#the problem with this school shooting story is that its good. it draws my attention. but its understandably very hard to read

[dragons-and-yellow-roses]

It's dead af at work. We got through our four reservations and have had no walk ins, and my manager won't cut me because he hates doing my job (and we're friends and he knows I need the money) and tbh I don't want to be cut (can't really afford to be) but I'm actually going insane from sitting on my stool, going through Tumblr, Insta, Kindle, then standing up and going through those apps again, then sitting down and going through those apps again, etc. it's nice to get paid to do nothing, because tbh if I was cut then I'd just be doing this but in my bed, but I'm getting so fucking restless.

[buriedinbaltimore]

Imagine the foxes playing two truths and a lie...

The upperclassmen start playing it as a drinking game one night and Neil is intrigued. Andrew is also intrigued but doesn’t show it and refuses to play.

They are all already pretty tipsy, with Kevin, Matt, Nicky, and Aaron pretty much drunk.

Allison goes first, she has an amazing poker face and calmly says all three statements with no facial twitches or vocal cues. “my first car was a Toyota Camry (truth), my prom dress cost over $10k (lie), and I once made out with Miley Cyrus (truth)”

Renee, Neil, and Aaron guess right, Matt, Dan, Kevin, and Nicky have to drink.

Then it’s Matt’s turn and he is terrible, he starts snickering before he opens his mouth. “I’ve swam with sharks (truth)” he says, but he cannot control his face and it keeps contorting as he tries to maintain a neutral expression. He takes a deep breath to try and control his giggles, “my favorite flower is sunflowers (truth)” then he can’t hold it in anymore and starts hysterically laughing and chokes out, “My favorite city in the world is Newark, NJ (lie)”

Everyone gets it right and Matt has to drink.

Dan is next, she goes for the “one of these is so out there and crazy it can’t be a lie...or is it?” method.

((It is.))

“I’ve never shot a gun (truth), as a kid my favorite food was celery with ranch dressing (truth), and when I was 18 I won the lottery but the ticket was ruined and I couldn’t claim the money (lie)”

Aaron jumps in with “Obviously you never won the lottery, how would you even know if the ticket was destroyed”

Dan has her story ready. “When I first turned 18, I played the same numbers every week. It went on for a few months when my numbers were picked, but by that point playing was more of a habit than anything else and I wasn’t too careful with my tickets. I searched for it everywhere and found that I left it in my jeans pocket when I did my laundry.”

Allison asks what the numbers were, and Dan answers with no hesitation, which makes Allison tilt her head and stare into Dan’s eyes. Dan looks back without guile, totally relaxed.

Nicky is looking at her with his eyes wide and mouth slightly open and asks how much money she would have won

When Dan answers $53 million dollars Nicky gasps and Matt groans.

Neil, Renee, and Allison get it right, but everyone else falls for it.

When its Nicky turn he forgets to say a lie.

He is sitting there trying to come up with something for what feels like forever while every goads him for taking so long.

Finally, after waiting 5 minutes, Kevin says “I’m going because Nicky obviously can’t come up with anything” and Nicky jumps across Kevins lap and goes “No no no no no, I’ve got it!”

Without moving off Kevin he says “I’m allergic to shellfish, I died my hair green once, and I’ve read all the twilight books three times“ He moves back to his spot looking pleased with himself.

Everyone starts discussing theories until Andrew says in his bored, flat voice, “Nicky, those are all true”

Nicky starts to protest, thinks for a second, then just says “Fuck!” and takes a shot.

Kevin rolls his eyes so hard that his entire head rotates then says, while slightly slurring, “Okay, my turn! I’ve played a game of pick up basketball once (lie), I know all the lyrics to We Didn’t Start the Fire (truth), and I’ve traveled to over a dozen countries (truth).”

Matt starts hysterically laughing again, “You know all the lyrics to We Didn’t Start the Fire! oh my god Kevin you are such a nerd!” everyone else starts laughing at Kevin too.

“Maybe I do, maybe it’s the lie!”

“Everyone knows you’ve never played a sport besides Exy in your life Kevin” Dan says, “Will you sing it for us? Please, please, please!”

Allison, Nicky, and Matt join Dan in asking Kevin to sing. Renee even says, “It would be lovely to hear you sing it Kevin” to which Kevin blushes a little and answers, “Maybe later” and then takes his shot.

Aaron is drunk enough at this point to spill some truths he otherwise never would, and will wish for the rest of his life that he never had.

“When I was little, I wanted to be a figure skater when I grew up.(truth)”

Everyone goes completely silent and stares at him unsure whether to laugh or not but he doesn’t realize and continues

“The first time I got high I thought the squirrels in the tree wanted to adopt me as their squirrel king (truth), and I hate Taylor Swift (lie)”

No one says anything at first, and just when Aaron starts to realize something is up, Nicky says “Nah man, you LOVE T. Swift, you can’t deny it!”

They collectively make a silent agreement to ignore this new information about Aaron until he sobers up a bit and can either defend himself, or will be more fun to tease.

In the end, everyone but Renee guesses right, but she guessed wrong on purpose because she didn’t think that Aaron should be having any more to drink.

When it’s Renee’s turn, she smiles sweetly and says, ”I can juggle up to 7 balls (truth), I have never drank diet soda (lie), and I once had a pet turtle named Vincent (truth).”

No one is confident about which is the lie and it is the longest the foxes debate after anyones turn. It doesn’t help that Renee refuses to answer questions, and whenever someone tries to ask her anything she just smiles and shrugs.

It comes out to Neil and Aaron getting it right, while everyone else has to drink.

“How the fuck has it never come up that you’re a master juggler?” Allison asks angrily

“It wouldn’t be appropriate to do it at practice, and we’re not really around balls much otherwise.”

Everyone asks for a demonstration, “I will juggle later if Kevin will sing.”

Everyone looks at Kevin who sighs but says “Okay, fine!”

They all cheer then wait eagerly for Neil to go.

Neil sits quietly for a little while, not as long as Nicky, but long enough that Aaron says, “Come on this should be easy for you! You lied to us all for a year, what’s the problem, the truth?”

Neil shoots him a dirty look but doesn’t respond for a few more seconds then says,

“My mom and I once helped deliver a baby at a truck stop in Alberta, I’ve been bitten by a camel, and I can speak 7 languages”

Everyone just stares at him.

“Two of those things are true?” Matt finally asks

“Yeah.” Neil says, shrugging. Everyone is silent again.

Nicky turns to Andrew for help, but he refuses to say anything. His eyes are bright with interest though and he looks at Neil for a long time. Internally, he thinks the one about helping birth a baby has something off about it.

After much debate, Allison, Kevin, and Matt guess the baby, Renee, Dan, and Aaron guess the camel, and Nicky says the languages, “No one can know SEVEN languages!! I won’t believe it!”

They all turn to Neil expectantly and he says, “It was the first one, we were just outside Vancouver, in British Columbia, not Alberta.”

“But you, Neil Josten, have helped deliver a baby?” Allison asks incredulously.

“Technically I wasn’t Neil Josten yet…”

Everyone groans. Everyone takes a shot.

Cut to 15 minutes later, Renee is juggling an exy ball, some apples, and Matt’s phone while Kevin sings. Nicky tries to sing along with Kevin but definitely doesn’t know the right words, Aaron is watching Renee wide eyed, Dan and Matt are playing air guitar behind Kevin, and Allison is looking for more things for Renee to juggle. Neil and Andrew sit quietly on a desk holding cigarettes, observing their idiot friends.  

Stories Behind the Truths and Lies

Allison

My first car was a Toyota Camry (truth) - Allison’s parents wanted her to learn how to drive in a safe car that wouldn’t draw a lot of attention, so they got her a Camry. She only drove it for 3 weeks before demanding an upgrade.

My prom dress cost over $10k (lie) - This was almost true. She had ordered a custom Zac Posen dress but before it was finalized she made her decision to go to PSU and play Exy, and her mother canceled the order. She ended up wearing something she found in a vintage store that she altered herself. She ended up enjoying it a lot, which led to her decision to study fashion. (In my hc she played professional Exy for 3? seasons but was injured and then started her fashion line.)

I once made out with Miley Cyrus (truth) - While out clubbing one night she met Miley through mutual friends, they were attracted to each other, they made out. Miley asked for her number but Allison wasn’t looking for anything more than a hook up.

Matt

I’ve swam with sharks (truth) - He did this with his mom on a vacation and they both loved it. They also have a tradition where they watch at least one night of shark week together, or at least call each other to talk while they are both watching.

My favorite flower is sunflowers (truth) - No story lol I just think he would like sunflowers.

My favorite city in the world is Newark, NJ (lie) - I love thinking about New Yorker Matt. Raised on the Upper East Side, dad a top plastic surgeon, mom a public figure? Child grew up surrounded by serious privilege. HC that in fifth grade he made friends with a boy who was on scholarship at his school. Let’s call him… Metin. He lived in Queens? He took the subway? Matt goes to his house one day and it is 1/8th the size of his apartment and there are 9 people living there; Metin’s parents, two grandparents, his uncle, his two sisters, and his cousin. They all speak Turkish in the house and it’s loud and crowded but so full of life and love and Matt loves it. He and Metin grew apart when Matt started using, but before that they were best friends for years and explored the city together, Matt learning about and experiencing so much culture that for the first 9 years of his life he didn’t know existed. When Nicky wanted to go to Times Square for New Years Matt knew he had to be a good host and take them but inside he was DYING. I’m getting off track. No New Yorker could ever like Newark. I’m not convinced anybody could like Newark. It is indeed, very laughable.

Dan

I’ve never shot a gun (truth) - Dan hates guns and refuses to shoot one.

As a kid my favorite food was celery with ranch dressing (truth) - Idk I just thought this was cute. And also thinking about young Dan who didn’t have a lot of access to healthy foods getting celery sticks and ranch with her free school lunch and getting SO excited. Trading her cookie to a classmate for their celery.

When I was 18 I won the lottery but the ticket was ruined and I couldn’t claim the money (lie) - I like to think this is part true. After Dan turned 18 but before she was recruited for the Foxes, she played lotto a lot, always with the same numbers that she got from a fortune cookie that said, “Failure is not defeat until you stop trying.” She stopped playing once she signed with Wymack.

Nicky (all truths)

I’m allergic to shellfish - Mostly I love that Andrew knew all these things about Nicky, especially his allergy because he’s always looking out to make sure Nicky doesn’t eat something he can’t.

I died my hair green once - At first, when he took custody of the twins and started showing up for them at school at stuff, he hated the looks he got. He was a 19 year old kid who was supposed to be their guardian? Not to mention the way people eyed his skin and hair when he said he was family. One day he decided to dye his hair blond and he asked Andrew and Aaron to help, to try to bond. Aaron wanted nothing to do with it, but surprisingly, Andrew seem enthusiastic about the idea. He bought the dye and did everything for Nicky in the kitchen. When he was finally done roughly washing the dye out of Nicky’s hair, Nicky went to the bathroom to see how he looked and saw that Andrew had died his hair green. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh at the prank or cry because he foolishly thought he might be getting through to Andrew. When he went back to the kitchen, he tried to laugh it off and said maybe he should go to a salon to get the color right. Andrew told him he was stupid to try and change how he looked just because people were dumb enough to think that families needed to look alike. Besides, they weren’t a family anyway.  “Family” is a toxic excuse for things people put up with, a reason we accept the tragedies and inconveniences forced upon us. (Nora’s words) Nicky was upset, and dyed his hair back to his natural color once the roots started growing in, but he reaffirmed his commitment in that moment that he would show the twins what Erik had shown him, what a family could really be.

I’ve read all the twilight books three times - Nicky was a huge fan of twilight, even going to the midnight release party for the last book. He was disappointed in the movie adaptations but loved the casting and watched for the eye candy. He is loving the twilight renaissance especially the twilight is gay discourse.

Kevin

I’ve played a game of pick up basketball once (lie) - Kevin has never played a game of basketball, or soccer, or tennis, or baseball, or any other sport for that matter and can not understand why anyone would want to.

I know all the lyrics to We Didn’t Start the Fire (truth) - Kayleigh Day was a big music fan, she loved everything from classical to country, but one of her favorite artists was Billy Joel. After she died and Kevin moved into Evermore, he almost forgot about her music because the music at the Nest was all chosen for pragmatic reasons, like its BPM and ability to pump the players up. One day, when Kevin was around 15 years old, a rebellious Raven played his own music while training in the weight room. He and his partner were the only ones in there until Riko and Kevin showed up, and they turned it off as soon as they realized they had come in, but Kevin heard some of “Only the Good Die Young” and for the first time in a long time had a vivid memory of his mother. He asked the boys what had been playing, and Riko scoffed at the name Billy Joel. That night while Riko was sleeping, Kevin downloaded Billy Joel’s Greatest Hits and listened until he feel asleep, and he continued listening to it for weeks until he started remembering more of his mothers songs from his childhood. We Didn’t Start the Fire was one of his favorites because history.

I’ve traveled to over a dozen countries (truth) - Between travel through Europe with his mom while she spread Exy and professional appearances he made with Riko, Kevin is the most well traveled besides Neil.

Aaron

When I was little, I wanted to be a figure skater when I grew up. (truth) - When Aaron was around four or five, he watched the winter olympics on TV and fell in love with figure skating. Tilda never bothered to get him skating lessons, but one day, when Aaron was seven, there was an attempt to revive the Ice Capades. Aaron never thought he would get to go, but Tilda surprised him with tickets. It is one of the few really good memories he has of his mom.

The first time I got high I thought the squirrels in the tree wanted to adopt me as their squirrel king (truth) - I just imagine Aaron trying his mom’s drugs for the first time alone in the back yard, laying flat on his back looking up at a family of squirrels, saying, “I’m king of the squirrels!!!”

I hate Taylor Swift (lie) - Katelyn is a HUGE Taylor Swift fan. When they first started hanging out, Aaron didn’t really like her music but didn’t want to say anything. Eventually he started associating her with Katelyn though, and he loves watching Katelyn sign and dance so much that he now genuinely enjoys her music.

Renee

I can juggle up to 7 balls (truth) - Renee always had a natural juggling talent. She never really tried to learn, it was just always something she could do.

I have never drank diet soda (lie) - She does prefer non-diet soda, but she has tried diet before.

I once had a pet turtle named Vincent (truth) - Vincent was a gift from one of her mother’s boyfriends, the only one Renee ever remotely like. He was horrible to her mother, but had a soft spot for Renee and treated her kindly. They broke up after a couple of months, and he gave her Vincent as a parting gift. She had him until she got arrested, she couldn’t go back home to get him and when her mother went to prison he died.

Neil

My mom and I once helped deliver a baby at a truck stop in Alberta (lie) - This happened while Neil and his mom were on the way to Seattle. It was the middle of the night and they stopped to get gas a few hours out from Vancouver when they heard a woman screaming. There was nothing around for miles and only one other car in the lot that had been there when they pulled in. His mother immediately dropped the gas pump and Neil was already back in the car when the screaming stopped and his mother hesitated. Neil had never seen his mom hesitate with a potential threat around before, and he listened closely to try and understand why she stopped. All he heard was a woman panting harshly, but it sounded almost as though there was a rhythm to it. Mary signaled for him to get out of the car, and ordered him to grab some blankets, the first aid kit, and water bottles and follow her. They walked behind the locked public bathrooms, and found the woman squatting, with tears running down her face. Mary wasn’t very gentle or comforting, but she told the woman in a calm and confident voice that they were going to help. Neil didn’t do much, but he let the woman hold his hand and squeeze until he thought she would break it. He gave her sips of water between her contractions and did anything else his mother said. Once the baby was out, wrapped in a blanket, and in its mothers arms, Mary grabbed Neil and they left without another word to the woman. She stared after them, confused and grateful. Neil and his mother never spoke of it again.

I’ve been bitten by a camel (truth) - Neil and Mary spent a few days in Dubai to get some papers from a specialist there before traveling back to North America. The man did his business out of a racetrack where they held camel races. To get to his office, they had to travel through the back part of the track that the jockeys used to get the camels into position. Neil got too close to one of the camels and it bit his arm, luckily (or not), the jockey was in the middle of beating it and before it closed its mouth too tightly, landed a blow that caused the camel to immediately open its mouth again. Once he was freed, Neil was out of reach in a millisecond.

I can speak 7 languages (truth) - English, German, French, Russian, Hebrew, Czech, Greek. (To clarify he can speak 7 languages but he wouldn’t necessarily call himself fluent in all 7) We all know English, German, French, and Nora had a hc that Andrew and Neil learn Russian so they can talk to each other even with the cousins around which I love. Hebrew - In my hc Neil is jewish, as are Mary and Nathan. After running away, Mary didn’t know where to go once she had left her brother. She didn’t speak any other languages besides English, but she could understand Yiddish from hearing her grandparents and sometimes her parents speaking it growing up, and she could understand Polish from her time married to Nathan. She didn’t want to go to Poland in case any of Nathan’s contacts recognized her, so she decided to go to Israel. She knew there were communities there that spoke Yiddish and she was familiar if not comfortable with Hebrew from going to temple when she was younger. But most importantly she knew Nathan didn’t have any regular contacts there. While they were there, along with learning Hebrew, Mary pretended to be interested in converting to Greek Orthodox in order to get secret Greek lessons for her and Neil. After a while but sooner than she had hoped, Mary got a warning that Nathan had figured out where they were. She didn’t think it would be wise to go directly to Greece so she decided to move them to Prague next, since Czech and Polish are fairly similar and she really had no other ideas. While in Prague she continued her and Neil’s Greek lessons, and they went on to Greece eventually. Mary didn’t want them to lose any of the languages they learned, so she came up with a system that on certain days of the week they would speak to each other in certain languages. After Mary died, Neil pretty much gave up on Czech and Hebrew because he hadn’t been surrounded by them in so long and he hadn’t used either except with Mary since they moved from Prague or Israel. They had lived in Greece for longer than they had in Prague or Israel though, moving to a few different cities, so he felt stronger with Greek.

Fin. 

This is my first time writing anything fanfiction, my first time doing any creative writing at all really, and I would love any and all feedback!! Thanks for reading this long ass post, I hope it wasn’t terrible!!

[acesydneysage]

18 and 30 for the va asks?

All the questions

18. What character would you want a spin off of?

I think the POV character would be Jill, and the rest of the Palm Springs gang could have some roles, so I can have more of my beloved Melrose family. She grew a lot during Bloodlines but her character got really sidelined and I think there's still a lot to explore with her. She went through a lot of trauma, and she was just coming into her own and accepting her new role.

Her relationship with Lissa could be fascinating, they definitely have a lot to work through. Lissa sees her as symbol of her idolized father's imperfection. Jill resents being used as a political pawn. They both will have a hell of a lot going on and won't be able to go on bonding trips or anything like that, since Lissa is queen and Jill is the Dragomir princess and will have a vote on the council once she turns 18. Jill wasn't raised as a royal, so she has a very different perspective even to royals who are sympathetic to non-royals' plight.

I really love Eddie and I want to see him happy. Being the main love interest could give him more of a spotlight. I didn't care much about Jeddie in canon (the age gap is a bit uncomfortable and we didn't get any deep insight into their relationship), but I think they have a lot of potential as grown ups. Their knight and princess dynamic could be very sweet, but it could also cause a lot of trouble.

Eddie has his thing about not even knowing who his dad is, while Jill is a princess, so above him. But Jill actually never knew her biological dad either, she was a bastard hidden like a shameful secret, and as I mentioned she's resentful of her worth being determined by her lineage, and her importance to other people's political schemes. And she got killed over it, she has every right to.

Eddie genuinely does see Jill's worth outside of her bloodline, he admires her will to fight and her grace, and how she learns to handle difficult situations. But he still internalized their society's hierarchy enough to let it fuel his inferiority complex. That could be an interesting conflict, he needs to consider himself her equal, and she needs to know he sees her as a person not a princess. Besides all the angst coming from the fact that he feels like he failed her twice before.

Jill and Eddie could have stayed together all this time, but I can easily see them breaking up and then meeting again. Eddie is living far alway form her, and he's dedicated to Sydney, Adrian and Declan. Then they would eventually have to actually decide to get together again when they're not hidden in a human school far away from their society's prejudices and expectations, but smack in the middle of them. Young dhampirs and Moroi, even royals, dating in school is seen as normal. The adult, politically active crown princess is a whole different story.

Thematically, it would be very good to have the Dragomir princess say that royal blood is not actually more important than anybody else's, including dhampirs, and she wants to be with a guardian and maybe eventually have little dhampirs thank you very much. Lissa was raised from birth to belive in her duty to carry on the Dragomir bloodline and pop out royal babies, but Jill wasn't and she's more likely to be able to see that that's messed up.

I understand that it's important in-world, but expecting me to actually find it important to continue a royal line is too much for me, sorry. It's a surname, congrats, I do not care. And if Eddie actually confronted what's wrong with guardian idology and that "they come first" nonsense I'd be so grateful. I don't think that was sufficiently taken down in canon, Rose kind of goes back to believing it in the end.

Jill also has shadowkissed problems to deal with. She's interested in self defense. If she had to put that into practice and ended up killing someone she'd have to deal with ghosts like Rose did. And Jill has a connection to Declan, through Adrian and Sydney, and she knows his secret, which could come in handy plotwise.

Declan and his super special spirit magic blood are probably gonna be very important, both because it could be the key in mass producing the Strigoi vaccine, and because the possibility of dhampirs having children with each other undermines their society's excuses for its Moroi supremacist structure.

If Adrian stops taking his meds for some reason, or even changes to a medication that has a similar effect to Lissa's and doesn't completely block the bond Jill could see into his head. So she can see what's going on with Declan and also cute sydrian moments and Eddie being an adorable uncle.

Maybe we'd even get Eddie's POV like we did with Adrian?

I think Angeline could be interesting. She'd start out hunting Strigoi with Trey like they said they would do. I'd really love if eventually she became an ambassador for the Keepers, just because I think it would take a lot of character development for her to become a diplomat.

I'm really into the idea of an Alchemist Revolution, and Zoe might actually be a good point of view character for that.

30. What moments do you remember laughing out loud at?

The tattoo parlor scene really killed me the first time around, and I still love it:

“Yeah? Can you draw a skeleton riding a motorcycle with flames coming out of it? And I want a pirate hat on the skeleton. And a parrot on his shoulder. A skeleton parrot. Or maybe a ninja skeleton parrot? No, that would be overkill. But it’d be cool if the biker skeleton could be shooting some ninja throwing stars. That are on fire.” [...] “Wait!” exclaimed Adrian. There was an anxious note to his voice, like he was trying to get someone’s attention. I had the uneasy feeling that the two guys who worked here were headed back behind the counter to investigate. “I need to know something else about the tattoo. Can the parrot also be wearing a pirate’s hat? Like a miniature one?”

I also loved said, “Mmm. O positive, my favorite.” Adrian scaring Keith in general is great, here's the full trilogy. And when Sydney is finally being rescued and she says "Are you wearing a suit? You didn't have to dress up for me." It was very unexpected. I love her!

And little Rose throwing a book at a teacher and calling her a fascist!

[professorsnape394]

The Potions Master’s Apprentice

Chapter Nine: Letters, Lovers and Loyalties

A/N: This is the ninth part to my fanfiction ‘The Potions Master’s Apprentice (Severus Snape x OC)’. Chapters 1-16 can be found already uploaded on Wattpad under the same name. Feel free to leave requests in my inbox for anything Snape related you want me to write. Leave a comment below if you wish to be added to my tag list.

Pairing: Severus Snape x OC (Dumbledore’s Granddaughter)

Summary: A talented young witch is employed as an apprentice professor at Hogwarts, but who will she be working under? Severus Snape is not best pleased with his new responsibility of taking on an apprentice, however she is relentless to create a friendship between them. Will she be successful? Or might the friendship just go a little two far? With the eyes of her grandfather constantly watching over them, an attempt at a relationship might not be in the cards for Aria Dumbledore and Severus Snape.

Word Count: 2185

Warnings: n/a

Credits to Gif Creator

Yet another letter dropped into the lap of Aria Dumbledore as she sat absentmindedly sketching. Dropping her quill back into the small pot of ink which balanced on the arm of her chair, a small sigh escaped her lips. She had been expecting another to arrive any day now.

Aria allowed herself a small glance in the direction of her desk where the ever growing pile of unopened letter sat gathering dust. Disregarding her drawing, Aria traveled to her desk, fingers fumbling with the edge of the envelope. Admittedly, Aria's mind had been focused on that small pile of letters the past few days, and consequently the man who sent them. She couldn't bring herself to reply to his constant inquiries, but she had considered there was no harm in opening a few of them. She longed to hear from him, though she had been in denial for so long now she wasn't sure what to expect from his most recent letters.

Waiting no longer she ripped the paper from its wax seal, her eyes quickly scanning every word on the page.

My dear Aria, Though I know you say you cannot reply to my letters, I write them all with the hope that you will find the time in your busy schedule to at least read them. As always things are quiet here without you. Too quiet. I miss your voice. I miss hearing you sing to yourself in the shower thinking no one can hear you, I miss hearing you hum as you wander aimlessly through the house, I miss watching you draw as I pose for you, but most importantly I miss holding you in my arms. I long for the end of the school year when we will be reunited and I will have nothing to miss except maybe writing these letters. I long for a response to my letters, my darling. I simply must know that you miss me as I miss you. In the mean time I will continue to write to you to keep myself distracted from everything terrible happening in the world, by simply thinking of you. All my love, S.

Aria couldn't help but feel a great pang of guilt in the pit of her stomach for ignoring the letters, but she couldn't bare the thought of reading them, while she was still coming to terms with how she felt when she decided to leave for Hogwarts. She knew immediately she would not be able to maintain a long distance relationship with him. Though he was the first man she had ever loved she had been too cowardly to confess her feelings for him in person, let alone on a piece of parchment. She knew she was a pathetic coward from the moment he told her he loved her and she could not find it in her to return the favour. Her cowardice was more than proven the day she left for Hogwarts. Aria had planned to break up with him, to avoid further heartbreak down the line. But she could not even find the courage to do that.

Instead she was living in denial. In her mind they had broken up, and refused to face up to whatever she was truly feeling until it was absolutely necessary. Her plan had been to distract herself as much as possible, suppress her feelings and just forget about the situation completely. And to be totally honest her plan had been working for her, with the exception of a few off days such as today. However when it came time to wake up and face the music she had no idea what her plan would be then.

Leaving the letter open on her desk she took a stroll around the grounds of Hogwarts to clear her mind. The time to figure out all of her problems was not now. She was still a young, carefree woman and she didn't want the burden of guilt stopping her from living her life however she so wished.

Arias walk led her to the village of Hogsmeade, and after working up a light sweat, the young professor opted to pop into the Three Broomsticks to quench her thirst.

Unsurprisingly for a late Tuesday evening the place was barren. Besides for a drunken wizard practically falling off his bar stood, a crazy witch whispering to herself and two well dressed men, sitting out of place in a side booth, the place was completely deserted. Planning to only stay for a pumpkin juice Aria took a seat at the bar and begun chatting to the same barmaid who had served her and Severus all those weeks ago.

"Busy night?" Aria joked, rolling her eyes at the drunk to her right.

The woman laughed in return, handing over a glass of pumpkin juice. "This is pretty much the standard, at this time." She shrugged, polishing off a perfectly clean glass, to keep herself busy. "That one over there doesn't even order anything, but its not worth the hassle kicking her out." She gestured to the old hag in the corner, her perfectly polished nails glistening in the dim bar light.

"I wish I could say I felt sorry for you, but a break away from the chaos that is Hogwarts is a slight relief." Aria sighed. She was still not used to being around so many people all the time having spent the past few years alone, besides her mother, she often needed time alone to breathe.

"Oh, then you must be new. I've had my fair share of lonely professors spend an evening behind my bar, and I usually remember who's spilled their whole life story to me. Though you do look familiar, what do you teach?" She finished up with her glasses, leaning her elbows on the bar to get a closer look at the younger woman, her breasts practically falling out her blouse.

"I'm just an apprentice for now. I'm the new Potions Mistress." Aria smiled, taking a small sip of her drink.

"Oh yes, now I remember. You came here with that Severus. He's not unfamiliar with our whiskey selection, if you know what I mean." Both women rolled their eyes in unison. "He doesn't seem to talk much though, I can't say I know anything about him. I must admit I was surprised to see him with a gorgeous young witch like yourself."

"You weren't the only one." Aria scoffed, finishing off her pumpkin juice.

"Well it makes a little bit more sense now." She laughed, a set of pristine pearly teeth emerging from her red glossy lips.

It seemed Aria was not the only one who had been admiring the woman's beauty, and almost right on cue the drunk decided to look a little bit more lively, demanding another pint. Reluctantly the barmaid obliged, shooting Aria an apologetic look.

Aria couldn't help but notice the gruff looking man practically throw himself over the bar in order to get a good gawk at the barmaids behind. The slightly older woman seemed unfazed by the mans actions, in-fact Aria wasn't entirely unsure she wasn't enjoying the attention. Choosing not to interrupt as neither party seemed to object to the altercation, Aria kept her mouth shut.

That was until the man's attention turned to her. The barmaid disappeared from view, presumably to refill the barrel the drunk had practically drowned himself in. "Haven't seen you around here before." He started harmlessly, though Aria did not miss the way his eyes seemed to scan the whole of her body.

"Just moved into Hogwarts, haven't seen much of Hogsmeade." Aria admitted, but made the conscious decision to turn away from him, hoping not to engage in any further conversation.

"You a friend of Ros'" He asked, intrigued, while downing a good half of his pint.

"Not really, no." Aria shrugged. "I didn't even know her name until just now."

"Rosalind Rookwood." He edged his seat closer to Arias. "Fantastic barmaid, though I wouldn't say it was her best profession." He winked.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean." Aria turned her nose up at the man, just praying he would leave her alone.

"Well, you know, bein' a barmaids fine an all, but it doesn't always pay the bills. Miss Rookwood's got her fair share of stories to tell, and not all of them her own." He laughed, the potent stench of his alcoholic breath suffocating Aria as he leaned in closer, wrapping a heavy arm around her shoulders. "If it turns out teaching isn't for you, just know you'll have a loyal customer in me." He hiccuped, his free arm, reaching down to stroke the woman's exposed thigh.

Instinctively Aria gripped onto his wrist, forcing it off of her. "What the hell do you think you are doing!?" Aria exclaimed, pushing the man away from her. "Don't you dare lay your hands on me again."

The drunk showed no sign of guilt or remorse, he simply chuckled to himself, revealing a shocking lack of teeth. Disgusted, Aria made to move but found herself cornered against the bar.

Fortunately the altercation had caused enough disruption to alert the two men having a casual evening drink. Instantly one rushed over to her aid, stupefying the old man. The second man followed suit and made it his business to remove the frozen figure from the bar.

"Are you alright?" The first man asked, his brow furrowing with worry.

"I'm fine, thank you for stepping in." Aria smiled, brushing herself down, as though she was riding herself from the drunks disgusting touch.

The man returned a boyish grin, his eyes bright blue and full of kindness. Aria had never seen anyone like him. His presence was almost cartoon like, with positivity radiating from him. Aria couldn't help but let out a nervous laugh, her smile growing just by looking at him. His energy was contagious.

"Is... is there anything I can do to thank you?" She tried your shake herself back to reality though remained entranced by him.

"Nothing at all. I'm just glad I was here to help." He extended a hand, almost nervously, introducing himself. "Alexander Turner, pleasure to meet you."

"You too." Aria blushed, unable to break eye contact with the man, and was now incredibly aware of how dumbfounded she must look. "I'm Aria" She stuttered, the sound of his friend retuning sending her back to reality. "I apologise for staring, but I just can't seem to take my eyes off you, you have an enchanting aura about you. I'm sorry if I may seem a little strange."

"There's no need to apologise, I get it all the time." He laughed, though not arrogantly, it was sweet and innocent. "My mother's a Veela." He added, almost embarrassedly, upon noticing the slightly look of confusion appearing on Arias face.

The couple shared an awkward smile, both at a loss for words.

Alexander's friend passed by the pair silently, slapping him encouragingly on the shoulder before disappearing behind the bar, Rosalind following closely behind.

Aria noted the difference in both attitude and appearance in the two men, finally able to distinguish between the two. The friend was tall and broad shouldered, his hair messy though not long. He gave off a sort of American football, "bro", fratbroy vibe. In other words kind of arrogant and full of himself. Clearly he saw himself as the one in control. Alexander on the other hand was more slim, but not skinny. Tall but not lanky. Innocent but not naive. His clothes appeared similar to his friends but presented more neatly and well put together. She assumed he felt sorry for his friend, knowing his Veela parentage would gain him lots of female attention, and in return Alexander simply allowed himself to get pushed around to boost his friends ego.

With a roll of his eyes Alexander practically confirmed her theory and Aria couldn't stop herself from laughing once more.

Knowing that while Rosalind and 'Braydon'; as he turned out to be, would not be returning any time soon, Aria and Alexander chose to occupy one of the booths and get to know a little bit about each other, where Alex truly confirmed all of Aria's suspicions.

Upon Braydon's return, he flashed his rather large biceps, kissing each one in turn as he flexed them, before letting out a hearty growl, presumably this was a display of male dominance among his kind. His kind being; douchebags.

With another roll of her eyes Aria bid farewell to the men, thanking Alexander once more for his heroic rescue.

"How about a date?" Alex called nervously as Aria had just about reached the door.

"I'm sorry?" She replies, caught off guard.

"A date, here, with me. What do you say?" Aria shook her head unable to look away from that damn charming smile of his.

"I'll agree to a few drinks." She clarified. "Just send me an owl, you know where I'll be." And with that she disappeared once more down the path to Hogwarts, the grey sky above all the while threatening to rain down on her.

Taglist: @ayamenimthiriel @lizlil​

[paaradoxum]

BakuTodo Rec List of Fics Vol. II

It’s been a while since the last time I did the other list and many new, wonderful fics appeared (the dynamics will be the same: AO3 fics that includes top!Bakugou and bottom!Todoroki for those that are NSFW), so if you wanna check out here is Part I.

This time there are 32 fics in this list, I have more and probably I will make Part III soon.

Spoiler: EVERY SINGLE one of these stories are FUCKING AWESOME.

Rating: G

→ flowers die, feelings grow by kinneyb

Summary:  When Bakugo first visits a local flower shop with Jirou, he buys some flowers in a lame attempt to piss off one of the employees - a guy named Shouto. But then he gets a little too invested in keeping his flowers alive.

→ Pretty by doop-doop.

Summary:  Like so many things that had to do with Shouto, the question took Bakugou entirely by surprise. “Do you think I’m pretty?”

→ For a Single Moment by itsclowreedsfault.

Summary:  Katsuki shakes his head with a sigh and an unbidden smile. Shouto's always been like an overexcited kid when it came to cats; Katsuki should've known he didn't stand a chance against them in Shouto's first visit to a cat cafe.

Rating: T

→ Ruin My Life by justhavesex.

Summary: He's not a vengeful person, really, he's not.

But him and Bakugou have started this little on-going war of theirs back in middle school when they were 10 years old and Todoroki had accidentally—if you got Todoroki drunk enough and fed his ego well enough he would, in fact, admit that it was very much on purpose—accidentally fed Bakugou's limited edition All Might magazine to his cat.

→ Aesthetic Distance by llyn.

Summary:  This was around the time Shouto was appearing in all the blogs and rags and instagrams wearing a hideous faux fur coat of bright, hot neon like some awful crawling creature from an acid trip had been hunted and skinned, its pelt draped over Shouto's shoulders.

→ Dance To This by justhavesex.

Summary:  Bakugou has never cared much about being an alpha, not really, not until he met the most frustrating omega in all existence: Todoroki Shouto.

→ Welcome to the Mile-High Club by minhakos.

Summary:  In which Todoroki realizes that maybe airplanes aren't the only thing that should make him nervous.

→ Boyfriend Tactics by Esselle.

Summary: 'Shouto's eyes go impossibly wide. He seems to lose all powers of communication for a moment and just stands there, frozen, staring at Katsuki and the kitten. Finally, eventually, he utters the tiniest noise Katsuki has ever heard him make.

"Ah…" '

--

Katsuki comes to the aid of a small and fluffy civilian while on patrol.

→ Line by Line by Lillabelle.

Summary:  With half his sketchbook filled with drawings of the guy, Katsuki wondered if he’s already crossed the line of being insanely creepy. They’ve never spoken, and he honestly only knew the person’s name was Todoroki Shouto because of role call in class. Shouto was just… so unique to look at with his half and half appearance. It was hard for Katsuki’s eyes not to get drawn to him. Not to mention they shared several classes, so if Katsuki ever got bored and felt like drawing something, there he was.

→ a todobaku one-shot collection by kagehinataboke.

Summary:  all of my multiple, multiple, multiple todobaku one-shots. i stan two (2) dipshit boys that are obviously in love and hate with each other.

→ amaryllis by ?

Summary:  The amaryllis has come to symbolize pride, determination and radiant beauty. Somehow this all suited Katsuki a lot more than Shouto expected.

→ tell ourselves a good lie by ElmoIsSatan. (In-Progress 12/?)

Summary: For a straight guy with anger issues, getting a “boyfriend” might just be his only escape.

Or-

Bakugo makes an impulsive decision and suddenly gains a boyfriend just to prove his parents wrong... The only problem is it’s all fake.

→ how to register for a library card (and get a boyfriend in the process) by Kaleid369.

Summary: “Friends have each other’s numbers, yeah?” Bakugou shrugs. “I don’t hate you, I guess.”

“Lucky me.”

“Lucky you,” Bakugou snorts. “I gotta go. Text me so I have your number.”

“I will.”

He's already started walking away when Shouto blurts out, “See you tomorrow?”

Bakugou shoots him a smirk over his shoulder, as if to say, Duh.

Shouto stands and stares at his retreating back, and the thought of kissing him pounds along with the beat of his heart.

→ on brand by dinosuns.

Summary: Midoriya is honestly unsure what’s worse: the tragic fact that Todoroki Shouto can make anything look objectively incredible or the fact Kacchan has six versions of the exact same photograph saved onto his camera roll.

Nobody saves a photo that many times by accident.

Kacchan set the bar, Todoroki raised it. That is not a good thing.

→ The Journey Home by dinosuns.

Summary: “Your hair looks real fucking nice.”

“I thought it was about time I grew it out,” Todoroki says, something wistful caught in his voice. “You were always saying I should.”

That’s true. And Bakugou is satisfied to know he was right about it looking good, but it’s not like he can share that with the fucking class anymore.

--

Bakugou tells himself that he's fine with how things turned out between them. He also tells himself he's not still in love.

Rating: M

→ Zephyr by yeetin. (In-Progress 4/?)

Summary: The breeze that sifted gently through a golden sea of tall, dry grass brought the tiny spike of a different scent. An inconspicuous little prickle down the spine, barely even worth paying attention to. Something no one else would even imagine being able to notice.

But Bakugou did.

→ Objection, Your Honor by Myona. (In-Progress (8/?)

Summary: Shoto Todoroki hated Katsuki Bakugou. And he had plenty of reasons to do so.

But he didn't know that how things can change for the two of them who saw nothing but trouble in each other's presence and life altogether. Katsuki was a trouble from the first time Shoto heard his name, to the first day he met the man.

Rating: E

→ On Hot Blondes and Drunken Hookups by Crossfire. (In-Progress 4/?) I love this so so much.

Summary: “I’m Bakugou. What’s your name, Pretty Boy?”

Shouto looks at the drink in his hand, then back to the beautiful blonde boy, then back to the drink and downs it in one go, ignoring the slight burn as it slides down his throat, and while it would have been more suave to appear unaffected, he gives his head a little shake. He takes a quick breath and forces the words out before he has a chance to realize what a massive mistake this all is.

“Hot blondes I want to bang can call me Shouto.”

→ Tick Tick Boom by Ajaxthegreat. (In-Progress 6/?) THIS is so good, I’m in love.

Summary: An exhausted socially awkward violin prodigy and a deaf punk rock drummer walk into a bar.

→ Better Take a Mental Picture by chibibeeee. This is HOT HOT.

Summary:  The one where Deku watches Bakugou take Todoroki and their exhibitionist kink is unlocked.

→ Cover: Blown by darkanddank. (In-Progress 1/2)

Summary: Some undercover agents got hooked on drugs. Went full Stockholm Syndrome, flipped and joined up with the other side. As Bakugou’s palm went flat over Todoroki’s navel and dove beneath his closed zipper, Todoroki started to understand just how easy it might be to go rogue.

...aka cop Todoroki gets his world rocked so hard by bad guy Bakugou that he has an existential crisis

→ Just One Bite by Crossfire.

Summary: This particular fuckup begins when he saves a cat from a demon in a sketchy alley.

Well, maybe slightly before that when his esteemed hedge-witch mentor turned out to be an incubus who coincidentally turned him and his stupid nerdy neighbor into incubi.

Or maybe when he was born to a non-magic family, but early on developed minor magical inclinations that turned out to be not-so-minor and kind-of-hugely-destructive.

Wherever this fuckup was born, it’s culminated as follows: Bakugou has been an incubus for one hundred and twenty-two days, seven hours, and thirty-six minutes, has not had a single successful feed, and is essentially slowly starving to death. His mentor is suspiciously MIA and that stupid shitty nerd has managed to secure himself a two-person harem so it’s just Bakugou, starving. To death. Slowly.

→ Gangster by Brixxen.

Summary: Bakugou is a detective trying to solve a case that's been open for months. He ends up in a town and meets a man who could be his undoing...

Todoroki wasn't expecting the blonde at the bar to leave him wanting more...

→ How to spend a Friday night by veltana.

Summary: That's how Katsuki ended up on his bed on a Friday night leaning against the headboard with his laptop between his spread legs, his hard dick in his hand, watching Shouto open himself up for him on the screen.

→ Your Turn by doop-doop.

Summary: An extra scene/epilogue/continuation of smd.

Bakugou and Todoroki housesit for Bakugou's parents and take advantage of Bakugou's large bed.

→ Comfort by hellaradholly.

Summary: Katsuki agrees to be Shouto's roommate after UA despite having an unbearable crush on him.a gift for Katie for the BakuTodo Valentine's Day Exchange!

→ Empire of Dirt by castiiron, clairesail. (In-Progress 5/?)

Summary: There was something different about being with Bakugou Katsuki. Something that Shouto had been searching for tonight, to no avail. A consistent burn in his gut, the warmth of a fire that hadn’t been stoked in many years. Katsuki had been inexcusably rough with him. Harsh in a way that had pulled him back to reality. Shouto hadn’t realized he was missing out, being so used to what he knew; going through the motions, a means to an end. His life for the last few years had revolved around mediocre sex as a way to abate constant desire, always at the forefront of his mind.

Unhealthy coping mechanisms are easier to hide when you aren't screwing your ex-classmate.

→ Be Quiet by chibibeeee.

Summary: Katsuki and Shouto stay the night at Deku's. If only they had any self control, then they wouldn't have to keep so quiet.

→ Speak Softly My Sweet Villain by Brixxen.

Summary: Ask anyone in Tokyo and they’ll tell you the same thing. That the No.1 Pro Hero Todoroki Shoto is the perfect hero. He’s kind to everyone, always the first to arrive on a crime scene, always the calm and collected hero everyone wants him to be.

It was ironic how things happened to lead Shoto to his current situation. Him moaning and shuddering like a teenager, clinging to the strong perfect body of the most wanted villain in Japan, Ground Zero.

→ Peanuts and Wolves by cashmeresho.

Summary: “Yeah, man, okay!” The guy holds up his hands in surrender and Shouto shoots him another apologetic look. “I really didn't know you guys were married! I didn't see a ring!”

“Oh,” Katsuki says. He frowns hard for a minute and then grabs Shouto by the arm to whisk him away to his table with Izuku and Kirishima to guard him or sniff him or whatever weird territorial thing he wants to do.

→ College Roommates|BakuTodo by S_Kuro.

Summary: Todoroki is the son of the famous Todoroki Enji, also known as Endeavor, his father is a famous business man that wants Todoroki to take over his business, but Todoroki wants to become a photographer. He goes against his father's wishes and goes to an art university miles away from home. There he meets a certain explosive blonde, who turns out to be his roommate. what sorts of ridiculous shenanigans will they find themselves in and what relationships will they end up in.

a BakuTodo fanfic

This is my first fanfic with these two, so don't judge me and I hope you like it.

→ Locker Room by darkqueen_25.

Summary: There are worse things to walk in on in a locker room, Inasa thinks, than your two new friends fucking against the shower walls.

There's probably nothing better than being asked to join in, though.

[makomori]

FOUR | OBSERVATIONS

USHIJIMA WAKATOSHI x OC

Nishimura Yua has to take her nephew to his first rep practice with the Tohoku Tigers at Shiratorizawa Academy. Ushijima Wakatoshi is filling in for the assistant coach on said team.

She’s recovering from a nasty breakup and he’s reeling from a stunning finals loss against the Jackals.

Yua’s drawn to his composure and honesty.

Wakatoshi finds her warmth and tenacity intriguing.

It’s the start of a Brand New Story; can they heal from past hurts and endure new challenges in order to help each other trust and love again?

CHAPTERS

ONE | NEW TERRITORY

TWO | FAMILIARITY

THREE | INTRODUCTIONS

Length: 3.5k words

Yua goes in to event planner mode while Wakatoshi assesses Rui-kun's skills. And an innocent gesture throws both parties off balance.

If someone makes you feel, let them. | Reyna Biddy

Step one: Get Rui-kun to practice with one of the best wing spikers in the V.League.

CHECK.

Yua tried not to look too satisfied with herself, but that turned out exactly how she thought it would. Well, maybe not exactly, but it was close. A big part of her job was facilitating meetings between two parties and setting up this pepper session was no different. In fact, it was easier because she didn’t have to read between the lines with Rui-kun and his Wakatoshi-san. They loved volleyball and that more than enough for them to connect.

After Wakatoshi-san left her to practice with an almost-bouncing Rui-kun, Yua placed her overcoat and backpack on the sidelines. Good thing she decided to wear her favourite pair of stretchy, high-waisted jeans and a black t-shirt; she’d be bending and twisting to get the net set up properly. Plus, stretchy meant she could eat whatever she wanted without feeling guilty.

Two of her closest friends at Date Tech were managers on the volleyball teams, so she often got roped into setting up and cleaning up whenever they needed extra help. And by the looks of things, Shiratorizawa’s equipment wasn’t too different from she was used to dealing with.

With a little, “Hup!” she carried one pole across the gym, placed it upright, and did the same for the other. Next, she hooked the cord on the wheel at the top of the pole and adjusted its height before looping the end in the crank box. Once she used the crank to get one side somewhat level, she dragged the net to the opposite pole and repeated the process until everything was taut. The last thing she had to do was secure the bottom corners of the net with the loose strings.

Step two: Set up the net.

CHECK.

Satisfied, she walked to the back of the gym to examine her handiwork. Nice and even. Not bad, considering she hadn’t set a net up since high school. Hopefully, that would hold up for their three-hour practice. But the more she admired her handiwork, the more she felt something was missing. Ah, the antennas! They were laying close to the equipment closet, so she nearly missed them.

“Ushijima-sensei!” Yua called. The tall man looked over at her briefly before receiving Rui-kun’s strong spike. She grinned. His swing had become more powerful since the last time she saw him play a year ago. She couldn’t wait to see him spike freely in a game.

His sensei remained unfazed. But he said something to Rui-kun that she couldn’t hear. But judging by the look of pure joy on her nephew’s face, she guessed it was a compliment. She walked over to them, partly because she was nosey and wanted to hear what they were talking about, and because the sensible part of her sent a reminder that it was rude to yell a question to someone you had just met from across the gym.

But the selfish part of her wanted to see the Adlers’ Left Cannon in action.

Wakatoshi-san was certainly a fearsome individual to behold when he was on TV and constantly spiking the shit out of the ball. But he was softer in person. She meant it when she said he was sweet. The look of amazement on his face was priceless; he probably didn’t hear that too often. But her respect for him deepened as she heard him speak to Rui-kun about dealing with failure.

Learning to bounce back from something that didn’t work out was invaluable lesson not only volleyball, but in life. She knew that because she was trying to bounce back from having her heart broken. She didn’t know how her recovery would turn out, but that would be a problem for her future self.

Yua decided to watch them pepper for a bit before she asked about setting up the antennas. Wakatoshi-san was just a bit taller than Tak-kun, who towered over her five-seven frame at six-foot-three. The sleeves of his white warmup sweater were rolled up and she did her best not to ogle at his leanly muscled forearms and obnoxiously large hands while they were speaking earlier. But she didn’t feel guilty about giving him a once over because he did the same to her. She was used to clients scrutinizing her and passing hard judgements, but she didn’t sense any of that negativity from him. Only curiosity. Which, in turn, made her curious about him.

Now, his face resembled what she saw on TV. Sharp angles and a singular, driven look in his dark golden eyes. He was barely out of breath, which was impressive because she was certain that he’d been practicing on his own for at least forty-five minutes before they arrived. And while most people would be easy going during a pepper session, he was purposeful and meticulous. None of his movements were unnecessary or wasted. The boys would certainly be spoiled if he decided to stay on for the season.

Wakatoshi was highly aware of Yua-san’s presence the whole time she was working on the net, and he was surprised at how fast she completed its setup. She moved with ease and confidence, and he once again had to stop himself from staring, this time at her curvaceous form. She said that her brother was a player, which could explain why she was so comfortable in this setting. Hm. If sensei was still having trouble finding a manager, Yua-san could be a solid option for the position. However, he was troubled because he was always focused where volleyball was concerned. So, trying to maintain his concentration while she watched him from a few feet away was difficult.

He was used to being watched by thousands of screaming people when he played in huge arenas, so he couldn’t figure out why one person’s attention was so unsettling. But then again, he didn’t know very many people like Yua-san. He felt the urge to show off in front of her, which surprised him because he wasn’t a flashy player. He needed to do something to draw her interest back to Rui-kun.

Yua, ignorant of his swirling thoughts, finally asked, “Should I set up the attack antennas, too?” She knew that the antennas were mandatory for official games but wasn’t sure if Saitou-sensei wanted to use them during practice. Wakatoshi-san surprised them both by catching the ball. He turned to Yua and she raised her brows slightly, a questioning look in her eyes. She almost laughed because could feel Rui-kun pouting because she knew he was having a great time peppering.

“Not yet,” he rumbled in that ridiculous baritone. Yua fought the shiver that raced up her spine. He sounded more attractive in person, too. “I can set them up before the practice game.”

“Ushijima-sensei, did I do something wrong?” Rui-kun’s earlier thoughts of rejection crept back, but he was relieved when his coach shook his head in the negative.

“No, Rui-kun, you didn’t do anything wrong. I’m happy to see that your form is solid overall.” The teen’s face lit up at his sensei’s compliment. “Now that the net is up; I want to see what your spikes look like. Yua-san, do you mind helping me with this drill?”

Rui didn’t need to be told twice. He was at the attack line before his sensei or aunt could blink. Wakatoshi chuckled. If the rest of the boys were half as energetic as Rui-kun, he and Saitou-sensei would be run into the ground before the end of the day. But that was always a good problem to have. Passion for the game was necessary for a healthy team.

“How could I say no to that energy?” Yua laughed as they walked to the net. Wakatoshi-san pulled the ball hammock along so they wouldn’t have to run for the ball every time Rui-kun spiked. “I haven’t seen you play in a year, so let’s see how much you’ve improved.” When she stood beside Wakatoshi-san in the setter’s position, she was once again reminded at how short she was. Actually, no, she thought with a huff. He was just absurdly tall.

“Sensei, Yua-chan can set for me! She’s really good!” Wakatoshi-san tried to hide a knowing look and grin, as if Rui-kun’s admission confirmed something he thought about her. Her eyes narrowed but she decided to let that go for now.

“Rui-kun!” She protested with her hands set firmly on her generous hips. She scowled up at Wakatoshi, and he thought she looked charming even though he felt ferocious energy coming off her in waves. “Wakatoshi-san, I’m not a player. I’ve been Tak-kun’s pepper partner since we were kids, but I’ve never played in an official game.”

Wakatoshi’s eyes gleamed playfully. “This isn’t an official game. Just a drill. If you set, I’ll be free to observe Rui-kun’s approach and attack. Even if your set isn’t perfect, I can see what he needs to adjust and make suggestions right away.”

Step three: Set for Rui-kun in front of the Ushijima Wakatoshi.

CHECK?

Yua could tell he was enjoying the position she was currently in, because she was having a hard time denying his logic and Rui-kun’s pleading face. She chewed on her bottom lip for a few moments before deciding. “Oh, all right,” she sighed, shooting the two of them a mock glare. “But only because it’ll help you improve.”

“Don’t worry about the set; I’ll do my best to spike it!” Rui-kun stood a few feet behind the attack line, his body already set for an approach. Yua smiled at him, thankful that he was trying to make her feel better. Setting was the last thing she thought she’d be doing today. And in front of a professional, no less. She’d just have to treat it like all those times she practiced with Tak-kun in the backyard. No biggie. 

“Set the ball high, and about two feet away from the net. That will give him time to adjust his approach if he needs to.” Yua blinked and followed Wakatoshi-san’s outstretched hand when he pointed to the spot in front of her. She didn’t realize that he had bent down to her level because she was so focused on getting the first set right. His voice, close to her ear, was deep and reassuring. It helped calm her down. He then stood to his full height and tossed the ball to Rui-kun. “It’ll be easier to set if he tosses to you first.”

“Is this your first time coaching, Ushijima-sensei?” She asked teasingly as he positioned himself just off the court, right on the attack line. It was the best place to observe Rui-kun’s technique. She rubbed her hands together before shaking her fingers out a few times.

Wakatoshi nodded. He hoped that he was doing a decent job at imparting the advice his coaches had given to him in the past. “It is. I’ll most likely be coaching after I decide to retire, so this is good practice.”

“You had me fooled,” she joked, lifting her arms in a setting motion. Her hands were positioned just above her forehead with fingers curled, shaped like a ball. Not bad. “With your tips, I feel like I could set in a game right now.”

“Yua-chan,” Rui-kun piped up, a whine in his tone. “Are you ready?” He was itching to hear what sensei had to say about his spiking technique.

She shook her head and clapped her hands once. “Sorry, sweetheart! I’m ready now.”

Wakatoshi had his arms crossed when Rui-kun tossed the ball to Yua-san. She concentrated, positioned her hands for the set, and used her arms and wrists to send the ball almost perfectly to the spot he indicated for her. His attention then shifted to Rui-kun so he could assess his approach properly, but by the time he turned, the teen was already soaring through the air.

Rui-kun’s right arm positioned high, with his elbow above his ear. His left arm was outstretched but quickly came down to his side as he used that momentum to propel his right hip and shoulder forward. His hitting arm was relaxed when his right elbow drove forward above his head to start his swing. As a result, his right hand was loose, and bent fingers opened naturally from the intense acceleration. His now-open hand connected with the ball just above his head, and a deafening crack echoed through the gym.

Wakatoshi’s eyes widened when the ball careened straight down the line and landed with a satisfying THUD on the other side of the court. He gaped at the teen who had just landed in front of him. A near-perfect line shot at his age? No wonder sensei wanted him on the team.

“Ah, gomen!” Rui-kun exclaimed, jogging backwards to reposition himself behind the attack line. “That was out. Let me try again!”

“Rui-kun, that was amazing!” Yua couldn’t believe that he had improved this much in a year. From what she could tell, his vertical increased by a few inches, his mid-air form was cleaner, and his swing was faster and harder. She looked over at Wakatoshi-san, who’s sharp eyes were filled with approval.

“Well done,” the ace declared with a nod. “But curl your fingers down a bit more. You’ll be able to send the ball to the back corner next time.”

Rui nodded energetically and caught another ball before tossing it back to his aunt. She set a bit higher this time, so he slowed his approach before swinging his arms back and leaping into the air. When his hand contacted the ball this time, he made sure to curve his fingers down. The ball landed snugly in the back-left corner, just like sensei said it would. After landing, he immediately turned to his mentor with unbridled excitement in his eyes.

Wakatoshi smiled and nodded again. “How did that feel?” He knew all too well about the satisfaction of landing a solid kill. Rui-kun’s instincts were strong. He was able to adjust and execute a subtle instruction quickly. Of course, there was always room for improvement, but he liked that Rui-kun was immediately willing to try again after his first spike was critiqued. Some players stayed stuck in their heads for too long and that hindered their ability to improve. He knew that firsthand.

Rui-kun stared at his right hand. The force of the hit was still vibrating in his palm and fingertips. “That felt amazing, sensei! How did you know that all I had to do was curl my fingers down?”

“Experience,” Wakatoshi chuckled. “But that comes in time. I have a feeling your skills will increase greatly during this season.” Perhaps he’d talk to sensei about taking on another assistant coach. It was good to be around young players who were hungry to learn as many skills as possible.

Yua smiled as the two of them talked in detail about the approach, with Wakatoshi-san occasionally demonstrating and positioning Rui-kun in front of the net. Both looked comfortable and relaxed in their element. This is what she was missing in Tokyo. Work had her moving at such a fast pace that she didn’t have time to experience genuine human connections. She worked with people all the time but got lost in the fray more time than she could recall. And the longer she watched her nephew learn from his idol and now mentor, her heart was happy that she was able to experience this with him.

Moving to Sendai was a good choice. And maybe her road to recovery wouldn’t be so bad after all.

By the time Saitou-sensei arrived at 12:40, Wakatoshi-san had made several adjustments to Rui-kun’s form. Yua quietly stepped away and made sure that the rest of the equipment was in place for the start of practice. Her nephew was quickly absorbing everything taught to him, and she knew that he’d be practicing non-stop when he got home. She couldn’t wait to meet Saitou—

“Konnichiwa!”

Yua turned at the kind voice and smiled. Saitou-sensei was tall, though not as tall as Wakatoshi-san, and sported a buzz-cut and glasses. “Hello, sensei. I’m Nishimura Yua. It’s nice to meet you.” She bowed. “I hope you don’t mind; I brought Rui-kun early so we could warm up, but we luckily ran into Wakatoshi-san.”

Sensei brow furrowed. “Nishimura?” He murmured. Then his brows raised. “Are you related to Takeshi-kun?”

“Unfortunately, he’s my brother,” Yua laughed. “He’s a middle blocker at Waseda now. And he’s always told me that you’re his favourite coach.”

Saitou grinned at the Nishimura likeness. From the dimples to the mischievous glint in their eyes. “I used to see you in the stands at our games. Tak-kun said you were his biggest supporter.”

“Not by choice,” she groaned. But her tone was light. “It’s just the two of us, so we ended up becoming involved in each other’s hobbies.”

“That’s never a bad thing,” Saitou chuckled. He was glad to hear that Tak-kun was doing well in Waseda. They had won the Intercollegiate Championship three years in a row.

“I agree,” Yua said, her eyes misting slightly. She missed her brother. “I learned a lot from watching games with him or whenever we’d pepper together.”

“I hope he can come up to visit. It would be nice to catch up with him.”

Yua hadn’t seen Tak-kun in a few months, so she was excited to catch up with him, too. “I’ll let him know; I’m sure he’ll be able to come up soon.”

Saitou nodded and looked over at Wakatoshi-san and his young charge. Rui-kun was currently working on his vertical with Wakatoshi-san watching him intently. “I’m excited to work with Rui-kun. His instincts and awareness are incredible for his age.”

Yua’s heart warmed at the compliment. She only had a glimpse of what her nephew was capable of. She could only imagine the player he’d be by the end of the season. “Thank you for giving him the opportunity. I know he’ll only get better with you and Wakatoshi-san training him.”

Before Saitou could answer, he saw some of the players walk through the gym doors. He bowed quickly to Yua. “Ah, excuse me. More students are arriving. I hope to see you again soon, Yua-san.”

Yua nodded and waved at him. She started walking toward the net, hoping to say goodbye to Rui-kun, but he dashed past her, yelling excitedly at his friends who had just arrived. She shook her head. That energy was all Tetsu-kun. She moved toward the sidelines, remembering that’s where she left her overcoat and backpack before she set up the net. But she frowned when she didn’t see them there.

“Allow me.”

Yua looked to her right and saw her overcoat suspended in mid-air, ready to be worn. She glanced up and saw Wakatoshi-san standing next to her, patiently waiting for her to loop her arms in the sleeves. A blush crept up the back of her next when she saw him flick his eyes up and down her body. She might have just broken up with Kaz, but she’d be lying to herself if she said she didn’t find Wakatoshi-san attractive. She turned and slipped her arms in the coat sleeves, grateful for the brief pause.

Before Yua turned to face him, he ran his fingers across her shoulders, smoothing out any creases in the back of her coat. She bit back a gasp. His touch was strong, sure, and her skin tingled through the thick layer of cloth. When she did turn, he held out her backpack, which looked even smaller with his long fingers wrapped around the straps. She stared at his calloused hand briefly before taking her bag. Their fingers brushed, and her eyes widened when pure energy raced from his fingers and up her arm. She pulled back, startled. His face mirrored her expression of astonishment.

What the hell was that?

They stared at each other for a few moments, oblivious to the growing level of noise in the gym. Yua couldn’t tell what he was feeling or thinking, but his dark golden eyes were stormy as he tried to process what happened.

One thing was certain; something irrevocable had passed between them.

Yua was the first to break their standoff. His eyes were too intense for her right now. “Can you tell Rui-kun that I’ll pick him up by 4:15? I know it’ll take some time to clean everything up.”

Wakatoshi-san held her gaze for a bit longer, and she found herself holding her breath again. Slowly, his eyes softened. When he finally spoke, she was relieved to hear the playful lilt return to his voice. “Things would go faster if you came back early to help.”

Yua scoffed and squeezed her fingers tightly around her backpack. “I-I think you’ll be able to handle that without me, Ushijima-sensei.”

He tilted his head and smiled. Yua decided then that a smiling Wakatoshi-san was more dangerous than a serious Wakatoshi-san. “I’ll let Rui-kun know. See you later?” Her stomach flipped at his hopeful tone.

“See you later, sensei.”

[fire-the-headcanons]

Follow the Beacon Summer—Trust

[Link to Masterpost]

Summer approached the cabin cautiously. There was no way for her mother to have beaten her there, but she would obviously have called ahead and put Huang on watch.

She'd called each of the twins three times, but neither of them had responded. Something was wrong.

And as usual, no one's willing to offer a damn explanation. She channeled all her frustration into her throwing arm and pitched the rock at the sensor. The klaxon on the porch wailed. It took less than ten seconds for Tai and Huang to run out, gauntlets gleaming on their hands, scanning the treeline for danger.

Tai had gone out the back door. Summer swung Gungnir into position, and shoved her aura into the Dust cores. She hadn't built it with a reverse setting. Making the cores repel each other was an unreliable way to fly at best, and when used to fire the arrow—like right now—it frequently lacked enough power to stick into what she was shooting at.

Right now, though, she wasn't trying to hit anything, she just needed Tai's attention. And most importantly, this method was silent. The arrow flew haphazardly out of the trees and flopped into the yard a safe distance from Tai.

"It headed east!" he shouted, taking off in the opposite direction. He'd lead Huang on a wild goose chase, and then meet up with her. As soon as they were out of sight, she resummoned the arrow and took off toward the cliffs.

***

Usually she would sit on the edge and enjoy the view—this was her favorite spot on the entire island. Today, she was enough of a Grimm magnet without sitting out in the open. She waited in a tree with Gungnir on her lap, ready to make a quick escape if her mother thought to check here.

She spotted Tai a long way off—orange cargo pants stood out pretty well against the snow. Her own black-and-white blended in, and he jumped in brief alarm when she dropped in front of him.

"What's going on?" Tai demanded, breathless. "You couldn't call?"

"Mom probably called your dad after I ran," she mumbled, clipping Gungnir to her belt. "Didn't want him to know I was coming."

"Ran? What—"

She stumbled forward and threw her arms around his ribcage, about all she could reach without stretching, and buried her face in his shirt. "M-Mom got a call from Ozpin and flipped out."

Tai squeezed her back, still trying to catch his breath but already panting less. "Flipped out?"

"She, she was screaming about Qrow and Raven, she, she grabbed me—" she choked back a sob. "What's going on? Why won't she talk to me?"

"...Dad asked me some weird stuff about them too, before you set off the alarm."

"They're not answering their scrolls. What if they're hurt, what if—"

"Okay," Tai muttered. "Okay. We need to get to Vale, right?"

"How?" she pulled away, wiping at her face. "Uncle Balt is the only pilot, and there's no way to sneak onto the ferry. Not in the middle of winter."

"We… we can call the forge. Qrow was supposed to be working on his scythe all week, right? Professor Carmine can let us know if he's there."

"The forge—" Summer struggled to breathe in a way that had nothing to do with the cold. "Oh, gods, he—there must have been an accident—"

"There's no reception here," Tai said, checking his scroll. "We'll have to get closer to the school."

Summer nodded, drawing, loading, and firing the arrow in one smooth motion. It sailed out of sight, down the hill to the south. A longer route but faster than going straight over the cliff when there was snow on the ground. 

Tai took a running start, folding his shields together and throwing them down. The two of them leapt on in perfect sync, and Summer activated the cores. They'd been practicing on Beacon's obstacle course for a year, but they'd been practicing on these cliffs for half their lives.

"Do you have the forge's number?" Summer shouted over the wind, leaning with Tai around a turn.

"No, but I've got the main number for the school. It'll be fine, they'll transfer us."

They started pulling to the left, a sign they had nearly caught up to the place the arrow landed. Summer pressed the release button, and in a moment it flew to her waiting hand. Fire again, further along the trail. Release. Fire. Release. 

In less than ten minutes, they had reached the top of the ridge that blocked Signal. The old fort stood below them, stone and snow painted orange-pink by the sunset and blending together. Only the lighthouse stood clearly against the sky. They were level with its roof—but more importantly they were in range of the communication dishes that had been retrofitted onto it to link Patch to the CCT Tower at Beacon.

Summer dialed on Tai's scroll as he folded up his shields, putting it on speaker. "Good afternoon, this is Beacon Tower. How may I direct your call?"

"The forge, please," she said, fighting to keep her voice steady and checking around for Grimm. It rang for what felt like forever before someone finally picked up.

"Beacon Forge."

"Hello, may I speak to Professor Carmine?"

There was a heavy sigh from the other end of the line. "This isn't an exam results line, kid. You'll get your scores with everyone els—"

"No, we heard there was an accident this morning," Tai lied desperately. "We just want to make sure our friend is okay, please, it'll only take a second." 

"Oh. Okay. HEY CARMINE, GOT A SEC?" a pause, and a distant shout. "She's coming over."

"Thank you," Summer shouted, but they had already left.

"Carmine Eitri, full schedule, sorry."

"What? No. Is Qrow there? Is he okay?"

"Summer? Everything's fine, what's got you worried?"

"Summer!" 

They froze, staring down the slope where Claret's dark red dress stood out against the gold and pink snow. How had she seen them so fast?

"What about Raven? Are either of them hurt?" Summer demanded, turning back to the scroll.

"I think Zelenia's crew just got back, no one was injured. Everything's fine. Are you okay?"

"Summer, please!"

"Get the sled, Tai," she ordered, re-extending Gungnir with her free hand. He nodded, clanging his gauntlets together. 

"I'll tell you everything!" They froze, warily watching as she fell to her knees in the snow, panting and clutching her side. "I'll—tell you everything—please—don't run."

Summer hesitated, and turned back to the scroll. "Professor, please let me talk to Qrow."

"He's gone for the day. Summer, I promise, he's okay. But it's better if you don't call him yet, all right? Talk to your family first."

"...Okay. Thanks, Carmine." The line clicked, and she handed the phone back to Tai. Her mother still knelt in the snow, gasping for breath. Hair fell unevenly from her braid.

"I'm sorry," she gasped, wiping her face. "I'm sorry I scared you, I'm sorry I hurt you—"

The adrenaline drained away, leaving Summer feeling tired and… empty. This was her mom, crying in the snow. She stepped forward, and offered her hand.

It took her a moment to notice, but she took it, and Summer helped pull her to her feet. "Mom." Her hand tightened. "What's going on."

She seemed every bit as sad and tired, but she answered as she hesitantly met her eye. "What's your favorite fairy tale?"

Summer sighed, letting go. "I guess I'm supposed to say the Story of the Seasons, but we don't know why."

Her eyes widened. "You got that far?"

"Oh, y'know, can't spend all our time studying," Summer shrugged with a tired smile. "But we haven't made any real progress since Halloween. I don't know what kind of code the story's supposed to hide, or whatever—"

"There's no code," her mother gave a pained smile. "The story's true."

The world seemed to hang, frozen. Summer blinked in confusion. "What?" she and Tai echoed each other.

"There are four women in the world with… incredible gifts. With magic. I know you probably don't believe me, Ozpin can prove it."

"...I believe you," Summer muttered. "Too freaking weird to be a lie."

"We—your uncles, Huang and I—most of your teachers at Beacon—the work we do for Ozpin is to protect the maidens and the people of Remnant."

"What's worse than Grimm?"

They turned to face Tai. He was frowning, eyebrows knitted together. "If you're protectors, what are you protecting everyone from? What's worse than Grimm?"

Her mom took another long, deep breath. "People are."

"...What do you mean?" Summer asked.

"Grimm are soulless. They can't choose to be any different than they are," she replied. "But some people have a choice, and they become killers anyway."

Summer's breath caught in the back of her throat, chest aching with fresh pain. "Are… are y-you saying Dad was…?"

She'd never seen her mom so tired. "There are others that want to steal the maidens' powers for themselves and use them to do harm. Your father saved the spring maiden, but he didn't make it home." She wiped her face again. "They—we—we thought they might retaliate so came to Vale where you two would be safe."

Summer shook her head, trying to push away the hollow feeling. "...What does this have to do with Qrow and Raven?"

"Ozpin found some problems with their paperwork. He thought…"

"He thought they were with...those people?"

Her mom deflated a little. "...I overreacted. Losing your father…" her voice faltered, and Summer stepped forward to pull her into a hug.

"I know. Me too." She rested her head on her mother's arm. "They're not spies. Or assassins."

She chuckled. "Carmine made that very clear. I might need to replace the speaker on my scroll. She seems to like Qrow in particular."

"Who are these people?" Tai asked. "The ones who are assassins and spies."

Her mother tensed, and when Summer looked up, she seemed pained again. "...The more you know, the more danger it puts you in. I'll answer any questions you have, but, please... just, consider waiting…" 

Summer glanced at Tai. After a moment's hesitation, he nodded. "I think we're okay, Mom," she said, breaking the hug but keeping one arm around her. "This is plenty for one day. ...I trust you."

"It's getting dark," Tai said, turning away from the ridge. "It'll be easier to walk to the cabin from here. Let's get inside."

The hollow feeling in Summer's chest seemed to echo with every footstep. Her worst fears were true— he hadn't been lost, he'd been taken. And the people responsible were still out there somewhere, working to hurt others. 

If she asked for more answers now, she wasn't sure what she'd do with them.

Next Chapter: Qrow—Empty Threat

[camillemontespan]

top of the world [interview with raleigh carerra]

I love writing interviews from character’s perspectives, sort of like a study of them. I got to say, you know when words just flow and it’s like the character takes over? Raleigh did this for me. 

Think of this as in the same universe as my Raleigh fanfic ‘Oblivion.’ Master list here:

Oblivion 

Warnings: Discussion about drug abuse. 

I’ve tagged those who liked the teaser of this, hope that’s okay. 

@emichelle @omgjasminesimone @ibldw-main @katedrakeohd @ritachacha @boneandfur @moonlightgem7 @gardeningourmet @pug-bitch @msjpuddleduck

************************************************************************

Watching Raleigh Carrera perform to an arena of 60,000 people is a masterclass in performing art.

For two hours, he owns the stage.

His voice, that husky, deep voice that has made countless fans swoon, fills the arena. He plays his guitar as if it's an extension of himself. He crowd surfs, basking in the love of his loyal fans. He takes the time to talk to the audience, though everytime he pauses, they all scream.

Raleigh Carrera has allowed Tidal Magazine to shadow him for one week on his US tour. The tour will last a month, taking in gigantic arenas and small dive bars alike. I'm interested to see what the singer is like off stage. Is he as wild as he appears on the tabloid covers or is it all an act?

The show ends with fireworks and Raleigh jumping back into the audience for a final crowd surf. From the screens placed around the arena, I can see the look of pure joy on his face as he is carried over his adoring fans. He is in his element.

***********************************

Later, we are sat in the back of his tour bus. His entourage are hanging out at the front, high with adrenaline from Raleigh's performance. They consist of his manager, publicist, stage manager and back up musicians. His publicist seemed keen to stay in the room with us but Raleigh told her to 'relax at the front with a drink.'

He has showered after his energetic concert. Now, he's changed from his signature ripped jeans and holey vests into sweatpants and a navy sweater.

'Hope you don't mind,' he says politely. 'I like to chill out after being on stage.'

He sits cross legged on a slouchy sofa. Yet, despite wanting to be chilled, Raleigh is anything but. His fingers are always moving, as if playing an invisible guitar. Occasionally he will play with his beaded bracelets or tap his hand on his leg making a drum beat.

The energy that infuses his performances still flows through him even when he is in private. He pulls you in.

I thank him for allowing me to write this profile on him. Raleigh grins. 'No problem,' he says. 'Happy to have ya.'

Is he a good interviewee, I wonder? Many music journalists have commented in the past that Raleigh puts them through their paces. He is known for discussing the most risqué topics and is brutally honest. I tell him this.

'I think I'm refreshing,' he says. 'So many musicians I know are really funny about interviews, you know? They always need a publicist present or they give a list of everything they won't talk about. They're scared that their image will be put under the microscope and they'll be judged, so they draw all these red lines around them. What's the point? If you're gonna be in the spotlight, you need to be prepared to deal with all the shit. All the ugly stuff. That's life. You can't pick and choose.'

I'm surprised at how vocal Raleigh is on this subject. He shrugs. 'I'm just saying,' he continues, 'you sign up for this life when you sign the dotted line on that contract. You give up your rights to a private life.'

We are silent for a moment as I consider his words. Raleigh laughs and let's out a groan. 'Was I brutally honest there?' he asks. 'Jesus Christ, sorry. I get all passionate about shit.'

Raleigh's life is certainly not private. Ever since he arrived on the rock scene, Raleigh has been a riot. Tabloids are always plastered with his image and latest antics. Pictures of him falling out of nightclubs, kissing girls and giving the finger to paparazzi are part of his image. To place a stereotype on him, he is the 'Bad Boy' of the LA music scene. Does he agree with that?

Raleigh chuckles. 'I guess? Look, we all conform to a certain image. You see those new singers from those talent shows and when they record their first record, they're told what image they have to have. Like.. Okay, take Britney Spears. She became huge when she was 17 thanks to that Hit Me song, but what made her iconic was the school girl outfit but she was still innocent right? She had that 'you can look but can't touch' vibe. So many artists now do that and it's not real. It's all fucking plastic.'

Does he conform to his bad boy persona? He shoots me a lazy smile. 'What do you think?' he asks.

I think he does.

'Then you're right,' he says. 'Except I was always like this. I always broke the rules. My label picked up on that and told me to keep doing it but ten times harder. So I did. I pushed it to the point where I forgot who I was. I guess I'm still trying to work that out..'

He trails off.

Raleigh has been vocal about his stints in rehab. He was first admitted to The Priory three years ago, citing cocaine addiction as the reason. He stayed in rehab for two months.

'It worked for a while,' he tells me. 'It really did. I was so eager to get clean and stick to it. But this industry.. It's a cess pit. You're clean for one day and turn you go to an awards show and people are snorting that shit in the toilets. You go to these parties and its getting passed around like fucking party favours. You can't get clean in this business. '

I suggest that maybe he stops going to these parties. He leans back and scrutinises me. 'That's quite naive,' he says. 'You need the parties and the people otherwise you'll be dropped. You need to remain on the radar of this industry because if you're not careful, one minute you're on top of the world, the next you're in the gutter. I fought so hard to become noticed and to make music for the world to hear. I live to make music. All the shit that comes with it.. I gotta accept.’

He shoots me an apologetic smile before beginning to speak again.

'Music is everything to me,' he says quietly, playing with the bead bracelets wrapped around his wrist. 'I know I act like an asshole a lot of the time, like I really fucking push it.. But I never forget how much I owe music my life. It keeps me alive. Nothing else compares to it.'

I ask if there is anything - or anyone - else that makes him feel similar emotions. He cracks a smile.

'You want me to say her name, don't you?' he asks wryly. He leans forward, his brown eyes focused on mine.

'I'll talk about anything you want me to,' he says, his voice steady. 'But I'm not going to say her name. Given what she's going through right now, she doesn't need anymore press attention.'

He leans back. 'But yeah,' he finally says after a long silence. 'She does.'

He means Marina Cortez.

She was his mentee on the reality music show One in a Million. Although the show producers wanted her to be paired with Raleigh's fellow judge, Avery Wiltshire, Marina was often photographed spending time with Raleigh.

Rumours of a blossoming relationship swirled around them. As the magazines continued to publish articles on the potential romance, Marina went from strength to strength in the competition.

She won the competition a year ago and released her first record to critical acclaim. The music showed her soul and it was a far cry from the bubblegum pop that dominates the music scene.

All she needed was her guitar - which used to belong to Raleigh himself - and her voice that sounded like summer. Deep, throaty vocals and passion flooded her singing, making her a front runner at awards shows.

She was on top of the world. Soon after winning the show, she and Raleigh performed a duet of their hit song, 'Senorita' at the AMAs - the performance went viral. The following day, Raleigh and Marina confirmed they were in a relationship in the most millennial way possible - an Instagram post.

But that all changed six months ago.

Raleigh and Marina broke up.

She was pictured spending more time at night clubs. She fell out of taxis and photographers took up skirt pictures of her. She was filmed screaming at paparazzi who surrounded her car. The final warning came from a picture taken of her at a party with her credit card in her hand and cocaine on the table in front of her.

Marina checked into rehab but discharged herself two days later. The drama surrounding Marina Cortez continues with new news stories being published every day.

Right now, we are watching a young girl who is free falling and nobody is there to catch her and the one person who seems to care about her is sitting right in front of me and he won't say one word or do one thing about it. 

He cuts our first interview short. 'We'll talk tomorrow,' he says tightly. 'We're at the hotel now anyway.'

We all head into the first hotel of the tour. Raleigh slams the door of his suite in my face.

******************************************************************

Raleigh is at my hotel room door the following morning brandishing a takeaway cup of coffee at me. ‘I’m sorry for being a dick last night,’ he tells me with a weak smile. ‘Can we walk and talk to the tour bus?’

I grab my suitcase and we walk together through the hotel corridor.  We talk about the upcoming concert this evening but when we reach the tour bus, the mood changes and becomes more serious.  He gestures for me to take out my dictaphone so this conversation will be on record. 

‘I’m sorry I got pissed about Marina,’ he says when we sit down at the back. ‘I wasn’t pissed at you. I was pissed at myself. I’m always pissed at myself these days.’

I ask why. 

‘Because it’s my fault Marina has fallen on hard times,’ he explains, surprising me. ‘I’m the one who introduced her to drugs and parties. It’s all my fault. I feel guilty about it every day and we broke up because I wanted to save her. In my own fucked up way, I thought that if we ended things, she would be safe from me and my influence. But I didn’t realise that she was too far gone. Too far down the rabbit hole..’

He looks away and sips his coffee. His hands are shaking. 

‘Anytime someone mentions her, I feel those guilty emotions all over again and I get mad. I take it on the person that’s beside me instead of taking responsibility. I’m the reason why Marina has been in rehab. It’s all my fault.’

I ask if he has been in touch with her since they broke up. He shakes his head. ‘No. Her manager won’t let me, nor will her publicist. I get it. If we’re in the same room together..’

They’ll fight?

He laughs dryly. ‘No, actually. The opposite. The complete opposite.’ 

I ask if they have broken up before. Raleigh nods. ‘Yeah but only for like, a week or so and then I was at her door begging for a second chance. It was all very romantic and angsty. But when we got back together, I was determined to keep on the straight and narrow. I wanted us to be together for the long haul. I loved her.’ 

Had he loved anyone before her? 

‘Do I look like the loving kind?’ he asks me. ‘No. So it was a big deal when I realised that I was head over fucking heels for this girl. She’s honestly the best thing that ever happened to me and I fucked it up.’

I tell him that it wasn’t his responsibility to keep her clean. He shakes his head now. ‘It was,’ he says. ‘I knew this industry. I knew what it was like and instead of warning her, I sat with her and showed her how to take the first hit of coke. I’m a fucking nightmare.’ 

Raleigh is known for his songwriting. His songs bear his soul and open a window into his life. A lot of his music focuses on lost love; is Marina an influence?

He swallows. ‘She was,’ he says. ‘My song Addicted is about her.’ He breaks off to sing softly under his breath: ‘I'm not afraid of dying but I am afraid of losing you…’ 

This is a different side to Raleigh that I was not expecting. The wild, carefree rockstar who is plastered on billboards and has legions of fans screaming his name is completely different in private. He lives his life to the full and isn’t afraid to show his flaws; but right now, I feel like I am talking to a different person. 

‘Marina makes me different,’ he answers when I tell him this. ‘When we were good, we were fucking good. I was more kind. I was a good guy. But when we were at our worst, we brought each other down. So really, it’s a good thing we’re apart. But I see these photos of her and the headlines and fucking hell, I just.. I feel helpless. Fucking helpless.’ 

He sighs and stands up. ‘I’m gonna yell at my manager to get everyone moving,’ he says. ‘Talk after the show tonight?’

When we meet his team, he is jovial, clapping his friends on the back and fist bumping. Cigarettes are lit, insults shared and jokes are made. Raleigh is back to being the Raleigh Carerra that we all know. His vulnerability has been put in a box, locked away. 

*****************************************************

Tonight, he plays the arena with his usual spectacular showmanship. The concert is a sell out and his fans chant his name, sing along to his songs and scream constantly. Raleigh relishes it. He even spontaneously grabs a fan and brings her on stage, singing to her. She cries. 

When we’re back in the tour bus after, Raleigh is giddy with adrenaline and can’t stop talking about the show and how it was the best concert he’s performed. Joints are passed around and Raleigh lights up, inhaling. I watch as he soon becomes more relaxed, his voice softer, his eyes bloodshot. 

We reach the hotel and his entourage slope in, ready for their beds. Raleigh takes a moment to compose himself, placing his hands on his knees and his face down turned to the floor. 

 ‘I miss her,’ he whispers, his voice cracking. 

I don’t ask him to elaborate. I know who he means. 

*********************************************************

The next day, we’re back in the tour bus and Raleigh is writing another song. His writing is haphazard, a messy scrawl that I can’t decipher. His fingers are quick and he writes out lyrics as if he has pulled them out of water. His ideas come fast and he writes for two hours, occasionally stopping to drink more coffee or to ask me what I think of a certain line. 

He works hard. Too many musicians his age are reliant on ghost writers but not Raleigh. He puts in the time and effort, laying down his soul on the page.  When he takes a break, I ask him what made him want to be a singer. 

‘I loved performing as a kid,’ he tells me, smiling. ‘I would always put on shows for my mom. It was just us, you see. Single mom. Dead beat dad who abandoned her when she got pregnant with me. Asshole. But I would  sing for her and she would film me. I hope she’s got rid of the tapes, pretty embarrassing if she ever shows them to potential girlfriends..’

Marina never met his mom?

He doesn’t blanch at the mention of her name; I think he expects me to bring her up now. ‘No,’ he says. ‘My mom doesn’t live in LA.’

I ask where she lives but he won’t tell me. ‘She’s my mom, I’m keeping her private,’ he says, but fairly. ‘I’ll just tell you that she’s a stand up woman. The OG.’

He was in a boyband when he was younger but split off from them to pursue a solo career. I ask him what prompted the decision. 

‘I didn’t want to be forced to dance those awful routines and sing songs that someone else wrote,’ he explains. ‘I wanted to forge my own path and make my own identity. I know it was a dick move but I wasn’t cut out for boyband life. Fuck that.’

Raleigh is one of the best in the business right now. His star burns bright. I tell him he made the right decision. He smiles warmly and bows his head. ‘Thank you,’ he says. ‘That’s really nice. I’m just glad I get to do what I love. I want to keep doing it until I die. I’m gonna be like Keith Richards. Fucking legend.’ 

************************************************

He plays his next three shows even better than the last. Everywhere we go, his voice is chanted around the arenas and my ears are buzzing from the sound of girlish screams. I wonder how he copes with this level of fame.

‘You roll with it,’ he tells me when he’s getting ready for the performance. ‘One day, all of it will be gone. So right now, I’m just trying to live in the moment.’ 

On the last night I have with him, he sings his song Addicted which is about Marina and the audience hold up their flashing orb lights that are part of the merchandise. The arena is filled with gold light from the orbs and I swear it looks like Raleigh is surrounded by a galaxy of stars. They sing along with him, echoing his words about Marina back at him. 

******************************************************

As this article was being prepared for print, media outlets worldwide were shocked to find out that Marina Cortez was admitted to hospital. After further investigation, it came to light that she had overdosed and nearly drowned in her bath tub. Thanks to her publicist, she was found before tragedy struck. 

Raleigh cancels the last leg of his tour as soon as the news breaks. Fans p are divided. Some post abuse about him on his social media, telling him that Marina is a waste of space and not worth it. They call him weak.  Others call him the perfect boyfriend. Some beg for them to get back together. 

I’m watching the news when the bulletin announces that Raleigh has arrived at the hospital where Marina is being looked after. I watch as he exits his car and barges through the throng of paparazzi. He is wearing sunglasses but his face looks drawn and his lips are set in a tight line. 

I spent quality time with Raleigh but nobody can speak for him. But from my experience with him, I think he is going after the one thing he loves that is equal to music in his heart. 

I wish them both all the luck in the world. I hope Marina finds her way back with Raleigh by her side. I’m sure she will rise again, like a phoenix, and she and Raleigh will blaze a trail of fire together,  on top of the world, right where they belong. 

[writing-prompts-for-friends]

Notes from Stephen King’s “On Writing” 05: Description, Dialogue, Creating Characters

Description

"Description begins in the writer's imagination, but should finish in the reader's."

We all know that too much description robs the reader of their imagination and bores them, yet too little description leaves them confused and scratching their heads. So how can we strike a middle ground with confidence?

"Good description is a learned skill, one of the prime reasons why you cannot succeed unless you read a lot and write a lot. It's not just a question of how to, you see; it's also a question of how much to. Reading will help you answer how much, and only reams of writing will help you with the how. You can learn only by doing."

King says that he personally doesn't like to provide detailed descriptions of how his characters look. He would rather have the reader supply their faces, builds, and clothing. To exemplify, he says:

"If I tell you that Carrie White is a high school outcast with a bad complexion and a fashion-victim wardrobe, I think you can do the rest, can't you? I don't need to give you a pimple-by-pimple, skirt-by-skirt rundown. We all remember one or more high school losers, after all; if I describe mine, it freezes out yours, and I lose a little bit of the bond of understand I want to forge between us. Description begins in the writer's imagination, but should finish in the reader's."

Maybe it's because now more than ever we are obsessed with visual media, be it TV or film or social media, but I personally feel a need to give detailed physical descriptions of my characters. Does anyone else feel the same? But what King said really made a lot of sense to me--by keeping the descriptions of the characters non-distinct, we allow the readers to fill in the gaps and make a character that is even more relatable to them. I think that's genius.

On the other hand, King feels that locale and texture are more important to the reader's sense of actually being in the story. Describe the region the story takes place in (but don't go full Tolkein on your readers, please). Paint a picture of the house and town in broad, distinct strokes.

"For me, good description usually consists of a few well-chosen details that will stand for everything else. In most cases, these details will be the first ones that come to mind. Certainly they will do for a start. If you decide later on that you'd like to change, add, or delete, you can do so--it's what rewrite was invented for. But I think you will find that, in most cases, your first visualized details will be the truest and best. It's as easy to overdescribe as it is to underdescribe. Probably easier."

So let's say that you want to use a certain real-life restaurant as the setting of a scene in your story. This is a restaurant that you have actually frequented. Now close your eyes and picture that place. What are the first 4-5 things that come to your mind? Could be how to looks or smells, what sort of clientele is usually there, anything. Take those 4-5 details and only use those to describe the place in your writing. Let the reader do the rest of the work.

"In many cases when a reader puts a story aside because it 'got boring,' the boredom arose because the writer grew enchanted with his powers of description and lost sight of his priority, which is to keep the ball rolling."

Oh man, I really agree with this. I quit reading LotR because I just couldn't force myself through another description of goddamn rivers and valleys.

On the Use of Similes

"When it's on target, a simile delights us in much the same way meeting an old friend in a crowd of strangers does."

When we compare two seemingly unrelated objects, we are sometimes able to see an old thing in a new and vivid way. But you have to make sure that the simile makes sense and isn't cliched. Don't use "he ran like a madman" or something. Come up with your own.

"The key to good description begins with clear seeing and ends with clear writing, the kind of writing that employs fresh images and simple vocabulary."

There are a lot of authors that do a great job describing things like king says, but there is one specific line from Neil Gaiman's Coraline that stands out to me. Coraline has just discovered the hallway that leads to the Other House, and the sentence describes the hall.

"It smelled like something very old and slow."

Simple vocabulary, yet very fresh. I love this sentence and its eeriness.

Dialogue

"It's dialogue that gives your cast their voices, and is crucial in defining their characters--only what people do tells us more about what they're like, and talk is sneaky: what people say often conveys their character to others in ways of which they--the speakers--are completely unaware."

You can explain through narration or backstory that a character didn't do well in school or didn't finish it, but you could also demonstrate that through dialogue. Conversely, you can show just how smart they are, or how honest/dishonest, lighthearted/serious they are through dialogue alone.

Have you ever read dialogue that makes you think, "Man, nobody talks like this!" because it feels so stilted or forced? I'm certain you have. So how can we prevent ourselves from crafting dialogue that feels inauthentic?

"Dialogue is a skill best learned by people who enjoy talking and listening to others--particularly listening."

Picking up the accents, rhythms, dialect, and slang of various groups helps give your writing a certain veracity that readers pick up on instinctually.

A Word on Political Correctness in Dialogue/Characters

"As with all other aspects of fiction, the key to writing good dialogue is honesty."

King says that not a week goes by that he doesn't get an angry letter accusing him of being foul-mouthed, bigoted, homophobic, murderous, frivolous, or downright psychopathic, and usually the people writing these letters are upset about certain lines of dialogue within his stories.

Sometimes you are going to have a character that holds unpleasant opinions and uses unpleasant words to get them across. That doesn't necessarily mean that what the character believes/says is what you believe. And, in my own opinion, I think it is important to have these non-pc characters in our stories. How can we combat ignorance if we do not draw attention to it? Sweeping it under the rug does nothing but prolong the problem.

So if a character is prone to swearing, don't substitute their expletives for words like "shoot" or "dang." Have them say "shit" or "damn." If a character is a homophobe, have them vocalize their sentiments if the scene deems it appropriate. Don't censor your characters.

Building Characters

"The job of building characters in fiction boils down to two things: paying attention to how the real people around you behave and then telling the truth about what you see."

Take note of the people around you. Many fictional characters are drawn piece by piece from people in real life. For King, what happens to his characters as the story progresses depends solely on what he discovers about them as he goes along. Sometimes their character grows only a little. But other times, their characters grow a so much that they influence the course of the story instead of the other way around.

"I think the best stories always end up being about people rather than the event, which is to say character-driven. Once you get beyond the short story, though (two to four thousand words, let's say), I'm not much of a believer in the so-called character study; I think in the end, the story should always be the boss."

Most readers want to see not only a progression in plot, but also in character development, so trying to have both of those is important.

"It's also important to remember that no one is 'the bad guy' or 'the best friend' or 'the whore with a heart of gold' in real life; in real life we each of us regard ourselves as the main character, the protagonist. If you can bring this attitude into your fiction, you may not find it easier to create brilliant characters, but it will be harder for you to create the sort of one-dimensional dopes that populate so much of pop fiction."

King goes on to explain how when he wrote Misery, a novel about a crazy nurse who holds her favorite author Paul Sheldon hostage in her remote house, he went to great lengths to give the reader a view of the nurse Annie Wilkes' perspective. To us, she seems psychopathic. But to her, she seems perfectly sane and reasonable.

"If I can make you understand her madness--then perhaps I can make her someone you sympathize with or even identify with. The result? She's more frightening than ever, because she's close to real. If, on the other hand, I turn her into a cackling old crone, she's just another pop-up bogeylady. In that case, I lose bigtime, and so does the reader. Who would want to visit with such a stale shrew? That version of Annie was old when The Wizard of Oz was in its first run."

What is really boils down to is making sure that each of your characters are three-dimensional within your own mind. As long as they feel like real people in your head, capable of making rational decisions and feeling rational emotion (as fits their unique nature), that should be able to be seen by the reader as the story unfolds.

On Creative Liberties

“Try any goddamn thing you like, no matter how boringly normal or outrageous. If it works, fine. If it doesn’t toss it. Toss it even if you love it. Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch once said, ‘Murder your darlings,’ and he was right.”

Write however you want. Use whatever techniques you want. Have fun with it. It’s yours before it is anybody else’s. And you can’t please all the readers all the time, but if you can come out happy with the end product, surely you can please some of the readers some of the time, and that is enough. 

Source: King, Stephen. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. Hodder, 2012.

[chrismalcolmhnd2c]

Something New

©NESPRESSO

©DUALIT

“Learn something new. Try something different. Convince yourself that you have no limits” Brian Tracey

Research the Narrative

Point of sale product shots demand a high degree of photographic finish and quality.  They should represent a product at its highest quality.  

Within your blog/workbook, research product shots and advertising photographers. Demonstrate through annotation, your understanding of detail and presentation of perfection. 

Tell the Story

Choose an item that is brand new and blemish free and photograph it to the highest quality possible.

Your object should be photographed with a plain white background to show maximum quality.

Care should be taken to ensure that the best lens and viewpoint are used to maximize the product shape.

Edit and refine: Complete worksheet

High level retouching will be necessary as the object must be as close to perfect as possible. (even brand-new items will have flaws that need fixed)

Be prepared to use a range of retouching techniques to optimise this final file for use as an advertising shot.

The object should be easily dropped into other background so we will look at ways to cut out and present the object as a vector cut-out.

Submit: Final image on A3 canvas, and the object cut out of the background as a PSD. Upload to my city: Upload to my city.

Research

TOP 5: PRODUCT STILL LIFE PHOTOGRAPHERS

January 19, 2016 admin Brands

This week, counting down on our TOP 5, I am going to be listing my favourite product still life photographers, these are purely based on their portfolio and on their popularity.

STILL LIFE PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHERS

1. Nori Inoguchi

http://www.norimichi.com/

Born in Japan, NORI Inoguchi was educated in New York where he refined his passion for photography. His love of luxury and desire to create visually stunning images inspired him to become a still-life product photographer; NORI seeks to find beauty in all of the objects he shoots. With his sophisticated eye and minimalistic approach, he has exploded onto the world stage and has earned bookings from the best names in fashion, cosmetics and electronics. His career has brought him to Paris, London, NY and even back to his native home of Japan. Using clean, clear and crisp techniques, NORI has created numerous campaigns since 2009 and he has since become a trusted name in the field.

2. Sam Kaplan

http://www.samkaplan.com/

Since striking out on his own in 2011, the 29-year-old Boston native has eschewed high-concept aesthetics and taken a more hands-on approach built around exacting precision—a sculptor’s finely honed interest in process and material. His approach might seem throwback, but that’s part of Kaplan’s appeal. Unlike many of his photographic peers, he had a rather low-tech schooling, studying fine art and art history at Wesleyan University.

3. Lucas Zarebinski

http://www.lucaszarebinski.com/

Lucas grew up in Bielsko Biala, Poland, a small city famous for goose down comforters. When he was 17, he dated an photographer named Olga who later inspired Lucas to become an artist even though he said ” I always wanted to be an artist but I was horrible at drawing.” In the few months he was around her, he realised that he had a talent for still life photography. He then moved to Michigan when he was 20, got a degree in Fine Arts and Photography while he parked cars at night and learned English from his 3 roommates. Fast forward 10 years later. He now live in New York permanently and creates images for a living.

He says in his biography  ” I love creating conceptual images, pushing the boundaries of still life photography and resolving client’s problems with an inspiring imagery. I still like red beet soup and blueberry pierogis, but I also like beef with broccoli and spicy tuna rolls these days. ”

4. Jonathan Knowles

http://jknowles.co.uk/

Jonathan Knowles is one of the leading photographers of his generation. Specialising in graphic still life, liquid and beauty, Jonathan’s unique photographic style has earned him award-winning advertising commissions worldwide.

In the past ten years, Jonathan has consistently featured in the ‘200 Best Advertising Photographers in the World’ books. He is one of the top 10 all time award winners in the Graphis Annuals.

Notable commissions include campaigns for many globally recognised brands, such as Coca-Cola, Guinness, and Smirnoff. He is also the creator of the famous O2 bubbles.

He shot the Black Sabbath 13 Album cover, as well as directing and filming the footage that is currently played on stage during performances. Black Sabbath loved the imagery and invited Jonathan to the album launch in New York, where he received a friendly strangle of gratitude from Ozzy.

5. Zachary Goulko

http://www.goulko.com/

Like a modern Chiaroscuro master, beauty, product and still life photographer Zachary Goulko harnesses the power of light to infuse two-dimensional images with drama, shape, and volume. His moody, provocative photographs illuminate the power of a single moment: the arresting beauty of a face, the grace of a sculptural curve, the fluid interplay between light and color and form. It is the Moscow-born photographer’s mission to capture the essence of each subject, and to present its beauty to the world in fresh and unexpected ways. He is an exhaustive experimenter, conjuring moods, intertwining lines with rhythm, exploring the architecture of shape and light. His still life and product photographs are clean and precise, yet startlingly intimate. They achieve a level of visual poetry that is unique in the commercial photography world. With a fully equipped high end studio, based in the New York City area, he photographs product and still life images for many world renown beauty and cosmetics brands. Among Goulko’s clients are L’Oréal, Lancôme, Clinique, Estée Lauder, Strivectin, Shu Uemura, Frederic Fekkai, Patek Phillipe, de GRISOGONO, Roger Dubuis, and Zac Posen, . With a background in design and interactive programming, he is constantly seeking new ways to push the technological boundaries of his medium and give full expression to his creative vision.

Source: http://claphamstudiohire.com/top-5-product-still-life-photographers/

PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHY IDEAS

Unusual and even extraordinary product photography ideas are what make many leading brands stay demanding and make people talk about their creative product shots and buy their products. Let me tell you how to do product photography like creative product photographers do. I’ve gathered 20 original product photography techniques and ideas for any product.

What Is Product Photography?

Product photos belong to a branch of commercial photography which is about advertising a product. There are several classical ways of shooting products: product photography on a white background, ghost mannequin,  lifestyle product photography, motion images, photos of the product line, tabletop photography, photos of the product being packed, 360 product photography, etc.

Creative Product Photography Ideas

High-quality product photography is important for you and your client. Therefore, it is obligatory to choose the right strategy to demonstrate each product. But many photographers have a moment when they need to diversify the photos or add some creative elements. Here are some different product photography ideas for your inspiration:

1. One Second Before

This is an example of creative product shots that are taken right before something unexpected: an explosion, fall, etc. That is why you as a photographer should manage to catch the moment in the second before it happens.

2. Use Smoke

This product photography idea is a good way to make your product look dramatic. Use the coloured smoke if it is suitable for your product design. To make smoke more accurate, use Photoshop brushes.

3. Floating Products

You may hang some goods to make them look three-dimensional. Hang a product using a line, wire or rope. Then remove background or a line from the photograph of a floating product in Photoshop.

4. Association Game

If you need extraordinary product photo for a fashion magazine or billboard advertising, what can be better than funny surrealistic illustrations. Such photographs are typically taken in the studio using special product photography lighting kit and digital drawing techniques in Photoshop.

5. Motion Product Photography

This creative product photography idea is realized by means of short exposure and quick photographer’s and assistants’ actions. The photos are striking for a lot of reasons, but the thing that sticks out at first is how adding motion makes images pop.

6. Photo with Models

Give your product character and show the features that make it unique. Use different product photography ideas and creative lifestyle to highlight the product usage.

7. Combined Background

In addition to the familiar white background, I frequently use the background tone that is in harmony with the color of my product. These two product photographs are a good example of colors combination. You may combine the background depending on the product color increasing the image contrast.

8. Crashed or Broken Product

It is pretty a specific idea for product photos and not everyone decides to use it. It attracts people’s attention and evokes pity and interest to the product. It is better to get a shot at the beginning of product crash.

9. Use Reflection

You may use smooth plain covers with high reflectivity as the surface. For example, your product photos may be taken on an average ceramic tile. Make sure, you work in good lighting. In order to take such image, it is necessary to choose the right angle and lighting to get excellent reflection.

10. Product Absorption

This product photography idea has something to do with putting an object into the sand, water or other materials when you intend to put an accent. You may also use different tiny thematic items in which the product may drown.

11. Product Series

Grouping product images creates almost the same effect as zooming. Comparing several products in one photo a customer understands their main differences, volume, shape, size and other features. Moreover, it can persuade your potential customers to buy the whole kit.

12. Symmetry and Dynamics

To take this kind of product photos you have to put a camera at different angles. However, you should be careful while shooting obscure angles in order not to misrepresent the product. Put other products relatively symmetrical mixing them up with different small details.

13. Emphasize the Product’s Colour

Showing the contrast between the background and the product looks fashionable. But the main difference of this photo is an angle between the surface and the background, which creates a three-dimensional image of the lipstick. This dimensional curved shimmering paper underlines the color and the dimension of the product.

14. Sand Print

This product photography idea requires a special background. It may be usual clay, snow, sand, mastic or similar material.

15. Use Associations

Be as much creative as you can. Here Photoshop is you best friend who will help to realize even the craziest product photography ideas as to shape ketchup in the form of a tongue or a lipstick in the form of ice-cream.

10 Famous Product Photographers

https://spark.adobe.com/page/98pcx7gV8QkNW/

[harleyquinnbluemoonlove]

Welcoming the new Social Movement/Platform/Political Party in the World

Official Name:  Blue Dog Bite Mafia 888 *BETA*

Owner/CEO/Founder/Dealer/Player/Delivery BAD B: 

Current Name:  Monica Gill   FUTURE Name: Mercedes Lynnette Giovanni

Email:  fairytalesexist2020@gmail.com

Current Financial Status:  $0.00     ---- You may DONATE by using CASH APP Cash Tag #$bluedogbitemafia888

***MY CYBER FAMILY MUST ENSURE THAT DONATIONS ARE NOT HIGHJACKED/STOLEN****

BASIC IDEA/PLAN OF ATTACK/EXECUTION OR POSITIVE WORDS LIKE “LAUNCH”.  We can issue an ATTACK or a LAUNCH CODE.

I will dumb it down a little bit. I am taking advantage of my position of power, now that I am a Celebrity in the World. Its the greatest feeling in the world, feels better than good sex and that is a hard thing for me to admit because I love some good, hot, sweaty sex and I’ve been going without for several weeks. I almost fell like a Nun because I cannot even pleasure myself because I was molested as a child by Lovie Price’s boyfriend “Frank Parker” a gasoline man from an early. I told Connie Price about it when I was 15 and her name at the time was Connie Dunford. It was the same day Brandie Ann Thompson said Curtis Triplett tried to rape her in the bathroom at the house In Frayser, Memphis TN. Brandie Ann in her hayday, resembled a youthful Cameron Diaz. Cameron Diaz dated Justin Timberlake once upon a time. She played in the move “The mask” and the mask was green. At the end of the movie, the dog put on the mask. You all know, when you wear that mask---you become a Shape Shifter, transforming into anything/anyone you think will grab the Hot or Not Rated #10 Woman’s ATTENTION/HEART/LOVE and will do anything, I mean anything to get it. The secret to my success is a compilation of everything good, bad, dirty, evil and let’s call it “The Struggle” or the “Human Experience”. 

Old School (OS) Operating System (OS) Back to Basics (B2B) Brandie Thompson (BT) Barry Thompson (BT) Blue Tooth (BT) Brandie Smith (BS) Bull Shit (BS) Rent A Center (RAC) Roger Adren Crawford (RAC) $1K (RAK) Rags to Riches Richard Abernathy (RA) **secret boyfriend shh!!** Douche Bag (DB) or Douglas Belknap (DB) Thomas Jones (TJ) County Road (CR) Danny Thomas (DT)  Deanna Thomas (DT) ... Trying to show you how I think period dot. In ya’ll are slow, period dot also equal two dots. You must have two dots to play connect the dots and draw the lines to illustrate inspiration into a masterpiece. The best pieces of Art are very old, have a solid reputation, and is properly curated to ensure it maintains its value for infinity times three.

Basically, you can get with my program, drink my Kool Aid, swallow your pride, do the right thing, if you have done something wrong, you really need to return to your basic religious beliefs what they may be, get right with yourself, because what you have done will come to light, exposed, we are moving on from there. We are, as a society going to change and deliver the children and the children’s children: a brighter future with more options, a limited amount of privacy, give them the world and see what they can accomplish with living in a world of positive vibes, beautiful colors, great music, entrepreneurship, dreams, and now, the little girls if we get married will truly believe in fairytales. This right here is whats up because we have an opportunity, once in a lifetime opportunity, to fix society, establish unity and peace, competition is good but everyone needs a chance to win sometimes to boost their confidence and pride. When there is monopoly or kingdom, it fosters the seven deadly sins, seven capital sins, and the seven cardinal sins, which is systemic to original sin. 

Genesis clearly explains that certain things were created on certain days and back time was measured. You cannot just create a man or a woman. First, you need the Universe. Then, you need the Galaxy which creates Space. In Space, you have the moon, stars, sun, planets, black holes, asteroids, comets, shooting stars, orbit, gravitational pull. Here we are on planet Earth with 7 continents and 7 oceans. I like the number 8 because it represent a number, a symbol, and no limitations--infinity. My son was born on 3-8-03 weighing 8 pounds, 8 ounces and 19.5 inches long, color: BLUE, life: No sign of it. It took 10 minutes and PLEADING WITH THE LORD AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS SCREAMING PRAYING TO PLEASE GIVE HIM LIFE, I DON’T WANT TO HAVE GONE THROUGH 35.5 HOURS OF LABOR AND 7 HOURS OF HARD PUSHING WITH NO PAIN MEDICINE, NO EPIDURAL, GAVE BIRTH TO A STILL BORN BABY NATURALLY AND THE GOOD LORD ANSWERED MY PRAYERS AND THAT BOY CRIED AND WENT TO THE NICU AT BETHESDA NAVAL HOSPITAL IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND. ITS ALSO REFERRED TO AS “THE PRESIDENTS HOSPITAL”.

He is 17 years old, already a MASTERMIND and a Professional Gamer. He is so smart like me, that he had to design/build/code his own computer because there is not a computer on the planet that can keep up with his level of gaming. I saw a photo of it. Its a desktop computer with the case taken off the side--lit up with blue LED lights

It’s Confession Time and Holy Communion Time that means confess your sin, wrongdoing, break bread, eat bread, drink wine, not whine. No days off, no excuse, no immunity, no setups, no blame game, no liars, no stealing, checks and balances, no absolute power because absolute power fosters absolute corruption, which is why were in this position right now with COVID-19, Corona Virus.

I think one person needs a pardon because he has stayed on the job, even though he was originally lied to by the Feds. He deserves a pardon, record expunged, and an opportunity. I see great potential, just needs an opportunity, believe in himself, and have the courage to escape his own prison of gold diggers, groupies, fans, and whores.

In this triad, it is a rags to riches story times three. There is only 1 TRUE VERSION of ME, and its right here in Memphis TN, age: 41(Birth Cert).

To succeed in any sports game, you must be fit, educated, content with yourself to include your pros/cons/demons and knowledgeable & intelligent enough to know that I am certified True OG, I got your back no matter what because to me money ain’t a thing, fame fades just like stars, but loyal dogs do not turn on their master unless they are abused or hungry. I am a Blue AKC Royal Bloodline Pitbull, Staffordshire Terrier. Pitbull is the image you need to have in your mind when you think of ME.

#donations #loyalty #888 #TRUMP2020 #IG #WHISTEBLOWER ACT #RULES #ESPNSPORTS #RAPGODS #GREEKGODS #GOD #CLASHOFTITANS #THEGAME #THEROCK #GLUE #DOCTORS   #LAWYERS #COWBOYS #DANCE #L.I.F.E. #LOVE #SM #EM 

#NEED SOME COM[ANY AND VITAMIN D

BLUE, COME ON UNLESS YOU ARE “CHICKEN” “SCARED”

I PROMISE I WILL NOT BITE. BUT, I AM STARVING, LONELY, NEED MONEY TO CREATE AND LAUNCH MY DREAMS TO POSITIVELY AND EFFECTIVELY CHANGE THE WORLD WHICH WILL PLACE ME AND PRESIDENT TRUMP IN THE HISTORY BOOKDS. AND THE HISTORY BOOKS ARE GOING TO BECOME FACTBOOKS, AND HISTORY CLASSES WILL BE MANDATORY THROUGHOUT LIFE REGARDLESS OF AGE, POSITION, JOB, FINANCIAL STATUS BECAUSE THE BEST EDUCATION IS A “CONTINUOUS EDUCATION”. IF YOU DO NOT CONTINUE LEARNING, YOU BECOME RUSTY AND THEN, YOU CANNOT KEEP UP THE FAST PACED CHANGES OF ADVANCE TECHNOLOGY IN THE REAL WORLD AND IN THE REAL GAME OF LIFE.

RECOMMENDATIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1.  DONATE MONEY TO MY CAUSE ON CASH APP 

$BLUEDOGBITEMAFIA888 

DO NOT HACK MY PHONE OR MY LAPTOP, DO NOT HACK ANYTHING OR ANYBODY BC YOU CANNOT DO IT BETTER THAN U.S. BC U.S. CREATED THE INTERNET IN WASHINGTON DC AT THE PENTAGON CALLED “DARPANET” IN 1974. THE FIRST COMPUTER WAS AN APPLE, SECOND COMPUTER WAS MICROSOFT. A GOOD BRAND IS A HP WITH MS WINDOWS. I HAVE A BLUE HP LAPTOP STREAM, I HAVE A BLACK APPLE IPHONE 7. I AM ON A WIFI WITH A VPN THAT KEEPS GETTING DISABLED. THE SOUND ON MY PHONE DOES NOT WORK. I AM BACKING UP BOTH DEVICES AND GOING TO RESET TO FACTORY SETTINGS SO I CAN GURANTEE EFFECTIVE DIGITAL SECURITY.

2. I NEED COMPANY TO SIT WITH ME, DRINK WITH ME. I WOULD LOVE SOME JACK AND COKE OR A BUD LIGHT. I WOULD ALSO LOVE SOME FOOD THAT CONTAINS RED MEAT TO ASSIST ME WITH MY BLOOD PROBLEMS. BUDDY OR BLUE OR YO -- FIGURE IT AND SEND ME SOMEONE I KNOW. I AM TOO PRETTY AND TOO COOL TO BE CHILLING BY MYSELF WITH NO FOOD, NO ALCOHOL, NO MONEY, NO WEED, ETC. 

3.  SELF EVALUATE OR DO A PEER REVIEW/. SELF EVALUATION IS LOOKING AT YOURSELF IN THE MIRROR AND THINKING ABOUT YOUR LIFE. I LIKE TO WRITE THINGS DOWN, IF HELPS ME. IT WILL BRING ABOUT A SENSE OF UNDERSTANDING WHO, WHAT, WHY YOU ARE WHO YOU ARE, HOW YOU BECAME PERSON, AND DESIGN YOUR OWN ROADMAP TO BEING A BETTER PERSON AND OPENING YOUR HEART TO REALIZATION THAT THE CHILDREN ARE THE FUTURE, RIGHT WE ARE THE WORLD, WE CAN ACHIEVE GREATNESS, A NEW TYPE OF MAGIC “UTOPIA”.

WHAT ARE YOU ABOUT? WHAT DO YOU WANT OUT OF LIFE? ARE YOU HAPPY WITH YOURSELF? CAN YOU FREE YOUR MIND? CAN YOU OPEN YOUR HEARTS? CAN YOU COMMIT? DO YOU KNOW WHEN TO WALK AWAY? WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IN? DO YOU HAVE CONFIDENCE? ARE YOU IN YOUR OWN PRISON--YOUR MIND, YOUR FEELINGS, YOUR RELATIONSHIP STATUS?

WISDOM COMES WITH TIME, EXPERIENCE, EDUCATION, HARD WORK, SERVICE, LOYALTY, PURPOSE, AND TRAVELING.

At the end of the day, who do you want to be with? 

Woman - Wise can deliver the world or drop the world, age 41 -- looks better than 20 & 30 year old GIRLS. Does not care about money, fame, status, power because the game was scheduled and unfortunately, unaware of the OP -- she walked, ran, sprinted STOLE the Flag, and won the game. 

Everyone wants to still run their mouths, try to control a man, and those hos, have no power, position, fame, etc. They are with or around you because of who you are, what you have done, and what you can give them---in my opinion that is abuse of power and targeting someone to manipulating them to do what you want them to do.

I like structure, things to be done a certain way because I like cleanliness, organization, faith, love, hope, trust, and loyalty. 

I would not cop an attitude with everyone, if  I did not feel like the world was against me. Hint, hint -- I don’t trust authority figures because I was molested, abused, targeted, almost died several times, lied to, cheated on, setups, smear campaigns, gossiped about, bullied, beat on, yelled at, called names, jealous women everywhere so dumb they forget I have a hunger against Human  Trafficking. People are on this RACISM BULL SHIT. 

Its 2020, Racism = IGNORANCE AND IGNORANCE IS NOT BLISS ANYMORE, IGNORANCE IS DEADLY. 

Basic belief system of Karma, it is a metaphysical/paranormal reality that is mixed with real, artificial, and soon-to-be virtual reality. It is what it is. 

What you set your mind, what you do and the thoughts and actions you put into the world will either grant you your dreams or come back times three by the of karma, what goes around, comes around.

I want/will do good and be a good role model for everyone. I am going to teach, help you, do what I want, when I want, how I want because I know my worth, my value, and what I can GURANTEE/DELIVER.

Greed, jealousy, laziness, and all the ugly things that are in the world

                                                  WILL

 get you no where but hungry, lonely but free, penniless, candy-less, eliminate sports.

                                        COMMIT OR QUIT

MY MISSION WILL ENDURE AND CARRY ON UNTIL I FEEL MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. I DO NOT HAVE A FAILURE TO THRIVE AND I DO NOT LACK A WILL TO LIVE. 

MY ISNT OVER, YET;

[deltaengineering]

Fall Anime 2019 Part 4: also, he has a gun for a head

Beastars

So here’s the CG anime that everyone for some reason decided way in advance would be the best show of the season, more or less by default. I was very skeptical of this for a multitude of reasons. First of all, that is a bad name for a show and you can’t convince me otherwise. It’s actually even worse because you’re supposed to write it in all caps, but I refuse. Second, it has a terribly on the nose conceit in which all sorts of animals live together in a high school setting and it’s all metaphorical ‘n shit. The main character is a wolf but get this, he’s actually all sensitive and quiet! Yeah, this is definitely rated D for Deep. And finally it’s by Orange, the CG studio that got an inordinate amount of acclaim for making Houseki no Kuni, the show that everyone thinks looks great and finally made CG anime worthwhile (actual real fact: HnK does not look great most of the time and CG anime was worthwhile well before it). 

But enough about my preconceptions since Beastars is... pretty good, actually. If you ignore the setting, which is indeed terribly on the nose. And there’s not much else to say about the story so far besides it. However, it looks significantly better than Houseki no Kuni because it actually has really good character animation throughout instead of a one-minute action scene with flashy spinny camera tricks every other episode. The directing’s strong too, even if the show conspicuously mainly consists of obvious manga panels. I’m still not too hot on the animal stuff but the general writing seems to be sufficiently competent it would work simply on a character level. So I don’t love it, but it seems solid enough to see if it goes somewhere with its “Zootopia but also Beverly Hills 90210 but also they eat each other sometimes″ plot.

Rifle is Beautiful

Remember the whole “anime about some assorted anime girls joining a club doing an oddly specific activity” thing? This is another one of those, and now it’s about air rifle sports shooting. Except it’s not about air rifle sports shooting because that’s apparently way too violent, so they use rifles that look like exactly like air rifles but are actually based on lasers or really bright flashlights (they can’t keep their bullshit straight between scenes, sorry) instead. I just don’t think “girls doing activities” anime should blatantly misrepresent their subject matter like that, you know? With the possible exception of idol anime that is, ain’t nobody who wants to hear about that shit. Apart from that it’s nothing special, so if you are really into air rifles and wish to watch an anime that’s not about those, knock yourself out. It goes through a whole “club needs 5 members” arc in the first half of the first episode, so I really can’t say where it goes next. Nowhere much, I would guess.

Oh right, there’s one more thing: They frequently render the bodies in CG and the heads in traditional drawings, and they do it every time when they’d actually have to draw a rifle otherwise. It’s a weird effect that I think I haven’t seen anywhere else before, and it’s not great but also not terrible. And it’s the most interesting thing about the entire show.

Kabukicho Sherlock

“Let’s take a bunch of public domain characters and put them into a hip modern setting” seems to be its own genre at the moment, and not only because the BBC did that with S. Holmes, Esq. already. Obviously this show is influenced by that (besides other public domain namedroppers like Bungou Stray Dogs), mostly in Watson and his relationship with Sherlock, but Sherlock-san is rather different here; he’s neither the classic Victorian bohemian nor the abrasive sociopath of the BBC version, and tends more towards a bumbling 90s pop culture version of autism and/or general wackiness here. These two are surrounded by a bunch of campy transvestites for some reason, and I’m not quite sure whether I’m supposed to find this particular stereotype offensive or empowering this week, but it sure is annoying. And it has the same character designer as Joker Game, so if you like chiseled, angular anime men, you’re in for a treat here - even if they tend to wear a lot of makeup and dresses sometimes. I don’t know man, it seems sort of okay-ish for the most part but it’s neither as funny as they think, nor as weird as they think, nor is the murder of the week intriguing at all. Oh yeah, he’s hunting noted public domain character Jack the Ripper. Because of course he is.

 Shin Chuuka Ichiban!

I am told this is the sequel to episode 19 of a 52-episode anime TV show from 1997. Okay. I am also told to not dare watch this without the important setup therein, which makes me think I should pay less attention to what I’m told because understanding Shin Chuuka Ichiban and its backstory is not hard at all. Kid is superawesome cooking champion in ancient China and goes around clowning on lesser cooks, got it. It’s not a complicated setup and it’s not a complicated genre either: This seems to be mostly about sick shounen cooking duels. Besides the setting, the main difference between this and Shokugeki no Soma seems to be that SnS goes for ridiculous and Chuuka Ichiban goes for epic - which is to say that it fancies itself emotional as well. Apart from that it’s what you’d expect from a cooking shounen, big moves, big reactions, huge twists and so on. One notable thing is that this show looks really, really nice. Production I.G seems to be establishing a sideline in taking stuff from the 90s and updating it with smoother animation and shinier lighting, while keeping the overall look intact; They did it for Mahoujin Guru Guru, and this looks much the same. Still, I’m just fundamentally not really interested in what appears to be a very straightforward cooking shounen from the 90s.

Assassins Pride

Straight from the Department of Chuuni, we have this light novel masterpiece about a cool as fuck teenage assassin who teleports behind u and nothin personells fools all day. He then meets a princess he’s supposed to off but just kinda decides not to, probably because she seems to be smitten by his m’lady act. Now he has to use his sick skillz to keep them both alive. It’s awful and terrible and no good and also kind of adorable. This truly is the most 13 AND A HALF MOM years old anime in a while, and it’s not even isekai! The writing’s just so amateurish and corny you can’t help but smile when princesses exposit their backstory for no reason while being accosted by pumpkin monsters (without knowing that Awessassin McCooldude happens to be listening in, which is certainly convenient). Or when the episode ends with the man just reading the synopsis of the show out again, in case you were too fascinated by this plot to pay attention to what it’s about. Yeah I’m not going to watch this in a thousand years, but it sure made me chuckle. Your mileage may vary.

Mugen no Juunin - Immortal

Speaking of 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔢𝔱𝔦𝔢𝔰 𝔢𝔡𝔤𝔢, another anime adaptation of Blade of the Immortal appeared! You know, the manga for the cultured and historically minded guro fan. The first episode of Blade of the Immortal runs with this and is an arthouse production that someone most definitely directed the shit out of. I don’t think I’ve seen this much directing since, well, Sarazanmai, but “Ikuhara amounts of directing” is pretty much the idea here. And most of the time it even works! The quickly edited, disorienting style gives episode 1 a feeling closer to horror than to a cool swordmen action show, and that really brings out the best in the material, which is grotesque splatter bordering on the comical - It’s somehow a better Junji Ito anime than the actual Junji Ito anime. I think it tries too hard in a few places, but at least it does try.

But then I watched the second episode and that one’s a fairly conventional splatter-comedy swordin’ anime. I am not at all pleased with this development. The third episode was better again and seemed to split the difference between 1 and 2, even if it mostly uses the tricky editing to save on effort in the action –  I would much prefer actually readable fights and the wacky mannerisms in the more psychological stuff, thank you very much. Based on episode 1 I thought we might have something special here, but as of episode 3 I’d already merely call it pretty decent. I guess I’ll still stick with it but man, that’s a real bummer.

No Guns Life

No Guns Life is a neo-noir thriller about a guy who has a gun for a head. That’s fuckin rad and exactly the kind of silliness I am totally down for. He also has a gun for a hand, and there’s also some battle nun’s who carry revolvers with two cylinders, so in short I think the title is false advertising. This sounds very wacky (and it is), but it also takes its noir very seriously, down to details more wannabe neo-noirs tend to neglect (like being set right after a big war). The look and feel is pretty excellent, with sharp design and high-contrast artwork, and the music goes all in on the moody saxophone as you’d expect. And there’s some really adorable “look mom, I’m writing” stuff about how Man With Gun For A Head really “needs someone to pull his trigger” and so on (which is, as the astute reader might remember, at the back of his head). It feels like a throwback but then I can’t really think of many 80s/90s shows like this, so it’s actually more like the sort of faux-retro idea Trigger/Imaishi would come up with on a lark. Trigger/Imaishi would, of course, make a far worse anime out of it, so it’s all good. Well, it has some pacing problems and as always it’s a fine line between amusingly camp and not so amusingly camp anymore, but No Guns Life seems to have enough real qualities that it can probably stand on its own even when its conceptual gimmick eventually doesn’t suffice anymore. I give it a two gun’s up.

Hoshiai no Sora / Stars Align

And finally, here’s an anime about middle schooler softboys playing a tennis just as soft as themselves, while being henpecked by the elites on the girl’s team. This is not an “actual” sports anime though: for starters, it’s not based on some shounen manga and is an anime original with quite some staff pedigree instead. It’s also more of a character drama that already goes to some surprisingly real places by the end of episode 1, reminiscent of the recent and quite good Run with the Wind. Furthermore, it looks delicious, with minimalist but distinctive and varied character designs and animation that’s both extremely detailed for a TV anime and also not trying to shove that fact into your face with flashy stunt cuts. In short, this show seems very simple at first glance but every aspect of it just oozes quality. If nothing else, it’s already worth watching just for the excellent ending sequence where the characters show off their “best” dance moves and the chunky student council president dunks on everyone. This one caught me by surprise and it’s an easy pick for most promising show of the season.

[blazogirlsoneshots]

The Circus (circus!AU) (Peter Parker x Reader)

A/N: Thank you so much for 100 followers! 

There was something about the circus that always made you feel like a little kid again. Once the aroma from the popcorn and cotton candy washed over you, the inner seven-year-old would wake up and go absolutely crazy. It could be the magic of nostalgia or the circus was just truly magical; why else would you be blowing off a trip to the library? It’s not like you had a paper due in a week, right?

You were just merely passing by the Magnificent Marvel Circus when you were swept up in a large crowd with nothing but awe and wonder spelled across their faces. Exclamations of joy could be heard around you as you drew nearer and nearer the red and white tent. Posters were hung up on posts near the entrance of the tent with pictures of the Black Widow, a contortionist;  the escapist, Iron Man; and the strong man, Captain America. 

After forking up money to the man at the front of the tent, you found yourself in the stands. The inside was hot and the air was full of kicked dust, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. On the contrary, it was the most home-like place that wasn’t home you had ever been to. Any worries you had about your upcoming paper had vanished in an instant. The energy in this place alone was enough to cause the most orderly person to forget about real-world problems. 

Finally, the last audience member found their seat and lights finally dimmed. The audience drew a collective breath as the ringmaster, Mister Fury, himself stepped into the center of the ring. He tipped his hat and gave the audience a long stare shrouded in a hundred secrets. 

“Welcome. Welcome to the world that can only be found in the limo state between dreams and waking. Welcome to the place where a simple piece of metal can be one man’s ticket out of any dangerous situation. Welcome to where a sickly little boy from Brooklyn can become the strongest man in the world! This is the place where what makes you weak and broken in the eyes of man is your own superpower! This is the Magnificent Marvel Circus!” Fury’s words were quickly met with a roar of approval. The applause would’ve gone on for hours if it wasn’t for Fury yelling, “Alright! Now, we can stand here and let you all lose your voices, or we can get this show on the road!”

The bright light in another ring caused everyone’s attention to be drawn away from Fury as the elegant Natasha Romanoff took a stand in her ring. She wore a simple blank leotard with a half skirt the color of blood. The haunting notes began to fill the air as the Black Widow began to spin. It was like watching the little dolls in music boxes. With every turn, the music grew faster and faster as the feeling of horror grew stronger. Suddenly, the music stopped and the Black Widow collapsed in a heap. A single woman in the audience let out a scream as everyone’s mind raced to the worst possibility. Then, almost like a whisper, a violin began playing as the Black Widow went from almost broken looking, to bending into many positions that didn’t seem humanly possible. Everyone watched in awe as the act finally ended Natasha shooting an arrow using only her feet. As the arrow hit the target, another spotlight went up on the ring, drawing your attention to the Hawkeye. With a single breath, the entire audience drew themselves to the edge of their seats as they prepared themselves to go through the same process all over again.

God, you loved the circus. 

~

“We are now drawing to the final act,” Fury’s voice broke through the astonished haze you had fallen into. It was like he was trying to remind the audience that they did have to return to the real world. You didn’t hate it, but you didn’t love it entire. “Members of the real world, I give you the amazing Spider-Man!” 

A spotlight moved to shine on a man standing atop a high pole. With the turning of the light, you found your heart began to beat ten times faster. He wore loose blue pants and a red tank top with a black spider on it. His hair had a wind-tossed look and you could swear that he was looking at you. 

Before you could spend too long debating whether or not you were completely losing your mind, the man leaped off the platform. You found yourself letting out a small scream before you realized that this man was a trapeze artist. He effortlessly caught a wooden bar and swung upwards, towards the stars. You could’ve watched this man for hours, the way he seemed to levitate and the joy that was the only thing could be found on his face. 

You never wanted it to end, but when did your wishes ever come true? The Spider-Man slowly returned to the ground as the lights began to dim. Slowly, the people around you began to wake up. The crowd made their way to the exits, gabbing about the show and remembering all the real-world responsibilities that they still had to attend to. You started to follow them but something stopped you.

You found yourself stopping at the entrance of the tent. After everyone had cleared out the lights came back on and the Spider-Boy was back in the center of the ring. You slipped back into the tent. There was something about this place and this boy that just felt like where you were supposed to be. You silently slide into one of the front benches as Spider-Man began climbing back up the pole. You watched in silence as he went over his routine with even more joy. 

Everything was going perfectly. Then he saw you.

The shock of realizing that he wasn’t the only human being in the tent caused the spider to miss his jump to the next bar. You watched in horror as he fell and you were helpless to do anything. With a thud, he landed on the dirt ground and began groaning in pain. 

“Oh my god! Are you okay?” You raced to his side. You gently flipped him over and felt like you had fallen from that height. He had soft brown eyes that, yes, where currently filled pain, but still gorgeous. You quickly shook yourself out of your daze and began frantically searching for any injuries. “I’m super sorry! I didn’t mean to distract you. It was just, well, I haven’t been to the circus in ages and you looked so happy-are you okay?”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. I’m fine. I’ve fallen a million times before and I just seem to heal really quickly. So, I’m fine and you’re fine. Everyone’s fine,” He slowly sat up and gave you an awkward smile. “I’m Peter Parker, by the way.” 

“Y/N Y/L/N,” You both got up from the floor and bashfully smiled at each other.

“So, you liked the show?”

“I loved it. Every part of it was like going into a completely different world with its own story. I definitely enjoyed your act the most,” You finished, blushing and finding a very interesting speck of dirt to stare at. “I mean, what even lead up to that decision? Did you just wake up one day and decide to run away with the circus?”

“That is a good question and a good question should be answered over some food. Do you want to go get some coffee or something, or would that be weird?” 

“No, actually, that would be perfect.” 

~

One cup of coffee turned somehow turned in making plans to meet the next morning and then seeing each other after every show that week. You had somehow formed a beautiful relationship with Peter Parker out of a trip to blow off having to do school work. By the end of the week, you found yourself telling Peter deep secrets and insecurities that had never seen the light of day while he shared of his loneliness. Your friendship was a beautiful sculpture made of wonder and comfort, but you both knew that it would have to short. 

One of the things that added to the wonder of the circus was how rare it was. Everyone knows that the show is only here for a week and then it blows away with the wind. At least, that was the reasoning behind Peter’s decision to try drag you up onto the trapeze. 

It was the morning of the last show and the ring was empty. Everyone was busy resting up for the final performance which was perfect for you. At least if you make a complete fool of yourself no one will be there to see. A net had been strung up for safety and you were now on top of the pole, definitely not ready to jump off yet.  

“This is a horrible idea,” You murmured. 

“Nonsense, you’ll do great. All you have to do is just grab to bar and swing off of the pole and back, okay?”

“How about we go back to the ground and I just watch you?”

“Do you want to go back to the ground?” Peter looked at you gently. You had wrapped yourself around him like some human/koala thing and had no intention of letting go. More than anything, you wanted to go back down, but when would you ever get this opportunity again?

“No. I want to at least try.”

“That’s the spirit!” Peter beamed and grabbed the bar. “Just hold it in your hands, get a feel for it.” 

The bar was smooth and coated in layers of chalk and you could definitely feel it slipping out of your hands. 

“I’ve changed my mind! I want to go back down,” You squeaked. 

“Hey, it’s fine. If it would make you feel better, we could do it together?”

“How would we do that?” 

“You just hold on to me and I’ll do the swinging,” You couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow to the suggestion. 

“You’re strong enough?”

“Ouch,” Peter clutched his chest in mock pain. “You had wounded my fragile masculinity. Whatever will I do?” 

“I’m being serious. I don’t want you to drop me,” Peter casually brushed a strand of hair behind your ear. 

“I won’t. I promise,” You found yourself nodding and clinging to Peter tighter. You screwed your eyes shut and then…

You were flying.

It was the perfect combination of freedom and terror. The wind was whistling in your ears while your nose was filled with the comforting smell of Peter’s shirt. As you reached the highest point of the swing, a feeling of weightlessness came over you. You sneaked a peek at Peter’s face and you couldn’t help but smile. He had this total look of calm that seemed to seep into your bones. This was perfect in the scariest way possible. You loved it. 

“So, what do you think?” Peter asked as you reached the ground. 

“I loved it!” A relieved look melted over Peter’s face. He had just shared one of the intimate parts of himself and you had accepted it with open arms. 

You quickly checked your watch as the shock of the time caught up to you. “I have to go, I’m going to be late for my next class,” You gave Peter a hug, knowing full well that this would be your last. You couldn’t bring yourself to do a long-drawn-out goodbye. A see-you-latter was much better for this situation. 

“What if you stayed?” Peter murmured into your hair. 

“Peter Parker, are you trying to convince me to run away with the circus?”

“Maybe,” You pulled away with your hand still in his. 

“I’m sorry, but I’ll see you later. I promise,” Your hands separated and you started walking back towards the exit of the tent. 

“See you later,” Peter whispered. And then, you were gone.

masterlist

[skadventuretime]

Hello, the Sakura xx crew started our haunted house oneshot and I had to capture our opening antics. Ako is mine, Satsuki is @scarfblogs, Kaguya is @xxwolfpupxx, Hitsuki is @kurisuumakise, Kimiko is @eerna, and our lovely GM is @starrycereal. 

(Also check out Jo’s art of where this story leaves off when you’re done)

///

Why won’t she stop talking? Why won’t she stop talking? Why won’t--

“And so I say to her: Orange you glad I didn’t say banana?” She pauses, waggling her eyebrows like she has a painful itch she can’t use her hands to scratch. What does it mean? Why is she still here? Why couldn’t he say no?

“I agree,” he says carefully, still not sure what kind of response she’s looking for but almost positive that people like to be agreed with.

Her laugh is like a dying clown. “You’re so funny! Thanks for helping me find this place, I’m still pretty new so I don’t know my way around town yet.”

“I didn’t help you,” he says, a little desperately. “You grabbed me after class and told me to come along, I don’t even remember your name--”

“Oh look, I think this is the address!”

Ako glances up at the large stone gate before them. It’s a simple arch with cast iron doors that open inward, as if left that way to welcome someone in. There’s a stately Victorian house at the end of a chaste gravel drive, but something about the way it looks a little too pristine puts him on edge. Before he can analyze the feeling further, though, the girl drags him through the gate and marches him towards the front of the house.

He feels the chill as they cross the threshold and knows they’ve made a grave mistake.

“We should leave—“

“That’s strange, the stairs looked a lot sturdier from the street.” The girl — Sateki? Tsukiko? — prods the lowest stair with her foot, and an errant gust of wind blows her skirt up. 

Ako, red-faced and definitely beginning to panic, looks away and tries again. “There might be foul magic here and—“

“Oi Satsuki, what are you doing here? Thought you had band practice today.” 

A girl with shoulder length white hair lazily spinning a yo-yo walks through the archway. Two other girls, one short with pink hair and the other taller with red hair, follow. Ako’s protests die on his tongue; it’s too late now. 

“Kaguya!” sings Satsuki while she scans the other two. “And Hitsuki and — KIMIKO!” Ako feels a small gust of wind as she launches herself at the tiny pink haired girl and scoops her into her arms. This is quite a feat, because now Ako can see that the tiny pink girl is holding a katana taller than she is. “What are you guys doing here?” 

“Got a job,” Kaguya says cryptically, and Ako glances back at the decaying house. Is she a plumber? 

“I saw her leave class early and tagged along!” Kimiko says, appearing to be perfectly at home in Sastuki’s never ending hug. 

“I wasn’t following Kimiko, you’re all stupid,” said the last girl, Hitsuki. She’s blushing for some reason, almost the color of her hair, or perhaps she’s just winded from the long walk from school. 

They begin to chat about something or other, which Ako promptly tunes out because he needs to confirm if his fears are valid. He takes a deep breath, sinking his awareness down through his feet and up through the top of his head -- a bird, a bug, a body -- and on the exhale, opens his eyes. 

The world looks dim and slightly grey, like it was about to thunderstorm despite the afternoon sun. Threads of pulsing light flicker in his vision, writhing around the entrance in a giant tangle that obscures the entrance. So they wouldn’t be able to leave -- that’s the tightest abjuration spell weave he’s seen in some time. There’s something off about it though, something that he can’t quite place, so he turns his gaze to the house itself. 

It looks about the same, except the threads have a creeping darkness that whisper his name. There’s that something else here too, something that taunts him but he can’t place. Distantly he hears Satsuki squealing about a squirrel. He squints and refocuses. 

“Abjuration, necromancy, and...something,” he mutters to himself. Perhaps the answer lies inside, and since they can’t leave the way they came, he might as well try to find out.

He starts up the short stairs onto the porch landing and belatedly realizes the girls are following him. “There’s magic preventing us from leaving, but I can’t get a good look at it from here. I figured I’d try inside…” His voice trails off from the intense attention he’s getting from both Satsuki and Kimiko, who seem to think he’s the most interesting creature in the world. He begins to sweat. 

“All you had to do was say you wanted to go inside!” Kimiko says with a smile that could summon a rainbow. She bounces to the door and removes a hairpin from her hair.

“I’ll help,” Kaguya says, squatting at eye level with the lock.

A minute goes by. Then another, and another, until Hitsuki says, “Here, let me try.”

Kimiko looks mildly annoyed that she didn’t get it, but hops over and passes Hitsuki the hairpin.

Ako glances back at the entrance while Hitsuki grumbles to herself at the lock. The magic seems to swirl faster, much faster than its earlier sluggish pace.

Almost like it’s waking up.

His pulse beats faster and he looks back to see Hitsuki getting increasingly frustrated trying to jimmy the lock. She pokes it over and over again until she jams the hairpin in and bends it at such an angle that it falls, useless, to the ground.

They don’t have time for this. Something set these wards, something controls these grounds, and they need to find out who or what that is as soon as they can. He inhales again, deeper this time, eyes sliding shut while he reaches out to his magic. The air begins to tingle around him, microscopic snaps of energy that he can only feel because he’s searching for them.

This is the nature of his destruction.

“Woah woah woah, what’s that kid doing?” Hitsuki says. She must also study magic, to sense what he’s doing. 

Kimiko hums. “There’s just a little green cloud around his hands, that doesn’t look so bad.”

“No really, he looks like he’s gonna blow us all up or something, someone get the door quick.”

“Don’t worry, I’m helping,” Ako replies, voice slipping an octave lower, green energy dripping out the corners of his mouth. He’s forgotten what power feels like, the raw and unfiltered freedom of it. For a moment he could almost understand the decisions his parents made. 

But they’re gone, and he’s got a door to disintegrate. Like his teacher told him so many years ago, he imagines the bonds between atoms snapping, sundering, coming to dust. The difference between is and is not is smaller than most think.

“Anyone?” Hitsuki groans.

With a sigh, Kaguya shoves off of the porch railing where she’d been leaning. Hands still in her pockets, she spins and lands a solid roundhouse kick that shatters the door completely.

Perplexed, Ako looks at his hands. The energy of unmaking is still curled, unreleased, around his fingers. He shakes it away.

“Door’s open,” Kaguya says, faint sparks of electricity leaping from her fingers to her hair.

“Thank goodness,” Hitsuki mutters. “We almost had a situation there.” She shoots Ako a nasty look and heads in, trailed by the others.

Heat rises in his cheeks. What’s wrong, there was a problem and he was going to solve it! 

Shaking his head, he follows the group inside. Heavy darkness assails him -- the table, the knife, the goblet -- so he gasps and scrabbles for his journal. It’s the largest item on him and thus the biggest catalyst for his Light spell.

Sweet, safe light bursts from his journal, now held aloft like a lantern. Kimiko claps delightedly. 

They’re inside a large entrance foyer, with rows and rows of framed portraits on the walls. A pair of wide staircases that connect at an upper landing takes up most of the room, and sheet-covered shapes are dotted around what must have been a small sitting area.

He breathes in again to focus his vision. Threads of illusion tinged with that same necromancy from before cloak each of the paintings. Nothing seems to be affecting the sheet-covered shapes, so he walks a little farther in, holding up his notebook to create the largest ring of light possible.

The sense of something unfinished makes him scan the portraits again. One of them is woven more heavily with illusion, a tricky weave that even he would struggle with. He takes a step closer.

Shrill, booming cackles emanate from the portrait’s mouth, startling him so badly he almost drops his journal.

“What’s that?” Kimiko yelps, drawing her gigantic sword. 

“I’m not sure,” Ako replies nervously. Something is very, very wrong.

“I don’t like it!” she yells and dashes forward. One clean slice is all it takes to cut it in half, the bisected pieces clattering to the floor more loudly than they should.

The laughter continues, less amused, and Ako swallows. It sounds angry now.

“I don’t like this,” Hitsuki mutters.

“Do you guys hear that?” Kaguya asks quietly. It’s the volume of her voice that makes the hair on the back of Ako’s neck stand up. 

They listen for a beat. Kaguya says, “Someone was thumping around in a room down the hall, but it just stopped.”

A wave of fear ripples through Ako. He siddles over to the wall near Kimiko, who has proven herself more than capable of slicing bad things in two.

“I don’t like this either,” she whispers as the rest of the group gathers behind her, eyes trained on the gloom down the hall, backs against the wall.

It’s quiet except for everyone’s ragged breathing. Satsuki crouches down and hugs her knees to her chest. All of Ako’s senses strain to hear something, anything, and then --

“Hey, how’d you get in here?”

Ako snaps his head around to see a faintly glowing hand emerge from the wall, and tries desperately not to pass out.

///

1/?

[icyhot-writes]

Two Worlds Apart Part 1/?

Main Characters: OC Kamiko Kaori + Shoto Todoroki

Fandoms: Sailor Moon and Boku No Hero

Chapter Rated: SFW

My name is Kamiko Kaori, and I’m from Crystal Tokyo in the 30th Century! Or at least I was. I guess I should tell you I’m also Sailor Star Galaxy, the last generation in the Sailor Soldiers. I possess all the powers of the Other Sailor scouts, and was trained to be a last line of defense and to step in should any of the other scouts fall. During a fight with our latest enemy, the return of the Negaverse, a tear in space was ripped open. Sailor Pluto and I attempted to seal it up, but not before I was sucked in. That’s when I woke up in this archaic world, where almost everyone possessed some type of power. Or “Quirk” as they called it. But that was almost eight months ago. I thought Neo Queen Serenity would have come for me by now. But it seems that this new world was now my reality. And that brings us here! Standing at the gates of the esteemed U.A High School, wondering what I was possibly doing there.

“Hey Kamiko! You made it!” called Yaoyorozu, or as Kamiko knew her as, Momo. She ran towards Kamiko, two other girls at her side. Yaoyorozu had come across  Kamiko within her first few days in the strange land. Hungry, beaten, and scared, Yaoyorozu showed pity on the girl and took her home. As she nursed Kamiko to health the two soon became friends. Eventually, Kamiko told Yaoyorozu her story, being Sailor Star, and how she ended up there. In return, Yaoyorozu taught her about their world of heroes and quirks. She was the only person Kamiko trusted. A few weeks ago, she convinced Kamiko to return to school, specifically…to apply to UA.  

“Hey Momo.” Kamiko smiled at her. “Are these your friends?”

“Yes! Guys, this is that girl I told you about. Kaori Kamiko, Meet Uraraka and Ashido .” Momo introduces them.  

“Is it true you’re an alien!?” the pink girl pushed forward, a little too close for comfort.  

“Ashido!” Yaoyorozu scolds her. “I swear not everyone knows. Just Ashido, Uruaka and Jiro.”

Kamiko dismissed it with a wave of her hand.  

“It’s okay. To be fair, the word Alien is relative. From my point of view, you guys are the aliens.” She joked with a smile. She used a hand to push a wisp of violet hair out of her face. "But I suppose I am. I’d rather not talk about it right now though. I have to stay focused for the entrance exam.”  

“Right! Well come on! We’ll take you!” Uraraka smiled, grabbing Kamiko and dragging her through the campus. “It’s so rare that UA will make an exception and do an entrance exam mid-semester. You must have a crazy strong quirk!”  

“Well uhm...something like that.” Kamiko stammered out, feeling her cheeks heat up. It was so weird going from a world where powers had hidden identities to a world where almost everyone had them. Even displayed them.  

“Hey look!” Ashido pointed up at the building. “That’s Principal Nezu, All Might, Mr. Aizawa, Mr. Yamada, and Ms. Kayama. They must be waiting for you.”  

“Huh? And that’s our homeroom class. I wonder why they are here.” Yaoyorozu stated curiously.

“Ah, Kamiko Kaori! Thank you for joining us this morning.” The …well…mouse spoke to her. I really needed to stop being so surprised at this point. She thought to herself. "Please bear with us, the arena is finishing being prepped. It is so rare an occasion we do exams like this in the middle of a semester; we needed to adjust a few things.”  

“It’s I who should be thanking you.” Kamiko and bowed respectfully. “I am so grateful this opportunity Principal Nezu.”  

The teacher who looked like he pulled one too many all-nighters stepped up. If Ashido named them in order, this should be-  

“My name is Aizawa. This is my homeroom. They will be participating in the arena with you to keep things semi-fair like the normal exam. However, keep in mind each of the students here have not only passed the exam, but already have hero training. But seeing as this is an exceptional case, this shouldn’t be a problem.” He spoke in a monotone, bored voice.  He turned to the group of students. “I doubt I need to say this but it’s in your best interest to try in this. This will be treated as pop quiz. Turn your attention to Present Mic and he will explain the rules.”  

The next teacher to speak was the exact opposite of Aizawa.  

“Alright Listeners, this may be a repeat for some of you but it’s a remix!” he spoke energetically, causing Kamiko to cringe. “Three different types of faux villains are stationed in each battle center. You earn points for each of them based on their level of difficulty. Your goal is to use your Quirks to earn points by immobilizing the faux villains. BUT THIS TIME, attacking other examinees is ALLOWED.  Why? WELL because the zero-point villains that are normally robots will be some of your classmates. That’s right folks, some of your peers have been briefed beforehand and will be sabotaging the others as double agents!” he spoke with such enthusiasm even at the last part.  

Kamiko’s violet eyes scanned the class for a clue on who may have been against her, but everyone looked equally shocked. She made contact with a boy with red and white hair. One brown eye. One blue. He turned away from her almost instantly. Kamiko continued to watch him until Momo bumped her.

“Gawk later. Pay attentinon.” she whispered. Kamiko rolled her eyes, tuning back in.

“Now remember young heroes! Attacking does NOT mean injuring. Although we have Recovery Girl standing by, that doesn’t mean you go all out. Use your best judgment on when to pull back.” All Might instructed. “Anyone caught using excessive force WILL fail.”  

“This should be fun! I didn’t have to take the last exams.” Yaoyorozu whispered to her. “It’s cool to see what it was like.”

“I, uh, just have one question.” Kamiko spoke, a raising a hand.  

“Yes Miss Kaori?” All Might answered her.  

“I’m sure you’re aware, my “quirk” works differently, should I transform now or once the test has begun?” she asked, not wanting to break rules.  This gains some looks from the other students, and she quietly cursed herself for drawing attention.  

“Once the test has begun. After all, you can’t always prepare ahead in a real battle.” Principal Nezu smiled giddily. She nodded clutching the broach on her chest. It was similar to Sailor Moon’s and held a piece of the silver crystal handed down to her. “We shall all go to the observation room then. Good luck Miss Kaori. You as well my students!” With that All Might scooped up the teachers with a hearty laugh, and bounded into the air.  

“Is he always like that?” she asked with an amused smile. But before anyone could answer, the doors to the exam slammed open. Everyone ran in, Kamiko at the back of the pack. She was going to need a boost. She ran towards the side of the tunnel using the wall to jump over the other students. “COSMIC PLANET POWER!” she yelled out mid-air, and began to transform into her sailor form.

Her violet hair released from its bun and flowed down her back as purple glowing ribbons wrapped around her body. She landed on the other side of the crowd, looking over her shoulder at them in her purple, black and white senshi outfit. They all were staring at her surprised, except for Momo who had seen her transform before. “Well? Are you all just going to stand there?” she smirked.

“She’s right!” an overly excited boy saluted, the engines in his legs boosting him towards the robots. “Sorry Ma’am, but this is competition! And Class 1A does not lose!” At that rate he was going to get to those bots before she could.  

“Jupiter Thunder….” Kamiko yelled, crossing her hands like the former sailor had taught her.  An antenna rose from her tiara. “CRASH!”  

“Iida jump!” Yaoyorozu warned her classmate. He did as he was told, just narrowly avoiding her thunder blast at the robots.

“Whoa! A thunder quirk!” A boy with spiky green hair gasps.  

She smiled to herself, watching as the robots twitched and fell.

“We’ve got to slow her down!” He moved toward her with incredible speed, a green light shooting around his body. Kamiko jumped back, just barely dodging his hand grabbing at her. Another hand grabbed her shoulder. It was rock hard, but still she managed to flip them onto to the ground, a blur of red hair catching her eye as she slammed them.

“Sorry!” she winced before running off.  

I need to get away from the group as fast as possible. She thought looking for a solution.  High ground would be best so I can survey what I’m up against.  She spots a building with an overhang and ran towards it.  

“Venus Love Me Chain!” she yelled and the heart shape golden chain latched on to the edge. Kamiko jumped into the air, the chain pulling her higher, kicking a few more robots down as she went.  

“OH NO YOU DON’T!” A yell came from behind her.  A blonde boy with spiky hair was using blasts from his hands to chase after her. The look of anger on his face was terrifying. “I WON’T LOSE TO YOU!”  

She removed her broach and willed it into Pluto’s staff. It quickly took the form and she aimed it at the boy. “Deadly Scream!” the sonic blast hits him and the neighboring robots, sending them all back towards the ground, a slew of profanities leaving his mouth. “Nothing personal!” Kamiko yelled back just as she reached the top of the building.  

Everyone seems to be either fighting amongst themselves or the other robots. Kamiko looked down trying to think which attack would only harm the robots, when a wall of ice suddenly hurtled towards her, knocking out tons of robots simultaneously. She went to avoid it but was too slow. The ice began to encase her, grounding her feet in place. She pressed her hands together. “Mars Fire Ignite!” The fire shot out and circled her, melting the frosty cage in the process.  On the outside of the wall, the boy with the half white, half red hair looked at her with that same stoic face from earlier.  Did that attack come from him?  

“So, you have a fire quirk as well.” He said coolly. Stating the obvious much?

“It will take more than a measly snow globe to keep me down.” She huffed twirling the staff in her hand. He didn’t answer her, instead examining her, most likely thinking of what move to do next. He shot another ice blast, but it avoided her, instead taking out the robots on her flank. She looked at him curiously. That attack was too precise to have been an accident. If he was a double, why would he help her?  

“Thank you.” She said softly. He still didn’t answer, instead running at her, an icy chill escaping from his lips.  He began shoot ice blast after blast at her. Or Not. She thought breaking the attacks with her staff. What was with this guy? She moved to evade him and he formed another ice wall to block her path. That’s when she put it together. He was making her waste time on him. Bastard can’t block what he can’t see. “Mercy Bubbles Blast!” she yelled, making a thick mist. She danced around him making noise with her staff to confuse him on her location. But he was smarter, fire blasts began to shoot out, not only shocking her, but causing her mist to thin out. “Venus love me chain!” She shot the chain in the direction the flames came from, trapping his body. Or what she thought was his body. When she pulled, the chain tightened but didn’t budge. Even if he was stronger, she should have felt a little tug. The mist continued to thin out and she saw she had actually wrapped around a pole. Shit. “Mirror.” she said softly, planning to use Neptune’s Mirror to see where he was hiding. But as the staff morphed, a warm hand grabbed her, pushing her against the pole.

The cold sharp point of an icicle was pointed at her neck. “You put up quite a fight.” His icy breath whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her. “but you’re done now.” Anger radiated through her body. How could she fall for such a ploy?

“You’re the one who’s done.” She spoke through gritted teeth. She slowly angled the mirror until she saw his reflection in it. “Submarine..Reflection.”

The mirror shot out a bright blast, forcing him back and onto the ground. “Mars Flame Sniper!” she said and her fire took the shape of a bow and arrow. She shot Four hours into his shirt, pinning him, even if it’s for a moment. “Stay down, please.” the violet haired girl begged. “ I need this.”

To her surprise, he laid his head back, not resisting. Kaori ran to the edge of the building, looking down at the other students fighting the robots. She aimed her bow, and began to shoot the flaming arrows at as many robots as she could manage. Then a loud buzzer rang through her ears.  

“TIMES UP!” Present Mic’s voice boomed through the air. She disarmed her bow, the fire disappearing in thin air, as well as the arrows pining the boy. Was that last attack enough to make up for lost time?

The sound of ice crinkling caught her attention as a large ice slide formed down the building. Her opponent stood at the edge and then slid down to the bottom. Kamiko rewrapped her chain around the pole and jumped off the building. Once at the bottom, she detransformed to her normal clothes and the broach returned to its place on her chest.  Quick hands began to return her hair into it’s messy bun. She made eye contact with Uraraka who quickly ran over to her. “Kaori, that was incredible! “She smiled, hugging Kamiko tightly. “I had no idea you were that powerful.”  

“You even held your own against Todoroki! And he’s our strongest classmate!” Ashido appeared giddily.  

“HE IS NOT!” The voice of the angry blonde boy from earlier boomed. He pushed through the crowd toward her, and she had half the mind to turn back into Sailor Star Galaxy. “You may be strong, but you’re not stronger than me GOT IT?! Neither is Icy Hot! I will Destroy-“  

His voice cut off as a red headed boy clamped a literal, rock hard hand across his mouth.  

“Sorry about Bakugo. Just ignore him, it’s what most of us do.” he smiled at her as he held the other boy back. “I’m Kiroshima! And you were seriously awesome! I didn’t see that flip coming!”  

“Oh that was you?” Kamiko remembered the person she had slammed earlier, and put two and two together. “I really am sorry! Are you alright?”  

“No worries! My quirk is hardening. Takes a lot more than a few body slams to hurt me.” Kiroshima chuckled. “Speaking of, you have some major quirks yourself. How many do you have?”  

“I counted six! Thunder, Chain, Fire, Bubbles, Sonic Waves and that transformation in the beginning! ” the green hair boy from earlier ran up. “Do your quirks only work after that? It must be why you asked principle Nezu. And is that staff thing apart of you? How did you get so many quirks?” he shot question after question; Kamiko barely able to keep up.  Her back pressed against the stone wall of the building behind her as the rest of the students gathered around her, eager for answers.

“I..well..” she said softly, not used to so much attention at once. Just as it was becoming too much, an ice wall thin enough to see through separated her from the rest of the group. She turned her head and at the end stood Todoroki.

“, Enough.” he said in a monotone voice. They locked eyes for a moment. “Let her breathe.”

“Oh… Sorry Kaori.” Midoriya apologized and the boy let the wall down once everyone took a step back.  

“It’s okay. I’m just not used to so much attention.” Kamiko gave a sympathetic smile to him. She looked over at Todoroki, but he was already walking away from them. Her lips curved into a frown.

“Amazing Job Students!!” All Might’s voice bellowed, as he and the other teachers came from seemingly nowhere.  

Aizawa sighed getting in front of All Might. “As I’m sure you all figured out, Midoriya, Bakugo, Todoroki, and Kiroshima were all on the double agent roster. They were all able to secure multiple sabotages while continuing to attack robots. From lowest to highest, Kiroshima, Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki.”

“DAMN YOU DEKU!! ” Bakugo screamed, as Kiroshima sighed next to him, placing another solid hand on the boy’s mouth. Kao Midoriya ri assumed it was a common occurrence as Aizawa ignored the boy.  

“Additionally, everyone can see their scores in the post outside. However, I will announce the top three scores for our non-double agents. In third place, with 30 points, was Tanya Iida.” The boy with rockets in his legs smiled, but there was a small hint of sadness in it. At least your scores don’t depend if you get to stay Kamiko thought nervously. Aizawa continued. “In second place, Momo Yaoyorozu with 32 points. And lastly-“Aizawa was cut off by the excitement of All Might.  

“KAMIKO KAORI!! 40 points!” He bellowed.

“First place…that means…. that means she got in right?!” Momo asked excitedly. All might opened his mouth but was shushed by Aizawa.

“Yes, against better council, she technically did.” Aizawa spoke harshly.  “But I want to make it clear it is on a probationary basis. Any screw ups and you’re out. And to ensure a decent eye is kept on you, you’ll be in my homeroom. Look around you. These are your new classmates.”

“But sir! She’s a first year. She would have to pass her hero’s examination, receive her probationary license, midterms, finals. I understand she’s powerful but UA’s standards-”

“For reasons I’ll leave up to her to discuss with you all, she’s been considered a special case by the principal. The decision has been made, regardless of any disagreements.” Aizawa shut him up. Kamiko flinched at the harsh tone in the man’s voice. His words said one thing, but his tone implied he agreed with Iida. “Yaoyorozu, you’re excused for the remainder of the day.  Help Kaori get situated in her dorm, in her uniform, the works. You’re all dismissed.”

[ladylynse]

Part VII of The Trouble with Ghosts! For @dannyphandump​; congrats again on winning one of my giveaway spots!

<<  <  Part VII >

Lancer hadn’t realized how closely young Mr. Fenton’s school troubles–and the secrets he surely wasn’t telling his parents–were tied to ghosts until after that encounter with Phantom. 

Danny propped pillows against the headboard and sat up in bed before pulling out his phone. He texted Sam, Tucker, and Jazz to let them know how things were going, to let them know he was still safe with Lancer and that Vlad hadn’t caught up with him yet. He didn’t mention his conversation with Lancer, though; he was hoping to get Lancer to agree to keep silent before he approached the whole ‘maybe you shouldn’t keep helping me’ subject. It would only serve as another distraction for them right now, especially since they wouldn’t let him do this alone even if he wanted them to, and they’d already be on their toes in case another ghost attacked.

Of course, since they were in school and couldn’t reply to him immediately, he was left hiding in Lancer’s spare room and trying to figure out how to win an argument he was pretty sure he was going to lose.

And, well, trying to figure out what to do now, and not just with Lancer.

He didn’t know how long these reduced ghost powers would last. Sure, he’d more or less figured out Vlad’s game, probably should’ve realized it immediately, but that didn’t mean he knew what to do about it. Vlad didn’t need an invention like the Booo-merang to find him; Valerie would be out with her ghost tracker the moment school let out, and in the meantime, Vlad had a whole bunch of ghosts on his payroll. He would’ve exhausted Danny’s usual haunts by now, but Valerie would’ve reported her success. Vlad would know he’d been hit.

And that meant Vlad knew he couldn’t go very far.

Especially with the Spectre Speeder and the Ops Centre still at FentonWorks.

Hiding with Lancer was buying him time, but Danny couldn’t guarantee that it would buy him enough.

If it didn’t, Lancer would be danger—even if Danny didn’t get into the details about Masters and Plasmius. At the rate he was recovering from this (drug, ghost virus, whatever it was; he wasn’t going to put anything past Vlad), he wouldn’t be able to protect Lancer when Vlad’s goons showed up to collect him. So, if he was already going to be in danger, how much more danger would he be in if Danny explained this truth, too?

It wasn’t his secret to tell.

But it was a secret he shared, and Lancer already knew about that.

And…and he could use the help. Clearly. Because, no, he didn’t want to endanger his family or friends, and yes, he knew it was a risk, and since this could happen, he clearly couldn’t protect them, so—

There was a knock on the door. “Phantom? I brought you something for lunch.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Replenishing your energy may help to speed your healing process. You can’t afford to miss a meal in your current state, even if you wouldn’t normally consume one.”

Danny groaned, but he couldn’t argue with Lancer. For one, he was probably right, and for another, that was basically the reason he was still in ghost mode. He might heal faster as a ghost, but ignoring his human half right now wouldn’t help matters. “Fine. Come in.”

To Danny’s surprise, Lancer walked in with a steaming mug and a spoon. “Homemade soup,” he said. “I thought a mug might be easier than a bowl. Don’t be afraid to eat it all; I can pull more out of the freezer if you want it.”

“Thanks.” He reached for the mug, letting its warmth seep into his fingers. The soup smelled good, and the truth was, he was kinda hungry if he let himself think about it. He hadn’t realized so much time had passed. Breakfast suddenly seemed like a very long time ago.

Lancer sat on the end of the bed, just as he had that morning. This time, he seemed content to let Danny dictate when to begin the conversation. Danny took a hesitant sip of the soup, debated trying to use his (probably currently non-existent) ice powers to cool it down, and decided that time would take care of that for him anyway. “Look, Mr. Lancer. About what I said earlier. I’m sorry.”

Lancer’s eyebrows shot up. “Am I really the one you need to be apologizing to?”

Danny took another sip of soup, as much because the broth tasted surprisingly good as because he was stalling. “I just…. Let me try saying this a different way, okay?” He lowered his mug and looked at his teacher. “Did you report the ghost attack yesterday?”

“I think the damage speaks for itself—”

“No, I know that the damage is there and everything, and probably it’s a huge headache for the school board to keep us open when all these attacks keep happening, but— The attack itself. That it was me and the Red Huntress. Did you say that?”

Lancer frowned. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d be interested in the budget woes of Casper High.”

“I’m not. I mean, not much more than anyone else. That is, I get that it’s a problem, but it’s usually not my problem, y’know? Even though I’m causing all the damage. I feel bad for it, but I try to minimize it when I can, and I just….” He shook his head. “That’s not what I was asking, Mr. Lancer.”

Lancer’s expression softened. “I didn’t feel the need to mention you specifically, no.”

Danny let out a slow breath. So, Lancer hadn’t mentioned him by name, which meant Vlad wouldn’t necessarily think he could be involved in hiding Danny now. It also meant, from the sounds of it, that he hadn’t brought up Danny Fenton’s injuries anywhere that could be tracked by Vlad, either. Also good. It was unlikely that there was a target on his back right now, even if that would change once Vlad found him.

And it probably meant that Lancer wanted to bring up this issue with his parents before mentioning it elsewhere.

“Thank you,” Danny whispered. It wouldn’t buy him much time, but he’d take what he could get.

“You’re welcome.”

Danny took another sip of scalding soup, but Lancer was still waiting. And he had to tell him something. “I shouldn’t stay here. The Red Huntress is going to be looking for me.” Work and homework were probably the only reasons he’d been safe last night. “She has a ghost tracker. She’ll be able to find me when I’m like this.” His ecto-signature might be weaker, but it wouldn’t be that weak. And if she got suspicious of the fact that Lancer was taking a personal day….

“I hardly think she’ll shoot through my home to get to you,” Lancer pointed out. “I doubt her employer would approve of such blatant damage, particularly if he wishes to keep a low profile and for her work to continue to be publicly accepted.”

Danny pulled a face. “She isn’t the only one working for him.” He sighed, then added, “Ghosts aren’t going to be stopped by a few walls, Mr. Lancer.”

“You make it sound like half of our town’s ghost trouble stems from this person.”

“Well, he definitely didn’t make it any better,” Danny muttered. He put the mug of soup on the bedside table. “Look, Mr. Lancer. This is bigger than you think it is. Getting you involved isn’t going to help anyone. You’re worried about my friends, but they were in this from the start. They know the stakes. They won’t want to stop, even knowing…even knowing what could happen. That it could get them killed, even if I’m doing everything I can to prevent that. But you? You’re not going to be safe just because you’re an adult.”

“I’m quite aware of that, Phantom. I—”

“This has gotten you killed before,” Danny whispered, not wanting to lose his nerve but needing to make sure Mr. Lancer understood, “and you knew less then than you do now.”

As Danny had expected, Lancer’s brow furled. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“It’s a long story. Just…people have found out my secret before. I’m lucky, I guess. I’ve had a chance to do things over when things out of my control got bad fast. Rewrite time, rewrite reality. But this time I won’t. Because no one else is involved, and I can’t….” He shook his head. “Please don’t ask. Just know that this time it will stick. And I don’t want you to get caught up in this mess when you don’t have to be.”

“You seem to be forgetting that this is my choice. Perhaps you think I am uninformed, but I am willing to face the consequences of my decisions—including my decision to take care of you. Now, why don’t you have some more soup and tell me about this mysterious employer.”

It was an order. Danny wasn’t about to pretend it wasn’t. He obediently picked up the soup, blew on a spoonful, and stuck it in his mouth.

Lancer only let him repeat that process three times before asking, “What could a human possibly offer ghosts to employ them?”

Fortunately, Danny genuinely didn’t know the answer to that one. He had his suspicions, of course. Vlad wasn’t going to help him beat anyone if they were willing to do a few side jobs for him, and Skulker was probably free to keep his pelt once Vlad had his mid-morph sample for his clones. Still, he had no reason to share all that with Mr. Lancer. “I don’t know.”

Lancer’s frown made it clear he didn’t believe that. “He would be a man of power, I’m sure, to have such influence.”

The soup was still hot, but Danny took a big mouthful anyway, just to avoid answering.

That backfired on him, since Lancer took the lack of answer for the affirmative. “He would also have to be cunning to avoid drawing attention to his activities. His public persona is more than likely quite vehemently against ghosts. Would it be correct to also assume that he has some physical wealth as well, to keep someone as skilled as the Red Huntress in his pocket? Possibly even supplying her with all her weapons, not just this one?”

Why had it taken Lancer this long to figure out his secret if he was this observant? Probably because he’d never figured ghosts could be humans, too. Danny was lucky he wasn’t questioning how he was half ghost, though he probably just assumed it was because of his parents. Just as well he didn’t wonder if anyone else had gotten similarly caught in an experiment.

Danny lowered the mug, but he didn’t raise his eyes to look at Mr. Lancer. “I can deal with him,” he said. “The others know who he is, and he knows who they are, but they aren’t his target and they never will be.” They’d been targeted to get to him, to make him do things, so that wasn’t quite true, but Mr. Lancer would just be more adamant if he admitted that.

“And you believe that someone who will tailor weapons specifically to target you won’t cross that line?”

Danny jerked his head up. “I never said that the weapons were to target me!”

“You said this was a weapon which could render you harmless,” Lancer pointed out, “rather than acknowledging that others would be similarly affected.”

“Oh. Right.” He couldn’t remember saying that. He wondered whether that had been before or after Mr. Lancer had figured out his secret. Frankly, he was surprised Lancer had remembered something like that. “But it still doesn’t mean the others are in danger.”

“Doesn’t it?”

It sounded like a comeback Jazz would make, which probably meant it was a verbal trap. Danny wished knowing that would also let him know how to avoid it. “Their lives are valuable to me,” he said, hating that he had to put it like this, “so killing them won’t get him anywhere. That’s why they aren’t his target. He knows it’ll throw up more walls between us.”

“That doesn’t mean they can’t be hurt.”

“And it doesn’t mean you can’t get hurt! How come you’re not fazed by me saying that you’ve died in an alternate timeline?”

Lancer sobered. This time, he looked away, fixating on the old cream carpet instead. “I’m not unfazed,” he said quietly. “I’m simply not focusing on it.” He looked back at Danny. “It’s better for me to ignore what could have once happened in favour of what’s happening now. The fact that it happened before is no guarantee that it will happen again. It is never a good idea to be blind to the lessons of the past or the possibilities of the future, but neither is it wise to tear yourself apart over what might happen or could have happened.”  

“Then why the lecture on what might happen?”

Surprisingly, Lancer smiled at his salty words. “You’re so young,” he said. “With all your fighting experience, it can be easy to forget that.” Danny opened his mouth to ask what that meant, but Lancer continued, “I’m not going to decide against helping you simply because of the risk it carries, but I am not convinced of my invulnerability, either. I am quite sure your friends are not so seasoned, particularly if you’ve been lucky up until now.”

Danny crossed his arms but didn’t argue. He had the feeling telling Mr. Lancer the others had also died in an alternate timeline wasn’t going to help his case. That was more likely to get him on the phone with his parents immediately. He didn’t need to hang himself with the rope Lancer gave him.

“Let your friends have a chance to live their lives without this burden. Let them learn and make mistakes in situations where those mistakes won’t get them killed. Once they’ve had a chance to grow into themselves, to know what else life can offer— That’s when they’ll have the judgement to know if helping you is what they want to do. That’s when they’ll have a better understanding of the risks this help carries.”

“I think they know the risks, Mr. Lancer.”

“Knowing the risks and understanding them are two very different things, Phantom.”

Danny huffed and reached for the soup again. He wasn’t hungry anymore, but Lancer was right; he couldn’t afford not eating when his body needed the energy to heal itself. He drained the mug under Lancer’s watch, using the spoon to scrape the last of the vegetables and barley from the sides.

“I don’t want children to get hurt because I didn’t say anything,” Lancer said quietly. “This isn’t a war only you can fight. The risks are real and they are greater if your friends become reckless simply because nothing has yet happened to them. I should hope what has happened serves as a wake-up call, but if that were truly enough, you wouldn’t be so resistant to the idea of talking to the others and asking them to stop.”

“It’s still their choice to be involved, even if you do think they’re uninformed. I’m not making them help me.”

“But you aren’t actively discouraging them, either.”

Danny hesitated. “Not usually,” he finally admitted. He toyed with the spoon in the empty mug, spinning it around. The ring of metal against ceramic couldn’t fill the silence. “Only when I know it’s too much.” He’d had to reveal Valerie to her father to get her to stop, but he couldn’t even use that as an example when Lancer didn’t realize she was the Red Huntress.

He had powers. She didn’t. She was good, but he could take more than she could. Normally, anyway. Usually, a hit like this wouldn’t take him out of the fight, and it definitely wouldn’t still have him down the next morning. But Valerie? Her quick reflexes—and probably her black belt training—had to be the only reasons she didn’t get more injuries.

And Sam? Tucker? They’d gotten much better at ghost hunting, but they didn’t even have armour like Valerie. Neither did Jazz, unless she was using the Fenton Peeler. He knew that was dangerous. They all did. He kept waiting for his parents to develop some sort of lightweight armour, something that would keep them safer than their HAZMAT suits, but aside from the ghost shield, they seemed more interested in offense than defense.

He was pretty sure Jazz had tried suggesting something at some point, but maybe his parents put more confidence in their aim than that of the ghosts they fought. He’d never dared push it. Appearing too interested or invested or anything like that— He couldn’t risk the attention. He couldn’t risk them noticing. Not when he wasn’t ready to tell them.

Not when he wasn’t sure he could.

Like Mr. Lancer had said, just because something had happened once, didn’t mean it would happen that way again. Not once the circumstances had changed. And he knew, logically, that they probably would accept him, that his fears were for nothing, but—

What if they didn’t believe him?

Didn’t believe his proof, the word of everyone else who knew?

What if they were convinced this was some elaborate, sick trick and took him down to the lab to find out their own truth?

He couldn’t risk it.

Not now.

Mr. Lancer certainly couldn’t stop them if they decided he’d been influenced by a ghost. By him. None of them could. And if they thought him changing back was just him shapeshifting into their son—

Danny didn’t realize how hard he’d been gripping the mug until Lancer carefully pried his fingers away and set it on the dresser. “I know this is hard. I expect I’m hardly a replacement for your current support system, but I am willing to work with you if it’ll protect my students. I won’t allow them to keep endangering themselves this way. I could hardly call myself a responsible adult if I turned a blind eye.”

“But—”

“Phantom.” Mr. Lancer’s tone was firm. “I will not let you continue to endanger the lives of your friends. And if this employer is so insistent about getting to you, he’ll have to go through me.” A sigh. “Please do not give me that look, Phantom. I am not completely incapable, though I will admit my job would be easier if I had a name.”

“I can’t. That’ll only make things worse!”

“Oh, for The Catcher in the Rye!” Lancer growled. “Giving me the same information your friends have will not make things worse. If you believe the Red Huntress or a ghost can find you here, if you believe they’ll go through me to get to you, then I’m in just as much danger as I would be even if I didn’t know who sent them. More likely, I’ll be in more danger, because you are not giving me a chance to prepare myself to fight back. I do not intend to throw you out on the street to save myself. I do not intend to hand you over to your friends and let them face the wrath of this mysterious employer trying to get to you. I do not intend to die trying to save you, but giving me the information I ask for will make that less likely, not more. Ignorance is not bliss in this case. Ignorance is dangerous!”

Danny looked away. Lancer had a point, sort of, but he didn’t want to admit it. He wouldn’t believe the Red Huntress was working for a ghost, not when Danny hadn’t said that earlier, so he couldn’t pretend Plasmius was behind this. But telling him it was Masters would just invite more questions. He probably wouldn’t make the leap between Masters and Plasmius, at least not right away if he did, and he might play off the obsession with him as the fact that Vlad was an old college friend of the Fentons (Jack made that point abundantly clear whenever they met up, so Lancer probably knew by now), but….

But it wouldn’t hold up. If Lancer didn’t know Vlad knew his secret, he’d put the pieces together soon enough. And then he’d want to know why Vlad hadn’t said anything to his parents. He’d want to know why Danny was so resistant to what Vlad would play off as an attempt to help, or maybe he’d just be rightfully appalled at everything Vlad was trying to do, even before he knew the half of it. Because if he thought Vlad did know his secret and was hunting him down anyway?

There was no way he wouldn’t tell Jack and Maddie.

Danny highly doubted he’d be able to convince Mr. Lancer that Vlad’s apparent reaction was a very good reason why it had to be kept a secret from them. Because Lancer would be sure family came first. He knew how fiercely Jack Fenton protected his family from ghosts—everyone did—and he knew how readily Maddie agreed to every parent-teacher conference and how often they had to sign his homework and— He just wouldn’t think they’d see a ghost instead of their son. Even if he thought Vlad did.

Well, Jazz’s testimony might help, actually. At the very least, she’d attest that they had to tread carefully, test the waters first. She was good with words, even if she was terrible at giving nicknames. And Lancer would believe her. Probably. If she cautioned him, he’d wait. Then, it at least wouldn’t just be Danny’s word against his. Besides, Jazz thought like an adult already.

So…so maybe he could get away with it. Telling part of the truth, anyway. If Lancer was going to keep interfering, he’d find out sooner or later. And at least then he wouldn’t be as star struck by the mayor as a bunch of other people seemed to be. It still wouldn’t prepare him against ghosts, would hardly prepare him to face Vlad without knowing he was a halfa, too, but—

“I’m sorry for my outburst, Phantom. I meant what I said, but I should have found a better way to say it.” Lancer stood and retrieved the empty mug. “Just think about it. If there is another timeline where I paid the ultimate price for my ignorance, then—”

“It wasn’t your ignorance. I mean, some of it was, but it was mostly your association with me.” It sounded so callous when he put it like that, and Danny wanted to take the words back, but he couldn’t do that, either.

Lancer pressed his lips into a thin line. “Very well. You know where I stand on this issue. You’ll have to forgive me for not backing down.”

“Wait,” Danny said as Lancer turned away. When he stopped, Danny asked, “Do you at least have an ectogun? Or something to protect you from ghosts?”

“Mr. and Mrs. Fenton are quite willing to provide every citizen in town with their weaponry,” Lancer said dryly. “I am not exempt. I own one of their net-throwing guns and a thermos.”

Capture and contain, standard for the lesser ghosts that showed up. It was better than nothing. “Okay. Good. Um. Maybe get them. And keep them on you. Just in case.” If his powers weren’t working, his ghost sense may not, either. He couldn’t count on advance warning, however slight. “Uh, how’s your aim?”

“Not as good as yours, I’m sure. I’ll fetch you the gun. It’s in my library.”

Danny wasn’t about to ask why Lancer kept it in his library, or what room he actually considered his library when there seemed to be books everywhere. Danny had found the washroom across the hall yesterday, and there were books in there, too. Not nearly as many, to be fair, but they were still there, neatly stacked on a stand between the toilet and the bathtub. Danny was used to finding half-finished inventions and completed weapons all across his house, so books were a nice, safer change, but still. There were a lot of them.

By the time Lancer returned, the thermos clipped to his belt and the net gun and a glass of water in hand, Danny had made up his mind.

Once the net gun and water were safely on the bedside table, Danny said, “She works for Vlad Masters.”

Lancer froze. “I beg your pardon?”

“The Red Huntress. She works for the mayor. I’ve…. Let’s just say I’ve always kinda been public enemy number one where he’s concerned.” It was close enough to the truth, but judging from the shock on Lancer’s face, Danny wondered if he would have been better off blaming ghosts after all.

@cosmic-melodies and anyone else who’s interested-- I have started posting this fic on FFnet and the AO3 under Lynse. Still editing as I go so it’s not caught up yet, but it should be soon. (It will be before I update this fic on tumblr again.) So if you aren’t following me on tumblr or if you are but only for this fic, you’re welcome to follow the story on one of those sites instead.

Next

(see more fics)