#just in case due to page refresh effects:

[11-eyed-rook]

I imagine the artist is at least somewhat aware of THIS internet classic:

Big fan of the new royal portrait.

[magicwhiskers29]

Alright listen. I don’t want to get into ship drama, because this isn’t really about there being a problem with people liking a ship or whatever, but I’ve been stewing on this for a while, and I feel like we have GOT to talk about how strange it is that 5 seasons in, and Spicynoodles is still wildly more popular than Dragonfruit. I said I would talk about that, so here. Think of this as more of a fandom analysis than anything.

Speaking as someone who’s been lurking in the fandom since the start of 2021, so from before the pilot or S1 had aired in the US (Or UK, in my case), I can say from experience that Spicynoodles has always been very popular. Using the way back machine to see the AO3 tag stats for Jan 14 2021, we get that it’s by far the most used relationship tag (41 of 125 works, for anyone curious) which… Yeah, that lines up with how I remember it being at that time. And considering the state of the show at that point, this makes sense!

Red Son was the primary villain of season 1 (or at least the one who acted as antagonist in most of the episodes, if you want to argue that it’s technically DBK) who treated MK like a nuisance of a rival, and as someone who gave him silly nicknames and who bounced off of banter with him quite well. Given that they’re two male characters in a rivalry, and given coming fandom shipping tropes, I don’t think it’s surprising at all that they started being shipped in the first place.

I think especially giving the other shipping content type stuff in season 1. The most we got from MK himself (or Mei, for that matter) was that he was physically disgusted by the idea of dating Mei. Cool, so they’d set up that MK didn’t want to date his best friend, so what they’d effectively done, in this case, was get the female character out of the way of the ship preemptively. And for the record, I really like that MK and Mei and two close and intimate friends who would never want to even entertain the idea of dating! I think it’s cute and refreshing, but what’s relevant here, is that there isn’t (yet) a female love interest to ‘get out of the way’ of the rivals/enemies to lovers yaoi.

Also worth noting that Shadowpeach hadn’t taken off yet due to Macaque only being in one episode, and not being in the pilot (though it was still a thing – that same way back machine page lists it as having 10 fics written. It’s just notable that it was significantly less popular than Spicynoodles) and that Freenoodles was still mostly a background thing. The two prominent (male) characters that they had to ship were MK and Red Son.

The thing is, the show wasn’t going to stay in that kind of position for long. Revenge of the Spider Queen, the season 2 special, aired about a month after this early January 2021 snapshot, and I think it fairly succinctly marked the direction the show was intending to take Red Son and Mei specifically. The special gave us a lot of interactions between Red Son and the main cast in general, and of course many that I’m sure fuelled the Spicynoodles fans, because yeah, Red Son and MK bicker and clash in silly ways this episode! But they’re not the focus pairing at any point.

When the group splits up in the Celestial Realm, Tang goes with Pigsy (Yep, that’s normal) Sandy stays back alone (also par for the course) but then… MK also goes alone, whilst Mei goes with Red Son. This means that an important section of the episode is spent with MK overcoming his demons himself, whilst Mei and Red Son bicker and clash and get closer. They even pull a classic “mistaking the male and female duo as dating” joke, which whilst I don’t expect that or anything else this episode to have necessarily radically altered the shipping scene, or even particularly make Dragonfruit a thing, I do think it’s indicative of the increased importance these two would have as a duo, and as parallels, going forward.

And then Red Son isn’t really in season 2. Perhaps it’s not surprising that as of the Wayback Machine’s snapshot of August 12 2021, about 2 months after season 2’s initial release (though still before the US release of the show) although Spicynoodles is still dominating the AO3 tag, Shadowpeach is starting to properly gain. This makes sense given that Shadow Play had aired by this point, but it is worth noting still, imo. It means that, in general, M/M is still dominating the fandom, being curiously, a good deal more popular than even the platonic relationships, such as MK and Wukong or MK and Mei.

But I think season 3 is where it all gets a little baffling to me – especially the season 3 specials. A major plot point this season, is that Mei is secretly the weirder of the Samadhi Fire, Red Son’s signature weapon that he was born with. Combining this with s3e2, the Great Grand Dragon of the East, which puts the focus on Mei’s relationship with her family legacy, and general family struggles, it becomes quite obvious that Red Son’s and Mei are being written as parallels. Red Son and MK still have scenes together this season, which surely fuelled Spicynoodles, like the iconic ‘extra blankets and warm milk’ scene, or the scene where MK shapeshifts to fly Red Son off, but note how I specified individual scenes there rather than season-wide concepts?

Now, this analysis is not the place for me to say one ship is better than the other, or that there’s any kind of problem with having a preference one way or another. My point is that the show’s focus was very clearly on Red Son and Mei’s relationship, and that by this point, they have a very solid foundation for a ship, and yet Red Son and MK are still absolutely dominating that as a pairing.

Skipping ahead to July 4 2022 in the Wayback Machine for the AO3 tag, Spicynoodles is still the most tpopular ship, with Shadowpeach as a fairly close second and… Dragonfruit nowhere to be seen. Now, I will say, I can’t check the exact ship stats for this time. There is no saved Dragonfruit page. However, I can say that Dragonfruit is nowhere to be found on the sidebar of common relationship tags in the main tag, and also that M/M is almost 5 times more common than even F/M in general. Is this distribution unusually for fandom? No, but I think it’s relevant here, because the show had finally become more accessible by this point, with all three seasons available, but Spicynoodles was still dominating.

And to save us all some time, suffice it to say, this trend continues. Mei and Red Son are the more focused on duo, but also yet the far less popular ship. To check the stats today, March 9 2025, Dragonfruit has 441 fics, compared to Spicynoodles’s 1742, and whilst this obviously isn’t the best metric for gauging ship popularity, it is both an easily accessible one, and imo, a somewhat indicative one. I’m sure anyone in the fandom could easily recount how common Spicynoodles is in general, and from personal experience, I can say that yeah! Dragonfruit is hard to come across! It’s not non-existent, but curiously, it is rare.

These days, we have Shadowpeach absolutely dominating, as by far the most popular ship, as the show has further developed Wukong and Macaque’s relationship, whereas, frankly… MK and Red Son haven’t had much screen time together as of late at all. I’d honestly wonder if to some extent, Spicynoodles has lost it’s top spot because it began sharing its trope space with Shadowpeach a little too much, and that led to the more relevant ship taking hold. But that’s not necessarily relevant here, so I digress.

So how is it that we can have the crux of the season 3 finale be Red Son cupping Mei’s face as he withstands the uncontrolled fury of the Samadhi Fire to tell her not to give up, that we can have Red Son’s main season 5 appearance be a duo episode with Mei once again focusing on the Samadhi Fire as well as their blossoming friendship, that from the fairly early days of the show, they’ve been set up as duo that parallels each other, and yet I honestly wouldn’t blame anyone for calling them a rarepair?

There’s a few wishy-washy sort of arguments that could be made. Oh, the show isn’t really about shipping, which… yes, it’s not! In a literal sense, Red Son warming up to both MK and Mei is a friendship thing! Macaque and Wukong’s big fight ended their friendship! Tang and Pigsy are technically just good friends who raised a random orphan child together! But see how inside a fandom context, that list starts to sound more and more ridiculous? And see how suddenly not interpreting Mei and Red Son as romantic because the show isn’t about romance starts to sound like an excuse?

(I should say, obviously it’s perfectly fine not to interpret them as romantic in general, but my point was that I don’t think it’s fair to cite the show’s direction as a reason for that in general)

But I’d honestly say the most likely reasons I’d expect to hear would be either that people aren’t as interested in Mei as Red Son or MK, or that they’re put off by it being an M/F ship. And… Hm…

At that point, doesn’t the issue sort of start to sound like it’s just that Mei is a woman? Doesn’t it just start to sound like despite having similar foundations, Spicynoodles is more popular than Dragonfruit because it doesn’t involve a female character? I’ve tried to make it very clear in this post that I think Spicynoodles starting more popular is for good reason, but by this point, I fundamentally can’t quite understand why there’s still such a big gap in popularity.

Because this is the reading comprehension website and because I really don’t want this post to just be an excuse for ship wars, I should say, no, I’m not calling anyone who prefers Spicynoodles a misogynist. Obviously it would be stupid to make a claim like that.

What I am saying though, is that the general fandom trends towards these ship’s popularity are very likely rooted in misogyny, and that the answer to why there is such a disparity between these ship’s popularity is because fandom doesn’t fundamentally want to engage with female characters in the same way that it does male ones. It’s quite easy to already note that Mei is fairly underrepresented in the fandom given the prevalence and importance of her character to the show, and that hardly hurts my point…

I wrote this post because I really like Mei, and it bothers me to see her overlooked in general, and I wrote this post because I came across this other post earlier, and it struck me how much I was reminded of Spicynoodles vs Dragonfruit. It makes me sad to see, so mostly, I wrote this to express my frustrations. Once more, this is not a hate post for any of the M/M ships mentioned here.

[shabdforwriting]

Seven Reasons why People still Prefer Paperback Books

Here are more detailed explanations for each of the seven reasons people still prefer paperback books:

1- Tangible Experience:

Reading a paperback engages multiple senses. Turning the pages, feeling the texture, and hearing the slight rustle as you flip through create a personal connection with the book. Many readers find this tactile experience enhances their immersion in the story, making reading feel more intimate and real.

2- Collectible and Decorative:

Paperbacks can serve as more than just reading material; they become personal treasures and tokens of accomplishment. Whether it’s a well-worn favorite or a pristine new release, paperbacks allow readers to build and display collections that reflect their interests and passions. A filled bookshelf can also act as a statement piece in a home, adding warmth and character to a room.

3- No Need for Devices or Batteries:

With a paperback, you don’t have to worry about running out of power or finding an outlet. It’s convenient for spontaneous reading sessions in places where technology may not be reliable or welcome, like beaches, remote areas, or while commuting. Paperbacks offer the freedom to read anywhere, anytime.

4- No Screen Strain:

Reading on a digital screen for prolonged periods can lead to digital eye strain, headaches, and disrupted sleep due to blue light exposure. Paperbacks provide a refreshing break from screen time, offering a more natural and comfortable way to read, especially for those who already spend long hours in front of computers or smartphones.

5- No Need for Technology:

Paperbacks are self-contained and independent of technology. Readers don’t have to worry about software updates, crashes, or compatibility issues with different formats or devices. It’s as simple as picking up the book and reading, providing an uncomplicated and timeless reading experience.

6- Affordable:

Paperbacks tend to be more accessible in terms of price compared to hardcovers or even e-books in some cases. They provide a cost-effective way to read a wide variety of titles, and the second-hand market for paperbacks makes it easy to find books at even lower prices. This affordability encourages reading and allows book lovers to expand their personal libraries without breaking the bank.

7- Distraction-Free Reading:

When reading on electronic devices, it’s easy to get distracted by notifications, apps, or the internet. Paperbacks provide a focused reading experience without interruptions, helping readers dive deeply into a story without the temptation of multitasking or being pulled away by external stimuli.

Each of these reasons highlights the simple, enriching experience that paperback books continue to offer in the digital age.

Source -

[vendor007]

How to Track Your MCA Payment Status Effectively

When you make a payment on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) portal, it's important to make sure it’s completed and recorded properly. Many people face confusion or delays because they don’t know how to track their MCA payment status. This article will help you understand the steps clearly so you don’t get stuck.

Why Should You Track Your MCA Payment Status?

If you’re a business owner, CA, or just someone filing something with MCA, your payment is a key part of the process. Missing or unconfirmed payments can delay your filing, lead to penalties, or even legal issues.

That’s why it’s important to track payment status mca after every transaction.

What You Need Before You Begin

To check your MCA payment status, keep the following details ready:

SRN (Service Request Number) – This is generated once you make a payment.

Payment Mode – Know whether you paid via net banking, debit/credit card, NEFT, or challan.

Date of Payment – Helps in narrowing down your search, especially for older transactions.

Steps to Track Your MCA Payment Status

Here’s a simple step-by-step guide:

Step 1: Visit the MCA Portal

Go to the official MCA website.

Step 2: Click on “MCA Services”

In the main menu, hover over or click “MCA Services”.

Step 3: Choose “Track Payment Status”

Scroll down and select “Track Payment Status” under the “Fee and Payment Services” section.

Step 4: Enter the SRN

Type in your Service Request Number (SRN).

Make sure you enter it exactly as it was given (e.g., G12345678).

Step 5: Click on “Submit”

Once submitted, the system will show your payment status:

Paid and Approved

Pending

Failed

Payment under process

What Each Status Means

Paid and Approved – Everything is done. Your form or filing will be processed.

Pending – The payment might not have been received yet. Wait or contact your bank.

Failed – There was a problem during the transaction. You may need to pay again.

Under Process – The system is still updating. Check again in a few hours.

Tips to Avoid Payment Issues

Always save your SRN and payment receipts.

If you’re paying by NEFT, make sure you pay within the time limit.

Don’t refresh or close the page while the payment is processing.

Use reliable internet and browsers like Chrome or Edge.

What to Do If Your Payment Fails?

If your payment fails but the amount is deducted, wait for 24-48 hours. The amount is usually refunded. If not, you can:

Raise a ticket on the MCA Helpdesk.

Email MCA support with your SRN and transaction details.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is SRN and where can I find it?

SRN stands for Service Request Number. It’s a unique number generated when you submit a form or make a payment on the MCA portal. You can find it on your acknowledgment receipt or in your MCA account under “My Transactions.”

2. How long does it take for payment status to update?

Usually, it takes a few minutes to a few hours. In rare cases, especially with NEFT or offline challans, it might take up to 24–48 hours. If the status still doesn’t update, it’s best to raise a support ticket.

3. Can I re-use the same SRN if my payment fails?

No. If your payment fails completely, you’ll need to start a fresh transaction and a new SRN will be generated. Always confirm the status before trying again.

4. What should I do if I paid but the status shows 'Pending'?

Wait for some time (especially if paid via NEFT or RTGS). If the status doesn’t update within 24 hours:

Contact your bank for transaction confirmation

Check your email for any MCA alerts

Reach out to MCA Helpdesk with your payment details and SRN

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Here are some things you should not do while making or checking payments on the MCA portal:

Don’t ignore failed payment messages – Always cross-check your bank statement and MCA portal.

Avoid last-minute payments – The system may be slow near due dates.

Don’t use backdated challans – Make sure the challan is valid and submitted on time.

Don’t forget to log out properly – This avoids session timeouts or payment processing errors.

Extra Tip: Use 'My Workspace' to Track History

If you have a registered account on the MCA portal, go to “My Workspace” and click on “Track Transaction Status.” This shows a complete history of all your filings, SRNs, and payments – very useful for businesses or CAs who handle multiple clients.

Conclusion

Tracking your MCA payment status is simple if you follow the right steps. It helps you stay on top of your filings and avoid unnecessary delays. So next time you make a payment, don’t forget to track payment status MCA to stay safe and stress-free.

[xettle-technologies]

How Do You Ensure Payment Failures Are Handled Smoothly?

In today's fast-paced digital world, managing utility bills online has become the norm. People are moving away from manual payment methods and turning to streamlined, digital platforms. However, even with the most reliable systems in place, occasional payment failures can still occur due to a variety of reasons—network issues, incorrect details, or bank server timeouts. The key to delivering a great user experience lies not just in preventing these issues, but in handling them smoothly when they happen.

If you’re using a utility payment solution, especially in a busy and densely populated area like Delhi, having a robust failure handling system becomes even more critical. In this article, we’ll break down how modern platforms manage payment failures effectively and what users should expect during such scenarios.

Common Causes of Payment Failures

Before diving into the solutions, it's important to understand what typically causes a payment to fail:

Network connectivity issues during the transaction

Incorrect account or utility ID entered by the user

Bank server downtime or delays

Insufficient funds or expired payment methods

Technical glitches at the gateway level

These problems are common across online payments but can be more frustrating when they involve essential services like electricity, gas, or water.

Why Smooth Failure Handling Matters

When a user faces a failed transaction while trying to pay an essential bill, it can cause anxiety and confusion. Delayed utility payments might result in penalties or service disruption. That’s why any utility payment solution must have a well-thought-out process for addressing failed transactions, offering transparency, reliability, and quick resolution.

Especially for users relying on utility payment in Delhi, where timely payments are crucial due to high service demands, seamless handling of failed payments isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity.

Key Strategies for Handling Payment Failures

1. Instant Transaction Feedback

A good payment system will immediately notify the user if a transaction has failed. Real-time feedback, whether it’s a pop-up, push notification, SMS, or email, helps reduce uncertainty. Users are informed instantly about the status and can act accordingly.

2. Detailed Error Messages

Instead of vague messages like "Payment failed," advanced systems provide clear reasons—such as “Insufficient funds,” “Invalid utility ID,” or “Bank timeout.” This helps the user correct the issue without having to contact customer support.

3. Retry Option

Most reliable platforms provide an option to retry the payment immediately. Whether it’s re-entering the payment details, choosing a different payment method, or simply refreshing the page, retry mechanisms save time and frustration.

4. Temporary Transaction Hold

In some cases, the payment might go through at the user’s end but not reflect in the utility provider’s system. A well-designed utility payment solution places such transactions in a “hold” or “verification” queue, allowing for background checks before automatically resolving the issue or issuing a refund.

The Role of Technology in Smooth Payment Recovery

Platforms like Xettle Technologies are setting a benchmark by integrating intelligent systems that monitor and manage payment workflows in real-time. Their payment infrastructure is built to detect irregularities early, reroute traffic when needed, and provide users with clear guidance during any interruption.

By offering a robust backend and user-friendly frontend, Xettle Technologies ensures that users, especially those handling utility payment in Delhi, can rely on a seamless experience even during transactional hiccups.

Refund and Reconciliation

Another critical part of handling failed payments is how and when refunds are processed. Most platforms initiate refunds automatically if the amount has been debited but the service provider has not confirmed payment. The standard timeframe is 5-7 business days, but some advanced platforms process it even faster.

In cases where the amount is stuck or unclear, customer service teams step in to reconcile the transaction and offer manual resolutions, guided by the platform’s secure payment logs and utility provider feedback.

Customer Support and Escalation

No system is perfect, which is why having responsive support matters. A trusted utility payment solution offers:

24/7 support via chat, phone, or email

Escalation options for unresolved cases

Transparent tracking of tickets or complaints

This is especially important in locations like Delhi, where users often operate on tight schedules and expect quick resolutions to avoid delays in essential services.

Educating the User

Proactive communication can also minimize failed payments. Sending alerts about expiring cards, scheduled bank maintenance, or due date reminders can prepare the user ahead of time. Platforms that provide helpful FAQs and tutorials empower users to solve minor issues on their own.

Conclusion

In the digital utility payment space, the real test of a platform lies in how it handles things when they don’t go as planned. Payment failures are not uncommon, but with the right strategies, they don’t have to be painful. From real-time alerts to retry options, clear messaging, and proactive support—every part of the experience matters.

For users managing utility payment in Delhi, platforms like Xettle Technologies offer an edge by combining cutting-edge technology with user-first design, ensuring that even in the event of failure, the path to resolution is smooth, quick, and transparent.

[nemesislogos]

Jujutsu Kaisen: too little too late

For a precious moment it seems our boys, Fushiguro and Itadori, would pull it out and save Tsumiki in an anticlimatic way, both of them would succeed without confronting his flaws at all, it was too easy to achieve it and it failed terribly. One of my favorite aspects of JJK is the way their protagonists are treated (Yuji and Yuta), the way the world don't revolve around them and in contrast to other (shounen) mangas where the narrative and every character bend backwards to accomodate the protagonist, in a refreshing manner, they are hit by the narrative by surprising events but not unexpected. After, Gege wasted Yuki, we got Tsumiki's revelation, she was a vessel for a sorcerer from a long time ago and it's a good decision because it creates a new conflict, troubles are what make stories interesting. I find this twist not shoking and it's said it's a sign of a well done twist. However, my reasons for this aren't that deep, in fact, it was my initial guess was ecactly that due the strange way Tsumiki looked and was acting, she seemed too contemplative and serene for a person who was suffering a lot of events beyond her control and in such a fast pace, it was more suspicious when she was, at least in Fushiguro's memories, more honest and impulsive.

At that moment, my assumption didn't explain the more or less composed state of Fushiguro... well let's be sincere here, he wasn't a complete mess, so it seemed obvious Tsumiki was a person who has a cursed technique but her brain wasn't suited to be a sorceress. Let's point something out, Fushiguro and Itadori almost never communicate honestly in the right moments, in Fushiguro's case, he has shallow interactions with his sister after her coma, and before she was his model of a good person whom he has idolized for a year and seven months, he loves her but even before ger coma coma he didn't understand her.

If Fushiguro would've communicated with her sister there was a high possibility, he'd realized she wasn't herself but, as in the past, when he didn't talk to her, tell her how much he loves her or how high he thought of her due to his inability to be honest and vulnerable in front of her and his many repressed issues, now he's lost her sister again.

On the other hand, we have Yuji who isn't right since Shibuya, let's get back in time for a little bit, immediately after Shibuya, Yuji was in his lowest point and had just realized Sukuna's nefarious intentions regarding Fushiguro and he had decided to keep a safe distance from him.

Although, his lonely choice couldn't stand Fushiguro's cry for help. At that time, Itadori did tell Fushiguro and Okkotsu about Sukuna's intentions and Okkotsu agreed to kill Itadori if he switches with Sukuna again which happened but with Okkotsu in Sendai, he couldn't do anything to stop Sukuna. At first, it seems after being with his friends and the chat with Higuruma, Itadori was a bit better, but unfortunately and necessarily, he took a page from Fushiguro and repressed a lot, he kind of made peace with himself and accepted death or more accurately he was taking the easy way out but Fushiguro guessed his decision and was against it and as uncharitable as it sounds the narrative gave consequences to Itadori.

Fushiguro wanted to talk to Itadori but sometimes the lack of words has effects, they didn't manage to talk it out, and when their guard down, Itadori was forced to fullfill his binding vow. This isn't startling in itself, Sukuna would do it in the most inconvenient moment for our protagonist, this isn't a nice confortable world, this place makes our dear Yuji face obstacles. What’s more, it was a strategical decision for Sukuna, who always is hearing inside Yuji whose plans aren't secrets to Sukuna who was waiting for a good chance to achieve his goals, thus Itadori was planning Sukuna's demise without knowing Sukuna was cooking his own plot and through sheer audacy Sukuna succeded.

Who's to say thst someone you save won't kill someone in the future?

Now what will do Itadori when the one whom he saved stopped being himself? What will Itadori do when Sukuna kills people with Fushiguro body?

[monsoonblooms12]

Sirimiri (Ethan Ramsey x f!MC)

Summary: Reminisces of their first meet from Ethan's POV. Based on OH Book 1 Chapter 1

Sirimiri: (Spanish) A light drizzle, a fine rain🌧

A/N: This is like a band-aid to the hearts I hurt with the Brydia fic on Sat. This is total fluff and has rains, so I hope this nonsense brings a smile to your faces🤎

A/N 2: The flashback portions are indented

Loads of thanks to the amazing @jamespotterthefirst for pre-reading! Love you🤎

If you enjoyed the story, please like it, leave a comment or reblog. Your feedback keeps me going🤎

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey X f!MC (Dr Pooja Sharma)

Word Count: around 1.8 K

Rating: General

Category: Fluff

Triggers: A few curse words (Just 1 or 2)

Prompts: @choicesaprilchallenge2021 Day 25: Bliss

A soft breeze blew through his dark brown hair as Ethan sat next to the window, reading one of those detective novels Pooja rambled about endlessly.

And, not that he would admit it to her in any way, he liked the storytelling. Pooja had told him that the stories were originally written for teens, so he was doubtful that it would appeal to him.

But the books had been written in a way that captured the attention of the old and young alike, breaking through the barriers of age.

As the rain began the rhythm of serenity in the background, he took the bookmark and placed it on page no. 45 of Incident on the Kalka Mail.

The rain was soft, gentle and refreshing. He envisioned her, sitting on Alex's couch, watching the rain as Alex played with Comet & Jenner. She was always fascinated by the rain, staring endlessly at it, and bearing that one dimpled smile he was a fan of.

He got up, went to the balcony, and leant on the railing. Occasional water droplets fell on his forehead and cheeks, making it an enjoyable experience.

His balcony bore a multi-chromatic view with the brown of the earthen pots, the green of the plantlets, splattered with occasional whites, pinks and blues of the vivid flowers. All of them planted by Pooja when she moved in here.

She bears the love of gardening in her traits, he thought. Ethan was amazed when he went to Panchmarhi for the first time and saw the vibrant garden her father had grown all around their house, making it majestic and serene at the same time.

Pooja came into his life like an unannounced shower of rain. Just like her arrival made his balcony's melancholy monochrome full of hues of colours, her love made his life multi-hued with the colours of emotions, feelings and care. Life was a bliss for every moment she spent with him.

One after the other, doors of memories opened. Memories that no matter how much he had strived to forget, refused to leave him. And at this moment, he was grateful for them. A light chuckle escaped him as he thought,

Their memories were as stubborn as both of them were.

Like pages of an old journal, remembrances presented themselves before him and he got lost in them, in her, as the rain accelerated from a drizzle to a mild downpour. But Ethan didn't leave his spot. He was too drenched in her to care about the rain.

Slowly the last pages of the memoir of his brain took him to the first day of their meet. A distant memory, but yet crystal clear before his blue orbs. Nothing was particularly significant on that day. Just another day of handling cases and dealing with petty interns.

But there was one. One person due to whom that day still stands atop the others in his life.

It really started like any other regular day. After taking Jenner for a walk, feeding him his Purina ProPlan and becoming the recipient of his numerous licks that brightened up his day, he got ready.

Get a Vienna at the Derry Roasters was his mental note for the morning.

The smooth cinnamon-y taste enamoured his taste buds, as he internally groaned at the sudden remembrance of what day it was.

This day, every year, was the one he dreaded the most.

Why? One would ask.

Because it was the day a fresh batch of petty interns came to test his patience.

Ugh. Mental eye roll.

That's why he made sure that he got his favourite coffee from his favourite coffee shop and grab on any last moments of solace before going to face the mad troupe.

The sun dazzled overhead, glaring at everyone under its blanket. Ethan's mind kept fluctuating between the medical cases and the agony of facing new interns. Step by step, he made his pace quicker, hoping to get to his office before any "fans" started pestering him.

Even today Ethan hated interns just as much as he did 3 years ago.

Or, did he? Oh, whom was he kidding?

His mind, still could not comprehend how, a single person, waltzed into his life and had such a profound effect in every sphere of his character, slowly, tactfully carving him into a new man.

A tolerant man.

Who knew how it felt to be loved.

Who knew how to love.

The two days, today and the first of her intern year, were such a stark contrast to each other.

The blazing sun vs. the drumming rain. The coldness of him vs. his warmness today. The frown of that day vs. the smile of today.

Two different worlds, two different times and two different circumstances.

How grateful he was to become the man he was today.

He still remembers the spontaneous name he called her that day.

That one nickname stuck as a token of his feelings all through the years.

Rookie.

When he called her Rookie that day, he meant it.

She was an intern, after all.

"Hey. Rookie. Get in here."

Ethan wasn't paying attention to her. He needed an accomplice and saw her, hence called her.

She had the eyes of a diagnostician, he collected. To notice a mild bruise on the patient on the first day of your residence, that too when you have just arrived is not something many would have been able to do.

He knew from personal experience, that half of them would have been complimenting him when there was goddamn patient to save.

He hated them.

But the first day jitters did get her after all. Her hand trembled with the scalpel in it.

And without much thought, he took it in his.

It was the first and last time he did that with an intern.

How foolish he was, Ethan realizes as he makes himself a cup of hot chocolate.

Nah, not quite as delicious as Poo's, but works.

She was an exception to every one of his rules.

He had made her an exception before even realizing it.

"...Sharma." He scoffed, fury rising through his veins.

Tossing back her ID, he went around, muttering just a single "Arrogant interns" as he heeled back to his office.

The faint mutter of her "What an asshole" had reached him, and he scoffed.

Why are all these interns the same?

He is marking the differences, he thinks.

The differences between how it was then, and how it is now.

The fury of "What an asshole" now subdued to a normal remark she teased him with, ending up in chuckles.

One of the most fascinating incidents, for him, was the Barbara episode.

He had tried being strict, pleasant, stubborn, but nothing, at all, had made her take the meds.

That is, until Pooja came, like the flick of a magic wand, and made her take them.

"What is the blood group of an author?"

"Type-O!"

Memory brightened with the stupid joke she had made with so much enthusiasm made him chuckle.

If there's something that hasn't changed, it's Pooja's sense of humour.

Ethan thought of going out for a walk. A pluvious shower spread a scotch-mist all around, and he thought against it.

Always during monsoons, Pooja made it a point to walk around the city, splashing and dancing in the rain, especially if the rain was a heavy downpour.

It reminded her of the eternal, melodious, torrential cloudbursts that enveloped the hills of Panchmarhi throughout the year.

And Ethan? He would be standing in the very same balcony he was moving towards now, watching her enjoy and feeling her enjoyment reciprocate in himself.

The film roll of reminiscences projected on the misty atmosphere as the vinyl played a harmonious melody of her laughter, the splashes of water and the pitter-patter of the raindrops.

The image is vivid in front of his eyes. He spots the faint dimples on her wet cheeks and his heart dances.

For a moment he forgot that it was just a picture cast by the projector of his encephalon.

Just like he was drenched in the rain, he was drenched in her love.

He had never felt all alive as he does at the moment.

He lets the mist envelop him, just like her memories enveloped his senses.

Relaxing against the cool air refreshing his skin and heart.

"You remembered?", Pooja asks, surprise and curiosity evident in her musical tone.

"Just paying attention." Again that dazzling smile appeared on his face and the dimpled one on hers.

If he had paid attention to his soul that day, he would have sensed the butterflies that erupted in his stomach.

He is still not sure why, or how he remembered her name when he had never made an effort to do so with any other intern, especially on their first day.

It's as if his mind knew that this name would become the jewel of his life, the beauty of his soul, and it stored it, kept it safely between the silken folds of memory.

The thunder crackled and the storm raged. Zeus must be having a good time up there, Ethan scoffed as he hurried indoors.

The thunderstorm was playing a fortissimo orchestra and amidst it, he failed to hear the repetitive chime of his phone on the night stand. It was when he saw the lit screen of the notorious cuboid, that he understood someone phoned.

It was Pooja. With 5 missed calls.

Fuck.

He called her back. It didn't even ring once before he heard her speak from the other side.

Ethan! Oh, God, I was fucking scared. Open the goddamn door!

He mentally smacked himself as he proceeded to the main entryway.

As soon as he heard the click, Jenner pounced up and down. He leapt upon him and licked him all over as Pooja entered, chuckling without a breath.

She loved her boys more than anything.

Once Jenner calmed down, he trotted off to the kitchen in search of any buffets Ethan would have arranged for him.

Pooja locked her arms around Ethan's neck, evidently worried, "Why were you not opening the door, E?"

Ethan brought her close, wrapping his arm around her waist, touching his forehead to her, which he knew would bring an instant calm over her elegant features.

Giving the most ravishing smile Pooja had ever seen, he whispered "Drowned in a certain someone's remembrances."

She gave him a playful wink, "Drowned in love, Dr Ramsey? Oh, What a Misery! My Intern Year Dr Ramsey would never..."

And they both chuckled. Intern Year Dr Ramsey would never.

Placing the most gentle kiss on her forehead, he locked her hand in his,

Let's get something to eat?

PS: Thank you so much for reading my mess and I hope you have a great day ahead🤎

Tags (Please let me know if you would like to be added or removed!): @bbrandy2002 @whimsicallywayward15 @ohramsey @natureblooms24 @nervoussaladsludgeopera @trrfanaddict @hopelessromanticmonie @ilikemenbutonlyethanramsey @lovablegranny @bellcat2010 @gkittylove99 @kingliam2019 @starrystarrytrouble @3riche @chetachisblog @zoehanji @withbeautyandrage @drariellevalentine @mvalentine @aestheticartsx @angela8754 @schnitzelbutterfingers @ao719 @choicesstan1 @neotericthemis @nikki-2406 @anotherbeingsworld @maurine07 @sophxwithers @twinkleallnight @choicesaddict5 @gardeningourmet @mysticaurathings @jessiembruno @stygianflood @aleynareads @choicesbookclub

@choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics

[oh-boy-me]

Obey Me! Card Planning Tips

Hello!  This game causes us all a lot of pain and suffering, but I’m MANAGING (?), so I thought I’d give what I’d consider some tips to maybe make things feel slightly more possible for you :)

I’ll split it into three parts and put it all under a read more.

Team Strength Calculation

Team Preparation

General Tips for Resources and Daily DP

Part 1: Team Strength Calculation

Each stage has 2 sins tied to it, as you’ve probably noticed.  In chapters 1-20, the stats of these two sins are boosted for ALL cards (character and support) by 15%.*

In chapters 1-20, your team’s strength is calculated with the following formula:

Strength = 1.15(AttributeSin1Total) + 1.15(AS2Total) + Other5SinsTotal

For example, let’s look at Lesson 10-20, which is a Gluttony/Lust battle.  My team is composed of Pandas Mean Profit (Greed), A Special Ceremony (Lust), and Colorful Panic (Pride).  And I’m using zero support cards just so I only have to add up 3 numbers.

Strength = 1.15(24338) + 1.15(34921) + 122736 = 190884**

Keep in mind that the buffs only apply to the attribute sin scores.  If the battle is Gluttony/Lust, the Pride scores will stay at their base values.  This is the case for all lessons up through chapter 20, both normal and hard mode.

However, from Lesson 21 onwards, there are two changes.  One, there is a primary sin and a secondary sin for each battle, marked by which icon is bigger in the preparation screen.  (There always has been, but now it matters which is which.)  In boss battles, both are primary.  Second, the buffs have changed drastically.

Every card has its main sin, obviously, and its strength in that sin is the strongest.  However, they still have strength in the other 6 sins as well.  There are two non-main sins that a card is very strong in, two that it is average in, and two that it is terrible in.

The percent increase is now dependent on how good a card is in the battle's two attribute sins.  (Remember that these buffs still only affect that sin, not the card’s total strength.)

If a card is the same sin as the battle’s primary sin, that sin gets a 160% buff

If a card is the same sin as the battle’s secondary sin, that sin gets a 90% buff

If a card’s second or third best sin is the battle’s primary sin, that sin gets a 30% buff

If a card’s second or third best sin is the battle’s secondary sin, that sin gets a 10% buff

Any sins lower than third best no longer get a buff

I’m not going to make a formula this time because it’s too long and situational.  But let’s look at that same 3-card team again, this time with Lesson 21-5, a Lust/Gluttony stage in that order.

Pandas Mean Profit has an average Lust score, so it gets no bonus.  Its Gluttony is its 3rd best sin, so that gets a 10% buff (10752 > 11827)

A Special Ceremony is a Lust card, so its Lust gets a 160% buff (17308 > 45000).  Its Gluttony sucks, though, so that doesn’t get a bonus.

Colorful Panic has Lust as its second best sin, so it gets a 30% buff (10423 > 13549).  Gluttony is its third best, so that gets a 10% buff too (9866 > 10852).

With the new system, the team’s Lust score has skyrocketed from 40158 to 65739.  However, its Gluttony score dropped from 27987 to 26399.

This means that the sins of your cards suddenly matter more in battle.  (And honestly I don’t think that’s a bad thing.  I know people complain that it makes it harder, but.  If my Comedy team in A3! is made entirely of Action/Drama cards with poor Comedy, I shouldn’t expect that team to do well.  Idk why people think that shouldn’t apply to Obey Me.)  Which brings us to part 2.

By the way, colored glow sticks raise the card’s total strength by 10%, and rainbow glow sticks raise it by 30%.

* It’s actually like 14.99% but it’s effectively the same.  The “slightly under but so close that I’m just rounding for significant figures” thing will be consistent for all of these buffs.

** The actual in-game strength is 190881, 3 points off due to the .99% thing.

Part 2: Team Preparation

I’m so sorry.  But someone has to say it.  Are you listening?  Great.

URs aren’t automatically better than SSRs.  Honestly, they never were.  They ESPECIALLY aren’t now.  You’re not losing the battle because you’re using SSRs.  You’re losing the battle because you’re throwing Wrath cards at a Sloth opponent.

Morning Voice is an Envy SSR card.  My copy of the card is only level 10, and in a Lesson 21+ Envy battle, its Envy score is 6866.

What is my Level 90 UR Colorful Panic’s Envy score in the same battle?

3489.

Colorful Panic is a higher rarity and 80 levels higher.  It has worse Envy.  Why?  Because Envy is its worst sin.

Obviously you aren’t going to be using a level 10 card in a battle, so for a more realistic standpoint, my copy of Resentment Runs Deep (SSR Envy) has 46108 Envy in the same battle.  That’s 13x better than the UR.

I’ll repeat it one more time before I move on.  The sin scores of a card are far more important than the rarity of the card.  A random SR card of the right sin is better than a UR with no sin bonus.  The most impressive thing about a UR is how hard it is to get one.

Anyway, what does this mean?  Is it hopeless?

Well, if you wanted to binge all three seasons within the first month of playing, yes.  But let’s assume that’s not the case.  (Side note, but the feeling that our cards are never good enough is definitely exacerbated by the aggressive speed at which they release new lessons combined with the fandom’s apparent allergy to spoiler warnings, but that’s a point for another post maybe.)

Remember that having URs isn’t actually all that important.  Now remember the sheer amount of SSRs they release since they also aggressively release events.  Also remember that with every 10-pull, you’ll get at least one SSR+.  (Also remember to never do single pulls; they're not worth it at all.)  If you’re really struggling with a lot of battles, here’s how you can improve your scores while focusing on as few cards as possible.

Open an Excel document or Google Sheets page and make a chart that looks something like this:

[Image Description: An 8x8 Excel sheet.  The columns are labelled with each of the seven deadly sins, and the rows are labelled Cards 1 through 3 and Support 1 through 3, with a blank row in between.  The rest of the sheet is blank.]

Now choose a card you want to use.  Doesn’t matter why you want to use it, maybe you like how it looks, maybe you worked really hard to get it, maybe you like its ability, maybe it’s just your current strongest card.  I don’t care.  For my chart I’m gonna use Pandas Mean Profit because it’s really pretty and I got it from the 100-pull pity reward.

Look at your card’s top 3 sins and put them into the chart.  For the character cards, note who the card is, because you can’t double up.  For reference later, also note whether it’s 1st, 2nd or 3rd best.  (Be sure to do this through Contacts and not a battle so there are no buffs skewing the scores.)

Once that’s in, choose another card you like for a different sin and input that card’s top 3 sins.  Envy is still completely empty, so I’ll put Resentment Runs Deep in next.  It’s an SSR, but I really love the Refresh Team ability.  Do this for one character card and one support card of each sin at first, if you can.  It doesn’t matter what level they are right now.  Then fill in whatever blanks you have with cards that specialize in that sin.

If a sin comes up more than 3 times, keep whichever ones are strongest in that sin without overlapping characters.  Play around with it until you get something that works for you.  Keep note of the sins you’re lacking cards for.

[Image Description: The same Excel Sheet as before, except filled in with various Obey Me card names.  The cells in rows 2 through 4 are color coded to match the character of the card.  Each cell marks in parentheses how strong the card is in the sin of the column it’s in from 1 to 3.]

Mine looks like this.  This chart isn’t perfect (if you look, none of my cards had Envy as a good non-main sin, and Pandas and Bunny have too much overlap for the same character), but it works as a rushed example.  I used the cell colors to mark the characters.

Are these the teams you should be using for each battle?  No, obviously not.  First off there’s no single-sin battle, and second off the game will still build the teams for you.

BUT, this greatly lowers the amount of cards you need to pour resources into.  Instead of 42 cards, with this chart I only have to focus on 18 cards in order to be guaranteed that all my cards get at least a SLIGHT boost in each battle.  The best-case scenario would drop it down to 14 cards.

Later on, once you’ve managed the cards on your chart, the next thing to do would be to find main sin cards to replace those that are only third best in their sin.  On mine I’d definitely focus on a Gluttony character card next, but in general Sloth is the one you want to be the most proactive about.

That should help you get through at least Season 2.  Season 3 is admittedly where the difficulty actually IS ridiculous, but Season 2 really isn’t as hard as we’ve been saying.  It just requires more planning than “the first three URs I ever got.”

I do still apologize for the resources and Grimm it’ll take, though :’)

Part 3: General Tips for Resources and Daily DP

This section is just some extra tidbits to help you have the resources to get cards and upgrade them.

[Image Description: The “hard to swallow pills” meme.  The pills read “You don’t need every single card and unless you’re a whale eventually you’re going to have to prioritize some events and ignore others or you’ll never have the resources to improve the cards you already have.”]

However, events ARE good for farming Grimm, so it’s not the end of the world if you want every SSR.  The only issue will come up when you need hard mode items and never have any AP, but it’s manageable.

If you’re going to log in more than once throughout the day, you can do the 2-1 job distribution.  If not, do three jobs with one character each so you get the daily task done

To save money for leveling up your good cards, complete the devil tree daily mission with N-rank cards.

Use vouchers over DP whenever you can (and use Raven to get vouchers).  The 99 DP level-up sale IS worth it if you can afford it, because that’s like 50% off a 10-pull once you do two.

I’m not certain, but I THINK skill level also influences how often an ability activates?  I feel like my Lv 10 SSR cards activate often but my Lv 1 URs never do.  So if you’re relying on an ability, the permanent SSRs might be worth looking at over limited time cards.

Anyway, I hope this helps at all in our mutual suffering.

[imagesbyele]

the theme I don’t know how to describe because it has too many things featured in it and it will take a year or 

aro-ace theme!

note that you are allowed to use the theme for whatever you want, change all colors, images (you want to make it a marvel thing? go for it! It’s personal and you want to use other flag colors? go pick those rainbow colors!), but my inspiration was, well, not having seen aro-ace themes before and wanting to make one. I didn’t upload background images but you have the option. Feel free to edit as you please, just don’t remove the credit or claim it’s yours!

as always in the source you’ll find the link to the post with static preview, code and instructions/extra credits.

theme is contained, responsive, super customizable. It’s free! But as always consider donating to my ko-fi as this was a lot <3  like or reblog if you use! (or just if you like it, if you want to!)

 this post will have: what you can edit from custom page, the widgets/scripts used with credits and some explanations. Asterisks * next to something will indicate that more about it will be said in the linked post. I’d apologize for the length but it’s due to how many things I added to the theme and that you should know about. 

now, what can you edit from your customization page:

-nearly every font and its color and size, so that if a font is by default bigger than others you can easily reduce the size. There is a select menu for the body font with all the fonts present in this blog, so you know what they are and can type the one you want for other eleents. I think I only left a couple to be edited from the editor, like your quotes posts if you reblog them a lot. This includes h2 as it’s what you use as ‘big font’ in your posts and h3 in case you want to personalize it and use it for something on purpose, as it has to be added to the html of the post.

-one of the new things:I used a gradient for the backgrounds of the big container, the sidebar and the posts container, but also of tumblr’s default music player (latter done initially following @octomoosey​‘s tutorial then messed with by me hence no album art).  See static preview posts. You can type the colors straight from the costomization page like this:

if you want one solid color you can just write, for example: black, black as it needs at least two. To bottom/To left/to top/to right change the direction. The only thing you need to edit from the html is if you want to go from linear-gradient (like you see in the sidebar) to radial-gradient (like in the big container which has green in the center and purple on the outside) and vice versa, if you want. 

-you can also upload background images of the sidebar, container and bigcontainer and select the optional blending with the colors, which can be none and you only see the images or something like screen or hard-color and check the results (bigcontainer as an overlay gif on Screen now)  -more typing: you can paste the symbol or the symbol code for the list items and the decorations around the post title, right now both being spades. *

-you can upload up to five background images if you enable the ‘changing background’ function otherwise only the first one counts. They will change when you refresh the page, thanks to @lmthemes​

-you can turn on and off the music box (player3 by @glenthemes​​ ), and if it’s enabled you can add two songs from the customization page (or go to the html editor and up it to four before it can get messy as it shows on hover), typing url, author, url of the album art, and song title. You already have We Are Golden by Mika as an example (takes a second to start due to the recording, watch out not to get scared if there is silence and then the first note)*

-optional searchbar in the sidebar with optional suggestions when you click on it (if you want them though you’ll need to go to the editor to type links and names, but you can turn it off and just keep the searchbar, like I said) also by glenthemes’ tutorials. 

-the separator between text posts image is also optional and if turned on, you can also turn on and off whether the image is the avatair/portrait of the person who made the post, with a link to the original if it’s a reblog, or if you want the image to be one you upload yourself, 50x50px and it should resize to fit in (also with a link, in this case to the post itself so you can open it from the top of the page). One is the toggle button ifshowtinyimage, and the other is ‘tinyimageisthesource’, if you turn that off you upload the image yourself. If you add a source to your posts, it will appear among the permalinks regardless.

more under read more!

-besides all normal colors and borders you can pick the color of the border/glow/shadow (call it as you want) of three different categories, or turn it off: the mainglow for big elements like containers and sidebar and sidebar images, the audios glow for players like spotify, regular one or soundcloud. Finally the images shadow when inside your posts. The latter is set on inherit because it means that if an image is also a link like your tiny-image it will be of the same color of your links and change on hover. That is something you can only change on the editor by searching for color:inherit and change it to what you want, if you don’t want to turn it off. 

-askbox colors have been changed with @eggdesign​‘s tricks! look for ask_form in the editor and try changing the number of filter there to see more effects. Also the askbox never shrink, a fix by @whateverhtml​ -pinned post has a little banner, styled like permalinks. 

-you can pick a color for top-info which are the date and notes. I left it empty because it automatically gets the default links color but you can pick it yourself. 

-turn on and off unnested captions looks for textposts and for all other posts (as people who use xkit to edit previous posts will get blockquotes anyway and may not like the final result) thanks to @annasthms​ code. -blockquotes are of alternating colors, by @bychloethemes​. You can obviously choose the same color if you want them to just have the one. You can also select the type of blockquote, if a solid line or dots or dashes.  -you can choose if your smaller sidebar image, sidebarimg2, is an image you’ll upload or if it’s your avatar/portrait by toggling it on and off. If you don’t want sidebar images and you don’t upload any, there are instructions on top of the html to delete the border so you only see the sidebar bg. (basically just delete their box-shadow) -speaking of which, your title will wrap around the second image like in the preview. If that doesn’t work for you you can try changing sizes and font or by going to the editor and changing the margin-top so it’s out of the sidebar image’s reach and can be a “straight line” again (in case it doesn’t fit and the long title is cut in the wrong place)

-you can turn on and off a copy link of the post button on the far left of your permalinks bar, so people can copy the permalink from dash - also by glenthemes.

-navigation links have two alternating colors, odd links right now are black, even links are white, and their hovers are the opposite of that. You can make them all of the same color, in which case you’ll need to look for .navilink a:hover and change the hover color for both. If you have custom pages and enable the link to show it will be automatically added. To change the cat icons just search for ‘cat’ and replace as pleased. To change the ask icon because maybe you don’t have them enabled look for ‘envelope’ with your ctrl + f. You can type urls and titles of navi links from the custom page, the first two are automatically home and ask, there are three more under the description. All icons from font-awesome have a black border so the white ones don’t disappear on light backgrounds, you can change that looking for .fas 

-you can select post-sizes: 400, 450, 500, 540. Whether the sidebar is next to the container or on top will depend on your post size and the screen width as at some point they may not fit. They always do fit on desktop though, and on screens that are smaller than 800px the sidebar is assumed to be on top and will have a max height of 300px (but you can scroll down). I couldn’t make the bigcontainer get bigger for giant screens as I can’t calculate the right size in which all post-sizes + sidebar will look good.

-lightboxes show images with a glow too. Speaking of which you get lightboxes as always, pxu photoset fix and video resizing fix all by @shythemes​ and with the bychloethemes fix. npf photosets fix by glenthemes. No href.li addition from tumblr when you add a link to a post by @magnusthemes​.

-soundcloud player is minimal and its play button is the same color of your permalinks icons thanks to shythemes tutorial. spotify is also minimal, instructions to change it are there. 

-tumblr controls are small and semi-transparent until you hover, also dark regardless, followed painthemes tutorial.

-chats are styled like imessages by ncrthlanes now deactivated, submit posts have at least the submitter’s url recognizable, reblogged asks also get a background for the answer as well as borders, link posts are styled as much as a link-post can be styled. 

-there are already links and similar things written to be an example in your customization page but in any case you get instructions in the editor and everything is divided in sections as much as possible. Also I’m here for any questions. 

[mouse-fantoms]

An Opening Scene

Read on Ao3!

Basically Jatp is taking too long to be renewed so I’m writing how I’d like the opening scene of season 2 to go and no one can stop me

Another gig at Eats & Beats, was a whole lot better than another gig at their own garage. Ever since the Orpheum, they had been booking more and more gigs, some places even calling them themselves.

Julie was up there, in her element. On stage, playing her keyboard enterance. She was getting lost in the opening part of the song that her and Luke wrote together. The first one they were performing after they wrote Great together. This song especially held a place in her heart because during the writing process she was reminded of the fact that she could now touch her ghosts.

It was after the Orpheum, they had started writing this song. It still seemed like a fever dream, being able to hug and touch and feel the boys… it was a lot in the moment to take in.

Luke had his journal open to a partially blank spread. He had already begun writing a bit of lyric ideas on the page. After a few seconds of pondering if they could expand on any of them, Julie swiped the pen from his hand and began writing lyrics down that had come to her head. It was as they were passing the pen back and forth that she was reminded of the new information. Their fingers would brush passed each other as the pen changed holders. It was a nice refresher that the hugging, them becoming solid, wasn’t just a one time thing. She’d be lying is she said there wasn’t a light blush across her cheeks.

In the crowd, she saw her dad, Carlos and Flynn. Ray was snapping pictures, Carlos was enjoying the performance and Flynn was recording it. It was really nice that her dad knew about her little band now and that he always insisted on coming to their performances.

It wasn’t like every face in the crowd she would recognize. But the ones from school would stand out. Recognizing some of their faces as ones she’d see in the hallways. It could have been the stage lighting but she found herself staring at one audience member more than the others. The strawberry blonde wavy hair was familiar. Like if you were to put a pink wig on her she’d-

The audiences woah’s of amazement from seeing her boys’ entrance brought her back to the stage. She grabbed her mic and went to the center of the stage. Singing her part as her boys played their backup vocals then Luke taking the lead when it was his turn.

Ever since Stand Tall she was adamant about writing in more solos for Alex and Reggie in their music. Reggie didn’t seem to mind but Alex still needed some more convincing.

“You and Luke already kill it on your own.” She recalled him saying.

“We’d kill it even more if we add your voice into the mix!” She had answered.

Reggie had run it by her that Alex wasn’t one to “own his awesomeness” as he put it. She was optimistic that the drummer would come around eventually though.

For this gig, it was Julie and Luke doing their same Julie and Luke thing during the song. They so easily got lost in their own music. Hopefully her dad didn’t pay too close of attention to the mic sharing... that happened several times. It wasn’t her fault! He did the head nod! One had to come to him when he did that. However one of the times, he got a taste of his own medicine. His flushed face engraved in her mind forever. If he was doing things that weren’t in the rehearsal... it was fair game for her. It was of course all in good fun. It always was when all of them were on stage.

She finished off the last note, getting a roar of applause for her vibrato even before she was done. The standing ovation felt good. As soon as they all bowed her boys played their disappearing act and she said into the mic, “Tell your friends!” Getting the last claps and whistles of enthusiasm as she came off the side of the stage, she was immediately embraced.

“That was-!” Ray couldn’t find the words to describe his excitement as his chin was burrowed into his daughter’s curls.

“You don’t have to hug me after every performance.” She laughed.

A voice piped in, “Surprised you don’t do it.” She looked and saw the boys behind Flynn and Carlos. Alex’s tease was directed at Luke who was next to him then Reggie after him.

“Oh arh, arh.” Luke mocked laughter.

“Probably does it all the time during their writing sessions.” Reggie guessed.

“That is a good point they are in those quite a-”

“Really? We’re discussing this right now?” He didn’t seem to be a fan of his relationship with Julie being discussed when she’s feet away and present in the room.

Ray released his daughter. “She’d be so proud.”

She matched his warm smile, nodding, “...She would.”

“I should probably get some more pictures outside to show the venue.” He held up the camera in his hand then disappeared to gather his pictures. Thus, she was left with Flynn and Carlos along with the boys behind them. She noticed Flynn’s phone horizontal in her hand.

“Did you get it?”

“Every second!” She shook the phone for effect. “Again, doing really good on the whole eye contact thing.”

She rolled her eyes.

Carlos couldn’t help but notice the mic shares,“Was that the song I heard you up writing?”

“You heard us?” It was more so a statement than a question.

“You and your boyfriend aren’t necessarily quiet.”

“Carlos!” She began to scold, opening her palms in frustration. No matter how many times she would tell her brother Luke’s name, he still insisted on calling him ‘her boyfriend’.

Of course, he did it when Luke just so happened to be in the room one time. Before Luke.exe could fully combust, she explained that it’s just a little brother thing and that she’s sorry he does it.

Flynn put their hands on Carlos’ shoulders behind him. “Why don’t we go help your dad with those pictures?” She suggested.

“Hey Flynn,” Julie called before she left with her brother, “...you didn’t happen to see someone from school here did you? When you were recording?” She wondered if she was the only one who might have seen the strawberry blonde. Plus, Flynn of all people would notice the strawberry blonde in the crowd.

“Oh you saw the sweetheart too?” She smiled before she left with Carlos.

Sweetheart? Why did-? Well maybe she was. It had been a bit since-

“Boyfriend?” Alex was hung up on Carlos’ nickname for Luke.

“Since when did that little name start?” Reggie seemed just as intrigued as Alex was as both looked at Luke for a response.

“It’s nothing boys.” He put his palms up in defense. “It’s just a little nickname he has for me, probably has them for all of us.” His eyes looked across at Julie to help his case.

She, however, gave a smiled light shake of the head left to right which did not help his case at all.

“Oh well I-“ before Luke could try to continue to defend his case, with the questioned looks of Alex and Reggie staring him down, he was interrupted.

“Molina!” The smiley blonde unawarely interrupted the ghost via by standing right in front of Julie, where the ghosts were gathered.

“Oh!” Said an open mouthed Julie. “Nick! You’re here!”

“Of course! Wouldn’t miss a performance!”

“A fan?” Reggie smirked and crossed his arms, pushing his head back for a moment.

“Pff.” Luke responded, rolling his eyes.

“You’re the sweetheart that Flynn meant.” She realized what she said out loud. “Not that you’re not just that I thought she meant someone else.” She tried to save herself.

“You guys were just as good as when you were at the Orpheum.”

“Oh you were there?” Julie cocked her head curious.

He nodded. “Of course! I couldn’t miss Julie and her band at the Orpheum of all places. How’d you get that gig anyway?”

“Oh you know… they needed someone to fill in for Downslide, must have seen our video of Great and happened to call the right number.”

“You were amazing.” He spoke with high praise.

“Well, my band makes me amazing.” She had to give credit where credit was due.

“Your guys were insane as always!”

“I like this fan of ours.” Alex beamed.

“Your drummer and bassist were-“ he was interrupting his words trying to form the right ones to describe the two.

“Can see why you know him Julie. He’s good company.” Reggie recalled her saying his name earlier, which implied she knew him.

“Pff.” Luke let out a huff of air from his mouth that blew his bangs up for a moment. “‘Your drummer this, your bassist that.’” He mocked.

“Oh is Lukey upsetty he didn’t get a compliment?” Alex teased.

“But oh my god your guitarist!” The ghosts and Julie were suddenly very intrigued by Nick’s words. “Those riffs! Those chords! I- Wow.” He let out breathless.

“Yeah, he sure is something.” Julie found a response to Nick’s enthusiasm. “Thank you for coming and glad you liked us. There’s more to come where that came from.”

“I bet. Pretty soon you’ll have flowers and encores getting thrown at you guys.”

She laughed. “You can dream.”

“You guys are insanely talented Molina.” Nick left her with a final compliment and disappeared into the crowd.

“He was nice.” Reggie said once Nick left and Julie looked at her boys.

“He complimented all of us.” Alex appreciated.

“‘Those riffs.’ What does that mean? What does he even know?” Meanwhile Luke was stuck on the compliment he got.

Julie shook her head at the stumped Luke finding him humorous.

~~~

“What does that even mean?”

“Are you still hung up on Nick’s compliment?”

It was just before noon, Luke was sat on top of the kitchen counter, his legs hung over the edge, as Julie happened to be making her lunch beside him.

“What does he even know?”

“He does play guitar.”

“Huh?”

“Nick plays guitar… that explains why he was so impressed with your playing especially.”

“Impressed? By me?”

“Nick complimented you. Take it as it is. When Sunset Curve played gigs, didn’t you guys get compliments all the time?”

His mouth knotted to one side, recalling. “We never stuck around that much after we’d play, there was always another one in line after us.”

“Then... I guess get used to them. We get comments all the time on our performances on YouTube.”

She looked up from making her sandwich at Luke to see his questioned look at the mention of something internet related.

“People like us.” She translated in terms he’d understand.

She saw him nod understanding then resumed her sandwich making.

Luke continued to be in his seat at the counter, Julie continued her sandwich making even when Carlos came into the kitchen.

“Kids and their technology.” Luke said at the sight of Carlos with his eyes glued to his tablet as he got leftover from the fridge as his meal of choice for lunch.

He put the leftover on the island and went to the drawer that was by Julie. His eyes came off the tablet when the drawer wouldn’t open.

“Huh?” He set the device down on the counter space behind him and tried to pull the drawer again.

“Julie help, it’s not opening.” He requested.

“Luke move.” She instead instructed. “Move so Carlos can get his silverware please.”

Carlos saw as the open jar by Julie’s sandwich making station suddenly almost tipped over but she caught it in time. She looked aggravated at the air beside her.

“Get off the counter please.”

“He’s on the counter?”

“He was.” She corrected. “Now try.”

He was able to open the drawer and get his wanted utensil with no difficulty this time.

“I’m no fun by asking you to move out of the way so my brother can get a fork?” She did an about face apparently talking to air.

“Okay…” He grabbed his meal and tablet off the counter, fork in hand that took more than needed time to get. “I’ll just leave you and your-” She shot him a glare knowing what words he was about to refer to Luke as. “You and your ghost to it.” He corrected.

He headed out the kitchen and into the living room. He was ready to plop himself on to the couch when Ray called from the computer.

“Carlos…” he said suspicious, “do you mind looking at these pictures for a second? I know your sister has a better eye for stuff like this but you’re right here.”

He set his items on the coffee table for a moment and went over to the computer to see what his dad wanted.

“These are from the other day.” He cycled through the pictures he had taken of his daughter’s gig.

Pictures of moments before she was on stage, when she was on stage at the keyboard, a few shots of the line outside the venue, just a supportive dad cycling through the pictures he had of his daughter’s gig.

“They all look pretty good.” Carlos saw nothing wrong with the images.

“Thanks but then,” he clicked on the mouse and the image flipped to one of the band, “there’s this one. It turned out… weird.”

The image was of Julie on stage, like the others, except it was only of Julie when Ray for sure knew it was one of when the band all was on stage. She had taken the microphone off the stand and gone to the center when the boys materialized on stage, like they did whenever they showed up all the previous times. Except, there was no guitarist, bassist or drummer, there were three floating orbs in their place.

“Doesn’t it kind of look like the pictures I took in the garage that one day? What did you say it was? Ghosts?” He tried to recalled.

“Maybe you need to check the lense on the camera.” He had to cover for his sister. She specifically instructed that no one else must know about the boys. If Ray did find out, she might blame him for blabbing he secret. “Didn’t we get rid of the ghost when he had his French dip recipe?”

“Aren’t you the ghost expert?” He started to become more and more suspicious.

“Yes.” He immediately answered. “As the ghost expert, when we had the French dip pretty sure we completed the ghost’s unfinished business. You probably just need to check the lense on your camera.”

He watched his son leave it at that and plop on the couch, finding it a little off that Carlos, of all people, dismissed his ghost claim. The pictures were more odd when seeing the video Flynn posted of their performance, the boys showed up fine.

Was it only in pictures when they showed up as orbs, which coincidentally looked like ghost orbs? Did the hologram making gimmicks do that? If they were holograms wouldn’t they show up on camera, not as orbs? Come to think of it, why was her band called Julie and the Phantoms, as in ghosts, to begin with? The more questions that swirled in his head, the more it hurt.

“How long has he played? How’d he learn? Does he-”

“Why are you suddenly so interested in Nick?” She let out a laugh finding Luke humorous again.

“Can’t I be interested in your friends?”

She raised her eyebrows at him.

His face dropped. “That’s not what I- I didn’t mean-” he cleared his throat trying to separate the misunderstanding of words, “I mean you know…” the wood floor of her kitchen suddenly seemed more appealing to the eyes, “a ghost and lifer… that wouldn’t really-“

“Yeah…” Julie trailed off understanding his words exactly. He looked back up at her. “It would definitely be an interesting little relationship.” The smiles were like the ones they shared when he first said that to her, warm and tender.

“So how long has he played?” He cut the moment off.

She rolled her eyes, smile on her face though. “I don’t know. Maybe as long as you. It would add to the two of you getting along factor.”

“Really? You think?”

“Yeah you both are kind of really similar.” She topped her sandwich off with a piece of bread and brought the plate over to the table, leaving Luke still in the kitchen.

“Wait,” he realized, “you’re not just saying that because of the bangs and guitar right?”

“No.” She let out. Or because of how I like/liked both of you. ...Maybe she had a type now that she thought about it. “You both-“

Her sentence was cut off by the doorbell ringing.

“I got it.” She called to her dad and brother if they happened to move to get the door, sliding out of the chair at the table.

“We’re both what?” Luke asked from the kitchen as she went to get the door not wanting to be left on a cliffhanger.

“You two are caring and extremely passionate about the things you love. You both are totally sweethearts too.”

“Oh.” He nodded as she grabbed the front door’s handle. “Wait? Sweetheart?”

She gave him a simple smile, he thought he saw a possible blush that matched the shade of her dress too. The simple coral dress that had black buttons up the front of it. She turned her head back to the front door when she opened it.

“Hi! Nick!” She greeted.

From where he was in the kitchen, Luke could see Nick turn his head, his blonde bangs moved with the turn, at Julie. Then he saw him hand a bouquet of blush flowers to her.

“Thanks.” She smiled when she received his flowers. “Why don’t you come in?” She invited the boy in as her ghost one was in the kitchen, anxious to see how this interaction would go between Julie and Nick while he was present. It would definitely be an interesting one, but for reasons neither would understand just yet. The perfect set up for another part of the story that had yet to be told.

[youtubevancedapks]

Make Money With YouTube Videos But Not With YouTube

YouTube motion pictures to make cash with out YouTube.

Did you recognize you can make cash online with YouTube motion pictures, and affiliate advertising but not with YouTube itself? There are 2 mystery sites I actually have observed; one can pay you for clicks on motion pictures (without video optimization). While with the other one I had more perspectives in a single week with less than half of the quantity of films than on YouTube in a month (additionally with none video optimization and/or algorithms).

It all started out after I had a few problems with mainstream social giants and reached the factor where I got bored with all the pink tape! Working my butt off to create precise first-rate content, handiest for my posts to get spammed and scammed by using bitcoin and binary trading spammers! Yip, you recognize precisely what platform I am relating to. (Youtube vanced apk)

Now, aside from supplying you with get right of entry to to these notable alternative video platforms. I am also going to provide you get right of entry to to refreshing options for mainstream media. That is in case you are as uninterested in all the problem, like ridiculous Ts and Cs, reality checkers, and all of the relaxation of the crybabies! These websites you are approximately to get entry to are quite engaging audiences, the general public (over 70%) are from top tier international locations (USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand).

Getting Buyer Traffic without all of the Hassle.

Getting traffic to affiliate hyperlinks is one issue. But, getting the ones traffic to convert into income and engagement is pretty another. Let's face it, everyone getting started with affiliate advertising right now run after mainstream media and social giants. Just stop already! Stop losing your effort and time most effective to get blocked, banned and suspended.

Spending days and even weeks learning and creating particular content, only to get a kick inside the nuts! All that difficult paintings down the drain, and then you definately need to watch for your blocked or banned period to expire. This, via the way will go away a big hole to your consistency, and this is why you are nonetheless struggling. Because whilst you want to force site visitors to associate hyperlinks, then consistency is of paramount significance. You do no longer need the social giants.

You do no longer want the ridiculous Ts and Cs. I am also pretty convinced you are as tired as I am of "fact checkers"! For heaven's sake, you cannot even percentage a funny story in recent times without the "truth checkers" having a tantrum! But I ought to admit, I am satisfied they drove me to that point of frustration. So a good deal in order that I located clean options and haven't seemed lower back given that.

Discussing the Sites and Refreshing Alternatives.

I need to be honest and say that these websites you are approximately to get entry to does now not pretty have the number of visitors than the giants. But ask yourself this. Would you alternatively have 1,000,000 traffic without a single engagement? Or would you choose 10,000 site visitors which can be active, attractive and buying from you? Yip, I thought so.

A unmarried tourist that converts, is really worth extra than one hundred,000 traffic with 0 engagement and/or income. When you figure your butt off using site visitors, then a few engagement and income are rather clean, proper? So, let's examine a number of these fresh alternatives to the mainstream giants.

· Rumble

· BitChute

· MeWe (Search Your Browser)

· Gab (Search Your Browser)

Rumble and BitChute are opportunity video platforms like YouTube. Only Rumble can pay you for video perspectives a lot quicker. Because Rumble will optimize your video mins after uploading it. Therefore, you may begin incomes for clicks from the get-move. BitChute is a touch more hard on the subject of video views and monetization. But this is besides the point.

With BitChute, put together to be blown away with the aid of an eighty% top tier traffic spike. Within 3 days, I got nearly 3000 video views from 25 films. But get this, I did not make a unmarried video and I were given 4 income from associate gives in the video descriptions! Now that is what I name client traffic! But how the heck did you do this, you may ask? Let me show you.

Getting High-Quality videos without making A Single video.

Getting excessive pleasant motion pictures to use and make cash is straightforward and you'll need but one tool to convert the videos. But you will have get right of entry to to this unfastened tool in a little bit. Really simple to do specifically when you have the unique video creator's permission with out asking. The steps are instead easy, simply start by using going in your YouTube channel.

Next you need to go into the key phrases and/or search phrases you need to target in the search bar and search. A entire list of films will appear in the YouTube seek effects. But you can't use maximum of these films due to copyright. To the top left for your YouTube search web page, you'll see "Filter". Simply click on on clear out, after which set off "Creative Commons". Now you have a list of videos you could use with permission.

Do a short test earlier than you replica the video URL and convert it by way of expanding the video description phase. Right on the stop of the description you will see.

License - Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)

This means that you can reuse the video, that is top notch for affiliate advertising specifically. Because there are numerous videos about opinions and fulfillment memories with several affiliate products that you could use. Then truly sell the associate provide that the video is ready.

Once you have got decided on a video below innovative commons, reproduction the video URL. But no longer the URL in the search window. You need to copy the video URL in the "Share" option. Then certainly upload the video URL to the YouTube Downloader tool within the steps beneath. Before we flow directly to the following heading, allow's simply move over the simple steps one greater time.

1. Search YouTube for a Particular Target Keyword.

2. Enable Creative Commons.

3. Double Check the Video License Attributes.

4. Convert the Video to 720P with YouTube Downloader (Search Your Browser).

5. Use Canva to Create Attention Grabbing Video Thumbnails.

6. Upload to Rumble and BitChute.

Important Note: With BitChute it's miles very well to apply cloaked associate hyperlinks in video descriptions, but I will no longer propose that with Rumble. Use Rumble to get perspectives and receives a commission for that. Do Not percentage affiliate links, cloaked or in any other case. In truth, do no longer proportion any hyperlinks on Rumble.

Getting even More traffic in your Rumble and BitChute Videos.

You guessed it; we're speakme approximately the 2 last alternative web sites. MeWe, and Gab. Where you want to share your motion pictures that you have uploaded to Rumble and BitChute once executed. But you furthermore may need to interact with audiences and be a part of agencies. These  web sites are like social media giants however without all of the hassles, and policies to paintings through.

Once you have created your Gab and MeWe money owed make certain to complete your profiles as expert as feasible. Simply because a faceless and/or suspicious profile will now not get a lot attention, if any at all. But social networking profiles is an entire concern on its very own.

With anything you do on-line, continually make your profiles as entire as viable because you are competing with human beings that do. A profile photo is a photograph of your face, like a passport photograph and no longer your favorite vehicle or much-cherished pet. Audiences recognize understanding who they are connecting with. Besides, it builds reputation and consider.

[eliteprepsat]

The concept of having a work-life balance refers to maintaining an equilibrium between one’s career and personal responsibilities. In a world focused just as much on our successes and upward mobility as it is on our mental health, achieving such a work-life balance has been the topic of much discussion in recent years. Companies have even gone to great lengths to create funded initiatives to ensure their employees have the best work-life balance possible. More balanced individuals are more productive employees, after all.

Unfortunately, though, when you’re in high school and college no such initiatives exist. Nonetheless, students share the same experience of competing pressures from both school and life. As a student today, one might even argue that a school-life balance is often more difficult to attain due to increasing demands placed on young people to achieve. But, the same holds true here as in the workplace: More balanced students are more productive students.

With this in mind, below are 8 tips for helping you reach a healthier school-life balance. If you practice these tips now, making them second nature, they will follow you into college and beyond into your career.

1. Set boundaries

With the amount of work that high school course schedules demand of us, it can become easy to give our entire lives over to them. While the hope is that such studiousness will eventually lead to great success, working so hard all of the time can actually be harmful.

Therefore, it’s important to establish boundaries when it comes to our school work.

Boundaries help to ensure that we don’t give all of our time to studying, but that we also leave room for other activities that we enjoy. This “down time” refreshes our bodies and minds, actually allowing us to be more productive when we do return to our school work.

To begin working within boundaries, study diligently throughout the week, but (if possible) take at least one day off from school work per week to do the things you especially enjoy. If you’re not in a position to take an entire day off from school work, try to leave at least a portion of one day free for enjoyable activities. During these designated “times off,” allow yourself the luxury of not even thinking about your school work at all.

On days that you do work, be sure to schedule in breaks. Rather than take work breaks at random, utilize the Pomodoro Method, which is a great approach for ensuring productivity without burnout. In this method, a series of timers are set to track periods of work followed by shorter periods of rest. There are many free Pomodoro Method timers online, but this one is especially handy (and cute!).

2. Focus on time management by establishing priorities and setting goals

You likely won’t be able to finish your entire research project today (at least not well!). But, you can plan to finish the last chapter of your chosen novel today, research the author’s life tomorrow, and begin writing your introductory paragraph the next day.

The point here is that when you procrastinate and then set out to complete an entire task in one sitting, that task is often overwhelming. But when you pace yourself by setting manageable tasks that you can complete incrementally, that same project doesn’t feel so insurmountable.

To help with time management, create a to-do list, placing tasks of highest priority at the top of the list and working your way down to tasks of lowest priority. If you’re a visual person, write these individual tasks out on stickie notes that you can crumple up and throw away once each one has been completed. Physicalizing your accomplishments in this way brings a sense of accomplishment that simply crossing items out on a list does not.

3. Then, reward yourself when you reach your goals

Beyond the implicit reward of simply accomplishing tasks, plan explicit rewards to accompany each of your set goals. Whether it’s with a break, a piece of chocolate, or an episode of your favorite show, treat yourself when you achieve a set goal on your to-do list.

Your goals needn’t be extravagant in every case in order to warrant a reward, either. Have you read 20 pages of your book? Put the finishing touches on your science project? Let the reward match the achievement. Whatever the case, it always helps to have something to look forward to!

4. Practice mindfulness by powering-down

The masses have long praised the idea of multitasking. Yet, we live in a time when this approach to productivity is being questioned. In fact, more recent research points to multitasking’s leading to negative effects, including increased stress and decreased cognitive functioning.

What’s recommended instead of multitasking is that you give your full attention to one task at a time. In other words, what’s recommended is that you practice mindfulness while at work.

In this article, Matt Tenney, author of The Mindfulness Edge, explains four ways that mindfulness improves productivity—including eliminating distractions and producing stronger work—by supporting his claims with evidence from an array of university studies.

One way to practice mindfulness while studying is to “unplug” by taking a break from technology. Reducing internet distractions—such as texting, social media, and even Google—can have real gains on your productivity.

5. Say goodbye to baggage

We are often reminded of the importance of extracurricular activities, especially when it comes to college admissions. Since this is the case, we tend to become involved in many extracurriculars, or we become so deeply invested in the few extracurriculars we’ve chosen that it seems they’ve taken precedence over our school work—and have even taken over our lives!

The important thing to remember is that extracurriculars are beneficial. But, they are only beneficial if they are enhancing and not draining your life.

So, do an inventory. If any of your extracurricular activities seem to be more of a drain on your time and energy than an enhancement to your current happiness and potential future success, drop them from your schedule. Place this saved time and energy into the activities you are benefiting from, and you will likely see an improvement in these areas.

6. Upgrade your study hour

Another way to improve your school-life balance is to simply find a way to enjoy the school part of the equation more. This may seem like wishful thinking; but, if you can think of your studies less as work and more as play, then you are sure to approach this time with more balance.

So, what helps you get through hours of reading or studying for exams? Listening to your favorite music? Having your favorite latte by your side? Working with a big group of your best friends? Taking your work outside to the park or to the beach? Whatever the case may be, do yourself a favor by making study hour more enjoyable for yourself. This way, you will be less hardwired to dread your time spent hitting the books.

And if a place like the park or beach isn’t easily accessible to you, check out our previous article on Creating a Great Study Space.

7. Lean on your support system

When in doubt, don’t be afraid to ask for help—from friends, family, and teachers/other mentors. It can be helpful just to have friends and family who simply understand what you’re going through with the heavy workload of school. A shoulder to lean on and an ear to confide in can go a long way toward relieving stress. And a best buddy or an understanding parent can also be key to getting you out of the house (and out of your head!) after a particularly long and grueling study session.

Teachers/mentors, on the other hand, can provide more “practical” solutions for helping to alleviate the worry from school work. Whether by suggesting additional reading, offering personally-tailored study tips, or pointing you in the direction of helpful tutors like those at Elite, these trusted adults can be a great resource in your search for a better school-life balance.

8. Practice self-care by forgetting “perfection”

As modern students with such big workloads, it can become easy to neglect our own self-care. However, whatever this phrase (“self-care”) means to you—be it physical, mental, or emotional preservation—it’s important to maintain the practice even (and especially!) when a school-life balance seems the most difficult to achieve.

Forms of self-care are as numbered and unique as the people on Earth. You know what works best for you. But one thing is universal: To practice better self-care, try letting go of your belief in “perfection.”

In a time when social media has us constantly comparing ourselves to others, and life goals such as college admissions are increasingly competitive, it makes sense to dot every “i” and cross every t”—just maybe not 9 times.

Reaching for what you deem as “perfection” isn’t always beneficial. This is because reaching “perfection” isn’t always possible. Shoot for your best instead, and you are likely to feel more satisfied and balanced in the end.

Stacy G. is a writer and teacher who has taught composition, literature, and creative writing courses at a number of public and private universities across the U.S. She has also taught SAT, AP English, and Literature SAT Subject Test courses at Elite Prep. She likes poetry, dogs, and poetry about dogs.

[vannahfanfics]

Nothing Else Compares

Category: Mild Romantic Fluff

Fandom: Atlantis- The Lost Empire

Characters: Milo, Kida

Hi, guys! I wrote this for a Atlantis zine I’m trying to apply for, so I thought I’d share <3 

Milo barely registered the burning of his calves and thighs as he squatted beside the large, lily-covered pond stretching out before him. Throughout his stay in Atlantis, Milo’s physique had considerably improved thanks to frequent hiking, swimming, and climbing. Still, even the stoutest muscles would complain after being stretched for thirty minutes without rest. The dull ache was far from Milo’s mind, for he was far too captivated by the beautiful fish gliding just below the still surface of the pond. His pencil sailed over the notebook pages. He continuously sketched the gorgeous creatures and recorded the aspects of their behavior, not wishing to miss a single detail in his rapt scientific study. 

The creatures much resembled the koi fish of the surface world, but they’d evolved a little differently due to the unique mesocosm of the rich waters of the Atlantean pond. Rather than the gold, black, orange, and white variations of patterning expressed by their overworld counterparts, the fish’s scales were dynamic arrangements of sapphire blue, cerulean, white, lavender, black,  and violet. Nothing in the surface world came close to the elegant beauty of the gorgeous fish serenely circling the pond. Milo wondered if the surrounding underwater vegetation contributed to the adaptation. The seaweed rooted in the muddy bottom of the bond wasn’t any shade of green, but hued with deep purples and blues. That’s only speculation, of course… I’ll have to carefully observe their behavior to see if they utilize the seaweed for camouflage, he thought as he tapped the end of his pencil against his lips. 

As his mind trailed off following the thought, Milo finally became aware of his thigh muscles’ screaming agony. Groaning, the academic slowly eased himself down on his rump, ultimately alleviating the pressure on his lower extremities. He could swear he heard the cells audibly sigh in relief, and the pain eased back into a dull, pounding ache. He set his notebook down to massage the distressed meat of his legs while casting a glance at the surrounding area. Milo had spotted the glittering fish first, so he’d neglected to drink in the environment around their secluded little pool. 

The pond was fed by freshwater from the mountains trickling through the crevices of the smooth, rounded rocks piled on the north end of the area. Multiple streams dribbled through the tightly-packed stones to feed into the large pond, filling the air with the pleasant babbling of the water. The stone face extended out on either side of the fishpond, where thin, twisted, gnarly trees clung to the wet surfaces with a labyrinthine network of roots that bored into the rock face. Spongy, light green moss coated every inch of the rock where the tree roots didn’t permeate. White-gray lichens draped from the spindly tree branches like curtains; they ruffled in the breeze, making the trees resemble ghostly wisterias leaning over the pond. 

Milo took a few minutes to scrawl the habitat across two pages of his notebook, just in case he needed it for future reference. The forest echoed with rustles and snaps and trilling bird calls, as all forests rich with life do. Gradually, a series of small susurrations and snapping twigs peeled Milo’s attention from his observations, making him glance over his shoulder into the underbrush to see who- or what- was approaching. A bright smile alit his face as Kida’s graceful form slipped out from underneath some elephant-ear plants to pad into the clearing. 

“Oh. Here you are, Milo,” she smiled pleasantly. “I see you’ve found something new today.” Milo nodded and eagerly gestured for Kida to approach so he could regale her with his scientific observations. The white-haired woman strolled across the clearing to sink onto her knees beside him, leaning over his shoulder so she could have a clear view of the graphite-covered pages. 

“Look, look! So, this lily system-” he gestated wildly at the collection of green lily pads floated serenely across the pond surface, blooming with lavender-colored flowers. “-is an effective filtration and aeration system for the pond, which only gets limited oxygenation by the addition of the small trickles of water from the streams…” Kida listened attentively as he lectured on all his discoveries and assumptions, her bright eyes scanning the words and diagrams while considering his speech. Kida wasn’t nearly as passionate about science as Milo, but she never berated or ignored him, and often posed some theories or considerations. It was just another small thing in a great list of many that made him hopelessly in love with the Atlantean queen. 

“And, that’s as far as I’ve gotten,” he finished with a huff, snapping the book shut and smiling expectantly at her. 

“Not bad for forty-five minutes,” Kida chuckled appreciatively. With a contented sigh, she leaned back on her hands and stretched her tanned legs out to soak up the relaxed atmosphere of the secluded little ecosystem. Her blue eyes beheld the assortment of lilies floating languidly across the pond surface with untroubled tranquility. Milo drew his knees up to his chest and leaned his cheek against his forearm with an endeared smile, watching Kida survey the area. After several minutes of comfortable silence, her sky-blue eyes flickered to her peripheries, and she grinned playfully. 

“Want to go for a swim?” 

An electric pulse of excitement propagated across every nerve junction of his body. There were no insinuations or innuendos contained within Kida’s simple question; it just reminded him of one of their first times alone, when they’d dived into the lake to swim down into the hidden cavern. Who knew that such a small event would trigger such chaos and drama? Milo reminisced silently in his head, drifting off into space as he so often did. Kida chuckled amiably and snapped her fingers in front of his face to yank him back to reality. “Earth to Milo.” 

“Oh! Yes! Swimming,” he rambled as he climbed quickly to his feet. He shed his clothes between quipped phrases. Sometimes he dressed in Atlantean attire; sometimes, he wore the clothes he’d brought with him from the submarine voyage just for nostalgia. Today was a case of the latter. “In water.” He pulled his cream-colored tank top over his head. “The two of us.” He kicked off his sandals. “Together.” He shimmied out of his cargo pants and likewise flung them carelessly aside. “Great plan.” 

“Milo,” Kida laughed, daintily covering her mouth with her hand as she rose from her position, “You act as if we aren’t engaged.” A pink blush painted Milo’s cheeks, and he flashed Kida a bashful smile while rubbing at the back of his neck. Giggling, she leaned in to pat him cutely on the cheek before unwinding the shawl that covered her upper thighs. They’d been engaged for some time now, so Milo really ought to be used to Kida’s jaw-dropping gorgeousness, but his jaw refused to get the memo. As the soft blue fabric slipped from her shapely tanned legs, his mouth fell open, and his head craned back a little so his eyes could traverse the smooth curves of her body. A polite cough brought his eyes heavenward, finding Kida’s sparkling with amusement while one of her white eyebrows quirked. 

“Uhm, I, uhh… Pretty, you’re very pretty,” Milo stammered dumbly. Kida threw back her head in another bout of delighted laughter, making Milo smile sheepishly and play with the scraggly brown hairs at the base of his neck again. Kida’s arms lunged forward to grab him by the wrists, guiding his body to guide him into the pool. 

“Thank you, Milo,” she chuckled as her ankles dipped into the cold water. The lilies bumped against her calves as she waded back into the pool, coursing across the ripples with much more speed than their previous lazy gaits. The koi scattered as Kida’s feet tracked across the deep brown mud, throwing up clouds of it in the otherwise clear liquid. When Milo’s bare feet kissed the edge of the bool, his spine tingled at the cold sensation that bloomed in his toes. The feeling spread up his legs as he slipped into the pool with his fiancé to feel him with a refreshing chill. 

The deepest region of the pool only reached the height of Kida’s waist, so that is where she dropped his arms to begin running her fingers over the surface of the water, creating dozens of ripples. As her arms moved in slow, gentle arcs, something about the movement of her body made Milo’s heart thump in his chest. He must’ve gotten a strange look on his face because she snickered, “What?” 

“You’re just the most gorgeous woman that I’ve ever met.” A flush deepened her cheeks’ skin tone, making the electric-blue tattoo decorating the area under her eye seem to glow. A shy grin spread over her pretty plump lips; he could visibly see the glee bubbling up inside of her. The water sloshed as Milo closed some distance between them to grip her arms by the elbows lightly. With a playfully considerate look, Kida watched him as he slowly raised them, hand sliding down the length of her forearm to leave dewdrops of water clinging to her gorgeous tawny skin, until he brought her hands to his face. With his eyes locked on hers, Milo kissed each of the tops of her hands and then smiled salaciously. “Definitely the most gorgeous woman that I’ve ever met,” he confirmed with an appreciative nod. Kida snorted, but he could see how flustered she was by his smooth words by the red flush creeping down her neck from her face. 

“You’re in an awfully good mood,” she commented. Milo’s flirtatiousness instantly dissolved as his fragile thread of consciousness snapped. For a second, he wondered if Kida wasn’t in the mood, but that thought evaporated as she slipped forward to press her torso against his. As the soft fabric binding her bust pressed against his pectorals, Milo reflexively began to stammer; Kida silenced them with a seductive “shhhh.” Her hands detached from his to slide over his shoulders, and he shuddered as the cold water kissed his skin. Kida’s arms wound loosely around his neck so that her fingers could play with the curly hairs resting against the nape of his neck. 

“Uhhh,” Milo blinked, compulsively pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “You’re in a pretty good mood, too.” Kida laughed airily; thankfully, his dumb comments always seemed to amuse rather than aggravate her, so he was grateful for that. 

“Well, I am with the love of my life. That will put anyone in a good mood.” Milo’s face blazed crimson, and he began to sputter nonsensically. Kida snickered, gazing in his eyes for a few moments, before her eyes dropped down to the beautiful water around them. Instinctively, he glanced down as well. 

The koi-like fish had acclimated to the lovers’ presence, as they were now freely and undauntedly gliding through the seaweed waving around Milo and Kida’s legs. Occasionally, one of the foot-long fish would bump against one of their calves; the creature would wriggle as if apologizing before swiftly swimming around. Their scales glittered like gems in the crystal-clear water- pearl, amethyst, sapphire, sugilite, onyx, and zircon glinting beneath the peaceful surface. Suddenly gripped by the urge to be even closer to the fish, Milo relaxed his legs, allowing gravity to tip him backward onto his rump. Kida cried out in alarm as her body followed suit, slumping into him on their downward slant. Milo laughed animatedly as the water splashed up around them, slicking them from head to toe. 

“That wasn’t funny,” she pouted as she pushed the water-soaked strands of white hair from her face. Milo tutted apologetically and helped her tuck the large chunks of damp hair behind her ears. The fish were momentarily startled by their sudden movement, but soon grew curious; they swam forward to nip experimentally at the fabric of their clothes and their soft skin. Milo and Kida both laughed at the ticklish sensations. Milo hummed happily and drew Kida in, spreading his legs around her frame to settle her close. Kida reclined against his chest, nestling her head against the crook of his shoulder and began to trace the star-patterned tattoo adorning the other. “Milo?” 

“Hmm?” he grunted. His eyes had resumed tracing the graceful swimming patterns of the koi fish. 

“Do you regret not leaving with your friends?” They’d only been gone for a short time, almost as short as Kida and Milo’s engagement. But what did that have to do with anything? Milo looked at Kida incredulously, unsure of where the spontaneous question had come from. Kida’s face was drawn into a sad frown, and her downcast eyes bored into the groove of his neck. She continued to trace the jagged lines of his tattoos, but the motions even seemed despondent. “I just cannot help but wonder,” she admitted morosely. Milo took a moment to shove his gut reactions aside. He wanted to carefully consider Kida’s feelings to find the best words to say. After a moment of deliberating, he answered. 

“My entire life goal was finding Atlantis,” he said quietly. He craned his head back to the heavens, where he could just barely see the ever-present stone-carved effigies of the former royals floating in the sky and brimming with spiritual energy. “Coming here was the fulfillment of my life purpose. But, more than that,” he smiled and looked down at Kida. He cupped her face, drawing his thumb over her cheekbone in a purely adoring gesture, “I found my new life purpose. You, Kida. I could never, ever regret leaving all that behind, because none of it compares to what I’ve gained with you.” 

Kida’s eyes crinkled up at the corners as she smiled broadly. Her hold around him tightened desperately as she snuggled against him, ensuring every inch of them was touching. Milo inhaled happily, wrapped his arms around her in a similarly bracing embrace, and leaned down to kiss her softly. 

The fish continued to circle them, around and around, as the two young lovers cuddled one another in the crisp, cold water. Peaceful, tranquil, unbothered by the tragedies and atrocities of the surface thousands of miles above the bedrock dome… Why would Milo ever trade blessed days like this, and the beautiful woman in his arms, for anything else? Nothing else compared. 

Nothing else compared.

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

Tag List: @deliathedork​

[perregrinstudiessometimes]

Study tips/school advice

1- Once you get your syllabi put all of the due dates in your calendar

2- Make an assignment sheet for each class that you can look at throughout the year

3- Make a full assignment sheet with all due dates from all of your classes (organized by date)

4- Don’t be afraid to email your professors if you have a question that you can’t answer on your own

5- Be sure to send thank you emails to your professor when they help you with something

6- Don’t be afraid to go to your professor’s office hours. They exist for a reason (if you are not available during the professor’s office hours email them to find a time when you are both free)  

7- Check your email! Seriously just do it! Check at least once a day! (but preferably more!)

8- If you don’t understand something do your best to get a good understanding of it as (if you have the same bad luck as I do) the one thing you don’t understand will most likely show up on the test. Don’t just hope it won’t show up on the test!

9- Don’t cram before an exam! Schedule your time so that you can relax/rest the night before the test (I will admit I normally take a glance over my notes the morning of the exam, but this is used as a refresher not an attempt for last-minute learning.

10- I see a lot of people suggest that you read through the whole exam before answering any questions. I would not recommend this as most exams are timed. Instead, I would suggest going through the exam in order skipping questions you don’t know to come back to later. (this way you can maximize the number of questions you get to that you do know the answer to without wasting time)

11- Over prepare for every test!

12- Take a mental note of how prepared you feel before a test/exam and the grade you make on said test/exam. The goal is to be able to have a pretty good guess as to what you will make on the test/exam based on how prepared you feel.

13- Use a final grade calculator (or this one) to see what you have to make on a final exam to get the grade you want (this is helpful to know what classes you will need to study more for)

14- Don’t skip class unless you absolutely have too. Showing up is half the battle.

15- On the first few days of each class wear layers because you never know how hot/cold each class will be. Take note of the temperature in each class and plan accordingly as the class goes on.

16- Show up to class a few minutes early (don’t bother showing up very early as the class before yours will probably still be in session, but you also don’t want to accidentally be late)

17- In class sit where is best for you (this will take some trial and error) I personally prefer to sit 2-3 rows back against the wall)

18- Write the date at the top of each of your papers (notes and handouts) this will make it easier to know what to study when your professor says the exam will cover everything from date A to date B.

19- Take class notes in your own words. If you can’t write it in your own words than you don’t understand it.

20- Learn and use abbreviations [here is @studyquirks post about it] and make your own for words you write often

21- read ahead in the textbooks so you will have a basic understanding when your professors bring a topic up.

22- Start studying from day one (even if it feels like there isn’t enough to go over)

23- Have specific goals for each study session.  

24- Know your learning style and use it to your advantage

25- Find out what time of day you study best (for me this is first thing in the morning and around 3-6pm)

26- Don’t skip studying a section/subject just because you don’t find it interesting. Give each subject the time it deserves.

27- Get dressed to study (there is something about having shoes on that makes me feel productive)

28- This is a link to my main study method

29- Recall is the most important aspect of studying (as it is what you will have to do for a test)

30- Study what you are weakest on most but don’t neglect stuff that you already know. Review everything at least once.

31- Make the term memorable to YOU (for example I can remember what quid-pro-quo means because I have a trump voice in my head say “quid-pro-quo I’d like a favor though”)

32- Quizlet doesn’t work for me. The act of making physical flashcards helps me learn

33- Don’t make flashcards for things you already know

34- If you need a quick basic understanding of something to google the topic followed by “for kids” (example moon phases for kids)

35- If you get distracted while studying write down the distraction and promise yourself, you will deal with it during a break/ when you are done studying.

36- STOP MULTITASKING! Seriously you will get stuff done quicker if you give each task your full attention.

37- Studying is not a competition. (I see people on Tumblr/Instagram almost bragging about how long they study for, sometimes claiming 9+ hours, a day. This is not realistic!) remember quality over quantity.  

38- Do the homework even if it isn’t graded. It will help you.

39- Make new deadlines for projects to make sure the projects get done on time (I usually set the new due take 3-7 days before the actual due date)

40- Start long term assignments within 3 days of it being assigned

41- Do all of your assignments (I often see people say it’s okay to skip a few assignments) in my opinion it is better to turn in a rushed/half-assed assignment than to have a 0 in the grade book.

42- When writing an opinion piece, you don’t have to write about your opinion (although you will probably enjoy writing about your own opinion more.)

43- If you plan on studying at the library find the least populated area (for my school this is the second floor)

44- Try and avoid the school’s library during exam season as it tends to get busy (instead try other places on campus, the public library, or a coffee shop)

45- Page flags/tabs/sticky notes are useful. Use them.

46- I prefer to use highlighters to underline rather than highlight the normal way. (the normal way makes it harder to reread as your eye is drawn to the highlighted portion)

47- Don’t over highlight (instead highlight small sections/words and expand on it in your own words in the margins/ on sticky notes)

48- When reading write summaries on sticky notes (keep these summaries concise and to the point)

59- When reading to take notes (such as from as a textbook) skim the section before doing a deep read (where you highlight/annotate) as it is difficult to know if a sentence is important without context.

50- When doing required readings for classes take detailed notes and summaries the reading in your own words both to help you understand the reading and so you can look back at the summaries when you need a refresher (like before an exam)  

51- If you know you will be asked to write about the reading keep a list of quotes (with page numbers) and a description of why the quote is important/relevant

52- If you are reading a whole book, make sure to make summaries for each chapter and keep track of plot points (for when you are making an overall summary of the book/reading.

53- In short summarize! Summarize! Summarize!

54- ALL NIGHTERS ARE A WASTE OF TIME! Try and avoid them at all costs. Plan your time effectively and you won’t have to pull all-nighters.

55- Use a website like google drive or one drive to keep all of the assignments you are currently working on, so you don’t have to worry about carrying around a flash drive.

56- Give yourself a day off once a week where you don’t work on anything school-related (for me this is Sunday)

57- Use alarms to remind you to do things/ get you to do things (I use silent alarms on my watch to remind me when to leave so I can make it to my next class etc)

58- Study groups don’t work for me and I have found that they are a waste of my time.

59- Keep a list of all the places to study around campus for when the library is closed/busy

60- The Pomodoro method doesn’t work on me. I focus too much on how much time is left and not enough on my studies

61- Try a social media break

62- Mind maps don’t work for me. I find it much more effective to use a linear progression of thoughts

63- Don’t feel like you have to join clubs if you don’t want to.

64- Give yourself incentives (ex if I make a B+ or higher on this paper I will plan a movie night with friends, although don’t disregard pleasure if you don’t do well on a test/paper)

65- Clean your desk/study area every time you are done using it

66- Follow the two-minute rule, if it can be done in two minutes do it right then (don’t follow this while studying just write down a list of everything that needs to be done and do them once your study session is over)

67- Don’t rely on motivation. Rely on discipline. Be a parent to yourself.

68- Eat breakfast if you can (I know eating early upsets some people’s stomach) and always pack a snack in case you don’t have time for lunch    

69- Try to carry as little as possible in your bag (if you can’t avoid carrying multiple textbooks try carrying one/some textbooks in your arms to help distribute the weight)

70- Keep a water bottle, chargers for all of your electronics, all the pens/highlighters, and study materials you will needs in your study area (so you won’t be tempted to get up and walk away from your studies)  

71- Keep just one folder in your bag for all of the handouts you are given throughout the day. Organize these papers by class/topic/chapter when you get home

72- Clean out your bag often (I clean out mine every day)

73- Remember the best tips are the ones that work for you!!!!

[my-never-ending-nightmare]

07/01/2021

I swear if I didn’t come on here to randomly talk to myself and essentially bare my soul naked before whoever happens to see it then I wouldn’t know or understand myself anywhere near as well as I do these days. It’s refreshing being so honest, both with the world and myself – and it’s helped me gain a level of insight into myself that I never imagined I’d achieve. It’s begun to dawn on my since my last post that the feeling I had mistaken for indecision was really just my own astonishment regarding the fact that I already did make a decision. And I made it as far back as within the first few seconds of being handed the previously mentioned “card.” I’m not going to complicate things – I’m going to do what I should do rather than I what I want to do. I’m going to do the right thing. Which is shocking to me not just because I’m so used to doing the opposite, but also because I have no anxiety or stress regarding it. Instead I have peace of mind. And that feels good. But I’m not used to feeling good lol

There’s so much I don’t recognize about myself these days – and I mean that in a good way, because it’s mostly regarding my decision making. I have so much more discipline & self-control these days – probably more than I’ve ever had – and I certainly am more aware of my own emotions then I’ve ever been. Like, I can think of several ways the “old me” of even just 6 months ago would have responded to what happened – and none of them are pretty, to say the least lol. But I’m done trying to frantically exert control over everything external and instead I’m focusing all that energy on the one thing I do have control over: myself.

Like, I watched my mother today spend hours trying to remove gypsy moth caterpillars from a tree in front yard today. They’re this invasive species that goes through a natural cycle in their population – every decade or so the population explodes and they end up everywhere and can completely decimate a tree’s leaves. My mom was trying everything to get rid of them – spraying the fucking tree down with a hose constantly, using a rake to try to knock them off, and finally putting wraps of tape up and down the entire tree and on every single goddamn branch. She looked like a crazy person trying to do battle against nature and the will of the universe itself. It was like watching a farmer try to protect a single crop from a swarm of locusts – an absolutely pathetic and futile endeavor. I nearly just flat out told her at one point that if she thinks a hose is going to eradicate them then wouldn’t they have already gone extinct due to rain storms? Lol. But any humor I could derive from the spectacle vanished once I realized that what she was doing was essentially the way I’d been behaving my whole life – unwilling to accept the things I cannot change.

Which got me thinking about a story somebody told me yesterday. When this person was much, much younger and far more irresponsible he had ended up in a bar one night sharing the type of bond with an older gentleman that only two people united over booze can have. The old guy at one point pulled a book out of his jacket pocket – probably a bible – and set it down on the bar. He flipped through the first quarter or so of the book and said something to the effect of “look son, this book here is the story of your life. These first few chapters you didn’t get to write, they were written for you. And you can’t change them.” Then he showed him how much of the book was still left and told him “these chapters you get to write yourself. And every chapter you write will change the next. What you write on this page will dictate what happens on the next page.”

Something about that story really had an impact on me, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. But I wanted to write it down here just in case lol.

Turns out I was right in my last post, I am going to learn something valuable after all :)

[ibelieveinahappilyeverafter]

Danny Phantom - belief does not make it real (but fear does)

The first of my Patreon drabbles that I wrote last year and am now posting here to my Tumblr! I hope you guys enjoy it and, remember, to check out my Patreon page so you can see more great drabbles like this one year round!

Summary: Danny, Sam, and Tucker decided to test a few common myths to see if there’s anything that really can repel ghosts. Blood blossoms had managed, after all, and they’d rather not be taken off guard again. Some of the items, though, has Danny amused more than worried - at last until he realizes that some stories are true. 

Fandom: Danny Phantom

Characters: Danny Fenton | Danny Phantom, Sam Manson, Tucker Foley

Rating: Teen Audiences

Word Count: 2,219

               Check out my writing commission information here!         Pledge to my Patreon to get exclusive content like this drabble!

                                                           ⁂

“There’s absolutely no way that this is going to work.” Danny stared at the array of objects on his bed, Sam and Tucker on either side of him with Tucker’s phone still held out in front of his face, screen starting to go dim. “It’s not that I don’t believe in it, it’s just that this is stupid and it’s not going to work. Period.”

“Danny, you know I hate agreeing with Tucker, but he might actually be right for once.” Sam’s serious expression twitched into a smile, Danny trying to keep his stern expression at Tucker’s scoff.

“Thanks, Sam. Thanks a bunch,” Tucker grumbled, waving his phone screen in Danny’s face. “Just read this, okay?” The screen was black due to inactivity. “It seems pretty promising!”

“You literally googled ‘ways to repel a ghost’ and clicked one of the first results. How is that promising?” Danny moved to fall into his computer chair, rolling across the floor and relaxing a bit at the sound of wheels over a wooden floor. When he looked back up, Tucker was sitting on the bed and near drowning in his hoodie of the day and Sam was kicking her feet from where she was on his desk, dress flaring out with the movement. “This is stupid.”

“Yeah, but that’s what you said about your parent’s ghost portal when we were fourteen.” Tucker had a point and Danny hated it. “C’mon, man.”

“He’s got a point,” Sam sighed, kicking at Danny’s chair when he rolled back over. “We didn’t think anything but your parents’ weapons could hurt you, and then that whole blood blossom thing happened.”

“Ugh, thanks for reminding me of that,” Danny shuddered. He was now seventeen and even though that event was years away in the past, he still remembered how much those had hurt. It was almost the same feeling as when he had been stuck in the portal when it had turned on. “You think this stuff is gonna work, though?”

“Won’t know until we try,” Tucker shrugged, picking up a few objects from the pile that had been dumped onto his bed. There were a few pencils and notebooks scattered in there, but Danny had a feeling that was more from the fact Tucker had turned his backpack upside down on his bed. Then again, they could be using homework as a way to ‘repel him.’ It’d probably work. “Okay, first up is protection objects.”

“You’re going to hate this,” Sam ‘whispered.’ Half a second later she caught the object Tucker tossed at her without even looking. There was a reason Danny was afraid of his best friends, sometimes. “Okay, so first we’re going to try crystals.”

“Sam’s gonna do it since she’s the witch.” Tucker ducked the boot that was tossed at him, sticking his tongue out as Sam squirmed around and kicked her other one off, managing to nail Tucker in the knee. “Jesus are those things made of steel?”

“Just the tips,” Sam smiled sweetly, hooking her foot under Danny’s arm and pulling him back over to her. Danny let himself roll across the floor, trying not to laugh as he bumped into Sam’s table, the girl’s feet, covered with bright purple tights, settling in his lap to keep him there. “The website said black tourmaline, so we’re going to try that one, first. I’m also going to try some of my own crystal quartz, though.”

“Are we sure you’re not a witch escaped from Salem or something?” Danny settled back in the path of sunlight that fell over him and his desk, ready to take a nap as his friends got their weird curiosity out of their system. “Alright, hit me with it.”

“Sure.” With that, Sam proceeded to throw what she was holding at him and hit Danny in the middle of his chest with it. Danny caught the stone before it could hit the floor, rolling it around in his hand. The sunlight caught and held in the cracks of the stone, Danny unable to describe it better than a piece of charcoal that didn’t crumble beneath his fingers.

“Can I keep this?” Danny finally asked, Sam pouting while Tucker slumped and mumbled to himself as tapped something on his phone. He was probably making notes that the stones didn’t seem to work against him. “It’s pretty cool.”

“Yeah, yeah, you can keep it. You sure you don’t feel anything, though? Not even an urge to throw it away?” Sam asked, nudging at his stomach with one of her feet. Danny didn’t bother swatting her away, instead fidgeting with the crystal.

“I mean… It doesn’t hurt, but I guess it sort of feels like more than just a rock, maybe?” Danny stared down at it, almost captivated at noticing the sleek sheen the sun brought out in it. Holding it almost reminded him of how it felt moments before he created a shield. “It’s cool.”

“Hm. Let’s try my quartz.” Sam dug under her shirt and tugged out one of her many necklaces, Danny trying not to laugh at the fact Sam was just wearing something that was supposed to repel ghosts. “I’ve had this for almost three years, now, and I cleanse it in moonlight every few weeks.”

“And you’re telling us you didn’t escape from Salem?” Tucker snort laughed, beaming at Sam’s glare and lack of things to throw at him. Danny ignored them and tucked away his own new stone before looking at Sam’s. It was crystal clear and looked almost like glass, a piece of metal wound around it and threading it onto a leather cord. “So, what, you’re going to throw this one at him, too?”

“Yeah, why not?” That was all the warning Danny had before he was scrambling to catch the necklace, eyes widening as he felt something the moment it touched his skin. It took a moment to convince himself not to drop it, Tucker and Sam noticing at once. “Danny? What’s wrong?”

“Dude, you okay? Did the magic crystal thing actually work?” Tucker sounded shocked, which, considering he was behind this, was not reassuring. He had probably done all this because he was bored.

“No, it didn’t- I mean, it’s not hurting or repelling me or anything, really.” Danny swallowed, looking down at the crystal and carefully reaching it back up to Sam, slumping when she took it back. “It felt like it was heavy, I guess. I dunno, it felt like you dropped a ten-pound rock into my hands.”

There were a few beats of silence between them, Tucker finally mumbling a soft little, “Spooky.” It was all it took to send Danny and Sam into a fit of laughter. “Okay, okay, we have a bunch more stuff to get through! Think fast, man!”

Catching the newest torture device tossed at him, Danny laughed at seeing it was a cheap dreamcatcher made of bright pink colors. He didn’t feel anything while holding it beyond a sense of amusement as he fiddled with it, fingers skimming against cheap plastic and cheaper strings.

“I mean, some pretty bad memories are cropping up, but other than that, I think I’m good.” There was a snicker from Sam and a little mutter about capes. Danny ignored her and tossed the dreamcatcher on his desk to give to Jazz later. She’d get a kick out of it, if nothing else.

“Maybe we should be testing these in your ghost form, too,” Sam said, Danny groaning and wiggling away from her before rolling his chair over towards Tucker and the bed.

“That just means this will take even longer, though. Tuck, wouldn’t you rather finish this soon and go play some video games at your place?” Danny grinned as Tucker started to waver before he sighed and slumped, defeat in every inch of his posture.

“We should really check everything in case we run into trouble like this in the future. We need to know what to look out for, man.”

“What’s she got against you?” Danny narrowed his eyes, looking to an evilly grinning Sam, who had her legs crossed. The fact she was wearing a black dress more suited for the daughter of a Disney villain was not helping matters.

“She promised to buy me a new tablet,” Tucker gave in with a completely slump of defeat, Danny rubbing at his back as he ‘glared’ back over at Sam.

“Temptress,” he hissed, trying to keep in his laughter as he let freezing cold energy build up in his chest before it snapped, form spiraling around him and changing him into Phantom. Beneath his now gloved hand, Tucker gave a sharp shiver. “Oh, sorry, man.”

“No big deal, just wasn’t expecting it. Alright, bring out the stones again, Sam!”

As it turned out, there was a bit of a difference between Danny’s ghost form and his human form. The tourmaline actually had him making a shield on instinct and the quartz was heavy enough that he couldn’t even hold it. Once they established that, they went into everything else and Danny learned a few things he hadn’t been expecting to learn.

Holy water, as it turned out, made him feel energized and refreshed and had him flying a few laps around the room, papers and books fluttering in his wake.

Burning sage, however, had him sneezing repeatedly and forced them to open his windows as he tried to stop his eyes from watering.

Sam’s herbs didn’t seem to have any sort of effect, Danny even eating a few to prove that he was fine. They were all relieved when nothing happened beyond a confused tongue due to all the varying tastes because, even Danny could admit, he hadn’t thought that one through.

Praying had ended up with all three of them in a circle on the floor laughing as they prayed to: the Nasty Burger, Lancer’s true or false tests, Sam’s favorite shade of lipstick, and the gaming controller Tucker had been using for the past seven years.

Meditating and cleansing their auras had left Tucker asleep against the bed, Sam in a deep, serene state on his only nice rug, and Danny feeling surprisingly lighter as he floated in the air. Although, it was odd that he found himself messing with his new crystal when they finally opened their eyes after fifteen minutes. They used some water to wake Tucker up, though.

The helpful article step telling them to ‘try and stop believing’ only had them looking at where Danny was floating over the bed and on his back. It had taken them almost half an hour to stop laughing.

“Okay, I got one last thing.” Tucker held up a shaker of salt, Danny unable to stop his snort. “Hey, it’s in Supernatural, so that’s got to mean something!”

“Oh, right, the horrible show that makes no sense, has poor story structure, and is culturally insensitive.” Sam’s words only had Danny laughing again, Tucker looking like his very life had been attacked. “Oh, calm down. You really think salt is going to do something?”

“Tuck, we literally drowned our fries in salt yesterday,” Danny managed past his laughter, floating down to sit beside Tucker, the two knocking into each other from the dip of the bed. “And I’m not anymore dead than I usually am.”

“Aha! We’ve never had you exposed to salt in this form, though!” Tucker held out the salt, Danny snorting and tugging off a glove and then rolling up his sleeve. “I’m just going to pour it straight on there, okay?”

“Sure, since nothing’s going to happen. Hey, think we got some fries downstairs? That would be great with this,” Danny said, beaming when Tucker gave a dry, single laugh while Sam burst into giggles. “Alright, alright, hit me with it.”

“Don’t blame me when this hurts,” Tucker grumbled, trying to hide a smile as he wrapped his fingers around Danny’s wrist to keep his arm steady before tipping the salt shaker over to allow a thin stream of salt to fall.

There was a single moment where Danny was relaxed and at ease because nothing was going to happen, and then it suddenly felt like his arm was being held up against an open flame that burned. It felt like pinpricks of molten fire were sinking down into his flesh and searing him straight down to the bone, squirming and digging their way in to melt everything touched.

By the time Danny realized he wasn’t on fire, he was on the other side of his bedroom and shoved up in a corner on top of some dirty clothes, staring at where Tucker and Sam were watching him with wide, startled eyes. All three looked down to where Danny’s exposed arm was a bright, fiery red in the pattern of small dots that mirrored the specs of salt that had touched him.

“Well, then.” Sam’s voice was as faint as Danny felt. “I guess we figured out something that hurts besides blood blossoms.”

“Yeah.” Danny let go of the gathered cold in his chest, pushing it out slowly and letting his ghost form fade away. When he looked back to his arm, it was smooth and pale, the only pattern visible the small patches of sun freckles. “I guess we did.”