#for some reason the quality tends to better with my phone camera

[waitineedaname]

that collection of greedlings I reblogged earlier reminded me I should post my own collection of favorite greedling panels, except mine are mostly sillies

[avaritia-apotheosis]

Phantom Children Ch.4

In Which: exposition for exposition's sake exists, and Vlad looks way more suspcious than he ought

| AO3 | Prologue | 3 | [4] | 5

VLADIMIR MASTERS. Human male in his mid-forties, and most notably the founder and CEO of VladCo, a billion-dollar industry that mostly specializes in manufacturing weapons and technology. Graduated summa cum laude from the University of Wisconsin despite having to drop out due to a lab accident in his second year, landing him in the hospital. Despite being based primarily in Wisconsin, he made an unexpected move to Amity Park Illinois shortly after reuniting with his college friends Drs. Madeline and Jack Fenton.

Not even a year later, Masters ran for mayor of Amity Park and won the election by a landslide. Suspicious, considering Masters being an unknown and the former mayor Montez being quite popular. It’s during Masters’ tenure in office that reports of ghost attacks to the Justice League steadily died down.

“Why?” Damian asked.

Barbara shrugged, pulling up a few files on the screen. “I originally had a theory that related to VladCo’s buyout of Axion Labs—a technological research and manufacturing company that’s mostly local to Amity—being a factor. Within the last couple of years, they had been experimenting with highly volatile chemicals with hallucinogenic properties. Amity had always been known for being extremely superstitious with its ghosts, and if Axion Labs had somehow accidentally released that chemical into the city, well…” She leaned back into her chair, hand twisting in the air. “You could bet how that ended up. The hysteria around ghosts only grew worse in the last two years, with suspected sightings from once every few weeks to multiple in a single day. Early attempts to capture sightings were unsuccessful, and soon enough Amity Park was just written off.”

Much like the mass hysteria surrounding the urban legend of the kuchisake-onna in Japan in the late 1970s, Bruce thought. He pulled up some news footage from Amity Park dated a few years back of citizens being interviewed about their ghostly encounters. Beside these videos were a few photos taken by a shaky camera, showing bright blurs of light streaking across the sky or vaguely humanoid shapes rising from the ground.

“So VladCo., bought out Axion Labs, improved its security, and slowly helped detoxify the town?” Damian shifted his weight onto his other leg and crossed his arms.

“That’s what I thought, but—”

“But the ghosts ended up being real.” Bruce pulled up a video of a field reporter-slash-weatherman taking cover as a figure dropped from the sky, breaking through the walls of a building. The figure—features distorted by an eerie glow—shot out of the rubble just in time before a green blast hit it.

Oracle enlarged other news footage with a few taps on her keyboard. Beings zooming through the air. Massive plants erupting from the ground. Technology coming to life. Each video more worrying than the last, and most showing some footage of a figure bathed in a white glow. “I’d be hard pressed to call any of these faked.”

It begged the question as to how Amity Park survived this long unscathed. Since, if he remembered correctly, even the Dark Leaguers tended to avoid Amity Park like the plague. “They have their own heroes, then?”

“Think along the lines of vigilantes with unofficial support.” A few more files popped up on screen. One showcased a female in a full-length black and red body suit on top of a hover board. The other was a male; young, perhaps a teenager, with white hair and a black and white suit. Hazmat? “The Red Huntress and the Phantom of Amity Park.”

“Partners?”

“More like enemies working on the same turf. Sources place Phantom as appearing first, though it seems Red Huntress has more government support in the end despite there being no official statement. They seem to be the most effective ghost hunters in town, though far from the only ones. The Fentons of Fenton Works are also acting as ghost hunters, though their track record of success leans more towards their anti-ghost tech than any hunting. The town’s even attracted visitors from the Ghost Investigation Ward; a side branch of Cadmus though a now defunct organization.”

“This doesn’t make sense,” Damian said. “If anything, this should be more than enough reason for a League intervention. Why the Justice League didn’t come sooner is the real question here.”

Bruce’s lips thinned. “That’s because we were warned off it.”

“What?”

While there was no rule against heroes entering another hero’s city, there were certain unspoken rules that demanded that JL members avoid claimed cities or stay just outside of city lines until given permission to enter. Some were especially strict about it such as Batman’s ‘no metas or outsiders’ rule. Others were more lenient, simply requesting a warning before entering.

Amity Park, despite having no listed heroes in the database, was marked with heavy ‘Do Not Interact’ warnings for humans and metas alike.

“Justice League Dark said that under no circumstances should the League interfere in Amity. The situation was never explicitly laid out for us except to say that everything was being handled.”

“Oh yeah,” Oracle chimed. “Constantine even had it bolded, underlined, italicized, and in all caps. The occult community was very clear about everyone staying away—and apparently this decision had support from Amity Park too.” She pulled up another document. “That’s probably what led to the decline in their ghost reports, actually. Amity’s claims were considered bogus and brushed aside. No one outside their town—not even their sister town of Elmerton—believed them, so they simply stopped asking for help.”

Strangely, it reminded Bruce of Gotham. Both cities existed in its own isolated sphere, unwilling to let any outsiders interfere in its business.

“It’s safe to assume, then, that whatever Ra’s al Ghul wants with Amity, it has to do with these ghosts. Do we have anyway to contact the town’s vigilantes?”

Oracle shook her head. “Ghost attacks within the past few months have slowly died down along with sightings of Phantom and Red Huntress. Your best bet is asking Masters directly.”

Damian glowered. “Masters blatantly sent out an invitation for Batman to my father. How do we know that Masters hasn’t somehow found our secret identities?”

“Unlikely,” Bruce said. “Vlad Masters, despite his wealth, has done well to keep a low profile. He’s met Bruce Wayne a total of three times within the last decade and Batman not at all.” That, and with the kind of spyware Batman has, he’d be able to tell when, where, and who was trying to dig deep into Batman’s past. Masters hadn’t even registered as a ping.

“Besides, there’s always a few rumors of Wayne Enterprise’s involvement with Batman. All this tech has to come from somewhere, no?”

“How long is Masters staying in Gotham?”

“Umm…” Oracle leaned forward in her chain and flipped through a half-dozen windows. “Going by his reservations at the Gotham Royal Hotel, he’s leaving tomorrow.”

Bruce pivoted on his heel, heading deeper into the Cave. “We better make this count, then.”

------

According to Oracle’s intel, Vlad Masters was staying at one of the executive suites in the Gotham Royal Hotel. A titanic structure with forty-eight floors, two towers, and the gothic aesthetic that never seemed to leave Gotham’s architecture.

Scaling the building as well as entering the suite proved no challenge for Batman and Robin. But upon entrance, it was abundantly clear that the room was vacant.

“Are you sure you guys are in the right room?” Bruce could hear the clicking of Oracle’s keys through their comms. “Masters had reserved the suite on the west tower.”

“Yes we’re in the correct room, Gordon,” Robin hissed.

“Codenames only, Robin.”

Robin clicked his tongue, sweeping the common room for any hidden bugs or cameras as Batman scouted out the rest of the room. The bed was made to hotel standard and the bathroom towels all completely replaced. There were no clothes in the hotel closet or dresser.

The only thing left that indicated occupancy of the room was an unmarked manila envelope unsubtly tucked within a pillowcase.

Robin tensed at the sight of it. “A detonator of some sort?”

Batman rotated the package, holding it up to his scanner. “Doesn’t seem to be. Regardless, it might be better to take it back to the Batcave and locate Masters ag—” The envelope started ringing. A standard ringtone found in most phones. Quickly, but carefully, Batman opened the manila envelope and dumped its contents onto the bed. A ringing burner phone and a flash drive came tumbling out.

Batman threw the flash drive at Robin before answering the phone, holding it up against his ear but saying nothing.

Silence. Then, Masters’ voice filtered in through the phone with a strange echo-like quality. “Good evening, Batman! I’m so glad my invitation managed to get passed along.”

Batman growled into the speaker, “What do you want, Masters?” He signaled Robin to do another sweep of the room for any signs of Masters they might have missed.

“I sincerely apologize for not being there to meet you myself; incredibly rude of me, I know. But it cannot be helped, the shadows are growing ever bolder.”

“So, you are aware then, of the League of Assassins’ presence in Amity Park?”

“A league of assassins? What a terrifying notion that is.” Batman frowned. It was unlikely that they had misread his words at the gala, so why was he acting unaware now? Could he be watched? “Why such a group would appear in my little town, I wouldn’t even dare to guess.”

Robin came back into the room and signaled back ‘negative.’

“Why did you call for us, Mayor Masters?”

“Do you know what is so very tragic, Batman?”

“This is strange,” Oracle said. “I can’t pick up his signal. He’s not appearing on any of my cameras, either.”

“When someone so young dies much to soon.” A pause. “Could you even imagine such a thing? A parent burying their own child.”

Batman could. He had no need to even imagine it because he lived it.

“Some very close friends of mine have been weighed down by the shadows of death and I require help in providing them the closure they need.”

“Are the Fentons the targets, then?”

Masters paused. Then let out a breathy laugh over the phone. “Oh, if only it were that simple.”

“So a different target.”

“Everything you need to know is in the flash drive I’ve enclosed in that envelope Whether you take up the case is entirely up to you—though I do hope you take it. Regardless, if he is not returned soon then I assure you that a disaster unlike any you have seen before will arrive.”

Batman narrowed his eyes. “Is that a threat, Masters?”

“No,” He laughed. “That was no threat. That was promise.”

The phone line disconnected just as Oracle exclaimed that she finally found Masters boarding his flight back to Amity Pak.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #516

“we were playing for keeps, but we both knew the cost  /  now the only way out’s in your heart-shaped box”

Do you have an item that is your good luck charm? No. Does global warming and the hole in the ozone truly bother you? No shit it does???? I kinda live here???? And want to see my nieces and nephews live full lives????? What’s the regular unleaded gas price where you are? I don't know. I haven't left the house in weeks. Your take on declawing cats? It is fucking animal abuse and you are an indisputably disgusting human being if you do it to your cat. Surveys aside, do you use Tumblr for any other reason? I have a blog dedicated mostly to Markiplier, but I haven't used it in months. How many times a year do you go on vacation? Do you tend to go to the same places each time? Essentially never. How many times did it take you to pass your driving test? N/A When you’re in trouble, do your parents ever “middle name” you? Yep. Do you prefer Apple or Android? I think Apple is better quality, but shit just breaks too easily. I'm not particularly loyal to either brand by choice, but I usually get Android phones because they're cheaper. Does getting sweaty or dirty bother you at all? If so, has it ever put you off doing exercise? Absofuckinglutely to both. Have you ever thought about how you want to spend your retirement? Not really, no. When was the last time you got a new tattoo or piercing? Do you have any plans to get either in the future? I got my Mark tattoo tidied up last year. I would like to get an industrial ear piercing for my birthday. What colour was the last vehicle you travelled in? Does this vehicle belong to you or someone else? White, and it's Mom's. Do you miss anything about being a teenager? If you are a teenager, what’s your favourite thing about it? I miss how as a teen, I felt like I was going somewhere. I was so intelligent and successful in school, being full of promise. I wasted that. I also miss having less responsibilities. Are you patriotic at all? Why/why not? No. This country has too many flaws for me to feel very proud. Don't get me wrong, there are positives, but I just... can't in my good conscious feel patriotic. Have you ever had to wear a white lab coat before? Was this in school or for a job? Yes, in college science class. Would you ever want to do the same career(s) as your parents? No. Which animated film would you most like to live in? Bro, let me live in The Lion King universe. Let me be a chill lioness in Simba's pride, lmao. Do you prefer the company of people or animals? Oh, 100% animals. What do you think would be the worst thing about being stuck in solitary confinement? Being alone with solely your mind. It'd become a monster. Do you like having your teeth cleaned at the dentist? Yeah. Sometimes it's painful, but I loooove the feeling afterwards. Have you ever had a gun drawn on you before? NOOOOOOOOO. Are you a fan of Reddit? What are some of your favourite subreddits? I don't use it. Have you ever got into an argument with a stranger on social media? Do you remember what it was about? Yep. The one I remember specifically was with some dickhead who replied to a disgusted comment I made on a photo some trophy hunter took with his young son, posing dead, very bloodied wolves to look like they were growling at the camera. These fucking animals (and no, I'm not talking about the wolves) were smiling away, and the dad was so proud. It was nearly nauseating and made me absolutely incensed, especially because the picture related to NOTHING I follow on Facebook, so odds are he made it like an ad or something to share his horrible pride. The fight ended with me just ignoring the monster's dumb ass because his arguments were TERRIBLE and it was just a total waste of time. If you had ten minutes to run around an empty supermarket and fill your trolley for free, what’s the first aisle you’d go for? Uhhhhh probably frozen foods/instant meals, because that's what I eat the most. How often do you spend time with your extended family? Pretty much never, given none of them live even remotely close to us. Are you a fan of hot chocolate? Do you like it plain or do you prefer to add things like whipped cream or marshmallows? I adoreeee hot chocolate. I prefer it plain, really. I HATE whipped cream, and as the marshmallows dissolve, I don't like the texture. Favorite place to eat out growing up? I loved McDonald's. Do you own any winter sports equipment? No. Do you like when friends stop by unexpectedly? NO. Omg never do this. I have to be mentally prepared for company. Did your mother change her maiden name when/if she got marred? She did. Do you play Pokemon GO? If so, what level are you and who’s your buddy? Yeah, but I haven't actually been able to play for quite a while because my phone doesn't have the memory to update it... so idk what my level is. My buddy is Charmander. In your ideal profession, would you need a work uniform? No. What brand water do you drink? (Smart Water, Dasani, etc) Whatever is cheapest at the store, really. Mom picks it out. My favorite is Essentia, though. Are you watching TV right now? No; I'm watching Gab Smolders play Parasite Eve 2. Or are you listening to music? No. I've had "Another Life" by MiW stuck in my head for like... three days now, but I'm refusing to listen to it because I know what it does to me. Would you go to jail for 3 years for $1,000,000? No. I just wouldn't last. Are you the type who is completely against abortion? I am strictly pro-choice. I was pro-life for most of my life until a few years ago, but thank the fucking lord I came to realize that a pregnant individual gets to make their own choices when it comes to a topic so huge such as bringing a child into the world. That's none of my damn business. Have you ever read a book that actually changed your outlook on life? No. Does your favorite flower hold any meaning to you? No, I just think they look very interesting and also beautiful. What would you do if your favorite animal became endangered? Bro I would legit cry at finding that out. I would lose my fucking shit if meerkats ever became extinct. Have you ever owned an expensive eyeshadow palette? No. I only really wanted one matte black shade of high quality for the extremely rare occasion I put on makeup, but I really don't care nowadays. Are your nails always painted? They never are. What’s one thing you’ve had a toxic reaction to? The breakup with Jason. Which holiday is your favorite to decorate for? I don't actually decorate for like... anything anymore, but I enjoy seeing both Halloween and Christmas decorations a lot. Were you popular in school? No; I was a loner. Are there any foods that often give you heartburn or indigestion? Many foods give me heartburn, like bananas, peanut butter, brown sodas (especially Dr. Pepper), sometimes chocolate, etc. When was the last time you were on a carousel? I haven't the slightest idea. What is the most popular tourist attraction where you live? A tourist attraction???? In MY area??????? Do you think some babies are ugly? Most babies are honestly hideous imo. Don’t you miss Chuck E. Cheese? Hell yeah, man. Those were the good 'ole days. Do you love stuff-crusted pizza? I like it, but "love" is a strong word. I prefer normal crust. Do you apply lotion after you bathe? No, but I SERIOUSLY need to because of how horrendously dry my skin is. Who did you have your most amazing kiss with? Jason. Do you recycle? Is this through choice or do you live somewhere where it’s compulsory? We recycle. I don't know if it's mandatory, though, but I'm glad we do. Do you see a lot of wild animals where you live? Are any of them dangerous? You definitely don't see a lot of wildlife here besides birds. I've mentioned recently that we've got only a small handful of dangerous animals. Do you say “mood?” lmao BRO too much. That is like one of my most-used phrases. Do you own glass straws because the metal ones kind of gross you out because you can’t tell if they are clean or not? I didn't know glass straws were a thing... but I do have a pair of metal straws that I use. I know when they're clean given I'm the only one who uses them and I put them in the dishwasher. Have you made a TikTok? No; I've never even had an account there. Are you afraid of Mercury in retrograde? No; I don't believe in the theory that it in any way affects human emotion and stuff. Do you have a big butt? lmao what butt Do you count how long you and your gf/bf have been together? I personally do. I think it's nice to notice just how long love can last between people, plus I believe in celebrating yearly anniversaries, so I kinda need to know. Describe the clock in the room you’re in. I don't have one in here. How's the weather in your neck of the woods? We're under a winter storm watch right now. HOPEFULLY I'll wake up to snow tomorrow. Do you have any step-siblings? Yes. I don't really see him as my brother though, honestly. I barely ever visit my dad if I'm honest, and Michael's his wife's adult son, so it's not like we're kids growing up together. Plus he is super reclusive, so he's usually in his room if I ever am there. Cats or dogs? Cats. Do you like Marilyn Manson? I adore his music, being one of my favorite artists with certainty, but he's a disgusting human being. Have your parents ever had surgery? My mom has had a kidney and her entire reproductive system removed, both because of cancer, and actually very recently, my dad had spinal surgery because I want to say an overgrown vertebrae was pushing against a nerve. If you own a camera, what colour is it? It's black. Do you remember the last time you tripped? Earlier this evening when I was helping Mom bring in groceries; I stumbled on the step up into the house, but I caught myself. My legs have been in seriously severe pain today, and I normally find going up that simple step over the threshold very painful, but today was just especially bad. Have you ever eaten a kangaroo steak? Er, no. That's a pass from me. Is there a mall where you live? Just one that's like, a three-minute drive from our house, but it SUCKS. It's a hub for crime and is just in general immensely underwhelming. Are you on non-speaking terms with any relatives? Not yet. My uncle is fucking tempting me. Have you ever had to be on crutches? I once tried them when I very badly sprained my ankle, but they were too tall for me to be comfortable, so I didn't use them long at all. What did you last cry about? What a piece of shit my body is, mostly by my own doing. Would you ever consider home birth? BRO FUCK NO GIVE ME THAT GODDAMN EPIDURAL Have you seen all three High School Musical movies? Pretty sure no. My sister was obsessed, though. Do you collect pine cones, or have you in the past as a child? What have you made out of them/what did you do with them? No, but I do remember back in elementary school one year, we all made "Christmas trees" out of them by spray-painting them green, using glitter and other little art supplies for ornaments. My mom still has mine and my sisters' stored away with the Christmas decorations. When was the last time you sat down and made an actual Christmas gift? How often do people ask you what you want for Christmas and you’re unable to think of anything concrete until after the holidays have passed? I haven't done that for a few years; I drew a portrait of Cali (our late boxer) for my mom. She cried. And tbh, I don't really struggle to name something I want, given the answer will always be tattoo funds or anything meerkat-related, lmao. I'm honestly very easy and predictable with gifts. Have you ever used a VPN to access foreign content online? No. Are you old enough to remember using floppy discs? Sure do remember using those in elementary school. Have you seen any of the live-action Disney remakes? Which one is your favourite? What about your least favourite? I honestly love those. I have to say the live-action Jungle Book massively impressed me. I don't know if I have a least favorite. Do you have any exciting plans for tomorrow? If not, how are you planning to spend your day? No. It's just your ordinary, bland day. I'll try to at least go into the spare room, though. Do you ever buy things off eBay? If you do, do you participate in auctions or do you just use the “buy it now” option? Yeah; Mom tends to do the "buy it now" option, but has engaged in auctions for old video games for me to see if she could snag a deal. Do you prefer having the blinds/curtains open or closed when you’re at home? Does it depend on the weather or the time of day? As soon as I wake up in the morning, I open my blinds because natural sunlight really helps my mood, plus I just like being able to see outside. When it gets dark, I always close them. Do you use an ad-blocker on your computer or phone? Why/why not? Yes, because ads are annoying. I did not, however, know there were ad blockers for phones. What movie series did you last watch from start to finish? Was it one you’d seen before? I have zero clue. When was the last time you weighed yourself? Were you happy with what the scale said? Today, and fuck no I wasn't. I'm gaining again.

[icarusthelunarguard]

This Week’s Horrible-Scopes

Aries

Remember when you were given the award for Perfect Attendance at the end of high school? Never missed a day in 12 years, never missed or late to a class. Watch this…. “HEY! EVERYBODY! ARIES HAD A PERFECT ATTENDANCE RECORD THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION!” --see? Nobody cares. You’re allowed to miss a day here and there. Chill out, already.

Taurus

Friday is Hawai’ian shirt day. Hell, EVERY day could be Hawai’ian Shirt Day when you work from home and telecommute. In your case Taurus, you’ll need to be mindful of your colour-blindness. Pick the wrong shirt and the chroma key will make you look like the weatherman on KJJC-TV out of Great Falls, Montana. You know, a floating head and hands, and no body.

Gemini

Being a parent these days isn’t easy, but imagine what it might have been like back in Medieval days. Kids trying to get to sleep complaining that they hear monsters under the bed might have actually been right. These days you could give the kid a flashlight for protection, and not a wooden dagger. And this is why you shouldn’t have kids; your precious monster collection keeps escaping. You need to be more responsible.

Cancer Moon-Child

The days are longer, the weather is nice, and the car passed inspection. Time to gas up, pick a direction, and just drive! Hop on the highway, wait about 45 minutes, then take the next exit and turn left. Go explore some town you’ve never been to before! And before you get worried you’ll really be lost, just remember; worst case scenario you’ll end up facing an ocean. How lost could you possibly get?

Leo

Summer is right around the corner, so it’s time to plan for it. This year is gunna be better than the summer of ‘84. You remember that summer, right? Your parents told you to put the foil-wrapped potatoes on the bar-b-que and you accidentally put on the Capri-Sun pouches because they were both shiny. That was 37 years ago, get over yourself. Nobody except you remembers it.

Virgo

You need something new in your life this week. How about taking up astrophotography? Yeah, you should really do it with a good quality SLR camera, but you’ve got a spare smart phone, you could still use it. Just point it at the sky, have it record a 10 second picture over and over again, and viola! You have a bunch of crappy pictures of black. Go buy a cheap second-hand SLR and do it right this time.

Libra

We finally uncovered your first lost job. It’s 1979 and you’re tasked with a new recruiting campaign for the United States Navy. Your idea? Film a Music Video on a ship! So you got a film crew, time on the frigate USS Reasoner, and booked The Village People to film the video for, “In The Navy”. The recruitment material from that went nowhere and they instead went with, “Anchors Aweigh!”, a 73 Year Old Song Instead! Even with the New Cultural Hotness you’re STILL way outdated!

Scorpio

The worst game on the Steam Marketplace is named, “University Tycoon: 2019”, it was originally released in the middle of 2018, the creators said, “With the help from beta testers, the game will be out of early access in roughly 5 weeks”, costs $20USD, AND the most common sentiment in the comments is I Want My Money Back. Remember, no matter how badly you think you’re doing in life, you are STILL not this bad!

Sagittarius

You have failed upward in life so hard, people are wondering if you’ve perfected anti-gravity. When they make a bio-pic of your life they’ll describe you as a cross between “The Mule” from Isaac Asimov’s FOUNDATION series, and President Ford. And this time Nicholas Cage is NOT taking the part!

Capricorn

Your socks don't match, but that’s ok. We’re proud that you were able to dress yourself fully today. Means you’re feeling better and motivated. Tomorrow you could wear only left socks… or one fishnet thigh-high and one bobby sock. The choices are up to you.

Aquarius

In your quest to come across as better educated, might we suggest you take elocution lessons, but in languages OTHER than English? Sure, you can lay a blue stream as good as any Northampton Fishermen or Navy Squaddie, but being able to say “Nahm deh de-you duh poo-pahn dee boar-del deh mur-dee duh slop-ree dee conehead dunsell dee-tah mee-ree” would sound a LOT better if you actually spoke French. (Nom de dieu de putain de bordel de merde de saloperie de connard d'enculé de ta mère.)

Pisces

You are a natural liar. And for a creative mind like yours it’s no wonder you tend to write science fiction. After all, what is such a novel except a lie that people want to believe could be real one day? So keep up the good work, and remember polygraph tests are not legal in a court of law.

[tonireds]

Antonia talks to her Parents

“I thought you said Antonia’s boyfriend died.” Dearil Gray calls to his wife as he looks through his social media account via his tablet computer, sitting in the dining room. “In fact, I’m almost certain you said it.” He reaches out for his coffee mug, bringing it to his lips as he takes a sip.

“What about it, darling?” Enid Redgrave tends to the small pots of herbs she keeps on the windowsill of the kitchen window, just above the sink. They were her thing. Gardening in general is her thing. Of course, there are plenty of other hobbies and interesting qualities she has, but gardening was always the thing she could use to relax. Not to mention, she was able to use her plants for potions and salves. Best of both worlds.

“She changed things on her account.” There were only a few people that Dearil followed on social media. In fact, he only signed up for the accounts at the urging of his wife in order to keep in better contact with his daughter. “Ah...right here. Look. New job, new pictures that...hardly even look like her, and a current location of Denver.”

Furring her brow Enid brushes her hands onto her gardening apron and moves into the dining area. “I didn’t notice anything different.” She leans over her husband’s shoulder, watching his movements on the screen.

“You weren’t looking and you follow more people than I do.” Slowly scrolling through the few new pictures, Dearil is stopped by his wife when they reach one of their daughter. “See? I told you.”

“Well, phone her.” Enid demands, standing upright and folding her arms over her chest. When her husband gives her a look that she may be overreacting, she scowls, “phone her, Dear.”

Dearil knows what he wants, she wants him to use the video conferencing application. “She might be at work,” He says when she doesn’t answer after a few rings.

Antonia touches the screen of her mobile phone, connecting her to her parents. She knows that whenever the call comes from one of her father’s devices, that’s going to include both of her parents. “Hello, Red-Grays.” Toni rolls into view while she sits at her desk, smiling at her parents.

“You’ve completely styled your hair.” Enid looks down to her daughter’s form, “and you didn’t once think to phone us.”

Looking at the camera of her mobile, confused, Toni threads her hand through her hair, “did you want me to call when I change my mascara as well or...” She smirks when her father tries to conceal his own laugh, “I got a haircut and some lowlights just for a change. You act as if I’ve shaved my head.”

“You may have. Your Gran did that once, you know.” She moves to the side of the table, obtaining one of the chairs to pull closer to her husband’s, “your Nan nearly had a heart attack.” Enid sighs softly, “not that I’m...I feel as if I’m-” She absently, nervously loops her arm in her husband’s, not wanting to think of his heart attack from years prior.

Dearil pats his wife’s hand as it holds onto his arm, offering her a reassuring smile. He looks back at his daughter, able to see something behind her, “is that...is there someone in the bed?”

“Yes.” Toni answers simply, softly rolling her chair in front of the camera so that they wouldn’t be able to see. “That’s all you need to know about it.”

Enid appears shocked by her daughter’s actions, “Antonia!”

“You’re right, Ton, that’s all we need to know about that subject.” Dearil sighs, leaning back in his seat, “as your father, I don’t care who is in your bed as long as they take care of you properly.”

Antonia offers him a smile, though it falters for a split second. It’s why she never let her mother scan her mind after her ex began to abuse her. David is different though. David might yell at her from time to time, but there’s a reason for his actions currently. “Thanks, Dad.”

Dearil nods, “even if you are too young.”

“Dad.” Toni laughs a little to herself, giving a quick glance back to David in the bed, doing her best not to wake him.

“Darling, Antonia is currently the same age that I was when we had her.” Enid replies calmly, then glances back to her daughter on the screen, “I’m not implying anything, darling, just stating a fact. We aren’t the types of parents that demand grandchildren. Vincent is more than enough for us.”

“Even though we’d appreciate human ones if...if you decided to take that route.” Dearil continues from his wife.

Toni closes her eyes, taking a deep breath. “Was there anything else or was this call completely pointless?”

“I wouldn’t say it's completely pointless.” Enid continues, “my daughter goes from long, flowing hair to chopping it off at the shoulder...and coloring-”

Antonia brings her hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose, interrupting her mother, “-low lights.”

“I don’t care what you want to call it, it was just jarring.” Enid sighs softly, “especially when we agreed to keep in touch...phone nearly every day or every other day, video conferences, visiting...” She licks her lips, “you’ve been too busy...and that was even before moving across the country.” She pauses, an overall sadness paints her features, “just further from us.”

“Now, hold on. You and Dad were the ones to move away first.” Toni hates seeing her mother like this, “I was excited to finally be moving back home and six months later, you all were gone off to Cornwall. That’s not my fault in the slightest.”

“No, it’s mine.” Dearil interjects, knowing how both of the women were in his life. “We should have stayed longer and I apologize.” He says honestly, “not just to you, but to your mother. We...we should have stayed longer.” He sighs softly, “but that was years ago and...we’ve made a home here.”

“Yeah.” Antonia replies softly, “things would have been very different.” There’s a hint of emotional pain to her voice, something her mother quickly picks up on. “Listen, I’ll um...I’ll talk to you later. I have work and...” She doesn’t. It’s her natural day off, “and I need to get ready.”

“Of course. We won’t keep you.” Dearil nods, though he feels his wife’s grip soften slightly on his arm, “we love you, Ton.” He offers his daughter a subtle smile when the young woman signals her returned love with a simple hand symbol. Very unlike her.

Enid watches as her daughter abruptly ends the stream, causing her to continue watching the now black screen. “Something isn’t right.” She bites her lip, “do you think she’s cursed?”

“No, but...I don’t know if it’s very far from that.” Dearil replies grimly, being all too familiar with the death sphere.

[enigma-im]

More Than Just a Line of Code Pt.1

Robot x Female Character. Tracey Romero recieves a bot from her Auntie Carol. Little does she know that he isnt just some everyday house bot.

Rating: Teen Relationship: Robot X Female!Human Warning: fluff, exposure of genitals, pg13 at most, robot and human relationships

Word Count: 3835

Part 2

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I walk up the steps to my two-story bungalow. Juggling the keys in one hand while adjusting the phone against my ear.

"Two weeks, tops! You can’t expect me to give you quality when you take away my clock," I chided. I unlock the door and head inside. The voice on the other end rants out some excuses and reprimands. It was idle threats, just some big dog talk. I throw the keys onto the side table, missing the bowl I bought for them.

I roll my eyes as I toe my shoes off," Let me explain how this will work if I do what you are asking. First, I will be rushed, I’ll work late with a fishbowl of coffee beside me at all times. Then after about three nights of this, I'm going to get sloppy. Which for me is still really good work but it’s not the best. I always promise my best but only if you work with me on this. So I ask you, do you want it done or do you want it done perfect?". I waited in the foyer for his answer. I already knew what he was going to say. No one wants subpar work, it’s understandable. He is paying big money for my expertise and it would be foolish of him to deny me now.

After a moment I heard the beautiful sound of his begrudging approval. I fist pump, "Two weeks and you will have the best software on this side of the Mississippi. The Tracey Romero guarantee.". With a few words, I hang up. I smirk down at my phone before shoving it into my pocket and walking to the kitchen.

I shimmy around the kitchen, dancing to my own music." I got the extend, I got the extend," I sing. I grab some bread and make myself a sandwich while still patting myself on the back.

I didn’t need the extend, his software was mostly done already. His team did a great job. It just needed some touching up then to be properly tested. Take about two afternoons at the most. I just wanted to go on break and get paid for it. Call me a con, it’s just a living.

-

As I sat at my computer, I heard the chimes of my security system. Then the quick thuds from the front door. I huffed as I pulled up my front door camera. I saw my front porch and a man walking away from the steps to a van.

"Someone has a package," I quirked to no one. I hopped off the chair and headed to the front door. Once I opened the door, I looked down at a huge box crate. It was as generic as they came, even had the large text of the word 'Fragile" on every side.

"Well, I have no idea how to move this," I mumbled as I tried to push it with my foot. It was heavy for sure. I bent over to try to pick it up, but it mostly just hurt my back. Rubbing my spine I pondered how to get this thing inside.

I would consider myself smart, maybe even a genius. I was a straight-A student, graduated top of my class at CMU in Pittsburgh. So using my beautiful mind I came up with a way to move the box. I pushed it inside.

Using a pry bar in my foyer to open the crate. The nails were removed smoothly, and the lid slid to the floor. Looking inside I first noticed a large black dome near my knees. Looking down from there I saw a large trapezoid shape then the rest was submerged in the shredded bits of cardboard. After a few moments of observing I figured out what it was.

"Of hell yea, it’s a robot," I shouted with giddy. I dropped to my knees and shoved my hands around the head. In most standard bipedal robots the on switch was near the neck. Right towards the faceplate. "Come on, momma wants to play with her new toy," I chuckle. With a flick, the faceplate turned on in a blinding light. It switched off quickly but still left me seeing stars. I jerk back when it jolted forward. It sat up straight then the soft sound of buzzing echoed in the room. I waited patiently for their system to boot up.

I got off my knees and walked around to watch it. Its face was blank, it just had the reflection of light. Showing off the dust and pieces of cardboard it laid in. getting bored I looked over at the lid to see who sent me a full robot. Even though robots are common it didn’t mean they were inexpensive. I make good money; I live very comfortably. Still buying a robot would set me back and make me eat nothing but microwave dinners for a month.

As I found that it is my aunt who sent it, I noticed the bot was staring at me. I turned at looked up at them and still, their faceplate showed nothing. I waved at them as I sat up. To my amusement, they waved back, but more jerky motions.

"Do you talk," I ask.

It dropped its hand, "Yes."

"Then mind introducing yourself," I smile. Its head tilted to the side for a second then back to normal. It faces plate lit up with a standard face. It was cartoony but it was most likely meant to be comforting. No one wants a robot with a mean-looking face. It smiled wide at me then dropped it to neutral. I quirked an eyebrow and they copied me. "You copying me," I chuckle.

"imitating, but yes," he answers. His voice isn't obstructed like in most bots. It sounds basically human, normal even.

"semantics, either way, I'm Tracey. Who might you be,” I greet. I try to coax them into introducing themselves.

"You are very appealing," they look me up and down.

I snap my fingers catching their attention," Getting off track, doll. Name please."

"Yes, I am D-4N1-3L," they finally introduce. I mumble out their text to myself.

"Daniel," I offer. They nod. "Alright, Daniel, do you mind if I call you a he?"

"He," he cocks his head.

"Give ya male pronouns. Or would you rather them/they," I clarify.

"He," they repeat, "I'm a man."

"Alright then Daniel, shall we get you out of that box," I stand and offer a hand. He looks at it before cautiously grabbing it. I don’t need to offer actual help because he stands on his own. He steps out of the crate and I get a good look at him. His build is standard if not a bit retro. Most robots I've seen are completely covered in their shielding plastic. Hiding all of their technical bits. Yet he has his joints exposed and everything else covered. His neck showed his wiring and the air cylinder that limits his neck movement. To anyone else, he would look like junk, some outdated pieces of hardware. But to me, oh to me he looks terrific.

-

I leaned against the island in the kitchen, watching as he wanders around. He snoops through my cabinets, investigating everything he finds. I look down at my phone that's ringing near my arm. I have set out to call my aunt about Daniel. I placed it on speakerphone so Daniel could listen if he felt inclined to.

After the fifth ring, she picks up. "Whose got three thumbs and is excited you called? This aunt," there was a confused pause," This would be funnier if you saw me, I'm holding a thumb right now. Either way what's up Chica?"

"If I didn’t know you were a mechanic id assume the worst about that severed thumb you are presumably holding," I eye Daniel as I answer. He was currently messing with the microwave. Pressing buttons and jumping when he turned it on.

"besides my possible dismemberment what do I owe this pleasure," She asks. In the background, I could hear some loud tinging noises. Probably in her workshop, or she does in fact have a human finger. Then probably a different workshop if that were the case.

"Well, I’ll give you a hint," I lean on my elbow.

"Oh goodie, I love games. Three hints," she chuckles.

I can’t help but chuckle as well, "alright three hints. Its long, hard, and came in a box."

"Tracey," She scolds, " I don’t believe you should talk about that kind of thing with your aunt. It seems more like a mother conversation."

"I don’t know, mom would be upset that I have him in the house," I answer vaguely.

"Oh, batteries not included? Who needed powered boyfriends when you can get the real thing," She jokes.

I shake my head," we both know battery-operated is better. Humans don’t tend to vibrate.". This caught Daniel's attention.

"I can vibrate," He informs pointing to his face.

"I'm sure you can, doll," I look up at him.

"And who is that," my aunt asks.

"My new boyfriend, best model out there. Even has same-day delivery," I joke. Daniel cocks his head and his electronic eyebrows furrow.

"A robot," she asks before it clicks," Right! The robot, god I'm a terrible creator. How could I forget my baby boy."

"Terrible mother indeed," I click my tongue," tsk, tsk. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of him.". I look up at Daniel again and give him a wink. He turns his head as a pink color shines from his screen. "Aw, he blushes," I coo.

"Of course he blushes, he has a full range of emotions. My best work if I do say so myself," she pats herself on the back," Practically human."

"So it’s an A.I.," I ask," here I thought I was getting a butler. But I shouldn’t be so disappointed, I got a new friend instead."

Daniel turns his head to look at me," friend? I thought I was your boyfriend."

"We can talk about that later, doll," I answer.

"Aw, breaking up already. Poor Daniel, only been alive for a year and now he has his first broken heart," My aunt coos.

"We are talking about its later Carol, I'm sure it will be fine," Daniel says to the phone.

"You have me on speaker," My aunt asks, "Hi Daniel darling, how do you like Tracey's place?"

"It is cozy, living here would be most joyous," He answers.

"that’s a great sweetie. be nice to Tracey, ok?"

Daniel cocks his head," Why wouldn’t I be anything but?"

"No reason, sorry I doubted you," She apologizes.

"Well, I'm going to get off. Just making sure that you did indeed send me a bot. you can never be too sure," I call out.

"Oh absolutely. Love you baby, take good care of him. He is a sensitive bot, you may forget that he is more than a robot sometimes," She warns.

"Goodbye Carol," Daniel calls out. With that I press end. I cross my arms and lean forward. We both look each other over, observing in the silence.

"Do we need to talk," He asks with an adorable head tilt.

"About what," I answer with a question.

"Us. Are you breaking up with me?" I can’t help but laugh. This only confused him more.

"We aren't together, Daniel. That was just a joke I made with aunt Carol," I answer. I step away from the table and walk around to the fridge.

Daniel stepped away from the table as well and laces his fingers together. It was interesting, robots generally don’t have nervous ticks or idiosyncrasies. Auntie did a good job with him.

"Well, that I won’t lie and say that I'm unfavorable to that," He dropped his head. I was a bit confused about his reaction. He is a strange robot.

"You want to date," I ask. What did she program into this guy? It got my brain moving, how could anyone get a robot to seem so human. Most had applications built in to pretend to empathize with someone, but this was too detailed.

He looked up with a wide expression," Yes."

"Why?"

Daniel looks me up and down before walking over. He takes a hold of my hands and intertwines them.

"You are very appealing," He mimics his earlier words. I pull my hands from his and stare up at him confused. A strange robot indeed.

-

I sit at my computer with my legs crossed. I hunch over my keyboard and stare with my mouth partially opened. I'm working on pulling up Daniel's code and programs. He is currently hooked up to my tower with a bunch of cables. He is sitting patiently, if not happily, against the wall. His 'eyes' were darting around the room, taking in all the area has to offer.

"What is a battery-operated boyfriend," He cuts the silence. I jerk away from the computer, not use to having someone around in my office.

"what? Why do you ask," I blush.

His eyes focus on me, "you said it earlier, I was curious. Technically I'm a battery-operated boyfriend but I'm assuming it isn't me you were referencing."

I can’t help but smile," I guess you are a battery-operated boyfriend. But you are correct, I wasn’t referring to you."

"Then what is it," he asks again.

I look back to my computer, "I'm not going to answer that." I glance over at him for a second and see him pouting. Another curious attribute.

-

I stare amazed at the lines and lines of text. His code was so long, even too long. There were programs for such minor things like when to twitch his finger or raise an eyebrow. Looking further I found a curious program label 'Surprise'. Of course, I clicked on it, I'm only human. Looking it over I was nosy to turn the function on.

"Oh, this is new," Daniel mumbles to himself. I look over as he raises his hands from his lap. Looking down I see a protrusion.

"Oh indeed," I say shocked. He was majority matte black with traces of blue deep in his wiring. The protrusion was more on the blue side and had the lining of matte black. It was definitely an eye-catcher.

-

"Why does he have a cock," I nearly shout into the phone.

"Cutting to the chase, I guess. No foreplay, but I'm going to guess there was some if you found this out," My aunt jokes.

"Not funny, I looked through his programs. Also seriously, you named it surprise," I sneer. This was extremely uncalled for. Auntie has always been a mischievous person. Last year she spiked the punch at the family reunion to 'spice up the party'.  But this was too much. "Seriously, you sent me a sex robot? Not to steal your joke from earlier but I feel this would be a better present for mom," I scold. Mom divorced dad about five years ago, this seemed like a better gift to a lonely mother than a 25 y/o.

"First off, ew. I don’t want to think about my sister's sex life a-"

I interrupt her, "And you want to think about mine?"

"Do not use that tone with me. You haven't had a boyfriend since high school, you bury yourself in work. You convinced yourself that it’s enough, fulfilling even. Excuse me for thinking of you. Also, I will make this clear, I made his A.I. as a little side project. He was not for you till after he was made. His personality seemed perfect for you, so sue me for being kind," Carol snapped. I grabbed the bridge of my nose and sighed.

"Fine, I'm sorry. It was kind of you to think of me but It's a bit much that you added such a personal feature," I say calmer.

"I know you will find some use for it, till then please don’t treat him differently for it. I'm sure he doesn’t know what it’s even for," she pleads. I sigh again, this is just weird.

"Alright, I will still take good care of him," I relent. He is but a vessel for my aunt's ignorant kindness.

"I'm sure you will," she laughs.

"Goodbye carol," I hang up. I drop my phone onto the kitchen counter and exhale. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Daniel peaking his head out from my office.

"Are you angry with me," he asks. I look up at him and can’t help but smile.

"Of course not, just surprised," I answer. It was honest, I can’t be mad at him. I've known him for a few hours and I already adore him. He has such wonder for everything around him that makes my jaded self feel humble.

-

A few weeks with Daniel have been both tiring and rejuvenating. He asks so many questions that I gave up answering them and just introduced him to the internet. I got curious one day and checked his history, he goes on a lot of tangents. Now that he can answer his own questions online, he has moved on to asking about myself. He would ask about my interest or my job. Even comment on things he likes about me. For a robot, he was a bit of a flirt. His favorite thing about me was my hands. He said they were 'gentle and talented'.

We currently stood in the kitchen. He watched me as I cooked, he says he enjoys watching my human rituals. He can’t eat so he just likes watching me eat.

I stir the pot of food as I call out to my home bot," Home, play 90's hits." There was a chime then the music began to play softly from the speakers. Daniel looks around the room a bit confused.

"what was that," he asks her.

"My home bot, it controls some electronics around the house like lights or locks," I explain. He nods his head.

I get into the music and shimmy a bit as I finish off my meal. I slide towards my cabinet and pull out a bowl. With a twirl, I slide the bowl to the stove. Shaking my hips I pour a large helping of soup. Another twirl and I turn to Daniel. His face had its pink cheeks and wide-eyed expression. I set my food down and stare curiously. Why was he blushing?

Before I could ask, I caught sight of his blue swelling. I raised my eyebrows in shock and acknowledgment.

"I'm sorry," he stepped closer to the island to hide himself from view.

"N-No needs to be sorry," I stutter," I'm just curious why it decided to make itself known."

He turned his head as he continued blushing," Y-you."

I point to myself," Me?"

He nods, "You w-were dancing around. You have a firm r-rear."

"O-Oh, thank you," I blush. For the time he has been here I have never witnessed his, um, member. Since the first day it has never come up, pun intended, it’s never been noted again.

"Have you ever, um. Have you ever had this happen before," I ask a bit nervous. We have flirted a bit but I'm still off-put of using him. To have a boyfriend was simple, but to fuck him felt wrong. It was a bit taboo to keep a fully functioning robot around as a sex toy. Even if he seemed human, he wasn’t.

"Yes," He answered short.

"When," I look up at him.

"Depends. Sometimes when you bend over, other times when your shirt drops a bit too low. Most the time is when we sit together on the couch," He answers calmer than earlier.

"When we watch movies," I ask. We watch movies every weekend, I never noticed anything. Not that I would be looking at his crotch.

"Yes," He steps around the island and stops on the side. His crotch still blocked but he was in arms reach. "when u start to daze off and you rest your head on my shoulder. I feel the tingle and I want nothing more than to touch you," he smiles. He places his hands on the counter, not moving them but keeping them where they are. Daniel was leaving me to decide.

Daniel is very smart, never doubted it. Yet he still surprises me with his emotional intelligence. It’s easy to program a robot to see patterns or understand words on a paper. To explain an abstract concept like emotions was hard. You can fake it, but it always comes across as wrong, almost psychopathic. In Daniel, it came off as authentic. It felt real, like he honestly felt those things.

I bounce my finger on the counter as I stare at his hands. He still waited on me.

"You want to touch me," I ask softly. I look down at his fingers. One hand was stretched a bit farther than the other. His hand was sideways, his fingers were slightly splayed.

"more than anything," He murmured. His index twitched a bit.

I skidded my fingers across the table and let our fingers tap against each other. He didn’t move more than his fingers, leaving me with the choice still. Daniel was really smart indeed. I moved closer and grasped his hand, intertwining our fingers. I could hear his body make a low buzzing noise and his chest expand slightly.

My other hand grabs his free one. I pulled him around the table and towards me. Releasing my grip, and him reluctantly doing the same, I reach forward and hug him. I rest my hands on his lower back and my head on his chest. He does his form of a sigh again before wrapping his arms around me. He rests his head on mine and we just stand there.

This feels nice. I can’t remember the last I hugged someone. It had to be over seven years ago when I dated that saxophone player in high school. This felt better though, Daniel was warmer. I ran my hands up his back along the cylinders that controlled his back. I leaned back and looked up at him. I reached for his neck and pulled him down. I kiss him where his lips were on the screen. The whirling in his chest became a bit louder and his hold on my back gets a bit tighter.

I pull back with a shy smile. It felt silly to kiss a screen, but his reaction made it less so. He smiled at me too, even had his adorable blush on his screen.

Daniel led his head down and tapped his screen to my forehead. He pulled back after a moment and looked down at me.

"You look pretty when you blush," He mumbles.

"I could say the same thing about you," I smile.

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There is a part two. Also i did a lot of unnecessary research on this. even the name of the main character is shared with a famous programmer John Romero. He designed games like Doom or Wolfenstein. But check out my Archive page.

[nitewrighter]

Could we have a bit Tracily? Maybe in an au?

Oh hey! It’s Femslash February! (Is it still ‘slash’ if it’s canon??) I think I can manage something short with one of my favorite Tracer skins!

—-

Emily didn’t think of it as stalking, per se. Photographers were observers, after all. She was always looking for the right lighting, the right composition, but after the first few pieces showed up everyone was looking for the infamous street artist. A few people claimed to have seen entire murals going up in a blue flash, while others talked about seeing a figure running into an alley and then disappearing, leaving only that tag behind her—Bright yellow paint made brighter by white backing, with a streak of sky blue beneath it. It lit up any dark wall. “Tracer,” it read.This sparked some discussion over what the mysterious “Tracer’s” ultimate goal was—were their graffitis a message to another artist, perhaps? A plagiarist? Was the Tracer themselves meant to be a copycat of a handful of more obscure artists, or perhaps even a collective masquerading under the guise of a single artist? Or did the word itself have deeper meaning? What were they trying to trace? What were they trying to follow. Emily didn’t really know the answers to any of these questions—she just wanted to chronicle the pieces as they appeared. Every time a Tracer graffiti appeared in the city, Emily would grab her nicest camera and ride her moped out to it, taking the highest quality pictures she could before weathering and the grime of the city could make the art fade too badly, or, just as painful to watch, the property owners scrubbed it away.

Emily never forgot the first time she caught the Tracer in action. She remembered it because the paint was still drying–even running in places. It was in the little hours of the morning and Emily was shivering as she shuffled toward the nearest tube station after a night out with friends ran much later than anticipated, and then she saw it. It was a splash of color on the side of an ugly block of a building, the vividness of the color standing out even at night—partially thanks to the headlamp its artist was wearing. The “Tracer” themselves was suspended over the edge of the building, their chunky sneakers braced against the wall, spray paint can still in hand and a headlamp secured over her hoodie. Their face was completely obscured by a gas mask and they seemed completely focused on their piece. The mural itself was of a stylized woman’s silhouette suspended in lightning–or maybe blue flames–either way several shades of blue and white seemed to be shooting off from the silhouette in sharp, jagged lines. The mural was, in a word, striking. Emily had her camera on her–not her nicest camera, but nicer than a phone camera at least–and she pulled it out of its bag. It didn’t really occur to Emily to turn the flash off before she snapped the first picture–she didn’t even remember she had the flash on, and the figure on the wall froze with the click and the flash. They looked over their shoulder at her, and Emily felt very small down on the sidewalk. She gave a small, shy wave and suddenly there was a blue flash atop the building and just like that the Tracer was gone. Disappeared completely. Emily looked down at her boxy little camera and took one last photo of the mural before slipping the camera back into her bag and continuing on her way to the tube, trying to process what she had just seen. 

Emily hesitated at the stairway leading down into the tube. Maybe she should stick around, maybe the Tracer There was suddenly a warbling sound and a blue streak shot past Emily, kicking up leaves and litter in its wake and Emily felt a jerk on her shoulder as her red hair rifled in the speed-created breeze. Before she understood what was happening, she looked down to see her camera bag gone and then suddenly heard yells of “OW! OOF! OW!” and looked down the stairs to the tube to see a familiar figure in a blue hoodie bouncing down the tube stairs. Emily’s hand went over her mouth in horror as she saw the figure crumpled at the bottom of the stairs, curled around her camera bag.

“T-Tracer? Is that you? Are–are you all right?” Emily called down the stairs.

The figure groaned and then suddenly disappeared in another blue flash, reappearing teetering at the top of the stairs. On instinct, Emily seized the Tracer by their blue hoodie to keep them from falling down all over again. The Tracer rocked back on their chunky sneakers and stumbled away from the stairway, wrenching themselves from Emily’s grip and still gripping Emily’s camera bag. 

“That–that looked like it hurt–” Emily started but the Tracer was already rifling through the camera bag.

“It’s fine,” the Tracer’s voice was muffled by their (her?) gas mask. For some reason Emily had always imagined the Tracer having a mysterious, maybe even raspy voice, but this person’s voice was hight and bright. The Tracer pulled the camera from the bag.

“You–you were down there–and now you’re up here, but you were up on top of the building–but now you’re–Be careful with that!” Emily said on instinct as the Tracer pulled her camera from her bag.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re on about, Red!” said the Tracer, waving the camera at her, “Who’s paying you?”

“No one! No one’s paying me!” said Emily. She watched the Tracer’s eyes narrow from underneath the visor of the gas mask, “I just–I’m sorry, I just watched you fall down an entire flight of stairs. Are you okay?”

“I didn’t,” said the Tracer, turning the camera over in their hands.

“You did!” said Emily.

“Well I did, but then I didn’t,” said the Tracer, “I undid it.”

“Undid it?” said Emily. 

“I’m probably the only person in the world with an ‘Undo’ function for traditional art,” the Tracer muttered to themselves.

Emily glanced down at the odd harness glowing blue at the Tracer’s chest, “What is that?”

“You know it’s very rude to take people’s picture without asking,” said the Tracer, “So who’s paying you?”

“I just said, no one. I–I really am just taking pictures of it for myself…” said Emily, fidgeting with her hair a little, “Your art is beautiful. I try to get a good picture of it before it fades or the city scrubs it away…” her voice trailed off a little.

“I know the city doesn’t treat it like it’s permanent, that’s sort of the point,” said the Tracer, “People have to enjoy it in the moment.”

“I still have to save it, in my own way,” said Emily, “But the only photos I do for money tend to be studio shoots and portraits… no one ever really cares about my landscape or candid stuff…”

The Tracer’s shoulders slumped a little listening to that.

“If you come back to my place–” Emily went on and the Tracer shot her a skeptical glance, “Oh gosh, that does sound bad, doesn’t it–But if you come back to my place, I’ll show you.”

“No, no, that won’t work. I just want the memory card on this camera–” said the Tracer, fiddling with the camera’s panel.

“Oh–please don’t! It’s real film! I’ll lose the whole roll!” said Emily and the Tracer, miraculously, stopped. The Tracer looked down at the camera, then up at Emily. A few seconds passed.  Then finally the Tracer huffed and handed the camera and bag over. Emily quickly grabbed them.

“…the stuff I paint really means that much to you?” said the Tracer.

“Well–I–” Emily was redder than her hair at this point, “I mean the roll isn’t all you–your works–but—” she cleared her throat, “It means a lot to me–I mean to a lot of people! Isn’t that why you paint it?”

“…I paint it mostly for me,” said the Tracer, “And never took all that well to being told where I could and couldn’t paint so…”

“Well–it means a lot. It’s beautiful! It’s–” Emily glanced down, “…I can stop taking the pictures if you really want.”

The Tracer stood in front of her for a few seconds but said nothing, then they disappeared in another blue streak, leaving Emily alone holding her camera at the top of the tube stairs.

—

There was no sign of the Tracer for a week. No mysterious blue flashes around the city, no tags or walls being mysteriously painted. It was late in the day as Emily rode her moped home from her studio the following Friday, the entire city cast in orange and yellow light, and she couldn’t help feeling a rotten guilt in the pit of her stomach. No signs of the Tracer–had she scared them off? Maybe they took off to another city to avoid being compromised. Emily sighed as she stopped her moped at a stoplight, but then she noticed a group of people standing on a street corner looking upward. Emily followed their gaze and nearly got sideswiped by a car for all her staring. Cars honked at her as she quickly hung a hard turn on her moped to pull up next to that street corner and stumble off her moped onto the sidewalk. On the side of a crumbly depressing warehouse was a beautiful blaze of orange–a mucha-style portrait of a redheaded woman with a white halo around her head. Emily’s jaw dropped as she realized the complex pattern of circles of the halo were actually old camera flash bulbs, and the red-headed woman was holding a camera like it was an object of religious iconography.

It’s me, she thought, her eyes wide as she took off her helmet to get a better look.

“I like this one,” a familiar high, bright voice spoke up next to her and Emily whirled on her feet to see a woman with spikey black hair and a pair of round orange sunglasses. She was dressed casually with paper bag-waist pants and and a bulky bomber jacket. Emily’s eyes trailed down to see a familiar pair of chunky sneakers on the woman’s feet. “I really think the Tracer was starting to get into a rut with all those blues, you know?”

“You–!” Emily started but the woman gave her an impish little smile and put her finger to her own lips. Emily’s eyes flicked around at the group around them and then she looked back at the woman.

“T–” she started and then caught herself.

“Lena,” said the woman.

“Lena,” said Emily, “Um–Emily. I’m Emily.”

“I just hope she asked whoever she did the portrait of, honestly,” said Lena with a shrug.

“…it would be very rude to capture someone’s image without their permission,” Emily said with a quiet smile.

“Very rude,” Lena agreed, “You like coffee?”

“Oh–um… yes,” said Emily.

“Well come on, then,” said Lena, pivoting on her own heel.

“Oh–Wait–two seconds–” said Emily, rifling through her bag. She pulled out her camera.

“Ah, of course,” said Lena as Emily took a picture of the mural.

[jamkookies]

Lost stars

Description :  A trip to Malta for the shooting of Bon Voyage seems peaceful enough until the moment things take an unexpected turn...

Word count : 2.3k

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You had never felt so frightened in your life since that particular day. You had tried to erase the memory from your head and failed miserably.

You felt the same as you had felt eleven years ago.

Maybe, you were overreacting, maybe he had just gone somewhere else, but you couldn’t get rid of the anxiety creeping up on you like a disease, making it hard for you to breathe.

Panic attack.

That’s what it was.

You were having a panic attack.

Trying to repress the overwhelming desire to curl up into a ball and rock back and forth, you force your legs to move.

You get into the water, the waves licking your toes, and you feel like the sand is disappearing under your feet every time they retract.

Come on.

You trudge through the water, legs feeling like lead with every step.

“JIMIN?” You shout.

The bodyguards catch sight of you.

You can see the distress on their face as they signal you to go back, but you ignore them.

Eyes looking in all directions, you scan the surroundings, trying to detect a blonde head.

“JIMIN!” You repeat.

Your heartbeats fasten their rhythm.

You’re hyperventilating, the air just not enough for your lungs -

“Y/N?”

You snap your head to the left, where the voice comes from and almost cry in relief.

Jimin is standing a few feet from you, knee deep into the water, some sea shells on his hands.

He looks at you with worry in his eyes and approaches you carefully.

“What’s wrong?” he says. “Why are you screaming?”

“Where were you?”

“I was just getting some sea shells on the shore. What happened?”

You are infuriated.

You grab the shells from his hands and throw them as hard you can into the ocean.

“I TOLD YOU NOT TO GET TOO FAR ! DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS?”

Your hands are shaking and you’re breathing hard.

You slump into the shallow water, soaking your clothes all over, but you couldn’t care less.

Jimin is there immediately, enveloping you into his arms.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t expect for you to get so worried.Besides, the bodyguards are right over there…. Hey, shhh-”

A strangled whimper escapes from your lips, and you hug him tightly.

“If you get away from me again, I will drown you,” you say, halfway through tears.

He lets out a shaky laugh and pats your back.

“I won’t.”

* * *

“Are you sure about this?” you ask, still looking down at yourself in distaste.

Your clothes had been soaked thoroughly from the earlier incident, so you had been forced to go for some more shopping, the water dripping from your shorts leaving a trail behind you.

Jimin was no better.

For some strange reason, his own shorts were wet only at the front part, making him look like he had peed his pants.

You had barely held your laughter, constantly turning your head to the side so he wouldn’t see.

“It looks great on you. I rarely see you in a dress,” he says. “Besides, we don’t have time to check everything out, because if you’ve noticed, people are staring at me.”

Your eyes flicker to the giant stain on his pants and you accidentally snort.

Jimin narrows his eyes at you.

“ You weren’t so lively a while ago.”

The smile falters from your lips and you stare at the ground.

“Hey, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sorry.”

He squishes your cheeks in an effort to cheer you up and you can’t help but beam at him.

“Buy me a hat and we’re cool,” you say, grinning.

He grabs a straw hat hanging from a thread and asks the merchant.

“Hey, how much is dis?”

After paying up, he hands it to you and you put it on.

You both leave the shop, in search of some pants for Jimin.

He stops by another and has his eye on a pair of beige khakis. He goes inside to try them on and turns back a moment later.

“How do I look?”

“With your eyes, hyung.”

“You know what I mean.”

Your eyes are fixated on his sinewy legs, muscles tight against the fabric.

“What are you staring at?”

“Your thighs.”

He chokes.

“You look good,” you continue.

He gives you a pointy look.

“What?” you say. “I know how to appreciate good things.”

* * *

You are walking down the street, the flowy fabric of your long dress, light as a feather. It is a pastel blue, with thin straps onto your shoulders and it has a creamy quality to it. You had been used to wearing pants all the time but you had to admit, dresses weren’t that bad.

Actually, you felt very comfortable.

Both Jimin and you have your self - cameras out again, eager to film everything on sight.

He looks very energetic, causing the same effect on you too.

It’s almost sunset and the sky has turned into a beautiful pink color. The street lamps are lined in a perfect circle and right in the middle of the square there’s a huge fountain sprinkling water from all directions.

“Let’s go over there,” Jimin says and grabs you by the hand.

You approach the fountain and take turns taking pictures of each other.

He steals your hat from time to time, striking different poses and you’re surprised at the level of his creativity.

Then, you suddenly think of something.

You take advantage of him sitting on the ledge and gather water on your hand to splash him on the head.

He gasps, the coldness damping his face and hair and making his curls drip.

He presses his lips in a tight line and approaches you like a predator.

“Hyung, let’s talk about this,” you say palms up in front of you.

He only grins wider and slams his hand into the water in your direction and you are greeted with a wave right in front of your face.

It’s your turn to gasp now.

“Oh this is war”, you say, fists scrunched up in anger at your sides.

You begin a splashing competition, striking with every chance you get.

You both climb up on the ledge, circling each other.

Then he sprints, following you and you do the same trying to fend him off.

You are both running in a circle and it all goes down when Jimin stops, trying to get a hold of you on the opposite side.

You can’t slow down soon enough and you slam into him, making you both fall from the ledge and into the fountain.

* * *

You had both changed out of your clothes for the second time today, and you had to say it was getting kinda annoying.

The second incident had proved to be a total fiasco, with all the people staring after you, but despite all of that you were surprisingly having fun.

Heck, it was the most fun you’d had in ages.

“Y/N, can we please stop trying to kill each other from now on? I wanna keep my clothes intact for the rest of the night.”

“You’re still gonna have to take them off at some point, though,” you say with a wink. “ You know, sleeping…”

“Y/N.”

You tip your head back and laugh heartily.

“Where do you wanna go next?” he asks.

“Can we just sit down and have a drink,” you say. “ I’m tired of all the walking and running.”

“Let’s sit over there.” He points at a small café which has its chairs and tables outdoors.

You take a seat opposite from him and order two lemonades. Looking around, you see that it’s fully dark. The night has fallen and the air has cooled considerably, so you are grateful for the old beige tank top and shorts you had changed into a few moments ago.

The only thing different from your previous outfit is the straw hat, which has somehow managed to stay in one piece. It’s kinda funny, actually. Sneakers and a straw hat were not the best combo, but you loved the latter so you’d decided to keep it on.

You look in front of you and see Jimin watching you expectantly.

“So, are we gonna talk about what happened back at the beach?” he says carefully, with a weary expression.

You gulp, looking anywhere but at him.

“I overreacted, I know. Sorry about that.”

“We both know it wasn’t just that.”

You sigh deeply and finally meet his line of sight.

“I tend to get panic attacks quite often.

Today was no exception but the worst thing is that I have already experienced something similar when I was a kid.”

Jimin leans in, listening.

“We were at the beach with my family. My parents had left me in charge of taking care of my little brother while they went to buy something nearby.

When we were playing in the water, Hyun-Woo went farther than I told him to. One moment he was there, the next he wasn’t.”

You take a shaky breath, tears threatening to spill on your cheeks.

“He almost drowned that day. My dad took him out when I started screaming for him. That’s probably why I reacted the way I did with you.”

Jimin gives you a sympathetic look.

“You know, I actually feel sorry for the editors,” you continue, a hint of a smile on your lips. “ They’re gonna have to cut all of the part at the beach. And this conversation too,” you say, staring at the camera lenses.

“Don’t worry about it,” Jimin adds, eyes creased.“They’re gonna have plenty to fill it with. I mean…shopping? Fountain?

Fans are gonna have the time of their lives.”

You offer him an honest smile, grateful to his words.

You didn’t know what you would do without him.

Suddenly, you notice people cheering, louder and louder by the second.

You turn your head the direction they’re looking and see a woman in the center of the small clearing, wearing a belly dance costume. The sequin beads jiggle with every shake of her hips dancing to the rhythm.

Everyone rushes to take pictures or film her and you just gaze, mesmerized.

She then comes closer to your table, gesturing you to join her. You lift your palms face up in denial.

When she insists, you grab Jimin by the shirt and push him into the clearing.

His protests are drowned by the whoops and cheers he gets when the belly - dancer pulls him after her and leads him into the center again. She ties a belt full of coins and beads on his torso and nudges him to dance.

Jimin copies her every move, hips shaking from side to side and a huge-ass smile on his face.

You absolutely can’t miss this.

You take out your phone and start recording.

“YEAHHHHHH JIMIN-SSIII !” you shout and laugh your heart out.

After dancing passionately for about some time, he gives up and bows to the woman in thanks.

He sits down beside you, still smiling.

“You did great, hyung. I’m proud of you.”

“Why didn’t you join me?”

“No thanks, I have a reputation to maintain.”

He chuckles, head shaking.

His throat is glistening with sweat, proof of his intense dancing.

“Have some lemonade, hyung.”

You push the glass towards him and he takes a sip.

“Well that was different,” he admits.

* * *

After you’ve both finished your drinks, you get up from the table and go for a walk. There’s a balcony up the hill, looking out into the sea and it’s just something you can’t miss.

Pulling Jimin after you, you climb up the stairs until you reach the top.

The view is breath-taking. The moon has peeked its head along with the stars sprinkling the sky like morning dew on the grass.

You lean on the edge of the balcony lined with iron bars and take a look at the henna tattoo on the inside of your forearm. It’s barely visible on the dark, but you have already memorized every dot.

“Why didn’t you choose a heart and an arrow piercing it?” Jimin says, his eyes on the tattoo.

The corners of your lips twitch.

You had chosen that particular image because it reminded you of something important. Someone important.

It could never capture its true perfection, but you held it as a lucky charm, a reminder to your times of joy and happiness.

You have galaxies in your eyes.

Speaking of which-

Jimin’s phone vibrates and he unlocks it, reading the message on the screen.

“It’s Hoseok,” he says and raises his eyebrows, surprised. He looks straight at you.

“Jungkook’s busking.”

You both sprint to the location, as fast as your legs can take you.

You couldn’t miss this chance.

Passing by shops and buildings, you turn corner after corner until your ears catch a faint melody.

- in dreams and fantasies

You fasten your steps and turn right.

There he is.

Surrounded by a crowd, bucket hat on, clad all in black.

There’s a microphone in his hands and his eyes are closed, feeling every word and sound he produces.

-for someone I can’t see.

Take my hands let’s see where we wake up tomorrow

Best laid plans sometimes are just one night stands

I’d be damned Cupid’s demanding back his arrow

So let’s get drunk on our tears and

God tell us the reason the youth is wasted on the young

It’s hunting season and the lambs are on the run

Searching for meaning

But are we all lost stars, trying to light up the dark?

But are we all lost stars, trying to light up the dark?

The crowd erupts into applause, some even making a standing ovation, but you just stand there, frozen, not able to move your arms or feet.

Two droplets of tears escape from your lashes, sliding down your cheeks.

God damn it, you had fallen for Jeon Jungkook.

[banditthewriter]

Impossible Year - Billy Russo - 7

We all know I have no impulse control with this story. So here we go. The next step is taken! Hope you like it!

Since links are making posts not show up in tags, you can find previous parts on my Masterlist in my about me!

Tags are at the bottom. Let me know if you would like to be added to one of my tag lists!

Enjoy!

*****

July

You looked over the email detailing your anger at people in your neighborhood setting off fireworks even though it wasn't the fourth yet with a smile before you hit send. It was shorter than your usual emails, but it was more of a spur of the moment kind of thing. He hadn't even had time to respond to your last longer email yet, but you didn't mind. Ever since he had been gone for those two weeks, you found yourself emailing him almost every day. Sometimes it was something short like your rant about fireworks and sometimes it was something longer, but you always made time to send him something. You did not expect a response almost immediately after you sent the email. Your cursor hesitated for a moment before you clicked on the email. Seems we're on at the same time. You wouldn't happen to want to Skype, would you? He included how to contact him on Skype and you hesitated for a moment before you pulled up the program that you hadn't used in a long time. You logged in and then quickly entered in his information before you chickened out. It showed him online and you swallowed thickly before you pressed to chat with him. The conversation popped up, you saying a simple hello. There was a moment before anything happened and then you got a notification that he was opening up a video chat with you. Shit, you thought as you quickly ducked away from the screen to check your appearance on your phone's camera. As you made sure that you looked okay, you heard a voice coming from your speakers. "Y/N?" Oh God. Butterflies erupted in your stomach as you moved back in front of your camera. The image was grainy but somehow still the best thing you'd seen in all of your life. His hair was slicked back and the shadows under his eyes looked almost blue from the quality of the video, but his smile was so wide and honest that you almost couldn't breathe. "It's like nine in the morning for you," he said, his voice nothing like how you imagined it and yet so much better. "How do you look so beautiful?" You smiled and looked down for a moment, trying to catch your breath. You didn't want him to know how much he affected you. "You might want to get your eyesight checked Billy," you joked as you looked back at the screen in time to see his smile widen at the sound of your voice. "I look like someone who barely got any sleep because of her neighbors." "Yeah, I saw your email. That’s one of my pet peeves too. I guess the nice thing to do is to send them a strongly worded letter?" At your laugh, he shook his head. "Next step is to egg their house, but I get the feeling that's not your style." "Probably not," you said with a grin so wide it was starting to hurt your cheeks. "And there's probably a few of them so that would be a lot of eggs. That's just wasteful." Billy shook his head and both of you stayed quiet for a moment. It didn't feel real just yet. Obviously you were looking at Billy and he was looking at you, but it felt like it was a dream. The quality of the video wavered in and out but it didn't matter. Even when the screen froze, it somehow froze with him in an attractive position. It just wasn't fair. "I feel like I should admit something," you said with a grin. His eyebrows shot up and he made a noise that said he was listening. "You are ridiculously attractive and I'm a little tongue tied right now." He laughed but you didn't get the feeling that he was laughing at you. When he stopped, he simply smiled at you for a moment. He opened his mouth to say something but something off screen caught his attention. "C'mon man," he said with a laugh before a second face appeared in the video, one you recognized from photos. "She doesn't want to see your ugly mug." Frank was grinning as he looked at the screen. "Just wanted to make sure she was real brother," he joked as he smacked Billy's arm, his rough voice tinged with humor and just the tiniest bit of mockery. "Way you talk about her, I was starting to think you'd made her up." That made you laugh, heat filling your entire body at the knowledge that he talked about you to his friends. Or at least to the man he considered his brother. "Yeah yeah, mind giving me a moment here?" Frank gave you a wave and a wink before he disappeared off screen. Billy's attention was above the camera so you thought that maybe Frank was talking to him quietly. And by the slight redness that was creeping up Billy's neck and face, you wondered what he might have been saying. "Alright, sorry about that," he said as his attention went back to you. "Never a moment of peace here." He said it offhand, but you knew it was true. You knew that this wasn't his first deployment; he was a lieutenant so he'd been doing this for years. Being the focus of his attention made you squirm a bit on the floor. You had been set up at your coffee table and you realized it right as he did. "Are you sitting on the floor?" You laughed and ducked your head. "Yeah, it's kind of habit that I sit here when I email you," you said as you looked back at the screen. He was smiling, his head tilted a bit as you spoke. "It started when I was writing you letters and, I don't know, it became part of the routine." "The routine, huh?" Billy leaned in a bit and you watched as he licked his bottom lip as he stared at the screen. "Got a routine for me?" Did he know what he was doing or was it just second nature? Your stomach was full of butterflies and your skin felt like it was on fire. How could a man be so damn seductive over Skype? It just wasn't fair. "What can I say, you're a big part of my life these days." It didn't feel embarrassing to admit that for some reason. It wasn't like your life revolved around him, but it was obvious that he was an important person to you. He grinned and leaned back once more. "So what's your plans for the rest of the day?" With a smile, you began to detail your boring Saturday plans to him. Something told you he'd be happy to hear you read from the phone book. You had to admit that you felt the same way. ------ Things after that went mostly the same. Another package, a letter if you were feeling sentimental. You emailed Billy every day and he responded when he could. Sprinkled in between emails was short Skype sessions that usually involved both of you just smiling stupidly at the other person for the first five minutes. Frank showed up a few more times but he always made himself scarce. You'd asked Billy about it in an email once and he told you that people tended to respect each other's privacy when it came to videos. You wondered if he meant because sometimes they got heated and you had to go stick your head in the freezer to cool off. Neither of you had said anything obvious that meant that you were interested in something like that, but it was there. The emails still went between mundane and flirty, but the video chats? After the smiles and brief small talk, there was flirting. Considering Billy simply looking at a computer could make your heart speed up, you had to think that your body would simply combust if he ever looked at you like that in person. That thought drew you up short. While the two of you talked as often as possible, meeting in person had never been mentioned by either of you. Would Billy even want to meet you in person? Maybe this was just something to pass the time for him. Maybe he had someone waiting for him back home? The next time you're on Skype, you couldn't stop thinking about the fact that he might have someone waiting for him. Hell, with the way he looked and his general personality? He probably had a girl in every city he ever stepped in. "Y/N? You okay?" You blinked and looked up, catching the worried look on his face as the video faded in and out. You bit your lip as you tried to think of a way to word it without giving away everything that you felt. Unable to put it to words, you typed up a message in the chat screen. Is there anyone waiting for you at home? Your eyes darted up to his face as you hit enter and waited for him to read the message. When he did, you watched as his eyes narrowed in confusion for a moment before realization hit. He smiled and you listened to the tapping of him typing a response. I don't have anyone waiting for me. Unless you're interested? You laughed and ducked your head as you took a deep breath. Relief flooded through you almost tangibly. When you looked back up, he was smiling at you fondly. "You okay now?" With a laugh, you nodded. "Better now," you agreed. ------ Billy signed off of Skype and moved for the next person to use the computer. As he made his way through the structures that made up the base, he couldn’t keep the ridiculous smile off of his face. She didn’t want to share him with anyone else. He felt the same towards her, but he’d been surprised that she had brought it up. He knew he was in over his head, but he didn’t seem to care. He thought about her morning, noon, and night. The only time she wasn’t on his mind was when he was doing his job but that was mostly self preservation.  Frank had called him out on it a few times but Billy played dumb each time.  He’d have to face it at some point. They’d both skirted around it enough. Hell, even this recent conversation touched on it. If she was brave enough to say the words, maybe Billy needed to nut up and admit it too. He’d play it cool for now. He wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon and he didn’t want to scare her off. He didn’t want to lose her.

X

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[camgirlsurvivalguide]

Camgirl 101 - 2019 Edition (The Absolute tl;dr)

I wrote the first “Camgirl 101″ nearly 6 years ago - wild to think that so much time has gone by! So much has changed about this industry, and yet in many ways, so much has stayed the same. Since my initial “How 2 Cam” post is a tad outdated at this point, and since I have the time to kill typing away on tumblr dot com today, I figured I’d do an abbreviated, updated 2019 edition of the basics of the basics of webcam modelling, as well as my top tips and tricks to making the most out of your initial push as a camgirl.

What site should I cam on? The site I cam on is MyFreeCams, but there are other popular sites out there, such as Chaturbate and Nood (just to name two of many, many more). I would suggest sticking to sites that have been established for a while to be on the safe side, as many new sites are opening, but not all actually attract much in the way of traffic. MyFreeCams is female-only, where Chaturbate allows males and trans performers as well. Nood is a higher quality streaming platform, but you’ll need to be OBS savvy before starting, so it’s better for people who already know what they’re doing, at least to some degree.

Because I work exclusively on MFC (and have been doing so for the better part of six years), the advise I give is specifically about MFC. While most general advise can be extended to other platforms, things like payment processing and technical support I know nothing about outside of MFC. 

What do I need to get started as a cam model? You’ll need a steady internet connection, a webcam, some sort of a lighting source, and yourself. You do not need fancy equipment, a perfect cam space, a complicated profile or an ungodly amount of self confidence to get started - while these things can help, they’re not required, and are things you can amass over time as you become more established.

How do I make money? Camgirls on MFC make money in tokens. One token = $0.05USD earned by a model. You make money by persuading paying patrons, known as Premium Members, to tip you tokens. Payments are processed on the 1st and 16th of each month, and can be sent to you via cheque, wire transfer, or through third parties. I advise you choose cheque or wire transfer, because third party payment processors have been notoriously unreliable over the years. For US models, you can also have your income direct deposited. For international models (aka anyone outside the US), you’ll either need to ‘make payout’ for a wire transfer, which is earn a minimum of 20,000 tokens ($1000USD), or you can opt for a cheque in the mail for free after earning a minimum of 400 tokens ($20).

Camgirls do not get paid hourly. All earnings come from tips. 

What can I do to encourage people to tip or talk? Generally speaking, you entertain. Camgirls entertain by engaging in conversation, showing off their bodies, stripping, and doing live masturbation or sex performances, in addition to selling homemade content, whether in the form of videos and photos, or over apps like snapchat. The best way to increase your odds of making money is to make people like you. For this, you’ll need social skills, physical attractiveness, patience, and business savvy. While it may seem simple, this process is incredibly dynamic and complex; for this reason, I (nor anyone else) can tell you with any guarantee how to make money. My best advice is to read this blog for inspiration, watch cam models to see how others are doing it, and then most importantly, try it yourself. There is only so much you can learn by watching and asking questions: the rest you will have to figure out as you go. 

Do I have to show my face? Yes. You cannot wear a mask, or hide your face; it’s against the Terms of Service of the site, and you can’t build relationships with human beings when you have a bag on your head. That’s just not how it works.

Do I have to get naked or masturbate? No! You don’t. While these things are definitely the norm on the site, there is no rule that says you have to get naked on MFC. You can literally log on and just stare at the camera, unmoving, silently, for hours on end if you want - no one will stop you - it just obviously wouldn’t be particularly entertaining, and would be unlikely to make you much money. If you choose not to strip, or choose to restrict your stripping to certain environments (only in private, only with certain people, only at certain price points), you’ll have to figure out how to entertain in other ways. I would like to highlight that this is not only something non-explicit models have to figure out: the best of the best on the site do far, far more than just strip. Sexuality is part of it, but not the whole story.

How often should I cam, and for how long? The most successful models on MFC tend to rely mostly on the support of their repeat customers, known as ‘regulars’, for the bulk of their income. Making regulars is an important part of camming, because members who return again and again build a relationship with you, and those who have supported in the past are more likely to support again in the future (a psychological concept known as the ‘foot in the door’ phenomenon). Rooms that have groups of returning regulars are also more attractive in a community aspect, because the members aren’t only returning for the model for a sense of togetherness and familiarity, they’re also there to talk with their other member friends. 

In order to build a base of regulars, you should aim to cam relatively consistently, and at somewhat similar time slots. There are no real “best times” to cam - the best times to log on are times where you can expect yourself to be the most consistent over the long term. This way, people know where and when to find you. As far as how long your cam shows should be, this is up to you for the most part. I prefer to cam between 3 and 4 hours at a time.

What is camscore? Camscore is a rating system that is based off of tokens earned per hour. Every new model starts with a camscore of 1000, and depending on how many tokens she makes each hour, her camscore will either raise or drop. The goal is to make as many tokens as you can an hour so that you can raise your camscore - this will sort your icon higher up on the main page, making it more likely that random passerby’s will see your room and hopefully enter it. While camscore is important, it isn’t the only way that members find model’s rooms. For the first six hours of broadcast time (NOT account life: broadcast time, as in time actually live streaming), models are given a ‘new model’ badge on their icons, which can attract members to check out the room. While ‘sort by camscore’ is the default settings for members, they can also choose to sort by other styles, meaning a low camscore isn’t always a low placement on the page. Lastly, models can use social media to boost their visibility. All that said, a low camscore can make things increasingly difficult and frustrating for a model; please read here for more details on overcoming low visibility:

http://camgirlsurvivalguide.tumblr.com/post/169514561900/how-to-overcome-low-visibility

Will camming hurt my chances of getting a vanilla job? Depends on the job. There is always a chance that the people you know will find out that you cam. The best things you can do are weigh your options carefully before starting, geoblock any areas that you don’t want watching you (you can block regions from accessing your cam, but this doesn’t protect against VPNs, and doesn’t stop people from taking screenshots or recordings of your streams and uploading to other unblocked sites), and take caution not to use the same photos connected to your real name as you do for camming - but there is no way to ultimately protect yourself from the stigma of sex work. Facial recognition software is becoming more accurate each and every month, and I feel that soon, programs like google image reverse search will be able to quickly and easily pull up any and all profiles connected to certain faces; take that as you will. 

Do camgirls pay taxes? Yes. You are in charge of your own business, including filing and paying your own taxes. This is different in each country/region, but it’s a good idea to save 30% of everything you earn for tax purposes. Hire a tax accountant to do it for you properly so you don’t get audited.

Do you have any additional tips to share? Why yes! Yes I do. Here are some miscellaneous shit knowledge that I’ve picked up over time. Enjoy.

- I cam using a mac. Before I cam, I’ll often take 10 to 15 cute selfies using the photobooth app, which I then quickly edit using VSCO cam on my phone. I upload these to an album on my MFC Share (the content hosting ‘store’ page that MFC has) so I can sell these cute photos to people for cheap. Often I’ll make a monthly selfie album that I upload photos to as the month progresses, which encourages members who purchase it early in the month to keep checking back for more photos. It’s a good way to hype myself up and feel cute before cam, while also creating content to sell that fosters the building of my regular base. 

- Also with respect to camming and my mac, if I do something sexy on cam, like a strip tease or a bath show, I’ll hit record on my photobooth app while I’m streaming to record my webcam’s output. I can then edit this footage after I log off cam to sell for cheap, or to give to members who contributed toward my goal or something. 

- It’s good practice to reply to all offline tips. While I might not reply to video or photoset sales through MFC share all the time (sometimes my inbox gets super busy), it is important not to let offline tips go unnoticed. Appreciating people’s tips makes them want to tip again. Ignoring them makes them not want to return. 

- Do not just sit on your phone when you’re bored on cam. Get up, dance around, show off your body, talk to yourself about nothing. You’re not there to be entertained (although it’s fun when you are, of course) - you’re there to be entertaining. Shake off the anxiety and shake ya butt instead.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #347

“lay your head down, child  /  i won’t let the bogeyman come  /  count the bodies like sheep to the rhythm of the war drums”

Have you ever watched a whole hour long infomercial? Ha, Girt and I have one day when he was hanging out. It was about a vacuum, to be precise. Do you tend to cave into peer pressure? No. Do you think it's attractive for a man to wear eyeliner? Yeah. Are you listening to music currently? Yeah, it's this version of Manson's "Lunchbox" that I hadn't heard before. Have you ever done something you once thought you'd be too chicken to do? Yeah, like going on this one ride at a fair. Y'know, the kind that slowly brings you way up and abruptly drops you. What's your relationship to the child you’re around most? They're my nieces and nephew. Have you ever had an illegal substance in your blood stream? No. What is the worst thing that has ever happened to your hair? More than once, back when I had long hair, it would get so knotted from neglect that I'd brush out just... giant clumps of hair. The joys of depression, right? It's honestly part of the reason I cut it all off, and it's something I seriously recommend for people who struggle with brushing their hair. What do you think about cats? I adore them. Who do you want with you when you're afraid? Absolutely my mom. Who might as well just be your sibling? Ha, Sara. We're just so remarkably similar, and even when we first met in person, we clicked like it was nothing. Would you ever consider working for the government? No; I'm not working with corrupt, lying motherfuckers. What is the weirdest thing you have ever witnessed a sibling doing? Well, your sister "sleepwalking" or whatever she was actually doing and grabbing a knife she'd hidden under her mattress to creep towards her then-boyfriend was beyond just "weird." Your first best friend's name? Brianna. How do you act when you're uncomfortable? "Anxious, impatient, and fidgety." <<<< Same. It's very obvious I want to get out of the situation. What bug would you like to be extinct? Do wasps do like... anything for the environment? I don't want to give a definite answer here that ends up being ignorant, because I appreciate bugs that are even just a regular food source for more vital creatures like spiders, but I don't know a damn thing wasps do that are beneficial. They just kill bees, from what I know. Do you know anyone other than a cop who has ever owned a cop car? No. Have you ever felt fire? I mean, I've never directly touched fire, no. What would you do if your first love asked you back out? I REALLY DON'T WANT TO PICTURE THIS. Do you know anyone that is a lesbian? Yeah. What are your thoughts on roleplaying games? I think they're fun. Do you want to have a bachelor/bachelorette party before you get married? So, true story, I don't even know what those entail exactly. But considering how few friends I have, I probably wouldn't. Ever been texted by mistake and played along & acted like you knew them? No. Would you ever get a name tattooed on you? Noooo sir. Do your parents dress like they’re years younger? Does it gross you out? They don't, but it wouldn't gross me out...? They can dress however they damn well please. Obsession from childhood? Dinosaurs and Spyro probably top the list. Favorite activity to do in warm weather? Just swim, really. I hate warm weather. Favorite activity to do in cold weather? If there's snow, take pictures. If it's just cold, then I like to just stay inside and bundle up in bed. Five songs to describe you? I don't know five, but I know a few I resonate with: "Get Up" by Mother Mother, "That's What You Get" by Paramore, uhhh then idk. Best way for someone to bond with you? Hm. Probably just like... talk about life, like our stories and things we've been through, both good and bad. Just being mutually vulnerable makes me feel connected to people. I like bonding via music, too, and I find it pretty exciting to share songs and, once again, go deeper and share what they mean to you, etc. etc. In summary, I just like getting to know a person at their core. What is the first meme you remember seeing? Hell if I know. Lemonade or tea? Lemonade, by a landslide. Sci-fi, fantasy, or superheroes? Fantasy. Favorite type of cheese? American. If you were a video game character, what would your catchphrase be? I relate very deeply to Henry Townshend from SH4 with saying "what the hell?" about literally everything. If you were an anime character, what genre of anime would it be? I'unno. Character you relate to? Since watching a playthrough of the game the first time, I've related to Max Caulfield from Life is Strange very deeply. An awkward photographer that cares a lot for people. Favorite website from your childhood? Webkinz. Least favorite flavor of food or drink? Grape, usually. Or orange. Favorite potato food? French fries. PC or console gaming? I prefer console games. Writing or drawing? Shit man, why you gotta make me choose? I feel much more satisfaction after drawing something I'm proud of, but I write way more. Who would you put before everyone else? My mom. How many phone numbers do you have memorized? Literally none. Do you get motion sickness? No. Have you ever been on a cruise? No. Have you ever bailed a friend out of jail? No. Have you ever won anything from a radio station? No. What do you do when you go to the beach? Swim for a while and then sit under the tent or whatever we brought and think about how ready I am to go home and get out of the heat. How many pillows are on your bed? Two. Do you like pickles? Yeah. Do you like camping? I've never been *legit* camping; Dad would just sometimes set up the tent in the yard and he and my sisters and I would sleep out there. I LOVED that as a kiddo. I think I'd enjoy like, one night of actual camping, so long as I have my camera and phone. My technology dependence would probably get me by Day #2, lol. Have you ever ridden a motorcycle? No, and I don't plan to. Wrecking in one of those can fuck you the hell up. Even with a helmet, just honestly, it seems... pretty stupid to put yourself at THAT incredible a risk. Have you ever had plastic surgery? No. Were you ever sent to the principal’s office as a kid? I don't think so... but maybe once? I have this super faint memory of being in the office, but maybe I was bringing them something from my teacher? That sounds about right. Have you ever used a slingshot? No. Have you ever driven an electric car? No. Do you live in an area that is prone to tornadoes? They happen here, but I wouldn't say we're "prone" to them. We get tornado watches/warnings a lot when we have summer storms, but it's seldom they actually occur, and it's even rarer for them to be noteworthy at all. What breed was the last dog you saw? One of our neighbors has a German Shepherd she walks a lot. How long have your parents been together (or how long were they together, if they no longer are): I wanna say around or over 20 years? I don't know. What 5 words best describe your mother’s personality? Loving, welcoming, resilient, selfless, and strong. Do you know any transgender people? Yes. Have you ever had a parrot sit on your shoulder? No, but that'd be cool. In the morning, do you eat breakfast first or brush your teeth first? I eat first. What’s something you’ve been struggling with lately? A number of things, but my weight's the real problem right now. All the weight loss progress I once made has almost been entirely erased... and I'm extremely, extremely upset about it. I'd rather move onto the next question than elaborate on this bullshit. Do you carry condoms? No, I don't have a reason to. Would you date someone with braces? Yes. Do you think people look up to you? God no. How often do you have trouble sleeping at night? Pretty much every night. Any vacations planned? No. We've never been able to afford vacations. Who were you last in a car with? My mom. Did you ever watch Sailor Moon? Yeah. My older sister was ooooobsessed. She even had the little toy wand and would dance to the theme when it came on. What do you want for Christmas? Well, it's rather early to think of that, but if I had to pull out an answer right now, it'd probably be either Venus' new terrarium (if I don't already have it) or supplies for it. If by some miracle I've been able to get everything I wanted for it by then, I would seriously love a hognose snake. If you had to get glasses would you wear contacts? I've worn glasses for many years, and I can live with it. I'd prefer contacts so I can get an undereye dermal piercing, but they're just too tedious for me. Best party you’ve ever been to? Maybe a big party my friend Summer had for one of her birthdays many years ago. We played lots of games like darts and stuff while listening to good music and just hanging out. Have you ever been surfing? I have not. Are you thinking about asking anyone out? No. Pink lemonade or regular lemonade? Pink. Chocolate or strawberry milk? Chocolate, for sure. I hate strawberry milk. Are you subscribed to a lot of channels on YouTube? Oh yes. Do you wish you had a better phone? Yeah. I mean, my phone is fine, but I particularly dislike the poor camera quality. Do you find texting fun? I'm officially becoming an old woman in that I don't really like texting anymore, but only because I make way too many typos. I would much rather type via an actual keyboard. Do you have any friends who have had twins? No. Do you have any past mistakes you’ve made that haunt you every day? Yes. Seriously. Are you bothered by something someone said to you years ago? Things especially Bryar and Colleen have said to me are probably going to die with me.

[nazamax]

All the sweetheart asks. Heh.

Are you kidding me... It took me AGES.

Talk about your first love.It was young and foolish. Full of hidden kisses, rules we’d both break, nightly sneaking out. Holding hands when we’d be alone and me teasing her whenever there were eyes on us. Quite dumb, when I think about it. It was fun while it lasted.

What’s the most beautiful songs you’ve ever heard in your opinion?The most beautiful songs are those who have memories that are dear and important connected to them.

How’s your heart feeling right now?A little hurt, still, however I can feel it heal. It’s a wonderful feeling.

What kind of self care is your favorite to do?Is working out self care? Because I do enjoy that. If not... I do enjoy letting myself turn off the phone fully, cook a delicious meal and let myself game for few hours. I don’t have much time for that in my life since it’s quite busy so I find it truly relaxing.

What’s your skincare routine?I use a cleanser, moisturizer daily. Sunscreen, lip balm and hand cream if needed.

How did you get to be so beautiful?I worked hard on it, haha. Thanks.

Do you have any stuffed animals?I actually have a few still back in London, haha.

Best trip you’ve ever been on?It’s hard to choose between Japan and Nice. Those are my favourite places to be.

Favorite thing about your room?I love the roof-windows. It’s nice to wake up to the sun lighting up the room so neatly.

Opinion on love?It’s something that shouldn’t be toyed with - the phrase “I love you” can be told without actual meaning behind it - one should be more careful about it. It can hurt, it can be ugly. It takes patience and time. It’s not all about kisses and sex, beauty and smiles. It’s about seeing the ugly parts of someone you want in your life, accepting them and working on with them. Love doesn’t change you, it only pulls out the new parts of you that you weren’t sure of.

Are you affectionate?Oh, I am.

Who do you look up to?That’s a great question. In a way - I guess it’s my mother. She’s a wonderful woman who has it all in life.

Favorite poet?I don’t have one.

Song that makes you happy? How about one that calms you down when you’re in a bad place?Aaron Smith's  Dancin' & STRFKR - Golden Light.

Do you play an instrument?I can play a few chords on guitar haha.

Do you do art? Using what (pencil, watercolor, etc)?I’m not really good at it, I can make sketches with pencils though.

Do you dance? What style of dance?I remember learning to dance classical stuff like waltz and all, but really? If club-dancing is a thing, I’m good at that.

What’s your zodiac sign? Do you believe in astrology?I’m capricorn. I don’t actually follow the things, never was too interested, but it’s fun to read horoscopes or see stuff that actually turns out to be true.

Favorite old film?A tough one... I love The Shining.

What’s your hairstyle?Ranging between neat medium cut to buzzcut.

What weather is the most beautiful, in your opinion?I love the opposites - both when it’s chilly, you can snuggle up in your favourite sweaters with your fingers wrapped around a cuppa tea as well as hot days when you can sunbathe for hours.

What upsets you most about the world?Humans. Society. We destroy Earth, we destroy each other. There are so many things that are wrong in this world that it’s hard to name them all.

Are you in love right now?I am, yes.

Do you have a crush? If so, talk about them!I remember the first time I realised I actually have a crush on them. They sat across me, smiling, drinking their margarita, with a smile so bright and warm I could catch myself staring almost rudely. Whenever they’d look in my direction I couldn’t help but look away and act as if I wasn’t interested too much, laugh with someone else at our table and just nod and smile to my crush. On that evening I knew I was fucked. Not literally, of course.

Do you have pets? Talk about something sweet about them!I don’t have any pets.

Do you have a lucky number?No, I don’t.

Have you ever wished on a star? What about on a fallen eyelash?Yes and yes.

Do you believe emoji spells to work?What’s an emoji spell?

Do you believe in magic in general?I’m more of a science guy haha.

What’s the most beautiful thing in life, In your opinion?To be able to shape your life as you want it. Life is full of possibilities and you can have all you want - you just have to put work in it. I don’t mean you can force relationships or anything that concerns other people, but reaching one’s goals? Go for it. Create yourself. Be you. That’s beautiful.

Opinion on the color pink? What about baby blue?I do like both colours, actually.

What instrumental sound is your favorite?I do like the sound of guitars... But I can’t choose, sorry.

Do you like the sound of wind? What about the sound of rain?I enjoy both of these.

Who makes you happy?@cowieadam haha.

What makes you happy?To see where my life is going to. Despite all the dark times I’ve gone though, I’m happy with the outcome.

Imagine your ideal life, the life you wish to make, what will that look like?The way that it is now. I wouldn’t change a thing. I don’t want “ideal”, I don’t want “perfect”.

Do you wear makeup? If so what’s your favorite type of makeup or specific makeup product? Favorite store to buy makeup?I do wear it whenever I’m having my photos shot, but I don’t really know what kind of stuff they use - it’s always different.

Do you wear dresses? If so what’s your favorite dress you own?No.

Ever been heartbroken? How do you deal with it?Yes. Usually I take it out in a boxing ring, by travelling somewhere with my camera or crying it out alone.

Who’s your closest friend? What do you love about them?I have a few, actually, I can’t choose one.

Introvert or extrovert?Ambivert.

Do you like MBTI? What’s your MBTI?I’ve never done the test but I definitely should!

Would you be a fairy, a mermaid, a vampire, a siren, a or an angel?Perhaps an angel. Fairies are too small, mermaids... Good take but I’d pass, same with sirens. Vampires are cool but I love sun too much.

What’s the best song a friend has ever introduced to you?I really can’t remember.

Parlez-vous français?Oui, je parle français!

Most beautiful place you’ve been to?Ohhh this is so hard to choose! I did love the alps back in Italy, I loved the Tokyo metropolis, I love my home back in Russia...

Where/when do you truly feel at home?Both Volgograd and London.

Does smiling put you in a better mood? Try it right now, you’re smile is goreous!Yes, smiling helps!

Favorite shoe you own?My white nike sneakers. They’re a little worn out and I have more than one pair that look better than these, but I love wearing them when I travel somewhere to the nature.

Can you walk in stilettos? Do you like them?I don’t.

Do you feel loved?Yes, definitely.

How do you express love to those you care about?It depends on the person and how they decide to accept my love so there’s no answer for that that could be universal.

Favorite term(s) of endearment?Котик/darling/babe.

Most romantic thing someone’s ever done for you?The latest thing that is stuck in my memory - a date to a museum, followed by an evening picnic by the lake and enjoying the boat ride there. I found it lovely...

When is the happiest you’ve ever been?Now.

Are you happy right now?Yes.

What makes you smile?Currently - two kids fighting over a remote ahaha.

Do you laugh a lot?I guess?

What’s your favorite kind of aesthetic?I have few in mind but... Sun tanned skin, red wine, yellow houses, sunflowers, sea, the sound of waves crashing, distant voices, a smile of a beloved one, sunglasses. Something that takes me back to Italy.

Do you want to marry for love or for some other reason (like money)?For love.

What would your dream wedding look like? Do you want to get married?I never thought about it and perhaps it’s something I’ll leave for the future. Eventually though - perhaps if it’s the right person.

Favorite flower?Peonies. They remind me of France.

Favorite artist?Again, I can’t choose one! I’ll go with Warhol.

Favorite music artist?Picking a favourite is hard! I don’t know haha.

How kind do you think you are? Is kindness important to you?I think I’m kind to those that deserve it and show it back. I think it’s very important to show consideration.

Ever made a playlist for someone?I think some years ago, yeah.

Do you have anything you do to physically comfort you when your sad? Such as a favorite blanket? Or a relaxing bath?Again, I do enjoy going to the gym because my mind moves forward from sadness and pushes me forward. I as well enjoy hot relaxing baths or cuddling up on a couch and my favourite cushion.

Early bird or night owl?A bird that doesn’t sleep enough, for sure.

Morning routine?Wake up, shave, wash my face, jump into sneakers and my running outfit, go for a run, come back, set water for coffee to boil, take a shower, get the breakfast.

Night routine?I don’t have anything specific for nights.

What is the most lovely quality a person could have in your opinion?Being able to see past the differences, accepting more than they know.

Do you cry often? Does crying help you get the emotions out? Do you feel better after?I don’t cry too often, at least not anymore.

Do you like hugs?Oh, yes!

When was the last time you kissed someone?This morning.

Are you small or tall?Tall.

Do you like wholesome memes?YES!

Favorite thing about the past?I’ve learned a lot about myself and the world itself. It made me who I am.

Do you ever wonder about the future?Naturally yes.

Have you ever lived in a different country than you currently live in?Yes. France, Russia, Italy.

Do you like plane flights? Airports?I do, something relaxing about them.

Sunrises or sunsets?Both have their own magic.

The beach or a forest?I go to beaches more often but I enjoy the forest.

What time of day do you tend to be in the best mood?Past noon.

Do you push yourself to act together and in a good mood even when you aren’t?Yes, my job taught me that.

Favorite kind of tree?Acacia. Though it’s more of a shrub, but still.

Do you care about the health of the Earth?I try to, yes.

What did you like most about your childhood, if anything?Mom’s cooking...

Do you read a lot? What’s your favorite book?I love reading. I always wanted to read Camus’ L’etranger and honestly? I loved it.

What are you most nostalgic for at the moment?For the beautiful memories I spent with the wrong person.

What’s your favorite personality trait you have?I’m determined. No matter what.

List at least ONE thing you love about your appearance.My dimples haha.

When was the last time you truly felt calm, without much of anything to worry about?This night.

Do you worry a lot?I tend to, but I’m working on that.

The dazzling lights of the city or the relaxing countryside?Oh, both. I love both of these experiences...

Ever changed the shoelaces on one of your shoes? For what reason?My ex’s cat stole it so I had to.

Favorite pastry?A hard choice between crème brûlée and medovik.

Do you like doing little acts of kindness?I do, makes others and self smile.

How’s your day/night going?It’s great, I’m a little sore but that’s nothing too bad. ;)

[dxmedstudent]

Dx’s Dating Tips #2

Today’s subject is profile photos. And if these suggestions seem ovious, I can assure you that I’ve seen them frequently disregarded on dating sites, and they always really put me off.

The Profile Photos:

Put up a few decent pictures; it’s absolutely about quality over quantity. I wish more people appreciated that simple smiling, well-lit photos where you look at the camera are the most flattering (and sexy) by far. Someone who just looks fun immediately looks hotter.

I don’t personally believe a picture needs to be very recent; dating advice that tells you it has to be within the past six months seem a bit much? Like, most people dont age a decade in a year or two, please chill. But it needs to be a good reflection of what you look like now. If you aren’t sure, better run it past someone who can be honest with you. Just don’t try to pass yourself off as younger than you are; it’ll only lead to disappointment.

Avoid bizarre angles, blurry photos or photos with a lot of glare. Avoid pics with sunglasses, hats etc because people need to be able to see your face. I can’t tell you how many guys’ profiles have a blurry badly chosen photo as their main photo, and how offputting that is. Why do people shoot themselves in the foot like this?! Even if you don’t have any recent photos that you like, take some time to figure out your phone’s timer or get a friend to take a few snaps. Hell, some dating sites recommend that you get professional photos taken. Which I initially thought was excessive, until saw how poor a lot of the photographs are, out there on dating sites.

Please avoid filters or editing; your photo should look like you. You want people who date you to fancy what you actually look like (or at least, what you look like when you make a bit of effort), rather than a filtered photo that you’ll never come close to matching in reality. I personally included a nice picture without makeup on; I may go all out with my winged eyeliner on dates, but I want anyone who dates me to also like what I look like without it.

Most guides say to avoid selfies, particularly bathroom selfies. I don’t necessarily think all selfies are bad, but your profile shouldn’t have to rely on them. I’d just say avoid selfies that clearly look like they’ve been sent to an ex; and yeah, I’m including the clearly-in-bed selfies in this.

Forget getting any replies if you don’t upload a picture. There are literally thousands of profiles; if yours doesn’t have a decent quality photograph, then your profile will look worse than most of the ones out there. And yet, when guys messaged me and I pointed it out, they sometimes seemed shocked that I’d like to see what they looked like. Hello, you wrote me a message telling me I’m hot, but I’m supposed to fall for your frankly sub-par wit alone? Hell, I’m reasonably faceblind, and I don’t get a good idea if I like somene from pictures alone, so I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt until I meet them, but come on.  If you don’t put a picture up, people will assume you are really, really ugly, or really really married. Or both.

Avoid putting up group photos if there might be any doubt which one you are in the picture; nobody should have to guess which one you are. Think carefully what your pictures look like to others. Photos that look like you are with your ex are off-putting to potential dates. We might all have exes, but nobody wants to see pictures of you with yours when they are trying to work out if they can picture themselves with you. Dating is about the illusion that it’s just you and them; nobody else matters. Also, kids and pets that are not your own are not props to make you look cuddlier; they look like you’re trying too hard to prove you’re a family man.

Pics involving hobbies are fine, but don’t go overboard. Nobody wants to see holiday pictures that don’t have you in them. I once got messaged by a man who had dozens of pictures of fruit that he’d carved on his profile, but only one picture of himself. The man who called me a dwarf almost had more pictures up of his bicep than his face. I’ve had to scroll through countless holiday photos, and whilst I love seeing photos from people I care about, there are only so many holiday photos you can tolerate on a dating site.

I personally didn’t put up any photos that were remotely revealing, and I was shocked to learn that people do? No judgement on people who like to put themselves out there, I just didn’t realise it was even a thing. Personally, I’m not interested in people who think I look good in a bikini but can’t be bothered to read my profile to find out if we have anything in common, because I already got too many messages like that.  And I just didn’t like the idea of putting things that feel more intimate up there where just about anyone can see them; it feels a bit too close to being letched on in the street. I’m more than happy to leave some things as a surprise for later, On the plus side you can’t even appreciate my figure in my photos but I still got messages, so it’s definitely not essential.

[queenofthemindynasty]

Even If You Say ‘No’ - pt 3

Pairing: Hoseok x Fem!Reader

Summary: {Y/n}, a brilliant, young producer at BigHit Entertainment, tends to be overly self-critical of her work and scarcely gives herself credit when it’s due. Hoseok, A.K.A. J-Hope of BTS, puts so much effort into keeping up the spirits of the other members, he hardly has time to worry about his own well being. What will happen when the two cross paths?

Genre: Angst, Fluff, Idol Universe

Word Count: 2513

Ever since that night she’d found him practicing after everyone else had gone home, Hoseok had completely transformed. {Y/n} had always thought of him as a confident and fearless individual, but now, he somehow came off as even more so. He seemed worlds more comfortable in his own skin than he had before, and he’d seemed comfortable then. It was like she was finally seeing his genuine, honest self for the first time. It was hard to believe her words, impromptu as they had been, could’ve had such a profound effect on him. She wasn’t about to question it, however. She was just happy to have taken some pressure off of him, at least for a little while.

Since he was working on his mixtape nowadays, which would be coming out in a few months, he asked for her help in producing quite often. It was funny. He could just as easily have asked any of the staff’s other producers for help, but he still chose her. When she asked him about it, he just told her it was because he liked her music, which was questionable. She couldn’t say for sure—it could have just been her wishful thinking and he was really just looking for validation of his ideas—but something was telling her that he was using his mixtape as an excuse to see her. 

In all honesty, she couldn’t have asked for anything more. Originally she probably would have been hesitant to participate in his mixtape. But now that she’d accepted the opportunity, she wouldn’t have given it up even for a whole three months of vacation. As she spent more one-on-one time with him, she got to know him on a more personal level. She’d never been aware of the sheer similarity between their tastes in music. Their shared interests even went beyond just music. It was nice to finally have someone to talk to, and to have been given this chance to know him better was a gift that she was sure she didn’t deserve, let alone the blessing of being able to bask in his radiant smile every day. However, she knew, despite what she hoped, that this relationship probably wouldn’t be overstepping the line of coworkers any time soon. And in reality, it was for the best. Seeing him at work was already more than she could have ever asked for. 

The first time she ran into him after Hope World had dropped, he greeted her with a hug like a tidal wave. He thanked her profusely for everything she’d done to help, and he even got a tad emotional. She did too. It was a fulfilling feeling to have someone appreciate your hard work so genuinely and so deeply, even though it wasn’t top quality. It made her want to work even harder for him and the rest of the group. 

She’d had the original impression that that was going to be it for interactions with him from then on. But since then, Hoseok started talking to her more and more. He even asked to exchange phone numbers with her. He’d started out texting her once every week or two, but after a while, it had become rare not to have a day go by when he didn’t send her something, whether it was about work, something he’d seen on the internet, or just a simple “Hi.” Sometimes his messages would be short and sweet, like, “Heading back to the dorm. See u tomorrow!” and other times it would be something preceding an endless conversation that kept her up late into the night. Those nights, it felt like she was a teenager again, texting with her crush. It was almost as though he weren’t      J-Hope of BTS anymore. 

It was a regular work day in early May, and {Y/n} received a strange request sent by Hoseok while working in her studio. The text read, 

“I was thinking about doing Hope on the Street. Think u could come by the main dance studio today to help me film it? Any time this afternoon works”

As usual, she had quite a bit of last-minute editing and remixing to do. Their next comeback would be in just a little over a month. Anyone else surely would have said “No.” She’d even had a message declining typed out already. 

But her thumb refused to hit “Send.” 

She’d already hesitated too long. It was too late. The idea of spending time with him and simply seeing him in his element was just too tempting to miss out on. So instead of the message she’d already written out, she sent him, 

“Sure! Any time works for me too”

He replied in less time than it took her to put her phone back in her bag. 

“Sweet. Does now sound good?”

She’d hardly had any time to think after she’d texted him before he’d replied. Nevertheless, she answered, 

“Yeah just give me a sec to wrap things up in my studio. I’ll be right over”

“Great! C u soon~”

She tilted her head once to the side and back, the speed of his replies nearly having given her whiplash. Saving her progress on the song she’d been working on and shutting down the studio, she grabbed her bag and headed for the practice room. 

On her way there, she couldn’t stop herself from thinking about the reasons and implications behind the fact that he asked her to film him. He’d done it himself plenty of times before. Even a few of the other members had been on Hope on the Street in the past. Why couldn’t they film it? Sure, it was possible they were too busy, but so was she. Not to mention, he easily could have asked the numerous professional camera directors who were in the building at that very moment. But she’d gone ahead and given in anyway. She sighed, shaking her head. She hadn’t even needed any convincing. She hadn’t even tried telling him she was busy. She’d just dropped everything to go see him. She could tell him she was busy and go back to her studio right then. She groaned. She couldn’t do that. Not after having told him already that she would come. 

The elevator dinged, and the doors opened to the hallway on the fourth floor. She walked into the studio while Hoseok was sitting in a chair off to the side, absorbed in his phone screen as he waited. Once he saw her, he sprang to his feet. “Hey!” he greeted with that all-encompassing grin that just lit up one’s whole world. 

“Hey,” she replied, waving and setting her bag down in the corner of the room. He was wearing shorts and Puma running shoes with a towel bearing the Hope on the Street monogramme slung around his neck. 

“Thanks for coming. You were probably busy working on something, huh?”

That caught her off-guard. What could she say? She couldn’t say ‘yes’; that would make him feel bad. In a flustered state of panic, she quickly spluttered out, “Oh, nah. I was actually just thinking about taking a break.” Great. She never took breaks as far as anyone else knew. That surely had sounded like a blatant lie. 

“Really? That’s good. I was a little worried I’d be interrupting you.” Apparently it hadn’t sounded suspicious to him, thank goodness. “So, shall we get started?” he asked, turning some music on. She nodded. He handed her the phone he’d gotten from one of the staff, which already had the V app opened on it. “Here.” He motioned for her to come to where he was standing: the centre of the side of the room with the big mirror covering the wall. “So first, I’ll wait for a few minutes for Army to start up V Live. Then I’ll—ah.” He smiled. “You probably know how these usually go already, huh? Forget it, then. You can go ahead and hit ‘Start’ if you’re ready.” He took a seat in front of her on the floor. She did the same. “You are ready, aren’t you?” he insinuated, surprising her with a playful wink. 

“Uh…” she stuttered intelligently. “Yeah.” She searched the screen for the button he mentioned. When she found it and started recording, she gave him a nod and a thumbs-up. 

The segment went just the way it normally did. He did some warm-ups and stretching all while talking to the viewers about his routine. Even those looked hard. Every once in a while, he’d do something cute and silly, after which he’d look up at her inconspicuously with an embarrassed grin. She’d have to stop herself from giggling. Once he finished stretching, he motioned for her to stand up as he did the same. He told the audience he’d start with some freestyle hip-hop. 

Once he found the beat and jumped in, he went silent, focusing on the beat. Before she realised it, she’d lost herself in his movements. It was like breathing for him. His body seemed to have a mind of its own. He didn’t even have to think about the moves he would do next. Each one just flowed right into the next, seamless and without hesitation. 

Once the music reached a stopping point, he relaxed, addressing the viewers again. He came over to stand next to her to see how many people were watching, and the number made his eyes widen like full moons. “Oooh, there are so many of you watching now! Hello, everyone!” He announced he’d demonstrate some of the techniques he used during his freestyle practice from just before. While he was showing each move individually and giving commentary, {Y/n} was able to follow him for the most part, but when he started combining them, that was when he lost her. She tilted her head in amazement, wondering how many of the Army watching were still able to follow along. 

After he’d gone over each technique, he started putting them together into longer series’ of movements. As the current song reached its end, he stopped in place, standing still as the beat came to a close, his breaths heaving and a layer of perspiration covering his forehead as he ran his fingers through his hair. He went and turned off the stereo just as the next song started up. Then to her surprise, he started his closing commentary. When she looked at the time of recording on the phone, she saw that the broadcast had been going on for almost an hour. When he started waving goodbye to the viewers, she began looking for the button to end the livestream. She found it, tapped it, and lowered the camera, signalling to the dancer that it was over. 

“Alright!” he said, clapping his hands together. She handed the phone back to him. “Thanks.” She nodded. “And, hey, thanks again for coming and doing this. Were you able to follow any of it?”

She shrugged. “Kind of? I mean, by no means would I be able to actually do all that myself, but I think I understood some of what you were doing.”

He gave her a grin. “That’s awesome!”

“Honestly, though, I still can’t figure out how you do it all so flawlessly. If I tried to do what you just did, I’d probably be falling all over my own limbs.” She paused, fidgeting with the the hairband around her wrist in thought. 

“Thanks…?”

She hadn’t even heard him. “You’re just so talented. You’re good at singing, rapping dancing… You’ve even produced some of your own music for crying out loud.” She fell silent. She wished she’d been even just half as good at what she did as he was at what he did. 

“What’s wrong?”

She looked up to meet his gaze in a panic, suddenly hearing the insecurity in her own voice. “What? Nothing,” she reassured before looking away in shame. Me and my big mouth… 

“Hey.”

His hands landed on her shoulders. She swallowed in surprise. The tone of his voice was more serious and more tender than she’d ever heard from him before. 

“You’re upset,” he stated with undeniable intent in his gaze. “What about?” 

Doing her best to ignore him, she kept her mouth shut, hoping he’d just give up eventually. She couldn’t tell him that he was the reason she was upset just because he was talented. Oh, God. What had lead up to this? Every instinct in her body was screaming at her to bolt out the door, but her feet remained cemented to the studio floor by Hoseok’s vigilant stare. 

“{Y/n}, you listen to me talk about my problems all the time. The least you can do for yourself is let someone listen to yours.” Where was the sunshine that had been in the room with her until less than a minute ago? If only she could just make him forget everything she’d said. After a while of her still refusing to say anything, he sighed. “Alright, since you won’t tell me, let me take a guess. Is it that you don’t think you have any talent?” She still didn’t feel like saying anything, but she knew by not doing so, she’d be confirming his guess to be correct. “It is, isn’t it?” 

Finally giving in, she nodded. “Yeah, I guess. But can you blame me?”

Hoseok’s face fell, and he gave her a disappointed look. “How could you think that about yourself? Why would I have wanted you to help me with my mixtape if I didn’t think you were the best producer in the company?”

She scoffed under her breath. “Why would you think that?”

“Because you are!” Hearing him raise his voice made her turn to face him. When her eyes met his, Hoseok’s mouth froze. A palpable tension hung in the studio. After a few seconds, he relaxed his shoulders and his face softened. “I just—I don’t want you to think just because I have a lot of talents’ that yours are meaningless.” She nodded. That wasn’t the only reason, but it would do to end this quicker rather than let him prolong it any more. “I’m gonna be honest with you. You’re one of the most talented people I know.”

“Yeah?” she questioned, inwardly skeptical. 

“Yeah! And you know, I bet you could even learn to dance if you tried. You seem like a fast learner.”

This put a jam in her thoughts, forcing her to rewind. That was the last thing she’d expected him to say. “Me? Dance?” She almost laughed. “Sorry, Hoseok, but are you sure you know who you’re talking to?”

“Of course.” His tone made him sound as though he were accepting a challenge. “I’ll show you. It’s not that hard.” She shook her head in disapproval. “Come on, you’re already dressed for it.” He was right. Her sweatpants and loose tee were practically made for this sort of thing. She could always just take her shoes off. He gave her a smile of encouragement. “Trust me.”

[asterinjapan]

Back in time

Good evening, this time from the train from Osaka to Okayama! It's a little past 8:30 pm now, and since I'll have to get up early tomorrow for my trip to Tokyo, I'll be typing most of today's report on my phone. Just a heads up in case you spot any weird typoes, haha.

Anyway! Today was indeed a busy day, although very much fun in a lot of senses. You see, today I was meeting up with a friend to go to Universal Studios Japan, and then to a concert by KOKIA, my absolute favourite artist. So that's 3 great things in one sentence already, haha.

I'll be splitting the report so that one half just concerns the concert, because I tend to do very detailed reports on those. Seeing KOKIA live is such a treat, I don't want to forget a single detail! So below follows the report on the rest of the day.

I had to get up early to catch my train, so of course I woke up wayyyy to early at 4 am, pff. I went right back to sleep and woke up a little before my 6 am alarm, which was still too early, because breakfast starts at 6:30, haha. Oh well, plenty of time to get dressed in peace!

After breakfast, I made my way to the station to catch the shinkansen to Shin-Osaka station. The train goes past Himeji, though sadly I wasn't in a good position to take a picture of the castle. I did however notice that you can see Okayama castle from the train as well, be it from quite the distance. The views weren't really superb today, which was to be expected, since there was rain forecasted for pretty much the entire country. Oh well, not much I can do about that but take an umbrella, haha.

The trip was smooth and I met up with my friend at the station. We were going to Osaka station from here, a mere 5 minute ride, but it was quite tricky to even make it through the shinkansen gates. It was really busy for some reason, though they had just announced a train further south had stopped running due to heavy rains. Uh oh... but so far so good in Osaka, no rain yet and we eventually made it to Osaka station and from there, 2 quick trains bound for Universal Studios Japan!

We first caught up a little over drinks, with matcha latte for me of course, before we made it to the park entrance and got tickets. Since it was a Saturday I suspected it would be busy and we'd need to draw a number for the Harry Potter part of the park, but apparently the weather forecast worked in our favour, because there were no numbers needed to enter today. Yaaay! I went to Universal 4 years ago as well and mostly spent my day in the Harry Potter part, haha, so I wasn't complaining about starting here. Actually, this part of the park only has two rides proper and they're both a bit wild for us, but just looking around here is an attraction in itself. I got all nostalgic over the music and the scenes, and after shop browsing for a while and having our picture taken in front of the Hogwarts Express, we went into the wand shop to experience some magic happening as a random audience member was picked to be chosen by a wand. Sadly this wasn't me, haha, although I have a great wand at home I bought here last time. It was a fun little show (this time Ollivander spoke both very good English and Japanese, haha), after which we ended up in the wand shop, but we passed through it in favour of the castle.

You can go into Hogwarts castle for a pretty intense adventure (I did it back in 2015, my stomach wasn't very happy), or you can choose to take a stroll inside and look up on awe at all the amazing detail they put on here, haha. We opted for the latter, and I definitely made use of the invitation to take pictures by going wild with my current camera. Much better quality! Ah, I love this camera so. The castle has a ton of talking and moving paintings as well as some projections and a ton of replicas from the movies. Aside maybe from the last bit, where we first had to wait for a while for unknown reasons and then were rushed through, it was really great.

Once outside, we spotted some performers coming out dressed like the students from the wizarding schools Beauxbatons and Durmstrang from the fourth book/movie, so we stayed to watch. I think i read somewhere that this was a limited time show, and they were really good, very athletic. (I'm personally not a big fan of the movie approach of "the French students are only girls who dance pretty dainty ballet and the vaguely Russian students are only manly guys who grunt and stomp with sticks", but hey, that says nothing about the performers here! And the costumes were lovely. )

After some more shop browsing, we were in for a surprise once we were outside: the sun was shining bright! Absolutely not according to the forecasts, absolutely not complaining, haha. I took some very pretty pictures of the castle if I do say so myself, and then we went for lunch here. The salad served at the Three Broomsticks was pretty big, plenty enough to share. After this and of course some butterbeer (non-alcoholic), we left the wizarding world behind us and moved into the rest of the park.

This mostly ended in sightseeing, since the rows were too long to consider queuing up with the concert time getting closer, but that was a lot of fun too. They put in so much detail, and since it is almost Halloween, a lot of people had come dressed up.They do in the Disney parks too, but Disney has pretty strict rules about which characters you're allowed to dress up as, while here it seems to be "anything goes". I saw a guy dressed up as a piece of corn, quite some elaborate costume dress ups, a surprising amount of guys in Sailor Moon outfits, a lot of fancy gothic dress up, and a surprising number of uh, nuns. Alright! And of course, there was the usual mix with outfits from the Harry Potter part and uh, Minions. They have their own spot here.

We also went into the Jurassic park area, which was closed for maintenance last time, although sadly we didn't see a lot of dinosaurs roaming around. There was a scarily realistic Velociraptor animatronic inside the gift shop though! (I think it might have been Blue? Look, I only saw Jurassic World once.) But well, I still love dinosaurs, so this was still cool, haha.

Once we were getting closer to the time of the concert, we went back to the station to catch the train to Osaka station. Luckily the concert venue was very close and actually within the same building in which they have the big Broadway musicals here, currently the little mermaid. It was the lion king last time I went here and got lost at Osaka station, haha. (That station is like 5 different stations all connected, so it's a bit of a maze.) We got seated, got ourselves a drink (it's kinda like a jazz bar here, so you sit at a table and you can order food and drinks), made a quick trip to the merchandise shop, and then sat back to enjoy the performance.

I'll save those details for my next post, haha, but rest assured I had a great time. KOKIA had two performances tonight, so it was a little shorter than a big hall concert, but she did make time for an autograph session! Naturally we queued up with our newly purchased albums, haha.

Ah, such a good time! It was around dinner time now, so my friend introduced me to akashiyaki, which is "sort of takoyaki, except not", haha. Akashi is a city in the nearby Hyogo prefecture, and these are dumplings made of egg rich batter and octopus you need to dump into thin fish broth before eating (thank you, wikipedia). Although takoyaki, also balls with octopus, is more popular and better known, akashiyaki apparently came first. It was really yummy! We shared akashiyaki and then had a takoyaki gratin, which sounded kinda odd, but ended up being delicious as well. We eventually had some desserts at a nearby tea shop that sold SO MANY matcha things, I nearly had a crisis deciding until I opted for the matcha roll cake, incidentally the best roll cake I've ever had.

It was time to part ways with the promise of reunion, and I made it to Shin-Osaka alone. Familiar territory after last year, haha. I caught a shinkansen for Okayama and I have just arrived in my hotel safe and sound, very tired but very pleased.

Tomorrow will be tiring without a doubt, as I'll be in a train for 4.5 hours straight (I did this to myself, I know). But then I'll be in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, my home away from home at this point, haha. I guess I'll ditch my things at the hotel and then rush to Shibuya for my favourite little shrine there, because I must owe some deity something for how lucky I've been so far. Did I mention it was dry the whole time we were outside? Yeah.

I love Tokyo, so I'm very excited about going back there, but it also means saying goodbye to Okayama and entering my last week already. Time really flies, huh...

Well, stay tuned for pictures and the concert review while I go pack my suitcase (the title will make sense after that review, haha, although Harry Potter and dinosaurs are both things I grew up with) and then see you tomorrow from Tokyo!

[elopementphoto-blog]

Ten Tips on the right way to Choose a Wedding Professional photographer

How to choose a wedding photographer With the amount of wedding photographers, so many prices, and styles choosing the right wedding photographer can become quite a major and unwieldy task for the current couple To get started with, the internet makes things easier, because you can see lots of work side by side, but this does not immediately let you know the main bits of information, that will in the finish determine the best choice for you 10 top tips for choosing a photographer

#1 Who ever you choose, you must click with them A website will only go part of the way of finding out about attitude and the individual. You will be with your wedding photographer, on your special day from daybreak to dusk in some cases, inviting them into your outfitting room, while you are getting ready. The professional photographer will then work with your family through the day. You need to find someone you trust, and obtain on with #2 Who else ever you choose, you must click with them Yes that's point one! But it is point 2 as well. Anybody shooting your wedding needs to get the best out there of you, and this ultimately is a mix of communication, and camera craft. You need to be assured your wedding photographer can guide and instruct you and your family during the poses and team shots. If they allow you to smile, put you at your ease, the job is half done #3 Know that wedding photography is both a business and a vocation Wedding photography is a business, and professional wedding photography any of the hardest and stress filled disciplines in the photography game. You need to choose a photographer, who is a good in business and photography. We am not talking about profits here; I was talking about the way they run the business. You need to look at the business and think - will they be here in 5 -10 years time, when I have lost my hard drive, and I want a re-print. #4 Can you communicate with them easily Like all wedding suppliers, you should know - can you communicate with them easily. A hotmail account and a mobile phone number are a giveaway. Choose a landline amount, open in office hrs. Ask yourself - how quickly do they reply to e-mails, and at what time of the day. However, remember we don't work seven days a week, and we avoid answer the phone if we are shooting a wedding. It is not uncommon for busy wedding photographers to take off a day in the 7 days With a wedding photographer, you have to be clear on this issue, because unlike almost all of the other vendors, you will be communicating a great deal with the photographer a long time after the wedding #5 Choose what style you want There are a number of different styles of wedding pictures ranging between stiff and formal, through to totally documentary (nothing at all set up). There are also photographers that pull in aspects of other photographic disciplines such as fashion, fine art, avant-garde and so forth. On top of that, there are a number of ways the photographs are processed, ranging from standard colour, monochrome to totally gimmicky digesting. Before you seriously look at choosing a photographer, choose the style you want first #6 Complementing a photographer to the style you want This particular is obvious, but more often than not, the photographer is chosen for another reason, and their style is foisted on the couple. You need to know that good professional photographers can transform the style they capture a little from shoot to shoot. However you do not want to choose a conventional photographer to shoot a reportage style etc. Most of us are in the middle, and low fat one way or the other Consider the photographers work, try and look at whole weddings if they are available, and if many weddings are available to view, look to see that the photographer does shoot in the manner you want #7 Portfolio shots are different to general wedding pictures Photographers choose images for their portfolios as they are either the best of the best, or they fit a certain format, or both. They tend to be dramatic, show ending images. The 99. 9% of the images the wedding photographer shoots are the ones you need to be interested in. #8 Suggestions Nothing is better than a recommendation, but nothing is worse than an unqualified recommendation. If someone recommends any wedding supplier or wedding professional photographer to you, then you need to know: have they actually shot the wedding yet? What is the relationship between the photographer and the person doing it recommending? I am often contacted by venues, wanting a 10% cut, so that they can recommend me personally. I always say no . This goes on a great deal If you get a recommendation from a happy couple, who may have had the album, and loved the service provided from begin to finish, then go with it, but still ensure you like the person and style #9 Deliverables Getting the wedding pictures shot is the main thing. If you have little money, invest in getting the day covered before investing in products. All other products - albums, canvases, prints - need to be considered separately. What is the photographer's attitude to longevity, and quality in the products? Your wedding album should final generations when it is made properly, and will last a few years if bad quality materials are used. Consider this to be an investment Do a little research first - find out about acid free materials and pigments, and why using them is important On the subject of deliverables, find out how reprints, albums and products are delivered, and if online galleries are provided, and if reprints can be bought online #10 Get a narrow your search and have a meeting If you can get a very short set of professional photographers, and go and meet them at their facilities. To know more details visit here: best wedding photographer