#where sometimes she sees fenton on weekends he’s home from school

[wanologic]

fortunately, or unfortunately, they only see each other like 3 times a year…

[q-gorgeous]

Reflection

fanfiction | ao3

first fic to ever be posted on ao3 woooOOoOOOoOOooOooOo

Mr. Lancer paused in his lecture to turn and face his classroom of students. His eyes traveled across the row of desks and landed on one in particular where a mop of black hair laid on the desk. 

“Ms. Fenton, class is not the time for sleeping. Please lift your head off of your desk.”

She grumbled and raised her head up, pushing long hair away from her face.

“Call me Danny.”

“Ms. Fenton, I try to maintain a professional relationship with my students-”

“This is high school, what’s professional about it?”

Lancer sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose just as the bell rings. “Remember to read chapter four, everyone.”

Danny almost made it out the door before Lancer was calling for her. “Ms. Fenton.”

She groaned and turned back around to face him, eyebrows drawn down. 

He pulled out a detention slip and filled it out, handing it to her. “I’ll see you at three.”

“What?” She said, glaring at the paper in her hand. “You’re giving me detention for asking you to call me a different name?”

“No.” Lancer says. “For sleeping in class.”

She grumbled and began walking quickly towards the door. “Bet Dash wouldn’t get detention for sleeping in class.”

Mr. Lancer sat back down in his chair, eyebrows drawn down. He��d never given a second thought to Ms. Fenton’s request to be addressed as Danny. Some students had nicknames they preferred to go by, but he tried to maintain a professional relationship with his students, with no exceptions. 

He picked up the framed photo of himself from his desk and began to study it. His frown deepened and guilt began to worm it’s way into his stomach. 

Perhaps he should have more of an open mind. 

QQQQQ

Shuffling papers and organizing his desk for the day, Lancer started when he saw a student with short, spiky black hair walk in and take Ms. Fenton’s seat. The rest of the class filed in soon after and the final bell rung. 

“Okay class, today we will be going over chapter four of Animal Farm. Please take out your books and your notes.” 

All the students in the class shuffled except for one, who was doodling in a notebook instead. 

“Ms. Fenton-”

“Danny.”

Lancer paused, weighing his options before moving forward, lest he delay class.

“Danny, please take out your book and notes.”

Danny’s eyes widened and she looked up at Lancer, mouth moving like a fish for a moment. “I left it at home.’

“We have spare copies in the back of the classroom, go ahead and grab one and flip to chapter four.”

As class went by, Danny stared at her book as if in a daze. Soon enough, the bell was ringing and students were walking out to make their way to their next class. As Lancer pulled out the quizzes to hand back to his next class, he saw Danny walk up to his desk. 

“Uh, Mr. Lancer. I just wanted to… Thank you for calling me Danny today.”

Lancer smiled. “I thought about it and made the conclusion that sometimes exceptions can be made.”

Danny smiled back at him. “Okay. Yeah, just, thanks again. Bye.” She quickly walked out the door. 

QQQQQ

Lancer whistled as he walked out of the school towards his car. It was the weekend and he was looking forward to some relaxation as he graded the tests for his junior level mythology class. Today had been ghost free and he was hoping to make it home without incident. 

Just as he finished that thought, Lancer heard a crash and a cackle come from further into the parking lot. Craning his neck to see over the cars, he could see the green techno ghost and… Danny?

The techno ghost laughed again and electricity ran up and down its arms. Lancer dropped his briefcase and started hurrying quietly towards where the ghost was looking down at her. 

“Foolish child! You think you can defeat me? Technus?!” 

Mr. Lancer crouched behind a car when he heard Danny snort. “I’ve defeated you multiple times already.”

Lancer’s eyebrows drew down. What did that mean?

Technus cackled. “Ah but this time will be different! I have found the latest upgrades in the interwebs and will use them to my disposal!”

Lancer was stepping out from behind the car and was about to distract the ghost so Danny could get away when a flash of bright light startled him. A ring appeared around Danny’s waist and spread into two, traveling up and down her body. Left behind was… Phantom?

Phantom sprung into the air and punched Technus in the face, sending him crashing into the school. Lancer couldn’t do anything but watch the ghost boy pummel the other ghost into the wall. 

A mixture of surprise and happiness was flitting through Lancer. His suspicions confirmed in the unlikeliest way possible. 

Soon Technus was defeated and trapped in Phantom’s thermos. He watched as Phantom turned around, surveying the damage in the parking lot when he met Lancer’s eyes. His own eyes widened and he looked away before meeting Lancer’s gaze again. 

“Danny?” His eyes widened again and a panicked expression wormed its way into his face. He shook his head vigorously, hands motioning in a no pattern. 

“Danny, come on. Let’s go back to my classroom. I have something important to show you.”

Without looking to see if the boy followed him, Lancer walked back towards the school and through the halls and into his classroom. Turning around, he saw that Danny had followed but the panicked expression had not yet left his face. 

“Take a seat, Mr. Fenton.”

Danny’s eyes widened and he floated down into one of the chairs off to the side of Lancer’s desk and transformed back.

“How did you..?”

“I saw that ghost squaring you down and was making my way towards you when you transformed in the middle of the parking lot.”

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. “I knew that would come back to bite me one day.”

Lancer nodded. “Now, what i wanted to show you was-”

“Wait! You can’t tell my parents! They can’t know!” 

Looking at Danny with wide eyes, Lancer let out an exclamation. “To kill a mockingbird, Danny! I couldn’t fathom outing you!”

Danny’s eyebrows furrowed. “What?”

“Danny, do you know what transgender means?”

Leaning back in his seat, Danny remained silent. Lancer reached forward and grabbed the picture sitting on his desk. 

“Danny, do you know who this is?”

He leaned forward and looked at the woman in the photo with long black hair. “Your sister?”

Lancer shook his head. “Nope, that was me when I was in college.”

Danny’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head with how wide they were. “That’s you?!”

He nodded. “This was just a month before I started transitioning.”

“You’re…” Danny looked up. “You’re trans?”

He nodded again. “I knew something was different throughout my adolescence but I never had the courage to take those first steps until I was in college.”

“Keeping this photo here though… Doesn’t it hurt?” Danny whispered.

“It used to.” Lancer said. “It used to make me angry that I had to work so hard to have my own identity. Now, it lets me reflect on the person I’ve become, who I wouldn’t be without the experiences I have.” “How do you know when you’re ready to come out?” Danny asked quietly.

“That’s hard to say. It’s up to the individual when they’re ready to start that part of their journey. The most important part is knowing whether or not you’ll be safe.”

“I think Jazz knows.” His brows furrowed. “About both things, somehow. She’s been being weird and supportive. My parents…” He sighed. “I’m sure they’d love me just the same whether I was a boy or a girl but being a ghost…”

He shook his head. “Please don’t tell them I’m Phantom. I’m not ready for that. I can’t-”

Lancer shook his head reassuringly. “That decision can only be made by you. But I can be here to give you any kind of support you need.”

Danny smiled at him. “Thanks Mr. Lancer.” He stood up. “I should get going now. Thanks for, uh, witnessing my secret identity I guess. See you on Monday.”

He waved to Lancer as he walked out the door. 

“Have a nice weekend, Mr. Fenton.”

[mystyrust]

Fracture - Ectober 2020

Day 2 Prompt: Bones / Pulse  

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27203635

Word Count:  2387

Tags: Past torture, identity reveal

There were many ways Maddie liked to spend her weekend. When her kids were younger, she and Jack would take them out to museums or parks – a family outing. Now that her kids are in high school and have a lot of homework, they don’t go out every weekend anymore. In fact, it feels like they haven’t had time to bond as a family in months. Jazz is always in the library and Danny is always with his friends – sometimes even sleeping over – or catching up on missed homework. Maddie could never figure out why Danny had a backlog of homework to catch up on, yet always had time to hang out with Sam and Tucker.

Now, with her kids spending all their free time by themselves, Maddie liked to spend her free time in her lab, creating and improving her inventions to catch the elusive ghost Phantom. It had been around the time that Phantom appeared that Danny and Jazz became more distant – while both her children were in support of the ghost vigilante, Maddie and Jack were against it, devoting their free time into solving the mystery of what made Phantom different from every other ghost that haunted Amity Park. They wanted to catch it, run experiments with it, and dissect it.

So this weekend was like any other – Maddie was huddled in her lab with Jack, working out the schematics of a new invention – when their Fenton Ghost Detector beeped; a strong ecto-signature was detected inside the Fenton household. This was normal if the ghost came out of the Fenton portal – this signature came from… the living room. Maddie and Jack ran up to find Phantom having stumbled through the front door, leaking ectoplasm behind it.

“What do you think you’re doing here, spook?!” Jack raised his ecto gun at the intruder, his large frame standing in between Maddie and the ghost. But Phantom was in no shape to fight.

“I… I need help,” The ghost managed to gasp out. Maddie paused in confusion. The ghost had tears streaming down its face, heavy breathing, and ectoplasm leaking down one limp arm. It’s mimicking of human physiology was fascinating. And to come to ghost hunters for help? Either this was a trap, or it wasn’t thinking straight.

“The..guys in…white… barely got away from them,” Phantom continued to explain. Maddie noticed him sway where he stood. And that was the weird part – he stood. Not floated. And he had legs, instead of a spectral tail.

“Please, before they… finish me… like they did…”

Jack lowered his ecto gun ever so slightly – not lowering his guard, but still confused about what to do. It was odd, seeing the always confident Phantom reduced to pleading and begging its former enemies. Something in his psyche was so shattered from his experience with the GIW…

Maddie didn’t know what to make of that, but she couldn’t waste a perfectly good opportunity when it knocked phased right through her front door.

“Let’s… let’s stabilize him for now,” Maddie said, lowering Jack’s aim. “Then we can ask him what happened. And decide what to do after that,”

Jack nodded in agreement. He gingerly placed his ectogun down, approaching Phantom with both is hands up and in front.

“We’ll help you, spook,” Jack spoke loud and purposefully. “But we’ll need to take you down to the lab to do that,” Phantom nodded slightly, and Jack took that as permission to walk up to the ghost. Phantom was… he wasn’t heavy but Jack wasn’t expecting the ghost to be as solid and corporeal as he was. He lifted the ghost in his arms, and followed Maddie down to the basement.

The ghost offered little resistance, but he was breathing heavily, and leaking a concerning amount of ectoplasm from his limp arm and one of his legs. It must be difficult to keep up the charade of struggling to breathe, when he’s lost as much ectoplasm as he has, Maddie thinks.

They place him on an examination table, with Maddie grabbing a scanner and running it over his damaged arm.

“Jack…” Her voice shuddered, “His arm is… it’s fractured.”

“What? That makes no sense, he doesn’t even have…bones…” but the scanner showed Jack exactly that.

There were a million and one questions that ghosted Maddie’s lips: How did you get bones? Do other ghosts also have bones? Where do the bones in your body go when you form a spectral tail? Are your bones made of calcium, just like human bodies? But the words that left her mouth were:

“You have bones?”

All her years of academic study, her dual MD/PhD, wasted on a Captain Obvious™ moment.

“Yeah, no duh,” Phantom cracked an eye open, while the rest of his face continued to grimace. “And it hurts…like hell…” There was that snarky teenaged attitude the Fentons were so familiar with.

“How do we even treat this?” Jack asked. One of Phantom’s legs was badly muddled – peeling the suit back revealed deep and numerous gashes. He was losing ounces of ectoplasm a second, and if these injuries were on a human, he’d need blood transfusion and stitches.

“Well, we can supplement ectoplasm to help his healing factor. And then…” Maddie gulped. “Stitch the leg. And set the arm.”

Maddie went to the back of the lab, returning with a set of tools. Scalpels, needles, and bandages. The glint of the metal must have caught Phantom’s eyes – how was he still conscious? A human with this much blood loss would not be awake right now – and the ghost started hyperventilating.

“What are you –? No, please! Please don’t! I wasn’t – !”

“Phantom! We’re helping you!” Jack yelled back. Phantom stared at Jack, eyes fogging over and breathing uneven.

“I’m sorry I never…I should have told you sooner,” Phantom cried. It was an ugly cry, from a body and heart in pain. Maddie didn’t know what else to call it. What kind of guilt could be eating Phantom alive, from the inside?

“I can’t –” Phantom grunted. “I can’t change back! I’m sorry, I’m sorry I should have –”

“How about we help you first, then you tell us what you should have told us when your arm and leg are better?”

Phantom, still sniffling, nodded silently.

Maddie set to work with putting stitches on his leg, while Jack hooked an IV of purified ectoplasm. She looped phase proof thread – from Jack’s Fenton Fishing Pole – onto a surgical needle, and set to work, closing one of the many wounds. Since the wound was deep, Maddie needed to stitch the inner layers first, before sewing the outer layers shut. She was marveled at the level of detail in this ghosts’ body – maybe she could ask him about that when he was healed up.

It was strange that only one leg was injured, while the other leg looked fine. It was stranger how Phantom’s breathing and crying hitched every time her needle pierced his flesh.

“Phantom, can you –? Can you feel the needle as I –?”

“Mhmm,” Phantom managed to grunt, tears freely flowing from his eyes. “Please hurry, Mom.”

Maddie froze in her tracks. Why did he even –? Okay calm down.

He can feel pain. He can display emotion. He can appear delusional with loss of bodily fluids. And in that delusion, he seeks a parental figure.

He has the psyche of a child, her rational mind concludes. So she’ll play that part.

“Almost,…Almost done, sweetie.” Maddie responds hesitantly. “You’re doing great.”

As for the feeling pain part, she isn’t how drugs can affect a ghost – and she can’t take a chance that Phantom will react badly to some experimental medication they use on him. She can only hope that he passes out at some point, and doesn’t feel any pain for the remainder of the procedure. From watching previous footage of his battles in chronological order, Maddie had concluded that Phantom has a fast healing factor. She can only hope that healing factor is still fast. He’ll be fine.

Funny how in the course of an hour, she stopped thinking of Phantom from an “it” and started to think of Phantom as a “he”

It took thirty more minutes of verbal coaxing and soothing for Maddie to finish stitching Phantom’s leg. He promptly passed out when that was done. While Phantom was asleep, Jack finished bandaging the arm, adding a splint to keep it straight.

Finally, with ghostly patient asleep and treated, Maddie and Jack sat down, exhausted.

“Well, I never thought – ” Jack paused, unsure how to word it. They learned more about Phantom’s physiology today than ever before, and he broke every known convention about ghosts that they’d researched thus far. Not to mention a ghost turning to a ghost hunter for help.

“I want to take a sample of his ectoplasm while we can,” Maddie said. “But he might not have enough to spare. And I have a feeling that we’ll get more questions than answers under the microscope, too.”

“You’re right,” Jack agreed. “I wonder what he went through, for him to be as injured as he was and decide to come to us, of all people. Heh, Danny and Jazz would freak.”

“Well, Danny’s sleeping over at Sam’s again, and Jazz was tutoring someone else this weekend.” Maddie mused. “It wouldn’t surprise me if Phantom stayed here for a few days without them even knowing.” It hurt her to know how detached her children had become from her, and it hurt her to know that her assessment of the situation was objectively correct – Jazz and Danny were rarely home.

“Well, he mentioned the guys in white,” Jack said. “If they are the ones who did this to him, and we protect him from those guys, we can earn his trust. And then maybe he’ll let his guard down enough for us to …at least solve the mystery of what he is.”

The two scientists stare at the sleeping form of Phantom, noticing how even in a seemingly unconscious state, his chest rises and falls with each breath.

“With his consent, I suppose,” Jack added.

_

A few hours later, in the middle of dinner, Maddie and Jack are interrupted to rude knocking from their front door.

“Ugh, not another door to door salesman,” Jack grunted. Answering the door revealed that their rude guests were none other than

“GIW,” an agent dressed in white answered, holding up an identification badge. There were two agents, both equipped with ecto guns and headphones, Maddie noted.

“Yes, we can see that,” Jack responded, keeping the shock out of his face. “If you wanted to come over for dinner, you should have called earlier. We don’t have leftovers.”

“We came to inform you that Phantom has escaped our captivity,”

“We didn’t even know you had Phantom in captivity,” Jack raised his brows in surprise.

“Just a few hours of questioning. We underestimated his abilities, and his allies.” The agent continued. “We’ll need extra weapons, the latest of whatever you’ve developed.”

“Well, we don’t have anything, since we gave you everything we made last time,” Maddie interjected. “So we don’t have anything complete yet. And besides, wouldn’t it have been faster for you to send an email or announcement that Phantom escaped? You must have lost a lot of time driving around to come tell us in person.”

“You never know who could be listening.”

“And besides,” the agent in the back added, “There was a chase. We don’t know where he disappeared to, but we suspect he stopped by here.”

“And why do you think he stopped by here?” Jack was very good at keeping the caution out of his voice, Maddie noted. If it were her, their cover would have probably been blown by now.

“Isn’t it weird for a ghost to hide out at a ghost hunter’s house?”

“True, but the same ghost uses technology he stole from a ghost hunter, and he can go into the ghost zone from the portal in your basement,” This was nothing new to Maddie. In fact, it annoyed her that Phantom used Fenton tech, because it meant he somehow evaded ghost detectors in their home to acquire it, or it was handed to him directly by Danny or Jazz. That last one hurt the most; she couldn’t bear the thought of her children going behind her back to support someone who was the very antithesis of everything they stood for.

Or, someone who used to be that. Maddie isn’t sure how she feels about Phantom now, but at the very least, she doesn’t want to hurt him anymore.

“Well, we’ve been home all day, and our equipment didn’t detect anything. But if we find anything new, we’ll call.” Jack told the two agents.

“Alright, stay on alert!” The first agent said, before leaving. Jack closed the front door, and the two waited until they saw the agents sit in their vehicle and drive off, before moving from their spot. Thank goodness they didn’t come inside or into the lab; the lab’s high ectoplasmic content could somewhat mask Phantom’s signature, and could be explained as a false positive on ghost detecting radars, but they wouldn’t be able to hide an unconscious ghost – an unconscious ghost! How wild is that?! – if the agents wound up downstairs.

Maddie breathed a sigh of relief.

“It’s been a few hours, let’s check on him”

Maddie and Jack headed downstairs to their lab. Just as they had left him, Phantom was sleeping on the examination table, hooked to an IV of ectoplasm. The fracture on his arm looked like it would heal completely – the naturally cool body temperature of the ghost helped, along with his quick healing factor. His leg looked significantly better, though Maddie wasn’t sure if the stitches would leave behind scars.

Maddie pulled a notebook from the work table, adding and updating her notes with everything they’d learned about Phantom today.

“Can ghosts get scars?” Maddie mused out loud. “Or is it unique to him?”

“I dunno, I guess we’ll have to ask –”

Their conversation is interrupted by a groan – Phantom was waking up – followed by a flash of bright white light. The Fentons covered their eyes, and when the light died down, they’re met with even more questions than answers.

“Danny?!”

[ladylynse]

Explorations: [FF | AO3] The invitation to join the quest—or hunt or whatever—in the Ghost Zone was only the start of it, but with Sam and Tucker by his side, Danny figured everything would be fine—especially when the ghosts were obligated to play nice. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the Ghost Zone itself is harmless….

For @whosvladagain, for winning one of my follower giveaway prizes. They asked for some friendship between the trio hanging out and exploring the Ghost Zone. This...was not supposed to be this long, so the other prizes will not be this long, but the story got away on me a bit. A preview is found below; you can find the full fic on one of the fanfic sites I’m on (linked at the top and bottom of this post for ease of reading). 

-|-

“Dude, what’s that supposed to be? It looks official.”

Danny followed Tucker’s finger and saw the faintly glowing envelope sticking out of his backpack. The empty hallway meant they could talk freely, but he just shrugged and yanked his backpack out of his locker. “I dunno. I haven’t opened it yet. I found it this morning, but—”

“But you were already late because of the Box Ghost,” Sam interrupted. “We know. We saw. So open it now.”

Danny pulled a face and closed his locker door instead. “What if this is something that just sucks us into the Ghost Zone? I haven’t been pranked in a while. I’m kinda due.”

Sam rolled her eyes and reached for the envelope, plucking it out of his still-open backpack. “It’s Friday. School’s over. We can take that risk.” She flipped the envelope over, her eyebrows climbing when she saw the wax seal on the back. “Fancy.” She slipped a finger into the corner and slid it along the flap, breaking the seal at its centre. Nothing bad happened.

Nothing bad happened when she pulled out the parchment and unfolded it, either.

“What is it?” Danny asked, leaning over to look when Sam didn’t immediately answer.

“It’s…a challenge,” she said.

“A what? What kind of challenge?”

“This isn’t another thing like Pariah Dark, is it? Vlad did not just trick us into something major, did he?” Danny asked. He squinted at the writing—it wasn’t the easiest to read—and then looked to see if there was a signature at the bottom.

There wasn’t.

“I think this is from Dora and Aragon,” Sam said. “Listen, it….” She trailed off, glanced around to make sure the coast was still clear, and then read, “If you wish to find, you must first seek, but the path ahead isn’t for the mild or meek. Come to the castle of the dragon king—”

“Aragon’s not really the king anymore,” Tucker interrupted. “If he ever even was. Didn’t we sort that out when you got kidnapped?”

“—to receive the details for your questing.”

“Is that a challenge or a summons?” Danny asked. “It kinda sounds like a summons.”

“How should I know?” Sam said. “It’s your letter.”

Danny reached out and flipped the envelope back over. “Actually, it’s not addressed to any of us.”

Tucker snorted. “It was in your locker. Even the ghosts know which locker is yours. But I’d put my money on challenge, too. It said if you wish to find, right? As in, if you don’t wish to find, you get to ignore this.”

“Yeah, because that’s worked so well for Danny in the past,” Sam said dryly.

“It just…doesn’t sound like something I’m allowed to refuse is all, even with that,” Danny said. “Which I guess means I should get this over with, since for once I don’t actually have homework. You guys can cover for me if I’m not back by tomorrow, right? I’m usually with you for most of the weekend anyway.”

“Danny, we’re coming with you.” Sam looked at him like she expected him to argue, and even he knew the tightness in her jaw meant she’d have none of it. “If you want someone to cover for you, talk to Jazz. She does it all the time anyway.”

Danny opened his mouth.

“And if you try to say it might be dangerous, that’s why we’re not letting you go by yourself.”

He closed his mouth.

He didn’t really want to argue with that, anyway.

XXXXXX

No one in the Fenton household was home when they got there, so it was easy enough to leave a note for Jazz and steal the Spectre Speeder. Danny sometimes wondered what his parents thought when—if—they noticed its absence. Maybe Jazz always managed to come up with something if they brought it up. Or maybe they always thought the other was responsible and just never asked. He could be that lucky, right?

They took the Spectre Speeder as far as they could—Dora’s kingdom might not be as stuck in time as her brother’s, but some things hadn’t changed—and went the rest of the way on foot.

There were a surprising number of ghosts gathered in the courtyard when they finally arrived, and Danny had the distinct feeling that they were late to whatever this was.

“So you made it after all, whelp,” Skulker muttered to him. “And I see you’ve brought your teammates. You did not choose the hunter girl?”

“Uh. No?”

Skulker laughed. “You will make easy prey.”

That would have been more terrifying coming from someone other than Skulker, but Danny still exchanged glances with Sam and Tucker. Teammates. Did that mean this quest thing was a game? There hadn’t been any official time on the letter—he could have turned up at any time or not at all—so how could this be—?

“Billy Phantom,” a voice drawled behind him. “Did you remember to take a number for your team?”

Danny turned to find Amorpho standing behind him, looking as much himself as he ever had, though Danny had no idea if that was what Amorpho really looked like. “A number?” he repeated.

“I didn’t think so.” Amorpho reached into the breast pocket of his trench coat and pulled out a clipboard that, had he not been a ghost, would have never fit in there. “You and your friends will be Team 43. You get to start when your number is called.”

“Start what?” Sam asked.

“The Holiday Hunt.”

Tucker blinked. “But it’s not Christmas.”

“And the Holiday Hunt won’t coincide with your Christmas unless that happens to be the holiday chosen by the draw.”

“Is this like the truce?” Danny asked. Amorpho had no reason to lie to him, and he’d never heard of this before, so it couldn’t hurt to ask. “This isn’t an annual thing, is it?”

“Princess Dorathea is set on reviving an old tradition,” Amorpho said, and Danny frowned upon realizing Amorpho had no trouble remembering her name. Maybe he just called him Billy on purpose? “The Holiday Hunt hasn’t been held in centuries. But yes, the Truce rules apply.”

“So what holiday is today?”

“Beltane,” Amorpho said, in a tone that made Danny not want to admit he hadn’t heard of it.

“Um.” Tucker held up one finger. “What exactly are we supposed to be hunting?”

Sam looked like she intended to track Dora down and put a stop to the tradition of the Holiday Hunt again, but she contented herself with balling her hands into fists until she had more information. Danny edged slightly away, just in case she didn’t like Amorpho’s answer.

“You’ll find out when your number comes up,” Amorpho said. “If you can figure it out.” He consulted the clipboard again. “You are content with a team of three? You’ll be at a disadvantage.”

“That explains why Skulker asked about Valerie,” Tucker muttered.

“Who else would we work with?” Sam demanded. “You? Skulker? No thanks.”

“Skulker’s on his own team with Ember, Technus, and Youngblood. If you’ll notice, his team was just dispatched.” Amorpho sniffed. “I, like Dora and the Ghost Writer, do not play.”

Danny narrowed his eyes. “Are you really involved in this? Or are you just trying to sow chaos? And isn’t the Ghost Writer locked up?”

“The Truce rules are in effect,” Amorpho repeated, “and helping with the Holiday Hunt has been deemed community service. Are you sure you want me to mark you down as a three-person team?”

“Yes,” Danny and Sam said, but Tucker surprised them with the opposite response.

“What?” he asked when they looked at him. “We don’t know where we’re going. We don’t even have the map. And if we get lost, I’m definitely missing supper, and Mom’s making her special meatloaf.”

“I brought the map,” Sam said. “That’s not the point.”

“Yeah, missing my mom’s meatloaf was the point.”

“That’s not—!”

“Who would you team up with us, if we said we wanted a fourth?” Danny asked. “Who’s not already in a group? Dani’s not here, is she?”

“Dani is already on a team,” Amorpho said. “Your fourth would be someone who is a little less…popular.”

“Dani’s popular?” He hadn’t even known how many of the ghosts knew about her. He wasn’t sure how strong her ties to the Ghost Zone were. To his knowledge, Vlad had never developed something to reliably create portals. Even the Fenton Bazooka just spit out unstable portals, and no ghost would voluntarily use that as a travel method. “Wait, never mind. That doesn’t matter. She’s here? I can talk to her?”

“Her team was among the first to set out. You are welcome to try to find her at the post-Hunt party if you all return.”

“If we—?” Danny broke off, glancing uneasily at the others. “You know what? Yeah, we’ll take that fourth.”

-|-

Keep reading on FF or the AO3. (I’m sorry, but this fic is really too long to be in a single tumblr post; it’s about 9.5 K.) Alternatively, see more fics.

[kindly-creatot]

memories to daydreams pt1

ahahahahahah. so that idea about danny being a live-in boyfriend? wrote it. or well, part of it cause i’m ngl, it’s gonna be a chapter fic. lmao rip me

pt1-pt2-

Vlad was lonely. There was no denying it, he was too old to even think about denying it to anyone. Pushing closer to 'lifetime bachelor' and further from 'workaholic' than he'd actually wanted lately had the man thinking about just hiring someone off the internet to come and stay with him to keep him company and… well, Vlad was not going to force anyone to do anything they didn't want to, but he had urges. He was only human.

No, no. It would be a stupid idea to indulge in, Vlad thought to himself as he stared out the windows of the home office he worked in. Well, really he just sat here at the expensive desk until someone sent him something to sign off on or get a green light to start something. It was a maudlin way that his employees felt they needed in order to keep him 'busy'.

He lets out a sigh and spins his chair back to the dark computer screen before he makes his decision and stands.  He pulls on his suit jacket just as his (poor bored) assistant walks in.

"Uhm, sir?" Desiree looked confused for a moment and Vlad could understand why, it was only noon. "Where are you going?"

"Ah, I figured I would grab my own lunch and then take the day for myself. Would you like the day off too? It must be dreadfully boring working for me," he chuckles and his assistant can't help the small smile on her face but nods anyways.

"If you say so, sir. I was just going to let you know I was going down the street to that little Italian place for lunch," she thinks for a moment and Vlad fidgets. "Would you like to come along? I'm sure the girls won't mind at all,"

"Oh, I wouldn't want to impose-"

"Nonsense! You'd be a wonderful addition to the lunch party," she assured the older man with a wide grin and grabs his arm in hers but Vlad feels wary at the moment. Like he just got thrown into something he didn't know about yet. -----

The group of women he was seated with for lunch, Vlad would equate to a pack of hyenas. The laughing and cacophony of noise that they made almost grated on his ears. They were as welcoming as his assistant had said and Vlad was grateful for that.

"So, Mr. Masters," one of the younger women, Ember if Vlad remembered correctly, looked him over as she lifted her glass of wine to her blue lips. "You got anyone special? Someone at home, warming your bed tonight?"

"Ember!" Desiree called out, she looked offended for Vlad and the man was struck with such a feeling of friendship for the woman at the moment. "You cannot just ask that! We're at lunch,"

"So? If he wasn't here, we'd already be talking about our partners," Ember laughs as Desiree blushes.

"This is my boss, okay? Be respectful," she tries once more before another girl pipes in.

"Okay, but seriously. Do you have anyone in your life, Mr. Masters?" This one is a shy looking girl, light hair braided to one side and wearing what he thought was a peasant blouse, Dora he thinks her name is that.

"Oh, no. I, uhm, I've been focused on my work for so long that I am afraid I have neglected that idealistic home life," Vlad admits to them and the girls just stare for a second before bursting into what Vlad only knows as 'cooing'. That is a sound that does grate on his ears and all he can do is give an awkward smile to the girls. "I am afraid that there is not much to talk about when it comes to my romantic life. This morning I'd had the ridiculous thought of hiring someone to be a sort of 'live-in boyfriend or girlfriend'. As if anyone would ever do that!" Vlad laughed at his own idea as did the women at the table. He smiles when they all calm down and they start chatting again easily. Vlad offers to pay for everyone's lunch that day.

He leaves the lunch in a good spirit and feeling ready for the long weekend alone. -----

Monday comes soon enough and the older man is glad to see his assistant already at her desk and looking over, what Vlad presumes are, e-mails.

"Good morning, Desiree," He calls out as he passes by her.

"Ah, Mr. Masters! Good, uh, good morning," he gives her a glance as he stops at his office doors. She was smiling nervously at him but Vlad doesn’t know if she wants a man like him to pry into it so he smiles back and walks to his desk. It's all very normal and humdrum to begin with. Letters for the company, some expenses and new notifications about products from other sellers, a letter for Vlad to attend a banquet.

Sometimes when they include a plus one invitation it feels mocking.

He sets that all aside to turn on the computer, settling in his chair easily. The day wasn't going to be all that bad, he knew because most people avoided doing any real work on Mondays. He was hoping for an almost empty inbox for his emails, honestly. Maybe he could take another half day and-

'ping! ping! ping! ping!'    

Maybe not, he thought to himself. Various emails were flooding into his account and Vlad had half a mind to believe them all to be from some sort of virus or some such, until he read the subject lines on some.

"Application for Potential Live-In Boyfriend? Live-In Girlfriend?!" Was this some sort of joke? How would someone have gotten this kind of an ide-

Ohhhh. Vlad looks to the door way pf his office, cracked open the slightest so Desiree would be able to hear him no matter if he spoke up or softly.

"DESIREE," she pokes her head just the slightest into the doorway.

"Yes, sir?" she smiles but it looks like she's worried. Vlad thinks she should be.

"What the hell is the meaning of this?" He moves the screen to show the inbox to her.

       (372) Unread INBOX "Ah, well… See, uhm," Vlad brings a hand to his temples, feeling a headache coming on. "The girls wanted to, you know, bring your idea to life? There's an actual application and everything," she leans over to pull up one of the latest emails and opens the file to show the attached application to Vlad. It's in depth and lists all sorts of information.  

"I should fire you," he states with a frown and Desiree freezes for a second and Vlad can see the tears welling up in her eyes. "But you are the best damn assistant I have ever had so… I thank you for caring but please, no more of these ideas, okay?" With that he shoo-s her back to her desk and she spouts 'thank you' a few times at him weepily. She had left the email open and Vlad takes a look at the one she pulled up with a sigh.

Daniel J. Fenton, age 20, black hair and blue eyes, college student working as a barista… it was not that this Daniel character was impressive but Vlad was curious to see just how in depth this application went and how much information these people were willing to give up for this sham. At least there was a simple 'about me' paragraph that Vlad could read easily.

My name is Danny, I work full-time and go to school full-time for my Astrobiology degree. I'm not looking for a handout, but if you really are looking for someone to keep you company, I'd ask for only tuition money. I would love to stop working at the Coffee Palace (yeah, the name sucks I know) and focus on my studies. This is probably a sham though so I don't expect much from this. (Sorry, but it's too good to be true that a famous billionaire like Vlad Masters doesn’t have a bunch of woman/men hanging off his every word.)

It rambles on for a bit, there was even another attached document to the email entitled 'More About Me' that Vlad had to laugh at. The audacity that this, this child would think that Vlad would open another file simply to know about him was hilarious to the man.  

He clicked open the file anyways.

[akiameokami]

"It's Danny."

Fandom: Danny Phantom

Ship: Vlad Masters X Danny Fenton AU where Jack and Madeline are dead and Danny lives with Vlad while going to college.

*Warning* Contains: fluff and feels Summary: Danny's parents had died in an accident related to ghost hunting a year or two ago and with no where else to go, Danny went to live with Vlad. There wasn't much of a choice involved, college was coming up. Jazz had already moved away for her school and couldn't support Danny. It was the responsible thing to do, and as it turned out, Vlad wasn't such a horrible guy.  When Danny first arrived at the mansion, he was expecting it to be a living hell but he was too numb to care.

Danny walked in and sat down on the bed in his new room. The room itself was lush and had a classic taste to it but Danny didn't really care at the moment. Vlad was leaning in the door way talking to Danny, not that he was listening. "Daniel!" Vlad said loudly as he placed a hand on Danny's shoulder, making him jump away. He looked up at Vlad, unable to mask the fear and sadness in the sudden reaction. Vlad withdrew his hand and looked down sadly at his "nephew". "Daniel, did you hear me?" Vlad asked softly. Danny used the back of his hand to wipe away the tears that hadn't formed yet and then shook his head no. "I was saying you could have those delinquent friends of yours over whenever you wanted. That Samantha and Tucker, I don't care much for teenagers but I know that this isn't easy on you and that you need your friends." Vlad said, showing a look of distaste on his face but also concern. "Thanks.. but my name's Danny. Not Daniel." Danny mumbled, not sure how much he should open up to Vlad. "Well..." Vlad started, choosing his words carefully, "When you are part of the Masters household, you don't have a cute nickname like Danny. To me, you are Daniel and I will expect you to respect that." Vlad said while taking a seat next to Danny, placing a comforting arm around his shoulders. Danny had to hand it to him, Vlad was being so much more attentive than he would have given credit for. Vlad leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear, "Go to sleep Daniel." and left. The way he said his name still sent shivers down his spine, for the first time in his life, Vlad was being kind towards him.

This type of caring interaction carried on for a few months. They ran into very few problems, like bathroom space and music tastes, and somehow Danny was starting to feel happy again. Sam and tucker came to visit them one weekend a month, but Danny saw them at school a few days of the week so it was okay. The strangest thing that has happened is the way Danny is casually getting along with Vlad. They pass the salt at the dinner table, talk about their days, share their problems, rush to each others defense when needed and actually enjoy the others company. That makes Danny feel like maybe the reason Vlad had been a jerk for so long was because he was just lonely, and that makes him feel pretty bad for Vlad. Danny hadn't brought himself to tell Sam and Tucker that he was actually happy being with Vlad just yet, they still hated him. He planned to tell them today since they were coming over and Vlad would be out. ~~~~~~ The three of them were chilling out in the den playing video games and making jokes about the professors at school. Sam was casually splayed out on the sofa, laptop and text books within arms reach, Tucker was in front of the TV, gaming away, which made Danny wonder about his grades. Danny was sitting in one of the plush recliners, biting his lip from nervous habit. "Guys... Can I tell you something?" Danny tests the waters. Sam sighs and puts her book down, looking at Danny with a smile. "Finally you decide to talk to us! Tucker, turn that stupid thing off." Sam harps at Tucker with a firm but friendly tone. Tucker rolls his eyes and turns to Danny, only pausing the game. "What's stressing you out man? You look as pale as a ghost." Tucker says, punctuating his statement with a laugh. Sam roles her eyes at him in response. "Go on Danny." She urges. "I.. I'm happy." He says awkwardly, gripping the arms of the chair intensely. Tucker looks confused but Sam arches an eyebrow. "What kind of happy are we talking here?" She asks knowingly. Danny swallows his fear, he knew she would pick up on it. "I am happy being here with Vlad, he makes me happy." Danny says some-what confidently. Tucker faces him fully this time, "Dude, that sounded gay." He says with zero sensitivity. Sam shoots him a dirty look but doesn't say anything, waiting to see what Danny says. "Well, maybe it was." Danny says a little too fast. Sam smiles just a little, but Tucker starts with the typical questions. "You're gay?!" He asks, "Have you always been gay?" He keeps going without waiting for answers, "Were you gay for me at some point?!" He is getting louder now. Danny is cringing at the questions, he hasn't even excepted this himself and now Tucker is making it worse. "Shut up Tuck!" Sam yells as she hits him on the back of the head. Tucker stops his rant and sees how nervous and sad Danny looks. "Oh... I'm sorry Danny, I've just never..." He doesn't know how to finish, but it's okay. Danny knew this would be new territory for Tuck.  They talk about it for the rest of the evening, trying to normalize it. Sam gives Danny dating advice and good websites to learn about all things LGBTQ+ and invites him to the club at the college, Tucker keeps apologizing and sending Danny pictures of different half naked men that just make Danny laugh.  Just as they are packing up for the evening Vlad gets home and calls his hellos, "Daniel I'm back! I brought home some dessert for us for later, it's not for your friends though." At that Sam and Tucker both die laughing, thinking Vlad meant something else. "Is that his pet name for you? Daniel?" Tucker says, choking on his laughter. Danny blushes and gets defensive. "No! He just thinks it's proper. Please don't call me that ever again." Vlad waltzes into the den, loosening his tie and taking off his suit pieces. "What was that just now?" He asks, looking to the now silent teenagers. Tucker doesn't back down for once. "Oh, I was thinking of calling Danny Daniel from now like you do." He says with a smirk. Instantly Vlad has a disgusted look on his face and Danny feels hurt. "No. It's Danny, only Vlad can call me Daniel." Danny says too fast and too loud as he stands up from his chair, knocking text books over in the process.  Before Vlad can even get the words out of his mouth Sam is already packing up her stuff, "I think it's time you two went home." Vlad says, mostly looking at Tucker.    ~~~~ After some rushed and awkward goodbyes, and an encouraging pat on the back from Sam, Danny and Vlad are staring at each other awkwardly in the entrance way. "So... What dessert did you bring home?" Danny asks, wishing away the awkwardness. Typically he would just go ghost and run away but he hasn't gone ghost since the accident. Vlad looks at him annoyed. "Really Daniel?" He says flatly, stepping towards him. Danny freezes, Vlad was saying his name that way and it was sending chills up his spine. Danny would be lying if he said that he hadn't gotten off thinking about that voice before. Vlad ruffles Danny's hair in a friendly way, then drags his hand down to caress his jaw line in a more intimate way. When he drops his hand Danny exhales a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. Why? Why didn't Vlad do anything? "Vlad..." Danny breathes out as he is walking away from him. Vlad stops and looks over his shoulder, eyes glowing in their ghostly way. Vlad only does that when he is fighting to control something.  Danny starts to step towards him. "Don't Daniel!" Vlad says in a thunderous voice that stops Danny in his tracks. Typically Danny would leave him alone when he got like this. They both got ghostly rages sometimes but typically they were easy to predict. This one just sprang up out of no where and he couldn't understand why. "Why Vlad?" Danny asks calmly, he was back into his comfort zone and that made him feel stronger and more confident than he had felt since the accident. "Why the sudden rage? Why the insistence to take me in? Why did you always chase after me?" Danny finds himself walking forwards as he asks the questions that he has been fighting to not ask this entire time. Vlad leans on the wall next to him and stares Danny down, searching for the words and deciding if he is going to answer. "Why you ask?!" He growls, scratching into the walls. "Because I'm dangerous right now." He says, his voice sounding more controlled. Danny laughs at this, "You literally spent years trying to kill me and now you are worried about hurting me?" Danny asks in between laughing fits. Vlad visibly bites his lip and Danny's eyes go wide. That was hot. "Things are different now Daniel, I feel different now." Vlad admits the last part in a quiet voice. This stops the laughter and gives Danny the push he needs. He rushes over to Vlads side and pulls him down by the collar of his shirt and kisses him. Not in a desperate or hungry way (even though he wanted to) but in a tentative and bashful way. This could get him kicked out, or picked up. Danny starts to pull away but then he feels Vlad nip at his lips, Danny opens his mouth letting out a silent gasp and Vlad takes the opportunity to slide his tongue inside, instantly deepening the kiss. One of Vlads hands finds the small of Danny's back and the other finds his hair, he reverses the position and pushes Danny up against the wall. This makes Danny release a moan that he really didn't mean to let out. Vlad pulls away and looks at Danny with a terrified expression. "I'm sorry about this Daniel, you know how the rage can make you do stuff that.-" Vlad was starting to make an excuse as he backed away but Danny grabbed his hand and interrupted, saying "Stuff that you really want to do any other time of the month!" Vlad doesn't say anything to this but tries to straighten his clothes and Danny's. "Vlad, I am sorry if this bothers you but.. I like you, and I don't mean as a caregiver. I know that you love, er..-" Danny faulters as he remembers the situation, "Loved my mom but that just means that you should understand how it feels to fall in love with someone you shouldn't. POV SWITCH TO VLAD Vlad looks down at Daniel and notes the defiant look on his face. The words that the 18 year old just spoke stung; however, they belonged to an old wound that had already healed. Vlad no longer cared about Daniels mother, the only Fenton he cared for now was Daniel himself. That was the only one he had cared about in a long time. During one of their first few fights where Daniel got injured and was obviously in pain, he looked up at Vlad with those piercing blue eyes. Vlad's first thought was that they looked like just Madelines but the more he saw them, the more he realized that these eyes were better. It didn't matter what Vlad did to Daniel, he would always meet him head on even if there were tears streaming from those beautiful eyes. There came a point when Vlad had abandoned his original goals all together and only continued his villainous ways because that was the only way Daniel would see him. Then one day the boy called him up out of his own free will and explained the situation. Daniel had been experiencing signs of new ghostly powers, ones that he hadn't encountered yet, and when they were out on a family hunt something went wrong. Daniel wouldn't tell Vlad the details but he did tell him that it was his fault, the reason his parents were dead was his fault. As horrible as that was Vlad couldn't help but feel glad when it was him that Daniel turned to, never did he think it would lead up to this moment where he had Daniel Fenton pushed into the wall wish his clothes rumpled and hair a mess. "Daniel, you're wrong. I only have eyes for you, but that is the problem. A grown man shouldn't be lusting over an 18 year old that is the child of his late best friend!" Vlad exclaims, hating how desperate he sounds. He sees a small smile play across Daniels swollen lips and knows he should run. That child always smiled like that before he got what he wanted.  "But you aren't lusting over me. Do you love me?" Daniel asks, his grip tightening on Vlad's wrists like he is afraid to let go. Vlad uses his free hand and gently grabs Daniels chin, admiring the face that is offering him what he wants the most. "I love you more than you could ever know, Daniel."   Potential future fics in thus AU: Vlad asking Danny why he is the only one who gets to call him Daniel and feeling proud when Danny tells him why Vlad and Danny devling more into "the Accident" Vlad with a possessive kink and getting mad at Tucker and Dash Danny getting further picked on by people for being gay and Vlad uses his ghostly abilities to "get even" Danny and Vlad have a dessert night ;) Danny gets an F on a science thesis about ghosts because the teacher doesn't believe in ghosts so Vlad decides to inspire the teacher. Danny goes to the LGBTQ+ meeting at the college Danny tells Jazz about Vlad Vlad helps Danny feel comfortable with going ghost again

Vlad or Danny goes through a Ghost Rage which is much like and Omega's heat in Omegaverse stuff + more potential stories TAGGING: @septic-crankiplier (because you liked the post, lemme know if you don't wanna be tagged in these)  @dannyphans (Because it was recommended for me to? Sorry if this is a no?) If you want to be tagged in those or future stories just let me know! I don't bite! (But Vlad might)

[dannyphantomluver2]

American Victorious Twilight winx titans phantom book 1

Authors note -

Sorry for the long wait for A new stories don't hurt me! ( hides behind Danny)

this is based off A Larping thing me and my friends do.

MY FIRST CROSSOVER YES!

Danny Phantom Season 4 crossovers

I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING THEY ARE OWNED BY WHAT they're OWNED BY COPYRIGHT IS Nick, Disney, Rainbow,4 kids TV, cartoon network/boomerang, Summit Entertainment.

DP Winxclub ADJ L Victorious Twilight, Teen Titans

this has nothing to do with any of my other stories so Dani hasn't returned yet.

Danny - I HAVE COUSINS OTHER THAN DANI!

Me - Yes now shut up and let's get to it

Some are introduced before others

I've been trying really hard and I think I got the writing down, let me know thanks.

Post PP

6 months after PP

and after

ADJL Series Final

Twilight American Winx Titans Victorious Phantom

No one's POV

Amity Park

It was A Typical Normal Day In Amity Park. Kids heading to School People heading to work.Ghosts attacking, What!.? that's not normal?! you ask. Well, it is to me you see Amity Park is the most haunted city in the world.How do we protect ourselves you say?

Well we don't protect ourselves you see Danny Phantom does who revealed himself to being Danny Fenton the son of professional ghost hunters ironic, isn't it? He saved the planet from the Disasteroid and revealed his secret to the world. So let's see how he's doing.

Danny's Pov

Sam and I were walking to my house after our date at the Amity Bowling Alley, I won by two. It was Friday so that meant date night for us.It's just not as private since I revealed myself after the Disasteroid Incident. The Camera crew of Amity Park News was A few feet ahead of us. Which meant the Paparazzi and Fans weren't far behind. I grabbed the mail As we entered Fenton Works. Scheming through the mail I noticed A specific one with A Chinese symbol of A Dragon on it. It was addressed to my Mother. Sam looked at me concerned, I must have spaced out. ''What is it? she asks, ''A Letter addressed to my Mom.''What's that Emblem on the Envelope?. ''A Dragon I say still examining the Envelope, she gave me A bewildered look.'' I don't understand either maybe I should give this to my Mom and ask Questions later. Sam nodded in agreement and we headed down to the Lab.

New York

Jake's POV

''Yo Mom what's with All the Packing! I asked as I entered the house and stared at all the Clothing around the Living room.''We have A Family reunion at Aunt Kathy's my annoying goody-goody little sister Hailey said glancing up from her book. ''Whaaaat, I say glancing at my Mom. ''Now Jake I know you don't care for your Aunt Kathy or cousin Gregory.''Which I quite frankly agree with you about. '' But It would be A good gesture, besides certain family members I haven't seen In A long time will hopefully be there.''Who Mommy? my sister says in her little perky annoying voice. ''My Sister's Maddie Fenton, Miriam Sparks, and Alisha Wu.'' I haven't seen them in years. '' If you saw them you wouldn't think we were related. She said chuckling slightly.''We never told you this but your Grandmother was American. ''She was born here not one ounce of Chinese in her blood. ''Wow Mommy! that's interesting ! ''right Jake? said, Hailey. ''Ya whateves,' I said.''When are we leaving? ''Next Saturday she tells me. ''Do you know if they have any kids?Hailey asks our Mom with excitement in her voice. ''Probably honey but maybe around Jake's age. I saw my Eleven-year-old sis bow her head in sorrow before I said goodbye. ''Alright I'm gonna head over to Gramps shop see yaz. I tell her before heading out then Dragoning up and heading to Gramps shop.

AmityPark

Danny's POV

'' Mom? you down here?! I yelled down the kitchen stairs that led down to my Parent's Lab. '' Yes Sweety. I hear her say. As we head down to the Lab, where we saw her in her usual Jumpsuit with Hood and goggles on, tinkering with the Spector deflector. I shuddered hoping she modified it to work with me than against me. ''Uh?Mom? I yelled over Mom's fire flare. ''Sam and I just got here and I got the mail and theirs one that really got our attention! I finally got my Mom's attention when she stopped what she was doing and took off her hood to look at me with those Amethyst eyes. ''What got your attention? she asked. ''This letter it's addressed to you with some Dragon symbol on it. I said as I handed her the letter. .We waited while she opened and read the letter her eyes bulged as if something horrible happened. ''What's wrong Mom? I asked after two minutes of A very awkward silence. ''It's A letter from my Cousin Kathy theirs A Wu Family Reunion Next Monday and since it's Spring break we have time to pack but Knowing Susan she Probably already started packing. ''Really Should we start Packing? I said looking at her curiously. ''Yes it's Next Saturday.'' I'll tell your Sister when she gets home. ''Well Sam and I are going to go meet Tucker for patrol I said. ''Alright sweety Oh you still need to tell me and your Father how you became Half Ghost. ''I will after Patrol alright? I told her, ''Sure sweety she says. ''Bye Mom I said before grabbing Sam by the hand and leading her up the stairs. ''Bye Mrs. Fenton, Sam says as we head out the front door.

New York

Jake's POV

We were ready for the Reunion we just needed to pack all of Gramps Magical Mojo.''Yo G, I said while picking up A box.''What'sThe Deal with the Reunion! all of A sudden it's messing with my Schedule Rose and I were going to go on A Date? ''Young Dragon you and I both know that you as the American Dragon has many responsibilities even if it's sometimes not Dragon related. G told me.

in Jakes' head

It's hard to believe him he always looks like he's pulling something.

out of it but still spaced out

''Sometimes that includes Family get together's like this. ''Aya! '' Jake are you even listening to me! (back to Earth) ''Sorry G, it's just I don't want to see the same annoying Family we see every year. ''This reunion will be different young one. ''How? I asked. ''My Daughter's Alisha, Miriam, and Maddie may come this year. ''Why hadn't they come before. I asked. ''Alisha had no children and thought being A dragon was unuseful so she skipped her Generation like your Mother. ''Miriam and Aunt Maddie didn't but I don't think they use it much. ''But they have gifted Children Miriam with her Fairy abilities and Maddie with Brains much like your sister. ''Maddie went to Wisconsin University Where she met your Uncle Jack. ''Another son In law out of the Chinese line no Dragon powers. My Grandfather said disappointedly shaking his head.''Miriam went to Alfea school for Fairies. ''Wait wait wait fairies? as in this size fairies. I said demonstrating An inch the size of A toothpick. ''Well no human size but she can miniaturize. ''Did they have Children? I asked. ''They did Maddie and Jack has two kids Jasmine and Daniel Fenton. ''Really? ''Yes Jasmine is seventeen and Daniel is fifteen. ''Miriam soon left the Palace and Married King Oritel of the planet Sparks. '' ''Whaaaaat?'' King, Queen? I said confused by all means .''Oh, I forgot to mention you your sister and your Cousins are Royalty young one.''Sorry, we never told you but you were too young to understand. ''It's ok ''When's the Reunion? I asked. ''Next Saturday G said. ''Oh alright where's Fu? ''Out with A poodle G says. ''Of course, I say. ''Well catch you later G. ''Goodbye young one. He says as I head out the door to head to my Date with Rose.

Amity Park

Danny's POV

''I'll miss you. Sam tells me as we were packing the R.V to head to the Airport to go to New York. ''I'll miss you too, I tell her. ''You sure you and Tuck can handle AmityPark without me for the weekend? ''Of course, Go mingle with your Family. ''Alright I love you. she tells me. '' I love you to tell her. She then grabs the collar of my shirt and gives me the most passionate kiss I had ever felt from her since we started our relationship.

''See you soon. she tells me. ''See you, I say getting into the R.V sitting next to my Sister, Just as the R.V started up and we rode off out of AmityPark heading to the Airport to head to New York to meet my Mom's side of the Family. I hope they don't think I'm odd because of my powers. Because I know they heard the News after I saved the Planet.

Jake's POV

''I'll miss you. My Girlfriend Rose tells me. ''I'll miss you too I tell her.

She gives me A kiss and leaves. ''Come on Jakaroo my Dad tells me If you want to meet your new Cousins you better hurry and get in the car. ''Dad? ''You Just Found out six months ago that you married into A Family of Magical Reptiles.''You really want to go diving head first into it. '' I mean they're probably going to freak when they find out you know. ''Mom what about the Dragon Council? ''Well Jake I just don't know she tells me. Awwww Maaaannn.

No one's POV

Little Did the Ghost Boy and the American Dragon knew is that Prince Aragon and the Dark Dragon would team up to defeat The American Dragon and the Infamous Danny Phantom.

Author's note

HURRAY! MY FIRST CHAPTER OF MY FIRST CROSSOVER YEAH! MORE WILL COME AND I PROMISE IT WILL GET BETTER. THANKS FOR READING REVIEW! DANNY AND JAKE WANT YA TO.

Jake - Dooooooooooo itttttt doooooooo it

Danny - you know you want to. We know you want to right Cuz?

Jake - Oh ya yo press that fav and follow button!

Danny - Press it press it press iiitt!

Box Ghost - BEWARE! Do not press the mysterious button of horror!

Danny - Press itttt! SHUT UP BOXGHOST! BE RIGHT BACK ( BEATS UP THE BOX GHOST IN 15 SECONDS AND SUCKS HIM IN THE THERMOS) WHERE WAS I OH YA PRESS THE BUTTONS!

[jenmedsbookreviews]

  Man. Where to even begin this week. Well. I will start by saying my reading achievements were next to none. Not quite none. But near enough. Work has been very demanding, I have been very tired and my heart just was not in it. No reflection on the books, more a reflection on my weary and rapidly ageing bones and brain telling me to take a break. In fact I am writing this post in stages as I know where my head is currently at so it if makes no sense come the end … well nowt new there really but this time there is an excuse at least 🙂

So, anyway. Aside from being generally ancient (turned 42 this past week don’t you know) I was preoccupied with something else. Lordy 42. Do you remember being a kid and thinking that people in their forties were ancient? Well I’ll let you into a secret – when you finally reach your forties you bloody feel it too. Just kidding. Age is just a number. Like my chest, mine is just larger than some, that’s all. But back to my point (wandering mind comes with age too…) I was away from home from Thursday until Sunday this week because I took the plunge, packed my backbone in a small holdall and made my way to Harrogate for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Festival.

It’s an interesting festival, very different in tone to Crimefest, geared very much to a social atmosphere but encouraging and enticing readers with a healthy and steady supply of books. I say healthy with my tongue in my cheek (not easy to do without biting said tongue – don’t believe me try it), as carrying around the dang things all day has knackered my shoulder but hey ho. 

As book hauls go, this week was mega. It was also rather big in terms of meeting people. I met a whole host of bloggers this weekend who I’m not going to try and name for fear of missing someone and causing great upset, but it was a pleasure to meet you all either finally or again (and you super lovely ones already know who you are 😉 ). I also met quite a few authors that I admire, including Robert Byrndza and the lovely Jan, Caroline Mitchell and Mel Sherratt, Graham Smith, Sarah Wray, Claire Seeber and also got to meet Keshini Naidoo (yes – a small Bookouture bias in this post I think).

It was also lovely to catch up with Kim Nash, Karen Sullivan, Steph Broadribb, Amanda Jennings, Lucy V Hay, Amer Anwar, Felicia Yap, Patricia Gibney, Bernie Steadman and Fiona Cummins again, and to get to say hi to Paul Burston as I absolutely loved his book The Black Path. I even remembered to take pictures of some of them (but not many as I suck at that). Oh yes, and it was nice to see Rod Reynolds again even if he did show Jo and Emma the terrible selfie he took at Crimefest (terrible because I was in it). And lovely to finally meet Graeme Cumming and have a catch up chat with Gabriela Harding in the quiet times. I’m just hoping I haven’t missed anyone and if I have I’m sorry and I do love you too. (Well at least like and admire – love is such a strong word 😉 ).

Have to give credit to Abbie Osborne for the selfies as I would totally not take those 😀

As well as generally milling about I did attend a couple of panels, though not as many as I perhaps would have liked so I’ll try better next time. The Friday night panel chaired by Sarah Millican and featuring Lee Child, Mark Billingham and Val McDermid was hilarious as you would expect. And I totally agree with Sarah Hilary’s shout out for Chris Whitaker as a totally brilliant writing talent. I also went to a blogger/author event organised by Orion where we met Mari Hannah, Emma Kavanagh, Stephanie Marland (aka Steph Broadribb, aka Crime Thriller Girl) and Lara Dearman, a forensics talk in which I learned many important things to include in ‘Killer’, and a quick start talk on writing crime fiction with Isabel Ashdown and Sam Eades.

And I had two lovely evenings out, firstly with Abigail Osborne, Leah and Jill of Jills Book Cafe, and then with Tracy Fenton and the guy and gals from TBC. Thanks for the company all.

And then there were the books… So. Many. Books.

I got the following:

The Devils Claw by Lara Dearman (Kindle pre order 7/9/17);

My Little Eye by Stephanie Marland (Kindle pre order 2/11/17) Happy dance moment :D;

The Wrong Child by Barry Gornell (Kindle pre order 2/11/17);

The Lost by Mari Hannah (Kindle preorder 2/3/18);

Murder at the Mill by M.B. Shaw (Kindle pre order 30/11/17);

Shadow Man by Margaret Kirk (Kindle pre order 2/11/17);

Beautiful Liars by Isabel Ashdown (Kindle pre order 19/4/18);

I Found You by Lisa Jewell;

The Seagull by Ann Cleeves (Kindle pre order 7/9/17) – The only book I actually purchased all weekend.

The Snowman by Jo Nesbo;

If I Die Before I Wake by Emily Koch (Kindle pre order 11/1/18);

Give Me The Child by Mel McGrath;

Eyes Like Mine by Sheena Kamal;

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell (Kindle pre order 5/10/17);

My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent (Kindle pre order 29/8/17);

The Mountain by Luca D’Andrea;

The Mitford Murders by Jessica Fellowes (Kindle pre order 14/9/17);

The Collector by Fiona Cummins; (soooooooooooo excited about this one and so new there are no Amazon links yet!!! :D) If you don’t know why I’m excited and haven’t yet read Rattle (and if not why not?) then you can order it here and get yourself ready for next year. Did I mention I love that book? I do. I was so excited I may have actually started reading this in bed instead of the books I should have been reading. Oops. (Sorry – not sorry). All the eeeeeeeeeks and squeeeeeeeeals.

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn (pre order January 2018);

Consent by Leo Benedictus (pre order 1/2/18);

Perfect Remains by Helen Fields;

Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughn (Kindle pre order 11/1/18);

Strange Magic by Syd Moore

So all in all a great book haul of a weekend. And I visited Betty’s and treated myself to a belated birthday cake. Go me.

Now the weekend wasn’t without it’s down moments too but least said, soonest mended so lets move on.

Now as if all that wasn’t brilliant enough, before I left for Harrogate I received some absolutely stonkingly fantabulous book post from the wonderful Louise Ross (LJ Ross). Now I knew I’d be getting the signed book as I won it in a charity auction, as well as the chance to be a named character. But I wasn’t expecting to receive a DCI Ryan series mug as well. I actually collect mugs as well as books so this couldn’t have been a better gift for me and will take pride of place in the collection.

And, totally not book related but my new cushions and mugs turned up. How fab are these?

The McMoos by Jennifer Hogwood – You totally need to check out the website.

Just the one book order this week (just as well) which was Bad Sister by Sam Carrington. It’s due out on 5th October and I can’t wait to get my mitts on a copy.

Just the one Netgalley this week too (just as well) which was The Good Sister by Jess Ryder. It’s due for release on 16th August.

I see a theme here. Kind of reminiscent of my life. I have one of each. I’ll let them fight over which is which 😉

I also received an ARC of I Know A Secret by Tess Gerritsen, the brand new Rizzoli and Isles novel which is due out on 10th August.

Now I am hoping that all of these exciting things I’ve been rambling about above will distract you from my reading tally which stands at the grand total of 2. Lorraine at The Book Review Cafe will be laughing at me this week given her mammoth reading achievements and rightly so. If only I’d saved the bloody Mr Men books… When I say reading tally it was one read, one listen as I only completed one book and then listened to an audio on the way too and from Harrogate. Failed blogger I am then (this is not news but now we have evidence).

Books I have read

Red Is The Colour by Mark L. Fowler

A GRIPPING NEW POLICE THRILLER Bullying. Corruption. Murder.

It is the summer of 2002. The corpse of a 15 year old boy, who has been missing for thirty years, is discovered in Stoke-on-Trent. The city is on the cusp of change and Chief Superintendent Berkins wants the case solved quickly. 

DCI Jim Tyler has arrived from London under a cloud, moving to Staffordshire to escape his past. He is teamed up with DS Danny Mills to investigate the case, but there is tension between the detectives.

When the dead boy’s sister comes forward, describing a bright, solitary child, she points a finger at the school bullies, which puts important careers at stake.

Then one of the bullies is found brutally murdered and when Tyler and Mills dig deeper they start to suspect a cover-up.

What is the connection between the death of a schoolboy in 1972 and this latest killing? 

With the pressure building, and the past catching up with DCI Tyler, will he and DS Mills be able to put aside their differences in order to catch a cold-blooded killer?

I’m reviewing this for the blog tour next Monday but I have to be honest and say that this was a really well observed look at childhood bullying an the people who were involved, both directly and indirectly. With a thirty year old victim it is a tough ask for newly transferred DCI Jim Tyler to bring the killer to justice in this new police procedural from Mark L. Fowler and Bloodhound Books. It is released tomorrow, 25th July, and you can buy a copy here.

…

  You Don’t Know Me by Imran Mahmood

It’s easy to judge between right and wrong – isn’t it?

Not until you hear a convincing truth.

Now it’s up to you to decide…

An unnamed defendant stands accused of murder. Just before the Closing Speeches, the young man sacks his lawyer, and decides to give his own defence speech.

He tells us that his barrister told him to leave some things out. Sometimes, the truth can be too difficult to explain, or believe. But he thinks that if he’s going to go down for life, he might as well go down telling the truth.

There are eight pieces of evidence against him. As he talks us through them one by one, his life is in our hands. We, the reader – member of the jury – must keep an open mind till we hear the end of his story. His defence raises many questions… but at the end of the speeches, only one matters:

Did he do it?

Oh my life. What an intriguing novel. Taking courtroom drama to brand new heights this is a story which will not only challenge your idea of right and wrong but also the whole idea of how courtroom dramas should be. Set as a series of court transcripts and told in the defendants voice the author takes you on a journey and you as reader are set to act as jury. I listened to the Audio book of this and I have to say it was absolutely perfect in this format. My review will follow but you can order a copy of the book here.

…

That is all. Thankfully I was fully prepared on the blogging front so I had posts everyday.

#BlogTour Guest Post: Dying Art by Malcolm Hollingdrake

#Booklove: Katherine Sunderland

#BlogTour Review: The Other Twin by Lucy V Hay

Review: Blind Justice by M.A. Comley

#BlogTour Review: Her Deadly Secret by Chris Curran

#BookLove: Jane Cable

#GuestReview: Another You by Jane Cable

…

The week ahead is a bit of a mixture. I start with a review, then some #Booklove with Helena Fairfax, followed by blog tours for The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond, and then The Unquiet Dead by Ausma Zehanat Khan with a very special Author Q&A in between, rounding out the week with more #Booklove with Jack Steele and another blog tour, this time The Lost Wife by Anna Mansell.

Hope you have a brilliant week all. I’m reading all day today before going back to work and some more training tomorrow. Boo hiss to that one but someone has to do it. Going to Chester Zoo on Saturday so think of all the animal/nature pics I can share with you next week. You can’t wait can you? Hope they still have the Pudu’s and the Kimodo Dragon. I love them!!!

See you next Monday.

JL

P.S. since penning this post Sunday evening I have been online and preordered three books from Goldsboro (it’s now Sunday bedtime). We’ll just ignore those, pretend I ordered them after midnight and I’ll fill you all in next week 😂

Rewind, recap: weekly update w/e 23/07/17 Man. Where to even begin this week. Well. I will start by saying my reading achievements were next to none.

[meisteralready]

A Supermarket at 45 rpm

1982. Reagan was still just an actor in the white house, my hometown baseball team would win the World Series, and I was turning nine years old. We didn’t have cable, my Mom and I lived in an apartment in Fenton, Mo, St. Louis County. South of the city. That summer was awesome. I think it was sunny everyday. I went camping for a whole weekend for the first time with someone other than my family. I also kissed a girl for the first time. It was on a trampoline late one afternoon in Eddie Weber’s backyard. That summer, I bought my first record as well, a 45 rpm.

All summer long, we kept hearing the same song, at the pool, in movie theater parking lots, at the field house where we would go or sno-cones after soccer practice. It started off weird, the song did, with what sounded like someone hitting empty coke bottles. The guy singing had a strange accent. It was a rock song, but it had a lotta flute in it and no, it wasn’t Jethro Tull, In the lyrics, he talked about vegemite sandwiches. I found out the name of the song was “Down Under” and the name of the band was Men At Work.

I remember being in the car with my Mom and the song came on. I quickly asked her to turn it up, which caught her attention, for this was not something I did on the reg. She chuckled at various references in the song especially “where the beer would flow and men would chunder", which I only found recently meant to puke. Mom stated, halfway in the song, “I think these guys are from Austraila”, and when the famous vegemite line was uttered, she laughed, “Oh, yeah, they’re Aussies,” adding, “your father and I knew a lot of blokes like that.”

I didn’t quite know what that meant, but she beamed with pride. My Dad and Mom, when they were first married, lived in Sydney for a few months, then Melbourne, before having to come home because my grandfather got sick and Mom found out that she was pregnant. It was hard for them to leave Australia, they were a young couple in the prime of their lives, living abroad in a friendly country (Well, friendly at least to white people at that time, aside from how they treated aborigines), and they seemed to be deeply, madly in love.

Their photo albums from that time were like highlight reels for happiness with pictures that made it seem like they’re living in heaven on earth. After they moved back, Grandpa did die and grief-stricken, Mom miscarried. Three years later, I was born, but they were miserable together and eventually got divorced. Yet Australia, was this gem of their time together and, even today, the greatest times of their lives.

Back in 1982, The DJ on the radio in the car confirmed that, indeed, Men At Work were from Australia and that they were HUUUUGEEE there. Now at that time, the only other band I knew that was from Australia was AC/DC and I was told by John Hrdlicka, my next door neighbor with the most christian mother i had ever met, that AC/DC actually meant After Christ, Devil Comes. My cousin Kathy had an album of theirs with Angus displaying his devil horns, so that, in essence, confirmed it. To a eight year old, Satan was some heavy shit.

A week or so later, Mom and I went to Schnuck’s, our neighborhood grocery store. This was the early 80s, we didn’t go out a whole lot, and going to the supermarket was a BFD. A Big Fucking Deal. Sometimes we’d see a friend of mine from school or Mom would flirt with the store manager to get double coupons on a week where there wasn’t double coupons. And Mom usually let me get something, like candy or a comic book or the like. But this time it was different.

Mom, by now six years divorced, still beautiful, and very liberated, was talking it up in the meat aisle with a guy wearing a wide-open, chest-hair-filled polyester shirt. I didn’t know him and it didn’t seem like anybody else did as well. They displayed all the signs of attraction between two people, something that, years later, I would come to recognize. He would lean in to her to tell a joke, my Mom would lilt in her laugh and shift her hips side-to-side. I didn’t even know if the jokes were good, and, being nine, kicked at the rollers on the shopping cart, and was generally, loudly bored. After an elongated “MoooOOOoooM,” she turned to me, quickly dug into her purse and handed me four bucks.

FOUR BUCKS. That was pretty incredible. Outside of Christmas cards or birthdays, it was the most money I had ever held in my hand. I was dumbfounded. “What do I do with this?” I asked. Mom, never breaking her gaze from her Meat Market Adonis shooed me away with a “whatever you want.” I walked away amazed and let them continue their budding romance next to the pork steaks. I had to get one more meat joke in.

The supermarket was now, a whole new world to me. I was willy wonka and this was my chocolate factory, everything seemed at my disposal. WHAT TO BUY WITH ALL MY RICHES? I went to the comic books - nothing new there, I had all the latest editions that were on the shelf. I looked at the candy and nothing was overly biting me - I believe I had one of those sno-cones only an hour or so earlier. I went closer to the liquor aisle, no, i was pre-pubescent wino. Near the liqour, Schnucks was trying out something new, something I had never seen before outside the local Sam Goody - a section for 45 rpm records.

Now, in the history of vinyl, these were the waning years of the record single. Tape and later CD singles would be the 7 inches’ demise, falling to an all-time sales low in 1985. And supermarkets, being the dinosaurs of change, added a 45 record section in the last dying breaths of the medium. It is though, historic to me for it was where I bought my first record, next to a guy buying a fifth of Seagram’s Gin and Similac.

I looked through the two rows of singles - Hurts So Good by John No-One-Had-Yet-Heard-of Mellencap Cougar, Abracadabra by Steve Miller Band which did not reach out and grab me, and many, many copies of Always On My Mind by Willie Nelson, which I almost bought because Willie looked like a space cowboy on the cover wearing a silver jacket, changing out his regular red bandana for some teal blue sari-looking one, all the while with weird sand dunes in the back that made him look like he was one Mars. He probably picked the album cover while stoned. Who I am kidding, everything done by Willie Nelson was done while he was stoned. Shit, if I could do that, damn right, I would. But all of us can’t be Willie Nelson. I think. What was I talking about?

Right, the record. So, I’m flipping through the singles and come across Men At Work. I knew I like the song and I distinctly remember the price tag reading $3.30. Right in my wheelhouse. So I walk up to the register and put in on the conveyor belt, and right as it was getting zapped by the mysterious green light that under the glass plate that somehow knew all the prices of everything everywhere, the cashier asked me if I was interested day-old roses that were on sale for a quarter a piece. She listlessly waved her hand toward it in such a way that I still have hope today that she finally found a job that fulfills her. Feeling rich and proud of my very unlike-eight year old purchase, I think I literally said, “Throw it on my tab.” My flirt with the cashier didn’t go as well as did the older gentleman with my mother. She sighed and I was immediately embarrassed, my only wish was to be back in the meat aisle.

I turned, defeated, to find my Mom. She and Mr.-70s-held-over were near the front of the store by the half-priced store-brand cereals that were on the endcap. I sauntered over with the rose hidden behind my back. Mom was tearing what I guess was her phone number on a piece of paper from a pad in her checkbook. This pad, usually used only for to-do lists, now included romantic encounters. As she handed it to this poor-man’s-Chuck-Barris, I pretended to be interested in a box of knock-off fruity pebbles, which I think they were called Fruit Rocks. He swaggered away and i presented my Mom with the rose. She smiled so brightly. I can still feel that kiss she gave me on my forehead.

I don’t know if that guy, who I will now always call Fruit Rocks, ever did get a hold of Mom, but what I do remember is getting home and Mom happily loading up that single on the record player. you see, I was not able to touch the hi-fi for at least another two years. The first time was when I bought my first long-playing record, which Prince’s Purple Rain, but that’s a whole other story.

That night, though, I had Mom play Side A of that 45 over and over. “Down Under” definitely brought the Thunder, which, coincidentially, is now the name of an Australian all-male stripper revue. Mom & I danced and laughed at each other for hours. I never got the drug references in the song, of which there are many, for example, “Lyin’ in a den in Bombay. With a slack jaw, and not much to say”? Really? You do the math.

OPIUM.

Dancing the night away back then with Mom is a great memory. I HATED the B-side of the record, though. I can’t even remember the name of it. It was pure crap. Some song that I have erased from my memory. I detested it so much that I got a steak knife and intentionally scratched “I HATE THIS” into the grooves. I mean, I could do it, right? It was mine. I BOUGHT it. Over the next couple months, I lost interest in the 45 and eventually, lost track of the record.

Fast forward to 2009. My Mom, after a long and truly courageous battle with an illness, passes. Yet, she lived long enough to see her only grandchild born, something she always wanted. My daughter Evangeline, who adored her. Evie looks just like Mom, and is just as funny as she was, just as kind, and is just as beautiful.

It took me a long time to go through Mom’s stuff. It sat for years. In 2015, I began. God forbid anything ever happened to me, my kid wouldn’t know what any of this stuff was. I catalogued things, wrote a bit about each box I would go through, made little quicktime movies. It helped a lot. Tremendously cathartic. One night last summer with Evangeline visiting, I open up a box marked “silverware”. It was in my Mom’s handwriting, which was always beautiful, the way all Mom’s seem to write.

Inside was no cutlery at all, instead, loose odds and ends and on top was something small, flat and wrapped in bubblewrap. I opened it. It was that old Men at Work forty-five, one side still scratched to hell with the price tag reading $3.30 staring me dead in the eye. I had never mentioned it before, in all conversations I ever had with Mom, even as an adult, that this was my first record. But she knew. She protected it. She cared.

I began to weep, softly. Evie, a little alarmed, stopped playing with her toys on the floor, came over and hugged me. She asked me what was wrong. Kinda just like what Mom would do. I told her this very story. She cried a bit as well. Eve was only two when my Mom died. She has fleeting memories. She said that she missed “Meemaw”, what she could recollect of her. She said she was sad because she could not remember her voice. We, regrettably, neglected to take many videos of her and Mom.

After a bit, Eve reached into the box and pulled out a small package. It was a rubber banded manila envelope of cassette tapes. it was marked “Austraila”, again in Virginia Meister’s expert penmanship. These were taped audio letters, sent back and forth, from Mom & Dad to each of their parents in America, while they lived abroad. One side would be of my parents’ adventures in Oz, with the other being the whole family relaying stories of back home.

Evie and I sat the rest of that night and listened to them while flipping through the treasured photo albums. She remembered her grandmother’s voice and for the first time in my life, I heard the voice of my grandfather whom I had never met.

And we played that Men At Work 45. And we danced and we laughed at each other. But we only spun “Down Under”, never that B-Side, because that other song? That was pure crap.