#and Sunny and Moon float between the two groups

[clockworksheep2]

i am happy! but somebody is so very not!! and it is very confusing!!!

[or13m]

Waking Dream (fnaf) Chapter 006

"This is weird."

"You're doing fine."

You mumbled at the lunar animatronic that this most certainly was NOT fine, earning a wheezing chuckle in return. You focused on what you were doing, trying not to let your metaphorical heart slam through your chest at the sight of the tiled floor far below the two of you. It was quite the distance--even for a mall of this size--with nothing to break your fall but a few plants and fluorescent lights sprinkled about. Not that you could die a second time...

Right?

"Sun says to hurry up," Moon teased with a shit-eating grin on his faceplate, swinging his legs from his spot on a beam near the ceiling. You were not amused as you floated upside-down several feet over his head. You felt like a piece of fluff just drifting along with no real sense of direction. You'd gotten out of the daycare by some miracle and just thought "up" and here you were, near the ceiling. By the time "forward" came, your spirit form decided to stop cooperating...

It may have had something to do with the imp below you who had decided that was an excellent time to spidercrawl up the wall before screeching in your face to scare whatever life remained right out of you.

"No, he didn't," you denied, eyes narrowing at the climbing fiend who still had his trapeze wire secured to his back. After spending all day with the solar side of the twins, you knew that he was as patient as a saint when it came to learning new things. He had wanted to do things right and do them at your pace. He had freaked out more than you had every time you got stuck in a wall or a piece of the playset. "HE'S the nice one."

Moon's grin widened and he giggled again, but at least he waited until you could right yourself. Finally focused once more, the two of you continued through the gigantic building as the naptime attendant followed his security protocols. Although Sun had wanted to keep you in their room for the next few hours, Moon was adamant about you staying within his view. Reminding you of your failed attempt the night before, he had decided that tonight would be the perfect chance for you to practice flying. What better way than to join him on his patrols? Above the feeble lights of the mega mall, of course. While he could withstand the dim lighting and prevent himself from transforming into Sun, he much preferred to keep to the shadows.

'They are not okay, Moon,' Sun started, once again, inside their shared headspace.

'I know, Sun,' he grumbled right back, doing his best to keep up his casual facade. 'It's only been a day. You can't expect them to accept that they are dead so soon.' Even as he argued with his counterpart, he felt his resolve to keep you a secret from the others falter. This was new grounds for the two of them. They have experienced angry souls before, but they were twisted by hatred and fear. They were more demon than human. He had no doubt that Roxy and Monty would be of no help since they were no more experienced than he and Sun. Freddy and his group of older AIs, however, have been around for much, much longer. With the sordid history of Fazbear Company--and HIS entanglement with the franchise since its birth--Moon couldn't help but wonder if there had been at least ONE ghost who was like you: lost but lucid.

'What if they were all like this before?' Sun pushed, his anxiety making his voice shake. 'What if Cocoa turns into an angry spirit? What if--'

"Sundrop! Stop it!" Moon barked out loud, startling you into a halt. The daycare attendant lapsed into silence at his brother's command, but couldn't help the thoughts spinning in his head. Moon couldn't either, but he had a better handle on it than Sunny. 'They were children,' he nearly snarled that out, hating that they hadn't been able to stop what that stupid rabbit had done. He ignored your hovering as he continued to placate a distressed Sun. 'Cocoa is an adult. And we know that HE is gone.'

His words eased the tension between them, but there was still that trickle of doubt that lingered whenever it came to that monster. All of the animatronics did their best to let the past stay in the past and avoid ever speaking of it, but it was not easily ignored. Even AIs could have nightmares… They tried, but they couldn't delete their memory files.

"Are you two alright?" your soft voice caught his attention. He looked up at you, realizing that he had stopped atop the hood of a fluorescent light in the food court. Your brows were pulled together in concern, your hands fisting in the edge of your shirt out of a nervous habit that he'd seen you do several times that day already. He and Sun had picked up on a few of the quirks you had throughout the day as you kept them company while they worked on the daycare. Their favorite was when you would puff out your cheeks when you'd get annoyed by something. Whether it was because of Moon's puckish behavior or some memory just out of reach, it greatly amused them.

The expression you wore now was one of their least favorites…

"Are you?" he sassed right back, opting not to answer with an obvious lie. He sighed at your confusion, but posed a follow up question since it may help clear some things up. "Are you sure that you don't remember anything?"

There was that annoyed look again. Or maybe it was frustration this time? Either way, it made Moon's mouth hitch up in a ghost of a smile and Sun's spirits lift.

"I just remember the games that were based off real events, apparently," you answered in a huff. "Everything is just…not there or fuzzy. Like, I KNOW that I have a mom, but I can't remember her name, her face, or anything about her. Same for everything else in my life--or previous life…or whatever…" you trailed off, irritated and confused. Your hands fisted in your shirt again while you tried and failed to grasp anything tangible in your mind's eye. It was like trying to catch mist. You could see that it was there but, no matter how hard your tried, you couldn't hold it.

"You don't have a brain to injure" Moon hummed, thinking over your words very carefully. "So it isn't about forgetting certain things and remembering others. You remember those games because you woke up here. Other things may trigger when you stumble upon similar situations or people." Honestly, he was theorizing all of this, but it sounded plausible. Being a ghost could not be easy, but all you had was your soul. After death--especially a traumatic one that usually resulted in hauntings--memories were much more difficult to hold onto or maybe even impossible. He could try to do an internet search now that Gre-Peter had granted them access, but the last time he'd done that, he had ended with Sun shrieking about his "innocence being tainted"… Humans were very…PRIMAL in nature. Especially online where they could go all out and hide behind the "anonymity" of it.

You chewed your lip from where you were drifting in the shadows over his head. The questions were trying to claw their way up your throat, but you forced them back down. The way he spoke seemed to indicate that he had some experience with ghosts in the past. If the games were accurate, then you could only imagine the trauma such questions could dredge up… While you were desperate for answers, you kept quiet. You could only hope that you'll recall your life over time…assuming that this wasn't all some elaborate dream that your brain had concocted. You could be in a coma, for all you knew.

"HEY, STARMAN!" a sudden shout below spooked you, making you squeak in surprise. Your form immediately shot deeper into the shadows, reacting to your fear.

Moon snorted in amusement at you before glancing down at the tile where a certain gator was glaring up at him. His red eye lights zeroed in on the aggravation on Monty's face and his toothy grin tightened. It seemed like this was just not their night…

"What's the deal with the pirate? He's been acting all jumpy lately," the glamrock barked at the lunar-based bot. Moon rolled his eyes before jumping down to the awning of a pizza shop. It wouldn't do any good for you if the biggest loudmouth of all time spotted you behind him.

"Why are you asking me?" he drawled, eyes narrowing at the guitar-wielding rockstar. Normally, he'd do some simple handstands or contortion tricks to creep the gator out, but he didn't want to linger around any longer than necessary. "I'm not his keeper."

"Cut the crap! I saw him go into the daycare last night," Montgomery snarled, whatever little patience he had gone. "And he's more YOUR keeper than anything…" he mumbled the last part under his breath, but the naptime attendant still heard the words.

Moon could feel the irritation flow through his wires and was about to say some very uncouth things to the other animatronic when an all-too-familiar voice intervened.

"Moondrop?"

Both bots turned to see Freddy Fazbear himself exiting Chica's bakery, only now realizing that the backroom lights were on in the little shop. A flash of yellow feathers and a pair of curious eyes told the two that the bird had also been listening in on their squabble. Sun was already chastising Moon in their head about antagonizing the gator.

"It's nice to see you out. Is Sundrop doing well?" the bear continued with his characteristic grin, coming to a stop just in front of him. It did not escape the lunar bot's notice that he had positioned himself between him and Monty.

"He's fine." Moon kept it short. He wasn't interested in idle conversation. He was starting to fidget, bouncing from one leg to the other. The gator was dumb enough to keep his attention on him and nowhere else, but Freddy was a whole other story. The main vocalist of the band was sharp and always knew when something wasn't right. It was usually something that he admired the Glamrock leader for, but, currently, it was a real pain. "We must continue our patrol." And, with that, he kicked off from the awning and back into the rafters, leaving before the bear had a chance to say another word. His scarlet eyes caught your frightened gaze and he jerked his head in a motion for you to follow him. A robot's hearing was far superior to a human's so he dared not speak a word aloud until you two were far enough away. Thankfully, you were shy but not stupid and trailed along after him, taking care to stick to the deeper shadows near the ceiling.

"Freddy seemed kinda sad when you left…" you finally spoke by the time the two of you had crossed a good portion of the mall. Moon turned to look at you as he swung from his wire. The new security guard had started work tonight so he didn't really need to pay as much attention as usual to the empty halls and storefronts. The only reason he even did these runs was to calm the nagging from the protocols that Peter had yet to fully remove.

"He's being nosey," the star-speckled bot huffed. "He'll get over it," he reassured both you and Sun at the same time. His brighter counterpart was an anxious mess inside after that confrontation, babbling about how they would "get into trouble" for starting fights with the Glamrocks. No matter how many times he had told his brother that they were no longer under Fazco ownership or their outrageous policies, the solar animatronic couldn't get over the trauma.

"But, I could--" you started to say, but Moon cut you off before you could finish your thought.

"There's the new nightguard! Let's see what other powers you have, Casper."

Casper?

You were momentarily stunned by the nickname before your cheeks puffed up. Moon just grinned wide when you made a swipe at his hat. Your fingers phased right on through the dark-blue fabric, unable to get a grip with your burst of anger. He outright cackled as your failed attempt sent you careening through a light fixture and straight to the floor. There was no nightguard in this area. His inner system had pinpointed the employee scouting the area on the opposite side of the mega mall.

But it got you to completely forget about the situation with Freddy and Monty as you sat, stunned, on the tile below him.

[cirqueclangen]

Moon 0 · Newleaf

Clan

Ptarmiganpaw wakes up to find her nest crumbling underneath her as water begins entering the cave that the apprentices sleep in. She screeches, waking up her Clanmates, and bursts out of the den to find the camp flooding.

Bluepaw wakes up alone in the healer's den, pelt covered in a poultice to help her thorn-scratches heal. The poultice sloughs off as she scrambles out of the flooding den. She enters the camp clearing to find chaos.

Astermask shoves the kits and queens out of the nursery, ignoring the kits' wails of protest. The FjordClan deputy holds Squirrelkit in her jaws, who she deposits at the paws of her apprentice Bluepaw. She tells her to take the kit and run.

Shalespirit's old bones scream in protest as she tells her grandson Slatekit to leave the camp as quick as he can. His eyes are full of fear, and she snarls at him, startling him into action. His mother, her youngest daughter, had died in childbirth. She couldn't bear to lose him too. Once he's scrambled over the top of the fjord, she joins her deputy in trying to save what she can of her Clan.

Lynxbite watches his herb stores float away on the quick-rising water. He sees Ptarmiganpaw trying to coax the elders out of their den, her eyes wide with terror. Cloudkit is balanced precariously on his back, and Alderkit is trembling between his paws. He puts himself between the apprentice and the den entrance. He tells her to take the kits and leave - he will follow with the elders as soon as he can. She nods, and guides the two kits out of camp.

FjordClan is swept away by a flood. Two apprentices and four kits remain, and when the water recedes, they bury what dead remain. After this loss, they decide to set up camp at the edge of a cirque deeper into their territory, where floodwater can't reach them.

Patrols

Ptarmiganpaw marks the borders, pausing for too long by sunny daisy patch where Shalespirit rests. She had left many offerings to the spirits, but Shalespirit had lost the spirits’ favor, and she did not rise. So Ptarmiganpaw steels herself to lead what remains of FjordClan. In order to show respect to the spirits that flooded the camp, she decides the group will now be known as CirqueClan, so that they will not meet the same fate.

Bluepaw hunts, aware that every piece of prey she does not catch is a meal she will not get to eat. She wishes she had received more than two moons of training. At least she’s not in Ptarmiganpaw’s position.

next

[dsandrvk]

Sunday, August 4 - Talbot Bay (Cyclone Creek and Horizontal Falls)

When we awoke we found we were surrounded by red sandstone cliffs covered with sparse green foliage and mangroves at the water level. We are in Talbot Bay, which is actually a narrow fjordlike (in looks only) bay off the Kimberly Coast. It is the result of extreme folding of the ancient sandstone which made the land into waves, and time wore down the highest parts. As a result the high points are the cliffs, with the layers aligned vertically in places, and the lowest points of the rock "waves" being covered by the ocean. There are several narrow gaps through the "waves" that allow the tide to come in and out, and even the widest one is only navigable at slack tide.

Once again we were lucky in that today we were in the last group in the morning to go out, and had the highest water, and also by the time we went out the morning clouds had burned off, so we had sunshine and blue skies.

We had a nice Zodiac tour up Cyclone Creek, which is actually part of the estuary. The Talbot Bay area has a little fly-in floating hotel, where folks come to see the sights, and there were several seaplanes coming and going. As we wound our way "upstream", we got to several mangrove clusters (which had been high and dry earlier for the first few groups, and wandered in among them, looking for crocodiles or other critters. No crocs, but we did find a hospitality boat with cold champagne - not a bad substitute.

There were several narrow spots along our route, and the water got quite squirrelly in each - lots of big eddies like on the Colorado at high water. One spot we passed on the way to Cyclone Creek is the site of Horizontal Falls - the water comes and goes through two narrow slots towards a couple of basins inland from main Talbot Bay. Here at maximum tidal flow (between high and low tides) the water rushes through at an incredible speed. The first picture after the champagne is of the gap at low tide on our sunny morning.

We waited around most of the afternoon for the conditions to be perfect (with a couple of lectures and a trivia session) and then went out for short excursions at maximum flow, and it was a wild ride! I took some videos, but when we got really close we had to hang on tight since the Zodiac was bucking and squirming. Only one company with jet boats is currently allowed to actually go through the gap - this despite the fact that an accident that company had (no fatalities, but scary enough) led to the closure for everyone else. Also, boats only do it on an outgoing tide, when the water is rushing out from the gap, as it would be easy to get sucked through if the tide was going in.

Pictures don't do it justice - suffice to say it was a thrilling ride as we went right up to the gap before getting blown back and away. The expedition crew has been here several times on these trips, but this was their first new moon (high) tide and even they were impressed.

We were all finished up just as evening fell, and the boats were hauled back up in the dark. We are not going to leave our anchorage around midnight to take advantage of slack tide, so until then the lights are on and we are spending some time looking down into the water for fish, etc.

Tomorrow we are off to Kuri Bay, which has a pearl farming industry (related to the industry in Broome), and will have tours of the facility. It will be a light day for activities as tours will run most of the day and some people on our ship have booked a Mallard seaplane ride, and they will be scheduled throughout the day. It will be nice to have some time to relax, as the schedule so far has kept us pretty busy.

[yunhowhoitiss]

𝐜𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐮𝐦

𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭!𝐲𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐨 𝐱 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 (𝐟𝐞𝐦)

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 1.5k+

𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: fluff, fantasy au (?), slow burn, angst if you squint, ft co-worker jongho :)

𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: You’re finally starting to make ends meet when you start working at your school’s local café, but the world is so full of surprises.

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: reader panics a bit(?)

𝐚/𝐧: I came up with this at 4am a couple days ago so it’s not my proudest, but I felt bad just letting it sit in my drafts so here you go :) enjoy!

masterlist

The gentle smell of freshly baked pastries, accompanied by the stronger aroma of ground coffee beans, wafted through the comfy café. There was a constant chatter as customers scattered around the joint whilst waiting, disguising the soft hum coming from behind the coffee machine. Your face was out of sight, except your hair peeked out above the espresso machine where you were pouring a latté, entertaining yourself by decorating a small heart in the foam. A smile tugged at the corners of your lips as your eyes turned to soft crescents when soft wisps of your hair had fallen out of your bun and across the sides of your forehead. The steam floating from the cup caressed your hands as you picked up the mug along with an assortment of macaroons. 

“Order for Julie: four macaroons, a chai latté, and an espresso affogato, extra dry!” You announced through the coffee shop, turning a few heads. 

You made your way back to the station to continue other orders but stopped as you noticed something missing; you had run out of cinnamon to top off drinks. Your coworker ought to know where another carton would be, so you turned towards the kitchen to find him wrist-deep in bread dough. 

“Jongho, where are the extra containers of cinnamon again?”

“Oh, those are in the grey cabinet below the pastry display,” he smiled back, all the while kneading the dough. 

Flashing him an ‘ok’ sign, you headed back to the front of the shop. You hadn’t been working at the Crescent Café very long, but you happened to be a pretty fast learner, according to Jongho; you could make latte art before other trainees could even make a latte. Quickly getting back to work, you served a customer until something caught you eye whilst jotting down an order on your notepad; had the writing been on your wrist all day? It must just be something I wrote down earlier, you thought.

As the sun made its way towards the horizon, you returned to the comfort of your small apartment to freshen up, eat dinner, and momentarily forget your academic responsibilities— homework, ugh-- before heading to school again the next day. You entered you apartment with a relived sigh and threw your keys onto a nearby dresser, mumbling "I'm home" to nobody in particular. Too lazy to go to your room, you simply undressed as you walked towards the bathroom, leaving a trail of clothing behind you. Note to self: clean that up later. 

The moment you stepped into the shower, your shoulders loosened as the hot water washed away your tension. The writing on your wrist caught your eye again. Scrutinizing the messy handwriting, you saw what seemed to be a shopping list. 

“Eggs, lucky charms, and aftershave,” you read aloud. 

Aftershave? I don’t use that. Could it be… you were lost thought, not noticing the warm steam filling the bathroom. You rubbed at your soapy skin frantically in an attempt to wash off the pen, to no avail. Lately, although rarely, you’d started to notice small bruises or random marks on your skin; you’d never seen writing, though. You briefly wondered if there was possibly another person causing this, but you only saw such things in movies or books... right? 

Your heart rate started to pick up, and a heavy sensation built up in your chest. It isn’t possible, it can’t be. The cramped space of your shower started to feel suffocating. Nearly slipping, you jumped out of the shower and dried yourself off. You got dressed in whatever shirt and sweats you found hanging around your bedroom. Was something wrong with you? Am I imagining things? I’m not going crazy, right?  Worrisome thoughts flooded your mind as you spiralled deeper into a panic. Calm down. Don’t skip to conclusions. You threw yourself onto the bed. In and out. It’s that simple, you consoled yourself. Slowly but surely, you felt your heart come to a rest. 

When you lifted your hand up above your head the writing was still there, unchanged. So you weren’t losing your mind. Could somebody else be the cause of this? Was someone else somehow writing on your skin? No, you felt stupid for even considering the thought; otherworldly things like that only happened in comics or movies. Nevertheless, it was the only possibility that made sense to you in the moment. You let your curiosity get the best of you, and paced towards the living room to grab a pen off the coffee table. On your right hand, you simply wrote "Hi," in hopes of eliciting some sort of response.

The following day proved to be a rather sunny, warm Monday, but you had to spend your time in a closed lecture hall. The cold-toned ceiling lights were much too bright for your liking, and the monotonous professor spouted information maybe only a handful of people were genuinely listening to. That morning, you had woken up to find the list on your wrist gone, leaving only your own message from the night before. You started to think you'd really had a hallucination of some sort. 

Half an hour into the lecture, you were already bored out of your mind and absentmindedly sketching intricate doodles on your notebook. I should just give up on biochemistry and become an artist, you mused to yourself. You remained focused on your art, while marks started to take shape on the back of your hand. Your soft eyes widened almost comically at the sight, and you shot a brief look to the people around you to make sure they hadn’t seen anything. Whipping your head back to your hand, you saw that the words stopped writing themselves, leaving a short message saying “Am I going nuts?” 

Wondering the same thing yourself, you jotted down a response below it: “I dunno, you tell me,” followed by a cheeky smiley face. If this really was real, you might as well make a good first impression. 

Weeks trickled into months as you made short exchanges with your newly discovered friend. Some nights you would write “good night” followed by a drawn heart, earning a sweet “sleep well” in return. You would frequently wake up to thoughtful words written on the palm of your hand, or you'd kindly ask your companion how they were doing when you had a quiet day at work. Even so, all you had learned about this person was their name, age, and that they were a student as well. Yunho was a twenty-one-year-old elementary education major with a minor in physiology-- he also worked as a dance teacher on weekends. You still didn’t know much about each other, so the messages never went further than greetings and simple conversations. 

Be that as it may, you liked it like that. Your relationship wasn’t complex; it felt comfortable and pure, and you didn’t want to change it.

Mellow spring afternoons at the café had always been your favourite. The wispy clouds in the sky were painted a buttery yellow by the slowly setting sun, and a steady stream of nearby students stopped by for coffee. Your new friend had sweetly noted "It's golden hour. Made me think of you," on your palm, leaving you in a bubbly mood. You had started your shift by drawing a heart on your wrist, hoping your secret companion would see it. 

You worked by the espresso machine as usual, humming to yourself as always. The bell rang, indicating that customers had arrived; it was a group of what seemed to be three guys and a girl. 

“We’ll be right with you!” you called. You turned towards the kitchen.  “Jongho, can you take their orders?” Silence. “Pretty please? I need to clean up my station.” you persisted. 

“Fine, yeah,” you heard your colleague grumble. 

As you tidied up behind the machine, you felt as though someone was watching you from the counter. You lifted your head curiously, meeting a pair of inquisitive doe eyes coloured a soft hazelnut brown. The warm eyes instantly turned into friendly half-moons as the boy smiled shyly upon being caught staring. You hurried back to cleaning up your station, hoping to hide the pink tint of your cheeks, but the red shade consuming your ears gave you away. 

Jongho handed you the cups for their orders and walked over to the pastry display. You got started on a hot chocolate and three iced americanos, getting back into your “barista brain,” as you liked to call it. After finishing the drinks, you called out "Three iced americanos, a hot chocolate, and two blueberry muffins!” 

You turned around to grab straws, and you overheard one of the guys say “I’ll grab ‘em, you guys can stay here.” You made your way back to the counter, looking up only to be met with the boy from earlier. Butterflies littered your stomach, fluttering up into your chest. “Oh, um, here are some straws,” you smiled gingerly.

“Thanks. Could I please get a sleeve as well?” he asked, “For my hot chocolate.”

“Of course!”

As you handed him the cardboard sleeve, his hands caught your eye. Not only were they the most beautiful hands you'd ever laid eyes on, but the boy had a heart drawn on the valley of skin between his left thumb and wrist, exactly where you had drawn one on your own hand just a while earlier. He seemed to recognize the message on your palm as well; a confused expression ghosted over his face. Gathering all your courage, you nodded towards his hand and did your best to form a coherent sentence. “That’s—”

“Your heart,” he interrupted, “Right?” 

You giggled softly in response, barely containing your excitement.

“Right,” you smiled down at your feet in an attempt to hide the bashful grin that pulled at your lips. A hand popped up in front of you.

“Nice to meet you, y/n. My name’s Yunho-- Oh, but you know that already, don’t you?” Yunho chuckled sheepishly. You looked up and slipped your hand into his, shaking it gently. His hands were warm, fingertips ever so soft.

“Nice to meet you too.”

[vannahfanfics]

The Road Behind, The Road Ahead

Category: Friendship Fluff

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Characters: Oboro Shirakumo, Hizashi Yamada, Shota Aizawa, Nemuri Kayama

Hey, everyone! Here is my piece for the @headinthecloudszine​!

The rhythmic pumping of the bass had a strangely soothing quality to it, pumping through Hizashi’s living room in tune with the flashing neon lights haphazardly slung from the ceiling in an obvious fire hazard. The aforementioned blond was at his DJ table, swaying left and right to the beat as he scratched the records and hyped up the crowd with well-timed bellows of “Yeaaaaaaaaaah!” Oboro watched him with a smirk peeking above the rim of his red plastic cup; Hizashi never failed to be the life of the party, but he was extra hype tonight considering they’d all just graduated from U.A. 

“So, do you feel like an adult yet?” crooned a sultry voice. Oboro’s smirk widened as Nemuri draped herself over his back, looping her slim arms around her neck as she pressed a friendly kiss to his cheek. “My three boys, all grown up now~ How time flies.” He had to chuckle at her doting mother-like comment, considering she wasn’t much older than them. She certainly didn’t look the part, with a sinfully short metallic-like black dress riding up her thighs and diving down to artfully display her endowments. 

“I dunno. I don’t feel all that different yet,” Oboro admitted with a chuckle. Nemuri tutted and patted his cloud-like poofs of light blue hair. 

“Fufufu, it won’t be long,” she assured with a mysterious glint in her dark eyes. Before she could elaborate, she peeled herself away from him to saunter over to Shota, who was trying to squeeze himself down between the couch cushions to teleport himself anywhere but Hizashi’s crowded living room. Shota exclaimed angrily as Nemuri launched herself— an impressive maneuver considering she was wearing six-inch stilettos— over the back of the sofa to land on her belly in his lap. Oboro couldn’t see from his angle, but Shota began screaming at her to pull her dress down. Based on the whistles and whoops from the multitude of guys in the room, Nemuri was probably wearing something as scandalous as her dress— if she was wearing anything at all. 

Oboro left the packed living room behind to meander into the kitchen, where half-emptied soda bottles and finger foods were strewn across the counters and table. As he shoved his hand into a bag of potato chips and shoved the whole fistful in his mouth, he found himself considering Nemuri’s seemingly innocent question. 

Do you feel like an adult yet? 

Honestly, Oboro thought he would have. He felt some sense of achievement upon receiving his diploma early that day, but it was more along the lines of “I didn’t flunk out!” than actually feeling like he was transitioning into adulthood. He found himself ruminating on the strange lack of emotion, frowning as he drowned the salty potato chips in cola. No matter how much he tried to summon up some sense of maturity, it just felt like any other day. 

“Huh,” he grunted under his breath. 

Suddenly, the thrumming of the bass and scent of sweat and din of conversation was too much for Oboro. He found himself wandering upstairs to climb out of a bedroom window and perch on a small section of the roof, leaving the party behind to embrace the calmness of the night. He exhaled deeply as he reclined against the siding, eyes lidded as he gazed up at the sky. The stars glimmered against the inky backdrop of space, diamonds slewn across a canvas surrounding the tilted crescent moon. He sipped at his soda, but the popping carbonation only served to dredge up a sense of disquiet within him. 

He scratched at the side of his head with a lopsided smile. Man, since when did he think so much? Nemuri was always saying crazy things, so he really ought not to put too much stock into her innocuous comment— but he found that it nagged him, all the same. 

He exhaled deeply through his nose, rolling his shoulders as he found them growing a bit stiff. Really, he didn’t have anything to worry about, did he? So what if he didn’t really feel like an adult yet? There was plenty of time for that. Oboro was a bonafide professional hero now, although as a sidekick for His Purple Highness. Still, he’d be involved in the real deal, not just uneventful patrols and fetching cats out of trees. A smile began to spread over his lips as he basked in it— the realization that he was one step closer to being the hero he always dreamed of being. 

Not only that, but he had the best damn friends in the world. They were a ragtag little group, but just today, Hizashi was broaching the topic of eventually starting an agency together. Oboro could think of nothing better than saving people alongside his best friends. Surely that had to count for something, too. The world was their oyster, and they were sitting at the dinner table with forks in hand. Now that he thought about it, he sure has come a long way since that starry-eyed boy with his head in the clouds living a life based on the whims the wind brought. 

He smiled to himself as he recalled the day he, Shota, and Hizashi first began hanging out. Now that he thought about it, he really was a hoodlum, floating in through the classroom window like he wasn’t late for class! Really, it was a wonder his teachers put up with him with all the crazy stunts he pulled. One April Fool’s Day, he even floated all the desks in the classroom above the school to try and get the teacher to cancel (which would have worked if he hadn’t left the damn desks floating on his signature clouds above the roof like a moron!). As he reveled in the memories of his halcyon days, Oboro realized how much of a kid he used to be. 

Wait. Is this what she meant? 

Oboro scratched at his head, smiling in embarrassment. Wow, he really had been thinking too hard about something so simple, huh? Now that he considered it, he really had come a long way— growing from a carefree, head-in-the-clouds kid to a slightly subdued, somewhat responsible hero. He still definitely retained his sunny personality and was a bit impulsive, but he definitely wouldn’t try half the stunts he pulled in high school, that was for sure. Grinning, he drained the dregs of his soda and released a satisfied sigh. 

“Heh… I guess I do kind of feel like an adult now.” 

“Really? That fast? I would’ve thought it would take a week or two.” 

Oboro nearly jumped out of his skin as Nemuri spoke from the windowsill. In his fright, he actually did generate a cloud underneath him and went floating up a couple of feet. Crossing his legs underneath him, he glowered down at her over the edge of the fluffy construct. She stuck out her tongue mischievously; she had totally meant to scare him, the minx. She climbed out of the window, again displaying remarkable maneuverability in those frighteningly tall heels, and put her hands on her hips as she breathed in the fresh aroma of the night. 

“It’s liberating, isn’t it? Realizing how far you’ve come,” she said, tossing a smile over her shoulder. Oboro leaned his cheek in his hand as he smirked slightly at her. 

“I wouldn’t call you very grown-up, Nem, considering the band of your thong is showing,” he chuckled with a quick point to the swathe of her thigh that was showing. She cursed loudly and tugged her skirt down before flipping him the finger, which made him laugh spiritedly. He sighed contentedly and glanced out of the corners of his eyes at the sky. “But I get what you mean now. I didn’t realize it, but I’ve changed a lot in the last three years.” 

“And you’ve still got a long road ahead of you,” Nemuri smiled as she reached up and affectionately flicked at his fluffy blue hair. 

“We still have a long road ahead of us,” Oboro corrected. Nemuri’s glossed lips curled up into a charmed smile. A slight rustling at the window got their attention, and they both turned to see Hizashi straddling the windowsill with a slight pout on his face. 

“What’s up, what’s up? Are you two not enjoying my totally awesome party?” he whined. Nemuri placated him with a motherly tut and a pinch of his cheek. 

“Of course we are, ‘Zashi! We just came up here to get some fresh air, is all. Your tunes are so radical that we were overwhelmed.” Oboro hid a snicker into his hand as Hizashi absolutely beamed, completely oblivious to the fact that Nemuri was yanking his chain. He clambered out onto the roof, slipping a little on the rooftops and steadying himself by digging his fingers into the soft plush of Oboro’s cloud. 

“All right, all right, I’m pickin’ up what you’re puttin’ down!” the blond trilled as Shota poked his head out of the window, mildly interested in why his small circle of friends was now cramming themselves on the roof instead of the living room. We really live up to our moniker “The Rooftop Gang,” Oboro thought in amusement. “Man, it’s a nice night. Can you guys believe we’re like, adults now?” 

“You’re about as far from an adult as you can get,” Shota snorted derisively. Hizashi stamped his feet with a petulant whine, crying into Oboro’s cloud about how mean Shota was— which really only kind of served to prove his point. Oboro leaned back a little, holding onto his calves as he reclined into the open air, and looked back up at the brilliant moon shining overhead. 

They all had a considerable length of the road behind them already. Together, they’d overcome trials big and small, navigating the turbulence of being a teenager and earning a number of scars and stories to show for it. Still… they still had a long road ahead of them, and Oboro was more than grateful to know they all had each other. 

The world was their oyster, and Oboro was ready to dive right in. 

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

[mcfanely]

A Mirror Image

Cole has always been aware of the Oni blood that ran through his veins. He didn't remember the exact moment when he'd been told that he wasn't entirely human, it just felt like he always knew. But he did remember the sheer about of training and time he put into perfecting the use of his inherited abilities. Shape-shifting? It was second nature, so easy to use that it was almost laughable. Yet, in battle or on missions, it became an invaluable tool. It was something he wouldn't shy away from using, no matter if the only other people who knew about his lineage was Sensei Wu and Zane.

5485 words

Sneaking through a near pitch black warehouse was never something that Cole would personally plan to do on a Saturday night, but it wasn't like he wanted to be stooping between wooden crates of presumably recently stored goods, or brushing specks of dust off his gi as he moved through areas that looked like they hadn't been swept in far too long. Which wasn't good, or very hygienic since according to the stock report he'd read a few days earlier, the crates that were towering high around him contained perishables. Foods; imported from some of the further reaches of Ninjago. 

Presumably. 

That doubt was the entire reason why Cole, along with the rest of the team, were moving through the shadows. Trying in vain to stay hidden when it felt like every footfall created a far too loud echo, which then flowed around the wide expanse of the building. If there were people inside - other people - then it was a minor shock that none of them had been alerted sooner. It felt like every drawn breath was pushing the silence of the environment, that the next exhale could bring down a wave of criminals right on top of them. 

Or maybe that was just past experiences talking, and all the training they'd all been through. In high stress situations such as a stake-out, their senses were bound to be heightened. Their hearing would be sensitive, especially to every minor noise that wound up being made. No one could be entirely quiet at every second, it just wasn't possible. The brush of clothes on clothes, light footsteps, even the beat of a heart just felt that little bit too oppressive; all unavoidable. Adrenaline ramped high caused hands to shake, even minutely. Made breathing heavier, caused eyes to track onto even the barest of movement such as a tiny dust mote that moved into his line of sight. 

Cole brought his hand up to wave the minuscule obstruction away before he thought better of himself and dropped it back down to his side. He needed to focus, keep his breathing measured and keep his eyes on where he was going, which thankfully wasn't all that hard for him. 

His team, wherever they were in the warehouse, they would be having a much harder time finding their way around. In what should be a closed off building, as the clock was more than close to chiming for midnight, it was dark outside with a waxing moon high in the sky. But inside? When they'd been peering through a shattered window not ten minutes earlier, Jay had remarked that he could just barely see the outlines of the wooden storage shelves that all but lined the entire building. 

Cole had just given a small hum of acknowledgement, peering through the window himself, before they'd moved on to their actual entry point into the building. 

There was no way that he was going to outwardly admit that he could see the darkened insides as easily as he could see his hand if he held it directly in front of his face in the middle of a sunny day. Or maybe not to that extent, but darkness had never really been an issue for him. Actually, he'd never acknowledged darkness as something that could pose a disadvantage until Sensei Wu had mentioned in passing that not everyone had the ability to see in the pitch black like he did. 

That; whilst some animals could also see well during the night, was an ability that was unique to Cole in regards to it occurring in tandem with his supposed humanity. 

Even though he wasn't entirely human to begin with, and he could thank his grandmother for that. For the fact that whenever he moved past the towering walls of stored products, he could see them easily. Everything may have been sharply tinted with a monochrome grey and just that slight bit blurred along the edges, but he could thank her that he wasn't totally blind like everyone else who was also currently, hopefully, successfully finding their own ways through the packed building. 

Jay and Nya had entered through the far side of the warehouse to where everyone else had come in, and were ideally edging their way towards the centre. Kai and Lloyd had taken the ceiling rafters, hopping from beam to beam and providing the birds eye view of the situation below. Zane was doing the same as Cole, working solo, moving in to where he was sure he could hear whispered voices floating up from a few aisles to his left. 

Cole paused for a second, his eyes slipping closed in silent frustration and realisation that maybe… Maybe it would have been a good idea for me to have taken the ceiling, since I can actually see, and Lloyd and Kai can't… 

That wasn’t a smart move. 

It was a brief mental chiding, but he hadn't intentionally given them the risky part of the job. He would never put someone in danger. Ever. It was just something that had slipped his mind, and either way, if the plan went off like it was supposed to then in the next few minutes the warehouse lighting would be back in action and they all would have clear vision as they moved in and carried out their respective roles. 

It had started with a call from Ninjago's Police Commissioner regarding some unusual activity that some of the officers had been noticing, within the warehouse district of the city. Groups of people coming and going in the cover of night, slipping into the giant buildings through small gaps that had corroded into the metal clad walls or by forcing their way inside with bolt cutters to traverse the industrial locks and chains that were used to secure the imports overnight. Cole had spent a good portion of his morning earlier that week on the phone, sat at the dining table in the Monastery with a notepad in front of him, a pen being worried between his teeth and a group of nosy and curious brothers poking their heads not so subtly around the door. All to see what the situation was. Talking with the Commissioner, writing down information as it was provided, along with determining the issue at hand and what was going to be done to address it; it had been a long and busy few hours. 

Overall, the problem had been easy to summarise for the group of ninja as they had all but piled into the room when they'd finally heard Cole's professional, "Yes, of course. Thank you for calling, I'll start planning right away and give you a call over the next day or so, so we can coordinate a joint plan of action. Right. Yes. Got it. Goodbye."

The phone hadn't even been moved from his ear before he'd basically gained a lapful of Jay as he'd come barrelling inside with an excited and sing-songed question of, "Is it a ninja problem?" 

Cole gave a short nod, before he began to spread his few pages of notes out over the table for them to be read. "The Commissioner has reason to believe there's a gang, or a group of people, breaking into the storage buildings west of the city and stealing some of the products… Or--" 

"Or?" The question was asked far too quickly, even though Cole had been about to finish his train of thought. He shot Kai a pointed look, and a raised eyebrow. Though everyone's excitement was understandable. The past few weeks had been fairly quiet, so anything vaguely interesting was more enough to break up the monotony. 

A joint operation with Ninjago PD? That was exciting. 

"Some Officers seem to think that these people aren't taking stuff, but leaving things hidden. Inside the crates." Cole carded a hand through his hair slowly, "I need to make a plan, but the basis is we all move in and apprehend the criminals, and then the police move in and make the arrests, scout the area, crack the case. And all that." He waved a hand loosely. "We just go in and make sure no one gets hurt. Easy."

It had taken a few days, and many calls and scribbled notes on post-its, torn pages of notebooks and maybe one or two sleepless nights, but Cole had a plan in place, and the Police on standby outside acting as a surrounding force. No matter what, the people inside the warehouse? They would be leaving in cuffs. All it would take was for Cole's plan to go down without a hitch. 

Easy. 

Everyone knew their job, what they had to do, it was just a matter of time. 

Cole paused mid-step just as he was turning a corner around a small pile of boxes, a sharp drag of air through his teeth ended in a clamped mouth, held breath as his eyes focused on a small group of people in front of him. Three people, two males and one female, all fairly well built and each armed with their own blaring flashlight in one hand, and an assortment of weapons in the other. Namely from what he could see, a couple baseball bats and one length of what seemed to be rusted rebar that must have been laying around. Cole's fingers itched to reach back and pull his scythe from its sheath, to have a proper fight, but that wasn't the plan. 

The plan was no injury. Jay would find the fuse box, he and Nya would get it running again and actually light up the area. Then by that time, everyone else would be in positions where they could hem in the criminals that were dotted around the building and incapacitate them until the police moved in. Simple enough. 

Cole had found his targets, his pupils shrinking to adjust for the sudden change in light levels as he kept to the shadows and observed from a careful distance. The warehouse lights turning on was the cue to move in, and that hadn't happened yet. So he waited. Listened. 

A minor huff of air came from one of the men, dressed in a loose fitting hoodie which did a good job of hiding any possible muscle underneath, though the way he wielded the rebar displayed experience and curated strength. Light swings, accompanied by a woosh sound as it sliced through the atmosphere. 

"I can't believe we're here for no reason." He groaned in a whisper, his head tilted back and eyes closed. "One person. Maybe two, that's it. Send them in, get them to retrieve the goods. Done. Sorted." There was a pause, then in an almost whine, "But no, we all have to be here."

"Because apparently there is a lot more to get than what we'd initially thought. Either way, we're not doing anything." The woman gestured around the group, "We're just here for numbers."

"Numbers?" The word was forced out around laugh, though it definitely had an air of frustration. It was as if the man wanted to be anywhere else but in that warehouse at that very time. Cole could understand that, but for a different reason. He could have been in bed, sleeping, but instead he'd spent the past week stressing out over multiple possible scenarios that could occur should the plan have to change. Or trying to make sure what he had in place would work and be effective, that each member of the team would be doing the right job, in the right place, had the right skills. 

Taking the lead was never easy, but it was rewarding. 

Yet, this man rotating the metal bar slowly in his grip with a smile on his face, where else would he be if not there? Committing another crime elsewhere? Sleeping? Either way, the only place he would be going after this night would be the police station. 

Cole found himself cracking a brief grin from where he was crouched behind a crate, his head poked just over the top to continue observing the group. The knowledge that these people were going to get what was coming for them, and they didn't even know, there was something vaguely satisfying about the situation.

All that there was between their freedom and their arrest was a well planned--

The lights flickered on. The warehouse awash so sharply with artificial white light that his widened pupils snapped so sharply down to a near pinpoint size that it made his vision bright with glare. His surroundings, moving from a pallet of greys and blacks to coloured, browns of the wooden storage boxes, reds and blues of the painted metal shelving units where everything was situated and sorted out. Now, he could see the sheer amount of dust that flowed over the floor, marked areas where people had been moving around presumably during the day, tyre tracks from heavy machinery that did the jobs that people couldn't do. 

Then, just as quickly, the lights were off again. Cole's attention immediately snapped up towards the ceiling as the orange glow of the faded bulbs finally transcended into darkness. 

What the hell? Jay, you were supposed to leave the lights on, what did you--

"Wait." 

One of the men's voices came out as a whisper, his footfalls falling into silence as Cole blinked his eyes rapidly, forcing them to get used to the light levels again. There was always that brief period where his vision was impeded, as apparently everyone experienced; but when his eyes took in light in a different way, when they took in so much more? Sudden shifts from dark to light was never a good thing. 

Though something in the tone of voice. Maybe it was the surprise? Or the shock? Or the fact that the word was said so carefully and warily that as soon as Cole had some semblance of vision he was peering over his small hiding spot and, like anyone would do, froze. 

The man, the one armed with the rebar, was staring directly at him. Sure his gaze was wandering, a little unfocused but it was definitely in his general direction. Far too close to where Cole was crouched to be anything of a coincidence, enough to make his muscles tense and adrenaline spike as he, under the cover of darkness, met eyes with the man. He stopped breathing. 

"What?" The other man asked, his tone questioning. "This place is old, lights are probably--" 

"Shut up." He spat out quickly, "I saw someone."

Now, the woman spoke up, and Cole was just observing with climbing adrenaline flowing through his muscles. This wasn't good. "What? Who? Where?" 

The next thing Cole knew, there was the bright beam of a light directly in his field of view, his eyes wincing and vision whiting over at the visual feedback the torch gave. There was a dragged breath, and a yelp from someone else, then the warehouse lights turned on. 

Cole stood quickly from his hiding position, coming face to face with the group of three who were now fully aware of his presence, though none of them seemed to be reacting immediately other than staring in his direction with wide eyes, weapons held in a lax grip and torches still on, drooping towards the floor. 

That was all in the space of a couple seconds, before darkness descended again. Now, the group decided to react to the change in circumstances. Torches whipping around widely, the sound of a baseball bat tapping hard against the floor as if one of the people were deciding to prime a swing into the oblivion of nothing that was now before them. 

Even if they had planned to attack in the general area that he'd been standing in, Cole wasn't there anymore. As soon as he had the cover of yet another impromptu power cut, he'd quickly moved from where he'd been standing without much second thought. Staying where he'd been hiding, that would be a stupid move. His presence there had already been compromised, but he had other pressing issues to contend with. 

Namely, the sheer chaos that was quick to follow. 

A shrieked, "Holy shit, what the-!" Only for the shout to be cut off by a sheer flash of blue light, and the smell of ozone quickly taking over the entire warehouse floor in under a second. Cole looked up, the far side of the building illuminated by cracks and arcs of electricity weaving out into the open air, whips and sharp retorts of discharge echoed around the warehouse and in that moment, Cole realised that his plan was going out the window rapidly.

Jay, and presumably Nya, had partially succeeded in getting the lighting on only for it to die away into an intermittent and unpredictable flickering mess. All it took was a glance up, the lighting shuddering and fluttering between being on and off, rapidly so. They were most likely reacting to Jay's element, the power of it, the present voltage. 

Then there was the situation of Cole's position in the building being compromised. He had to think, he needed to think. Only, that was easier said than done. The sounds of people delving into a fight bouncing off the walls from different sides of the warehouse. Clangs and scrapes of presumably makeshift weapons, shouting and grunts of pain and effort met Cole's ears in a layered cacophony of information. 

No, no, he had to figure something out. He couldn't stay where he was, since that group of three people knew that there was at least someone close by; lurking in the shadows. Being on the receiving end of the rebar or even a bat was not high upon his list, but neither could he leave them unattended. There were sounds of battle, sure, but Jay and Nya could more than handle themselves. Cole could too. 

Which possibly meant forgoing a plan, and just working on instinct. Assessing the situation, reacting to what was happening in the now and not what would need to be done later. He let out a short breath, and unclenched his hands from fists and let them hang loosely as he traversed around a small area of boxed products. Cole kept the three people in his line of vision at all times, the torch light shifting rapidly from surface to surface as they presumably searched for him. 

"Did you see that?" a man screeched, his torch fixed on the crate that Cole had been behind. 

"The guy?"

"No, the eyes! Did you see the eyes?" He exclaimed, yelped even. 

He was shocked, confused. Scared even. Apparently, a length of rebar didn't provide a sense of security. 

After a brief pause, the woman's voice added, "They glowed." 

"They glowed!" 

Tapetum Lucidum. The term Zane has used. Eyeshine, a result of Cole's night-vision. Not natural in humans, by any means. The group of three seemed to be plainly aware of the impossibility of the scenario they were faced with. 

Words laced with shock, pacing and hard footfalls, they all echoed and distracted, but Cole even could come up with the most basic plan if the situation needed it. What the Earth Master knew was that he needed a little more time than he currently had. He needed to focus, needed silence, and three criminals having a minor freak out in front of him didn't help one bit. 

He needed them all to just pause, which was easier said than done. With the overhead lights flickering intermittently and out of sync, the movement of torches, the three people realising they were in a situation where they couldn't even make sense of who they were facing? It wasn't a recipe for calm. 

It caused heavy breathing, spikes in heart rate that Cole could barely hear around the sharp echoes of their footsteps as they turned around. The flickering bulbs provided some form of vision, cascading over the room in spasming and extremely brief washes of white and along with it, mere milliseconds where the ninja could properly take in the environment in a way that wasn't awash with black and grey tones. 

He needed clear vision, he needed to be able to take a proper look at someone. On a normal day, outside in the sunlight, it was second nature for Cole's attention to go straight up to someone's face. It was a regular social cue, to make eye contact when talking or interacting but there was always that little bit more to it than being polite. For Cole, at least. It was how his powers functioned the best. Normal days provided time, he could watch the person walk, the way they held themselves; listen to how they spoke and the mannerisms they favoured, the light lilt to their voices. Did they favour their left or right hand? What were they wearing? 

There always tended to be time, but in that moment? In the warehouse where he was keeping his steps as quiet as possible, a fight raging somewhere off to his left and absolutely no plan to fall back on other than dealing with the small group in front of him, to then go find and help his team? With limited significant visual input? 

There wasn't time. There wasn't even time to think. 

The lights kept flickering. 

On and off. 

On. The man with the rebar was wearing a grey-- no, a blue hoodie. 

Off. He'd had brown hair? He'd seen it before, when the lights had been fully on. 

A flash of lightning. Ripped jeans, black sneakers. 

His face? Cole had seen it. It had been a couple of shocked seconds being caught in his hiding spot by the man's wandering gaze. It was there somewhere, in his memory. He always remembered faces. Blue eyes, pale skinned, shaven beard--

Screw it, there isn't time to be overthinking! 

On. 

The group of three fell quiet in an instant. Or at least, two of them did. The woman, and the man wielding a baseball bat. Their eyes were wide, comically so, but Cole wasn't laughing. He was just staring back at them. 

They weren't moving. Only standing there with their weapons held by their sides, mouths hanging open just slightly. No one was saying a word. No one seemed to want to even risk drawing a breath.

They were both staring back at their rebar wielding friend, who had a much tighter grip on his strip of metal. Their gaze flicking from the left to the right in silent confusion and sudden shock. 

Since it wasn't just their friend staring back with an alarmed expression. There were two of them, where the well built man in the blue hoodie stood, just a few mere paces back from the original, there was an exact carbon copy. Dishevelled light hair, blue eyes reflecting the light, expression carefully neutral. 

Or was the one standing closest to the pair of criminals the fake? 

The silence echoed nearly, and it was exactly what Cole had needed. A pause, a minute distraction. He was well aware that he could analyse more in a few brief seconds than anyone, and that single second of staring around the group and their joint expression of something that was bordering on fear, taking in their stances and their tensed muscles that indicated they were ready for either a fight or to run, Cole was ready. 

Then, again, when the lights predictably flickered out for the umpteenth time, he moved. 

First to the man he had shifted into; and to be honest it had been clear who the original was. The immediate reaction for gazing at a mirror image of one's self was surprise, and the man's face had been a picture of it. It wasn't as if he'd been trying to act like the man. There hadn't been time, or the need, the purpose was just to form a plan. 

Now he had one, more or less. The details were vague, but coming together slowly and surely. He needed to reduce the group size, starting with the one who was the biggest threat. 

The man with the rebar was taken down, with the cover of darkness providing a much needed advantage. Between a scythe still strapped to his back, and a meter and a bit of metal already primed for a swing? Cole hadn't liked his odds with a one on one fight. 

Now, all he had to do was deal with the other two. 

There were shouts of alarm from the two remaining thugs, trying to correlate an attack when they probably couldn't see their hand in front of their face without their torches to aid them. They must have been discarded somewhere.

Cole stepped over to the woman next, his gaze set. This time, he'd do a better job. The sensation of the familiar cold purple fog shuttered rapidly over his chest, down his limbs and clouding over his sight for a single brief instance. It tousled his hair, and brought a minor sense of disorientation that righted itself in an instant. The sensation of shifting always brought a wide smile to his face, even in the current tense circumstances. The cascade of change, the way it was so easy. There wasn't a way to explain it, it just happened. Like taking a breath, like lifting an arm. 

The warehouse lit up. The hanging lights the brightest they'd been, the crackle of lightning ceasing and the sounds of the fights drawing to a close. 

Then, one raised baseball bat later, and a calculated strike to the side of the woman's head with the butt of the carved wood and she crumpled down to the floor in an instant, eyes rolled back into her head. 

There was a laugh, just to the left hand side. The last man was still standing with his own bat held tightly in his grip. It was easy to tell the source of his glee, even though seemingly two of his companions were laid out unmoving on the concrete floor. 

It was the fact that the woman, chest heaving deeply, long blonde hair dishevelled, drooping forwards over her face and partially shielding her eyesight was still standing. 

And in front of her, on the floor, with a pale pallor and a reddened welt already forming rapidly on the side of her head was the doppelganger. Taken down by a single lucky swing, and a successful one at that, since it had been executed when they'd been surrounded by darkness. 

"Take that you-- uh, thing!" she jeered after a second, taking a small hopped step forwards, lifting one foot to tap at her own mirror image's shoulder. When there was no immediate response other than the prone body to rock slightly to the side, she stepped back with a wider grin.

Though, her tone was questioning when she squinted and cast her gaze over the body, "What even are you? You're… you looked human." She mused, turning back to face the only standing man with a small smile and a look of accomplishment. 

Yet all that she was met with was a gaze now filled with distrust and wariness. 

"I mean, you saw him right? That guy? Do you think it's him or something else?" 

The only thing her question was met with, was pure silence and a furrowed brow. Even, a searching expression that switched rapidly between the prone form on the floor, and the visage of the same person still standing. 

She took a step closer to her friend, bat draped lazily over one shoulder. 

"Wait." the man said. 

She stopped. 

Then after a second, a frown marred her own features. "What?" she moved the bat again, energy dissipating out through fiddled movements and an inability to stand still. She rested it against the floor, propping her weight up onto it. "Are you really going to stand there," She gestured with one hand, "and ask me if I'm me?" It was a question one that held a tone of slight sarcastic shock, at the sheer absurdity of the situation that they'd both found themselves in. All it was, was moving some goods. They weren't even important to the overall task and it seemed as though everything had gone wrong anyway. 

"No, well," The man forced out a breath, his gaze flicking between his friend who was standing just a little in front of him, his male compatriot behind him, and the fourth person on the floor. He cleared his throat heavily, "You saw that thing." 

"Yeah, the guy following us. And you saw the lightning." She added after a moment, nodding loosely to the far side of the warehouse where the impromptu lightshow had come from. "That guy probably didn't come alone." 

"You think?" 

She rolled her eyes at that, "We should get going. If there's more than just that one guy here, we should leave. What if there's other people who can do that?" The question was poised with a second prompt glance to the man, as if scrutinising him. The expression was returned, but not maintained, since all too quickly their eyes fell to the unconscious male. 

"What the hell even happened?" was mumbled, the man's tone disbelieving. "He turned into Mikey. Like, exactly into him. Or," He paused, "Was it even that guy? What the hell can do that?" 

"Well, whatever. The guy-- thing. Whatever it is, he's going to be out for a while. Let's go head back to the others." She shrugged, one finger tapping absentmindedly on the side of her leg as she started to walk away from the scene. 

Only, the other man didn't move from where he was standing, shuffled steps leaving grooves in the dust covered floor, his fingers wrapping just a little too tight around his bat. "What's my name?"

"What?"

"My name. You tell me it, and I'll know it's you."

There was a brief pause, and a huffed laugh. "Really? You're doing this right now? We've just been attacked by who knows what; from the sounds of it the fighting that was happening is over and I highly doubt we've won, otherwise we would have already left, right?" she raised an eyebrow, and when she didn't get a reply she scoffed. "Come on, man, we need to go. The cops are probably crawling around this place."

"I'll move when you tell me my name."

"How do I know that you're you? You could be asking for your name so you can sell the lie more." She said, her voice climbing an octave at the statement, but the man didn't seem to budge. He was just watching, staring. 

He wasn't budging. 

Eventually, the woman's expression fell just that little bit. It was barely anything, just a slight drop to the shoulders, a tilt of the head. She lifted her free hand and ran it through her hair, her expression changing minutely as she ran her fingers through the strands, as if the length of them was slightly surprising. Though the action looked so casual, so carefully normal.

The biggest change though, was her voice. It took on a slightly vexed tone, almost as if she was let down by the turn of events. 

"Why does everyone always ask that question?" She questioned, "Is it James?" 

"Elijah." came the clipped and quiet reply.

"Man, so close."

Between one second and the next, the resounding sound of air parting as the momentum of the moving bat picked up rapidly, and a satisfying thwack sound as the wood came into contact with the man's cheek, sending him crumpling to the ground. The only woman in that group was the one laid out on the floor amongst, now, her two equally unconscious friends.

Cole just looked over the group for a second, a tiny lick of blackened smoke finally tumbling off his hands and dissipating into nothingness, the rush of his power fading to a low adrenaline fuelled hum in the back of his head as if it was itching to be used again so soon. He took a minute, moving from person to person. First, checking that they could and were breathing, then using a pocket full of zip-ties to fasten their hands behind their backs when he was content in the knowledge that other than superficial injuries, the knocks to the head weren't anything significant. He stepped back. 

His foot knocked against the baseball bat he'd discarded beforehand, rolling lazily over the floor. 

"So much for no fighting." Cole mumbled as he cast his attention elsewhere in the warehouse. Overall, it was silent. No shouting, no nothing. 

Which could either mean good things, or bad. 

He carded a hand through his hair and pulled his scythe from his back, rolling the wooden handle in his hands before he set off walking through the brightly lit building. 

"Always that question."

-

AO3

[imaginesmai]

Peter Parker - See the light (7)

Is it a bit shorter? Yes. Is it a bit more sentimental? Of course. Be prepared! If you know the film, this goes a little bit different, becuase Peter deserves some love!

Small sneak peek 

First part

Second part

Third part

Fourth part

Fifth part

Sixth part 

Plot: after all this years, you’re finally going to fulfill your dream. Having Peter by your side is surely the best way to do it.

You had some expectations for the kingdom, but that didn’t help your jaw form dropping when you finally caught sight of it. You were completely speechless. You didn’t bother to pick up your hair as you bounced as quickly as you could across the stone bridge and towards the kingdom. The sun beamed down, and distantly, you could hear the sounds of music drifting through the air.

Peter, who had been holding your hand the whole trip there, let his smile drop. He wasn’t fond of the city, where all of his dreams and hopes had been crushed. Still, he let himself be pulled along by you.

When you entered the kingdom limits, you were immediately surrounded by people. The city seemed to be throwing some magnificent festival. A child ran by you, and you watched as he knelt in front of a huge mural on a wall close by. A man and a woman were depicted in the painting – both standing tall and regal. Both also incredibly beautiful.

In the woman’s arms, was a tiny baby. She had long, curly hair, big bright eyes and looked happy; with a piece of jewellery on her head that looked far too big. The kid placed a small flower in front of the mural.

“For the lost princess” he mumbled.

You were about to go over and ask what he was doing, when a particularly hard tug on your scalp made you lose Peter’s grip and reel back, yelping. Looking back, you saw people stepping all over your hair, and soon you lost Peter trying to avoid all that tugging. The boy immediately lunged forward and started picking it all up, his arms quickly filling.

Peter looked around for a split of second before smiling. He moved your hair and you walked with him, rubbing the back of your head painfully.

“Hey kids!” Peter called out, catching the attention of a group of small girls. He didn’t say anything, just showed them his hands full of hair. He raised his brows, and the girls shouted in excitement.

Soon enough, you were sitting on the cobblestone while five girls ran around you, braiding your hair and lessening the weight. Peter sat besides you all the time, talking about everything and nothing. He told you about the memories he had there, facts about some places and explained some things you still didn’t understand.

When you were finished, you span around. Your hair was collected in one big braid, formed with smaller ones that had pretty flowers and ornaments in between. It almost reached the floor, but it wasn’t long enough for people to step on it. Peter babbled all the way while he payed the girls and tried to tell you how pretty you were. After some embarrassing tries, he gave up.

“I could show you what this festival is really about” Peter offered you his arm, blushing. “Y-you’re, well, you… you’re already the prettiest girl here. W-would be, uh, a shame if I d-didn’t show you o-off?”

That time, Pascal wasn’t close to stick his tongue on his ear, and Maximus was busy trying to watch out for crime. To Peter, you had always had some kind of special beauty; but there, morning sun just shinning for you and curious big eyes looking up to him, you looked ravishing.

Maybe, it was his chance to kiss you. He had never been too good with women, apart from the girl he had dated back then; MJ, threatening and self-sufficient. Peter had been the one guidable in that relationship; but now, he knew you knew nothing about them. Kissing you felt suddenly wrong, taking that from you, your first kiss.

So, swallowing down the urge of pressing his lips against yours, he took your hand back and starter walking towards the group of people who were dancing.

For the next hours, you danced. Peter taught you the main steps to the popular dance, and was by your side the whole time; holding you closer, spinning you around, laughing with you when you stepped on him. The sun slowly came down, as you learned more about the city. Peter bought you a small flag from a traditional post, and let you try every food you found on your way.

Maximus and Pascal appeared long into the day, when you were hanging from Peter’s arm. To end the night, the boy had decided to surprise you. You were laughing with him when suddenly you stopped. The sun was setting and you were in front of the water.

“What is this, Pete?” you asked.

“Best day of your life. Thought I might give you something to remember your birthday.”

Peter gestured to a rowboat tied close by. Maximus huffed behind you, and Pascal frowned. Together, you climbed inside the boat and watched as Peter showed you how it moved. The animals emitted some noises.

“Here, fetch” Peter said with a grin. He threw an apple onto the dock, landing at the horse’s feet. When it didn’t make a move to eat it, Peter continued. “If you’re worried  about if being stolen, don’t be!”

Maximus still glared at Peter, but ate it anyway.

“Besides” Peter said, leaning in so only you could hear him. “He already ate all the stolen ones”

You laughed, and Peter smiled. It was silent for a while, only interrupted by your occasional offer to take the paddles. He used that time to think that, if there was a thing that he could do until he died, it would be spending every minute and second by your side. The girl that had managed to steal his broken heart and fix it.

When Peter stopped the boat, it was dark. The moon and the starts were being reflected on the water, and the lights of the kingdom could be seen in the distance; besides that, you were barely able to see his face. You had your doubts about the final ‘surprise’, and were a bit nervous about not being able to see the flying lanterns because of it. Yet you trusted Peter, and if by any chance you lost the opportunity to see them, but got to watch him talk excitedly for another hour, it was okay. You weren’t going to ask for a better birthday present.

“I – uh, it’s a bit soon” Peter scratched the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, I didn’t really measure the time. I thought –“

“It’s okay” you leaned forward and took his hand in yours. “We can wait”

“Mh” Peter didn’t say anything else, but stared at your hands.

In comparison, yours were much more soft, and perfect. His were full of scars – at least one of them – and bruises. You watched him fight with his mind for a while.

“I had fun today. A lot” you smiled, even if he wasn’t looking at you. “The dancing was – wow, I didn’t know something so wonderful existed. I want to repeat that again.”

Peter’s head rose up at your words, and he looked surprised. Against what you thought, Peter hadn’t forget about the deal; you watching the flying lanterns, and him getting his crown back. But, against what your mother thought, it wasn’t his only intention. Everytime he thought about you, he thought about the possibility of staying. Of actually staying with you for the long run.

He could see how much your mother had hurt you over the years, and secretly hated the idea of you going back to the tower. Peter wondered that, maybe, if he could keep you away with the money he got from the crown. Selling it would be difficult, but worthy if it gave him the chance of having a future with you.

His interests, his dreams, had changed; he no longer wanted the sunny island with loads of money. In his opinion, a crazy chameleon and a girl with magic hair was enough, wherever that was.

You took his silence as something negative, so you frowned and your shoulders slumped.

“Not that I could” you looked down. “Mother will be worried, and tonight are the flying lanterns. So tomorrow morning I –“

“You could stay with me” Peter blurted out. He worried not being enough for you, but a future with your mother could only be worse. He shifted towards you. “I know – I don’t have much, but it’s better than being locked in a tower”

You blinked surprised at his confession, and gaped. The world seemed more illuminated, or maybe it was just your eyes being used to the dark. But you could see every detail on Peter’s face; from his little, almost invisible, mole under his left eye, to the way his thin brows couldn’t stay neat. He had his jaw clenched hard, lips pressed in a thin line. And his brown eyes, burning with hope and determination, were boring into you.

Peter didn’t let you talk.

“Don’t answer me now” he rushed, and brought his hand to his lips. He was blushing, yet held a confidence that made you blush. “Just – think about it”

You were going to ask him how were you supposed to sit in an unmoving boat, with him and no other distraction, and say nothing about it. But soon, the first two lanterns appeared floating through the air, and your breath caught in your throat.

You knew what came next.

The air is suddenly flooded with hundreds upon hundreds of lights, all of them much bigger and brighter from the ones you saw from your window. The world glowed, and you felt content. Happy, because it was everything you had hoped for; just as you thought so, you turned to look at Peter.

He was already looking at you with a half-smile, and two lanterns of his own. The boy moved so that you could also fit on his side of the boat, and you sat beside him. Your shoulders brushed and his warmth evolved you.

“For you” Peter said softly, and gave you one. It had beautiful and elaborated purple draws, only matching the beauty of the moment and Peter turned his head and talked close to you. “Sometimes – you know, uh, sometimes you h-have to let go. Freedom is about letting go, Y/N”

Everything that had been built for years, locked on the tower and dreaming of the lanterns, broke up that night. Maybe it was because of his words, because of the encouragement and the possibility of taking your on decision of them. Your fingers un-curled around the bottom of the lantern when Peter leaned forward, tilting his head so that your noses didn’t touch, but your lips did.

The lantern wasn’t being held down anymore, as your fingers lost strength when Peter kissed you. And Peter’s one flew away, because he used his hands to cup your cheek and search for your own. Both of the lights became one of the flying mass that commemorated the missing princess. To them, might had been only another year of flying lanterns.

To you, was letting go of the weight that had chained you to the tower for years. The pain, the fear, it all melted away as Peter pulled you close, and crashed his lips with yours once more.

Want to know more about me? Here is my Masterlist! Feedback is always appreciated!!

Tom Holland and Peter Parker Taglist

@delicately-important-trash

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@aikaterrina​

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Peter Parker Tangled

@ohmygoditsanthonyedwardstark

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@fangirling12566​

[insomnihan]

han’s Entire Thoughts and Feelings on Red Velvet’s “Zimzalabim”

hey yall im not a HUGE reveluv or anything but im invested enough SO due to ZERO demand and at the request of NO ONE i have THINGS TO SAY FOR THIS SONG-

oh and no read more for these things so like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ALRIGHT SO-

THE SONG THE BEGINNING TOTALLY SOUNDS LIKE ANOTHER SONG like ive totally heard that before!!!!!!!! (after sleeping i find out im thinking of ELECTRIC SHOCK BY FX) the instrumental had potential and i personally liked all the bells and buzzing however................. the ‘zimzalabim’ part i need to get used to i think it sounds like a chant or something and i felt more afraid than anything to be honest when i heard it (tho i love a good deeper voice) but i guess since its similar to saying ‘abracadabra’ it goes with the mysteriousness of magic tricks?? like it sounds haunting

so rappers irene and yeri decided to show themselves WHICH LIKE i totally forgot that they did rap??? for their songs??? but for this song it was actually good and it fit so i welcome it

the bridge saved this song for me it was a good break from how erratic the rest of it was but it still had Power™ bc joy seulgi and wendy POURED THEIR WHOLE HEARTS into those lyrics and then the gentle parts in between that irene was doing was nice

also FLAT EARTH

THE DANCE I- THAT DANCE BREAK (although unexpected but whats new with this group-) SCALPED ME???? like the dance matched for the most part tho theres something about the dance during the ‘zimzalabim’ chanting that doesnt feel right to me and i think it should be different but i dunno what should change BUT THAT BREAK and the middle part with seulgi was actually cool and the ending dance was nice to watch

(i also liked the part where they were dancing loosely in the elevator or wherever they were but that has nothing to do with the official choreography i just wanted to say-)

THE VISUALS WE LOVE CGI for me the amusement park ride sets and animations were EVERYTHING to me but then like first room they dance in and the elevator and the red room and random floating objects.............. i mean do they make sense??? N O but i liked the roller coasters (i liked the one where yeri was the one in the back and the rest of the members were sitting down on the ride) and the room full of mirrors and the teacups

(this is the part where i describe the individual scenes and sets but.............. i dont like them enough to talk about them like that)

too long didnt read its a MESS™ but THE BUDGET IS H I G H

T H E M

ARE THEY JUST SO BEAUTIFUL THAT THE STYLISTS THOUGHT ‘HEY! LETS TONE THAT DOWN WITH THESE BRIGHT COLORS AND RANDOM PATTERNS DONT WANNA OVERWHELM THE REVELUVS’

JOKES ON YOU STYLISTS WE STILL DIED BC THEY WERE STILL SERVING FACE-

i was reading tags in one post and someone said their styling goes with the concept bc thEYRE DRESSED LIKE CLOWNS I-

irene your hairstyles were................... not good... the only good one was the pony tail you had in the mirror room then the green outfit from your teaser photos are only kINDA okay but you were literally wearing brightly colored knee high socks for like most of your outfits and the colors they were didnt match or coordinate at all with the rest of your fit (the yellow one is on thin ice)

SEULGIS BOB HAIRCUT WAS THERE FOR LIKE TWO SECONDS YOU CANT GIVE ME THOSE TEASERS BUT GIVE HER LONG HAIR FOR THE MAJORITY OF THIS VIDEO IM PRESSED her abs saved that first outfit like that was TOO MUCH and to be honest i dont mind the fit with the purple shorts im kinda okay with it shes literally wearing a dog collar tho and THEN we were given her in just the most simple outfit out of this whole video: the black suit which you CANT mess up so i have nothing to add to that

wendy......................... youre wearing a tote bag like i CANNOT let that go im sorry like literally none of outfits were okay two outfits that was ‘okay’ were the ones you were wearing on 1. the roller coaster and 2. the moon but i doubt theyll dress simply for their stages (in fact all of their best clothes were in the smaller parts they werent dancing in.....) your pretty ass face and hairstyle was the only thing that saved you from these looks bc damn-

IM SO SORRY JOY WHOEVER DID THAT TO YOUR HEAD like how could that to Sexy Dynamite™ herself................ the one she was wearing in the red room hurt my eyes the least and it didnt have those god awful braids like her hair is so long and it looks nICE AND IT WOULDVE BEEN FINE IF THEY LEFT IT ALONE like thank you queen for giving us face and you really gave us the Smize™ we know and love

NOT👏ENOUGH👏YERI👏 like that was so Rude™ and it hurts more bc i thought her outfits were the most tolerable out of all of them and thats saying a lot!!!! how could you?????? and her ending scenes like???? GIVE ME MORE OF MISS KATY KIM THANKS

WHAT IM SAYING IS THAT THEIR OUTFITS IN THE IN BETWEEN SHOTS WERE GOOD BUT I DONT THINK THEYLL WEAR THEM LIVE

long story short: they served but im still starving

LIKE this is ON BRAND RED VELVET tho!!! its kinda weird and A Lot™ but its still catchy! like i genuinely enjoyed seulgis and wendys parts and yknow what we love a gooD NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA and yknow what the raps were fine! a different route couldve been taken with the fashion and they didnt have to do that to them but i SLIGHTLY (like this 👌much) forgive it bc it does lowkey match the song DONT LIE TO ME-

and apparently the b-sides are actually BOPS (ive only heard ‘sunny side up’ and i like that one) so i need to get around to that and maybe itll make up for ‘zimzalabim’ really wonder how sakura feels

IN CONCLUSION: IM STILL MILDLY CONFUSED BUT AFTER TWO HUNDRED LISTENS TO MAKE THIS POST I DONT MIND IT

[bakudekuficlibrary]

BakuDeku: Protective Katsuki Part II

Click here for Part I & Part III!

2 Series. 66 Works.

Super Mario Maker by Pop_Rocks (v_love) ( E | 3,734 | 1/1 )

Midoriya is smart, and a nerd, meaning that when the entire class decided to take on the aspect of buying Super Mario Maker for the collection of games in the common area that he became sort of a living legend when it came to designing the levels.

Some were just joyous well designed little prank-type levels, others were difficult — but not impossible — and the rest? Well, those were impossible.

For all but one.

His Kacchan.

————

In which Bakugou rages.

Series Part 4 of Kacchan and Deku's Shenanigans

Fireflies for the Moon by Best TankTopist (Keyade) ( M | 12,238+ | 3/? )

Katsuki is finally a man, a full fledged samurai of one of the strongest and oldest clans in all of Edo. And what better way (according to Kirishima) to celebrate his coming-of-age than in true warrior style - visiting a teahouse in the red light district and spending a night with a kagema? After all, the best way to commemorate one's manhood (also according to Kirishima) is to sleep with a man...right?

But amidst all the pleasures, vices and lavishly dressed courtesans of the floating world, it's a stumbling teahouse slave that Katsuki notices, with old scars on his hands and fresh ones on his back, a young man with defiant green eyes and an inexplicable fascination with the Way of the Samurai.

[Graphic Depictions Of Violence | Rape/Non-Con | Abuse]

[Series] Arranged by amiluna ( Not Rated | 102,764 | 2 Works | Complete )

Izuku knows as a quirkless he will be married off soon...he had hoped it would be to someone he wanted, but then life always messes with him like that. Add in the childhood friend he forgot and you have one hell of a mess for the boy who just wants to decide for himself for once.

After Arranged, Izuku moves in with Katsuki. From here on out, he encounters hardships revolving his former friend and the joys of making a new friend. The only question now being will it all blow up in his face and threaten everything he has?

[On Hiatus] Impulse by HG_Wells ( Not Rated | 4,418+ | 1/? )

Midoriya Izuku is a just an ordinary Beta with no Quirk, bullied and tormented for his lack of unique abilities. His main assailant is his chlidhood friend, Bakugou Katsuki. His bully is rather special, born with a genetic defect that makes him stronger than a normal Alpha. They call the ones with these defects 'S-Ranks'. Laying dormant in Izuku's body is his own S-Rank, it takes an inherited Quirk from his Step Father to pull this torpid trait to the surface.

Who did this? by VMarus ( Not Rated | 1,311 | 1/1 )

Izuku misses plans he made with Katsuki.

Series Part 3 of Quirkless, Not Helpless.

[Graphic Depictions Of Violence | Bullying]

Werewolf in The Witch's Forest by Unoutan ( T | 6,028 | 1/1 )

The sky is blue, the air is chilly and the leaves are falling all around the forest, but a wolf with pale fur is close to death at Izuku's feet...and the witch-in-training, collecting his herbs alone amongst the trees, is the only one who can help.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

[Graphic Depictions Of Violence]

[On Hiatus] Stay With Me by ALonelyGod ( M | 34,000+ | 8/15 )

ON HIATUS

Katsuki Bakugou was the greatest samurai that ever lived, but tragedy after tragedy has left him broken and... well, immortal. He is given something that is both a gift and a punishment. Katsuki now treads through life surrounded by death.

Todoroki Shouto walks the earth with no memory, but his duty: To help souls cross to the other side.

Izuku Midoriya has been bullied his entire life just because he is quirkless but that doesn't change his sunny disposition. Good thing he has his ghost friends who has been following him since he was a child.

What would happen when these three cross paths and realize what they really mean to each other?

This is inspired by the k drama Goblin!

[Graphic Depictions Of Violence | Major Character Death]

Stereotypes by TabiCats ( Not Rated | 9,011+ | 9/? )

What if....

What if the assassination classroom a.k.a. The End Class existed in the same world as U.A. High School? and they are breaking all the stereotypes.

Bakugou Deals With Jealousy in a Creative Manner by Renex ( E | 1,672 | 1/1 )

“That fucking half and half bastard I swear to god next time he pulls some shit like that again I’ll blow his head right off his shoulders.” Bakugou practically snarled, slamming the door to his dorm room shut before tossing his bag to the ground and collapsing down onto the bed.

“Kacchan, relax. He was just helping me that’s all.”

“Helping you?” The short-tempered blonde practically snorted, sitting up on his elbows so that he could get a better look at the freckled boy standing in front of him. “The man was practically tongue fucking you.”

drive-by by infernalangels ( E | 12,661+ | 4/? )

He should’ve never let Uraraka drag him here. The whole place reeked of beer and gasoline, drunken laughter breaking out from the group of boys he and his best friend approached. Izuku honestly didn’t know why he’d come. Signing, he began to follow Mina, silently praying he wouldn’t regret this.

Oh, he had no idea.

or: Katsuki Bakugou is everything Izuku Midoriya despises: a tattooed covered badass who takes no shit from anyone. He's arrogant, rude, addicting... Maybe that's why Izuku can't stay away.

[Homophobia]

Stupid Deku is a Stupid Ghost Cry-baby by sushisama ( G | 3,030 | 1/1 )

Izuku follows Katsuki to a haunted shrine on Halloween.

Series Part 1 of A Ghost and A Werewolf go to a Haunted House

Secret Love by xbluedropx ( Not Rated | 1,001 | 1/1 )

Where Izuku is dating Katsuki, famous pro hero Ground Zero but none of his friends know about Izuku. They found out and see a sweet side of Bakugou.

Series Part 3 of Songs

The Way You Used To Do by edema_ruh ( T | 23,710+ | 3/? )

"We're really sorry", his father says, in that teary-eyed, wobbly way Katsuki most certainly didn't inherit from him, thank fuck. "But your friend, Izuku, he's...", he hesitates for a moment, as if trying to find the right words for that situation. "He's gone, son", he concludes, giving Katsuki's hand a squeeze. Behind him, his mother stands, face almost as impassive as ever.

Katsuki can do nothing but blink up at them for moments that feel like an eternity, eyes darting between both his parents in obvious confusion, disbelief, and, more than anything, indignation.

"What the fuck are you two talking about?", he asks, not as aggressively as he would have liked to. "The damn nerd is standing right beside you!"

During a battle, Midoriya gets hit by a villain whose quirk detaches his soul from his body. Being assumed dead from his lack of brain function, the boy enters a race against time in order to save himself from permanently dying. Much to his luck - or lack of it -, the only person who can see and talk to him in his soul-like state is no one other than Kacchan.

in the eyes of the beholder by altruisticizuku ( T | 3,918 | 3/3 )

life is difficult.

midoriya and bakugou stumble through it, together even when they feel apart.

180 degrees by snoodlesfounder ( M | 56,084 | 17/17 )

They haven't seen each other in ten years, but it feels as if they were never apart.

Midoriya Izuku's father, Toshinori-Midoriya Yagi, has cancer. He is fading fast, and there is only one solution, an unofficial hospital in the middle of Montana, in America. Because the hospital is uncharted, no communications go in or out of the hospital, and because of the 'healing' method, no one can leave.

It has been ten years since Bakugou Katsuki has been in love, or maybe it's been ten years since he's seen the person he's in love with. However, the voice on the balcony between he and Kirishima's apartments is just a little too familiar.

[Past Abuse | Past Rape/Non-Con | Past Addiction | PTSD]

Under the Moon by snoodlesfounder ( M | 56,694 | 9/9 )

Izuku Midoriya was Kidnapped at the beginning of his third year at UA high school, six months ago. There were no leads for almost six months, and the Hero's were starting to give up. Bakugou Katsuki finds out what everything means under the moon.

Hello! This is only my second work so please be kind, and I should update at least once every two weeks at random intervals because finals are about to beat my ass! <3<3<3

[Graphic Depictions Of Violence | PTSD | Suicide Attempts | Past Abuse]

Distance by IAmStoryteller ( T | 32,273 | 11/11 )

Distance makes the heart grow fonder. (Izuku and Bakugou deal with living life thousands of miles away from each other in their own way)

Series Part 2 of The Wonder Duo/Kacchan and Deku

[On Hiatus] Where the Stars Burn Brightest by DriftingGlass ( M | 18,467+ | 3/? )

In a world where countries are torn asunder through quests for greed, power, and understanding the realm of industrial technology and ancient magic, only the strongest—and smartest—live a full life.

Every individual is born with a phrase marking their bodies, linking them to their soulmate through the threads of fate and time.

Izuku Midoriya is born with only half of a soulphrase on his wrist, destined to never meet the other half. A cruel omen.

Though this has not stopped Izuku from dedicating his young life to researching soul-born magic and science under his master, the legendary Toshinori Yagi. He is determined to manifest his Quirk, with or without a destined soulmate.

However, his life takes an unexpected turn when he rescues a volatile criminal—a man of savage beauty and many secrets.

And so, Izuku realizes rather quickly that in his dangerous new quest, only the most willful survive, and if his new companion is anything to show for it, nothing will prepare him for what’s to come.

[ Rewrite of The Rhythm of Fire and Wind ]

[Graphic Depictions Of Violence | Past Abuse]

Learning to live by Luciel (Bananenfisch) ( M | 4,156+ | 5/? )

No man was created equal. Midoriya Izuku learned this harsh reality at the age of eight. It was not the diagnosis that he was quirkless, which shook his life.

No, it was not this diagnosis that destroyed his life. It was something much more serious.

or

where All Might is Midoriyas father. All is nice and peachy until Midoriya gets sick and they have to deal with the consequences and then Bakugo fucking Katsuki steps into Izukus life and becomes Izukus own special Hero.

[Major Character Death]

Stay with me, Midoriya by DehydratedTears ( M | 5,928+ | 5/? )

An alternate "conclusion" of the battle when Midoriya saves Kota during the Summer Camp attack.

Or, Midoriya is badly hurt and Bakugo is the only one who heard the scream for help.

[Graphic Depictions Of Violence]

The Long Walk by Umbreon_ly ( T | 11,873 | 1/1 )

Bakugou came out on top of nearly everything, because he deserved it, because he wanted it, because he told himself so. When a sickness came and upended the hero and civilian worlds, he rose up as an alpha. An alpha pro, shattering rogue villains and cleaning up the new dynamic world. He froze in his tracks for the first time in five years when he saw Izuku Midoriya in the middle of nowhere, for the first time in five years. Bakugou is terrified.

He was alone, it seemed. Dressed like a hero but quirkless, it seemed, the only person left alive not changed into any dynamic, it seemed. Bakugou approached him. He wants to apologize. Izuku wants to leave. So he runs.

Bakugou gives chase. He won't leave him behind this time.

[Graphic Depictions Of Violence]

Not like I do. by Unoutan ( T | 2,073 | 1/1 )

“Everything you’ve been through…they don’t, can’t…no. No. Sorry. They can and will judge you, but they can judge you all they want, but they don’t know a damn thing about you, Kacchan.” Looking down at Katsuki’s calloused hands cradled between his own scarred ones for a moment, taking in the differences, Izuku closed his eyes when he whispered, “Not like I do…”

Series Part 4 of Twin Stars Week 2018

i carry you in my heart by dumbdaisies ( T | 1,102 | 1/1 )

In the aftermath of a battle, Katsuki and Izuku tend to one another through the grief and guilt that come with the job.

A Hero's Welcome by brichibi ( E | 1,835 | 1/1 )

It’s cool. This life is cool. This moment is cool. He and Kacchan are cool, so cool. Their younger selves would be so proud of them, so excited about the bruises and near death experiences in their future. They’ve become the heroes they grew up watching on television, and really, it’s cool, the absolute coolest.

[Or: Being a hero isn't as cool as they make it out to be]

Series Part 1 of Twin Stars Week 2018

Innocence by bakudeku ( Not Rated | 3,367+ | 5/? )

He won't cry. If they saw his tears, they'd call him weak. He isn't weak. Yet, the tears still fall. Just as he thought, everyone laughs harder. Everyone except Kacchan.

No matter how much he yells that he hates Deku, he doesn't. He genuinely cares about him, and seeing Deku look like shit is bringing out some weird protective side in him.

[Rape/Non-Con]

spring snow by altruisticizuku ( G | 1,008 | 1/1 )

izuku is a bit of a lightweight and katsuki might be kinda jealous.

~~

bakudeku week 2018; day 2: romantic nights / dancing / your eyes

Series Part 2 of Bakudeku Week 2018

I Will Fight For You by erasethensleep ( T | 1,966 | 1/1 )

Deku's terrible at standing up for himself. It's a good thing Katsuki's there to yell at people for him.

Series Part 2 of Twin Stars Week 2018

All That Once Was by Currently_Underrated ( E | 6,226+ | 2/? )

Midoriya Izuku was not the most confident, powerful, special. He was also quirkless, Deku... I think you get it. But he was also transgender. Bakugou Katsuki, his once childhood friend, was the first one who knew when they were still in their early years.

But what happens when, after Midoriya attempts to save Bakugou, a transphobic/homophobic man finds out what he is and desides to "set him straight." It just so happens that Bakugou had a few words for Midoriya. So, Bakugou heard his screams.

Needless to say, Bakugou nearly killed a man, and was caught by All Might himself once he managed to sneak away from the press.

[Rape/Non-Con | Transphobia]

A Dying Breed by VMarus ( M | 12,013+ | 3/? )

The kingdom was under strick rule, technology rising and taking hold, magical creatures were slowly being hunted either for cash or for different qualities. Tribesman were forcably removed from their homes because of the Kingdom, the Kings excuse of merging them in with them or as he called it bringing them to civilization.Bakugou was sick of this, sick of the way the Kingdom treated his people as if they weren't people at all. He wanted changeBut what was Izuku's role in all this? -Fantasy AUBakugou is appart of a dying tribe and looking to make a stance against the Kings rule. Izuku is just a young village boy who somehow gets strung along by his morals and need to help.

[Graphic Depictions Of Violence | Major Character Death | Rape/Non-Con | Homophobia]

[Abandoned] UA hottest new couple and All Might's secrete love child ( G | 4,747+ | 3/? )

“You may think the winner of UA Sports Festive Bakugou Katsuki to be a hot head, mean, and sometimes cruel person but there more to him than that. We were able to catch a small glimpse of him being a sweet and caring boyfriend to fellow contestant Midoriya Izuku. We also learned why he acts the way he did about winning and why he treated his appoint Uraraka the way he did. But that pales in comparison to what we found out about Midoriya. We didn't believe it ourselves at first too but the evidence is too much. Midoriya is the son of All might. The number one hero. But that's not all he was also bullied for being supposably quirkless.” The man said on TV.

[Graphic Depictions Of Violence]   

I just want my deku by MajesticTrash ( E | 115,605+ | 12/? )

classic A/B/O. my own tiny tweaks here and there. izuku is the only male omega in the school. izuku MUST find a mate before his 21 B-day! he has 2 months and izuku has had it with angry explodi boy. can explodi boy redeem himself and show that he TOO can show love?! with the help of his best bro and his squad, katsuki WILL BECOME THE ULTRA ALPHA!. with the clock ticking, explodi boy will do whatever it takes to win the heart of his deku!. CAN KATSUKI GET THE OMEGA HE LONGS FOR , BUILD A NEST AND HAVE PUPS IN HIS FUTURE!?

a smear of blood, and a dash of ash, makes our art work wonders by MajesticTrash ( E | 10,882+ | 3/? )

life is a funny thing. it can be amazing, and it can be horrible. fate can change so many things. what would happen if hearts twisted differently because of life?. Izuku and Katsuki always wanted better lives. I guess they got what they wished for. now, the mates always murder together. Villains are more fun than heroes ever could be

[Graphic Depictions Of Violence | Cannibalism]

Planetarium by crescendoh ( G | 2,467 | 1/1 )

Whether it was his physical appearance or general demeanour, Midoriya Toshinori took most after his father. Sure, he had inherited his mother’s button nose and her sharp almond eyes but whenever the two-year-old called for his mother and held out his arms for her embrace, he definitely looked most like Izuku.

Alternatively known as “Bakudeku baby!”

Series Part 7 of Female Bakugou AU

follow the moon by kylieno ( T | 16,969 | 2/2 )

Katsuki had told him not to come. Deku didn't listen, following him through the warp gate and straight into the heart of the League. Now, trapped and surrounded by dangerous criminals, Katsuki must find a way to protect both himself and his injured childhood friend.

It’s too bad everyone in the room wants him dead.

Endeavors of the Mind by KittKatt420  ( M | 44,464+ | 5/8 )

Bakugo and Midoriya both struggle with different aspects of their newfound relationship. Katsuki wants to be more open with his affections for Deku, but is hindered by his intimacy issues. Izuku covets Kacchan's affection, but is too afraid of being overbearing. BakuDeku-centric with mentions of KiriShido and TodoMomo. Yaoi. M/M Lemon flavored chapters.

[Panic Attacks]

How to Fight the Trials of Love like You Would A Villian 101 by purple_anonymous ( T | 35,180+ | 5/? )

When they aren't fighting villains or running a hero agency, the top heroes spend their days in the throws of a rom-com drama, where one guy is trying to find the right time to pop the question, and another is trying to not to pop the wrong question at the wrong time. Includes a duo who just want to spend their free time from villainy doing their laundry and probably watching old movies together, but instead becomes the go-to couple of relationship advice for all their helpless friends.

OR, a future fic in which the wonder duo are ACTUALLY(?) the couple with the most “stable” relationship compared to their friends, and somehow end up battling something other than your daily villains.

Hurts Like Hell by odasaku (jemtessa) ( T | 916 | 1/1 )

After finding out All Might is going to die Izuku finds his way into Katsuki’s arms.

[KatsuDeku Week --> Day 4: Comfort]

[On Hiatus] can't let go (losing my grip) by lovedbyshadows ( Not Rated | 8,698+ | 3/? )

"People aren't either wicked or noble. They're like chef's salads, with good things and bad things chopped and mixed together in a vinaigrette of confusion and conflict." -Lemony Snicket.

[Graphic Depictions Of Violence | PTSD]

a world without you (is isolation incarnate) by lovedbyshadows, PotatoGhostHaley ( Not Rated | 7,258+ | 3/? )

 "And ever has it been known that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation." - Khalil Gibran.

[Graphic Depictions Of Violence]

Inked Heart by Ludwhick ( M | 14,075+ | 6/7 )

Midoriya Izuku, a college English teacher, goes out drinking with his friends one Friday. After one too many shots, they all decide to get tattoos. Izuku ends up falling inlove with a certain tattoo artist.

Soft Pulse by SugarRose22 ( T | 2,827 | 1/1 )

Leave it to Deku to be the hero, to take all the hits and all the pain and save everyone like he's always wanted to.

Leave it to Izuku to break Katsuki's heart and make him whole again all at the same time.

[Graphic Depictions Of Violence]

Look at Me, Not the Camera! by baltshake ( T | 2,397 | 1/1 )

For every good act a hero does, there will be many interpretations of events with the top stories being as follows:

1. Gratitude towards the good act 2. How the good act was not actually good but bad 3. Closer to the facts but still some personal interpretation twisting 4. Who cares about the violence? We want to know who's sleeping with who now!!

OR Bakugou and Midoriya have a regular day in their lives as pro heroes

Who said you can't teach old dogs new tricks? by Mackalmorr ( G | 9,922+ | 4/? )

Bakugou and Midoriya adopt a stray child. Said child then releases hell when he begins to copy Katsuki's mouth and Izuku's self-sacrificial tendencies.

Katsuki didn't sign up for this shit. Izuku's head over heels.

The best part is you by Pudding_and_madness ( T | 1,755 | 1/1 )

Midoriya Izuku and Bakugou Katsuki are pro heroes working at the same hero agency, and their schedule is a big mess. As always, Izuku tries to be a hero 24/7 without catching his breath which raises a concern in Katsuki, which he attempts to address one night.

Or: Bakugou Katsuki just wants to take care of his boyfriend.

Instinctual Love by ChestnutPatronus14 ( M | 2,191 | 1/1 )

Is it instinct or love that drives him to protect the Deku? He’s always been protective of him, no one gets to hurt him. But in a world where Deku is the only dragon without the ability to transform, it has never stopped him from following the prince around. So when he gets hurt, is it instinct that drives him to find him? Or is it love?

Part of Katsuki Bakugo Week 2018. Day two (Instinct/Love)

Series Part 2 of Bakugo Week 2018

Bloom by anontigg ( M | 3,419+ | 3/4 )

Midoriya Izuku is in love with his childhood friend all his life. He thought keeping his feelings hidden would be fine...until his life is on the line.

(Basically a hanahaki disease au fic...and I suck at summaries. forgive me TT TT)

[Suicide Attempts]

Don't let the hero fall by choimarie ( G | 786 | 1/1 )

Day 4: tight embraces

Izuku’s heart was full.

Nothing could change that.

But that call.

Series Part 4 of Bakudeku week 2k18

The Dragon King's mate by twilightwings ( E | 23,424+ | 7/? )

Izuku decides to go after a rare flower that only grows, on a mountain in the Dragon King's territory. She discovers someone from her past living with the dragon, she is plunged into his world where she fell in love with him all over again. however there a noble knight who wants her hand in marriage. But However, there something sinister in the wake, when is a threaten force from the past is threating to return.

Breaking Point by miracha123, The_Crafty_Cracker ( M | 10,363+ | 5/? )

“Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”

[Major Character Death | Panic Attacks]

Black-eyed Susan by JunNoAce ( E | 16,903+ | 3/? )

As children Izuku and Katsuki meet and become childhood friends, but Izuku then moves away. Izuku wishing he didn't have to leave, promised that one day he will come back and they will be together forever. Married. Katsuki held him to that promise but, of course, failed to realize Izuku was in fact a boy. Fifteen years later Izuku never came back and Katsuki come to believe that he has been forgotten. That is until Inko, Izuku's mom comes back to town saying Izuku is in trouble and needs his help! And thus an adventure for Katsuki and Izuku awates. An American Western AU with Sex, alchohol, violence, and trying to fight off a whole gang of bandits from trying to take his Deku away?!

[Graphic Depictions Of Violence | Homophobia | Sexism]

It's Like Copper by Pop_Rocks (v_love) ( T | 2,040 | 1/1 )

Blood has a funny taste, very few people put their tongue to the red with the thought or desire of tasting it. Maybe it occurs through sucking gently on a paper cut on their finger, or the gentle sting of a cut inside their mouth. Yet there is that familiar taste all know, like you just picked up a coin and tossed it in your mouth. Everyone describes it the same: it tastes like copper. Metallic.

----

In which Bakugou has a nightmare.

Series Part 9 of Kacchan and Deku’s Hooplas

[On Hiatus] World, Meet Katsudeku by CruelCharisma ( T | 6,538+ | 2/? )

A series of Katsudeku one-shots in which Izuku is quirkless. (I also have a series where he does, in fact, have one for all. If you were curious.) 1.) Teacher!Izuku

2.) There was once a somewhat… tempered hero. A very good hero. Well, at least when it came to blowing stuff up. It was what this hero strived in. Now, our very tempered hero is taking a break from being a somewhat tempered hero in favor of… taking a break. Some would even strive to call it a “day off”. And Ground Zero sure as hell hoped that it would be a fucking relaxing one.

3 (+1) Months by Butterfree ( G | 6,381 | 1/1 )

“I wanted to let you know, Young Bakugou, that I am really proud of you. Not just of Young Midoriya but you as well. I never doubt that you will become the best hero.”

“Th-Then watch me do it.” Katsuki let out, allowing his thoughts to run against logic and ask for the impossible for this one moment when no one could see. “Watch all of us damn well conquer everyone and laugh.”

“I will.” All Might chuckled. “Even if you can’t see me, I’m here.”

It was cheesy, it made no sense, but Katsuki found himself believing it. In the midst of the foreboding sense of finality, the man who gave the world his everything made one selfish request.

“Take care of Izuku.”

It's the last time they talk alone before All Might passes away.

[Major Character Death]

When He Smiles by Quirkyasfok ( G | 2,388 | 1/1 )

Bakugou Katsuki may not be the nicest person in the world, but even he prefers to see the green-haired nerd smile.

or Deku cries a lot and Katsuki just wants him to be happier

or I get BakuDeku feels while listening to the song Absolutely (Story of a Girl) by Nine Days and have to do something about it

Quiet by thepizzaman ( Not Rated | 5,336+ | 1/1 )

Everything seemed to be going smoothly for him, for once, since moving to the city. His job was secure, he had people to watch his back, and had a cheap apartment. Despite the outward appearance that hatred was looming in the air between him and his coworkers, they put up with him, and thanks to their manager they all had convinced themselves it was their personal duty to annoy the hell out of Bakugou in order to uncover the secret soft side he absolutely did not have. So far, he was good. But all that was thrown onto it’s head when Izuku Midoriya stumbled into the bar on a slow Friday night, already half way drunk.

[Graphic Depictions Of Violence | PTSD | Abuse]

"I hate your last name." by button_masher ( G | 1,083 | 1/1 )

bakugou asks izuku to marry him and its cute

Journey To The Past by LocalTrashBin ( T | 20,239+ | 4/? )

Bullets echoing through the air of a cold December night, flames engulfing halls and a heartbeat drumming against his ear, are the beginnings of all Deku could remember.

His life gone by without knowing who he was, Deku embarks on a journey to escape his country accompanied by two conmen in the hopes of uncovering his past. Through it all, one name lingers in his mind and on his lips.

Prince Izuku. (Bakudeku Anastasia AU)

[PTSD]

20 Kids and a Teacher vs. the World by AlexInfinite ( T | 12,970+ | 5/? )

Once upon a time, the world was terrible, and two kids who grew up together ran away in order to fix it. Two years and a conversation later, their party grows from two 15 year olds with the lacking of self preservation skills to a party of 20 insane kids and the poor teacher they brought along for the ride. Finding a legendary civilization in the clouds in order to stage a revolution shouldn't be too hard, right?

Izuku, ever the pessimist of the original two, begs to differ.

The King's Consort by VirgilEmeralds ( E | 3,890+ | 1/1 )

The King Bakugou Katsuki was tired. After years of concubines, he finally wanted something more. He wanted someone to last, to live the rest of his life with him. He needed a Consort.

Bearer Midoriya Izuku just hopes he could claim his Lordship titles. He didn't think he would be in the running to be the King's consort nor did he think he would fall for the ruby red-eyed royal either.

[Major Character Death]

[Abandoned] Till Death Do Us Part ( M | 1,990 | 1/? )

Izuku Midoriya finds himself on quite the situation. Having been sent on a supply run for medicine, him and his two companions Kirishima and Shinsou are all separated by a horde.

All alone, a reanimated hand pulling his shoulder towards a rotting jaw, Izuku says his last regards to his loved ones and waits for the inevitable ripping of his own flesh.

But it never comes.

-

Ikuzu/Hitoshi is only really referenced a few times. Katsuki/Izuku is the main ship.

Rated mature for scenes of violence and gore.

[Major Character Death]

[Series] Twin Stars Week by ChestnutPatronus14 ( M | 3,104+ | 2 Works | WIP )

As a child, Izuku was forced to inherit the All for One quirk. Izuku never knew why he was, he wasn't even aware he had it for the longest time. His parents never lost their quirks around him, and neither did Bakugo, the only person to have seen what had happened to Izuku. Growing up, he started to realize he was different, that he could take the quirks of others but he never showed it off to anyone. It was a secret... Then his life began to spiral out of control. His parents were killed. He was given another quirk by his idol that he could not refuse. His brain beginning to feel like it was on fire, Izuku set out to do what he thought was right: Make sure that no villains were ever able to hurt those he cared about, and to make them pay for what they had done to Kachan. Part of Twin Stars Week Day One: Stargazing / Blood / Blankets / Childhood

If there was one thing that Katsuki knew, it was that Deku never lied to him. Despite everything that Deku was becoming, Deku never lied to him. Yet when people begin disappearing all across Japan, Katsuki is forced to wonder is it just a random occurance, or is the person who he has sworn to protect, lying to him without him knowing? Is Deku the reason behind the recent disapperances, and if he is, has he snapped and started to kill innocent people?Part of Twin Stars Week Day One: Falling Stars (Stargazing / Blood / Blankets / Childhood) Day Two: The Fault in Our Stars (Secrets / Protect / Hands / Fear)

[Graphic Depictions Of Violence | Major Character Death]

Matters by QueenOfArcher ( E | 6,922+ | 3/? )

“Just be yourself, even if the whole world turn their back on you, hate you. I’ll be there, standing tall and proud, shout to the world that I’m yours. So come back to me. Promise that you’ll stay with me.”

“I...can be myself? And you won’t hate me?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, I promise.”

[Graphic Depictions Of Violence]

Greco - Roman by Eerei ( Not Rated | 2,350+ | 1/? )

After the attack on Corinthus by the ruthless Roman army, Greek Izuku Midoriya is forced away from everything he has ever known. Left wondering whether his mother is safe in Athenae or not, Izuku is suddenly caught up in the life of an Alpha General whose skills and features seem nearly god-like.

Say, why does the statue of Mars look so familiar? - Katsuki has found the one the Parcae have prophesized about. So, disguised as a Roman General, the alpha will drag the useless omega to the Mons Capitolinus before Jupiter to put an end to the possible destruction of the Olympians. However, there seems to be just one problem.

Why can't he hurt this greenhaired freckled nerd?

The Reason Why by Oravarily ( Not Rated | 1,309+ | 1/2 )

Bakugou had warned them, he warned the League of Villains not to hurt, threaten, or kidnap Midoriya. All he can say is he warned them. Todoroki was also warned about Midoriya, not to get to close to him. However not following his father's orders was the reason he existed so he did, and now he finds himself struggling with new feelings. Meanwhile the Deku Protection Squad forms, and attempts to rescue the kidnapped Deku! They might not have to though. 

[backpackbrigade]

Backpack Playlist 5/27/19

I no longer have a radio show so this is where I’m gonna be posting my thoughts and playlists! Have fun, who cares. Apple Music/Spotify links at the bottom. Enjoy. 

“Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” - Kate Bush, Hounds of Love (1985, EMI)

A gay icon, not much to say beyond that. We love some extra as shit background vocals.

“Bags” - Clairo, Immunity (2019, Fader)

First single off Clairo’s new LP coming out at some point this year. Literally all I can think when I hear the guitar line in this song is Avril Lavigne, and I say that with the utmost respect and love. Big ups to VW alum Rostam for the production on this track and Danielle Haim for drums - does this mean Clairo is now part of the PC Music squad AND the VW-adjacent rap/indie rock squad??? Her career is definitely pretty strange so far, but I’m hype to see her blow up beyond the world of the Youtube algorithm chewing up and spitting out DIY music videos. This track is also kinda full circle for her - in her big Pitchfork feature last year, she talked about being starstruck after seeing one of the Haim sisters on a plane listening to SOPHIE, and now she’s got one of them on a track. We love growth.

“Kisses 2 My Phone” - Sega Bodega, self*care - EP (2018, NUXXE)

Lona (aka MANIIK aka BABY GAMELAN) shared this EP with me last year, and it’s been rattling around in my head ever since. Some glitchy trap beats and subtly depressing lyrics about sending kisses to your phone and losing love. Scottish experimental pop kid who gets in your ears and won’t leave.

“Even the Shadow” - Porches, Pool (2016, Domino)

A classic, both Pool and their newer album The House (2018, Domino) remind me of a very specific time in my life when I was spending 12 hours in the photo studio every other weeknight and played Porches on shuffle to get through it. Very sad stoner synthy alt-pop for gay kids with lots of insecurity but dreams of 2014 soft pale tumblr aesthetic escapism!!

“Hatin” - Rico Nasty & Kenny Beats, Anger Management (2019, Sugar Trap)

Remember when Rico was just a Soundcloud kid with a stellar remix of “The Race” under her belt?? When I first heard that track in the background of a friend from high school’s Instagram story, I literally dropped my phone trying to lyric search it to see who sang it. Big ups to Lafayette (a newly minted Howard University grad :,) ) for putting me on. Rico’s always been bffs with Kenny, so this collab record isn’t surprising, but I didn’t expect it to be this good!!! Very excited to see her blowing up on Tik Tok rn, maybe she’ll finally get what she’s owed. And she deserves more than just a 2 second cameo in the Old Town Road music video………

“Dig” - Lance Bangs, Lance Mountain - EP (2016, Citrus City)

Reminds me of screamy jangly indie rock from the summer after my first year when I lived in a commune and got a stick and poke from a friend who was three mojitos deep. Also, Citrus City is awesome and we love to support VA labels!!

“Livin’ On a Prayer” - Bon Jovi, Slippery When Wet (1986, Vertigo)

Mostly putting this on here because it’s the ending soundtrack to a great little animated short film I watched recently called WORK (2009) by Michael Rianda. It’s a super 2009 short, but it’s fascinating because it feels like the aesthetic halfway point between Don Hertzfeldt’s Rejected (2000) and Bojack Horseman (2014-) style absurdity. It’s not the subtlest anti-capitalist cartoon out there, but it’s very cute and funny.

“20 Ghosts III” - Nine Inch Nails, Ghosts I-IV (2008, The Null Corporation)

Put this back to back with Bon Jovi because the weird guitar/vocal growls sound like the “Livin’ On a Prayer” digital doo-wops put through an insane pedal filter. Heard it for the first time when I was watching Laura Poitras’ documentary Citizenfour (2014) - she used it for the super haunting opening and closing scenes, and I can’t think of any better use for Trent Reznor’s sad garage dad phase guitar music.

“Guap” - Yaeji, Yaeji EP (2016, GODMODE)

No introduction necessary, hopefully. Gives me third year queer party vibes, and if you know what that means, congratulations. You’re part of an in-group now. Listen when you need subtle hype up music.

“Indica” - Dizzy Fae, Free Form Mixtape (2018, self-released)

When I showed a friend a picture of Dizzy Fae, their first response was that she’s probably from Amsterdam or Berlin or something and floats between secret clubs all week long before performing herself. She’s actually from Minnesota and is way younger than either of us assumed, so big ups to her for projecting the coolest vibes imaginable. Her vocal distortion is a little FKA Twigs, but she knows how to fuckin rap on the rest of the EP. Well worth a full listen.

“Flower Moon (feat. Steve Lacy)” - Vampire Weekend, Father of the Bride (2019, Columbia)

Best track on this new album, imo, but I can’t stop thinking about Vampire Weekend for a completely different reason. When this album came out, literally everyone was making fun of it for sounding like a Paul Simon redux. A lot of people praised it for the exact same reason lol. But Paul Simon’s relationship with cultural appropriation is a lot like Ezra Koenig’s, and not enough people have made that connection. Remember when Paul Simon broke the cultural boycott with Apartheid-era South Africa to make Graceland (1986)?? Everyone shit all over him for not only straight up taking South African music styles and centering himself in their vocal story, but doing it all in the midst of the largest cultural boycott in modern history. It’s a good album, I won’t pretend it’s not, but it’s deeply problematic and disappointed a lot of people who expected something better from a guy who knew what he was doing. Reminds me of 2008-2012 Vampire Weekend!! Anyway, listen to this track for Steve Lacy, if nothing else.

“Ur Phone” - boy pablo, Roy Pablo - EP (2017, self-released)

Another Youtube algorithm kid, boy pablo was in everyone’s feeds because this EP is the perfect summery shimmery gaze-y indie rock. His newer album is a little more uptempo than I personally like, but this track is *chef’s kiss*

“Can the Circle Be Unbroken” - The Carter Family, Can the Circle Be Unbroken: Country Music’s First Family (2000, Sony; original recording 1935)

Really not trying to wade into the country music discourse today, but this track is genuinely full of intense longing and sadness in a way that so clearly changed country/rock music and its relationship to the guitar.

“Before the World Was Big” - girlpool, Before the World Was Big (2015, Wichita)

Their new stuff fucking slaps, and seeing them come to terms with their gender identities is fucking beautiful!! But I always come back to these weird ass nursery rhymes. It’s literally just their harmonies and two guitars, and legend has it if you turn this up to full volume in your car and drive through your hometown, your unrequited high school crush will appear with their spouse and two kids just to rub it in.

“Vroom Vroom” - Charli XCX, Vroom Vroom - EP (2016, Vroom Vroom Recordings)

I mean. It’s Charli’s early work with SOPHIE, you’ve gotta just blast this shit and ruin someone’s life. The return to queer hyper pop over the past few years is the only thing sustaining my fucking mental health.

“Xternal Locus” - Chynna & Oklou, Single (2018, self-released)

Another track Lona played for me after I picked her up from work in DC. Lowkey enough to ***** to, highkey enough to **** to ;)

“Cinema” - Kero Kero Bonito, Totep - EP (2018, self-released)

KKB really did an about face with this record, but I still fucking love them. It’s still sunny and glittery pop, but with a chilled-out vibe. Their intense pop records are like the come up, and this is the chill smoke sesh the day after. Just vibey enough to let you chill out and kick back, but keeps you on your toes with some unexpected samples and glitchy moments.

“Jack the Ripper” - SadGirl, Breakfast for 2 - Single (2018, Suicide Squeeze)

We love surf rock, and that’s all I’m gonna say for this. You either vibe with it you’re bored as shit.

“watch you sleep.” - girl in red, Single (2019, self-released)

Music To Sleep To.

Playlists

[stevecanmakeanythingnerdy]

Battle #12

The Vaselines : Sex With An X (Side A)

Vs.

Dead Boys: Young, Loud, and Snotty (Side II)

The Vaselines : Sex With An X (Side A)

The Vaselines are an alternative rock band from Glasgow, Scotland. Formed in Glasgow in 1986, the band was originally a duo between its songwriters Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee, later adding James Seenan and Eugene's brother Charlie Kelly on bass and drums respectively from the band Secession. The band released two short EPs, Son of a Gun, released in 1987, and Dying for It, released in 1988. The latter features two of the band’s most recognized songs, "Molly's Lips" and "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam," both of which 90’s grunge superstars Nirvana would later cover. Though they were not widely known outside Scotland during their short career, their association with Nirvana brought major exposure to the band. Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain once described Kelly and McKee as his "favorite songwriters in the whole world". With their songs "Son of a Gun" and "Molly's Lips" covered on Nirvana's album Incesticide and "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam" covered on MTV Unplugged in New York, the band gained a new audience. I must admit, it’s totally how I heard of them. And thank goodness for that! Gems all of them! Kelly went on to found the band Captain America (later renamed Eugenius after legal threats from Marvel Comics), supporting Nirvana on their UK tour. RRW fans may remember them going quite far from a previous season of RRW. McKee founded the band Suckle and released her first solo album, Sunny Moon, in 2006. Shortly there after the band reformed on occasions and in 2010 they released this, their second full length studio album. “Ruined “ is the first track and it sounds amazing. More ballsy than the older stuff. Very produced and meaty by comparison. Drenched in melody and feedback. “Sex with an X” is the second and title track on the album. This is more like classic Vaselines. Light and jangling but still catchy like the clap (#seewhatididthere)! Following is the creepy, surf-like riffage that makes up the bulk of “The Devil’s Inside Me”. This has early Sub Pop written all over it. In fact, did Kelly find an old notebook or something?! It’s like they never broke up and we’re back in 1990. The Vaselines do such a good job of being both retro AND fresh...this is minimalist art! Beat Happenings anyone? (#seewhatididthere). “Such A Fool” is an example of another such artistic melody. Floating as if on sugar cube clouds, Frances takes lead vocals on this one. Pretty hooks and looks stunning on wax. “Turning it On” brings back the surf inspired leans into the curl and dreamboat Annies (#seewhatididthere). It’s a call and response song, and my response is brilliance. Morrissey would be proud. “Overweight but Over You” has more bounce to the ounce (#seewhatididthere). Fat man rock. An analogy to going under the knife. This is what makes them so good. Unique perspective and writing from unusual examples. Look, no matter how you slice it, this is their first output in nearly 20 years and it is sounding like they never quit. THAT is a talent all it’s own. Consistent and signature sound is everything in music and these guys have that formula down pat. They were one of the first two piece bands and with boy girl harmonies. Hipsters owe this band a LOT. PHENOMENAL.

Dead Boys: Young, Loud, and Snotty (Side II)

Dead Boys are an American punk rock band from Cleveland, Ohio. The band was among the first wave of punk bands, and had a reputation as one of the rowdiest and most violent punk groups of the era. Dead Boys were formed by vocalist Stiv Bators, lead guitarist Cheetah Chrome, rhythm guitarist Jimmy Zero, bassist Jeff Magnum, and drummer Johnny Blitz in 1976, splintering off of the band Rocket From The Tombs. They released two studio albums, Young Loud and Snotty and We Have Come for Your Children. Dead Boys were originally called Frankenstein, and as previously mentioned, they evolved out of the band Rocket From The Tombs . When the band members relocated to New York City in July 1976 at the encouragement of Joey Ramone, they adopted the Dead Boys moniker which came from the RFTT song "Down In Flames". The Dead Boys quickly gained notoriety for their outrageous live performances in the city that never sleeps. Lewd gestures and profanity were the norm. On more than one occasion, lead singer Stiv Bators slashed his stomach with his mic stand. These antics reportedly discouraged any mainstream rock following despite the relative breadth of their material beyond pure punk. Something tells me the Dead Boys didn’t give two shits about that. They frequently played at the rock club CBGB and in 1977 they released this debut album, Young, Loud and Snotty. Their song "Sonic Reducer" from it is often regarded as one of the classics of the punk genre, being covered by countless bands, some as diverse as Pearl Jam. Well, side two of this incendiary record starts off with “Caught With the Meat in Your Mouth”. That rock and roll riff, combined with Cheetah Chrome’s snot, form an animalistic ballistic statistic on this biscuit! Gimme some butter!! A great punch in the face to start. If you had any doubts if this was a punk rawk band, they are immediately shattered. “Hey, Little Girl” has a live-ish nitro. It’s about as laid back as these punx get. Another scorcher with those metallic guitar chords. “I Need Lunch” is next, and probably one of their more recognized tunes. Love that intro! Such poetic power trips here. It’s raw, uncensored, unapologetically sexist and NOT PC. In fact, it’s unadulterated filth and raunch, crawling straight out of an NYC gutter. This is what Dead Boys are known for. This captured well the short lived and self destructiveness of this band. “High Tension Wire” takes a little departure for the band. About as emo as they dare get in the times they lived in. Some good guitar work and a sad lamenting riff are all this song needs to draw you in. Nothing compares to

“Down In Flames”, though. If you listen to one Dead Boys still no in your life, make it this one. O. M. G!!! This song!! SOOOOOO GOOOOOOOD!! Again, the raw power is present and on full display. Guitar tones and fuzz on point! Brilliant screams and bleeds and leads. Even a mental breakdown right in the middle of the song, during the song! Amazing. The guttural throat scrapes are tops!! Look past the sexism and this band IS fucking rock. This is the classic album you always wish your band could write. 2017 re-issue On translucent green vinyl. Think Sex Pistols level greatness but not British, and more underground. The Stooges but on ALL of the drugs. In fact, I think you’ll get a contact high just from touching the record.

The Vaselines came back from the grave to have sex (with an X, apparently) and in doing so, wrote a slew of awesome new tunes. Wow. Re-reading that just now and it sounds pretty gross. Anyhow, They burned 143 calories over 21 minutes and 6 songs. That is 23.83 calories per song and 6.81 calories burned per minute. The Vaselines earned an impressive 15 out of 18 possible stars. The Dead Boys uprooted themselves from Ohio to New York City and became one of America’s most loved punk bands. They’re young, loud, and some of the snottiest punks you’re ever going to hear. Dead Boys burned 113 calories over 5 songs and 15 minutes. That is 22.60 calories burned per song and 7.53 calories burned per minute. The Dead Boys also managed to earn an even more impressive 13 out of 15 possible stars. Looks like those Dead Boys take the cake today!!

Dead Boys: “Down In Flames” (originally a Rocket From The Tombs song)

I just love that vintage footage exists...the audio is shit

https://youtu.be/Z3Cn4z4kYIA

Here is a better audio version

https://youtu.be/ueqTb0_jfMU

If you have half an hour to kill look up the amazing CBGB performance from 1977. It’s like having a time machine.

Oh hell here, I did it for you

https://youtu.be/QOHOM1hVM-M

#Randomrecordworkoutseasonsix

#Randomrecordworkout

[astrogeoguy]

Galaxies Galore, a Major May Monday Meteor Shower, and Lunar-Looking Advice!

(Above: This image of the unusual-looking galaxy designated NGC 4088 in Ursa Major (near the Big Dipper’s bowl) was captured on Saturday night, May 4, 2019 by Ian Wheelband at the RASC Toronto Centre E.C. Carr Astronomical Observatory near Collinwood, Ontario. A total of 5.5 hours of exposure time were used to capture the full colour image using a camera mounted on his tracking telescope. Note the other smaller galaxies around it.)

Hello, Stargazers! 

Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of May 5th, 2019 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass this along to your friends and send me your comments, questions, and suggested topics. I repost these emails with photos at http://astrogeoguy.tumblr.com/ where all the old editions are archived. You can also follow me on Twitter as @astrogeoguy! Unless otherwise noted, all times are Eastern Time. Please click this MailChimp link to subscribe to these emails. If you are a teacher or group leader interested joining me on a guided field trip to York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory or the David Dunlap Observatory, visit www.astrogeo.ca. 

I can bring my Digital Starlab inflatable planetarium to your school or other daytime or evening event, visit DiscoveryPlanitarium.com and request me. We’ll tour the Universe together! 

Public Astro-Events

It’s International Astronomy Week! To celebrate, on every sunny morning from 10 am to noon from Monday, May 6 to Saturday, May 11, astronomers from the RASC Toronto Centre will set up special solar telescopes outside the main doors of the Ontario Science Centre for public Solar Observing. Come and see the Sun in detail through equipment designed to view it safely. This is a free event (details here), but parking and admission fees inside the Science Centre will still apply. Check the RASC Toronto Centre website or their Facebook page for the Go or No-Go notification. 

Taking advantage of the moon and other bright objects in the sky this week, the RASC Toronto Centre astronomers will hold their free monthly public City Sky Star Party in Bayview Village Park (steps from the Bayview subway station), starting around 8 pm on the first clear weeknight this week (Mon, Tue, or Thu only). You don’t need to be an RASC member, or own any equipment, to join them – looks are free! Check here for details, and check the banner on their website home page or Facebook page for the GO or NO-GO decision around 5 pm each day. 

Every Monday evening, York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory runs an online star party - broadcasting views from four telescopes/cameras, answering viewer questions, and taking requests! Details are here. On Wednesday nights they offer free public viewing through their rooftop telescopes. If it’s cloudy, the astronomers give tours and presentations. Details are here. 

At 7:30 pm on Wednesday, May 8, the RASC Toronto Centre will hold their free monthly Speaker’s Night Meeting at the Ontario Science Centre, and the public are welcome. This month, the speaker will be Professor Marshall McCall, Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at York University. His topic will be Big Galaxies and the Big Places in Which They Live. Check here for details. Parking is free. 

Eastern GTA sky watchers are invited to join the RASC Toronto Centre and Durham Skies for solar observing and stargazing at the edge of Lake Ontario in Millennium Square in Pickering on Friday evening, May 10, from 6 pm to 11 pm. Details are here. Before heading out, check the RASCTC home page for a Go/No-Go call in case it's too cloudy to observe. The rain date is Saturday. 

On Friday, May 10 at 7:30 pm, inside the Hamilton Spectator, the public are invited to attend  a presentation by Alanna Mitchell, author of The Spinning Magnet, all about the Earth’s magnetic field. Details are here. 

Saturday, May 11 will be International Astronomy Day, Science Rendezvous Day in the GTA, and Doors Open in Richmond Hill. U of T, Ryerson, and York University will all have science-related demonstration and booths set up in public spaces on each campus from 11 am to 4 pm. The Ontario Science Centre and RASC Toronto Centre will offer free solar observing, a telescope workshop (bring yours in for a tune up!), and an evening star party (weather permitting). The David Dunlap Observatory will host free tours of the big telescope, a mobile planetarium, and solar observing from 10 am to 4 pm. 

The next RASC Family Night at the David Dunlap Observatory will be on Saturday, May 18. There will be sky tours in the Skylab planetarium room, space crafts, a tour of the giant 74” telescope, and viewing through lawn telescopes (weather permitting). The doors will open at 8:30 pm for a 9 pm start. Attendance is by tickets only, available here. If you are a RASC Toronto Centre member and wish to help us at DDO in the future, please fill out the volunteer form here. And to join RASC Toronto Centre, visit this page. 

(Above: Every spring in the Northern Hemisphere, the Milky Way hugs the eastern horizon during the evening hours, as shown here at 11 pm local time. The absence of our home galaxy’s obscuring stars, dust, and gas allows us to see the multitude of distant galaxies (red ovals) sprinkled across the sky overhead. This is just a small subset of them.)

Galaxy Season

We live inside the Milky Way. Our sun is embedded within its five thousand light-year thick disk of obscuring stars, dust, and gas. Because of this, our best opportunity to see other galaxies is to look directly up and out of the plane of the Milky Way’s disk, where there is less clutter to peer through. 

At this time of year in the northern hemisphere, the Milky Way hugs the eastern horizon in the evening hours. The sky overhead, which includes the constellations of Leo (the Lion), Virgo (the Maiden), Coma Berenices (Berenice’s Hair), Canes Venatici (the Hunting Dogs), and Ursa Major (the Big Bear), is absolutely loaded with distant galaxies! 

Astronomers make the effort to take out their telescopes on clear spring evenings to see and photograph the many treasures that float above us. On my Tumblr post last week, I included an image of three spring galaxies in Leo. This week, I’ve included an image taken just last night near Collinwood, Ontario of an unusual-looking spiral galaxy designated NGC 4088. It’s located 61 million light-years from our solar system. While you are looking, see how many other smaller galaxies you can see around it! 

(Above: The galaxy imaged at the top of this post, NGC 4088, is located near the bowl of the Big Dipper, one of hundreds of galaxies (red ovals) within reach of amateur, large-aperture telescopes when used in a dark sky location during moonless spring nights.) 

A Major Meteor Shower

The annual Eta-Aquariids Meteor Shower is produced when the Earth passes through a trail of material left by repeated passages of Halley’s Comet, and those particles drop through our atmosphere at high speeds, leaving long streaks of ionized gas and minerals. We pass through the debris from May 3 to 11 annually, and we will be most deeply in the cloud around Monday, May 6. Your best times for seeing the meteors will be Sunday and Monday, especially before dawn. 

True Aquariids will appear to travel away from a radiant point in Aquarius (the Water-Bearer), which will sit near the southeastern horizon. The southerly radiant makes this shower better for observers at low latitudes. Watch for up to a few dozen meteors per hour on the peak night, and fewer than that during the surrounding nights. The very young evening moon will leave the sky nice and dark for this shower. 

To increase your chances of seeing meteors, find a dark location with lots of sky, preferably away from light polluted skies, and just look up with your unaided eyes. Binoculars and telescopes are not useful for meteors because their fields of view are too narrow to fit the streaks of meteor light. Don’t watch the radiant. Any meteors near there will have very short trails because they are travelling towards you. Try not to look at your phone’s bright screen – it’ll ruin your night vision. And keep your eyes heavenward, even while you are chatting with companions. Happy hunting! 

I posted a sky chart showing the radiant here. 

The Moon and Planets

The next two weeks of May will be an ideal period to view our natural satellite’s rugged terrain in binoculars and backyard telescopes at a convenient time of the evening! Fresh from yesterday’s New Moon phase, the young crescent moon will appear low over the western horizon for a short time after sunset tonight (Sunday). Then, on the following evenings, the moon will set later - climbing higher while waxing fuller.

(Above: Earthshine faintly illuminates the dark portion of the waxing crescent moon in this image by Dylan O’Donnell taken in late January of 2015. The best magnified views of the moon are found along the zone dividing the lit and dark hemispheres. NASA APOD for March 20, 2015) 

As the moon waxes, the sun is rising over its eastern horizon. East on a planet or moon is defined as the direction where the sun rises. Due to the moon’s tidal lock with Earth, the moon keeps the nearside hemisphere pointed towards Earth at all times. That means that sunrise on the moon takes hours - and the sun needs two weeks to cross the moon’s “sky” and set in the west. 

On Earth, we define morning as the daylight period between sunrise and high noon – or about 6 hours. But at any given location on the moon (except the poles), that process covers the period from New Moon to First Quarter – or about a week! The rising sun casts long shadows to the west of any elevated terrain, including crater rims, mountains, boulders, and faults. Shadows on the moon are nearly black because there is no atmosphere to scatter light. 

The shadows are particularly stark along the terminator, the pole-to-pole boundary line that divides the lit and dark hemispheres of the moon. Along that strip, the sunlight is nearly horizontal. Every night, and even hour-by-hour, the terminator shifts west – throwing new areas into stark relief. Keep your telescope handy and have a look on every clear night. Or, for a fun exercise, look at a feature early in the evening and look at it again a few hours later. Try holding your phone over your telescope’s eyepiece and taking a pair of photos at the two times – or draw what you see. 

(Above: On Tuesday evening, as shown here at 9:25 pm EDT, the waxing crescent moon will land to the lower left of Mars. A small star named Zeta Tauri (or Tianguan) will be positioned near the moon’s higher crescent tip.)

Let’s review what else the moon will be up to this week. Early Monday evening in the west-northwestern sky, the moon will be positioned just above the stars forming Taurus’ triangular face, and that constellation’s brightest star, Aldebaran. Use binoculars to capture the scene. Observers in Europe, Africa, and Asian will see the moon pass through Taurus’ face after dusk. 

On Tuesday evening, the waxing crescent moon will land 3.5 finger widths to the lower left (south) of reddish Mars. Look for a medium-bright star named Zeta Tauri (ζ Tauri) aka Tianguan positioned close to the upper, northern tip of the moon’s crescent. That star marks the eastern horn of Taurus, the Bull. 

The moon will pass through the twins of Gemini on Wednesday and Thursday. Then, on Friday the nearly first quarter moon will pass almost directly through the large open star cluster in Cancer (the Crab) known as the Beehive, Praesepe, and Messier 44. The moon will be centered on the cluster at approximately 10 pm EDT. Binoculars or a telescope at low magnification will show both the moon and the cluster at the same time. To better see the clusters’ stars, try to position the moon just outside of your optics’ field of view. (Binoculars will show the cluster to the moon’s upper left, but your telescope will flip that view around.) 

On Saturday night the moon will reach a 90° angle with respect to the sun, triggering its First Quarter phase worldwide. By this time, you might have noticed the moon in the afternoon daytime sky. At First Quarter, the moon always rises at noon and sets after midnight. The moon will end the week below the stars of Leo (the Lion) next Sunday night. 

Mars will continue to be visible for about an hour after dusk every evening this week. Even though Mars will be setting in the west just before midnight local time, it’s starting to dip into the twilight. Once the sky has darkened, look for Mars as a medium-bright, reddish pinpoint of light sitting less than one-third of the way up the western sky. Mars has been slowly shrinking in size and brightness as we increase our distance from it little-by-little.

(Above: The giant planets Jupiter and Saturn are both crossing the sky during the small hours of the night, as shown here at 5 am local time. In the coming weeks, both planets will rise early enough to be observed in the evening.)  

This week, the very bright planet Jupiter will be visible low over the southeastern horizon after midnight local time. If you are walking through the house in your pj’s during the wee hours, Jupiter’s bright beacon might catch your eye through a southerly window. Jupiter will reach its highest point over the southern horizon by 4 am local time and then descend towards the west as dawn arrives. Soon, I’ll start to alert you to when you can see the Great Red Spot and the shadows of Jupiter’s four large moons when they cross Jupiter’s disk. 

Look for yellowish Saturn, which will be rising about 2 hours after Jupiter all summer, sitting about 2.5 outstretched fist diameters to the lower left (east) of Jupiter in the pre-dawn sky. Saturn will officially enter the evening sky in the last week of May. Dust off your telescope because even a small telescope will show its rings! 

Distant and dim, blue Neptune is in the southeastern pre-dawn sky, among the stars of Aquarius (the Water-Bearer). The planet will rise a little before 4 am local time. But I’ll wait for summer, when it will be available in the evening, to look for it.

(Above: This week, Venus and Mercury are both swinging sunward in the eastern pre-dawn sky, as shown here at 5:45 am local time. Mercury will be difficult to spot, and both planets will require a low, open horizon.) 

Venus tends to be easy to see because of its extreme brightness. But our sister planet is approaching the pre-dawn sun now, so you will need a wide-open eastern horizon to see it just before sunrise. Venus will rise at about 5 am local time and remain visible until about 6 am. It will soon disappear in solar conjunction. 

The Lion Hunts

If you missed last week’s information about the spring constellation of Leo (the lion), I posted it here.

Keep looking up, and enjoy the sky when you do. I love questions and requests - so, send me some!

[avillageofamillionpeople]

Road trippin’

Driving at 150 km/h top down in a convertible isn’t for those who want to have good hair. Using our raincoat hoods as protection and fashion statements we whizzed down the autobahn and into Switzerland. We spent our first few days exploring valleys, chasing waterfalls, catching sneak peaks of Jungfrau and her brothers and sisters through the fog. We saw Swiss men in traditional costumes ringing cow bells the size of toasters with not so subtle thrusts of their hips. 

We stayed the night in Interlaken and then Mürren (1,638 m up) before heading to Zermatt. Here we hiked the stunning 5 lakes walk, entered a gorge after hours, spied on Marmots and enjoyed a few bottles of red wine.

Our next stop was Chamonix and Mont Blanc. Here I had a graceful encounter with the pavement but I successfully saved the life of my fantastic breakfast sandwich. My freshly cut-up hand and I rode the cable car up to Aiguille du Midi. The views of Mont Blanc and the neighbouring Alps were mind blowing. We saw tiny ants below us winding their way across snowy slopes, a man in ski’s teetering on the edge of a ridge 3,800 m up before effortlessly drifting down, and climbers scrambling up rock faces to reach the peak we were standing on. This was my favourite view on the trip! 

A little less adventurous than some we rode the cable car half way down and hiked between Aiguille du Plan and the ever-receding glacier, Mer de Glace. We followed our hike with a well-deserved dinner of epic burgers with waffle fries. Chamonix you have definitely won me over!

We followed Chamonix with a quick overnight stop in Geneva and a visit to Cern, the particle accelerator. My least favourite stop on the trip. 

At lunch time we made it to the sunny city of Grenoble.We wandered through parks, had French baked goods for lunch and lazed like proper Europeans in the afternoon. For dinner, we hit up La Ferme a Dede at the suggestion of a friend. I had an epic salad with eggplant, goats cheese and a poached egg. While the brave among us opted for steak tartare. Soon after they were whispering to the porcelain gods!

We decided to stroll through a park over the river at sunset. Suddenly this stroll turned into us climbing uneven stairs and tip-toeing through tunnels in the dark up to the 18th-century fortress above. Luckily the full moon offered a little light and there were no more trips or injuries acquired.

The next morning we were pleasantly surprised when we caught up with our local Frenchy who was on a last minute visit from the US. The best surprise of the trip!

Hopping back in the convertible we wound down windy roads and under rock faces following brave cyclists. We stopped to go spelunking. The caves were cold and wet with thousands of tiny stalactites hanging from large open halls and pools with crystal clear water. We were surprised at the end of our tour with an epic light show and rave. Unfortunately, Sandstorm by Darude didn’t make the playlist.

It was mid afternoon and with stomachs rumbling we continued down windy local roads. We stopped in a small town called Pont-en-Royans and ate at a cafe perched on a terrace overlooking the river below. After lunch, we wandered down the stairs. Here we saw the strangest thing on our trip. A baby grand piano on a raft floating in the river. Apparently, an outdoor evening concert was in store.

We spent the night in Aix-en-Provence. A university town with outdoor bars and restaurants flooding the streets. We saw street artists break dancing to the Gladiator soundtrack and had epic eggs for breakfast.

The next day we went in search of the Mediterranean Sea. Parking up on the dusty hillside we wandered down a rocky track. A 40-minute walk was promised to reach Calanque d’en Vau. However, in usual style, we went off track down a rocky hillside and I almost caused a landslide and rolled about 10 ankles. An hour later we emerged at a beautiful inlet surrounded by cliffs. The water was chilly but refreshing after our long journey. We spent hours here enjoying the sunlight. As the sun dipped behind the cliffs we started the long journey back. By this time I had finished my 3 water bottles and was dying of thirst. 

We spent the following day tracing the coastline of the Côte d'Azur. Having a convertible made the drive even more enjoyable. We stopped for a quick dip and lunch and continued to Antibes for dinner. We had awesome Italian (in France) and enjoyed dusk in the old town.

We spent the next two nights in Nice and had time to wander the foreshore, check out the old town, swim at the pebbly beach, eat too many great breakfasts, and visit the ridiculous Monaco. We spent our last evening here watching the sunset from the beach and talking nonsense with quite a few takeaway wine bottles. The next day a sleep in, a croissant for breakfast and a quick dip was the perfect recovery.

By mid-afternoon the recovery was wearing off and we had a long drive ahead to Rapallo in Italy. So all three passengers took the luxury of naps. Whoops! 

Rapallo was a cute port village with buildings painted with ridiculous decorations. Fake brickwork and windows almost fooled and gave the illusion of grandness. Swallows swooped between roofs in the warm air and elderly Italian men sipped espresso in large groups and exclaimed ‘Allora!’ In the evening we found a mysterious red carpet running along the port and followed it around the headland to the next tiny village. 

The following day we caught the ferry to San Fruttuoso, where we swam in transparent waters, enjoyed a traditional pesto lasagne for lunch and snorkelled out to see Jesus of the Abyss. We stopped in the late afternoon at Portofino for some pizza and walked the entire red carpet back to Rapallo. For dessert, I had gelato because it would be rude not to.

We made a quick stop the next day for lunch and more importantly gelato in Milano before heading to Lake Como. Roads became even more narrow and wound tighter between buildings, and of course, drivers got worse. Here our base was Bellagio. A cute old town on the hillside overlooking the lake. Here we spent the last night of our trip and were spoilt with a vibrant pink sunset.

Salute!  

[kristablogs]

How to host a virtual party that’s absolutely lit

Sometimes a hat can make an outfit. The same goes for parties and the PopSci team knows it. (Purbita Saha/)

Follow all of PopSci’s COVID-19 coverage here, including tips on enjoying summer activities, ways to tell if your symptoms are just allergies, and advice on which masks to buy.

It seems like it’s been 84 years since planning a party started with finding a venue, but the pandemic has shown us there are other ways to celebrate birthdays, milestones, or just the simple fact of existence. Now, using whatever video conferencing app your heart prefers, you can see your friends from the comfort and safety of your home, and party like it’s 1999.

Depending on what you’re celebrating, the people you’re inviting, and what you’re in the mood for, these tips will help you throw an absolute digital rager, even if face-to-face chit-chat isn’t on the agenda.

Make a guest list

Online space might seem infinite, but the number of people in attendance can make or break a virtual celebration. Depending on the platform you choose, you can have up to 100 people connected at once. That many faces and microphones can make your video conference a little confusing, so it’s important to keep it small. If you plan on having a conversation, 10 guests will be fine. For a kid’s party, you won’t want more than 20, especially because they will most likely have a parent or adult with them.

To counteract any flaking, simply expand your guest list a bit—the event planner’s rule is to invite 30 to 40 percent more people than you actually expect. Just keep in mind that was back when we actually needed to go places, so now it may be more of a guessing game.

Find a time

These days, it seems like people should always be available because hey, where else are they going to be if not home? But even in the middle of a pandemic, people have lives, so you’ll want to send out invitations well in advance, just as if this were a normal party. If you want to feel fancy, you can use websites such as Paperless Post or Evite. They offer a wide range of invitation templates for different kinds of events (including virtual parties), and if you’re on a tight budget, you can filter the results to find invitations you can send for free.

If your guests are kids there will most likely be some parenting logistics involved, so you’ll want to notify them at least two weeks before the event. If you’re only dealing with adults, two weeks is enough.

For a weeknight party, you might want to check what days and times work best for your guests. If you’re all Google Calendar fans, you can ask them to share their calendars with you and the platform will help you find available time slots. Go to the Google Calendar website, click on Create, add your guests, and click on Find a Time to see how everybody’s calendars look next to each other. If you have too many guests and the visual is just too chaotic, you can click on Suggested Times at the bottom of your guest list, to the left of your screen. There you’ll see all the moments when your guests are available at the same time.

Choose a platform

This would be the pandemic equivalent of finding a venue, which may be a party planner’s No. 1 task. Since we’re keeping things small, the free tier of most platforms will be more than enough, so which one you choose depends on which one you like best.

Zoom has become the classic go-to app for virtual gatherings during the pandemic, so it’s an easy, natural choice. Just remember that if you’re not paying for an account, you only get 40 minutes per meeting. This could be as much of a blessing as a curse, depending on whether you’re having a nice time talking to people, or if an army of toddlers is putting your patience to the test.

Alternatives to Zoom are Google Meet, Skype, Facebook’s Messenger Rooms, and FaceTime, but they all have limitations as to how many people can connect at once. Meet can only support 10 or 25 video call participants, depending on whether you have a Gmail or a G Suite Business or Education account, while Skype and Messenger Rooms support 50. FaceTime will let you gather 32. Zoom beats them all with the ability to host up to 100 guests (500 with the Large Meeting add-on), but the upside to all of these other options is that none of them have a time limit.

There are other features you’ll want to look at when choosing a platform, too: how good it is at identifying who’s talking or playing music, the video quality, and if it allows customized backdrops, filters, or other add-ons. Explore your options to find the one that suits your party (and your guests) best.

Be mindful of the not-so tech savvy

At this point, many of us have already taught our parents, elders, and/or tech-repelling friends how to work video conferencing apps. But you still can’t assume everyone on your guest list knows how to work that obscure video conferencing app you like so much, or even the most popular ones.

Once you’ve chosen your “venue,” make sure to enclose some instructions when sending your invites. And don’t just paste a link to the support website—take your time to explain, in your own words, how to get the platform up and running. You might even have to make yourself available to answer questions prior to the party.

Finally, ask your guests to download and try whatever software they need in advance so there’s time to solve problems. If you have a limited amount of time for your event, you won’t want to spend half of it fighting against someone’s malfunctioning mic while the rest of your guests wait.

Keep the hype alive

With everything going on right now, it’s easy for people to get distracted and miss a party, so you’ll want to get your guests excited—and keep them that way. Get some hype going by sending reminders, making party-related memes, or, if you have a theme, sharing content related to it. You can also share a pre-game playlist or have your guests prepare something for the event—ask your kid’s friends to draw a birthday card to show everyone at the party, or maybe work on a performance or a show-and-tell.

If your guests are all adults and you’re asking them to do something, first assess their commitment to the party. Some will be super pumped—most likely the same people who start planning their Halloween costumes in July. But some will absolutely dread it—probably the people who think it’s okay to go to a costume party wearing a lightly paint-stained shirt and saying they’re dressed as a construction worker.

Always try to find a middle ground. People who are extra will be extra whether you ask them to or not, and the rest will be relieved of the pressure of being forced into something they don’t want to do. And if your guest list is full of enthusiastic people who love to go the extra mile, well, then the sky’s the limit.

Decorate (or not) and dress up

Even if you're alone, make a big deal out of whatever you're celebrating. (cotton bro / Pexels/)

Fight fiercely against the urge not to treat your party as a regular party just because your guests likely won’t see you from the waist down. Yes, you may forgo pants, and no one will give you a hard time for not wearing fancy heels, but dressing up will definitely get you in the mood.

The same goes for your home—blow up some balloons, put up some fun decorations, and get the party going. Because the angle of your camera is limited, you won’t even have to make a huge effort to make the space around you look party-ready. But if even just livening up your immediate background sounds like a drag, you can always opt for a digital backdrop.

The ability to do so will depend on the platform you use. Most people are already familiar with Zoom’s virtual backgrounds, which you can find by clicking on the up arrow on the left of the camera icon (left side of the screen) and clicking on Choose Virtual Background. There you can pick one of the pre-loaded photos to use as a backdrop or click on the plus sign on the right to choose one from your computer. Just as with filters on apps like Instagram or Snapchat, the less busy your actual background is, and the more contrast between it and your clothes, the better it’ll work. Sitting in front of a solid-colored wall is your best bet, but if you want to invest a little, you can always get a green screen. Trust us—it likely won’t be the last time you use it.

If you want to up your fake background game, you might want to give Messenger Rooms a try. If you jump on a group call from your iOS or Android device, you’ll have access to immersive, artificial intelligence-powered 360 backgrounds. These move and go beyond your camera angle, so they’ll really make it seem like you could be anywhere. You can choose from a number of different options, including sunny beaches, a boardwalk, the moon, and even cats floating in space—because, why not?

Play some tunes

No party is complete without music, and although you could share a playlist with your guests and have everyone hit play at the same time, we all know it’ll be difficult to make that work smoothly. You can also just play whatever you like on your computer or another device near you, and have the sound travel through your microphone—but the quality won’t be as good.

The ideal scenario is to connect your music’s audio output directly to the video conferencing app, but how you do this and how hard it is will depend on the platform you use. On Google Meet, you can cast your music from Google Chrome using YouTube or Spotify’s web platform, for example, but the setup is a little tricky.

Messenger Rooms allows you to share your screen, but any audio will be picked up by your mic. When hosting a meeting, click on Share Screen, and when the pop-up window appears, choose what you want to share—it may be your desktop, other programs or apps you may have open, or a tab on your browser. (If you’re using YouTube, for example, you can share that and have it play music videos during your party.) Then, on the bottom left, check on Share Computer Sound to enable a second audio input from your computer—the music and your voice. For cleaner sound, you can connect a pair of headphones so your computer’s microphone doesn’t pick up any of the music. To adjust the volume of both inputs, you can click on the arrow next to your microphone on the bottom left of your screen, and go to Audio Settings.

If you want to throw a dance party and have no interest in talking, you can always disable your microphone altogether and set your audio output to be your computer sounds. On the arrow next to your microphone, under Select Microphone and choose Same as System. You can also share your screen to show your guests videos or other images, then go to the Advance tab and click on Music or Computer Sound Only.

Plan some fun activities

Depending on your budget and the time you want to put into planning your party, there are plenty of ways you can entertain your guests. If you’re throwing a kid’s party, you can always go for the classics—a musician, magician, or puppet show. Many of these performers are now offering their services by the hour on different digital platforms, so you may want to have one of these acts on your schedule. Small kids also enjoy doing activities together, like an easy DIY project or a scavenger hunt. If you keep it simple, you can ask other parents for help and use items that are easy to find in each household. If you have a little extra money, you can send stuff in advance for kids to search for. Time it, make it a race, and have everyone show what they found, to add some healthy competition.

For older audiences, you can go for activities such as watching a movie together using the Google Chrome extension, Netflix Party, or singing some karaoke on YouTube. Sending your guests instructions to make the event’s official drink can also be fun, and playing a themed game of trivia will surely keep the conversation going.

If you don’t want to plan for anything and just want to have organic conversation, keep in mind that sometimes distance can make that hard, so you might want to have a couple of icebreakers ready, in case things need a little push.

[scootoaster]

How to host a virtual party that’s absolutely lit

Sometimes a hat can make an outfit. The same goes for parties and the PopSci team knows it. (Purbita Saha/)

Follow all of PopSci’s COVID-19 coverage here, including tips on enjoying summer activities, ways to tell if your symptoms are just allergies, and advice on which masks to buy.

It seems like it’s been 84 years since planning a party started with finding a venue, but the pandemic has shown us there are other ways to celebrate birthdays, milestones, or just the simple fact of existence. Now, using whatever video conferencing app your heart prefers, you can see your friends from the comfort and safety of your home, and party like it’s 1999.

Depending on what you’re celebrating, the people you’re inviting, and what you’re in the mood for, these tips will help you throw an absolute digital rager, even if face-to-face chit-chat isn’t on the agenda.

Make a guest list

Online space might seem infinite, but the number of people in attendance can make or break a virtual celebration. Depending on the platform you choose, you can have up to 100 people connected at once. That many faces and microphones can make your video conference a little confusing, so it’s important to keep it small. If you plan on having a conversation, 10 guests will be fine. For a kid’s party, you won’t want more than 20, especially because they will most likely have a parent or adult with them.

To counteract any flaking, simply expand your guest list a bit—the event planner’s rule is to invite 30 to 40 percent more people than you actually expect. Just keep in mind that was back when we actually needed to go places, so now it may be more of a guessing game.

Find a time

These days, it seems like people should always be available because hey, where else are they going to be if not home? But even in the middle of a pandemic, people have lives, so you’ll want to send out invitations well in advance, just as if this were a normal party. If you want to feel fancy, you can use websites such as Paperless Post or Evite. They offer a wide range of invitation templates for different kinds of events (including virtual parties), and if you’re on a tight budget, you can filter the results to find invitations you can send for free.

If your guests are kids there will most likely be some parenting logistics involved, so you’ll want to notify them at least two weeks before the event. If you’re only dealing with adults, two weeks is enough.

For a weeknight party, you might want to check what days and times work best for your guests. If you’re all Google Calendar fans, you can ask them to share their calendars with you and the platform will help you find available time slots. Go to the Google Calendar website, click on Create, add your guests, and click on Find a Time to see how everybody’s calendars look next to each other. If you have too many guests and the visual is just too chaotic, you can click on Suggested Times at the bottom of your guest list, to the left of your screen. There you’ll see all the moments when your guests are available at the same time.

Choose a platform

This would be the pandemic equivalent of finding a venue, which may be a party planner’s No. 1 task. Since we’re keeping things small, the free tier of most platforms will be more than enough, so which one you choose depends on which one you like best.

Zoom has become the classic go-to app for virtual gatherings during the pandemic, so it’s an easy, natural choice. Just remember that if you’re not paying for an account, you only get 40 minutes per meeting. This could be as much of a blessing as a curse, depending on whether you’re having a nice time talking to people, or if an army of toddlers is putting your patience to the test.

Alternatives to Zoom are Google Meet, Skype, Facebook’s Messenger Rooms, and FaceTime, but they all have limitations as to how many people can connect at once. Meet can only support 10 or 25 video call participants, depending on whether you have a Gmail or a G Suite Business or Education account, while Skype and Messenger Rooms support 50. FaceTime will let you gather 32. Zoom beats them all with the ability to host up to 100 guests (500 with the Large Meeting add-on), but the upside to all of these other options is that none of them have a time limit.

There are other features you’ll want to look at when choosing a platform, too: how good it is at identifying who’s talking or playing music, the video quality, and if it allows customized backdrops, filters, or other add-ons. Explore your options to find the one that suits your party (and your guests) best.

Be mindful of the not-so tech savvy

At this point, many of us have already taught our parents, elders, and/or tech-repelling friends how to work video conferencing apps. But you still can’t assume everyone on your guest list knows how to work that obscure video conferencing app you like so much, or even the most popular ones.

Once you’ve chosen your “venue,” make sure to enclose some instructions when sending your invites. And don’t just paste a link to the support website—take your time to explain, in your own words, how to get the platform up and running. You might even have to make yourself available to answer questions prior to the party.

Finally, ask your guests to download and try whatever software they need in advance so there’s time to solve problems. If you have a limited amount of time for your event, you won’t want to spend half of it fighting against someone’s malfunctioning mic while the rest of your guests wait.

Keep the hype alive

With everything going on right now, it’s easy for people to get distracted and miss a party, so you’ll want to get your guests excited—and keep them that way. Get some hype going by sending reminders, making party-related memes, or, if you have a theme, sharing content related to it. You can also share a pre-game playlist or have your guests prepare something for the event—ask your kid’s friends to draw a birthday card to show everyone at the party, or maybe work on a performance or a show-and-tell.

If your guests are all adults and you’re asking them to do something, first assess their commitment to the party. Some will be super pumped—most likely the same people who start planning their Halloween costumes in July. But some will absolutely dread it—probably the people who think it’s okay to go to a costume party wearing a lightly paint-stained shirt and saying they’re dressed as a construction worker.

Always try to find a middle ground. People who are extra will be extra whether you ask them to or not, and the rest will be relieved of the pressure of being forced into something they don’t want to do. And if your guest list is full of enthusiastic people who love to go the extra mile, well, then the sky’s the limit.

Decorate (or not) and dress up

Even if you're alone, make a big deal out of whatever you're celebrating. (cotton bro / Pexels/)

Fight fiercely against the urge not to treat your party as a regular party just because your guests likely won’t see you from the waist down. Yes, you may forgo pants, and no one will give you a hard time for not wearing fancy heels, but dressing up will definitely get you in the mood.

The same goes for your home—blow up some balloons, put up some fun decorations, and get the party going. Because the angle of your camera is limited, you won’t even have to make a huge effort to make the space around you look party-ready. But if even just livening up your immediate background sounds like a drag, you can always opt for a digital backdrop.

The ability to do so will depend on the platform you use. Most people are already familiar with Zoom’s virtual backgrounds, which you can find by clicking on the up arrow on the left of the camera icon (left side of the screen) and clicking on Choose Virtual Background. There you can pick one of the pre-loaded photos to use as a backdrop or click on the plus sign on the right to choose one from your computer. Just as with filters on apps like Instagram or Snapchat, the less busy your actual background is, and the more contrast between it and your clothes, the better it’ll work. Sitting in front of a solid-colored wall is your best bet, but if you want to invest a little, you can always get a green screen. Trust us—it likely won’t be the last time you use it.

If you want to up your fake background game, you might want to give Messenger Rooms a try. If you jump on a group call from your iOS or Android device, you’ll have access to immersive, artificial intelligence-powered 360 backgrounds. These move and go beyond your camera angle, so they’ll really make it seem like you could be anywhere. You can choose from a number of different options, including sunny beaches, a boardwalk, the moon, and even cats floating in space—because, why not?

Play some tunes

No party is complete without music, and although you could share a playlist with your guests and have everyone hit play at the same time, we all know it’ll be difficult to make that work smoothly. You can also just play whatever you like on your computer or another device near you, and have the sound travel through your microphone—but the quality won’t be as good.

The ideal scenario is to connect your music’s audio output directly to the video conferencing app, but how you do this and how hard it is will depend on the platform you use. On Google Meet, you can cast your music from Google Chrome using YouTube or Spotify’s web platform, for example, but the setup is a little tricky.

Messenger Rooms allows you to share your screen, but any audio will be picked up by your mic. When hosting a meeting, click on Share Screen, and when the pop-up window appears, choose what you want to share—it may be your desktop, other programs or apps you may have open, or a tab on your browser. (If you’re using YouTube, for example, you can share that and have it play music videos during your party.) Then, on the bottom left, check on Share Computer Sound to enable a second audio input from your computer—the music and your voice. For cleaner sound, you can connect a pair of headphones so your computer’s microphone doesn’t pick up any of the music. To adjust the volume of both inputs, you can click on the arrow next to your microphone on the bottom left of your screen, and go to Audio Settings.

If you want to throw a dance party and have no interest in talking, you can always disable your microphone altogether and set your audio output to be your computer sounds. On the arrow next to your microphone, under Select Microphone and choose Same as System. You can also share your screen to show your guests videos or other images, then go to the Advance tab and click on Music or Computer Sound Only.

Plan some fun activities

Depending on your budget and the time you want to put into planning your party, there are plenty of ways you can entertain your guests. If you’re throwing a kid’s party, you can always go for the classics—a musician, magician, or puppet show. Many of these performers are now offering their services by the hour on different digital platforms, so you may want to have one of these acts on your schedule. Small kids also enjoy doing activities together, like an easy DIY project or a scavenger hunt. If you keep it simple, you can ask other parents for help and use items that are easy to find in each household. If you have a little extra money, you can send stuff in advance for kids to search for. Time it, make it a race, and have everyone show what they found, to add some healthy competition.

For older audiences, you can go for activities such as watching a movie together using the Google Chrome extension, Netflix Party, or singing some karaoke on YouTube. Sending your guests instructions to make the event’s official drink can also be fun, and playing a themed game of trivia will surely keep the conversation going.

If you don’t want to plan for anything and just want to have organic conversation, keep in mind that sometimes distance can make that hard, so you might want to have a couple of icebreakers ready, in case things need a little push.