#the vantes project 2

[sunnys567]

Friends in Strange Places Ch. 2

What if Vlad was good instead of evil? Link to chapter 1:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/39040329/chapters/97656390

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Vlad was at the door with his suitcase, mentally double checking that he had everything, when the vultures phased through the floor. The lead one was absent.

"Vlad." the raspy voiced one said "Da tree of us just vanted to vish you varewell bevore you levt."

"I'll only be gone for a few days." Vlad said, putting on his coat. "And I notice there's only two of you."

"Ay, vell, he and Rochester vere fighting over da paper again."

"Oh for goodness sake." Vlad pinched the bridge of his nose. "Rochester only wants the comics section. Can't he just give him that?"

"Ah, you know how dat old bird is."

Vlad sighed heavily.

"You know what? I'm just going to start getting two newspaper subscriptions. The mail carrier will think I've lost it, but this is just getting ridiculous." He turned to head out the door.

"You're going to Amity, yeah?" The vulture with the glasses said. "Dat mean you're going to see da Venton's again?"

Vlad stopped with his hand on the knob.

"I'll...try to pay the Fentons a visit if I have time." he turned to look at the vultures "Although, truth be told, as much as I'd like to see Jack and Maddie, it might not be wise for me to just walk into the house of ghost hunters. Especially ghost hunters with as much...passion as them."

"An understandable concern, Vlad, but you know if dat ghost kid's been managing to live dere okay, you shouldn't have any trouble popping in for a quick visit. Just relax! Try to enjoy yourselv!"

Vlad considered this for a moment.

"Fair point, I suppose. Now, I really must be going. Remind Cecilia she doens't have to cook, make sure someone's keeping an eye on the portal, and- well, I suppose you the drill by now. I'll see you all in a few days."

Vlad opened the door and stepped outside.

"Oh, and Rochester had better not have any claw marks on him when I return. "

With that, Vlad shut the door and was gone. The two vultures looked at each other.

"You tink ve should go check on Rochester?" The one with glasses asked.

The raspy voiced one sighed.

"Yeah." he said.

They both phased through the floor.

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"-and now I can't find that ghost dog anywhere!" Danny flopped onto his bed "It's like it just showed up to destroy Axiom Labs and then left!"

"Well, maybe that means it's gone forever?" Tucker suggested, swiveling back in forth in Danny's computer chair. "Problem solved!"

"Since when have ghosts ever decided to just leave?" Sam asked from her bean bag. "There's at least an 80% chance that dog is going to pop up again."

"And at the least convenient time, I'll bet." Danny added from the bed.

"Well, even if that's the case there's nothing we can do about it, so what's the point in worrying about it?"

"You know, you could stand to take this a little more seriously." Sam glared at Tucker.

"I am taking this seriously!" Tucker stuck out his tongue at Sam. "Look on the bright side, Danny. Sure, the security system got completely fried, but most of the projects were unharmed."

"And, more importantly," Sam shot Tucker another side-eye "You got everyone out safely."

"I guess." Danny sighed and sat up. "I just can't help feeling like a failure. If I don't find that dog, what's to stop him from doing the same thing to some other building when I'm not around? I barely managed to get everyone out in time as it was."

"Well," Sam said "He did come to you before storming Axiom. So maybe he'll come to you again."

"Even if that is true, I couldn't stop it last time, so what would I do if it did show up again." Danny massaged his face in exasperation. "I wish there was someone we could just ask how to stop it. It feels like we never know what we're doing."

Sam and Tucker looked at each other. Tucker got up and patted Danny on the back.

"Aw, come on buddy," he said "We'll figure it out. We always do."

"Yeah Danny." Sam cam and sat on the bed beside him. "You've got nothing to worry-"

"INTRUDER ALERT!!! INTRUDER ALERT!!! A GHOST HAS ENTERED THE BUILDING!!! INTRUDER ALERT!!!" A loud robotic voice repeated very loudly.

The trio rushed out of Danny's room to the top of the stairs. Jazz had clearly just run in from the kitchen and Danny's parents were standing near the door. About twenty different guns had popped down from panels in the ceiling and were pointed directly at-

"Vlad?"

"INTRUDER ALERT!!!"

"Hello Daniel, Jasmine." Despite Vlad's friendly composure, he was clearly uncomfortable with all the alarms and the guns pointed at him.

"INTRUDER ALERT!!!"

"It's Jazz." Jazz replied sharply.

"INTRUDER ALERT!!!"

"And can someone please turn that off!"

"INTRUDER ALERT!!!"

"Oh, right." Maddie pulled a device out of her bag and clicked a few buttons. The guns retreated back into the ceiling, the alarm went silent, and the voice stopped repeating itself. Vlad visibly relaxed.

"Perhaps the security system's a little too sensitive." Maddie said. "This isn't the first time it's been set off by someone who wasn't a ghost." Vlad subtly raised an eyebrow at Danny. Danny smiled nervously from the top of the stairs.

"To be honest, Maddie, I'd get rid of this system entirely." Vlad said. "It seems a little overkill. And besides, if a ghost did make it into Fenton Works, surely it'd be no match for you and Jack?"

Danny had to admit that that was pretty smooth.

"You make an excellent point V-man!" Jack beamed. "And we can repurpose the defense system into even better anti-ecto weapons!"

"Or maybe something a lot less dangerous?" Jazz suggested.

"Well, we can decide that later." Maddie said clapping her hands together. "Come on in Vlad! It's so nice that you could drop by! I'll put on the tea. I just made cookies this morning, so they should be cool by now. And these ones didn't come to life this time, so help yourself!"

"Sound delightful." Vlad said as the group walked into the kitchen. He glanced up at Danny as they passed by on their way to the kitchen.

"Okay Danny," Tucker said once the grown ups were out of site "So what on earth is Vlad Masters doing in your house?"

"Oh, I forgot." Danny slapped his forehead "Mom and Dad said he was coming over today. Kind of got distracted by whole ghost-dog thing."

"Okay, I have a follow up question." Tucker said.

"Apparently he was friends with my parents in college. They used to be pretty close until-"

Danny stopped himself. He didn't know if Vlad would be okay with Sam and Tucker knowing. They were cool with half-ghosts, sure, but Danny knew he wouldn't want Vlad telling anyone his secret without asking first. Even mentioning that Vlad had been in an accident involving a ghost portal might be enough to tip Sam and Tucker off, and he didn't want to risk it.

"-uh, until, you know, they split up and Vlad started his own company. Which, as you probably know, turned out pretty well for him. He just held a big college reunion about a month ago, and they're kind of reconnecting, I guess."

"Wait," Sam held up her hand "That's why your family went down to Wisconsin for the weekend? To hang out with the CEO of VladCo? Why on earth are we only learning about this now?"

"I watched a bunch of adults dance around an auditorium with fake cheese on their heads for four hours. It was boring. Not much to tell. At all." Danny wracked his brain for anything else to talk about, until he realized something. "Hey, how do you two know who he is? I only learned about him in the RV on the way up."

"Uh, tech nerd?" Tucker held up his PDA, as if to illustrate his point.

"Rich people know each other." Sam shrugged. "Not that I've ever met the guy. Apparently he's pretty reclusive. Very selective about who he'll see, but I've heard my parents say his name about five billion times. It's all about connections with them. Knowing someone who knows someone. The intricately tangled web the rich have woven to keep those below them in their place. I'd take a flamethrower to that that web if I could."

Danny and Tucker just blinked at her.

"Anyway," Sam said, checking her watch "If he's here visiting your family, I guess we'd better go."

"What!?" Tucker said "And miss out on the chance to talk to tech giant Vlad Masters? I have so many questions for him!"

"He's a busy guy Tucker." Sam said, grabbing Tucker by the sweater collar and dragging him down the stairs. "He's probably too sick of work stuff to want to talk about it any more in his off-time than he does on a daily basis. Also, CEO's don't tend to know much about the tech side of the tech industry anyway. He probably just crunches numbers and pushes papers. Anyway, enjoy your visit Danny!" Sam waved pleasantly at him once she'd gotten Tucker out the door.

"Don't forget to check out that trailer for DOOMED I sent you!" Danny heard Tucker call before Sam shut the door.

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When Danny entered the kitchen, Jazz was sitting at the table, a pile of closed books in front of her. Presumably she'd been studying before Vlad arrived. Maddie was talking as she pulled cups out of the cupboard.

"...so nice to be able to properly catch up with you without all the hubbub of the party. Ah, there you are Danny. Would you get the milk and sugar out?"

"Yeah, V-man, " Jack mock-aimed whatever device he was working on at Vlad as he spoke "I never got the chance to tell about all the cool new invetions Mads and I have been working on at the reunion!"

"Oh goodie." Vlad said dryly. "I simply cannot wait for that." He reached up and gently pushed the device away from his face.

"I simply cannot wait for that. Fear me."

The room went silent. Danny looked at the table and saw a familiar device amongst a small pile of Fenton inventions.

"Oh, great, you're working on the Ghost Gabber again." he said nervously, realizing his mistake a millisecond too late.

"You're working on the Ghost Gabber again. Fear me."

Jazz's eyes flickered between Danny and Vlad a few times before she pushed her chair back and stood up, an annoyed look on her face. She walked around to Jack's side of the table.

"I'm going to put this glitchy thing away." She said, snatching it off the table "Before it annoys us all to death."

With that she stomped down the stairs clutching the Gabber.

"Say," Jack rubbed his chin "That's a great idea! Why don't we all head to the lab! Maddie and I can show you how far we've come since our college days Vlad!"

"Oh," Vlad's smile seemed a bit forced and his voice sounded nervous "Erm, well, I don't know if-"

Before he could finish speaking, Jack had wrapped his thick arm around Vlad and was practically dragging him down the stairs.

Danny made to follow them, but he stopped when he felt his mom's hand on his shoulder.

"You mind helping me carry the tea stuff down, sweetheart?"

"Oh, um, maybe tea in the lab isn't a good idea right now?" Danny was desperate to get down there and not leave Vlad alone. "With Vlad here, Dad might get over excited and spill it on something important?"

"Hm, I suppose you're right..."

"We can just have it when Dad's done showing Vlad around. But we should go down and join them. Right now." Danny hoped his mom didn't notice the urgency in his voice as he pulled her down the stairs.

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When they arrived in the basement, he found his dad giving Vlad a tour. To Danny's relief, Vlad's apprehension had been replaced with genuine interest. He examined various machine closely as Jack blathered on about them.

"This is quite the innovation Jack!" Vlad and Jack were currently looking over the still incomplete Spectre Speeder. "And it's ability to convert the ambient ecto-energy of the Ghost Zone into fuel, creating a self-sustaining perpetual energy source is absolutely brilliant!"

"It also ensures you won't run out of fuel if you get lost!" Maddie said, jumping right into the conversation. "We know so little about the Ghost Zone, so we want to be as prepared as we can be."

"Indeed. And, although I am of fan of the ample storage space, I'm wondering if the converters are able to generate enough power? Especially if you're going to install weapon functionality which, if I know you two, you will be doing in excess."

"Yeah, that's the tricky part," Jack frowned "We're a bit stuck on that, but if we can find a way to compact the circuitry, we might be able to disperse it in such a way to maximize the ambient ecto exposure the Speeder gets, but then there's the issue of excessive energy production, which..."

Totally lost by their jargon, Danny glanced at Jazz and saw her discreetly flipping some switches on a few devices. She probably didn't want something else to go haywire and disturb Vlad's visit. Or maybe just annoy her personally.

 Luckily the thing that Jazz seemed to have dubbed 'annoying' were the same devices Danny tended to set off unintentionally. That was convenient. Sure, Danny knew which ones to avoid, but Vlad didn't. Now he wouldn't accidentally set them off and rouse suspicion. Danny silently thanked Jazz and her limited patience with their parent's ghost stuff.

"...and of course, there's out crowning achievement, The Fenton Ghost Portal!" Jack said, gesturing proudly to the portal.

"Oh," Maddie made a strange face. "We can just ignore that thing if we want to, though." she smiled nervously.

"It's kind of a little hard to miss, Mom." Danny said.

"Don't worry Maddie, I know exactly what you're thinking." He wrapped his arm around Vlad's shoulders. "Don't worry Vladdie, we perfected the design of this baby.

There's no way it'll explode in your face and leave you hospitalized indefinitely this time!"

Vlad smiled back at Jack, but it was very obviously strained. Maddie and Danny looked away awkwardly. Jazz glared at her father.

"Yes, well, as much as I appreciate the painful reminder and the concern," Vlad pushed himself out of Jack's grip "There's truly no need for it. We've come a long way since our college days, I'm sure you'll agree." Vlad walked towards the portal. He gave it a quick look-over. "It seems you two were more thourough with your planning this time. Unlike that prototype, this portal seems to be in perfect working order. In it's current state it holds no risk towards anyone."

Jazz flashed Danny a look that he almost missed.

"Besides, of course, for the ghosts that come out of it." Vlad added, running his hand along the metal frame.

"You know, it's funny." Maddie said. "We've had the portal running for a few months now, and barely anything's shown up. Of course, we haven't actually gone into the Ghost Zone ourselves, so maybe it opened on a deserted patch, or something. "

It took all of Danny's willpower not to burst out laughing.

"Probably wise." Vlad removed his hand from the frame. "Who knows what dangers lie on the other side."

Danny suddenly wondered if Vlad had been to the ghost Zone. He probably had, since he did have access to a working portal, and he'd sounded like he was familiar with the Ghost Zone when he was talking to Danny at the end of the reunion. He'd have to ask him about it when he got the chance.

"Of course, there was that kerfuffle down at Axiom Labs that sounded suspiciously like ghost activity to me." Maddie frowned.

"Oh, have you investigated?"

"Unfortunately not. Those darned security people wouldn't even let us take a look at the Axiom building." Jack stared into the distance, determination and frustration written on his face. "I just know it was a ghost that caused all that destruction!"

Danny wondered if anyone could here his heart rate increasing.

"Well, Jack, I am meeting with John Axiom today," Jazz's eyes went wide when she heard that. Danny had to admit he was a bit impressed too. Vlad didn't seem to be bragging, though. "Perhaps I'll be able to find out from him what happened."

"Ooh, good thinking V-man. You can come back to visit when you're done with all your business stuff and tell us what happened at Axiom."

"Oh, I don't know that I'll have time to visit again, but I will definitely get in touch with you and Maddie if I hear about anything ghostly."

Danny noticed both his parent's faces fall.

"Oh," Maddie said, the pep gone from her voice. "You're sure you can't-"

"And speaking of which," Vlad looked down at his watch "I'm afraid I'm due for that meeting rather soon, so I must be going now." Vlad started his way up the stairs. The others followed him.

"Oh, you didn't even have your tea yet." Maddie said as they emerged into the kitchen.

"I really would like to stay Maddie, but unfourtunatley, this is a business trip, and I'm afraid my schedule's rather tight." Vlad said as he opened the front door. "It truly was a pleasure seeing your home. And the lab is quite the upgrade from our old makeshift college one."

"Thanks Vladdie." Jack beamed. "And if you think that's cool, wait to you see the Ecto Annihilator!" Jack punctuated his sentence by pulling out a menacing looking box with many tiny flailing metal claws.

"Oh wow, look at the time, I really have to go right now!" Vlad almost slammed the door shut in his hurry.

"Awww." Jack's shoulders slumped and he threw the Annihilator over his shoulder. Danny zoomed as far away from that thing as he could without looking (too) conspicuous.

"Well, that was..." Danny started.

"Brief." Jazz finished.

"We don't get to see him for twenty years, and he still barely talks to us." Maddie sighed. "I get that he's busy, but he could at least return my calls."

Jack just sighed loudly. It was like looking at a kicked puppy. Danny and Jazz weren't sure what to say.

"Welp," Maddie clapped her hands, the smile returning to her face. "No point in standing around moping. It was nice to be able to see Vlad at all. Now, we've got some perfectly good tea in the kitchen that shouldn't go to waste."

"You know what, you're right Maddie." Jack's smile also returned and he wrapped an arm around Maddie's waist. "I finally got the chance to show Vladdie the new lab. And I think he was impressed. That's a win! Maybe later he'll be thinking about it, and realize it's so cool that he'll want to join us in ghost fighting again! I bet he'll be calling any day now!"

Danny didn't say anything, but that seemed a little optimistic to him.

"In the meantime," Jack continued "Let's have that tea. And those cookies you mentioned. And I can tell the kids all about the upgrades I'm making to the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle! To the kitchen!"

Danny glanced warily at the 'Ecto Annihilator' that was still in the way to the kitchen, but Jazz had already procured a set of tongs and a garbage bag and was cautiously approaching the device. Danny wasn't sure what it did, but he was very glad Jazz was the one dealing with it.

"That Vlad guy is pretty...interesting." Jazz said as she dropped the Annihilator into the garbage bag. " Wouldn't you say Danny?"

"Huh? Yeah, I guess."

Danny suddenly thought he felt something brush his leg. He looked down and saw a folded piece of paper sticking out out his pocket. He pulled it out and unfolded it, revealing a note.

Daniel,

I should be able to stop by tomorrow night sometime around 8:00. It would be good to catch up with you. Also I heard you may have been having some ghost trouble, and I'd certainly be willing to offer my assistance. I must say, I am impressed with your efficiency in evacuating the Axiom employees. You may be feeling discouraged by the fact that you weren't able to subdue the ghost, but it's important to choose your battles and have your priorities straight.

                                                                                                                                                            We'll talk more tomorrow,                                                                                                                                                                                  Plasmius.

It was actually kind of nice getting praised. Danny beamed to himself as he stuffed the note back into his pocket. He couldn't wait for tomorrow.

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Of course, Danny hadn't considered that he'd have to see Valerie tomorrow. Or how defeated she'd look.

Danny stared warily at her as Valerie skipped the lunch line in the cafeteria. He noticed she was carrying a bagged lunch.

Did this have something to do with the ghost dog?

He felt his stomach sink.

Sam noticed his staring.

"You're not seriously thinking of asking out another popular girl, are you Danny?" she asked, disapprovingly "You know, considering how well the last time went."

"What?" Danny looked at Sam. "No, I- you remember that ghost dog?"

"Yeah?"

"Wait, that's Valerie Gray!" Tucker cut in. "As in Damon Gray's kid. I read about her dad getting in major trouble with Axiom Labs. They sued him for all he was

worth. The guy even had to sell his house."

Danny's stomach was absolutely churning.

"Wait, why'd they sue?" Sam asked "Did it have something to do with the ghost attack?"

"Well, according to official reports, Gray's so-called 'foolproof' new security system went haywire and caused a lot of damage. The building was practically unsalvageable. No one could figure out why, including Gray, so John Axiom made him pay for the damages. Which were pretty expensive, as it turns out. The security footage of the incident was toasted, and no one has said anything about seeing a dog. Some witnesses did mention getting save by 'a creepy teenager with super powers' though."

"I've been called worse." Danny shrugged.

"Wow, "Sam said "Billionaire sues hundred-thousand-aire for damages he could already afford to cover with what amounts to pocket change for him. It's a real dog-eat-dog world in rich people land. Well, more like dog-eat-flea-when-dog-already-has-a-steak world. The flea is Valerie's dad, in case that wasn't clear."

"And it wasn't even his fault." Danny said "It was that ghost dog that wrecked all the machines. It was weird, he seemed so friendly until we got near Axiom Labs. And tiny."

"Hey, " Tucker was staring beyond Danny "What's going on with Valerie's friends?"

Danny and Sam turned to look at the popular kids table. They watched as Valerie dejectedly skulked off from her friends and sat at a different table by herself. She pulled a sandwich out of her brown bag and picked at it.

"Wait, why isn't Valerie sitting with her friends?" Danny asked.

"If I had to guess," Sam said "All her dear A-lister 'friends' dropped her the second they heard she was broke."

"Oh."

Yeah, Danny wasn't eating the rest of his lunch today.

"Man," Tucker knitted his brow "Losing your house, all your money, and your friends all in one go? That's rough. We should go talk to her."

"What?" Sam rolled her eyes "And throw rich girl a pity party for finally getting a dose of reality?"

"She's still a person Sam." Tucker glared at Sam as he spoke. "A person whose going through a real tough time right now." He looked over at Danny. "You coming?"

"I..." Danny rubbed the back of his neck. He couldn't look Tucker in the eye. "...don't think that's a good idea, Tuck. It might be weird, cuz it's kind of my fault she in this situation in the first place, so..."

Tucker stood up.

"You two are unbelievable. Well, I'm going to talk to her whether you jerks come with me or not."

He walked away. Sam kept and impassive expression, but she didn't look at Danny. He also avoided eye contact with her.

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"Hey Valerie." Tucker greeted her. She looked up from her sandwich and glared at Tucker. "Uh, I'm Tucker. Tucker Foley."

"I know who you are. You're in my PE class."

"We also went to the last dance togeth- never mind. You mind if I sit?"

She didn't say anything. Maybe this was a bad idea, but Tucker felt like he had to at least try, so he sat down.

"Sorry your friends are being such jerks."

"So the entire cafeteria saw my humiliating rejection. That's just what I needed."

"I mean, I just heard about what happened with your dad, and-"

"Great, so the whole school is talking about how much of a loser I've become?"

"No! I just follow Axiom Labs, being a tech nerd and all, and I read about the, uh, incident, and how they sued your dad, so I thought-"

"Thought what? That you'd just walk over here to nobly pity to the lonely loser kid? Ooh, lucky me! The biggest nerd in school wants to sit with me! How could my life possibly get any better! All my problems have been dwarfed thanks to the presence of Tucker freaking Foley everyone!"

Despite her harsh words, Tucker found himself having difficulty getting offended. Maybe he was desensitized from Dash's crew saying stuff like this about him all the time, but maybe deep down he understood that Valerie wasn't trying to hurt him specifically, she was just lashing out. She was at a pretty low point, so Tucker figured he could forgive her for this one.

"Look," he said firmly, but not harshly. "I know you're having a hard time. It's not easy, having your whole life upended by ghosts. But, and as weird as this sounds-" "Ghosts?"

It sounded ridiculous, but once Tucker said the word 'ghosts', gears started to turn in Valerie's head. The monster that had destroyed Axiom seemed able to disappear, and the kid that had saved her and the others could fly through walls.

They were ghosts.

Ghosts were real.

It sounded crazy, but, somehow, it was the only thing that made sense.

"Oh my gosh!" Valerie shot up from her seat "Ghosts!"

"Hey, hey, it's okay." Tucker said sitting down opposite her. "I deal with ghosts all the time, there's no need to freak out."

But it was too late. Valerie wasn't listening. She was running towards the cafeteria faster than Tucker had ever seen her run in gym class.

"Hey, wait!" Tucker called after her "You forgot your-"

But Valerie was long gone.

"-lunch."

Tucker sighed and stood up. Worried some bully might steal it, he packed up Valerie's lunch and headed back to his table.

"Well that went well." Sam said dryly.

"At least I tried Sam." Tucker glared at her, not at all in a joking mood.

"How is she?" Danny asked tentatively.

"Not good. She's really freaked out and upset over everything."

"I wish there was something I could do to help her."

"Me too. I think I just made everything worse, though. You gonna finish that?" Tucker pointed to Danny's tray. Danny shoved it over to Tucker.

Nobody said anything for the rest of the lunch hour.

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They all split up after lunch. Tucker hated that they had separate fourth periods on Thursdays.

As he turned the corner he smashed into someone carrying a rather large stack of books. Tucker and the other person fell to the ground and the books they were carrying went everywhere.

"Oh jeez, sorry!" Tucker scrambled to collect the books. "I did not see you at all! But, maybe you shouldn't be carrying so many books that you can't-" he suddenly noticed a theme in the books he was picking up.

"Ghost Hunter's Almanac? Ghost Hunting for Nitwits? What's with the interest in-" he looked up from the books in his hand and saw Valerie picking up up the rest of the mess.

 "Oh. Hey Valerie." What were the chances? "Um, here's your...ghost books back." he held them out awkwardly. Valerie glared at him and snatched her books back.

"What, are you stalking me or something?"

"No, I honestly didn't see you. You know, if you're interested in ghosts, Danny's parents are ghost experts. You could totally ask him for help. Or you could ask me and I'll ask him." Tucker gave what he hoped was a charming and friendly smile, but it just seemed to annoy Valerie.

"I don't know what your game is Foley." she said, glaring at him. "But you can quit now. I don't have any money left, and despite my new status, there's no way I'll ever be desperate enough to date you. So you've got nothing to gain from sucking up to me."

"Wait, what?" Tucker blinked in confusion. "Valerie, I'm not trying to get anything from you, I'm just trying to help. Honest."

"Great, I've even lost my appeal to the bottom of the barrel."  

Wow, Valerie was making it really hard to be nice to her.

"Then what do you want? Why are you being so nice to me?"

"You just, seem like you could use some kindness, I guess." Tucker shrugged. "I do kind of know what it's like for ghosts to uproot your life. Adjusting can be...hard."

"Oh." Now it was Valerie's turn to be caught off guard. "Well, thanks, I guess."

"You're welcome, I guess."

Valerie started to walk away.

"Hey, wait!"

"Ha, I knew it! I knew you wanted something!"

"You forgot this at lunch," Tucker handed her her paper bag. "I thought you might get hungry later."

"Oh." Valerie took the bag. She and Tucker just stood there looking at each other for a few seconds. The bell suddenly rang, interupting their awkward staring contest.

"Oh no, I'm late!" they both said at the same time, sprinting off in opposite directions.

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Valerie was having trouble processing her interaction with Tucker. It was weird. Her own friends had snubbed her, but the loser kid she (if she could help it) never talked to was helping her at her lowest point? Valerie didn't get it.

But at least he had reminded her of some valuable information; Danny Fenton's parents were ghost hunters. That meant some of the worlds leading ghost experts were right in her town. Ghost experts she could actually talk to. The books were interesting, but they weren't super helpful. If she wanted to protect herself from ghosts, she needed weapons.

And Fenton Works was just the place to get them.

Valerie rang the doorbell. She fixed her hair while she waited for someone to answer. She only had one shot at this, so she needed things to go as well as possible.

A large man in an orange jumpsuit, whom Valerie recognized as Danny's father opened the door. He looked back and forth a few times before looking down and spotting her.

"And who might you be?" on paper the question might have sounded rude, but the man seemed earnestly curious. "One of Danny or Jazz's friends?"

"I'm in Danny's class. My name's Valerie Gray." Valerie tilted her head slightly and used a voice she'd been perfecting since kindergarten to get adults to do what she wanted "I just heard that the Fenton's were top tier ghost hunters, and I was wondering if there was any way you could teach me so I could help fight against the ghosts too."

Jack absolutely beamed when she finished speaking. Valerie internally pumped her fist. That was a good sign.

"Well would you look at that." he said. "It's not often you find young people so enthusiastic about ghost hunting these days. Maddie! Come here!"

"What is it Jack?" Maddie appeared at the door. "Oh, are you selling cookies? I didn't know they let teenagers be girl scouts." Again, in theory that sentence could have been condescending, but Maddie sounded genuinely interested.

"She's not selling cookies Mads. Wait, are you selling cookies?" Valerie shook her head. "Darn. Anyway, this is one of Danny's friends. She came here to ask us about ghost hunting!"

"Ooh!" Maddie squealed. "That's exciting! What did you want to know Sweetie?"

"I wanted to become a ghost hunter, like you two." Valerie said, putting on her best smile and sunniest voice. "I want to learn how to fight ghosts so I can protect this town and myself when those menaces attack."

"Wow, such ambition!" Maddie beamed "Unfortunately we can't actually teach you to fight ghosts."

"What?" Valerie felt like a balloon in her chest had deflated.

"Yeah," Jack nodded solemnly "Those police officers warned us about giving out 'volatile energy weapons' to 'random teenagers' after the last time. We'd love to recruit you kiddo, but they said they wouldn't be so forgiving next time."

"But I'll be careful!" Valerie wasn't ready to give up "You could train me, and I promise I wouldn't use any of the weapons unless it was a real emergency, and-"

"Sorry Sweetie, I'm afraid our hands are tied."

Valerie face fell and her shoulders slumped.

"I'll tell you what, though." Valerie held her breath when Maddie spoke. "We can give you these."

She handed Valerie two small devices. One looked like a pager, and the other sort of like a shield handle without the shield.

"The Fenton Pager and The Fenton Hand Shield." Jack said proudly.

Well, that made sense.

"You can use the Pager to contact us if you run into any ghosts."

"Our number's also in the phone book if you have any questions." Maddie added. "Our message box is usually pretty empty, so we should be able to get back to you fairly quickly."

"That shield is also a piece of cake to operate." Jack said "You just use the button to turn it on and off. It's small, but easy to transport and conceal. The ghosts'll never suspect you've got it on you."

"The charge doesn't last very long, but you shouldn't need to use it much. For emergencies only."

Valerie lost all hope when Maddie said that.

"Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Fenton. I should really be getting home now."

"It was great to meet you...what was your name again?" Maddie asked pleasantly, as if she hadn't just crushed all of Valerie's hopes and dreams.

"Valerie."

"It was nice to meet you Valerie. Feel free to stop by anytime."

Valerie heard the door close behind her as she walked glumly down the stairs. She stopped at the bottom and stared at the devices in her hands. The shield was something, she supposed, but nowhere close to what she was hoping for.

She closed her hand into a fist and clutched the hand-shield.

"I'll find a way." She said looking up, determination burning on her face.

"Find a way to do what?"

Valerie jumped and turned towards the voice. Her thumb instinctively found the button on the hand-shield, and a translucent green circle about the size of a trash can lid sprung up in front of her face.

"Who's there!?"

The stranger stepped out of the shadows of the ally way.

"My apologies for startling you. I'm-"

"I know who you are. Vlad Masters. CEO of VladCo." Valerie clicked the button with her thumb again, and the shield retracted.

"Hm. I'm not usually recognized by people under twenty. Anyway, I couldn't help but overhear you've taken an interest in ghost hunting."

"What's it to you?" She crossed her arms and glared at Vlad challengingly. Under any other circumstances, she would've been excited to meet the famous billionaire, but not when she'd just caught him creeping in an alley, eavesdropping on her.

"Not many people take interest in that particular field. Most don't even believe in ghosts in the first place, let alone want to hunt them. Especially not your age."

"You...believe that ghosts are real too?" Valerie was surprised.

"My dear I've run into many ghosts over the course of my life time. Spoken to more ghosts than ghost-believers."

Valerie scoffed.

"Spoken? To those monsters?"

"Whether you believe it or not, it's true. However, as I'm sure you're aware, not all ghosts are friendly. I'd advise you to steer clear and leave the ghost hunting to the professionals."

"Professionals?" Now Valerie was seething. What right did this guy have to just show up and tell her what to do and not worry about? "You mean the same 'professionals' who stopped that giant monster from destroying my father's security system? The same professionals that saved everyone at Axiom Labs who was in danger? The same professionals who stopped my life from being completely ruined in front of me? Oh wait!"

"Tell me Mister Masters," Valerie took a step forward. Vlad stepped back. "What right do you have to just show up, out of literally nowhere, and tell me what I should be doing with my life. "

Maybe this had been coming. Maybe Valerie's fear and anger had been festering for too long and were finally boiling over the edge. Maybe it was because she was never going to see this idiot again. Whatever the reason, she let out everything she'd been carrying inside her for the past week.

"You haven't lied awake at night because you're too afraid to close your eyes in case something more terrifying than most people can even imagine shows up and destroys your life without warning. You haven't had nightmares about giant green faces that wake you up in a cold sweat at 3:00am when you finally do get to sleep. You haven't seen monster you know you saw, but can't tell anyone about because they'd think you were crazy!" She felt tears prickling the corners of her eyes, but she pressed on. Now that she'd started, she wasn't going to stop until she got everything out of her system.

"You don't have to look at your dad's face every morning when he smiles and tells you everything's gonna work out, when both you and he know the truth is that everything sucks, and it might suck for a long time! Maybe forever." Valerie's voice wavered, but she steadied herself. "Ghosts took everything from me! And that monster is going to continue to haunt my life until I do something about it!"

Valerie could feel herself shaking. She felt drained, but also lighter than she had in a week.

Vlad didn't say anything. He looked mildly surprised. Valerie found that she didn't care what he thought. She turned around to leave.

"You're right."

She stopped walking and looked over her shoulder.

"Ghosts can haunt you in more ways than one. I...have experienced the fear. I've lied awake worrying that what happened once may happen again. I've gone about my daily life on edge, worrying that they might attack out of nowhere. If anyone knows what you're going through, it's me. I have no right to tell you to just go back to living your life like nothing happened when I know that's impossible."

Valerie was genuinely speechless. She hadn't expected this old man to listen to her, to care, to understand.

"I know someone who can deal with the ghost that attacked Axiom. It will be dealt with, I can assure you."

Valerie nodded and bit her lip thoughtfully.

"But there's more, aren't there?" she said. "And don't you dare lie to me."

"Yes."

"A lot?"

"I'm afraid so."

"I know what they can do. The damage they can cause. I won't be able to sit by and watch ghosts destroy the lives of the people around me. I can't do nothing."

Vlad didn't say anything right away. He looked pensive.

"I'll make you a deal."

"What kind of deal?"

"The kind that will give you the tools you need to protect you from ghosts, and help you protect others."

"You mean ghost weapons?" Valerie raised her eyebrows.

"Yes. Weapons and armour, of sorts. But, you'll have to agree to a few conditions."

"What are these conditions?"

"Firstly, you must be careful. Ghost hunting is dangerous and the only reason I'm giving you the tools to do it is because you seem desperate enough to go charging in with or without proper protection. And if those are my only two choices, than I know which one I'd rather you do.

Secondly, as I told you before, not all ghosts are as dangerous as the one that attacked Axiom. Many are quite friendly if you get to know them. I imagine most of the ones you meet here in Amity won't be, but I'll have to leave that to your discretion. That being said, I believe you've met a ghost child? Looks about your age? Lanky, black hazmat suit, white hair?"

"Yeah, I've met him." Valerie knit her brow. She actually hadn't thought about that ghost kid much. She'd been too preoccupied with the dog.

"He's on your side. I'd strongly advise working with him if you can, but you are under no circumstances to harm him. He's been protecting Amity from a large sum of ghosts these past few months. Simply put, there might have been a lot more Axiom-situations if it wasn't for him."

Valerie's eyes widened. So ghosts attacks had been happening without her even knowing? She wasn't sure if she found that comforting or creepy.

"I'm afraid this part of the deal is non-negotiable. I'll need your word you won't harm him."

"Yeah, I'll leave him alone. I wouldn't go after him anyway. He...saved me when the dog attacked. He saved everyone. I didn't get his name, though. Do ghosts even have names?"

"Most of them do. I believe he goes by 'Danny Phantom'. Do me a favour, if you will, keep an eye on him for me?" Vlad seemed almost...concerned about this ghost. Valerie wondered why.

"Was he...close to you, or something?" she was trying to be sensitive, but truthfully this situation was kind of awkward.

"Hm? Oh, well, I've only met him recently. I just...see myself in him in some ways. He's capable, but what he does is dangerous. I'd rather neither of you involved yourselves in ghost hunting at all, but if you're going to either way, it might be good to have each other's backs."

A ghost who was a ghost hunter? With all the other craziness suddenly going on in her life, why not?

"I'll...think about it. I'd better get home before my dad starts to worry."

"Yes. It was very nice meeting you Valerie. You should receive something in the mail shortly. I'll send you something...appropriate. Goodnight, and do be careful."

"Thanks Mister Masters." Valerie said, turning away.

Vlad watched Valerie walk away into the night. Sure, he'd expected some excitement , but this was not at all how he'd thought his night to go. What had he gotten himself into with this teenager?

He'd worry about that later. Once he was certain she was gone, he stepped back into the alleyway and summoned the black rings that transformed him into ghost form.

Once the transformation was complete, Vlad floated up to Danny's window.

--------------------------------------------------

Danny jumped when he heard something tapping on his window. He almost fell out of his seat when he looked up from his homework and saw Vlad Plasmius's face behind the glass. He was waving and smiling politely, but seeing that face at your window was enough to stop anyone's heart.

He went over and opened the window.

"Vlad!" Danny said happily. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see you, but a little warning might have been nice."

"I did say I'd be dropping by. Are you available right now?"

"Absolutely." Danny said, transforming and flying out the window beside Vlad. "We should probably take this somewhere else, though. Wouldn't want to accidentaly get spotted by my parents."

"Yes, that would definitely be wise."

They decided to fly over to Amity Park Park (after Danny managed to convince Vlad that, yes, that was really what the park was named). They talked as they flew.

"So how long are you staying in Amity?" Danny asked.

"My business with Axiom is almost all settled. I'll be heading back to Wisconsin tomorrow."

"Oh." Well that was disappointing. "Hey, you've been to the Ghost Zone before, right?"

"Yes I have. Many times in fact."

"What's it like in there?"

Vlad thought for a second.

"The Ghost Zone, despite being intrinsically linked to the human world, is nothing like it. It is an endless swirling void of ectoplasm and chaos. It's like outer space in a way, only green instead of black and without stars. There are patches of land floating about. Islands, if you will, and they all seem to operate on different rules. If a human were to enter the Ghost Zone, they'd likely be stuck on one of those islands, since navigation is impossible without flight. Gravity does not exist and, of course, you are surrounded by various types of ghosts at all times."

"That sounds...terrifying."

"I'd say it's more confusing than scary. Sure, you have to be prepared for the unexpected, but that's what makes it interesting. The threat of death may be in any direction you look, but so is the thrill of discovery!"

Danny suddenly understood how his parents and Vlad became friends.

"Now it's my turn for a question. Do your parents often have their inventions around the house?"

"Um, yeah, I guess."

"Have they noticed that you seem to set all their devices off?"

"They always assume it's a glitch or something. I usually just pretend to be as confused as they are, and try to leave the room as fast as possible. They don't suspect anything so far."

There was a pause in the conversation.

"It's amazing how they can be so brilliant yet so dense."

"Makes my job easier." Danny shrugged.

"Still, it must be quite stressful, being constantly under the risk that someone might find out. Especially with no one to talk to about it."

"Well, I'm not totally alone."

"Oh? Does Jazz know about your powers? I didn't think to ask last time."

"No. Sam and Tucker were there when the accident first transformed me."

"Sam and Tucker?"

"My friends. You met them when you came over the other night."

"Oh." Vlad furrowed his brow. "So you do have people in your life who...accept you for what you are."

Danny thought that was kind of a weird way to phrase it.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Hm." Vlad had a strange expression on his face. Danny wasn't sure if he should say something. "That's...interesting. On another note, how have you been keeping up with the local ecto activity?" Vlad asked. "Any particularly troublesome ghosts?"

"Uhh, you know the whole Axiom situation? Well...there was this ghost dog that showed up and attacked Axiom Labs a few days ago. It hasn't really caused any trouble, you know, besides the whole destroying Axiom thing, but I'd like to track it down and get it back to the Ghost Zone anyway, just to make sure he won't cause more trouble, but he seems to have disappeared completely."

"Have you checked Axiom Labs?"

"What?"

"If the ghost has caused a disturbance at Axiom, then that place may hold some significance for him."

"But there's like, construction workers and stuff there. Surely someone would've noticed a giant green dog."

"Daniel, have you heard that demolition on the building was delayed?"

"Wait, what?"

"Well, this information hasn't been made public, but it has been delayed indefinitely. They haven't been able to extract the remaining projects because apparently anyone whose sent in reports being scared off by a horrible monster. They haven't been able to organize a proper investigation yet."

"Wait, seriously?"

"I was actually planning on asking if you knew anything about that."

"Well now I know where to look at least."

"Are you going after it tonight?"

"I mean, the sooner I get rid of it, the better, right?"

"I suppose." Vlad nodded. "Though, if this ghost has bested you before, perhaps it would be good to bring some extra firepower."

"Did you have something in mind?"

"Yes, in fact, I'd like to accompany you. If you're alright with that."

"Really? That'd be awesome!" Danny said. "Hang on, I just need to call- oh..."

"What is it?"

"Well," Danny rubbed the back of his neck "I just usually bring Sam and Tucker along on these things, but they don't know about you."

Vlad didn't say anything. Danny couldn't read his facial expression.

"I mean, it's fine, though. I take on ghosts by myself all the time, so they don't really need to be there."

"They can come if you like." Vlad said.

Danny might've jumped if he wasn't already in midair.

"Really? Are you sure you don't mind?"

"I'll admit it will be strange explaining my...situation to them." Vlad gestured to himself. "But I'd like to meet your friends properly. And see how you three do on the field."

"Huh. Wow. So no pressure or anything."

"I'll reserve judgments, but I may have some useful pointers." Vlad grinned. " There's a small thicket near Axiom's front entrance. You can explain things to your friends and meet me there."

--------------------------------------------------

"So you think the dog's still hanging out at Axiom?" Sam said.

"Wouldn't there be an excavation crew swarming the place? Surely we'd have heard if something ghostly was going on there?" Tucker said.

"That's the thing," Danny said. "There have been sightings. Specifically of a giant green dog monster. Sound familiar?" Tucker and Sam's eyes widened at Danny's words. "The higher ups have been trying to keep it quiet, so word hasn't gotten out to the press yet."

"Okay," Sam raised an eyebrow "So how do you know all that? You're not exactly the world's greatest detective there, Sherlock."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Danny asked.

"First off," Tucker cut in "the world's greatest detective is Batman, not Sherlock Sam." Sam glared at Tucker. "Second, yeah, how do you know all that?"

"You remember how Vlad Masters was visiting my family?"

"Yeah?" Sam and Tucker said together.

"Well, the reason he came down to Amity Park was because of the whole Axiom fiasco."

"Ah, that makes sense." Sam said. "The tangled web. Figures he wouldn't be down here just to visit old friends."

"So, Vlad was able to get the inside scoop and shared it with you?" Tucker asked.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"So the rich crone wasn't useless after all." Sam smirked. "That's a first."

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" Tucker said "Let's get down to Axiom and bust that ghost!"

"Um, first, there's, uh, something else you two should know. About Vlad."

Sam and Tucker both looked at Danny. Neither of them said anything, curious as to what Danny could possible have to tell them about CEO family-friend Vlad Masters.

"Um, well, you remember how I said he and my parents split up in college?" Danny rubbed the back of his neck. He hadn't really planned how he was going to break it to them. "Well, what actually happened was that Vlad was in an accident. See, he and my parents used to study ghosts back in college."

"Seriously?" Sam smirked. "Vlad Masters was into ghosts in his college days. He just became the slightest bit interesting. Wait, were you about to tell us that the he's going to Axiom to nerd out, or something? Ugh, that would mess with things."

"Er, no, not exactly. See, it's just that when Vlad got into his accident, he and my parents were trying to build a...ummm...a ghost portal. And it kind of went off on him."

Nobody said anything for a second. Then Sam's eyes bulged.

"Wait," she said "Hold on. Are you saying...what I think you're saying? No. No way!" Sam put a hand to her forehead, eyes fixed vacantly on the ground.

"Wait, what?" Tucker looked between Danny and Sam. "What's he saying? What happened to Vlad?"

"Tucker," Sam grabbed Tucker by the shoulders and looked him directly in the eye "Vlad had a ghost portal accident." she said, stressing each of the last three words.

Realization suddenly dawned on Tucker.

"Wait," wide-eyed, he pushed Sam off of him and looked At Danny "Are you're saying that...Vlad Masters is half-ghost too!?"

"Yeah." Danny confirmed. "Turns out there's someone else like me."

Danny felt a strange lightness in his chest once those words left his mouth. The feeling surprised him, but if was nice.

"Anyway," Danny snapped out of his daze "We should head down to Axiom. I told Vlad we were going to meet him there."

Tucker and Sam, still slack-jawed, just blinked at Danny.

--------------------------------------------------

The trio hid their scooters in some bushes once they got close enough to Axiom.

"Okay," Danny said "Now we just gotta find Vlad and come up with a plan."

"Where did he say he'd meet you?" Sam asked.

"Somewhere in this thicket."

"He couldn't have been a little more specific?"

"I'm sure he's around here somewhere. We'll just have to-"

"Good evening."

"AH!" All three of them jumped at Vlad's voice.

"How long have you been standing there?" Tucker asked, clutching his chest.

"Oh, not long." Vlad turned to Danny. "I assume you've explained things to them?"

Danny nodded.

"Excellent. I was floating above invisibly, waiting for you three to arrive. I wasn't going to stand somewhere in the middle of these trees and hope you'd run into me. That would be a little ridiculous. I did also scout the building while I was waiting for you. No sign of that ghost dog in my preliminary search, I'm afraid."

"Does that mean it left?" Danny asked. Sam and Tucker seemed to have lost their ability to speak, and were just staring at Vlad. He didn't seem to notice. Or he was pretending not to.

"I doubt it. More likely it's just hiding. We'll either have to do a more thorough search and hope to stumble upon it, or find a way to lure it out."

"Oh!" Sam suddenly gained her voice back "I actually brought something for that."

She swung her spider backpack off her shoulders and unzipped it. Inside were various dog toys and a small bag of dog treats.

"He may be a ghost dog," Sam pulled out a squeaky toy and squeaked it "But he's still a dog, right?"

"Excellent thinking." Vlad smiled "You seem to have a very good instinct for ghosts...Sam, was it? Well, we can talk more inside. I don't know how long this will take, so we'd better start searching right away."

The group began to walk towards the Axiom Labs building. They'd barely started down the hill when Danny felt a sudden chill and a puff of mist escaped from his mouth.

He looked around. There was no sign of a ghost anywhere. That was weird. Danny thought he was too far away, but maybe the dog had set off ghost sense?

Danny sighed. He'd had his powers for months and still couldn't seem to quite get how they worked.

He looked over at Vlad. Vlad's ghost sense must have gone off too, but he didn't seem concerned, so Danny figured it probably wasn't something to worry about. It was just the dog setting it off.

Yeah, that was probably it.

--------------------------------------------------

Danny pulled Tucker and Sam through the walls of Axiom intangibly. They both stared at Vlad as he emerged beside them.

"Wow," Tucker said "There really is another half ghost in the world."

"What?" Vlad raised an eyebrow playfully "You didn't believe him?"

"No! It's just, it's, weird, I guess." Tucker shrugged awkwardly.

"I understand that it can be a lot to take in." Vlad casually examined his fingernails. "I am open to questions, but we'd better start moving. As I said before, I don't know how long it will take us to find our ghost, so we'd better start now."

And so the four of them patrolled the building. Tucker carried the bag of treats and threw one on the ground every so often. Danny held the squeaky toy and squeaked it a few times whenever they entered a new room.

They walked in silence for a while, Tucker and Sam seeming to not want to address the elephant in the room.

"So, how long have you had ghost powers, Mister Masters, sir?"

Okay, maybe Tucker was actually fine addressing the elephant.

"Oh, about twenty years at this point." Vlad said "And just 'Vlad' is fine, son."

"Cool. And I go by Tucker. Tucker Foley."

"Noted."

"So...I was wondering, do you ever use your tech for ghost research? I've actually used some of VladCo's stuff to modify Danny's parent's inventions. The kritonic stabilizer really improved the Fenton Thermos. Danny could stabilize it with his ecto-whatever, but I noticed the KS did a similar thing, so that way the rest of us could use it too. Didn't take too long to solder, either." Tucker smiled a wide smile that made Sam silently glare at him.

"As a matter of fact, that's what it was actually initially developed for. Not that my employees knew that. I told them it was for improving cooling systems. Of course, PC's don't run on quite the same energy wave a lot of ecto technologies do. In the end it was rolled out onto very few models, since the impact on efficiency was negligible, but it was quite useful for me personally for its capabilities with ecto-energy stabilization."

"Yeah, I actually got one of the PC's that implemented KS, and that's where I got the it for the thermos. I always wondered why they'd bothered with it. Worked out pretty well for us, though. I thought it was such a weird coincidence that something so useless happened to work so well for ghost hunting."

Danny squeaked the toy as they entered a large room through an mangled archway. He soon found himself unable to keep up with Vlad and Tucker's conversation. How did this always happen?

At least his friends were getting along with Vlad.

"Shh!" Sam suddenly stopped walking.

"What?" Danny asked.

"I hear something."

"What is it?"

"I don't know, shh!"

The rest of the group listened. Now that they weren't talking, Danny noticed it too: a soft crunching noise. The noise stopped after a second and then started again.

"What do you think that is?" Danny whispered.

"I think the dog found our trail." Tucker whispered back, holding up the bag of treats for emphasis.

A high pitched bark suddenly cut through the silence.

"Yup, that's definitely the dog." Danny said.

The barking started to get louder.

"Okay, I'm going ghost!" Danny held up his arms and transformed. He turned to Sam and Tucker. "You two stay back. This dog is not something you want to mess with."

Danny squared up, ready to fight. The barking was steadily getting closer, until around the corner appeared...

A small dog yipping happily. He turned the corner too fast and slipped onto his face, but quickly recovered and kept running towards Danny. When he got close enough, he jumped towards Danny's chest. Danny instinctively caught the dog.

"Oh yeah, I see what you mean Danny." Sam nodded "Reeeal Scary."

"I...don't get it." Danny said. He absentmindedly started to pet the dog. "He was like this when I first met him, but he turned a lot bigger when he got to Axiom." He tuned to Vlad "And you said he was scaring away all the excavation crew." Vlad nodded. Danny turned back to the dog. "What is your deal?"

"Maybe he just hates humans?" Sam shrugged. "He did seek you out when he came here. Ghost dog likes ghost?"

The dog lept out of Danny's arms, ran over to Tucker and stood up on his hind legs, wagging his tail. Tucker dug a treat out of his bag.

"Sit!" He said, holding up a treat. The dog sat obediently.

"Wow! He's well trained." Tucker tossed the him the treat. The dog caught it and happily wagged his tail. He got down on one knee and scratched the dog under his chin.

"Good theory Sam, but he doesn't seem to mind Tucker." Danny said.

"And if you can stand him, you can stand any human." Sam nodded.

"Hey!"

"But then why did he attack the Axiom employees?"

"Hey, check this out!" Tucker said. "On his collar! It's the Axiom logo!"

"What?" Danny and Sam gathered around the dog. Sure enough, the tag on his collar bore the atom insignia of the company.

"You know," Tucker said "I was doing some research, and Axiom did used to use guard dogs before Valerie's dad upgraded their security system. I have a feeling that might be relevant."

"So the dog came back to destroy Axiom to get revenge for being replaced?" Danny said.

"You're getting warmer," Danny had almost forgotten Vlad was there. "But there's still a hole in your theory. You may have noticed that the majority of the lab's projects are still intact. And, according to reports from various Axiom employees, our ghost doesn't seem to have caused any further damage since the initial attack."

Danny took a quick look around the room. The most prominent signs of the dog's earlier attack were a charred security camera dangling on one wall, and the doorway they had come through that was actually a large hole in a mangled steel security door. There were some gashes in the walls, but none of the computers or other furniture in the room had been damaged.

"It was also recently brought to my attention that it was mainly the security system that he went after."

"Hey, you're right." Danny said.

 "And the only other time he was sighted," Sam furrowed her brow in thought "Was when the excavation crew came in to get Axiom's projects. Otherwise he seems to have stayed completely out of sight."

"Yeah, it didn't like those people, but it doesn't really seem to mind us being here." Tucker said.

"Okay," Danny said "So he destroyed the security system because it replaced him, but he hates the excavation crew because...?"

"Because they were trying to take Axiom's stuff!" Tucker snapped his finger "And it's the dog's job to protect Axiom's stuff!"

"Yeah!" Sam said "Cujo over here was actually just doing what a guard dog's trained to do!"

"So...he's not trying to get revenge?" Danny said "He's just trying to do his job?"

Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by a ghost phasing through the floor and snapping something around the dog's neck before anyone could react.

"Ha ha! At long last I, Technus, have caught the guardian of Axiom in it's smaller form, thanks to the distraction caused by you, ghost child, as well as you teenage friends." Technus seemed to notice Vlad for the first time. He seemed caught off guard by his presence. "As well as this senior citizen, I suppose?"

"I'm forty-two." Vlad said.

"I knew it wasn't the dog that triggered my ghost sense!" Danny said.

The ghost dog began to glow green, like the first time he transformed when Danny met him. He yelped as little sparks shot out of his collar and remained the same size.

Sam looked at the dog with horror in her eyes. She turned towards Technus and glared.

"What did you do to him?" She demanded.

"I have placed an inhibitor collar around this dog's neck, barring it's access to it's much larger and scarier form. For days that infernal mutt has been tormenting me! Biting and drooling all over my stylish trench coat whenever I so much as set foot in Axiom Laboratories. But, now that it has been neutralized I, Technus, now have unfettered access to all of Axiom's most advanced technologies!"

Technus finished his speech by thrusting his arms out to the side. Various machine pieces began to flow towards him from every hallway and swarmed around his body.

"Behold, my ultimate revenge upon this menace guard dog, Mecha-Kitty 5000!"

In about thirty seconds, Technus was decked out in a mechanical suit that looked like a giant cat. A giant metal cat with glowing green eyes and matching veins of energy running along it's body. It had razor sharp metal claws, and teeth fixed in an incredibly creepy smile.

"And now, before I use the technology in this lab to take over the world, I'm going to destroy you meddling kids and that pesky dog! And, also this elder."

Cujo whimpered. He looked at the ground and tucked his tail between his legs.

Danny clenched his fists and turned to face Technus. He began to fly towards him, but Vlad put his arm out to stop him.

"You three get the collar off the dog." he said. "I'll handle this." He turned away from the group and looked into the robot cat's visor. A black ring appeared around his waist, splitting into two and travelling up and down Vlad's body, transforming him.

Sam and Tucker stared at him with awe and a little bit of intimidation. This was their first time seeing Vlad in his ghost form.

"I don't suppose you're familiar with the name 'Vlad Plasmius'?" Vlad asked, floating up to Technus's level.

"I, Technus, am not familiar with the name 'Vlad Pasmius'!" Technus seemed surprised by Vlad's ghostly transformation. He quickly recovered, though, and the robot cat swiped it's claws at Vlad. Vlad managed to dodge them, though.

"That," Vlad began to charge up an ecto beam in his hand "Is about to change, then."

The robo-cat raised it's tail and began shooting electrical beams out the end of it. Vlad threw his charged up ecto blast at the robot before quickly swooping to dodge the electric blast. Vlad's blast hit the cat's cheek, but barely seemed to do any damage.

"Is that all you've got?" Technus gloated. He fired beam after beam at Vlad.

Vlad split into two while Technus continued to fire at him. The two Vlads flew in around in a random swirling pattern. Danny quickly lost track of which Vlad was which.

"Blast it!" Technus cried "Stay still so that I, Technus, master of all things electronical, can fry you with my electronic blasts already!"

The robo-cat began to shoot alternating electrical beams out of it's nostrils as well. The two Vlad's continued to swoop around intricately, making it hard for Technus to aim properly. They both stayed well away from the area where Danny and his friends were.

Danny turned away from the fight. He grabbed the dog's collar and tried to make it intangible, but was met with an electric shock. Danny and the ghost dog both yelped.

"Sorry boy." Danny said, shaking his smoulderding hand.

"If the collar's designed to block ghost powers, then ghost tricks aren't going to work on it." Sam said.

"Then let's try a tech trick." Tucker pulled a jack cord out of his backpack and plugged it into Technus's collar and his PDA. Green text that was incomprehensible to Danny began to scroll down the screen.

"Bingo! I'll have this collar off of him in no time!"

"Perfect." Danny stood up. "In the meantime, I'll go help Vl-"

Danny stopped mid-sentence when he turned. He didn't see Vlad.

Suddenly, Vlad appeared beneath the robo cat. He clenched his fist and charged up an ecto beam. At least, Danny thought it was an ecto blast. The aura around his hand intensified, and then spread down the rest of his arm.

With his other hand, Vlad shot an ecto beam at one of the robo cat's front legs. It struck it right in the knee joint, causing that leg to buckle. The robot was thrown off balance. As Technus adjusted, Vlad flew over to one of it's back legs.

He grabbed it just above the knee joint with his glowing hand, assaulting everyone's ears with a screeching cruuuunch. Pink energy spread around the area where Vlad was holding the leg.

The bottom half of the leg split from the top and fell to the ground. The part where it had been severed glowed red-hot, as if it had been melted off.

"Hey, hey! What's going on down there?" Technus said. "What did you do to my leg?"

Vlad's only answer was to unleash an onslaught of ecto beams at Technus's other legs. They weren't very powerful, but Vlad aimed for the knee joints, which kept knocking the giant robot off balance. Technus kept trying to adjust, but Vlad would not let up.

Danny suddenly noticed the cat's tail sneak under the robot's body.

"The tail!" He shouted "Behind you!"

Without even looking, Vlad went intangible and flew up through the robot's body, an electro beam barely missing him. He emerged from the top and kept flying upwards. Once he was almost at the ceiling, he swooped around, flying back towards the robot at top speed, both fists thrust out in front of him.

He turned solid again.

SMAAAASH!!!

The robot's remaining legs, still askew from the earlier ecto beam barrage, instantly gave out from Vlad's impact. The robot's body crashed against the ground, sparks and bits of metal flying off of it.

Vlad hovered above the wreckage. There were two large dents where his fists had made contact with the robot.

That cat was not getting up anytime soon.

Technus intangibly floated out of the robot's head. When he turned solid again, he looked furious.

"You fool!" he shouted "You may have destroyed this glorious creation of mine, but I am a master of technology, and we are currently amongst some of the most advanced technological devices in the world! What's to stop me from rebuilding my machine! Or perhaps something even more powerful!"

Danny suddenly felt something woosh by him, and Technus was bowled over by the ghost dog, now in his gaint form. The dog absolutely pummeled Technus. It was almost hard to watch.

As his finishing move, the ghost picked Technus up with his teeth, shook him violently, and let go. Technus went sailing straight into a wall.

Splat!

Technus actually stayed where he hit the wall for a second before slowly sliding down to the floor. He did not get up.

"I...got the collar off." Tucker said.

"Nice job Tuck." Danny pulled out the thermos and aimed it at Technus. The blue beam began to suck him in.

"Noooo! How could you have best me, Technus, master of-"

Danny slammed the cap on the thermos, cutting off Technus's speech.

The ghost dog turned to face Danny, panting heavily.

"The bad ghost is gone." Danny said. "You did a good job."

The dog shrank back to his normal size and barked happily. To Danny's surprise, the ghost began to disappear, seemingly dissolving into the air. Within a few seconds, he was gone.

"That's...never happened before." Danny said.

"Is he gone?" Tucker asked, looking around. "Like, he's not just invisible?"

"I believe so." Vlad landed on the ground next to Danny. "I haven't seen any ghost that disappears like that reappear. It seems when they do that, they're gone for good. I have no idea where they go but, and I could be wrong, but I think that when that happens it's a good thing for them. Nice job with the collar, by the way Tucker. I may have to hire you one day."

Tucker beamed when Vlad said that.

"All he wanted was to protect Axiom." Sam said. "Even after everything they did?"

"I think he just wanted someone to acknowledge the hard work he did." Tucker said. "Those dogs did a good job, and they weren't exactly rewarded well. Huh. I'm starting to get why you feel bad for animals."

"You three did well tonight." Vlad smiled. "I am quite impressed. You've picked up on the intricacies of ghost hunting rather quickly. Truth be told, I don't even think that I even really had to step in there when I did. You seem to work well as a team, you're all quite resourceful and adaptive, and I honestly don't have any major notes."

The trio all smiled at each other. They weren't used to getting praised.

"Of course, I'd advise you from letting your heads get too big. There's always room for improvement. I do wish I could stay longer, but I'm afraid I'm on a rather tight schedule and must be going now. It was a pleasure to meet you both. Ta ta!"

Before anyone could respond, Vlad went intangible and flew through the roof.

"Okay," Tucker said "I know he said the three of us were good, but we've barely managed to scrape out of half the ghost fights we're in, and that guy took down Technus like it was nothing! Like, seriously, did you see him?"

"Yeah." Sam turned to Danny "Like, we see you do some incredible things, Danny. But that Vlad guy? He's kind of...scary powerful."

"Maybe I'll get that powerful someday too." Danny said "It'd make our jobs easier. And I wouldn't have to keep bugging you guys with ghost hunting."

"Aw, come on Danny," Sam elbowed him in the side "Cut that out. If there's one thing your parents are right about, it's that ghost hunting rules. Please don't tell them I said that, though."

"Oh, absolutely not." Danny laughed.

"Okay, but now that the ghost is gone, we'd better get going." Tucker said. "It is a school night."

"Ooh, look at you being all responsible." Sam smirked.

"I want to be well rested for the release of DOOMED tomorrow."

"Ah, that explains it."

"You saw the trailer I sent you, right Danny?" Tucker wrapped an arm around Danny's shoulder "It's gonna be awesome!"

"Yeah." Danny took one last look at the ceiling. He wished Vlad hadn't left so soon.

--------------------------------------------------

Danny braced himself for the wave of guilt upon seeing Valerie the next day, but it didn't come. She looked a lot happier today. Her head was held high and she was even smiling.

Much to the trio's surprise, she stopped by their table.

"Hey Tucker." she said. "Thanks for the advice yesterday. It was the best anyone's ever given me."

"No problem." Tucker smiled warmly. "Glad I could help. Hey, you can sit with us if you want."

Tucker's offer earned him some raised eyebrows from Danny and Sam.

"Nah, I got some stuff I gotta research in the library." She turned around "Maybe some other time, though." she said before walking away.

"What'd you say to her anyway?" Danny asked.

"No idea, actually." Tucker shrugged "But she seems happy."

"That...might have something to do with her father getting hired by another company's security department." Sam said.

"Wait, really? That's great!" Danny smiled. "Wait, how do you know that Sam?"

Tucker leaned closer to Sam with a smug expression. "Would you know that because a certain heartless goth actually does have a heart, and put in a good word? Hmmmmm?"

"Someone had to do something." Sam pushed Tucker away by his by face "Since your efforts left her running out of the cafeteria. Anyway, enough about Valerie." Sam turned to Danny. "So, Danny, how long have you had a half-ghost billionaire friend?"

"Huh? Oh, I only found out about him when we met in Wisconsin last month. Honestly, besides last night, I haven't seen him since."

"But, still, it is really cool that there's another half-ghost out there. And one that kicks serious butt too!" Tucker said.

"I just wish he wasn't so busy. It'd be cool if he came around more."

"That's the life of a billionaire, Danny." Sam said "Although, if I were him, I'd be doing everything I can to clear up my schedule and spend time with the only other half-ghost on the planet, so who knows. Maybe you'll see more of him soon."

"Yeah, maybe you're right Sam." Danny didn't mention that Vlad wasn't returning his parent's calls. Vlad seemed to like his parents, but Danny wondered if he'd come around more often if they weren't ghost hunters.

"Yeah, and it's not like you need him anyway." Tucker added. "Sure, he's awesome, but you've been getting waaay better with your powers. I don't think you've fallen through the floor at all this month, and I've lost count of how many ghost-butts you've sent crying back to the Ghost Zone. You're not doing too bad on you own Danny."

Danny smiled. He was glad he had friends like Tucker and Sam. He had no idea how he would've survived becoming half ghost without them. Sure, Vlad made him feel less alone when he was around, but Sam and Tucker made him feel less alone in a different way. Maybe an even better one.

-------------------- Epilogue --------------------

It had been nearly a month since her dad had been hired by the Mansons. Thing were going well.

"I'm moving up the ranks pretty quickly Val! The Mansons are pretty impressed with my work."

"That's great Daddy!"

Even though it was Saturday, Valerie still liked to get up early to see her Dad off. It was worth it to see how excited he was with his progress at work. His smiles in the morning didn't look like they took effort anymore.

"Of course, I'm nowhere near my old salary, but at this rate, we should be able to afford to live in a slightly better apartment. One that's closer to your school. So, as soon as I find a decent one, we're moving!"

"Now that is good news." Valerie said. She was sick of killing cockroaches and getting up at 5:00am to catch the bus to school.

Damon glanced at his watch.

"But only if I make it to work on time. Gotta go Sweetie, have a good day." he kissed the top of her head. "Oh, by the way, that came for you in the mail from Wisconsin." he said, pointing to the package on the living room table Valerie had missed. "Might be that dress you ordered before I got fired. Anyway, gotta go. Love you!" he called on his way out the door.

"Love you too, Daddy!" Valerie called as she heard the door shut. She went over to inspect the package. There wasn't a return address, but Valerie had a pretty good guess of who it was from.

When she pulled open the flaps of the box, she discovered a note at the top of a pile of packing peanuts.

Ms Gray,

As promised, enclosed are two things: a protective suit and an Ecto Blaster. The blaster should be pretty straight forward to use, but the suit is much more advanced and, I imagine, much more helpful. It is made up of ecto-resistant material, and I've added a number of helpful ghost-hunting implements. I've included a detailed manual, and I suggest ample practice before taking on any actual ghosts. I would also appreciate you keeping this on the down-low. Giving volatile energy weapons to teenagers is generally frowned upon, and I am a very public figure. To be perfectly frank, I have my doubts about sending these to you, but I don't like going back on my word, so please do be careful, and remember, there's no shame in backing down.

The note wasn't signed.

"Very nice Mister Masters," Valerie smiled as she dug through the packing peanuts and pulled out a weird gun-looking thing. "Finally, I can get some sweet sweet payback. Things are finally looking up!"

The ecto blaster suddenly went off on it's own. The beam shot out an open window and hit a passing seagull, causing it to fall to the ground.

"Valerie?!" she heard her dad call from down the hall.

"I'm okay!" she yelled back, instinctively hiding the blaster behind her back.

[pdj-france]

MANHATTAN – Sony Music Entertainment et cinq autres grandes sociétés de musique ont poursuivi Internet Archive à but non lucratif, disant que la publication de milliers de vieilles chansons et d'enregistrements en ligne équivalait à un «vol en gros» de musique protégée par le droit d'auteur. "La violation évidente du web Archive comprend des centaines de milliers d'œuvres de quelques-uns des plus grands artistes du XXe siècle", ont affirmé les avocats des maisons de disques dans un procès intenté vendredi devant le tribunal fédéral de Manhattan. Parmi les artistes cités figuraient Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong et Thelonious Monk. Les sociétés incluent une liste de 2 749 enregistrements dans le procès, dont Bing Crosby chantant "White Christmas", qui "n'est qu'un petit échantillon" d'enregistrements que les archives ont publiés sans autorisation, ont rapporté la plainte. Ils demandent au tribunal d'ordonner aux archives de supprimer tout le matériel protégé par le droit d'auteur et de verser des dommages-intérêts pouvant atteindre 150 000 dollars américains (202 815 dollars singapouriens) pour chaque œuvre enfreinte, ce qui, pour les enregistrements répertoriés, s'élèverait à 372 millions de dollars américains. Internet Archive conserve une vaste collection numérique de textes, de vidéos et de musique en ligne. Sur son site Web Great 78 Project, il publie des copies numérisées, qu'il sollicite auprès des utilisateurs, d'enregistrements au format obsolète 78 LP. Il se vante sur le site d'avoir posté plus de 400 000 enregistrements et que son but est "la préservation, la recherche et la découverte de disques 78 tours". Par contre les maisons de disques affirment que les affirmations altruistes des archives sont un "écran de fumée" pour déguiser leur vol. Les enregistrements "sont déjà disponibles en streaming ou en téléchargement à partir de nombreux services" autorisés par les maisons de disques, ont écrit les avocats des maisons de disques. "Ces enregistrements ne risquent pas d'être perdus, oubliés ou ravagés." En 2018, le Congrès des États-Unis a adopté la loi sur la modernisation de la musique qui a étendu le droit d'auteur pour la musique antérieure à 1972 à 2067. Sony est rejoint dans la poursuite par UMG Recordings Inc., Capitol Records LLC, Concord Bicycle Assets LLC, CMGI Recorded Music Assets LLC et des éditeurs de musique américains frappent Twitter avec une poursuite en matière de droits d'auteur Internet Archive n'a pas répondu à une demande de commentaire suite aux heures de bureau vendredi. BLOOMBERG

[trackstarzradio]

Joey Jewish Drops Loose Change Music Video | @joeyjewish @trackstarz Joey Jewish recently released a music video for the wildly popular song "Loose Change." This song can be found on Joey's…

[fairyofsilence]

THAT'S THE INDUSTRY, BABY | SERIES MASTERPOST |

Warning: This series is yandere themed and each story has individual warnings of their own, proceed with caution.

I don't agree nor condone any of the actions made by any of the characters throughout this series, I also do not belive that any of the members of BTS would act this way or have this type of behaviour, this story it's fiction and it's written with the sole purpose of entertainment, please proceed with caution.

Each part contains different warnings and word counts, this series is currently ongoing.

You can find my main masterlist here.

Bangtan Entertainment has grown into one of the biggest companies in the entertainment industry, having some of the greatest talents from South Korea under their belt, with an extensive range of artist going from music to filming to the modeling industry, get to know all about the most influential Bangtan artist here!

—FROM THE RKIVE MUSIC RECORDS:

“Kim Namjoon, the multi-talented producer who has taken the industry by storm, presents his most recent music project with Bangtan Entertainment’s new upcoming artist. Don't miss your chance to get a sneak peek at her debut - read here for all the details.”   — RISING STAR | KIM NAMJOON [P: 04/22/2023] [E: 05/27/2023]  [PART 1 OF 7]

“Orchestra conductor Min Yoongi talks about his latest masterpiece 'Prosperpine', and how he found his muse in the making of it, read more about his new opera here”.  — A NIGHT AT THE OPERA | MIN YOONGI  [COMING SOON] [PART 2 OF 7]

“If there’s one thing that we know about the world’s favorite rapper J-Hope it’s to expect the unexpected, and his latest album reveals the dark side of Jung Hoseok, a side that he reveals; ‘Never thought it existed until recently’. Check out all the details about his new album here!”. — HOPE MEETS EVIL | JUNG HOSEOK  [COMING SOON] [PART 7 OF 7]

—FROM THE GOLDEN CLOSET FILM & PRODUCTIONS:

"Film prodigy Jeon Jungkook does it yet again, his latest movie '9 Bullets' receives a fifteen-minute standing ovation at Cannes Festival, but the director reveals that the mastermind behind this soon to be classic film it's none other than his talented screenwriter, learn more about her here!". — SMILE! YOU’RE ON CAMERA | JEON JUNGKOOK  [COMING SOON] [PART 5 OF 7]

"Nation's heartthrob and critically acclaimed actor Kim Seokjin is officially off the market and we couldn't be more heartbroken about it, the good news is he claims that; 'His heart it's safely guarded’ by his partner. Read more about it here".  — SAFETY NET | KIM SEOKJIN  [COMING SOON] [PART 6 OF 7]

—FROM VANTE'S PHOTOGRAPHY & MODELING WORLDWIDE:

"'BEHIND THE LENSE', we let the latest photography exhibition by the extravagant Vante speak for itself, but there's only one thing we can say about it: it's without a doubt, his best work yet. See more exclusive content here". — BEHIND HIS LENSE | KIM TAEHYUNG  [COMING SOON] [PART 3 OF 7]

"Supermodel and brand ambassador Park Jimin reveals that 'makeup has definitely changed his life', and says that he has to thank his makeup artist for that, find out what his essentials are here!".  — RUN(A)WAY | PARK JIMIN [COMING SOON] [PART 4 OF 7]

© fairyofsilence | All rights reserved |

[coepiteamare]

depth of field

pairing: yoongi x female!reader genre: angst (are we surprised), fluff, reader is an actress, yoongi is photographer warning: a lot of feelings, uhm there’s like 2 lines about sex but it’s not super explicit, bad break ups, not beta read, heartbreak,  header credit: lovely isa! she’s so talented please check her out @monvante​  word count: 9.5k (how and why this became the longest thing i’ve written, i don’t know) rating: sfw though slightly mature (2 lines about sex but not explicit) collab: the valentine’s day collab with a bunch of awesome writers! please check out everyone’s stories! 

summary: yoongi is a nature photographer and you’re an actress who’s spent her entire life in front of the cameras. when he’s hired (against his will) for a photoshoot, he’s not quite expecting you: all smiles and charm and mystery. (alt: you laugh, and yoongi hears the night sky crumble into a thousand shooting stars. he fumbles with the settings, his heart rattling in his chest like the camera in his hands, but for the first time, the picture doesn’t do the sight in front of him justice.) A/N: this is....so late because i am big dumb + life changes + writing is hard. i have extremely mixed feelings on this one, but if you do read it, i hope it makes you feel something. if you listen to epik high, a lot of this was written while listening to “sleepless in _________”. 

[Triptych: Sleepless In The City.JPEG]

[alt.image: Black and white triptych of a view outside a bedroom window. The position of the shot is the same in all three: all of them are directly facing an open window depicting the Seoul skyline. Towards the bottom of the picture, the edge of a bed can be seen: a plaid blanket with a light coloured bed frame. Right below the window is a dark wood dresser with a glass of water on top. At the center of the frame is a square, side hung window with light coloured (white) curtains on the sides. The first frame depicts a light blue coloured sky. There’s a lens flare at the top right of the corner. The second frame depicts a gradient sky. There’s light from the buildings shining through. The third frame depicts a darker sky, but the building lights are still on. The glass of water lies in the same position through the pictures, with little to no change in water amount.]

There’s a loud bzzt bzzt coming from the side of his bed as sleep clings to his eyelashes and glues his eyes shut, exhaustion still running through his veins. His fingers fumble, groping in the darkness, for the source of the noise until his fingers clasp around his phone and silence it. He rubs his face in his pillow and lets himself settle in again, sleep creeping back when—bzzt, bzzt—there’s another round of vibrations from his phone. Yoongi knows he turned on the do not disturb mode, so he contemplates answering as his fingers make contact with his phone, before pressing the side button and turning it off. 

He shuts his eyes, but sleep doesn’t call his name this time around. Someone else does, as the door swings open.

“Yoongi!” 

Yoongi groans and pulls the covers over his head, letting the weighted blanket settle around his body, but Hoseok peels it off his body without a struggle. 

“You could have called when you came back,” Hoseok opens the black out curtains, afternoon light flooding through the window and making Yoongi’s vision dance. 

“You could have called before you barged in.” 

“I did,” Hoseok settles on the edge of his bed, laughing when Yoongi kicks him off, “you didn’t answer.” 

“I was busy.” He sits up and rubs the sleep from his eyes, the afterglow of his dreams fading from his mind. 

Hoseok looks at the suitcase still packed at the corner of his bed, at the instant noodle cups on the counter. “I see that.” 

Yoongi shrugs and reaches for the camera bag on his nightstand, fiddling with the zippers and refusing to meet Hoseok’s eyes. 

It’s quiet before there’s a sigh that paints the silence between them. Hoseok reaches his hand out, eyes a little soft, smile a little apologetic, and Yoongi gives him the camera. 

“So how was Greenland?”

“Cold. Colder than here. Not green at all.” Hoseok laughs at that, and perhaps it’s the weather, the lack of people Yoongi has seen the past few months, or Hoseok’s sunny disposition dispelling the shadows, but there’s a small warmth that blooms through Yoongi. “It was nice though. Nice pictures.” 

“I can see that. Did you have an exhibition in mind for these?”

“No. I just wanted a change of pace for a bit.” he clears his throat, trying to unstick the words clinging to his esophagus. “New environment. Clear my head. Look for new inspiration.” 

Hoseok hands him back the camera. “I signed you up for RKIVE LAB’s Valentine’s Day exhibition.”  Yoongi stops fiddling with the buttons and grips the camera  a little tighter. “Portraits of love. Pictures of people required.”

“I don’t take pictures of people.”

“You used to. Before.” Hoseok doesn’t say it—knows to shut his mouth even before Yoongi glares at him—but the presence of the words stains the air like an unwanted lens flare smudged across the picture. The weight of it lingers, glaringly obvious in the silence, as heavy as the blanket curled up at Yoongi’s feet. 

“Used to. Not anymore.” 

“That doesn’t mean you can’t do it again.”

“And that doesn’t mean I want to. Besides, I’m not ready for another exhibition.” 

“Yoongi,” Hoseok takes a seat on the bed and this time, Yoongi doesn’t chide him for it. “Your last exhibition was a year ago. You stopped photographing people for 8 months. 4 months ago, you decided—out of the blue, mind you—to pack up and visit Greenland, 2 weeks before your exhibition. Not only was PR an absolute nightmare, but you also scared me. I was worried about you.”

There’s a sense of guilt that trickles through him at Hoseok’s words. Yoongi hugs his knees to his chest and tucks his chin over them. He’d sink into the floor if he could, let it swallow him whole if it meant he could avoid the conversation, but knowing Hoseok, he’d continue, even when it closed back up. 

“You need to let go,” Hoseok squeezes his shoulder. 

“I need to sleep. I’m still jet lagged.” 

“It’s been a week since you’ve come back!” 

“Exactly,” he pouts, and tries to reach for his blanket, but Hoseok gently slaps his hands away. His voice softens when he opens his mouth, insecurity painting the edges.“I just don’t think I’m ready for an exhibit. I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready.”

“I think you just need to try.”

The sigh that leaves his body doesn’t do much for the heaviness that he can’t seem to dispel. He’s tried. Tried to take pictures, tried to photograph people, but he doesn’t know how to capture them without the lens of heartbreak, without finding pieces of his ex hidden in filters. He’s tried to forget, tried to remember, tried to drown everything out to the bitter taste of alcohol, and nothing worked. He tries, and nothing works. 

“I don’t know how to take pictures of people anymore,” Yoongi says weakly. 

Hoseok’s smile is bright, too bright, the picture of false reassurance. “Don’t worry about that. I’ve already made a call.”

[Ready Or Not.JPEG]

[alt. Image: An out of focus, blurry, god shot, full body photograph of a girl. She wears a short red dress with thin straps and black platform boots. There’s a pink and green image/texture projected on top of her as she poses with her arms stretched over her head. The woman is not at the centre of frame, but more towards the right. The photograph appears to be taken hastily, as if the photographer was falling down when taking the shot.]

Yoongi’s forgotten how much light is involved with studio shoots: the moment he steps into the studio, there’s a flash of bright light, and there’s small spots of light dancing in the corner of his vision. He wants to go home, curl back into his cotton sheets, and hide under the covers. 

It’s convenient, he’ll admit. Outdoor photography, especially nature photography, means hours and hours of planning ahead, of trekking into the wilderness and adjusting lenses and camera angles, and tripod placements to get the perfect shot, only to have something—be it the sun, or a bug, or an animal, or a tree that decides to fall at that moment—interfere and ruin the moment. But indoor photography means that everything gets to be controlled, adjustable to his whims.

Yoongi fiddles with his camera settings, finger nervously itching for something to do in the unfamiliar environment. He’s not sure if he likes these kinds of photographs, the ones scripted and tweaked until perfection is smudged against the frame of the picture. He likes spontaneity, likes the unpredictability of nature, but he also likes the idea that everything can be adjusted, picture perfect, to the way he wants it. (No one leaves, no one hurts. Just pictures. Just his ideas.)

“I didn’t know we were getting a new photographer.” 

He spins around and almost stumbles backwards at the sight of you. He could easily have deemed you as one of the set pieces: clothes perfectly pressed, skin glossy, not a hair out of place. You're brilliant and dazzling and beautiful, pressurised to perfection, and Yoongi doesn’t know if he likes that. Doesn’t like the crisp edges of your pants, the sharp angles of your shoulders. 

“My name is Y/N. It’s nice to work with you.”

He stares at the hand in front of him for a second before wiping his palm on his pants. Your smile doesn’t fade as Yoongi gingerly shakes your hand. “Yoongi. I’m just here to watch Vante on shoot. I haven’t photographed people in a while, and our agent thought it would help me to watch him in action.” 

The way your eyes sparkle, light up brighter than the studio lights, feels uncanny: he knows he’s seen it before, but he’s not sure where. It stirs up a familiar feeling in his tummy, like the anticipation that builds just as he’s about to press the click of a shutter. 

“I’m sure you’re a lot better than you think you are,” your smile is warm, but it sends a chill down his spine. It feels wrong, like he’s stuck in the wrong picture frame, the wrong background. The ground is blurry, his head is light, and when he blinks, everything feels cold. 

“You’re a lot better than you think you are, Yoongi. I’ve seen the photos. I know you,” his voice is warm, and Yoongi can hear the smile in the way he grips his hands. “I want to see the exhibit you put up, and I know other people will too.” 

“Hey,” there’s a jolt of electricity when you touch him. He blinks, and your face is in front of his, brows knitted. “You okay? I lost you for a moment.”

“Fine,” his voice is scratchy, so he coughs to clear it. “I’m fine. Just-uhm-it’s been a minute. Memories. I haven’t stepped foot in a studio for a while.”

“You must have loved it. Taking pictures of people,” when he tilts his head and tries to make sense of your words, you smile and let go of his shoulder. “You wouldn’t have had such a visceral reaction if you didn’t love it. I’m a firm believer that the things we love never leave us. So you’ll find that spark again. I believe in you.”

When the shoot starts, Yoongi moves around, trying to remember what it was like to work with other people other than him, what it’s like to capture the soul of a human being through a split second. But his mind is still standing where you left him, trying to digest your words to the tune of shutter sounds and someone else’s voice. 

All throughout the shoot, he wants to puke, wants to unclog the memories that won’t drain and be forgotten. But they keep playing—over and over and over—and refuse to stop. He talks to Vante in a daze, but he’s unable to wake up from the voice that he hears over and over again—you’ll find that spark again, Yoongi. I believe in you—until your voice cuts through the fog. 

“Wait!” he grabs your wrist, and quickly lets go when you turn back, eyes wide. “Wait. i-uhm-have an exhibition and I was wondering if you would be interested. In being the subject.”

“I’m flattered, but-” you pause and bit your lip, eyebrows furrowed, and there’s that feeling again, the click of a puzzle piece falling into place: everything feels all too familiar and foreign at once, like a dream he knew long ago, a photograph he’s taken and forgotten about. Jamais vu and deja vu all at once.  

It’s stupid, he knows. But there’s something about you that he doesn’t know how to let go. He’s not sure he’s ready to let go. 

“What’s your exhibit on?”

“Love.” He takes a sharp breath in. The word feels a sucker punch to the gut, like touching a wound that hasn’t healed. “What it means to fall in love.”

He knows his face gives away more than he wants to, but you don’t press him for answers. You continue to smile and ask him other questions about his photography instead, but something about the way you pretend like everything is fine reminds him of him, and everything hurts more. He answers the questions, tries to see you instead of his outline over yours, but still sees him in the way your eyes smile, in the sharp raise of your brows, and the quick way you navigate his defenses and gives him his space. 

“I don’t know if I’m ready for an exhibit.”

“I don’t think we ever know if we’re ready for anything,” you smile, and he feels nauseous again, like something is trying to crawl out of him. He hears the voices in his head crash over him like a wave, drowning out the sounds of everything and everyone else. 

How do you know you’re ready? He hears his voice wobble from the weight of his sorrow, quiver from the pressure of composure. He can’t meet his eyes. 

“I don’t think we’re ever ready for anything, Yoongi. But we don’t know until we try.”

“But we do it anyway. Because we never know until we try, right?”

“Right,” he repeats soullessly. (He wasn’t ready then. He doesn’t know if he’s ready now. He doesn’t think he’ll ever be ready to move on.)

“So I’ll do it.”

Yoongi snaps out of his reverie at your words, blinks away the fog. “Pardon?”

“I’ll do it. I don’t want to be the reason you don’t do this,” you purse your lips. “I do have a favour to ask though.” 

“What is it?”

The smile that spreads over your face, slow and cheshire, makes him grip his camera tighter. “How do you feel about going to a party?”

[Are You In Love.JPEG]

[alt image. Nighttime. A girl in a white dress on a rooftop with skyscrapers behind her. Her hair is blown back by the wind. Although her face is mostly turned away from the camera, there’s a hint of a smile on her face. Her eyes are closed as she spins around, dress billowing around her. The ends of the dress are unseen because the photograph cuts off at what would be her knees to show the cityline behind her. The skyscrapers are out of focus, blurry, so the girl is highlighted. Despite the lights in the background and the moon in the corner, she is the brightest piece in the photograph.]

Yoongi has never been a fan of parties or crowds. He doesn’t like the rush of people, of bodies pressed against each other as they slide across the floor; he hates how the lights are too dim and too bright. It’s too loud, bass amplifying his insecurities and dampening his social skills. 

Even at this gala, stuffed with people with important positions and famous titles, where the music is moderately loud and the tables are posh with red velvet tablecloths, Yoongi feels out of place. His glass flute feels awkward in his hand, tie a little too tight no matter how much he pulls it down. He knows he doesn’t belong here (or there or anywhere. It was always him who belonged and Yoongi who followed): security had stopped him before he entered telling him “paparazzi not allowed,” and gave him a once over when he fished out the invitation from his pocket, hesitantly letting him enter the venue and side-eyeing him the entire time. Minutes tick by, and there’s only so many hors d'oeuvres s he can devour, so he pulls out his phone to send you a text of rushed excuses (i have food poisoning. My pipes burst. My car broke down?) and hasty apologies. Just as he manages to get halfway to the exit, squeezing in between crowds, he sees you. 

A smile dawns over your face, and all his insecurities melt into the background. “I’ve been looking all over for you”

He points towards the buffet at the back. “They have good crab puffs.” 

You laugh at that, and he feels his cheeks stretch into a smile. The silence that hangs over the two of you now feels comfortable, like the world is dimming down to highlight you both, and Yoongi takes the moment to watch your eyes sparkle under the crystal chandeliers twinkling above you. You look at him, quirk an eyebrow and nod towards the exit. “Want to get out of here?” 

“Yes please.” 

You grab his hand, lace your fingers with his, and pull him up the stairs to the roof, letting go to run to the edge. He feels where your palm was in his, the loss of your warmth, and wants to reach back out to you. 

“How pretty.” The wind is cold, sinking teeth through skin and tearing through hair, but you cross your arms and fight back, planted firmly where you are to look at the view beneath you: small glimpses at people living their lives. 

Yoongi can’t take his eyes off of you. “Yeah. Pretty.”

“I like coming to the rooftops at parties. Sometimes, when the world is too loud and too much, I go up to the rooftop and I just stand here. ” your teeth chatter, and Yoongi rushes to take off his coat and drape it over your shoulders. Your fingers brush against his and something about you, he realises, feels like a fever dream: hot, hazy, and electric, even in the bitter chill of the winter winds. “I come up to the rooftop and I just look at people living their lives and wonder what I would be doing if I wasn’t here.”

Something about the way you look, empty and hollow, carves a hole in Yoongi’s chest. His fingers itch to reach for the shutter, bring it back to his eye and catch you in his view, but he fiddles with the camera strap around his neck instead. “What does it feel like? Being at the top?” 

What does it feel like? To be at the top? Yoongi writes and deletes over and over and over again. 

Your laughter sounds as bitter as the wind, but your smile is still fixed in place when you turn your body to meet his. “Like a rollercoaster. Only it’s going backwards as it goes up, so I can see the floor, see the bottom. I am always aware of how far I have to fall. I see the damage before it’s done, so I am always anticipating the drop.” 

Your shoulders sag, his jacket slipping down, and Yoongi, for a moment, thinks he sees stars glimmering in your eyes, catching the light of the city and threatening to fall. But when he blinks, all traces of it are gone and you’re back to the girl in the ballroom, smile shy and coy and knowing. 

“So what about you, photographer? What does it feel like to be in love?” 

His brows furrow and there’s a flush of heat blooming on his cheeks. His heart beats a little faster, staccato against his ribcage, like it’s trying to outrun the shame of being discovered. He’s not sure how you know, so all he can do is stutter. “I don’t-I mean-”

You raise your eyebrow, quirk your head to the side. “Isn’t that your exhibit theme? Explorations of love?”

“Oh,” before he can stop it, a film strip of memories starts playing through his head, snapshots of a relationship shelved in the back of his closet. It’s a slow slide show that sticks to his throat with every image, printed and smudged into the corners of his thoughts. He feels the corset of his ribcage tighten until he’s breathless, so he looks everywhere. Everywhere but you. “I don’t really know what love is supposed to feel like anymore.”

When your hand gently presses against his chest, Yoongi’s eyes widen, feet gently fumbling backwards from the chill of your fingers. “Does it hurt here?”

“What?”

“Are you heartbroken?” 

The words fall off your lips casually, like you were asking him how he took his coffee (no sugar, no cream) or how he liked his steak, and not plunging into his insecurities the way the cold of your fingers sink into his skin. The two of you blink in silence as Yoongi struggles to find the words. Everything feels wrong, his tongue twisting and falling to form the correct sounds—

“Stop thinking about it. Feel it here.” you press a little harder against his chest, “Are you heartbroken?” 

(Empty coffee cups, songs unfinished, laughter in the walls that he’s unable to scrub off. Yoongi remembers all of it.)

“Yeah.” it’s quiet, his voice stuck in his chest, but he sees the corners of your eyes soften and knows you hear his honesty over the howling wind. “I am.”

You retract your hand and hug his coat a little closer. “I don’t think there’s just one form of love, just as I don’t think there’s just one way to love someone. We love differently, and we love different people differently. Heartbrokenness is just another form of love. Just because they’re not there doesn’t change the way you love them or the fact that you love them. It just means all the love you have to give is still sitting here,” you bring your hand back to his chest, cover his heartbeat, “with no place to go. Isn’t that love?”

Isn’t that love? Seokjin asks him, sitting in the corner of Yoongi’s room. The sun casts a golden glow over his skin, kisses his dimples, and Yoongi swears Seokjin has always been more ethereal than mortal. “You take photos and bring me food when I forget to leave my desk because that’s what you know how to do. I write you songs and love letters because that’s what I know how to do. We say I love you in different ways, but does that make it any less love?

“I guess it doesn’t make it any less love.” 

You look his way and laugh, brilliant and dazzling and beautiful, and nothing in the sky can compare: not the moon, nor the comets, nor the galaxies. You laugh, and Yoongi hears the sky crumble into a thousand shooting stars. He fumbles with the settings, his heart rattling in his chest like the camera in his hands, but for the first time, the image through the lens doesn’t do the sight in front of him justice. 

But he tries anyway. He presses down on the shutter and tries to stuff your laughter into a freeze frame, even though he knows it won’t compare. 

It could never. 

[____Struck.JPEG]

[Alt Image: A girl sits with her chin over her knees next to a floor length window as a rainstorm blurs the background into hazy lights. The lighting is dark, but there’s a flash of lightning outside as it lights up the girl’s face. She stares outside her window, at the sky, deep in contemplation.]

Yoongi finds that Seoul sparkles when you’re next to him. Even the bitter winter winds that blow through his parka can’t steal the warmth of your hand in his when the two of you walk through the streets. The two of you start to spend more time together, getting food and eating in your apartment and taking pictures of nature. You’ll have glasses and a cap and a mask on, and there’ll be more of you he can’t see than he can, and still he finds you to be the brightest star in the night sky. But he likes you best like this: dressed with a smile and his t-shirt, face free of the traces of your day, in bed with him. He’s not sure when he’s found himself to be at home in your place, but he finds himself there instead of his studio apartment. Outside the window of your penthouse apartment, he can see the Seoul skyline and skyscrapers: if he looks down, he can see smudges of people walking through the streets, living about their daily lives. 

Sometimes, he’ll wake up in the middle of the night to find you sitting on the floor, against the floor length window, looking at the world below you. 

“Come back to bed,” he’ll murmur, sleep still fogging his vision, and you’ll smile, set your tea on the nightstand, and wrap your arms around him as he pulls you closer to him until the andante of your heartbeats lull him to sleep. 

Tonight, however, your head is leaned up against the glass, watching as the rain pours down, and there’s something about the moment that makes Yoongi reach for the camera to take a quick shot. He knows the lighting is off and the shadows are dark, but something about the way you’ve tucked your knees under your chin and folded in on yourself makes you seem so small, so different from the girl he sees on the billboards and magazine covers and television shows. 

You turn around when the flash goes off. “I didn’t know you were awake.” 

“The thunder,” he explains, just as another flash of light strikes through the sky. You hum, but don’t move towards him: this time, you look back out the window. He’s tempted to wait for the lightning to strike again so he could have the shot of your face illuminated in light, but the image through his viewfinder looks so different from what he’s used to, so he takes the camera with him and sits down across from you. He leans his face against the cool of the glass.

“Hey,” you smile, but it doesn’t reach your eyes. He sees the shadows under your eyes, the build up from over night shoots, and it tugs his heart. There’s something beautiful about you like this, in the normalcy. 

“Hey,” the two of you sit in the silence for a minute. “Penny for your thoughts?”

Another flash of lightning, then a roll of thunder. “Just thinking about how many people are out there, just living their lives. I wonder if they all know me, if they have an opinion of me, if they’ve seen me act. I wonder who I am to them, if I am anybody at all.”

“What do you mean?”

You pull your fingers away from the glass, but don’t look at him. “I feel as though I am always playing a character. So, I wonder what character they know me as. If they would be interested in knowing who I am.” 

His hand reaches out to yours, and he moves his body closer to yours, until your knees are knocking against his and your legs are entwined. “I’m interested.” 

Another flash. You smile, but it fades as quickly as the lightning does. “What about you? Anything on your mind? You seemed pretty distracted earlier.”

It’s Yoongi’s turn to not meet your eyes. There’s a slew of umbrellas below, a bunch of colourful blobs against the pavement. (Seokjin liked the rain. Do you like the rain? He’s not sure.) 

“It’s nothing.” He can’t meet your eyes. 

“Is it hard to let them go? The one who broke your heart?”

Yoongi hears the way your voice softens, the way it carries through the room gently, the same way you asked him if he was heartbroken up on the roof weeks ago. You’re always a little more perceptive then he gives you credit for, a little too good at reading in between the lines. He lets out a shaky breath. “Yeah. Yeah he is. I still think about him sometimes. Sometimes, I still hear his voice in my head.” 

He feels your gaze on him, but neither of you say anything for a while. 

He knows you have a busy day tomorrow, jam packed with schedules and meetings and shoots and bits of sleep in between. (Not that your days are ever not busy. You’re always running from here to there, a blur of motion in the screenshots of his memories.) But the two of you just look out the window, at the storm that refuses to quell, and listen to the rain fall. 

He wakes up next to the lingering warmth of your body heat, your shampoo still clinging to the pillows and sheets. There’s not much to do today, so he takes his time getting ready to go back to his apartment and edit. Just as he’s putting his toothbrush into your toothbrush holder, his phone starts to vibrate.

Before he’s even said hello, Hoseok’s voice cuts through the phone. “How’s your exhibit coming along?” 

“Good morning, Hoseok. How was your sleep? Mine was lovely, thank you for asking.” 

There’s a sigh that comes through the phone. “I slept great. So how’s your exhibit?”

“It’s coming along.”

“Word on the street is that you’re getting close to Y/N.”

He catches a look at himself from the entrance mirror and is glad Hoseok can’t see him right now. There’s a small constellation on the dip of his collarbone from a couple nights ago. “We’re working together on the exhibit, yeah.”

“Yoongi, I’m serious. I’m glad that you’re editing and taking photos; I really am. I just think—if you are more than just coworkers—you should take it slow. You remember what happened last time-”

“It’s not like that this time Hoseok.”

“I know. But it’s happened before. You always fall too hard, too fast and then you don’t know how to dig yourself out of the hole when it’s over. “

Yoongi gently shuts the door behind him, shoves his free hand into his coat pocket. “When do I need to send you the pictures?” 

Another sigh. This one is heavier than the other. “Next Friday.”

“Alright. I’ll see you then.”

“Just take care of yourself, Yoongi.”

“I know,” there’s a hum from the other end before he presses end call. “Trust me, I know.” 

[Love Looks Pretty On You.JPEG]

[Alt Image: A girl turning around to smile at the camera as she holds the hand of the photographer. There’s a lens flare at the upper left corner of the picture. She glows as she smiles, sunlight hitting her cheekbones. The picture is a bust shot, and though the girl is in the centre of frame, she is slightly out of focus: the photo is mainly focused on the interlocked hands due to the depth of field.]

It’s strange how in love you are with the mundane. You like coffeeshop dates, holding hands in public, and the ability to walk down the streets without covering up your face, things Yoongi has never thought twice about. He prefers time spent in doors, tucked away with food and natural lighting. But you prefer the outdoors, the sun on your face, even if it isn’t the great outdoors. No, you like pavement and parks and everything in between if it means you don’t have to cover up. 

“I’ve never really had that,” you told him once, mouth stuffed with street food. “I’ve always been conscious of the way people look at me, how they’re going to view me, and the eyes. I’m always aware of people’s eyes on me. Growing up in the spotlight, working in this industry for so long meant I don’t get to have the normal things in life.”

So he tries to take you out more, though more often than not, it ends with the two of you running away from shadows and bright lights. More often than not, the two of you find your way to his or your apartment, tucked away from the eyes of everyone else with take out spread across the floor. He dreads the moment you pull your hands away from him, when the hands on the clock move too quickly for his taste. Tonight, however, he has you all to himself. 

So, he takes his time: delicately arranges the bouquet of purple across your chest and up your thighs, gently plucks your moans from your lips, and plants kisses on the field of your shoulder blades when the bloom of pleasure becomes too much. 

Your chest gently rises and falls under the white sheet, while his heart rapidly flutters inside his ribcage. Before he knows it, his fingers are on camera, trying to immortalise the moment before time takes it away from him too. 

When the shutter goes off, you bring your hand to his, pull his body to yours, and nuzzle your face in his shoulder. “So.”

“So?”

“Exhibition soon. Have you figured it out?” You pull back and trace your finger along the constellation you drew on to his chest. “What it feels like to fall in love?” 

He’s not sure. It feels fast: time seems to slip through his fingers when he’s with you. It feels slow: every moment is a picture frame, a freeze frame of a small infinity. It feels quiet: neither of you are loud, reveling in the silence and the quiet, sharing the same breath. It feels loud: you smile and he hears the sirens go off, ringing his mind until it’s drowned out by the pounding in his chest. I don’t know. It just feels different with you, he wants to say, but it sounds stupid in his head. It’s similar to how he felt like with Seokjin, but brighter, a saturation of colours and experiences. 

“Feels like you,” he tugs you closer. 

His brows furrow when you reach away from him, and he tries to pull you back: he reaches for your hand, but you slip away from him with a small smile. “Tea. I’ll be back.” 

He hears the pitter patter of your footsteps as you walk into the hallway, and he waits for you to come back. He waits and waits, until his eyelids grow too heavy.

When he blinks again, the light is shining through your curtains. The blanket is tucked under his chin, but the bed is empty. He rolls over, but it’s cold. 

The pillow doesn’t smell like you.

[Apparition.JPEG]

[Alt Image: A picture of someone’s eyes. The eyes are staring directly into the lens. One eye is lighter than the other, due to the angle of the sunlight. Although they are in the center of frame, the face is turned slightly to the side, as though they turned around for this picture.]

It gets harder and harder to meet you through the interstices of your schedule: you text him less and less, and he finds himself trying to find every possible reason to see you. 

Did you eat? 

Are you free anytime soon?

I miss you.

Every short text finds an even shorter response, crammed between short breaks. He spends more time fiddling with his phone, shooting up at the glow of his screen, than he does with his camera. His camera sits on his nightstand, untouched for the past few days: every time he tries to take a picture, all he can see is you. You laughing at dumb cat videos he sends you. You squealing in delight as the unpredictable Seoul weather brings rainfall. You leaning your head against the glass, lost in thought. 

He sees you in unfinished pizza boxes and unfinished netflix shows and half empty mugs strewn around. He finds you in everything. So when you show up at his doorstep, pizza box in hand and hat over your head, he almost dismisses you as an apparition. 

You stick your foot in his doorway to stop him from shutting the door. “You’re not kicking me out so soon? Not when I brought pizza?” 

He takes the pizza box from you, still a little unsure if you’re real, but then you call his name.

“Hi Yoongi,” you smile, and it’s so much prettier than he remembers. He knows you’ve had a long day—eyes glazed, shoulders drooping, smile falling—and something about the way you’re trying to hold your smile makes a corner of his chest squeeze tighter, until it hurts to breathe. He’s not sure what to say, not sure how to move past the breathlessness, so the two of you wordlessly chew on your pizzas. 

When the tension grows thick, the silence hard to breathe through, the clump of feelings in the pit of his stomach feels harder to hold on to, so he blurts out, “I love you.” 

His confession rings through the room, echoes in the silence, and crashes against your chest. Though neither of you say anything, he continues to hear the ripples in his head, his voice repeating over and over again. You don’t look at him, and his leg won’t stop bouncing, his hands won’t stop fidgeting with the camera settings. 

“I love you,” he says once more, just in case you didn’t hear it. He hopes your silence is because you didn’t hear it the first time. He knows better, from the way you bite your lip (your nervous habit) to the way you shrink into yourself (another tick he’s noticed). 

“I should leave. I have an early shoot tomorrow.” you stand. The smile plastered on your face makes him want to hurl, too reminiscent of your first meeting when you held him at an arm’s distance. When Seokjin held him at an arm’s distance, right before he told Yoongi I don’t think I’m the person you’re in love with. I don’t think this is going to work out. When Seokjin smiled and told him I’m sorry but wasn’t sorry enough to answer the phone when Yoongi’s heart was bloody and broken and drenched in alcohol. 

“But I love you,” it’s quiet and hoarse this time, and Yoongi doesn’t know if you can hear it over the sound of his heart breaking, but you turn around. The smile on your face—brilliant and dazzling and empty—burns something in him, the hollowness of his chest suddenly swelling with rage.“Stop it.”

“Stop what?”

“That,” Yoongi motions to you, brows furrowed and anger coating his tongue. “Stop looking at me like I'm a screenplay and a set, like you’re trying to read me and understand what I want. I don’t want anything from you.”

“That’s ridiculous. Everyone wants something.”

“Fine. I want you to be you. not what looks best on screen, not what you think I want you to be. But you. I want you to be you.”

“What’s that supposed to be like? Being me?” the anger lacing your voice, the way your smile drops quickly off your face, makes Yoongi’s anger fizzle out into a cold chill. “You don’t realise how biased the camera is, how you’re seeing the picture the way you want to, the way you want to frame things? Tell me you look at me and you don’t see what could be changed. that you don’t see how you would adjust the exposure, how to narrow or widen the depth of field.”

Yoongi doesn’t say anything, mouth glued shut and sticking together with shame. There’s a heat licking up his neck to his cheeks that burns through his skin and into his chest that only grows hotter when you continue. 

“My job is to give people what they want, squeeze myself into a character and a script. Become a fantasy they can project on. I’ve spent my entire life being different people and fitting myself into the role they want me to play. I don't exist, Yoongi. I only exist between action and cut. I am constantly in some form of a take. I am constantly shooting different movies for different people, being the different characters they want me to be. You want something from me too, Yoongi. Don’t you get it?”

He forces himself to look up at you. 

“Did you like me for me, Yoongi?” You tilt your head, eyes tired. “Or did you like me because something about me reminded you of your ex?”

Yoongi recoils, hurt spilling out of his veins. He opens and closes his mouth, but nothing falls out. Instead, it’s another roll of memories that plays through his head. 

I think we should break up, Seokjin tells him and Yoongi drops his fork. When you look at me, it feels like you’re seeing someone else, a version of me that exists only in your head. 

Who are you seeing when you take a picture, Yoongi? 

Who am I to you? 

What do you see through the lenses?  

When you smile this time, it’s more of a grimace, like his silence gives you an answer. Your eyes fall to the floor, shoulders trembling as you laugh humorlessly, and you start to leave.

Yoongi tries to say something—anything, the correct thing—and frantically pulls at his brain. “But I love you.”

That makes you stop. You stay at the doorstep, hand gripping the doorknob, but don’t turn to face him. He waits for you to say something, anything, for you to turn around. But you don’t. 

You open the door and close it behind you, never looking back. 

He’s alone again. 

[Blank.JPEG]

[alt.image: A black square. Darkness. The absence of light. The shade of broken heart. Is it nothing or everything? Is it too much or too little?]

Everything about you is intentional, from the tilt in your head (precise and exact, calculated) to the gleam in your eyes. The way your lips curl as you smile. 

He wonders if his broken heart was also something written into the script, if he was playing the role of a character he never signed up for, if his broken heart was something you calculated from the very start, just like the angle of your head tilts and degrees of your smile. 

His camera suddenly feels all too heavy, too fragile, and too much like his heart. If he wasn’t a photographer, would he have met you? In another world, would he have seen you through the view of his camera, just a subject and nothing else? No coffee dates and rooftop talks, no heartbreaks? He grips his camera tighter, and a flare of anger rushes through him, filtering every other thought and piercing through his vision. When he blinks and the lights settle, there’s a dull sense of pain near his foot and a dent in the wall. 

There’s shards of broken lenses on the floor, but he shuffles back to bed, sob clawing at his throat. 

Maybe you were like a film camera, brilliant and beautiful at first glance. Until the film is dipped into chemistry and developed and the errors are hung out to dry. 

So why does it hurt so much? 

There’s a loud bzzt bzzt coming from the side of his bed as sleep clings to his eyelashes and glues his eyes shut, exhaustion still running through his veins. His fingers fumble, groping in the darkness, for the source of the noise until his fingers clasp around his phone and silence it. He rubs his face in his pillow and lets himself settle in again, sleep creeping back when—bzzt, bzzt—there’s another round of vibrations from his phone. Yoongi knows he turned on the do not disturb mode, so he doesn’t contemplate answering when his fingers make contact with his phone, pressing the side button to shut it off. 

He shuts his eyes, but sleep doesn’t call his name. Neither does Hoseok.

Instead Hoseok gently shuts the door after slipping off his shoes at the entrance. He makes his way over towards the bed, and Yoongi pulls the covers over his head. He waits for the tug, but it doesn’t come. Instead, there’s a gentle dip to the side of him when Hoseok takes a seat, silent. 

They sit like that for a while, Yoongi gently breathing—up and down, up and down—with a chest that feels broken and a heart that rattles inside his ribcage. He still feels the hum of alcohol in his system, sloshing in his lungs as they rise and fall.

“I’m sorry, Yoongi,” Hoseok’s voice vibrates through the silence. “I’m sorry you were hurt. But you can’t keep yourself holed up.”

Yoongi shifts under the blankets, but doesn’t say anything. He wonders if sleep would drag him under if he pretended long enough. His head is throbbing, and he wants another drink, but he knows Hoseok won’t let him while he’s still here. He knows because the last time he was heartbroken, he shut himself inside his apartment for two months until he was more alcohol than water. He stopped going out, stopped answering phone calls, stopped taking pictures because everything reminded him of Seokjin. 

Now that his camera is broken, he can’t be reminded of you. He drinks up until he can forget, until the film of memories is damaged, so he can fall asleep. When he wakes up and he remembers you still, he drinks up again to forget, shot after shot after shot. He doesn’t want to remember. 

“I called RKive. Told them you weren’t doing it.”

“Okay,” he whispers. Yoongi’s so tired and his head hurts, and he just wants to get this over with as quickly as he can so Hoseok can leave and Yoongi can pour out his sorrows into a shot glass that never seems to run dry. 

I don’t want to be the reason you don’t do this. 

He wishes he could stop hearing your voice in his head, stop seeing you in every corner of his room, stop smelling your perfume on his sheets. He just wants to go to sleep, dream in black. Stop remembering you. 

“I’m sorry, Yoongi.”

“Okay,” he whispers. 

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Are you heartbroken?

“Yeah,” the tears fall and his shoulders shake when he sobs. “Yeah, I think I’m heartbroken.”

“Oh Yoongi,” Hoseok hugs him close, and Yoongi lets out the wail that’s been stuck in his chest the past week. For the first time, he wants to let go instead of take in, so he weeps into Hoseok’s chest, until his throat is dry from the sounds it’s making. His body trembles from the stuttering in his chest and the remnants of his sobs. 

“I just want to stop hurting,” he hiccups into Hoseok’s shoulder as Hoseok gently pats him on the back. 

“I know. I know.”

“How do I stop hurting?”

Hoseok gently peels himself away from Yoongi until he’s looking at him directly in the eyes. “You have to learn to find closure. Whether that’s talking to her, making art, or just going about your routines until it doesn’t hurt anymore. You have to try.”

“What if I’m not ready to move on?”

I don’t think we’re ever ready. But we do it anyway. Because we never know until we try, right?

“Moving on isn’t a step; it’s a goal, Yoongi,” Hoseok squeezes his hands. “You can work towards it. But it’s a conscious choice we make and conscious steps we take. And when you make those steps, it gets easier to breathe and visit places you used to. And one day, you’ll look around and realise that you’ve done it. Maybe not completely, but enough. But you can’t just hole yourself up in your apartment or flee the country. You have to try.”

Hoseok’s eyes are soft when Yoongi looks at him, and Yoongi understands that he’s never allowed himself to move on from Seokjin, just slapped a bandaid over his wound and pretended it didn’t exist. When he met you, he used you as a gauze to staunch the injury and called it healing. He didn’t notice that he bled all over you, didn’t see that you were bleeding over the red of his blood on your wounds. You were trying to tell him you were hurting, and he was too fixated on how similar you were to Seokjin, how he found love again, to hear. 

“Hoseok,” Yoongi reaches out for his arm, squeezes his hand. “I want to do it.”

“Do what?”

“The exhibit,” his voice is muffled under his insecurities, but he wants this. “I want to do it.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” he lies. “I think I need to do it. For me. To move on.” He’s not sure if he’s ready; he doesn’t think he’ll ever be ready. So he takes the step anyways. 

Yoongi knows Hoseok is thrilled: he hasn’t stopped smiling since before the exhibition, when there was a crowd of people outside waiting to enter the exhibition, and even before that, when Yoongi was collecting the photos and taking more. Yoongi’s worked tirelessly through the nights to meet the Valentine’s Day exhibit deadline, but now that he’s here, he’s a little proud of himself. 

He should find Hoseok, tell him thank you. He should also talk to Namjoon, the owner, and congratulate Jimin, Namjoon’s assistant, on a successful exhibition. He should talk to Jeongguk, the painter, about the rose installation piece that’s at the centre of the gallery. He should talk to Vante about the giant photograph of a bird’s eye view of Seoul. He should, but he’s looking for you. 

You were the only guest he wanted to invite, even when Hoseok raised an eyebrow at him and asked him if he really wanted to do this. (He did. He texted you over the course of two weeks and deleted each message before it was sent. In the end, he sent you his heart the old fashioned way, with stamps and an envelope, and sealed it with the hope that you’ll receive it in time.) He doesn’t think you’ll come, so he tampers down the anticipation, tries to not look for your laughter or hear the way your eyes form crescents when you smile too hard. Despite the invitation, he doesn’t know if he’s ready to see you again, so he tries to keep himself busy and talk to the visitors about the pictures. He tries to not think about you. 

But it’s hard when you’re all he has up for his exhibit, when your face is at every corner. When you’re all he’s been able to think about. 

And as it slowly starts to get closer to the close, he tries to not be disappointed. He puts on a smile and asks Jeongguk about the sun and moon holding hands, discusses lighting techniques with Vante, and manages to make Jimin beam with pride when he compliments him about how nice the exhibit set up is. 

When the clock strikes 5, Yoongi packs up his camera and tucks it into his bag with his disappointment and begins to head out. 

“Take care, Jimin.”

“Bye, Yoongi!” Jimin chirps. “By the way! There’s a lady in front of your exhibit. I think she was captivated by it; she’s been standing there for the past half hour if you want to talk to her!”

A very familiar silhouette greets him. 

“I didn’t think you’d come.” 

You don’t turn around to face him, just stand there looking up at the picture of you smiling at the camera with the covers pulled up to your chin. He hears the people in the background, the faint hum of murmurs and laughters, but you stand there, quiet and arms crossed. He takes a step towards you before shuffling back to his original spot, shifting his eyes to the portraits before him. 

At first glance, you are the same girl in the portraits, but the longer he looks at the portraits, at you from the peripherals in his vision, the less the two of you look alike. The girl in the photographs is soft and bright and sunny, draped in warm light and colour corrections, saturated in happiness. The girl in front of him is worn down and exhausted, cloaked in disguises and fronts that she doesn’t have the strength to put on properly. “I remember this day, but I don’t remember it like that.” You nod towards the picture in front of you. 

“What’s it like? In your memories?” he asks, and wants to take it back. There’s too many questions bubbling inside of him—Did you love me? Do you remember how I smiled when you did? What do your frames of memory look like? Do they look like mine, painted in a golden filter?—but he doesn’t know how to develop them into words. He’s not sure he wants to compare the photographs of your memories in the fear it’ll corrupt his. 

You’re radio silent, so he stands there, shuffling his feet back and forth as his heart drops with each second. He understands what you meant, back at the rooftop, when you had said about riding a rollercoaster: he sees the answer to your question before you’ve spoken, sees the damage he’s caused through the lens of hindsight. Yet some part of him still wants to hear the words from you. 

“I don’t remember a lot of it. I remember it was going well. And then I just remember the hurt. I remember realising you saw someone else when you looked at me, just like everyone else. How I wished I could take back everything from the beginning. I wished I could take back the first time I met you. What would it have been like if I had said no? Would it still hurt?”

“I’m sorry,” his hand reaches out for you automatically, too used to the warmth of your body and the lull of your heartbeat to alleviate the stiffness in his chest, but he pulls his hand back as he realises there is too much space between the two of you: he’s not sure if you want to shorten the distance, if you want him at all. 

“Why did you say yes?” he asks instead of what he really wants to ask. “To this. To being the subject. You could have said no.”

“I could have.”

“So why didn’t you?”

“Because you seemed genuine.You looked like you were genuinely looking for a reason—for something, for anything, for purpose—and I liked that. I haven’t met a lot of people like that. Genuine. Earnest.” Your body turns to him, but your gaze is still brushing against the floor and clinging to your hands. “I think a part of me wanted, desperately, to be the source of your purpose. So I let myself believe that you genuinely wanted me for me.” 

“I think I loved you.”

“I think the both of us were looking for someone to love,” the corners of your mouth wobble, a pale imitation of the blown up picture of your smile on the wall. “Maybe that’s why it didn’t work. Because we were blinded by our desperation.” 

He doesn’t have anything to say to that. The way you look—so curled up in yourself and so vulnerable—slowly makes him realise there’s so much to you he wasn’t able to see. Were there more moments you tried to open up to him, only to have him turn a blind eye because he was still thinking about Seokjin?

“I wish I had met you later. Maybe in a different universe, you and I have a different story line, one where when you and I meet, I have learned to accept love and you have learned to accept heartbreak. Maybe we would have been ready for each other then.” Your smile wobbles, just as it did last time, and Yoongi’s heart wobbles too. When you start to walk away, he tastes the bitterness of his memories surfacing. 

“Wait!” he reaches out and grabs your hand, squeezes it a little too tight. When you turn, eyes wide, it feels like a scene he’s seen somewhere before, a picture he used to know. “We could. We could start over. We could make that universe this one.” 

“I don’t-I’m not following.” 

He drops your hand and offers you his. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you. My name is Yoongi.”

“Yoongi, I’m not-”

“What’s your name?” 

“Y/N,” you tentatively take his hand and shake it. 

“It’s nice to meet you for the first time. This is my exhibit,” you smile, head tilted in confusion, but the light in your eyes is warm, so he keeps going,” and I was wondering if you wanted to get coffee? 

You bite your lip, but don’t let his hand go. He tries to keep his smile on his face, but his heart is beating with the force of a supernova and he feels his nails cut through the skin of his anticipation. When you look down at his hand, he knows you can feel the tremors that run through it, the electricity of anxiety crackling through his veins, but he keeps his eyes on you and the way your eyes search his for clues, for cues and stage directions. 

“Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that,” you smile, and it feels like the first time he’s seeing you. 

He’s not sure, this time, of the damage: he’s not sure he can anticipate the fall, the wreckage caused. Doesn’t know if he wants to. 

It’s a brand new film strip. A new camera. A new storyline. 

He’s never been more ready. 

[116sameteam]

New Song!

Joey Jewish - Loose Change ft. KB

[usafphantom2]

ShinMaywa announces inaugural flight of the unmanned amphibious 'XU-M' aircraft

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 09/22/2022 - 11:00am VANT - UAV

On September 5, ShinMaywa Industries of Japan announced the inaugural flight of its XU-M unmanned seaplane. The company stated that the inaugural flight took place on August 26.

The XU-M (EXperimental Unmanned - Marine type) is a unmanned aerial vehicle based on amphibious technology developed by ShinMaywa. It was developed with the objective of promoting research related to the sensing and control of remotely operated amphibious aircraft. The fixed-wing drone is driven by two electric motors and has a cruising speed of 60 km/h. The aircraft is 3m long, 4m wide and 0.9m high. The aircraft built with carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) has an operating weight of less than 25kg.

While the XU-M is a test aircraft, ShinMaywa will design the aircraft and provide services according to customer requirements, with the XU-M being able to form the basis for larger projects of unmanned amphibious aircraft.

ShinMaywa also developed an XU-S unmanned fixed-wing aerial vehicle, which has long-lasting flight capacity. Over the years it has been used for radio propagation tests, environmental observation and marine litter survey. This battery-powered drone is driven by two propellers in the tail.

The Japanese manufacturer ShinMaywa produces the large manned amphibious aircraft US-2, currently operated by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). The aircraft was previously considered by the Indian Navy, for which ShinMaywa partnered with Mahindra Defence. ShinMaywa also expressed its willingness to offer US-2 for a U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) requirement for an amphibious aircraft.

JASMF ShinMaywa US-2 amphibious aircraft.

XU-M combines the technologies used in US-2 and XU-S. On September 2, the XU-M was presented during the "1st Drone Summit" held in the city of Kobe. The drone took off from the water and performed a four-minute flight demonstration. The XU-M made two automatic curves in eight before landing on the water.

Tags: amphibious aircraftDronesShinMaywa US-2

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. It has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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Cavok Brazil - Digital Tchê Web Creation

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[ladykardasi]

I'm actually reading 2 WIP'S right now, which I DON'T DO!

They are "Vante Amore" by MaltheaTea

And also "We'll be Dead in a Year Anyway" by @lizzy0305 which is Snarry, and probably the hottest, juiciest story I've read in a long, long time. These two stories are awesome. Go read, cheer these authors on!!

[bangtan]

BTS’s V’s Fans In China Donate To Build Elementary School In His Name

One of BTS’s V‘s fan communities in China has undertaken a monumental project: founding a new elementary school named after the idol! On July 11, V’s Chinese fanbase Baidu V Bar announced that it had donated 500,000 RMB (approximately $71,500) towards the establishment of an elementary school in China named “Taehyung Hope Primary School.” In a statement released in both English and Korean, the fanbase stated, “Baidu V Bar, in the name of all fans, donated funds for the construction of a Taehyung Hope Primary School through the renowned Hope Project by CYDF (China Youth Development Foundation).” The China Youth Development Foundation is a non-profit organization whose flagship program is Project Hope, a project aimed at ensuring that children in rural communities in China have the opportunity to go to school. Baidu V Bar went on to reveal that the current goal is for construction to be completed by the end of the year, explaining, “Siting and specific construction information will be open to all fans later as V Bar follows up throughout the process. The expectation now is to make a completion before the end of 2020.” V’s Chinese fans have donated to other meaningful causes in the past, including the construction of an art classroom named Vante Art School (after the name V uses for his photography) at Anlu Primary School in Hubei, China. Source (1) (2)

[bratzkoo]

Work in Progress:

KEY: ♥ fluff | ♦ angst | ♠ smut | ♣ mature themes

-

hi, i’m khoe and these are my wips. no specific release dates ! unless stated, obviously. it’s my way of telling you what i have planned but also for me to remember the projects i’m working on, lol.

-

BTS

❥ Lethal | maknae line x reader ♥♦♠♣

au: n/a

status: writing 8% done

summary: n/a

❥ Tiktok series ♥♦♠♣

open for request! 

-

Kim Namjoon:

❥ He Loves Me (v) ♥♦♠♣ 

au: ceo! namjoon, sugar daddy! namjoon

status: planning

summary: n/a

note: you can find the series masterlist here

❥ He Has A Secret ♥♦

au: dad! namjoon

status: writing, 5% done

summary: n/a

-

Kim Seokjin:

❥ Bliss ♥♦♣ 

au: yandere! au, arranged marriage! au

status: writing 10% done

summary: you were ask to marry your abusive ex and out of panic you ask a random guy on your way to the restaurant to pretend to be your new boyfriend, turns out he’s the eldest son of the Kim Corporation.

-

Min Yoongi:

❥ Everytime ♥♦♣

au: ex lovers! au

status: writing 15% done

summary: n/a

❥ The network ♥♦♠♣

au: camboy! yoongi

status: planning

summary: if yoongi had to pick a favorite watcher, his answer would be you.

-

Jung Hoseok:

❥ Blue Side ♥♦♣

au: n/a

status: planned, will start writing soon

summary: n/a

note: jung hoseok is adorable here but i also made him a psycho

❥ Hixtape ♥♦♠♣

au: soundcloud rapper! hoseok

status: planning

summary: n/a

-

Park Jimin:

❥ Broken Spell ♥♦

au: enemies to lovers! au

status: planning

summary: where jimin and you hate each other and are sworn enemies, both of you were task to do a project together, in fear of you not passing the subject because of your non-stop bickering, you made jimin drink a 24 hours reverse feelings potion-- thinking he’ll be in love you for the next 24 hours with the amount of hatred he has for you, it came as a surprise when he suddenly says he doesn’t even want to see you in front of him.

which can only mean one thing, jimin has been in love with you all this time.

❥ Keep Your Enemies Close ♥♦♠♣ au: enemies to lovers! au status: planning summary:  -

Kim Taehyung:

❥ GUCCI | pt. 2 ♥♦♠♣

au: fashion designer! taehyung

status: planned, will start writing soon

summary: Vante, a fashion designer and creative director of Gucci who keeps his life in private. No one really knows him aside from what he shares in public, no surprise when the media goes gaga over the leaked sketches of Vogue’s editor-in-chief Y/N Black in his journal.

note: you can find GUCCI pt.1 here

-

Jeon Jungkook:

❥ Delivery (iii) ♥♦

au: pizza delivery guy! jungkook, highschool! au

status: writing, 35%

summary: You planned a grand gesture to confess to your long time crush (or as you like to call him: “the love of my life”) and things turned out to be horrible on your part. One, you accidentally confessed to the wrong person. Two, he accepted your confession. Three, your crush accepted someone else’s confession!

aka you confessed to your pizza delivery guy and now he thinks the both of you are dating.

note: you can find delivery! (i) here and delivery! (ii) here

MxM

MinJoon

Doré

au: pirate! jimin x crown prince! namjoon

summary: n/a note: you can find it here.

[hisunshiine]

primal |kth|

♡ 𝘵𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘹 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳 ♡ 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳!𝘵𝘢𝘦 𝘹 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺!𝘰𝘤 ♡ 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵, 𝘴𝘮𝘶𝘵 ♡ 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 @shades_of_blue

—

“I saw you and him! You let him feed you.. Let him touch you..” His eyes, typically your favorite shade of deep mahogany were now black.

“Tae, I swear, it was innocent. If I had refused, they would have known.. I think they suspect so—”

Tae’s large hand tightened on your throat slightly, and you gasped, arching slightly.

“Kneel.”

-6 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰-

You had just gotten hired by KimHit Entertainment, an up and coming company that had great talent of all kinds signed to them. They worked with multiple artists, rappers like RM and Agust D, singing dance duo J-Hope and Jimin (J2J), had content creators/artists like JayKay and Vante, and they were all managed by Kim Seokjin, one of the most famous vocalists in the world. He had decided to create a company to help others flourish once he felt like he had met all of his own goals.

While he still made music, he wanted to make sure to solidify himself as a top tier business man as well, like his father before him. He took over his dad’s small company and created a chaebol with his ability to spot talent and help it bloom. His brother had recently run the food services department for KimHit, but he had recently gotten married, so he was unable to do the tours for the next 2 quarters.

You had gone to culinary school with Seokjin’s older brother, which was how you found out about the company, and applied. Despite your love for music, your job however, had nothing to do with being “Talent”, unless you counted what you did in the kitchen.

“Carla, holy fuck, this is delicious!” Nayeon had just licked her finger clean from where she had dipped it into your batter for the dessert for the Talent. She went to double dip, and you swatted her hand away with the oven mitt you were holding.

“Yes, that’s why I was hired. But Gemini is coming down soon to eat, and they need to be fed before their performance tonight. A 2 hour set is no joke.” Nayeon nodded and backed away, hands up.

“Fine, fine.. I’m headed back to my station, but save me some please!” She smiled as she turned and headed to the door, her slim hips swaying as she disappeared through the swinging doors of the kitchen.

You finished plating the main dishes and began trekking them through the same swinging doors to set up for the meal. Each venue had a different style, but with tours, within the country, it was easier on you to maintain a routine. Traveling across the globe with bigger artists meant you had to go with them to each stadium or arena and cook with the kitchen they provided. Here in your home country, you could easily travel from home to work each day, prepare the meals, set up the spread, and relax. Others were hired to handle the clean up. You hustled back and forth, carrying out the now heavy metal serving dishes before the cast and crew arrived for their pre-show meal.

Panting slightly, you shook your head. How you were not losing weight at a faster rate was beyond you, but you liked that you maintained your curves despite the bustle of this job. Cooking protein rich and healthy fat filled foods helped you keep your more curvy figure. You were happy with your natural assets; you’d never had a problem filling out your outfits in all the right places, and direct or indirect compliments on your figure from the opposite sex had become the norm for you.

You watched the managers slowly file in, followed by the lighting crew, music techs, videographers and more, getting their food before running off to carry out various pre-show set up. They thanked you, happy with the upgraded meals they received ever since KimHit hired you.

“Hi.”

You jumped, not expecting the baritone voice to sound. Turning, you clutch your now racing heart as you take in a remarkable face—jawline that could slice the cake you had been placing, cheekbones that had to have been sculpted by Michaelangelo himself, and a toffee colored gaze that heated you to your core.

“You scared me!” you squeaked out, unable to maintain eye contact with him.

“Sorry,” his voice—as familiar as it was smooth—continued, “I just wanted to say that this smells… delicious.”

You shivered, sure that he was talking about more than the food. That he could smell the arousal mixed with fear as his predatory gaze continued to drink you in, tracing each curve slowly as if he could imagine what you would feel like if he stared long enough. Hard enough.

You attempted to breath slowly, knowing that predators enjoy the toying, and will chase when their prey panics and runs. You naturally responded to his movements, extending the chase when you whirled around and went back to what you were doing. You heard him take a sharp inhale, and inwardly smiled.

5, 4, 3, 2…

“Thanks,” you replied, barely giving him a glance as you straightened back up and made to walk past him. Pausing, you place your hand on his shoulder almost in a motherly way, though the way your voice had taken on a sultry tone suggested you were anything but.

“Let me know if there’s anything else you want to eat.”

As you walked into the kitchen, you heard him let out a low chuckle, and felt excitement bubble within you.

Kim Taehung, or Vante, was the famous photographer that KimHit managed, and would be helping out with catching still photo content for various artist’s within the company. Part of Seokjin’s philosophy was to have his talent work with each other, to build camaraderie across the different mediums as well as maintain wealth within the company.

It was well known within the entertainment world that Taehyung had an… eccentric taste. Once you started working at KimHit, you found out that it was not just within his art. He had been spotted by other coworkers frequenting Primal—a sex club for the elite to delve into their deepest desires. You and Nayeon had bonded over your love for Vante and his art, and she had shared this information.  

Another stylist had gone with him once, and shared quite eagerly with Nayeon and the other stylists that he was definitely a dominating type, that he enjoyed the pursuit of his partner, and was essentially, a predator.

You had done exactly the thing to drive him to begin the chase. You responded to him in a way that caught his attention, and then tried to quell your prey driven response and assert yourself as unaffected. If there was one thing that was going to make him pursue it was the dismissive way you treated his compliment paired with a very forward statement. He wanted to know more about you, wanted to push your limits, to conquer you.

Taehyung began his pursuit not long after that first encounter and you played along, as he aggressively flirted, took you out on dates, and then, like a chess match, called his checkmate. And you were his Queen.

The only problem was that you were under contract with KimHit to not become romantically involved with any of the Talent. Tae knew this, and was careful with his behaviors in public. He maintained his stoic disposition when in company of others, but once the cafe area was empty, he was dragging you away before you could lock up. Tae was all over you, mouth ravishing your body as his hands took possession of your body, laying claim to every curve, tracing the swell of your breasts, the roundness of your ass, squeezing your thighs tightly as he buried his cock deep within your walls.

-Earlier that day-

Gemini, the girl group who had been on tour previously was finished with their schedule, and you would be staying on for the next round of artists. This consisted of the prominent male artists, J2J opening for RM and Agust D, who had recently dropped a joint album. These sets of performances were different from your previous tour in that they would be holding performances at the same arena for the span of a month, allowing fans all over the country to have time to come see them before the month was up.

There was just one catch to the good news of being able to work for a month without traveling. Taehyung would be leaving for a month to work on his own art, paired with JayKay who would be the videographer for his project. Neither of you were happy about being separated, especially since he was friends with all of the men you would be cooking for, who knew nothing about the two of you dating.

He would never tell you that that was his reason, he had never said anything about his friends talking about you when they saw you in the KimHit office cafe working, when there were no Gemini schedules at the venues in town. Or, how they lusted over your body, your lovely features, your soft and gentle manner, over everything that was his . Every predator’s biggest fear is losing their territory.

It wasn’t that Tae didn’t have faith in you, it was that he understood how other predators were. You belonged to him in a different way now, he had already conquered you in a prey-like aspect. You were almost akin to pups, cubs, or other vulnerable babies of mammal species. You were his. Call you territory, call you a kitten or cub, you belonged to him. And anyone sniffing around what was his... well it didn’t sit well with him.

The night before he left, he marked you, trailing merlot colored bruises down your neck, across your collarbone, accompanying bite marks to your chest, scarlet handprints staining your skin on your backside, small fingerprint sized marks showing his lasting grip to your hips and thighs, if only he could be sure that he had left lasting marks to your heart.

He was in love with you, which scared him. He feared you leaving him while he was gone more than anything else. More than you not loving him back. He could deal with you not loving him as long as you didn’t leave .

While you slept in his arms that last night, after that particularly rigorous session, he held you, whispering his love into your hair in the dead of the night, silent prayers that you would still be his when he returned.

—

Taehyung enjoyed his time traveling around France for the month. With Jungkook as his companion and you being on the other end of the many FaceTime calls, it wasn’t so hard for Taehyung to get through the month. He felt his insecurities subside a little more  when he called you and you answered. He knew that you weren’t in danger of leaving him.

You on the other hand struggled with his absence. Your body craved his touch, and you spent evenings touching yourself in hopes that it would feel like him, but it never did. The new talent you were working with  didn’t make it any easier for you while missing Taehyung.

J-Hope, half of the dancing duo J2J,spent almost the entire month flirting with you, relentlessly. He was handsome, tall, lithe; his body, moved in ways you’d never seen before until he took the stage. You loved Taehyung and had no intentions of cheating on him.  However, you missed the up close and personal attention you’d become so accustomed to with Taehyung, and you enjoyed the attention from J-Hope—or Hobi, the name he asked you to call him.

He shamelessly flirted with you nonstop, to the point that you were fairly certain Tae would be highly upset if he were to witness it. But it appeared harmless to you since your heart and body were already taken by Taehyung, even if no one else knew it.

—

“Hey,” Hobi approached you while you were finishing up for the day, catching you right before you disappeared behind the swinging metal kitchen doors. “I had a question for you.”

“Sure, what’s up?” your hands were positioned on your hips as you turned, and you didn’t miss the way his gaze took its time traveling up before settling on your own.

“I wanted to have a small party tonight, to celebrate the end of the performances. I’ll text you the address, I would love for you to come.”

“Oh, I’ll have to see...” you replied, knowing that Taehyung and JayKay would be arriving back to town that evening.

“Please, Carla, I hope you can make it.” Hobi stepped closer, his hand reaching out to tuck a loose strand of hair behind your ear. “At the very least, can I pay you to make a cake for the celebration tonight?”

You found yourself nodding to that. That way you could still do something nice for a friend without upsetting Tae by spending his first night back home out with his friends and not with him.

“Of course, Hobi. Just text me the address. I’ll make you your favorite… my signature Devil’s Food Cake with Cream Cheese icing and strawberries.”

“You’re an actual angel, babe.” Hobi smiled his heart shaped smile, but the glint in his eye was as devilish as the cake you planned to make. “I can’t wait. The party is black and red attire… but please, come in all white.”

—

Texting Tae, you mentioned that you would be a little late to his place due to a last minute catering stop. You had started doing small catering services since you wouldn’t be traveling out of town this month, so it wasn’t unusual for you to tell Tae that you needed an hour or two in order to fulfill orders for your customers.  

Before leaving for the party, you double checked the white body con dress you had put on. It had a heart shaped neckline with baby doll straps, and you had tied your hair into a chignon, slicked back to show off your decolletage. A simple necklace with a small camera charm hung from the chain rested almost into your cleavage, the tiny diamond in the lens catching the light from the bulb in the hallway.

Liking the reflection you saw, you carted off your finished cake to your SUV and made your way to the location on your map.

Turning onto a main road, you had thought that the party Hobi was hosting was at his own place, but as you pulled into a parking lot you couldn’t help but notice the bright red sign. Primal . The very club that allowed people to explore their sexual desires on the second floor while the dance floor allowed people to party on the first. You had always wanted to come here after you found out about Taehyung coming here, but as the top floor was invite only…

Once you had started dating Tae in secret, you had forgotten about this place, not needing to seek out a place to explore your fantasies when they happened in his bedroom now. Unloading the SUV, you carried the boxed cake towards the entrance, where the bouncer at the front signalled for you to enter.

“Hoseok said to be on the lookout for the angel in white with a cake.”

You laughed to yourself, warmth crossed your cheeks at the description.

“Just head to the desk, tell them you’re headed to room 7, the password for your party is ‘hope in hell’.”

Following the instructions he gave you, the attendant at the desk led you to the door of room 7, which was tucked in the back corner of the second floor. She opened the door, which allowed you to walk into the room, lit with red lights. Music was playing throughout the speakers on the walls, and you heard the chatter of the party goers as you ascended into the depths of Primal.

“Carla!” Hobi’s voice called over the hum of the party and you turned to take in his outfit, all black to match his hair. He waved you in his direction, and upon reaching him, you handed the box off and he placed the cake on the table beside him.

“Wow, this looks amazing!” he said as he unboxed it, eyes turning back to you as he licked his lips. “Purely… delectable.”

You couldn’t help the way your body reacted. Taking in how you responded to his words, he smirked as he watched you look away. Looking around the room now, you were able to take in the scene. You truly were the only person that was in white. You could see people gyrating on each other, talking closely in small groups, drinking their fair share of alcohol, and disappearing into other rooms with each other, carnal looks in their eyes. Hobi grabbed a strawberry and held it to your mouth. You opened when it touched your bottom lip, but he teased you, trailing it along your full bottom lip before pushing it slowly into your mouth. You bite, taking in the sweetness of the fruit.

Setting down the tuft of green left over, he grabbed a napkin, clearing his fingers of the red residue before grabbing another strawberry, which he handed to you.

“Feed me.”  

Unable to say no to his demand, you oblige. You had drawn an audience since you walked through the door; heated gazes on you, watching your every move, you couldn’t have said no to the host, and he knew it. Holding the strawberry up to him, his lips wrapped delicately around the plump fruit, teeth seamlessly slicing through it as some of the red liquid dripped down his chin. Your gaze follows the trail of it and you bite your lip.

“Thank you again, angel.” Hobi pulls your glance back to his eyes, stepping closer towards you for a hug.

“Thank you for inviting me Hobi, I can’t stay long, but I appreciate it.”

As he gathers you into a hug, you feel his hands drift down along your curves, hands holding your ass in a way that prevented you from moving away from him. His length, hard, pressed between your thighs and you felt his lips ghost over your neck.

“Do you have enough time for me to show you a good time?” he asked, and as much as you would have said yes if you were single, you had Taehyung possibly already waiting for you at your place.

“Sorry, I can’t tonight.” You pout, trying your best to be vague. No one knew about you and Tae, and you had to keep it that way.

“Not tonight? So when can I get you all alone?” This time, his teeth nipped at your skin, and you involuntarily shivered in his arms, moving closer into his grip.

“Um..” you tried hard to formulate words, his dominating persona calling to the submissive in you.

“𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁.”

Taehyung’s low voice practically growled as his hand gripped your neck possessively. Hobi released you, his eyes a mischievous smile as he took in the way your head turned in response to Tae’s voice, body moving towards him as if it was second nature.

“She’s mine, Hobi-hyung.”

The song was low, changing from one to another, and you felt the eyes of the other guests on the three of you. From your peripheral you could see that RM, Suga, and Jimin were watching, amused, while JayKay was standing off to the side of Tae, snickering.

“Ahhhh,” Hobi said, mind putting together all of the information over the past few months. The way that Taehyung had always grown quiet when they talked about asking you out until he would forcefully say that you were unavailable, that you had told him you weren’t single. The way you had turned down all the advances Hobi had made. The way that Taehyung seemed to almost be enraged when the crew would talk about your sumptuous body. His eyes met Jin’s, who shrugged and pretended not to see anything, walking away with a girl who had on a black lingerie set.

Tugging your hand, Tae led you towards a door and pulled you inside. It was dim, quiet, empty of passerby and onlookers.

Taehyung turned to face you, backing you towards the door you had just walked through. His arm reached over you, swinging the door shut so you were pressed against it.

“I’m gone for a month, Carla... and this is how you behave when Daddy is away?” His eyes don’t meet yours, instead they follow the path his finger makes as it trails down your cheek, slow and deliberate.

“I was trying to keep up appearances… I was about to leave, I promise.”

“Didn’t much look like you were trying to leave. Looked like you were allowing him to touch what was mine.”

“Tae, I promise—” your voice was frantic, worried he would leave you, but he cut you off.

“I saw you and him! You let him feed you.. Let him touch you..” His eyes, typically your favorite shade of deep mahogany were now black.

“Tae, I swear, it was innocent. If I had refused, they would have known.. I think they suspect so—”

Tae’s large hand tightened on your throat slightly, and you gasped, arching slightly.

“Kneel.”

Falling to your knees, your eyes meet the floor as you watch his slip on black Gucci loafers circle around you. You can hear his fingers meddle with his belt.

“You,” he paused, attempting to tame his anger, “are mine.”

His hand gripped your chignon, pulling your head in whatever direction he wanted as he continued speaking. You kept your body loose so that he could control your movements. Angling your head to look up at him, he took his other hand and used his fingers to pinch your cheeks and open your mouth.

“This mouth… is mine.”

His cock, standing at full length, entered your mouth roughly and you slackened your jaw to allow his girth to fill your hole. He face-fucked you, hips snapping as he plunged his cock into your throat. You hollow your cheeks, running your warm tongue along the bottom and grazing his frenulum. The flared tip caught on your lips as he pulled out, and you suckled the head how he liked as he held your face still with only the tip engulfed in the warmth of your mouth.

“Fuck, like that angel.” Taehyung expressed his enjoyment with low grunts and caresses to your face as you did your best to please him and apologize for what he witnessed.

“Ah, this mouth is sinful… aren’t you my little angel?” he asked, removing himself from your lips with a lewd popping sound. His hands moved to your chignon and he pulled out the pin holding it together, allowing your hair to fall.

“Yes,” you panted, short of breath, “I’m your angel.”

He nodded with a low hum, and brought you to stand. His mouth was harsh, rough as he kissed and bit your now swollen lips with his own. His grasp on your body was tight; you expected to see small fingertip bruises from his grip in the morning.

Pulling away, the trail of saliva from your mouth to his strained thin before snapping, and Tae was more turned on than ever watching the way you leaned forward chasing the kiss.

“You aren’t acting like my angel... You’re dressed like her, but you haven’t been behaving like her.”

As he moves through the room, you finally take in your surroundings. The room is mostly bare, no bed, but there is a small love seat on the wall to the left and a door in the wall straight ahead that had a sex swing attached to it. Your stomach flipped in excitement. Taehyung gave you a series of looks and, without words, you obeyed his commands. He had you naked and strapped into the swing in a matter of minutes, shedding his flowing black silk shirt.

“That’s better… the white dress made you look too pure for what I’m about to do to you.”

Running his cock along your folds, your slick coated the tip and he pushed himself into you without much prep. This was a part of your punishment, you knew, and the feeling of him so full inside of you had your body adjusting to him with more of your juices produced with every thrust he made. Your legs were propped up in the sex swing, held by straps that wrapped around your thighs, and you slid up along the door with the force of Taehyung’s hips.

“You’re mine, Carla. All mine.”

“Yes... Fuck, yes Tae, I’m yours.”

His teeth marked your neck, his large hands gripping your thighs and you could feel the throbbing of his dick as he continuously buried it inside of you. You moaned out, unable to stay quiet after a month of being deprived of him. His scent filled the surrounding area and enveloped you, and you couldn’t help but feel like it wasn’t enough, you wanted more of him.

“Please Tae.. I need… I— I need m-more...”

He thrusts into you deeply, slapping your ass as he pushes against your cervix and you cry out, nails digging into his back. You’re sure that you’ve left small crescent moons along his shoulder blades. He circles his hips while remaining deep inside of you, and he growls in your ear.

“You feel so good, God, I missed you.”

“-m-missed you… too...”

“It’s so tight, baby. I’m gonna… fuck, I’m gonna fill you so good baby.”

“Please,” you beg, and he drops his hand down to press against your clit.

You felt it building fast, the pull in your abdomen and as your hips bucked to gain more friction against his hardened member, you squeezed around him, feeling every curve and vein along the shaft and he bit hard onto your shoulder, his hot cum filling you up.

Crying out, you’re so close, but Tae pulls out of you, eyes meeting yours. And you know he’s not going to allow you release at this moment. Punishment for your earlier behavior.

You almost whine at him, exhausted because all you want is to fall apart before you fall asleep wrapped in his arms. You make to say something to him, going against your submissive state to tell him that you want more, you want to finish, before his voice whispers a command.

“Clench.”

You follow his directive, using your walls to force his cum out of you and you smile sleepily as you hear his slight intake of breath as you feel him drip down your thigh. The pads of his fingers are gentle as he scooped it back up and tucked his release back inside of you, two fingers eliciting a quiet, slick sound as they enter your abused core.

“You can cum later tonight baby, after I get you home...”

You nod, glad that he was going to allow you an orgasm at some point tonight. He leans forward to kiss you, his tongue tangling lazily with yours as he releases you from the sex swing.

“.. If you earn it.”

RUNNER UP COVER THAT DIDN’T WIN BUT I LOVE IT TOO SO HERE IT IS

[gguksgalaxy]

Mon Chéri 1 | KTH | Teaser

Teaser! To be posted somewhere in March.

Once you were lovers in Paris, up to no good. But one small mishap caused everything you two had to shatter. There was no goodbye, no last je t'aime — just an empty bed. Now, you are given the opportunity to confront the man you once lovingly called mon chéri. Can you forget and forgive love, and take back what was taken from you?

This is part of the Luv Library Valentine's project from Ficswithluv. ›› AU: Art frauds / Criminals  ›› Genre: Angst / Smut ›› Rating: 18+ (sexual content and violence) ›› Pairing: KTH x Reader, minor JJK x Reader & KTH x PJM ›› Word Count: 17k (2 parts, +/- 30k total) ›› Warnings Include: Sexual content, violent content, criminal activities, romantic angst. Mentions of criminal activities and romantic angst in this teaser. 

L’art est plus que ce qui est visible.

Art is more than what meets the eye. If you don’t get the same sensation the second time, it can be the consequence of only two things. An internal, personal change. Or a change in the painting. As subtle as a change in strokes or hues. A slight tilt leftwards — a change in emotions.

Your eyes glide across the set of paintings of Dutch tulips. The fields filled with colours, the spread of the paint — not unlike Van Gogh, but far too subtle for him. This set, painted years before Monet’s famous waterlily series, is more vibrant. Yet there’s something too bold about the one to the far left.

You take a shaky breath, swallowing thickly. The texture of the brush, the vibrancy and ambiance. It brings forward a sickly feeling of familiarity. For a moment you think your mind is playing tricks on you. That it wants to see him in this painting. But you can’t deny your heart’s ache.

This is him. His uncanny ability to mimic impressionism to the stroke. Precision to match imperfections. A mirror of another's emotions that’s slightly clouded by his own.

Your chest constricts, tears stinging at the corners of your eyes. There’s a quiet night in Paris, a warm and gentle embrace. His lips caressing your skin, paint streaks on your body from where his fingers had been stained. Silken sheets and words of love. Words of love that had been erased by a single mishap. A forgery fell through and you’d never seen him again. No last goodbye, no last je t’aime — nothing but an empty apartment and a broken heart.

Jin calls your name and you startle. “Are you alright?”

“Jin, this painting,” you whisper, no faith in your own voice. The memory of him burns in you, scraping your insides until you’re shaking. “It’s Vante’s.”

Special thanks to: @softlyjiminie @dee-ehn @justbtses @yoongs-jeontae @franklytae @mygsii @joonsrack @honey-piggy @sunshineangelhobi @jiminsfault​ @jungtaeyoongles​ @thinksshesawolf​ @moccahobi​ (if I forgot someone I truly apologise)

Comment TAG if you want to be tagged! 25 spots open!

[neonthewrite]

Pantheon Spotlight: The Four

The Four are the gods of the four elements: Water, Fire, Air, and Earth. Each of these gods has a titan of the same element, gifts from Nature itself for their stewardship. The Four and their titans have begotten several notable demigods, some of which I will list here.

Cora, god of water, and her titan Purin

Naia, patron of rivers and lakes

Vorin, patron of fish and sea

Helban, patron of the deep

Tetro, patron of voyagers

Matton, god of fire, and his titan Basa

Edra, patron of scorched sands

Sil, god of air, and her titan Vant

Mervena, patron of fell wind

Kuro, god of earth, and his titan Liera

Yarrow, patron of trees and flowers

Xepher, patron of animals

Fiorebell, patron of plants and growth (deceased)

Kuro(god of earth) and Basa(titan of fire)

Ulain, patron of volcanoes

[megarobosensei19]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX3OBqnP4T4)

[trackstarzradio]

Joey Jewish Interview | The Vantes Project 2 | @joeyjewish @jasonbordeaux1 @trackstarz Fresh off the releasing The Vantes Project 2, Jason Bordeaux talks with Joey Jewish about the album, the creation process, and his journey since The Vantes Project 1.