemed important.” Hatsume is looking at her oh-so-innocently.

Yaoyorozu chews her lip for a few seconds as she thinks. “Okay, just this one time, okay? I’ll come by later.”

“You’ve actually already done this for me twice now,” Hatsume says cheerfully.

“Well! That ends here,” Yaoyorozu says officially, reminding herself that she is a hero-in-training as well as class vice president. “This is the last time.”

----------

Yaoyorozu is at lunch when Hatsume drops down into the seat next to her as casual as anything, startling her. That’s a first. They’ve only ever talked in Hatsume’s workshop or in the halls before. “Oh, Hatsume, what are you doing here, how are you-” Yaoyorozu says, trying to exchange pleasantries before Hatsume jumps to whatever she came over here to say. A few of her classmates (Midoriya, Uraraka) turn to look curiously at them.

“Soooo, there’s something I’ve been tinkering on, you know, casually…” Hatsume pulls a paper out of her pocket and stuffs it into Yaoyorozu’s hand. “And it’s even worse than the other ones, it’s not that it’s overpriced, it’s that it’s nowhere online period, and-”

Yaoyorozu unfolds (uncrumples?) the paper and has only scanned it for a few seconds before something clicks in her head and her eyes widen. She quickly glances around while grabbing at and refolding the paper.

“Hatsume, can I talk to you for a second?” Yaoyorozu says with a fake laugh before grabbing Hatsume’s arm and tugging her a good distance away from the table.

“Hatsume, this isn’t legal,” Yaoyorozu hisses, shaking the paper, which she had hurriedly (but neatly) folded seven times.

Hatsume looks completely nonplussed, completely undeterred. She opens her mouth to say something-

“I mean, I actually don’t think this is a legal substance for you to have,” Yaoyorozu cuts across her desperately, ignoring the small ping that says that’s rude. “Not think- I know! You have to get a permit to get access to this stuff!” Hatsume pouts, like she’d been expecting this, as Yaoyorozu shakes the paper again for emphasis.

"How are you so calm?" Yaoyorozu demands. "Il-le-gal. Shouldn't that word mean something to you?"

Hatsume stares at her for a second. "There's a cartel on campus and I'm a part of it," she says with a completely straight face.

A beat passes.

"I-what? Hatsume- Hatsume this is serious!" A giggle starts to float up at the ridiculousness of it, but Yaoyorozu pushes down on it. "Right! Right. This is serious." She takes a small breath. "A permit. A permit! You'd need a permit!"

“Those are for people who don’t know how to use it properly,” Hatsume says, as if explaining something to a first grader. “I do.”

Yaoyorozu is scandalized. “That’s something that’s supposed to be determined by the government, Hatsume, not you, how could you-”

Suddenly, Mina pops up behind her, out of nowhere.“Oh, Hatsume, hi!” she says cheerfully. “What are you doing here?”

Two girls with pink hair and a decidedly casual regard for the rules, as well as a tendency to get overexcited. It’s a bad combination. Yaoyorozu scrambles to fix it.

“Ah, just getting some materials-” Hatsume says brightly, steamrollering all over Yaoyorozu’s plans.

“-discussing some support items she’s making for me!” Yaoyorozu cuts across her hurriedly.

Hatsume looks at her entreatingly. “As long as I use it up fast, no one will ever know-” she wheedles.

“Use what up fast?” Mina says, looking interested. Oh no.

“She just wanted me to help her on some support items she was building,” Yaoyorozu says, then turns to look at Hatsume directly. “Sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t do that. I’d also at least advise you to try building something else,” Yaoyorozu says, hoping that will be that.

Hatsume tilts her head back and looks at Yaoyorozu consideringly. Then she rolls her eyes and sticks her hands in her pockets before leaning forward, yellow eyes eager. “Okay, so, yeah, I knew that was illegal before I came over-”

“ILLEGAL!? ”

Mina’s shriek is exceptionally louder than Yaoyorozu ever expected, loud enough to be definitely heard by their entire table. Yaoyorozu grabs both their hands and starts running.

“Okay, we’re going now-”

[frogsandfries]

I can’t stand it

Maybe one of the reasons I’m on the fringes of the hobby is that I mostly follow BJD stuff through Tumblr and you can’t be mean to people on Tumblr.

This includes unflattering, unsolicited critiques.

Guys, I’ve had a lot of hobbies in my life. I started sewing in second or third grade, started making my own hats and bags. I got deeeeply into Harry Potter in second and third grade, and it was my world until the last book was released. Of course, the first movie came out when I was in third or fourth grade, so about then, sorry, it was getting a little too mainstream for me. I also started writing my own works in fourth or fifth grade.

I learned something from writing. 

You’re probably not going to publish the first thing you ever write.

Everything you do in a hobby is about learning. They say it takes doing something a hundred times to be a master. Even if you get your first ever novel under the nose of a professional editor, you probably aren’t showing them your first draft. Sure, you probably spent a month or a year or five years working on your first draft--I did. But even with all that time put in, your project isn’t going to be good enough. You’re going to learn things about storytelling from creating that first story. I know I did.

The same thing goes for sculpting.

Sure, I whipped up my first doll in one month. Between the first and the thirtieth of that month, I sculpted my doll.

I did not turn around and try to refine that doll. I think I just threw it away; it’s fine, it was literally made of paper and strung with twine or hemp. It wasn’t meant to be environmentally or anything; those materials happened to be cheap and accessible.

Since then, I’ve sculpted dozens of dolls. No, not hundred. So no, I wouldn’t claim to be a master. But I learned a lot from those dolls, and I learned a lot during the process of making those dolls, in other areas of my life.

I will never stop preaching about the significance of knowing anatomy. Study study study. 

Any artistic style developed in isolation from observation of real human anatomy (or the anatomy of whatever creature you’re learning to draw or sculpt) can’t be considered a true stylization, because you can’t just throw out the rule book.

YOU CAN’T JUST THROW OUT THE RULE BOOK.

Oh myyyy gaaawwd pleeeeeease quit trying to throw out the rule book.

I get so tired of clamming up when I see something that is just......bad. Like, yay congrats you tried. But uh, how do you say.....don’t take this the wrong way.....Try again. Do it again. And again. Do it again, and again and again. You just are going to make a shitty first attempt. Your first step as a baby was shit; you got up and kept trying. Your first drawing was shit and you kept trying. Your first doll sculpt is shit; I don’t care if it took you ten years. It’s shit; go back and try it again.

My first doll was shit. I still wouldn’t say my more recent dolls are worth casting, but I’ve kept trying for the better part of six years. I’ve studied anatomy relentlessly; I still study anatomy--I google muscle groups all the time and just sketch them over and over from anatomical illustrations. I google bones and draw them. If I’m having trouble learning or sculpting something, I google it over and over and sketch from the photos or illustrations, over and over.

I don’t care if you think it’s elitist that I’m telling you you need to study real anatomy to make a good doll. You can’t just close your laptop and sketchbooks and just make a doll and hope it will be any good.

Guys

ffs

I’m....making....an.....elephant doll. An anthropomorphised elephant doll.

And I’m still studying real anatomy to make this doll appealing. I’ve been sculpting dolls for six years--I know I’m hardly a master or an elder or a mentor in this--but you don’t publish your first book. You don’t hold a runway show with your first sewing project. I guess I can’t tell you not to cast your first doll. It’s your money/the money of those who sponsor you. Do what you like.

But wouldn’t you rather wait until you’ve sculpted a doll you won’t blush about ten dolls later?

If you think this is a call out about you, maybe it is. If you think this is mean to you or your friend  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ idk drop me some hate mail if it makes you feel better. Make a confession to one of the doll confession blogs idc. If you think I’m stirring the pot, rocking the boat, whatever.....good.

Anybody can write a book. Anybody can write a blog. Anybody can sew a hat. Anybody can sculpt a doll.

Those who don’t get hung up, those who keep progressing and taking criticism and growing are the ones who get better and become masters. So hate me for being mean, if you like.

[jizemderler]

Baby steps -Tom Holland

A/N: I don’t know how I feel about this. It’s been sitting in my drafts and I devided it in 2 because it got too long. Maybe part 2 if you like it? I feel like it’s trash hdjdb Anyways, enjoy!

You first met him at the gym. You were not working out but actually working there. It was a private gym with only a few assistants let alone woman assistant. Your clients were all about privacy so your manager kept the circle small. It was five in the morning and you were setting up last things in the gym when your eye cought someone coming in.

“Sorry we’re closed for another hour!” you called without looking at the door and kept putting the weights on their places. “Oh…uh, Jim told us we could stroll in early because we start shooting midday.” A voice unknown to you answered and you stood up from where you were crouching down and put your hands on your hips while turning around to the guy you were about to scold. You hated being told otherwise and you sure didn’t like to be told how this place was running. You blew a streak of hair out of your face when you recognized him and you lifted your brows.

“Ah..you guys. Right. Forgot about that. Jim was rambling about something yesterday. Alright come in.” you said and waved them in. While they walked in you turned back to your work and told yourself not to freak out. You were in the same building as Tom Holland. Yes. But what difference does it make? Celebs and rich people were coming here all the time. No big deal. Play it cool. You took a deep breath and bent down again to keep working while you were mumbling to yourself.

“Sorry?” you heared someone say half an hour later and looked up immediatly just to see Tom Holland staring at you, seeming confused. “What?” you said and facepalmed yourself in your mind immediatly. “Did you say something?” he said and smiled politely while grabbing onto the handles. “No, no. Was just…talking to myself.” you said and walked away immediatly hiding your red cheeks.

You tried to avoid him and his friend as much as possible after that conversation. So you stayed behind the counter preparing the drinks your gym was offering their clients. You put one bottle after the other on top of the counter and hummed along with the music which was playing out of the boxes all over the gym. “Talking to yourself again?” you heared someone say and your head shot up to see Tom smiling at you while he took one drink off the counter. He sat down on one of the chairs and opened the lid of the bottle to take a generous swig. “Singing along, more likely.” you answered and pointed at the speaker at the top corner on the ceiling. You left your finger in the air while wiggling along to the music and preparing the rest of the drinks.

“I’m Tom, by the way.” he introduced himself and you couldn’t surpress a chuckle. “I know.” you smiled and slid to the left to take a lid for the bottle. “You know?” he chuckled and you nodded. “Who doesn’t?” you teased him and kept your head down focusing on your work and keeping your hands busy. “Well, I can’t exactly say: ‘Hi, you know who I am. What’s your name?’ while approaching people, can I?” he laughed and took another swig of his drink. It made you laugh too and you shook your head. “No of course not. I’m Y/N. Nice to meet you. Love your work.” you blurted out before you could stop yourself and wanted to vanish into thin air.

“Thanks. Appreciate that. Not so bad yourself.” he said and made you look up with a questioning gaze. He was holding up the bottle and shaking it lightly which made you roll your eyes and smile a little. “When you make hundreds every day you get the hang of it.” you said shrugging your shoulders and put another five on the counter. He opened his mouth to say something but got interrupted by his friend. “Tom! Are you coming, mate?”

“Yeah! There in a sec.” he called back and stood up from his chair and walked towards you. “Tight schedule. Talk later?” he said apologetically and you raised a brow in surprise but gathered yourself together immediatly. “Sure. I’m here from 6am to whenever Jim doesn’t need me anymore. Always at your service.” you said and saluted jokingly while cleaning the counter. He left with a chuckle and you finally could take a deep breath.

You guys didn’t talk later. You didn’t even see him leave which upset you a little because you got your hopes up, which was obviously very dumb of you. Even though the voice in the corner of your head kept telling you to not expect anything. Now it was laughing at you. You were finishing to clean up to exchange shifts with the next assistant when Jim called you. “Y/N!”

“I’m coming.” you said while jogging to the reception. “You got a call.” he murmured and you smiled apologetically. “Mom I told you not to call at work. Jim gets annoyed. You can call my phone, I showed you how.” you hissed into the phone turning your back on Jim.

“I would, but I couldn’t get your number.” someone else said and your jaw dropped. “Tom?”

“You know who I am.” he laughed and gave you time to gather yourself. “What’s up?”,you said finally, playing with the cord of the phone. Yes it was an old phone with a cord attached to it and all. “I felt bad for leaving without a goodbye. I really looked forward to chatting with you but I had to leave early because of the shoot.” he apologized and you furrowed your brows. “No big deal. I’m always here.” you said and shrugged your shoulders not really thinking about that he wasn’t able to see you.

“Well, I got a ten minute break right now. But you could give me your number so I could call you sometime. I mean, if you want. If that’s okay, you know.” he stuttered and you chuckled at his attempt to get your number. “As I said…” you said after thinking about it and coming to a conclusion,“You can always find me here. I’m always at your service.” you added and gave Jim a thumbs up who was watching you from afar. “Oh,” he said and went silent for a second,“Yeah, sure. Of course. I gotta go Y/N. I’ll see you around.”

“Goodbye Tom.” you said before he hung up and you sighed while putting the phone back to its place. He was a celebrity after all and you did not belong in his world in any shape or form. You didn’t want to get your hopes up again. You went through your hair with your hands and walked to the changing room. Time to get home and sleep this out.

***

Tom came in three times a week. He didn’t say anything about you refusing to give him your number. He didn’t ask why, he simply respected your desicion. You’d be always there when he came in with his friends. You’d chat for a bit about things you saw or what happened in your lifes before splitting up. He was by your side every break he did and while time passed you became really good friends. You weren’t feeling awkward and jumpy around him anymore and could be yourself while he enjoyed your company. He loved that you were not constantly talking about his career as an actor or how it was to be spiderman. He enjoyed the casual questions you asked about his life. You both enjoyed the simplicity of your friendship.

It had been more than two months when he finally gathered his courage together to ask you out. Both of you walked out to the parking lot and were laughing about something when he asked you. “Hey Y/N?”

“Hm?” you answered still chuckling and were looking for your keys. “I wanted to ask you if you’d like to grab a coffee with me some time?” he asked out of the blue and you looked up.

“Really?” you asked and he nodded shoving his hands into his pockets. “I really would want to see you out of this building.” he shrugged and pointed with his head towards the gym. “Sure.” you said also shrugging your shoulders as if it was nothing. Your heart was beating in your ears, but he didn’t need to know that.

***

You left your apartment two days later to meet up with him. You didn’t dress up or anything. He only had seen you in your working clothes and a ponytail, so you put on simple light blue jeans and a white blouse. You let your hair fall onto your shoulders to look at least a little bit different. When you walked in to the café he told you about a bell rang above the door. You looked around and your eyes searched for the brown locks and brown eyes in the café but he was nowhere to be found. You shrugged your shoulders a little and decided to give your order while you were waiting. You took your coffee and walked through the café looking for a nice place to sit when suddenly someone grabbed your wrist.

“Hey!” you hissed and pulled your arm back and looked who it was. “Hi.” Tom smiled under his blue cap and glasses. “Jesus. Is that really necessary?” you chuckled and sat down in front of him while putting your  cup on the table. “The cap: yes. The sunglasses: no.” he answered and took his sunglasses off and revealed his beautiful dark brown eyes and smiled at you. As soon as he put his sunglasses down you looked around to see if someone was going to come screaming at him but it stayed silent. “Fans are usually more subtle than that.” he chuckled as if he could read your mind and you blushed immediatly.

You talked about various things for hours. He made you laugh which you appreciated. Life was sometimes really cruel and it was a blessing to have someone who made your day a little brighter everyday. “You know I was really nervous when I first met you?” you said finally and leaned back in your chair and crossed your arms in front of your chest slightly grinning. “I played it ‘cool’.” you mocked yourself and put quotation marks into the air.

“I thought you didn’t like me.“he laughed and mimicked your body language. “Actually I was a little intimidated by you.” he confessed and you gasped. “Why?!” you said leaving your mouth slightly ajar while hiding a smile. “You yelled at me. First step into the gym and I hear some angry woman yelling that I am not allowed in.” he explained himself and held his hands up in defense. “It was 5am in the morning. I may have been a little grumpy.” you gave in and closed your mouth into a smirk. You put your arms down on to the table and leaned in.

“You wanna know a secret?” you whispered and made him lean in too. “Sure.” he played along and you surpressed a grin. “I told you that I love all your work when we first met, but I actually didn’t even know your name before Spiderman came out.” you said and bit your lip to prevent yourself from laughing because he made such a funny face. He rolled his eyes and groaned while leaning back into his chair again. “I thought you were going to tell me something fun. You’re lame.” he said and threw his scrunched up napkin at you which landed in your lap. You picked it up laughing and put it on the table. Suddenly he let his hand glide in to yours fingers crossing. You looked up with a raised brow and saw his stupid smiling face which made you blush. “You make me really happy, Y/N.” he said out of the blue and you intended to pull your hand back but he tightened his grip as if he read your mind. Again.

“Tom..”

“And I wish you would believe me.” he added and let go of your hand. He raised the same hand to call for a waiter and asked for the check. “I already paid for mine?” you said apologetically and he raised his brows. “Well, I guess your paying mine too then?” he joked to lighten the atmosphere he just had created and you chuckled nervously. You did pay the check even though he assured you he was joking. It was no big deal.

“You still can pay for another round.” you said quickly while shouldering yourself into the jacket and his head shot up. “I’ll text you if you give me your number.” you said casually and bit on your lip nervously. “Yeah, sure, totally.” he chattered and took out his phone to give you his number. You were about to say something after he gave you the piece of napkin he wrote his number on when his phone rang. “Sorry…I gotta take this. Hello?” he apologized and picked up. “No, I’m out. Okay. Yeah, I’ll be there in ten.”

You fumbled with the zipper of your jacket when he hung up and jumped out of his chair. “I really have to rush out. Something with my manager and the movie. You’ll give me a call?” he asked and took his jacket. “Sure.” you said totally baffled and suddenly he leaned in, laid his hand on your arm and gave you a gentle kiss on your cheek. “I’m really sorry.” he said before pulling away and walking out of the café. You’re hand wandered to your cheek and you stood there for several minutes with your mouth slightly open. Did he really just-…?

You took your phone out of your bag and typed in his number. “I’ll see you saturday evening on the rooftop of the building in front of the gym. I’m gonna show you the most amazing sunset you’ll ever see. Bring coffee. X”, you wrote and sent it before you could delete the x at the and of the message.

***

You were really excited about saturday. You weren’t working on saturday so wasn’t he but you couldn’t just sit around at home so you went to the gym anyways. Since you texted him, the messages kept going back and forth. The voice inside your head was sitting in a corner with crossed legs and was judging you while shaking it’s head. You started your workout routine and finished it around 3pm. You still had two hours so you could rush home to take a shower and get ready. You also had prepared a basket with sandwiches and soda, plus a blanket to lie on.

You put your headphones on and shouldered your duffle bag and closed the lights of the gym. You were humming to yourself when you pushed the door open and suddenly you were standing in a rain of flashs and question.

Are you dating Tom Holland?

Is he your client?

Are you with your client?

Since when are you two together?

Could you look over here?

Is he in there too?

Can we get-…

As your numbness faded a little you stepped back and shut the door immediatly. You leaned against the door and slid down on to the floor. What did just happen? How did they know? How did they-… You jumped up and rushed to the computer at the reception and typed his name in. Millions of photos popped up but you could only see the ones trending. It was him holding your hand. It was him giving you a kiss on your cheek. It was you laughing at something he said. It was both of you looking at each other. You clicked on several posts and you were shocked about the comments.

What a fake bitch!

Who is she even?

Tom deserves better, he can do better!

She can go kill herself.

She is not even pretty.

You shut the laptop down and a sob escaped your throat and you pressed your hand against your mouth while teares built in your eyes. You stepped slowly back until your back hit the wall and you started crying. You were trying to avoid this. All along.

[carnivalfiction]

Mind the Witch’s Price

Being a witch is a weird occupation, the benefits are great: functional immortality, phenomenal cosmic power and nearly total lack of authority over one's actions. The one downside is finding work especially if you are a newcomer to the field. I lifted my head from the counter where I was laying it my shop. It's a small place adorned with posters from my favorite video games and movies my parents helped to build the place once I graduated from my apprenticeship. Unfortunately, no one wants to go to Ameria Sarkin's Cove of Wonders when they can call that swine Esmeralda, or at least that was what I thought.

The door opened to reveal, three men, they all had their hair slicked back in that awful Wall Street vibe.

"Can I help you?" I asked as chipper as I could manage.

"Aw yes are you Ms. Sarkin?" this came from the shortest one, he was wearing this awful plaid-colored suit. The dude looked familiar I probably saw him in some commercial because he was giving the sleazeball insurance seller smile.

"Yeah who's asking?"

"Maxwell Tiberius, madam," Pure. Sleaze. "We would like to inquire about your services. You see my company, Tiberius Real Estate, is trying to develop this neighborhood but we can't because the key property for the renovation plan is haunted by some ghosts. In short, we want you to get rid of them."

"Why me?" It's a fair question. I'm a relative nobody and my specialty is in Form-shaping, not Exorcisms.

"The company wants to keep this under the radar. So we help a small town girl looking to make it big, looks good for us and," the man to Max's left placed a suitcase on the counter "gives you a nice payday." The case is opened and inside is a bunch of dollar bills. "Four-hundred thousand dollars now and another four hundred thousand when the job's done."

Well, that changed things considering the last few months and real nail-biters trying to stay in the black I really couldn't pass up this chance to make some money.

"Okay, what's the contract for the job" this time it was the guy to Max's right that moved he produced a piece paper from his pocket and placed it in front of me. The contract wasn't anything particularly out of the ordinary, normal statements of preventing the witch from just walking out on the deal once the money transferred. The one thing that seemed out of the ordinary, was the lack of specificity when dealing with the methods of exercising the ghost.

"Are sure you're fine with me having the ability to do 'anything it takes' to get rid of your ghost problem?"

"Of course, these ghosts have gone on to delay the project long enough already and I just want to get this project moving" Max's hands were rubbing his temples as a prominent vein appeared in his forehead. Well, looking at the payment I couldn't help but accept.

"Okay, Max you got a deal."

"Maxwell please," no, I was going to keep calling you Max.

 So Max and his cronies lead me drove over to the home they wanted to be exorcized. It was pretty cool, the house was two stories and made of bricks was painted with a combination of bright hot pink and lime green. The windows were odd shapes, I counted at least two stars and a triangle. I would honestly live in this house.

"Hey, Max what do you intend to do with this build after the ghost is gone?"

"Bulldoze it" Max replied with a noticeable twitch in his eye.

"Ms. Sarkin I have a question?" this came from Adam the crony who has been holding onto the money suitcase.

"Yeah?"

"What exactly are you going to do?"

"Well, the first plan is just to talk to them and see if they want to move to another place."

"What aren't ghost bound to the place they died in?"

"Not at all! The soul is the primary method of magic, either through channeling other dimensions or manipulating the soul's individual power. A ghost is just a soul that has been awakened to being separated from a body. If ghost are bound that means someone has deliberately bound them to that place. In fact, the human body is just a soul vessel that can be easily manipulated if you know how to anyway. And if worse comes to worst I can just trap them." After the explanation, I got out of the car and walked into the house. Oh my god, the home has shag carpeting this place is the best! Continuing through the building reveals to be in fairly good repair. I stop once I reached the kitchen. I sat down on the floor (more shag) in a meditative stance and closed my eyes. As I breathe I begin to send a pulse from my soul throughout the house. It took about five minutes but I found something on the second floor. As I moved towards my target a faint mist builds around me. A good sign I'm heading in the right direction. Once I finally reached the I felt the pulse from it was disappointing. It was just a single person bedroom. That was a let down considering how awesome the rest of the house's decor has been.

"Who are you?" a disembodied voice rang out.

"Ameria Sarkin, I've been hired to exorcize you from this house but my employer wants to bulldoze this place and it's way too for that to happen. So I'm open to suggestions on how to 'exorcize' you while keeping the building intact." A chill ran up my spine as the air in the room began to form a small tornado over the bed. As the tornado grows in size human figure being to appear from the wind. She was pale, her skin had the color of an overcast sky with an unruly mane of hair of a similar hue.

"Hi, my name is Gabi Vargas." Her voice rang out like an old synthesizer.

"What's your connection to this place?"

"It's my home," she said as she floated over to stare me in the eye "and I have no intentions of leaving." That was plan A shot down.

"Would you be cool if your house was turned into a tourist trap, you could spook people." I point to the furnishing out in the hall, "Plus you decor creates an atmosphere that would be great at disarming people." The door to the bedroom closed suddenly, alarmed I fell onto the bed passing right through Gabi's incorporeal form.

"You mean like that?" Gabi said with a large smile on her face. As her body hovered over mine.

"Exactly, you wait here I'll go see if my employer will go with it."

I walked down to the front porch where Max and his goons were waiting. Jones, the tall man in powder blue suit asked a question,

"Boss, why did we bring three suitcases?"

"I told you before we are not paying that witch eight hundred thousand dollars, those cases we gave her only have twenty thousand dollars arranged to make it look like its more," Max said as he looked up to his bodyguard with a glint in his eyes.

"Why are trying to short change a witch, you heard Arnold when he drafted that contract, you void it and the witch is free to do what she pleases."

"That's why I only verbally said the payment if it is not in writing, it does not mean anything."

Oh, they thought they would pull one over on me well two can play that game. You contract gave me the license to do anything needed to exorcize this house, got the perfect thing for you Max.

 I walked back into the house and called out for Gabi. Once she appeared I told about Max's plan to cheat me out of some money.

"Well what are you going to do about this?" she asked.

"I've got a plan. How would you like to have a physical body again?" at the mention of a physical form Gabi sits up and her entire body glows for a few seconds.

"You can do that?"

"Yeah, I just need your help, when I call out for you just make the house as look haunted as you can."

"Got it."

So from there, I walked back out to Max and pals. I got 3 plastic orbs from out of my pocket and give them each one. "Okay Max the job is almost done but I just need you and your buddies to come inside and hold something for me is that cool?"

"Anything for you madame," his eyes twitched once again as I refused to call him by his full name. The four had entered the house and I had them all positioned in front of me with my body blocking the door. Time for the show.

"Spirit, I call thee to reveal thyself," I bellowed waving my arms around like a person high on some cocaine. On cued the rafters and doors in the house begin to move around like crazy. I can see the fear set into Max and friends as the orbs they carried started to glow with a faint white light. At this point, Gabi had shown up her body even less solid than usual with her head floating a foot to the left of her body.

"Who dares call me, you a mere more-" that was as far as she got before she started laughing. "I'm sorry I couldn't keep that act up for long. Is it done?"

"It should be, soul removal is usually pretty quick on the unprepared." I looked at the three men who had fallen into a trap. Instead of abject horror, their faces were devoid of any expression and the three orbs were glowing like fresh LED lights. "Yeah, it's done. Now let me get you that new body." I made my best attempt at grasping Gabi's hand and turned my other to Max's chest. I took a deep breath and forced the soul and essence of Gabi through my body directly into Max's body. "How does it feel to be back among the living?"

Max's face contorted as Gabi moved her new body around trying to break it in, "It feels a bit stiff but I can work with it," she said at last.

"Oh don't worry about the appearance I can teach you how to fix that back at my shop. So you ready to be my new apprentice?"

"Why not, it's not like I have anything else to do. What are you going to do with their souls?"

"Probably sell them to cover the cost and the money that they promised me. Also, your house is awesome can I move in with you I can pay rent?"

"Sure I mean you are the reason I still have it."