#but there’s only 1 printer and I swear it prints 2 pages

[lesbianstarlightglimmer]

Well today’s been. Great.

[liminsendhelp]

Don't pet the flea cat

Price×f!reader

Tags: slight description of reader (chubby, muscular, strong, denying gender as a concept), possibly slightly sociopathic/autistic reader, profanity, denial of authority, evil scientist on the way to becoming. Johns pov included tags and warns are the same as in the last post, srry, I don't have time to make it more civilized and readable. THEY FINALLY TOUCHED LADIES!!! Enjoy

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5.

The whole day has been going wrong. Right from the start.

You met at five in the morning, as arranged for the days you dig through the database. He was waiting for you in his office, fresh looking, only a little more closed off. You thought to write it off on the early hour. But it certainly wasn't a physical consequence of sleep deprivation.

Emotions, damn it.

John was furious. You didn't say anything to him about it. The normally scowling expression never left your face, the emotionless, chaotically appearing teasing only twice caused him to smirk. But you wanted to shake him, ask him what you'd done wrong. Why he's like this. All the time before working out you could feel that tension. A dark, thick lump of promised fear.

Swallowing your breakfast in almost two bites, you didn't consider your surroundings much. There was something strange in the air. The way the huge room was quiet, full of those normally chatty people. Even Soap only chuckled quietly. Before you left to print out the allowed information, you casually switched to reality, aware of the proximity of the nearby warmth. Your and Price's thighs had been touching all along.

What on the computer had only been a couple dozen pages, images, copies, notes, was turning into an endless mountain of real paper that you were typing in two goes. To keep your head on your shoulders, rather than being ripped off by a secretary who (temporarily, you swear) had a busy printer, you brought a whole stack of paper. You talked, you played spy, getting more and more information out of the little gossip girl. You ate lunch at her place, never letting yourself take more food from her than you could fit in half your palm. She called you a bird and you laughed in agreement, drinking her instant coffee to notfeed your hunger. Not the first time.

As you made your way to your office in the main building that evening, you didn't look round. Moving carefully, only forwards, trying not to drop a pile of printed documents. One of the soldiers held the door for you. Then another one, then again, then another one, but offered help, which you declined. You clenched your jaws. Too many interactions. Fuck away!

Your back was in a terrible state from overexertion you wouldn't let anyone know about, your mood at its very point from lack of sleep and the constant uncomfortable existence with stupid people in the same space. But you still stared sullenly at the dumbest soldier while you held a pile of papers with one hand and opened the office with a magnetic key with the other.

Finally sinking down behind your chair, preparing for another round of proofreading, searching for correlations and missing elements, you let yourself exhale. And think. It was Price, wasn't it? Yesterday, when you told him about the soldiers' behaviour and he reacted so calmly, you gaslight yourself, doing someone else's job. They not even called you a slut in your face and they're animals and you're not special and nothing terrible happened only name calling... And it was expected, wasn't it?

But no, Price clearly went to deal with it. As much as you disliked the whole hierarchy thing, it was hard not to want punishment for those who branded everyone names for one possession of a vagina. You prayed to all the gods that your expectations weren't just a rethinking of the situation into a more palatable direction.

Finally everything was falling into a cycle. You worked with the files already printed out, pulling everything together in an encompassing way for the mind, concentrating on behavioural changes. You stopped by your secretary's office before lunch, giving your energies to small-talk and charming smiles. Your sleep patterns corrected, you smoked less because you didn't have the time anymore. Completely absorbed in your work, focused on your real goal, you didn't notice anything anymore. And a couple of times in a fortnight… Ghost helped with hints.

Ask that soldier, help that soldier, turn round there, yeah, just stand there.

Always managed to pick up a piece of information, form an understanding. The victim was always visible, no matter how well disguised. You made friends with a couple of girls and boys from different departments and backgrounds. Different temperaments, different humour and looks, but you felt that note of vulnerable distrust every time you pushed a little harder on your leadership.

. . .

She had a gaze. Fucked up one.

His first almost-wife had looked at him like that, during their first fight. And the last, to be precise. Pupils small, long angry lashes, always frowning. Ooh, stern.

When she brushed off his question about her name, he wasn't offended in the least. Something familiar about her… there was, no doubt. A piece of a familiar pattern. Potential for a good soldier, human, that was it. There was no criticism or problem in this closed cocoon from which she'd burst into the thick of it. Dry research, ready-made theory. That was why she was so confident in her audacity. John might have wanted to break her, just out of spite. He didn't usually do that, but here the kitten was attacking adult predators, and seriously hoping to win. Thinking she couldn't be seen, sneaking around in the grass with her little paws.

But in a couple of hours of interaction, John saw. Noticed scars here and there, patches of faded fur, and the sharp grin of a smile. She looked like something he'd caught. In training, she'd held up well. A mission, a fulfilment. A soldier with no command.

He could help. Help himself find a therapist.

Sighing once again for the evening, he adjusted his reading glasses. Whiskey in one hand, a small collection of short stories in the other. John read the one book he'd managed to "accidentally" grab from her desk.

Ray bradbury. Lots of circled passages, comments and jokes.

...You're the crowd that's always in the way, using up good air that a dying man's lungs are in need of, using up space he should be using to lie in, alone. Tramping on people to make sure they die, that's you...

In pencil frame and a little note, "should I call a lawyer?"

Other. With some pencil dots and lines on the pages, as if she wanted to but didn't dare leave any words out.

The scythe that gives power....

A family stuck between life and death because the father of the family didn't go to chop the ripe in the field....

A character who sleeplessly accepts his burden.....

...He didn't say good-by to his family. He turned with a slow-feeding anger, found the scythe and walked rapidly, then he began to trot, then he ran with long jolting strides into the field, raving, feeling the hunger in his arms...

The farmer in the field is too busy, even after all these years; too busy slashing and chopping the green wheat instead of the ripe...moves on with his scythe, with the light of blind suns and a look of white fire in his never-sleeping eyes, on and on and on...

He flipped back the page. Where there was only one word, exactly halfway down the circled lines.

...You worked the field all your life because you had to, and one day you came across your own life growin' there. You knew it was yours. You cut it. And you went home, put on your grave clothes, and your heart gave out and you died...

You?

John memorised the page number and put the book back in his desk drawer.

Fuck.

Why couldn't she read something nicer. A children's Bible? No, that was worse. More sins, more circled words. More similarities. And yet, he wanted to finish, wanted to reread everything that had ever graced her attention.

But only those living books that had been marked by her pencil and pen and word. To piece together this puzzle, frank and unmarred by a thick layer of wariness. To let it pass through him, to run his fingers over the traces scattered on the pages. To look in the mirror and see himself years ago. As if everything she'd accused herself of would find the same facet in him.

FUCK.

Angrily setting the empty whiskey glass aside, John walked out and down the stairs.

They'd grown closer over the past fortnight. As close as you could get with a set of human functions. She hadn't relaxed. Not for a second in his presence, not even in the presence of Ghost, who, surprisingly, had become a calming factor for her.

Something was happening. Some weightless bridge of communication. Invisible and solid.

Like when Ghost looked at her, shifted his gaze to someone else for a second and five minutes later she was there.

Like when she didn't turn up for training, showing drafts of already existing research to her Institute's committee. The discussions dragged on, she didn't show up for breakfast, and Ghost looked more sombre than usual.

Just like when she had appeared at lunch that afternoon, angry and barbed. "Those decrepit nerdy fucks have had me since six in the morning." She growls, and Ghost mutters something back about how quickly she's managed to outbite everyone. And the meat is clearly tastier than usual today. And Ghost knows now that scientists are much nicer than recruits. And she grins, just slightly, still wicked.

"You just haven't tasted the babies yet."

And Soap chokes on his tea, Gaz laughs, Ghost looks at her before letting out a deep chuckle. One ha. Not even a ha-ha, but it's something.

And John watches, observes. Marks the lines of communication and the nodes that form new offshoots

John wasn't jealous, there was nothing to be jealous of. Her attention was so entirely on him that she didn't have time to notice the water column diverging in front of her step by step.

It had been two weeks since John had the guys from the newbie group on the playground.

A day's training.

Just what the new recruits dreaded. Not a second of stopping, no food, limited water, total silence. The "24 hours" ended when the fighters started to fall. Sometimes the whole thing lasted for days.

In John's memory, the longest twenty-four hours was a week and a half when someone in his unit made a joke about raping the children of those Nazis who were fighting against them. He was a soldier then, green and unwanted by the leadership.

And the commanders were active and angry.

Steam was blown off on them until the rat came out himself, publicly shamed.

He was dismissed the same day, so that the soldiers did not have time to strangle him for a fortnight of suffering.

It was really horrible. But effective. None of them ever spoke again, even if they didn't want to.

Ghost had already organised something similar on the recruits last year, but they hadn't been smart enough.

John was happy to teach the soldiers to keep quiet. Reputation meant a lot to an organisation. Discipline wasn't just the ability to obey. And, no matter how much she said otherwise, John knew she would have wanted that kind of retribution.

She would find it fair.

The trainers change every three hours, the soldiers are the same. The spaciousness of the gym, the silence and the thick smell of sweat. Eighteen hours of slaughter meat.

The end of the "day."

But. Someone turned out to be more talkative than the others. As the columns of soldiers left the hall, the two idiots whispered something about an old man chasing a dirty cunt and were forced to stay for another two hours. One on one with John.

"You're going to fall and get out of here in a second." "You'll stop and we would start again."

He had no rest that night. After the individual lecture on what respect was, after the picture of tear-wet youthful faces begging forgiveness not from pain but from the realisation of their own failure, he couldn't shake off the rage completely. She had certainly sensed it from the morning, had been over-cautious in her rudeness. But she said nothing, and he began to breathe easier.

John lit a cigarette, there was no energy for cigars. The soldiers on night shift were still avoiding him, afraid of saying the wrong thing. Good for them. Opposite him, smoking dramatically in the shadows of the night, was the wall of the annex occupied by the scientists. The light in her window is on again. The way it had been for two months since her arrival, but had stopped after their meeting. And he thought he'd helped her sleep regime. As if to echo his thoughts, the light goes out, and five minutes later she appears. Sleepy, dark against her white dressing gown, glowing in the light of the night lanterns.

In the silence he can distinctly hear the desperate clicks of the lighter failing to give fire and a quiet "fucking hell" from her harsh mouth. He stands so that the light of the cigarette doesn't show from the shadows. Observes. Her stomping in one place is depressing. Such an open area, only a wall with one door behind, a long run to the corners, direct light. No cover. No hiding.

They were so close, John didn't need to calculate the trajectory he could take to blast her head off with his sniper. But he's unable to realise in time that he's spotted. The dusk makes it impossible to make out all the features of her face, but the swift way she was walking towards him spoke volumes. When John pulls out his lighter, flicking the wheel, emitting only a spark, not a flame, she snorts and slaps his arm. Why?

Her face is close, cigarettes touching at the tips as she holds their cigarettes in her hands to gently light her own. Her careful fingers close to his lips and he inhales the smell of ink and coffee with the smoke.

When her shoulder lightly touches his, her head rests on the hardness of the wall, and the smoke fills her lungs, John notices a certain insufficiency. Unmasked, even more open than usual. But quiet. So not trusting, just tired. That's what makes her stand so close. Obviously nothing more.

"I'm going to rest my head on your shoulder, and then you can pretend I didn't do it." "You're not afraid of groupies anymore?" Why say that? Why? Why? WHY?! Idiot.

She hums and takes a puff, releasing a thin stream of smoke into the night air. "Since you scared them all away?"

So they stand and smoke, sharing little warmth at the thin edges of contact. Her hand presses against his, John noting every muscle movement as she brings the cigarette to her lips and back again.

In the morning, as promised, he pretends nothing happened.

And the soldiers pretend they are numb, blind, and not watching their pair that night.

[yeocult]

ATEEZ as students studying

HONGJOONG:

king of self-care! but studies for 15 minutes then take a 2 hour break and calls it self-care (omg he thinks he’s me or smth)

has power naps every single day at least 30 mins because he’s Stressed

always thinking of ways to drop out during the middle of lectures

that one kid that talks to nobody & sits at the back of the class with his hood on to hide his airpods

doesn’t do it anymore bc one time it disconnected and “there’s some whores in this house” blasted out loud & now he’s paranoid

shows up to group studies but lets the group carry him,,, but he puts out One Really good idea to get his name on the paper

only cares about topics he’s interested in, other than that he’s just astral projecting

“yo can you send me your answers so i can compare mine?” but he copies it and says “we got the same answers” (all men do is lie</3)

calculates his marks; “ok so i need at least a 80 on this...oh wait no, a 95...damn okay...”

the type to arrives late with ice coffee

SEONGHWA:

wakes up at 5 am to study instead of staying up

scented candles and lofi music for the ~studying mood~

a linguistic learner

learns best by teaching others so he’ll do group studies often to help other people

teaches people without making them feel dumb

uses grammarly for his emails with 3 paragraphs asking 1 question with a proper greeting and a ‘sincerely, park seonghwa’

professor: ok - sent from iphone

you’ll never see him during exams week, he’s Gone

a loyal user of the outline method

his desk must be cleared at all times! a clean workspace makes it easier to focus

brings extra pencil just in case anyone needs them bc he’s the sweetest person ever (he’s fully aware that he’ll never get them back but it’s okay bc sharing is caring)

does his readings on time (you’ll never catch him slacking)

actually has his shit together for the most part 1/2

YUNHO:

writes “i love you” or “sorry” at the end of his tests (that he bombed)

the type to ask you to print “just one thing real quick” and it’s 15 page and at 2 am

uses emojis like :D & \(^o^)/ when sending emails to his professors

has a bad habit of copying word for word on the slide and he doesn’t actually understand/learn anything

goes to the library bc he thinks that’ll help him be in the ~studying vibe~

it doesn’t. ends up texting or watching youtube gameplay

has never heard of the colour-coding system in his entire life and ends up with a page filled with neon highlight

snacks breaks are the only thing keeping him Normal

leaves himself an encouraging note at the end of the reading page so when he’s finished he feels good !!

friends with all of the professors and uses all office hours

strongest points are his guessing skills in multiple-choice questions (process of elimination ftw!)

he tries his best, doesn’t care about marks that much because he knows it doesn’t determine him (and he’s right!)

YEOSANG:

probably runs a studyblr/gram

has the cutest note ever, his handwriting is so pretty!!

he thinks that buying an ipad pro & apple pencil will make him smarter

likes it bc he can doodle on it then erase them easily :”)

has to wear blue ray glasses because of how he looks at a screen so much

mildliners, muji 0.38 gel pen, 6 ring binder, minimal planner, washi tapes, you name it! he visits muji and daiso every other week

buys wayyy too many planners and notebooks which he never ends up using

only uses pastel mildliners because they’re easy on the eyes. cringes every time he sees yunho’s highlighters v_v

his flaw is that he spends 10 mins writing his header with brush tip pens

mutes the group project gc but gets his part done like the good classmate he is

sweats every time he gets an assignment back, takes a whole ten minute to mentally prepare himself

a visual learner; makes mind maps, flow charts, etc

actually has a working printer that he uses pretty often to prints lessons before class just to be Extra prepare

tells everyone he slept well but his bullet journal habit tracker for sleep says otherwise (plz rest!!)

exclusively uses college ruled paper like the sane person he is

SAN:

uses wide-ruled paper (unfortunately not everyone is perfect</3)

starts off very positive, motivated, and organized

then everything goes downhill by the second week

will definitely set byeol on top of his keyboard, take a picture, and send it to his professor as an ‘excuse’ as why he needs an extension (it works)

can’t sit still for any longer than 30 mins, his legs are always bouncing or fidgeting with pen

flashcard king! spends a lot of time on them but it’s worth it

a utensil chewer (always willing to share his pencil but when ppl saw the bite marks they’re like No Thanks >_>)

can’t study well with groups or himself bc he’ll be distracted,,, so he needs one person that can ground him bc when they’re in the zone, he will too be on his x game mode

sends his assignment at 11:58 pm hoping his professor will take the Hint (plz don’t be afraid to ask for help u_u)

prefers listening to ghibli studio soundtracks but then he either gets emotional or sleepy

sometimes forget to mute his mic and we just hear him groaning in frustration

“haha sorry i just stubbed my toe...”

then mutes his mic and goes back to his mental breakdown

MINGI:

the only person that studies every single day just to get his brain used to the information and running

probably listens to anime op or edm music for that Energy Boost

everyone either hates or love him because...

1. loves him bc he always comes clutched with study guides (and willing to share if he likes you enough)

2. he’s good at everything even if he’s not paying attention/doing it last minute

just naturally good at retaining information and applying them

asks Big Brain question that even the professors are shook

sometimes he gets super into the topic and wants to know Everything

“i’ve never failed an exam in my life” and he’s right! big brain mingi

fetal flaw is that he forgets easily (hence why the last minute) and has to write on his palm as a reminder

clicks his pens All the time so he switched to pens with caps just to keep others from jumping him

takes naps 10 mins before classes

actually has his shit together for the post part 2/2

“if no one got me, i know khan academy and quizlet got me. can i get an amen”

WOOYOUNG:

y’all know that one mf that doesn’t have a pencil?

yea he’s been using the same one someone lend to him before a test and never returned it

it’s been two months and it’s still working well and they’re never going to get it back

a minimalist,,,, but in a bad way</3 bc he carries his stolen pencil and paper that he spilled his energy drink over and that’s about it

just throw loose papers in his bag and forgets about their existence

doesn’t do binders or notebooks, just crumbled up paper

sometimes carries a textbook just to show everyone that he’s got his life together

really noisy for No reason, always wants to know other’s marks

a kinesthetic learner

hides his screen with he gets the kahoot questions wrong (you’ll never catch him slippin)

plays coolmathgames.com during class

doesn’t really know what to study/prioritize so he overwhelms himself with every single topic ever

thinks he’s god by pulling an all-nighter to look at the 60+ slides last minute

Swears he’ll change and do better next semester,,,</3

goes to the cafe, takes pictures of his notes & laptop, post it on his story, then leaves

JONGHO:

thrives off of red bull and ice americanos

gets notes and study guides from his upperclassmen because everyone loves jongho

an audio learner so he’ll probably work out or go on a jog while listening to lessons/audiobook

never pulls all-nighters bc it messes up his sleep schedule and says he’ll do it in the morning but he never does

doesn’t even own a highlighter, he’ll circle or underline stuff with a red or black pen

has never touched a textbook in his life

only the study guides and slides, his textbook is collecting dust rn

his notes are literally Only for him because his handwriting only makes sense to him

has questionable handwriting,,, it’s like decoding

multitasks a lot but it ends up taking a lot longer than he wanted to (bc it’s a myth)

very spontaneous; he’ll grind for 5 hours straight but sometimes he won’t even touch a pencil

works best when he talks about the work in groups and share information with each other, like having a convo about the topic

unmutes his mic Once after the lesson to say “bye”

does his work right after the lessons but then takes a short break & doesn’t even Look back for the rest of the night

-

a/n: tag yourself ! i’m a bit of hohong (i projected myself on all of them in some way lmaooo)

[lindoig8]

A rest and some exploring

Saturday-Wednesday, 1-5 May

After our stint in the desert, we decided we needed to take it easy for a few days to let Heather (and me) recover completely – and to catch up on a few things we wanted to do.

We had to go to the supermarket and pharmacy one day and whenever we are out, we take the opportunity to stock up on wine because it is quite hard to buy wine in quantity in the Northern Territory. We also needed to arrange the repairs to our caravan so called in at a recommended place and booked it in for the day we leave Alice Springs for Gemtree. That was scheduled for a Sunday so we extended our stay here for an extra day and booked the van in for the Monday. The husband-and-wife team at the workshop were a bit strange – customer relations is definitely not high on their agenda, despite friendliness and pleasant people being mentioned several times in the testimonials on their website – maybe they wrote them themselves. They openly ridiculed us for breaking their cardinal ‘15/25’ rule. They say the roads are so bad around here that nobody should drive with tyre pressures above 15 psi or speeds exceeding 25 kph. Had we complied with their ‘rule’ I suspect we would still be on the road to Alice Springs and would have missed our camel trek entirely. Despite them verging on the offensive, we are told they do good work and do it quickly, so we made our booking and are certainly hoping that the advice is correct.

We also bought a few bolts (so we had some spares) in order to restore our towball and trailer hitch to its correct state. We had lost one of the two bolts holding it in place on our way here and the hitch was hanging at 45 degrees instead of horizontal as it should be. It was quite a ticklish job, but I eventually repositioned everything and inserted new bolts, but tightening them sufficiently was another challenge. In the end, I had Heather holding one wrench to stop the bolt turning while I swung on another one turning the nut until I thought it was tight enough. We will know once we reconnect the caravan and do a few clicks (at 25 kph???) on the rough roads out here.

Thursday, 6 May

Having rested up a bit and caught up (a little bit) with our blogging and email, etc., we had a day out in the West MacDonnells. We called in to Simpson’s Gap for a start. We have been there before, but there were many fewer people there this time and we enjoyed wandering around looking at birds and plants, and we even found some rock wallabies. It is a dramatic cleft in the mountain range and has a wonderful stream and small lake – effectively preventing us from walking through to the other side. The rocks are simply amazing, rugged and beautifully coloured – my photos don’t even hint at how majestic it is.

We called in at Standley’s Chasm next: expensive and so crowded that many of the visitors’ vehicles rimmed the road well outside the huge parking area. It was even worse than last time we visited – and we chose not to stay last time. The same this time! Although people say it is wonderful, we are not into lining up and paying to fight with the hordes that jostle along a path in the hope of seeing something more special that the free, peaceful wonders in the wilderness outside the gates. We just did a quick loop around the carpark to the exit and kept driving.

We drove a short way off the road to eat our lunch and we were surrounded by hundreds of budgies, maybe thousands. They were everywhere – far more than we have seen on other trips – but they are too small and too flighty to get a decent photo of them.

We went on to Hermannsburg but just drove around for a few minutes and out again. We have booked a tour for next Wednesday that will take us back there – and we have seen the area around the mission a couple of times before. The aboriginal settlement looked a lot bigger than I recall but nothing looked new so maybe it is my memory that is fading rather than the settlement growing.

Perhaps the most spectacular thing we saw on the day was Gosses Bluff.

I don’t recall much about it from our previous visit, but it is fantastic. There was one couple having lunch when we arrived, but they left soon after and we had the entire place to ourselves. It is the remains of a massive crater created millions of years ago when an asteroid/meteorite (or comet) a kilometre across crashed into the area with a force greater than a million Hiroshimas. (I have since read that it was a comet rather than a meteorite - that is one big iceblock! - as big as many of the icebergs we saw in the Arctic and Antarctic. And how much bigger it would have been if such a lot of it hadn't melted and evaporated as it tore through our atmosphere.) It created a crater more than 20 kilometres across, but that has now completely eroded. What is left is just the central blip that formed in the same way that a droplet forms when you drop a stone into a pond – a mere 5 kilometres across. It is a circle of hills with some smaller hills inside, but you drive a few kilometres between more hills on the way into the residual crater. I will post some photos as well as two videos I took from the top of one of the hills – yes, I climbed to the very top. Each video covers about 180 degrees, but I couldn’t get into position to make a 360-degree sweep. I will also post another photo taken from a lookout about 10 clicks away that shows what is left of this gargantuan asteroidal phenomenon. We walked around a longish loop path meandering around the base of one corner of the crater and back to the carpark. It really was spectacular.

We called in very briefly at a few other places along the road, but it was getting late and it was after dark when we arrived back at the caravan at about 7.30.

Friday, 7 May

We spent almost all day in the caravan. I had decided to attempt to claim some of the cost of our abbreviated camel trek against our travel insurance and spent virtually the entire day on the claim form. Obviously, insurers go out of their way to make it as cumbersome and difficult for anyone to lodge a claim and NIB is no exception. They would not accept a long email I wrote containing all the relevant details and said I had to fill in their 11-page claim form – helpfully attached. But it is in pdf format and can’t be completed without printing it – and we don’t travel with our printer. More emails back and forth to discover that there is an online claim form that they hadn't told me about. Alas, after spending an hour or two online, frequently having to find 2-year-old emails for irrelevant details, I reached a point where I had to specify what our actual loss was. The only choice you get is to start by detailing the airline you flew with and a raft of information about that – and until you complete that, remembering that we didn’t fly anywhere, you can’t get any further with your claim. More emails to be told that I had no choice but to complete the hardcopy form. I eventually paid the caravan park to print the form for us and more hours went into handwriting all the information in my original email to them – all 11 pages of it! And despite the incident or our claim having absolutely nothing to do with our normal GP (or any other GP for that matter), it is obligatory to have him complete another page and a half of details covering (inter alia) decades of Heather’s medical history. Fortunately, we have a great GP and he agreed to do it so I bundled everything up and posted it to him with a stamped/addressed envelope for him to submit the claim when completed. There was yet another raft of (entirely irrelevant) stuff they require to ‘substantiate’ the claim, but fortunately, I had all of that in electronic form so I have compiled that into a document and will send it all off to the insurer to attach to the claim when Justin posts it to them. That was virtually a full day’s work – and I have zero expectation of seeing a cent as a result. Not that I think all insurers are dishonest rogues, but I am sure they are!!!

We did sneak out of the van for a few minutes to check out the restaurant in the brewery next door to the caravan park – and booked for dinner on Sunday: Mother’s Day and my birthday. We also booked for lunch at a the Ooraminna station in the East MacDonnells for Sunday lunch when we were in the office arranging to have the claim form printed. We love the eastern ranges and there is a lot we want to see out there again – perhaps some of it from Gemtree in a couple of weeks’ time.

While I was swearing at our travel insurer, Heather did some washing and cleaning as well as sorting photos and posting to Facebook and her blog. We seem to fill in every minute even when we are supposed to be resting and recovering from our adventures – or planning and arranging more.

[manjimelody]

Stress Relief

Pairing: Shicca (College AU)  **This is written for my amazing friend @mautrino! Thanks for always being awesome! Hope you like it! 

Rebecca sighed as she took a sip of her third cup of coffee. She was extremely tired, but she knew she had to push through and finish her paper. She mentally berated herself for procrastinating on this paper. If she had started the paper earlier, she could have been curled up in her soft and warm bed with her boyfriend instead. However, she got distracted by the release of the new Pokemon games and opted to spend her evenings playing it instead of working on her paper.  

“I can do this. Only two more pages and then I can go to sleep,” she assured herself. 

The sound of the bedroom door opening caused her to turn around and get a glorious view of her shirtless boyfriend sleepily rubbing his eyes.  

“Hey you,” she greeted as he walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her neck. 

“Bec, come to bed. It’s 1 AM and I need your warmth,” Shiki whined, resting his cheek on the top of her head. 

Rebecca giggled at her boyfriend’s cute actions, affectionately patting his arm. “I just have 2 more pages left in this paper, and then I’ll come to bed.”

“You got this. I’m going back to sleep but wake me up if you need anything,” Shiki kissed the top of her head and soothingly rubbed her back. 

Rebecca smiled. He was too sweet. “I will. I love you!” 

Shiki winked and blew her a kiss, which Rebecca pretended to catch. “I love you too, baby girl.”  

Rebecca turned back to her laptop, determined to finish her paper quickly. She furiously typed away while she listened to calming music in order to concentrate better. After a half an hour passed, she was finally finished. The blonde sighed in relief as she scanned through her paper to catch any grammar or spelling errors. After she was sure she fixed any mistakes, Rebecca hit print and stood up to stretch her limbs. She decided that she would grab her assignment in the morning since she was eager to finally go to sleep. 

After putting away her empty coffee cup in the sink, Rebecca quickly threw on her pajamas and hopped into bed. 

“Goodnight, darling,” Rebecca whispered, placing a chaste kiss on her beloved boyfriend’s soft lips. 

Shiki hummed and sleepily opened his eyes. He grinned and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head in the crook of her neck. “Goodnight, baby girl.”  

Rebecca closed her eyes, basking in her boyfriend’s warmth as she gave in to the wave of sleep that hit her body. 

*** 

The blonde groaned as she felt a hand tap her cheek, swatting at it with her own hand. “Let me sleep..a little bit longer.” 

“Bec, wake up. It’s almost 10:30.” 

Rebecca immediately shot up, glancing at the clock in panic. He was right. It was 10:27 and her lecture started at 11. 

“Oh no. Shit, shit, shit,” she smacked her hand against her forehead, realizing that she forgot to turn on her alarm before going to sleep.  “I can’t be late. I need to turn in my paper.” 

“Don’t worry. Just get ready and I’ll drop you off. I’ll make sure you reach on time,” Shiki assured, causing Rebecca to smile and give him a quick kiss. Shiki didn’t have a class on this day, so she would normally drive herself while he slept in. However, it takes a while to find parking so Shiki dropping her off would save her a lot of time.

“I’m glad that I can always count on you!” 

Rebecca hopped out of bed and quickly grabbed the first outfit she saw in her closet before running to the bathroom. She changed her clothes, threw her wavy locks into a ponytail, and washed her face. 

“Okay I’m ready,” Rebecca said as she grabbed her school bag. Shiki grabbed the car keys, and the two of them rushed out of their apartment. 

“Did you get everything?” Shiki asked as they entered the car. 

“Yeah,” Rebecca responded. She normally kept her bag ready the night before, so she wouldn’t have to worry about it in the morning. Luckily, the two of them lived 15 minutes from campus so she could possibly make it to class on time. She was snapped out of her thoughts when a loud growl emitted from her stomach, causing Rebecca to blush as Shiki chuckled.   

“My poor girl. Didn’t get to eat 20 bowls of cereal since she overslept,” Shiki teased, causing Rebecca to playfully smack his arm.  

“Shush. I don’t eat 20 bowls of cereal,” she scoffed, rolling her eyes. 

“My bad. My poor girl didn’t get to eat 10 bowls of cereal,” Shiki corrected himself, laughing when Rebecca pouted in response.

“Hey! Food is delicious. Don’t make fun for me for eating a lot. I need to grow,” Rebecca defended herself. 

Shiki smirked. “The only thing that’s growing is your chest.” 

Rebecca crossed her arms. “Not my fault that I’m short.” 

“It’s fine. You’re perfect the way you are,” Shiki’s tone softened, causing her heart to skip a beat. His sweet words never failed to make her swoon. 

After a few minutes, they reached the campus. Shiki stopped the car in front of the building her class was in. It was currently 10:57 AM, so she could make it on time if she walked fast.  

“Thank you so much, Shiki. You’re my savior,” Rebecca gave him a quick hug and got out of the car. 

“Anytime Bec, have a good day! I’ll pick you up 4.” 

“You too!” 

Rebecca rushed down the hallway, sighing in relief when she finally reached the lecture hall. Thankfully the professor was busy talking to a student indicating that class did not start yet. Rebecca sat in an empty seat, and opened her bag to take out her stuff. 

“Alright class. It’s time to turn in your papers. Place them on the table in an organized pile,” the professor announced. Rebecca could hear the scraping of chairs around her as the students got up to turn in their paper while she dug through her bag for her paper. She started to grow frustrated when she couldn’t find it, then she realized that she forgot to grab her paper from the printer. 

“Oh shit,” she whispered. Rebecca wanted to scream. How could she have forgotten to grab her paper? It was the reason why she was rushing in the first place, and she didn’t even have it. She was screwed. The professor told them that she wasn’t going to accept the papers late unless there was an emergency. She forgot to grab her laptop too, so she couldn’t even show the professor the paper on her laptop to prove that she completed it. Rebecca got up from her seat and walked to the professor, praying that she would let her turn it in late. She couldn’t get a zero on it. The paper was worth 40% of their final grade. 

“Professor,” Rebecca called out, causing the green haired woman to turn to face her. “I know you said that you weren’t going to accept the papers late, but I swear that I finished it. I just forgot to grab it from the printer. I’m so sorry, but can I please email it to you or turn it tomorrow?” 

“I believe you Rebecca. You always turn in your work on time, so I will make an exception for you this time,” the professor said, causing Rebecca to smile in relief. “However, you’re still turning it in late. I’m going to have to doc 10 marks from the grade you get.” 

Rebecca’s smile dropped. Ten marks was a whole letter grade. However, she was thankful that at least she wouldn’t be getting a zero.  

“Thank you so much. I’ll make sure this won’t happen again,” Rebecca promised causing her professor to smile. 

“Just make sure to email it to me before 8:00. I don’t check my email after that time,” the professor explained. 

Rebecca nodded. “Yes I will.” 

She returned to her seat, burying her face in her hands. The highest grade she could get was a B now. Rebecca was hoping she could score an A, but that chance was gone now. She would have to do well on the final to get an A in the class. 

“At least I’m not getting a zero,” she repeated to herself. 

After class was over, she had an hour before her next class. Rebecca decided to head to a dining hall to buy herself lunch. She hadn’t eaten anything all day. She joined the line in the dining hall and opened the small front pocket of her backpack to take out her wallet. However, it was empty. Rebecca quickly shuffled through the contents of her bag only to see that she forgot her wallet too. She felt like crying. She was so hungry and she couldn’t even buy herself lunch. 

“Today is just not my day,” she lamented to herself as she left the line. Rebecca walked around campus hoping to find someone possibly giving out free food. Fortunately, one of the clubs had a table set up in the student center to advertise their club. They were giving out a bag of free popcorn to anyone who listened to why they should join their club. Rebecca listened to the club president explain the benefits of joining, feigning interest in what he was telling her. She didn’t give a damn about joining. She was just desperate to get some food. 

Rebecca munched on the popcorn as she walked to her next class. It wasn’t much, but at least she was getting some food in her stomach before she went home. 

*** 

After her other class was over, Rebecca waited outside the building for Shiki to pick her up. She was looking forward to getting home and spending some time with her boyfriend. Rebecca smiled and waved as she saw Shiki’s car approach her. 

“Hi darling,” Rebecca greeted as she entered the car.  

“Hey beautiful, are you okay?” Shiki asked, voice laced with concern. 

“Yeah I’m fine,” Rebecca lied. She didn’t want to worry him. She was just glad that she was with him now. 

Shiki didn’t look convinced. “Okay..if you say so?”  

During the ride home, Rebecca listened to Shiki excitedly tell her how he beat Weisz in 10 of the 15 races they played together in Mario Kart. His enthusiasm made her feel a little better after having such a rough day. She loved that he was such an upbeat and positive guy. 

When they reached home, Rebecca immediately opened her laptop to email her paper to her professor. Her professor was nice enough to let her turn in her paper in late, so she couldn’t risk possibly forgetting to send it.  

“Rebecca, are you sure that you’re okay?” Shiki asked again. 

Rebecca closed her laptop and smiled. “Yes I’m sure. I’m going to make dinner now. What do you want to eat?”  

Shiki frowned. Rebecca knew that he didn’t believe her. He could always tell when something was off. Shiki walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her into a tight hug, causing tears to start pooling in her eyes. “You know that you can tell me anything. I’m here for you.” 

“I-I’m so frustrated. Today was such a bad day. I overslept. I forgot my paper and wallet at home. Thankfully my professor let me turn it in late, but I’m still losing marks for turning it in late. I couldn’t even eat lunch. Had to settle for a bag of free popcorn. The whole universe was against me today,” Rebecca cried out while Shiki rubbed her back. 

“Let it all out, Bec,” Shiki consoled as she continued to sob into his chest. “You’re an amazing person, baby girl. I love you so much. I don’t know what I would do without you. You deserve to be happy and it breaks my heart to see you in so much pain. Fuck the universe if it’s going to treat you so badly.” 

Shiki’s words warmed her heart. She felt so lucky that such a wonderful guy loved her so much. “Thank you, Shiki. It feels so good to vent. I love you more.”  

Shiki cupped her face in his hands and wiped away the lingering tears before passionately kissing her. Rebecca wished she could kiss him for hours, but unfortunately the need for air was an obstacle. Shiki rested his forehead against hers after they broke apart. “I love you most.” 

Rebecca flashed a cheeky grin. “I love you mostest.” 

Shiki laughed. “I love you mostestestest!” 

“That’s not a word, silly!” Rebecca giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck. “So what do you want for dinner?”

Shiki poked her nose. “You aren’t cooking anything. We’re going to order two large pizzas, and you’re going to cuddle with me while we watch a movie together.” 

“Sounds good to me!” 

Shiki ordered the pizza while Rebecca grabbed a blanket from their bedroom. Shiki laid down on the couch and gestured for her to lay on top of him. Rebecca rested her head on his chest, pulling the blanket over them before wrapping her arm around his waist. 

“I love you. You’re my everything, Shiki.” 

“I love you too. You’re also my everything, Rebecca. Forever.”

[breeeliss]

[Miraculous Ladybug]: It’s All Hype!

no lie y’all i had originally planned for this to be a super serious story and then something happened and it became the exact opposite of that. weird how that happens >.>

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[Day 1: Patience] [Day 3: Explosive]

Link to Archive of Our Own: [AO3]

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Title: It’s All Hype! Pairings: Ladynoir (Ladybug x Chat Noir), Adrienette (Adrien x Marinette) Summary: Alya accidentally gets the Internet in a frenzy after announcing that Ladybug and Chat Noir are dating, but the two heroes are adamant about correcting the error and making sure the world knows that they’re just friends. So Alya proposes a staged public break up to set everything right.

In hindsight, she really underestimated how utterly freaking difficult that would be.

Day 2: Banter

“Geez, when you said you were familiar with Mecha Strike you didn’t tell me that you were a beast at it!”

Ladybug poked her tongue out of the corner of her mouth as she leaned into her remote and punched out a very quick combo move that sent Chat’s avatar sprawling on its back. “You’re not using any of your fighter’s combo moves. You have all that XP building up and you’re not even using it.”

“Because I’m waiting for the magic defense booster,” Chat Noir explained, managing to get a couple of really good hits in. “I just need like five hundred more. I just got finished buying a second blaster.”

“You do realize that there’s a booster you can add to your mech to make it so that every hit you make gives you double the XP, right? You’re better off saving up for that.”

“Wait, really? ”

“Yeah, trust me it helps.”

“How the hell did I not know about that?”

Alya was sitting on the floor by their feet, furiously typing something on her laptop. “You know, when I invited you both into my home, it was not so you could commandeer my gaming consoles.”

“Uh, you said we could hang out until you finished coming up with a plan to break us up,” Chat Noir said. “Video games count.”

“You’re both thrashing my high scores!” Alya complained when she looked up from her screen for a brief moment to see the fight occurring in front of her. “You’ve only been playing for an hour!”

“Sounding a little salty there, Alya,” Ladybug smirked.

“Heavy amounts of sodium,” Chat Noir agreed. “Are you almost done by the way? When are you going to tell us what the plan is?”

“Don’t you worry about that,” Alya said, quickly proofreading her document. “You’ll know when it’s time for you to know.”

Chat Noir tried to lean down and take a peek at Alya’s computer screen to see what she was writing, but Ladybug took his brief distraction as an opportunity to pull out a power up she’d been saving for the entire fight and finally reduce Chat Noir’s HP to zero. She dropped her remote on the couch, stood up on her knees, and cheered. “What up! Best 2 out of 3! Suck it!”

“That’s cheating!!” Chat Noir cried out, mashing down on the buttons of his controller as if it was going to change the victory stats screen that had popped up, signaling the end of the fight. “I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Ah, don’t feel too bad,” Ladybug smirked. “Not even my boyfriend has been able to beat me. Consider this a privilege.”

“God you’re like my girlfriend,” Chat Noir complained, scooching over to the corner of the couch to mope with his arms crossed. “She’s ridiculously good at this game and I’ve only ever beat her like twice.”

Ladybug snorted. “Sounds like the two of us would get along just fine.”

Alya hit print on the document and walked over to the other side of the living room to wait for her mother’s printer to spit out all the pages. “You know, I gotta ask. When the heck did this whole thing happen for the two of you? Aren’t there like rules about dating when you’re a superhero or something? They literally make entire arcs of angst around this in comic books.”

“I mean if they don’t know who we are, it’s not really dangerous,” Ladybug shrugged. “We’re both dating our partners as civilians so it’s just like keeping a really huge secret.”

Alya stapled together two packets of papers. “Who’s the lucky guy and gal?”

Chat Noir lifted a finger to his lips and winked. “That’s a secret. But I think we’re both dating our classmates, right?”

“Mmhm,” Ladybug nodded. “He sits one row in front of me.”

“And she sits in the seat directly behind mine.”

“That is so storybook I almost wouldn’t believe either of you if I didn’t have two friends in my class who are also dating.” Alya stared off into space and frowned. “Maybe I have to start dating the people that sit near me in class too. I feel like I’m missing out on a trend.”

Ladybug chuckled. “I thought we were here to talk about break ups not hook ups.”

“Alright, alright, fine. You guys give me your romantic juju advice after this is over.” She handed over the two packets that she’d just printed out. “Here are your scripts, children!”

Chat Noir’s face fell. “Scripts?”

“That is correct,” Alya said proudly. “Here’s what I’m thinking. Very painless and easy for the two of you to handle. We’ll pretend I grabbed you two for an interview, boilerplate questions, nothing you guys haven’t dealt with before. Then, right in the middle of the interview, I’ll ask you a lighthearted question like, ‘oh who do you think would win in a fight between the two of you?’ And Chat Noir is going to say that it’s him.”

“That’s literally the stupidest thing you could ever make me say!” Chat Noir gaped. “We’re evenly matched on a good day. She could kick my ass like right now.”

Ladybug nodded sagely. “When he’s right, he’s right.”

“Not the point! Point is, Ladybug is going to hear that and get really offended. You guys are going to get into this huge fight on camera, totally overpower the interview, and towards the end Ladybug will storm off angry and Chat Noir will leave the frame and go after her, and then we’re a wrap. Everyone will think you had this huge lover’s spat and then a couple of days later we announce your break up. Simple.”

“Simple?” Ladybug frowned. “How in the heck do you want us to pull this off? On camera no less?”

“Um, that’s why you have scripts. Was that not obvious before? All your lines are in red. Just read off the script.”

“You’re making this sound like this is just ridiculously easy.”

Chat Noir smirked. “Having some stage fright, my Lady?”

“No!” Ladybug said defensively. “Look, this is a great idea, but how do you know we’re going to pull this off? The two of us don’t ever really fight. I don’t know how convincing we’re going to be.”

“I think you two will do just fine, actually,” Alya said. “You two banter literally every other minute. And an argument is just a really mean form of banter.”

Chat Noir raised a brow. “Something about that doesn’t sound right.”

“Oh my God , you guys are so picky!” Alya groaned. “Just read the friggin’ script! It’s all right there for you.”

“Wait, wait!” Chat Noir raised his hand in the air. “I have a question!”

“Why are you raising your hand?” Alya sighed.

“Because that’s what you do when you want to speak?”

“We’re not in school! There’s only three of us, just talk!”

“I want to be respectful of the space and ask your permission first. You’re the publicist in the room.”

Alya scrubbed a hand down her face. “For the love of — fine, yes Chat. What’s your question?”

“Are we allowed to run lines first? Before we do a first take?”

Alya frowned. “Would a read through help make this more convincing?”

“Indeed it would!” he smiled.

“Fine.” Alya reached over to Ladybug’s script and flipped four pages. “Just start like right here. It’s right when your fight breaks out so that’s probably the bit you’re gonna really wanna get right. We’ll run through it a couple of times and then we’re filming it. Okay?”

Chat Noir cleared his throat and smoothed down his hair. “Very ready. Ladybug?”

Ladybug bit down on her lip and worriedly scanned her eyes over the script. “Uh….gimme a second. I’m still memorizing.”

“You don’t have to memorize it. Just look down in your lap if you need to read the line. It won’t look that weird, I promise,” Alya said.

“No, no, you don’t understand. I sound horrible when I try to read off scripts. I’m not an actress.”

“That’s why we’re going to practice,” Chat Noir soothed, pointing to her own paper. “Don’t overthink it, I’m sure you’re not as bad as you think.”

Alya dragged a chair over and sat in front of the two of them who were settled on the couch. “Okay, let’s just try to get this over with.” She cleared her throat and put on her interview voice. “So, I know everyone’s dying to know the answer to this: if you two ever got into a fight, who would win?”

Ladybug sighed and looked down at her script. “Haha. Wow. That’s a really difficult question. We might have to think on that for a while.”

Chat Noir paused, blinked, and slowly turned towards Ladybug with his brow lifted high. “....holy crap, you weren’t kidding, you suck at this.”

“What?” Ladybug said petulantly.

“You sound like a robot,” Chat Noir laughed. “Oh my God, you really can’t act!”

“I don’t sound natural when I read!”

“I mean, I know, but gosh you certainly weren’t exaggerating. What do you do during drama class?”

“Oh shut up!”

“Hush, hush, just….” Chat Noir closed his eyes and inhaled deeply through his nose. “Just let me savor this moment. This is a big deal.”

“I’m going to kick you.”

“What? I think it’s cute!”

Alya leaned her head over the back of the chair she was sitting in and groaned into the ceiling. “The two of you can manage to save the city from certain destruction during your lunch pauses but you guys can’t read a simple script.”

“Come on, Alya. We should try and be sensitive to Ladybug’s handicaps.”

Ladybug glared at him. “I’m cancelling you.”

“Aw, come on,” Chat Noir laughed, reaching over to hug Ladybug. “I’m just teasing.”

“Alright, can you just memorize them really quick? It’s super easy I promise. God, I swear, you’re exactly like my best friend. Can’t read off of paper to save her life.”

Ladybug puffed out her cheeks and read through her lines a few times. “Yeah, I think I’ve got it.”

“Alright,” Alya nodded. “And remember. This is supposed to sound like you guys are arguing alright? Make it angry and make it seem like a real break up. Same question: who do you think would win in a fight?”

Ladybug sighed and turned to Alya as she gave a more convincing laugh. “Wow, that’s a really difficult question. We might have to think on this for a while….”

“No need,” Chat Noir shrugged. “It’s obviously me.”

Ladybug turned to him and narrowed her eyes. “Excuse me?”

The expression on her face must have been too comical for Chat Noir to keep it together because he started laughing instead of sounding cocky. “You heard me. I think I’d totally win.”

“On what grounds?” Ladybug countered. “Do you want to sit through and count all the times that I went and saved your butt during missions and still saved the day?”

Chat Noir smirked and cradled his chin in his hand. “That doesn’t count, my Lady. All those times you saved me was because I was busy keeping the akuma away from you so that you could do your thing. A one-on-one between the two of us? Please, I’ve got that cornered.”

Ladybug scoffed, but kept an amused smile on her face. “Oh give me a break, I have way more range than you do. I could knock you off your feet from ten meters away.”

“I’m a way better close range fighter than you are and you know it!” Chat Noir countered. “If you ever wound up directly in front of me you would totally be outmatched. Admit it. I would demolish you.”

“That would never happen because I would never let you get that close.”

Alya nodded along as they kept up the scene, deciding that they weren’t doing too badly and that it wouldn’t be very difficult for this to look convincing enough to do the job. But then Chat Noir stopped looking down at his script and crossed a knee over his leg, waggling his eyebrows at Ladybug and trying not to laugh into his palm. “ Never? That’s a shame. The view is quite lovely up close.”

Ladybug crossed her arms and smiled. “This isn’t time for your silly little attempts at flirting, you know. You’re just overcompensating because you’re all talk and no action.”

“No action? Slander, my Lady,” Chat Noir replied. “If there’s one thing I know about myself, it’s that when I say something, I absolutely and thoroughly mean it. You are wonderful, Ladybug. The fact that I’m openly acknowledging your shortcomings means that I’m not bluffing about all the ways I’m just better than you.”

Ladybug laughed, the offended expression she was trying to hold up completely cracking underneath the humor of the conversation. “Don’t delude yourself, kitty, you and I both know that I’m the hardass of the group. Give me five minutes alone with you and I’ll wreck you.”

“Five minutes alone you say?” Chat Noir said, leaning in closer. “That sounds a little scandalous. You’re going to make all the women in Paris clutch their pearls.”

“If it’s a pearl-clutching scandal you want, I’d be happy to beat you on live television for the whole world to see. Maybe it’ll fix that little ego of yours.”

Alya furrowed her brows, opened up her laptop, and scrolled through the script she still had up on the screen. She looked back up at the heroes who were still speaking and blinked in confusion. They were totally going off script.

“Oh I’m the one with the ego?” Chat Noir gasped. “Look at you over here. Like you don’t run around thinking that you’re the most show-stopping person in the room.”

Ladybug batted her lashes. “Well, I’m obviously not going to deny that. It’s not called having an ego when every positive thing I say about myself is objectively true.”

Chat Noir grinned as he but down on the claw to his thumb. “You really want to fight don’t you?””

“You severely underestimate how satisfying it’ll be to see you lose so that you can prove me right,” Ladybug said. “So yes. I do really want to fight.”

“Hey, whatever the Lady wants the Lady gets,” Chat Noir said. “I suppose the only thing to figure out now is when and where?”

Alya slammed her laptop shut and lifted her arms up into the shape of an ‘x’. “Okay. Cut. Timeout. Whatever. Just stop.”

Chat Noir immediately straightened up and looked at Alya innocently. “Sorry. Was that not convincing enough?”

“Oh it was convincing alright,” Alya frowned, “just not in the way we needed it to be. What the hell was that just now?”

Ladybug suddenly looked extremely puzzled as she shifted in her seat. “Um….we were having an argument?”

“That wasn’t an argument, you dummies.”

“Yeah it was,” Chat Noir insisted. “I mean sure, maybe we went off script for a little bit but we had a disagreement just like you wanted us to.”

Alya looked between the two heroes in disbelief. “Do I have to spell this out for you? Are you guys really that oblivious?”

“Was it my acting?” Ladybug groaned. “Look, I’m sorry, I’m doing my best here, but I’m telling you this honestly isn’t what I do best with.”

“Actually, you were a little too convincing which is exactly my problem,” Alya explained. “Whatever the hell that was, it wasn’t a break up argument. That was straight up banter.”

“Banter?” they both repeated.

“Yeah,” Alya said, confused as to why she was the only one who had picked up on the obvious. “Banter. You know, the friendly and borderline flirty kind that got fans shipping the two of you in the first place? You guys were doing fine and then all of a sudden you just switched into that thing . Whatever it was I just saw! No! Bad! Not gonna work! You guys can’t make this look like you’re having fun.”

“I didn’t even realize we were doing it!” Ladybug defended. “It just kinda comes out. Right Chat?”

He nodded in agreement. “Yeah exactly. That’s just our thing and it’s super easy for us to slip into. We didn’t think it was that obvious.”

“Having an eighteen-wheeler barreling through my apartment and running me over would still be more subtle than whatever the two of you just did,” Alya deadpanned.

“Wait, we were supposed to be subtle?” Chat Noir asked. “I thought we were supposed to be really selling this?”

Alya lifted both of her hands. “Alright! Listen! Never mind. Let’s just start this over again. For the sake of simplicity and for my own sanity, let’s not turn this into a Hollywood audition. Just stick to the script. If you stick to the script you can’t go wrong. Are we all agreed?”

Chat Noir and Ladybug both gave Alya a thumbs up as they flipped back through their scripts to start the reading all over again. Alya was this close to developing a spontaneous migraine but hopefully this wouldn’t take up her entire afternoon. One minute you were idolizing your favorite superheroes as demigods who exceeded all of your wildest expectations and the next minute you’re trying to coach the two fools through a simple break up script. Never a dull day. “One last time. Start from ‘that would never happen because I would never let you get that close,’ and for the love of all that is good and holy in the world, don’t stray from the script.”

Ladybug straightened her back, dropped her shoulders, and swallowed before she spoke her line. “That would never happen because I would never let you get that close.”

Chat Noir read of his script with a smirk on his face. “Never let me get that close? We’re dating, aren’t we? The whole point is for us to get close. Are you scared of getting close to me or something?”

Ladybug rolled her eyes sarcastically. “Why do you always have to bring that up? You’re always acting like I don’t want to be close to you.”

“It’s not that I don’t think you want to be close to me, I just think you’re scared,” Chat Noir replied.

Ladybug allowed herself a sly grin. “I’m Ladybug. I’m not scared of anything. And for you to suggest anything other than that is frankly just a little insulting.”

“Oh, now I’m being insulting?” Chat Noir chuckled, his voice sounding smooth and amused rather than being riddled with anger and frustration. “That’s tall words coming from someone who is bathed in my compliments every day. I’m starting to think you don’t appreciate me.”

Ladybug pouted and tapped him under the chin. “Oh, what? You want a pat on the head for being such a gentleman? That’s cocky of you.”

“I’m not saying that. I’m just saying that maybe — just maybe — you can learn to give me a little bit of credit.” He ended the sentence with a wink that dissolved Ladybug into a fit of giggles.

Alya gaped at the two of them and didn’t manage to get a single word out until they noticed the strange choking noises that were coming from her. She opened her mouth, closed it, and laid a palm across her forehead. “How in the holy freakin’ crap do you two even do that!?”

“Do what?” Ladybug asked, finally sounded exasperated. “We read through the script exactly word for word.”

“You guys don’t realize how you sound,” Alya muttered in shock. “You literally don’t even realize it. You turned my angry script into more banter! How is this happening? I can’t get you guys to fake one single argument!”

“Oh come on,” Chat Noir tried to defend as he pointed to Ladybug. “Look at her. Can you in good conscience argue and yell at that face? It’s like yelling at a puppy. You try to do it and then you totally chicken out because you realize they don’t deserve it.”

Ladybug beamed. “Aw, Chat!”

“Oh will you two stop it with your disgustingly cute friendship? I’m trying to ruin your relationship here!”

“Sorry, sorry,” Ladybug said. “We’ll get it right the next time, I promise.”

Alya started rubbing her temples. “Can we at least act out the last page of the script so that I’ll be convinced that you guys can actually pull this off?”

Chat Noir flipped to the last page and stared at his line. “All it says here is ‘Chat says something really insulting and makes Ladybug storm off.’”

“I got lazy at that point, I’m not a screenwriter,” Alya complained, already feeling the frustration of the past hour getting to her. “I figured you could ad lib something there to finish off the whole thing, but now I’m realizing that was probably giving you two too much credit.”

“Well hold on, I think I could probably pull that off. Give me a second.” Chat Noir smacked his cheeks a little bit, turned to Ladybug, and tried to put on a stern expression that would likely preface a truly cruel and cutting line. “Ladybug. I just have one last thing to say to you?”

Ladybug’s eyes grew wide as she leaned back on her seat. “What’s that?”

“That all of this tox- hiss -ity in our relationship is paw -sitively claw -ful.”

Ladybug stared at Chat Noir with a blank expression for a solid ten seconds before she threw her script over her shoulder, let it fall behind the couch, and got up from her seat to go to the kitchen. “I’m done.”

“Yes!” Chat Noir cheered, pumping both fists in the air. “Three puns in a single sentence. And I improvised that! Tell me I’m not totally amazing, I dare you!”

Alya carefully set her laptop down on the floor, covered her face with both hands, and followed Ladybug into the kitchen so that she could make herself some tea and maybe keep herself from banging her head repeatedly against the wall. She had to give the two of them some major props. This went South ten times quicker than she thought it would. You sort of had to stop and admire dumpster fires that started that quickly no matter how much of a wreck they were.

Oh well. Time for Plan B.

[kierongillen]

Writer Notes: The Wicked + the Divine 25

Spoilers, obv.

Let's just dive in, eh?

Jamie's Cover

One of the interesting things about comics is the solicitation process. As such, a sub-section of the fandom will be aware of a cover before it comes out (or the month before it comes out if it's a comic which puts a NEXT MONTH cover in the back). So for the hardcore readers, this will actually be the first image they see of Minerva's new look.

So yeah, good debut, Mini.

This arc we're clearly not doing quite what we did on previous ones – the link from the cover star to the interior one is much more tangential than the first two years. Let's not make it too easy.

Emi Lenox's Cover

Emi is one of our favourite people in the whole world, let alone comics. Her co-written with Jeff Lemire (and drawn by her) of Plutona was one of our favourite minis of last year too. I believe Emi wanted to do another god, and then read the latest issues and I WANT TO DO PERSEPHONE!

Which has been a running theme this arc, actually. We've had to encourage other gods for the B-sides later on. Persephone, you're more than a superstar, but you're not our only coverstyle.

Very much a continuation of our Wide Variety Of Styles On Cover theme. This is about art.

Page 1

Compared to many of the issues this arc, this is a less demanding one for the artist than usual. I don't do it unless I have to, and I knew there's horrible stuff ahead. That said, the world fell apart during the production of this issue, and we lost a week. So it was hard anyway. Comics!

Anyway – we start slow. Three panels. Establish location, establish situation, establish key character. This is aimed towards being reserved, clear and efficient.

First swearing of Cass in the issue. And not the last.

The cliffhanger last time is an unusual one for us, as I believe I said (I totally don't re-read these notes after writing them. When we come to edit them for the hardback, it's always a thrill. Hey C! Sorry about all the typos.) It's a mid-action cliff-hanger. Normally we're in a “reveal of important new information” or “completion of surprising action” place when we cliffhanger, and half the time we don't even do that. This is a “half way through action” cliffhanger.  As such, it's about “How does this action complete?”

Structurally speaking, I tend to think that these tend to risk creating false drama. If you don't go through with an action in any meaningful way, that's what it is – a raising of expectations and a quashing of them, which – to use the technical writing term – is total bullshit. If you do go through with it... well, why didn't you do it to end the previous issue? Then you have a “completion of surprising action” cliffhanger, which is much more honest.

So the main way to resolve them, for me, is that what DOES happen has to be at least as interesting as what didn't happen.

So that's where we try to go, as Persephone is totally going to torture Woden.

(In my original synopsis the previous episode ended with Woden's reveal, with Persephone raising her fingers at the start of this. I made this call when writing both issues.)

That was a lot of words.

In other notes: I would really like Persephone's trousers here.

Page 2

Anyway – this whole sequence is about Jamie again. The push and pull of Persephone's reactions here is key.

Obviously the most important expression closes the page – we lose the skull eyes and have a push and pull of responses which caused me to pretty much instantly tear up. There's lots of ways to read this, and none of them good.

Page 3

Cassandra, voice of reason once more. “Go on a bender” makes me smile too.

Steady angle on the hands puts an unusual pressure on things – steady shots, in profile are something which tend to be most used in comedy. But it's all about the hands and the emotion. Also compare and contrast to the one over the page...

Page 4

Oh no, Persephone!

And this is very much about the scene as comedy. Breaking a scene into individual moments – decompressing, to use a much maligned and mis-used term – is all about increasing the effect. It is paramount in comedy.

Page 5 From the Hobbit. Bilbo and Smeagol. You can probably guess who's Smeagol in this metaphor, except not.

Page 6-7

The first page was written in a standard format – once more, using the very basic structure of establish/scene/character beat set up of the first page – and then moved into Marvel Method for the rest of the sequence. It's the first “real” performance sequence since issue 20s, so has been a while.

This sequence brought to mind the movie adaptation of UNDER THE SKIN when I was writing it, and that's not an inaccurate comparison, I suspect.

What's to look at here is Matt's purples, which are just lovely.

And black.

All that black.

And...

Page 8-11

EVEN MORE BLACK! Doing try printing scans of our pages at home, as your printer will hate us.

Obviously reminiscent of issue 3's performance sequence, and I love what they did with the tumbling sequence. Persephone's voice, caption-box less, dropped on the backdrop too.

At script, there was originally a couple of lines on the second spread. It was questioned by C, in terms of “He's a long way away – I don't think we can hear two beats like that” which is right, but also got me thinking about time operating in comics. The second you add dialogue to a page, it becomes a period of time. When you remove all dialogue, it gets a timeless quality. As in, you have no idea how long it's been like this. Seconds? Hours? Years? We don't know.

And that certainly adds to the effect of the sequence.

Page 12

Heh. I'm reading this as we put issue 26 to bed, having just passed Jamie the script for 27 earlier today. They are... somewhat denser. It's going to be a while until we have a three panel sequence like this.

Page 13-16

Oh, hello again, eight-panel grid structure, old friend. We'll be seeing you again soon.

The dumbest “I should have realised this in the script” mistake was that Cass didn't have a line in the first panel of this. That adds time to the sequence, and a repsonse to the appearance of Cass.

I remember the thinking on this for me. Okay, Persephone has dragged Woden away. What does Cass do? Try and free the Valkyries. Like, obviously.

Anyway – what we get instead of Woden being killed is this. Giving up the Valkyries. Dragged to be essentially Cass' helper. Working the level of reluctance and ego back and forth is key.

The Harry Potter line was probably the most closely debated line in the issue. C and I basically had a bunch of conversations trying to unpack the meaning, what Woden was trying to say about it exactly, what Woden thought he was saying, etc.

Whole sequence clearly important as it's stating a selection of the various mysteries in the book, signalling to the reader than them not knowing answers is not accidental, and making the characte's direction clear. “Direction” is tricky in Imperial Phase, which is kind of the point. Showing that we do have an idea what we're doing is probably a necessary tell.

The steady angle on the last two panels – once more, for comedy – makes me smile. The “Enigmatic Wankery” made think of a friend. I asked C who she thought would most likely actually say “Enigmatic Wankery.” She answered the same friend. So let's conclusively say “Enigmatic Wankery” is the line most likely to be said by author and punmeister supreme, Si Spurrier.

Page 15 – which, without saying it, where Cass implicitly agrees to working with Woden – is where I realised how good Woden and Cass are to have in the same room, in terms of pushing information around.

(Perhaps too much – Persephone is definitely an observer in these four pages)

Page 17

Text conversations are fun, just as how much you can get into it, as a piece of character work. That Cass hasn't updated her phone to change Laura's name ever since meeting her is certainly one thing, but also says a lot about various other bits and pieces.

Three golden expressions on the page., You can trust Jamie McKelvie to deliver on such thing – the specific annoyance and the somewhat enigmatic sadness of Persephone. And the... peevishly frustrated nature of Cass.

Also, easy panels! See, I'm not just a monster.

(Says the man who's just sent Jamie a script with a whole middle section sub-titled “ FUCKING HORRIBLE BEYOND ALL HUMAN BELIEF”)

Page 18

The quote's from Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

Page 19

Ananke's speech from issue 5 of WicDiv, being broadcast. Fun juxtaposition. And god, that's a hard mask to draw.

And honestly, this page – which you should recognise in its structure – so upset me when I thought of it, I knew it had to go in. The more I think about it, the worse it gets.

The copy of Pantheon  monthly on the table especially makes me grin. I think that was Jamie's idea. Or maybe Katie?

Page 20-21

Persephone and Baal have been going out for three issues now. This sequence is the first time we've seen them in the same panel. Plus first time to see Baal in his guardian role. As such, wanting to live with them, albeit briefly, felt necessary. For a book that's often about death, we have to show life.

(The lightning-to-make-toast is the apex of that. The Mundane + The Divine may be an alternate title for WicDiv, or at least our aesthetic and interests.)

Also, let Minerva – ahem – continue to stretch her wings. Last time we got the human intelligence side of it. Now we get a more analytical mind.

And yes, Baal self-correcting himself is cute. You're trying, Baal.

Everyone's hair game is on point here. Minerva's fringe (aka Bangs, but we're in the UK, guys) is wonderful, but the winner is Persephone's braids.

On a really minor craft note? It's standard to say you end the page on a cliffhanger – an unanswered question, an reason to turn the page. The “Was Ananke right?” is a pretty good example of that, I think. Even mentioning Ananke changes the tone. The question is pointed, both in story and not. And, most of all, who's saying it?

Page 22

Oh, it's Amaterasu. Hi, Amaterasu.

This is very much catching balls we threw into the air, earlier. In terms of Amaterasu's actions, this is how the cast see it. Or at least, this part of the cast.

The third panel of this page makes me optimistic we're going to get away with an issue down the line. That's a lot of wonderful acting inside a tiny panel from Jamie.

I wasn't sure if “Li'l flower” was too much, but decided, no, it was the right amount of much.

Page 23-24

Yeah, this is a swing back to action-mode comics earlier than I suspect people were expecting it.

Kept really basic, leaving room for Jamie and Matt to do their thing. The tendrils whirling around, use of space, etc. Also, let's nod towards Matt's hot pink in the last panel.

Page 25

And hello what we can only presume is the Darkness, Great, which I probably better not say more about until next month. It was certainly a design conversation, but probably best to work in there. Clearly we wanted something interesting.

Yeah, that's enough for now, I think. We'll talk the nature of Cliffhangers again next time.

Page 26

I had a string of names for this one, before ending up here. I liked most of them enough to make me suspect they'll end up being used elsewhere.

Right – issue has just headed off to Image, so we'll see you in a month.

Thanks for reading.

[maggieminordesignssculpture-blog]

How to Create a Stylish Contemporary Home Office

How we feel when we walk into and spend time in our home office is so important. If the space makes us feel uplifted and abundant than it can really inspire us in ways that we've never imagined. 

I know for when that when I work in an environment that has everything that I need, is clean and organized and is delightful to look at then I feel more aligned with my business and am 100% more productive and focused. Not only can I feel more relaxed in my working space, but I have an unconscious buzz of excitement even when I'm not in the office....and this manifests into better 'pop into my head' ideas in the shower or while you're grocery shopping (my best places for ah-ha moments).

With this in mind, I created a super function but extremely pleasing to the eye stylish contemporary home office...complete with furniture and artwork. So Keep scrolling. Everything is available for purchase. Simply click the images. Your home office space will thank you:)

Design and Artwork Ideas for a Stylish Contemporary Home Office

Make your Home Office Inspirational.....Simply Click the Images to Purchase.

 Thoughts behind this Stylish Contemporary Home Office with walnut furniture

For this stylish contemporary home office, I started with one of my favorite abstract prints from my 2017 collection. It is a photography of the glaze on one my newest wall sculptures. I think art is incredibly important for inspiration. The color and organic feel of it feels natural yet excites the primal part of our brains....leading to better gut-based ideas. It is for this reason that I believe that you should place art in your direct line of vision when you look up from your computer and it should be the largest size possible given the space.

To figure out which print size would look best in your stylish contemporary home office download one of my free eguides. If you if your office is on the small side (for example you only have room for the desk and you have a large window then download my eguide - How to Choose Art Sizes for Small Spaces. If you have a medium to large office and particularly if it's a loft space then I recommend downloading downloading the below eguide. It has a wonderful chart for figureing out which art size to hang in blank spaces and over furniture.

Next, I chose a large walnut desk. I like this desk because it is expansive and makes a statement. It says that my work is important and I mean business. This desk will really plant in a seed in your subconscious that your business has a bunch of possibilities for growth. I know it sounds super literal, but I swear it works.

To match the walnut desk I found a funky tall bookshelf with cubes for books, sculptures, awards and anything else that inspires you or makes you proud of your business. I even picked out one of my small turquoise sculptures to decorate it with. The turquoise also helps tie the bookshelf in with the blue turquoise and white abstract print.

To lighten up the room and add some stylish accents I chose this super stylish contemporary white swivel chair and a blue glass table lamp. For guests (or is you need a more plush chair while you work) I chose this blue upholstered accent chair. If you have a larger space I definitely recommend getting two....even if you do most of your work online or over the phone. They will put you in the mindset of collaboration....after all you'll have two comfortable guest chairs in your line of vision for the entire day. 

For behind your desk or as lighting for your guests I chose this funky chrome floor lamp that matches the base of the desk. To compliment the chrome I then found a contemporary styled curtain rod and accompanied it with white black-out and thermal insulated curtains that do three important things: 1) block out light when you need to watch business videos, 2) keep the cold or heat out on days with extreme weather and 3) bring a soft cozy feeling to the room.

Lastly for those of you who keep files in paper form, I chose two different filing cabinets....a larger one to the right that doubles as a place for your printer...and to the left I chose a more compact filing cabinet. Both are great but suit two very different needs. To finish off the room I chose a thick white rug to add some plushness to the room and make it feel cozy.

Inspired? If so, click on the each image to learn more and bring this stylish contemporary home office to your home.

For More Inspirational Artwork and Loft Design Ideas

Visit my modern sculpture, modern wall sculptures, abstract canvas artwork, and abstract framed wall art pages. And click on more inspirational posts...

How to Create a Coastal-inspired Feminine Home Office

How to Create a Stylish Feminine Home Office with Modern Artwork

How to Create a Stylish & Feminine Modern Home Office

How to Create a Bold Living Room Loft with Oversized Artwork

How to Create a Colorful Loft Living Room with Vibrant Artwork

How your Home Decor can Help or Hurt You

How our Home Decor Can Heal Us

How a Colorful Home can Make you Bolder

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