look what you made me do

the last thing danny expects is an ecto-plasmic blast. so much so that when it first comes towards cujo, missing his pet by a few inches, he stops and stares blankly at the spot. there’s a moment where he wonders if his parents had somehow made their way to the island without him knowing. of course, there are other ghost hunters in the world, but not with the kind of tech needed to convert ectoplasmic energy into a weapon. cujo, as expected, springs into action before danny can even piece together whats happening. what once was a small, happy little dog is now a giant, angry ghost dog. it’s always dizzying, watching cujo transform right before his eyes, set off fairly easily by most things. but seeing his pet bark and growl as it searches for the attacker is enough to wake danny out of his confusion. “whoa, whoa. down boy.” he flies in front of cujo, hands stretched out to him in an effort to calm him. experienced ghost hunter or not, cujo could easily tear through anything in this state.

the amused smile is hard to keep off her face, no matter how hard eris tries to. she doesn’t even feel bad as she watches valerie struggle to make sense of how to string together a decent excuse. but, she needs to pretend to. so, she raises her own glass of wine to her lips and takes a sip, hoping to hide her own merriment. “wow,” eris lets out a small sound of surprise, setting her glass down once valerie finishes speaking. “are you normally such a terrible liar or are you just nervous?” honestly, she does want an answer to this one. she needs to know if valerie is capable of keeping it together, though she can’t imagine someone who works in fashion by day and moonlights as a monster hunter by night can’t keep a secret. “unless this is part of your next move.” she clasps her hands together, eyes lighting up with the new possibility. as if what she’s thinking is even more exciting than watching valerie trip up. “now that i know your secret, you’re trying to lure me into a false sense of security so you can kill me with your stupid gun?” mentioning her weapon of choice was another deliberate move, admission that eris had seen her, and had seen enough to make it impossible for valerie to play it off as a fluke. though, knowing the other woman, she certainly would try. 

Taking on the job of a ghost hunter at a surprisingly young age, Valerie had become practically professional at lying. Always coming up with excuses as to where she was going, why she was running late, why she couldn’t handle a relationship, the lies poured out of her easily. She even managed to get through her entire high school and college career without anyone so much as suspecting that she was the one behind the mask, but Eris somehow managed to figure it out as though it was nothing. There’s a small part of her that does want to admit her secret, keeping it bottled up for so long that it would be nice to finally get it all out in the open. But even if she does trust Eris she knows better than to go blurting it out to just anyone, especially someone that has magic. “I just wasn’t expecting you to come up with such a crazy theory, that’s all,” she tries to brush the accusation off with a shrug, taking another sip of her wine. “Are you getting a little bored in council meetings or something?” All she can do is try to play it off as a joke and hope that eventually Eris gets bored and decides she has the wrong girl. It is a little frightening, though, just how much she seems to know. “I mean can you see me carrying a gun?” A hand waving off the question, she can at least rest a little knowing that Eris’ theory is far off. “That so wouldn’t go with my outfit.”

danny had wanted a break. filming for the first half of this season of the phantom files had taken far more out of him than he would have cared to admit. getting tossed around like a rag doll by ghost after ghost had been more than he anticipated, and he’s not too proud to admit that he had barely made it through the last batch of episodes in one piece. so, he wasn’t too keen on wasting one of his few nights off at a masquerade ball. unfortunately for him all of his friends would be in attendance, leaving him with very few options when it came to how exactly he was going to spend his time. somehow, chasing his floating dog through the woods near the haunted manor was not really what he had in mind. cujo had run off during their walk, or rather flew off, barking animatedly as he dug around the dirt in the woods as if he were looking for something. “can you please just get down,” danny sighs, shoulders drooping as he flies behind his dog. “there’s nothing out here but trees and dirt.” @valcriegray

not much surprises eris and even less manages to hold her attention. so when she’d figured out the all seeing eye spell, eris had spent the first few days drowning in her own boredom. the island, and it’s inhabitants, were all so fucking dull. she’d almost given up on it entirely, until, she checked in on a familiar face doing something very out of the ordinary. so, now she sits across from valerie in her dining room, nursing a glass of wine and barely suppressing the excitement that bounces through her. perhaps she shouldn’t be so excited to pull the rug out from under a girl she considers a friend — or, would even go as far to say she likes. but eris hardly thinks much of it, other’s discomfort is fuel. “so, I’ve been meaning to ask you this all night,” eris begins, setting her glass down and keeping her tone light and conversational. “when does someone with a boss as demanding as yours find time to learn to ride a hoverboard?” @valcriegray

It’s not unusual that she finds herself here lately, sitting across from Eris, her head starting to feel light as she nurses her third glass of wine. Considering her own contempt for magic and the way Eris uses it so openly it shouldn’t make sense, but Valerie found it all to easy to make her the exception to her rule. “Hmmm?” she hums at the mention of something Eris has been meaning to ask, thinking very little of it. The mention of a hoverboard, though, is enough to make her heart skip a beat, the other woman saying it with too much confidence for it to be a mistake or even just a lucky guess. All this time she’s held the secret close to her chest, not letting anyone in on it, and somehow Eris knows. Touching the wine glass to her lips she takes a long sip, doing her best to regain her composure, hoping that her shock wasn’t written as clearly across her face as it feels. Finally setting the glass back down on the table she laughs it off as though it’s nothing more than a joke, trying to play off just the right amount of confusion. “Now what about me looks like someone that rides around on a hoverboard?” Fingers fiddle nervously with the stem of the wine glass, her heart still racing her in chest. “I think we both know I’m way too cute for that.”

HISTORY & HEADCANONS

raised by a doting father that wanted nothing more than to make her happy, valerie was raised with everything she could have possibly asked with and more. feeling a strong sense of guilt when valerie’s mother left to start a new family with another man when valerie was only five years old, her father showered her with material things to show her love and buy her happiness. it unsurprisingly turned her into something of a spoiled brat, and she expected to get everything she wanted when she wanted it.

valerie could be sweet as sugar when she wanted to be, completely wrapping her father and other adults around her finger from a young age with the bat of her eyelashes and an adorable smile. to people her own age she was cruel and judging, and it was only natural that she fit in with the popular crowd at school.

as far as she was concerned her life was perfect; everyone at school looked up to her. guys wanted to date her and girls wanted to be her, and she always got away from being casually cruel to anyone that she deemed to be beneath her — which was anyone other than paulina, dash, and kwan. nothing could possibly go wrong to ruin that. that is, until the incident that still haunts her to this day.

a ghost attack at the factory where her dad worked security caused him to lose his job, and with it valerie lost everything. forced to give up their luxurious home for a run down apartment, she had to sell nearly every single one of her most prized possessions and get a less than desirable job as a fast food mascot just to help her father make ends meet at home. it was a spectacular fall from grace, valerie going from hero to zero in the blink of an eye.

along with losing all her money, valerie lost her status, popularity, and closest friends. learning that her best friends didn’t care at all about her if she couldn’t afford the latest fashions or the hottest concert tickets was an extremely low blow to her ego. now being treated the way she treated so many people that she once deemed to be beneath her, she had to take a hard look at herself and her actions, humbling herself in the process. there’s still a part of her that believes herself to be a little bit better than most, but she works hard on curbing her ego, trying her best to be kind at others and at the very least give people a chance before she judges them.

extremely angry and bitter about the circumstances in which she lost everything, valerie swore revenge on the ghost that completely ruined her life. while she originally had no idea how she would do that, she woke up one day to a package on her doorstep from an anonymous source, providing her with all the tech and weapons she needed to defeat the ghost. she didn’t give much thought to it, never even stopped to think that she’s potentially being manipulated into doing someone else’s bidding. instead she strapped on the outfit, learned how to use the weapons, and never looked back.

the majority of her teens and early twenties were dedicated to fighting ghosts, spurred on by a blind rage that she was never able to shake. she wanted justice for herself and her father, and defeating ghosts seemed like the only way she could get that catharsis. even as ghost sightings started to die down, valerie never truly gave up, patrolling the streets of chicago for ghosts no matter how exhausting at it got at times. a part of her wanted to live a normal life, but a much bigger part of her found it impossible to do that when she had the knowledge of ghosts that she did.

once she lost her popularity, there were a lot of things valerie was willing to give up. she said goodbye to the newest and most expensive tech, she gave up weekly manicures and trips to the spa, she missed out on concerts and stayed at home sadly listening to cds instead. unable to step into a second hand store without gagging, though, high qualify fashion and the newest designs were something that valerie simply couldn’t part with.

if she couldn’t afford them, she would simply have to make them herself. valerie spent countless hours teaching herself how to sew, until she could make pieces for herself that replicated the newest trends and designs. valerie wasn’t herself if she wasn’t looking cute, and designing her own outfits made her feel cute as hell. after graduating high school she went on to study fashion design with the hope of becoming a well known designer one day.

she was twenty-four when her dad came to her telling her he got a new job doing security on a place called corona island, and while she was old enough to stay behind in chicago, she couldn’t bare the idea of being that far away from her dad. he was her biggest supporter and number one fan, and she couldn’t bare the thought of being that far away from him. she packed up her bags without a thought and moved with him to corona.

valerie looked at corona island as a fresh start, a way to leave ghost hunting behind and shake the pain, anger, and resentment she still harbours for the ghosts that ruined her adolescence. this is supposed to be her chance to focus on her love of fashion and make a name for herself in the industry, but that dream is shattered within weeks of arriving on the island. it doesn’t take long for rumours of people with magic and powers to reach her, and not so long after that she hears the stories of other spooks that have made the island their home. 

twelve years of hunting ghosts under her belt, she sees the supernatural powers on the island as just as much of a threat, and it doesn’t take long before she’s strapping back on her hunting gear and hitting the streets of corona to track down the spooks. years of resentment and hatred for the supernatural has her unable to see the humanity in the people with powers and she spooks, seeing them as a a danger that needs to be defeated. valerie views herself as a hero, protecting the streets of corona from harm. 

for her first few years on the island she laid fairly low, patrolling the streets at night but not causing much harm unless necessary. the disappearances at halloween were what really triggered her into overdrive, a belief that something supernatural was behind it. she’s started actively seeking out supernatural beings now in a desperate attempt to put a stop to them before they cause more damage.

while her main focus is on hunting, she isn’t willing to completely let he dream of becoming a fashion designer slide, and hunting certainly doesn’t pay the bills. after moving to the island she got a job at haus da vil as candice da vil’s personal assistant. the job is insane hours and there’s no denying that her boss is more than a little bit crazy, but she’s determined to do a good job in the hopes that she’ll eventually get the chance to show candice her designs. if she’s not out hunting, there’s a good chance she’s doing something related to her job.

spends big hours in the gym. hunting takes a lot out of you and she puts in a lot of work to make sure she’s in good shape. lowkey buff as hell.

one of the most stubborn people you’ll ever meet. don’t try to convince her to do something she doesn’t want to do or talk her out of something she has her mind set on. she simply will not listen and will do the opposite of what you want in the pettiest way possible.

has very little free time between work and hunting and she’s very picky about what she does and who she spends her time with when she does have a break. she has very high standards an she makes it known whether or not she deems you worthy of her precious free time.

very few people on the island know about her secret. she doesn’t trust people easily and doesn’t want to risk letting people in on the secret and risk that they could blow her cover.

she comes up with increasingly ridiculous excuses as to why she’s regularly in the emergency room with hunting related injuries. she tries to make it seem like she’s extremely clumsy so that people won’t think twice that she’s regularly injured or banged up, but it’s definitely started raising some eyebrows among those closest to her.

very nervous about what superhero-type nickname the island might give her as she starts to become more visible around the island. they called this ghost kid in her home town invisobil which is just about the dumbest thing she’s ever heard in her life. if her nickname is that dumb she will simply jump off a cliff.

incredibly well dressed at all times. you’ll never catch her slipping.

very loud and every opinionated. you’ll hear her coming from a mile away.

she has good intentions and a heart of gold deep down, you just have to dig a little to see it.

WANTED CONNECTIONS