#Experimental Design Homework Help

[spongeguyandlelouchvibridankia]

And the tumblr cut of "Prelude to a Kiss...Inger Level of Spying!":

February 3rd, Tuesday, 1998.

Galileo, I am in desperate need of your aid.

In what way, Gretchen? Do you need help with homework?

Ha, good one, I needed a laugh.

Glad to be of assistance. Now, seriously, what’s wrong?

…I think I need to finish the friendship experiment and come out to Ashley.

…Gretchen, I operate at 120% the efficiency of every Physics Nobel Prize winner, and even I couldn’t have seen that coming. What the devil are you thinking?

I know, I know, it SOUNDS crazy, but… I’m starting to wonder if my obsession with the friendship experiment is a mental crutch, designed to keep me from commiting to this relationship.

I suppose it could be… But then why come out?

Because I can’t REALLY be friends with Ashley if she doesn’t know that about me!

Are you sure?

I… I don’t know. I don’t know anymore, okay? I was hoping the conversation we had with my parents earlier would clear my mind, but I’m more confused than ever!

All right, all right, settle down… Let’s start from the beginning, after everything that happened at the museum.

Right… Right… So, Mom drove us back home, and Dad was already waiting for us, and we all just sat around the dinner table, which was both scary and calming…

‘Ooh, thank you very much, Mr. Grundler!’, Ashley thanked politely, desperate not to forget her manners. The Grundlers were so nice to her, and after the terrible day she had, she wasn’t sure if she deserved it. Still, was she gonna say no to a steaming plate of Scrapple?

Gretchen, who already had her plate, suppressed the tiniest smile at that. ‘How are you the same girl who broke down over a little dirt on her outfit?’

Then, Ashley accidentally spilled some apple juice on outfit and squealed. ‘Oh, no! This is LITERALLY the worst thing to ever happen!’. Tearful, she dashed up the stairs to wash it in the bathroom.

Gretchen froze for a moment, then snickered anyway. ‘I suppose some things don’t change.’, she mused, as she turned her attention to her parents, who both eyed her with concern, the family eating but not in the joyful way they usually do. ‘Gretchen, we hope you’re not mad at us for this.’, Doris asked, looking like a scared 6 year old with her hand in the cookie jar.

‘Mad for what? Being geniuses and figuring our secret out against all odds? I’m impressed more than anything. We hid it really well.’, Gretchen complimented, taking out the Friendship Experiment notebook and clicking her pen into action. Tongue sticking out in concentration, she began asking questions. ‘What were the giveaways? Just wanna make sure we can buff out the flaws for the future.’

Phil whispered ‘Everything’ to Doris, making her giggle, but the two refused to tell that to their daughter. They didn’t want to make her feel bad for slacking on being subtle. But that was sort of what they wanted to talk to her about. ‘Gretchen, honey, we wanted to talk to you about this… Experiment.’

Gretchen, who up until now was relatively calm about her parents knowing (sure, she hadn’t wanted it to come out, but if anyone could be understanding about this, it was them, plus none of them had gotten mad once so far so she seemed in the clear), suddenly panicked and held the book away protectively, eyes darting around in a frenzy. ‘Oh, no, don’t tell me you’re against this too! Why is it so hard for people to accept that Ashley and I are friends?! That is, um, figuring out if we’re friends… Heh heh.’

Phil and Doris eyed each other with raised eyebrows, then eyed Gretchen the same way. ‘Honey, please. You know I value experimentation as much as the next guy, but I think it’s pretty clear you and Ashley are friends.’, Phil informed, doing all he could not to imply what he was convinced of: That Gretchen was seeing her as more than a friend.

Gretchen, stammering and stuttering, waved her arms around in alarm. ‘What?! No, we’re not friends yet! Not until we prove we’re compatible enough, hence the friendship experiment! Pretty elementary, I’d say.’, she laid down the law, rolling her eyes, but her parents shook their heads in confusion. ‘Gretch, this is unnecessary! You went to a spa with this girl, something you couldn’t have been paid to do once!’

‘A positive sign, yes, but nothing conclusive.’, Gretchen denied, ears closed to their pleas.

‘You’ve risked your other friendships to spend time with this girl!’, Phil reminded, and Gretchen remained steadfast. ‘That’s on them, not on me.’

‘You got sick when she was gone for a week!’, both parents stated at the same time, and Gretchen, turning red, slammed her hands on the table. ‘Why does everyone keep referencing that?!’

Closing her eyes and turning away, she huffed. ‘I need to perform this experiment, guys. It’s the only way. If I’m going to be secret friends with her the rest of our lives, I need to make sure it’s worth it.’

Silence reigned for a moment, before Phil made a wise point. ‘But if you’re even considering being her secret friend for the rest of her life, aren’t you already her friend then?’

Gretchen bit her lip, eyes opening with terror. That… Was a good point. Too good a point. Was it really all for nothing?

At that moment, Ashley ran back downstairs, dress now clean. ‘Sorry that LITERALLY took so much time, I was just TOTALLY struggling with, like, the soap and junk and… Oh, wow, I just realized, I can finally talk and act like myself here! Not that Ashley R was so fake, in fact, she was pretty accurate…’, Ashley rambled, as Phil and Doris shared another amused glance. ‘Ashley, sweetie, no offense, but you were talking like this when you were disguised as Ashley R too.’, Doris reminded gently, and Ashley pouted. ‘Oh, I thought I was good at this acting thing…’

‘Only when you’re not lying about us, it seems.’, Gretchen sighed, miffed. Ashley tapped her thumbs together sheepishly. ‘Sorry, Gretchy,’

Unable to stay mad at her, Gretchen patted her hand. ‘It’s okay, Ash, you tried your best. That’s what matters to me.’

While Ashley clapped happily, like a baby seal given a lifetime supply of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Crackers, Phil mouthed to Gretchen ‘Nicknames’, and she mouthed back ‘This doesn’t prove anything’, and he mouthed back ‘Are you sure?’, and Gretchen mouthed back ‘As positive as Galileo was of his gravity experiment’.

‘Ooh, are we playing some kind of weird Grundler game? Can I try?’, Ashley asked, attempting to read their lips. ‘Hmm… I think they were talking about how great I was at trying! Yay, compliments!’

As Doris stifled a giggle at Ashley’s silly behavior, Gretchen crossed her arms and stared at her father, unamused. ‘Ashley, my parents here think that the friendship experiment is unnecessary. What do you think of that?’, she asked, confident Ashley would be on her side of this.

Ashley, however, bit her lip and rubbed the back of her neck, decidedly not on Gretchen’s side of this. ‘Well, like, um… Not that I don’t LIKE the experiment, like, I like, do like, like it, but, like, um…’

‘Say like one more time and I’m gonna wear socks with sandals.’, Gretchen threatened, and Ashley gulped and stopped beating around the bush. ‘Well, um… I think it might just be an eency weency teency little bit… Pointless.’

‘Pointless? What’s pointless about ensuring this life long bond isn’t a mistake?!’, Gretchen shouted, and Ashley, feeling like that was unnecessary, shouted back ‘Well, Gretchen, maybe because we’ve been through so much together already? Maybe because we’re going through it way faster than you intended? I mean, you said it could take AGES before we went to a spa together, and, well, it LITERALLY took two days after we bought gum.’

‘That… Is a good point.’, Gretchen admitted, raising her finger, then dropping it lamely.

Continuing on her mini rant, Ashley spilled her thoughts on the process. ‘Not to mention that it would take a lot of pressure off both of us! I mean, you’ve been panicky and anxious and stuff the entire time! And… And I’ve been trying REALLY hard to be good enough for you.’, Ashley admitted, looking unsure and upset now, hugging herself. Tears seemed to threaten to come out of her at any moment.

Gretchen was startled at this, and she held Ashley’s hand to comfort her. ‘You don’t have to be good enough for me! WE have to be RIGHT for each other! There’s a difference!’

Ashley sighed, laying her head on the table, as Gretchen petted her hair. ‘I guess… Sorry, I just had the wackest day.’

‘Eat up, Ashley, it will make you feel better.’, Phil insisted, and Ashley did so, though she couldn’t help but feel bad about one thing. ‘I’m… I’m sorry I lied to you.’

‘It’s okay, we understand. You only lied because of what could happen with your friends and parents. Trust me, I’m experienced in that.’, Doris reassured, and Ashley nodded, remembering Doris’ sister. ‘True…’.

Doris and Phil then clasped hands with each other and gazed sympathetically at the girls. ‘But we’re worried about you. Especially you, Gretchen. Ashley is right: You have been anxious for a while. You look like you’re suffering.’, Phil stated, and Gretchen struggled to deny it. She looked pretty bad, she even had bags under her eyes. ‘I… I haven’t been at my best lately, yes, but… None of you understand! Following through with the experiment WILL calm me down!’

Ashley, desperate to please Gretchen, simply nodded, going ‘Okay, if that’s what you need, Gretchy!’, but her parents still seemed unsure. ‘Couldn’t you at least try and shorten it? You told me before that you managed to get most of the suspicion off your backs.’

‘More or less, yeah.’, Gretchen admitted, while Ashley enjoyed the food with a happy hum.

‘Well, wouldn’t it be efficient and ideal if you hurried it up a bit? If it’s no longer on your mind, it will be easier for you two to hang out with your other friends, and thus, hang out with each other.’, Phil pointed out wisely, and Doris nodded enthusiastically to back up his point.

Gretchen considered this, looking at the notebook, then at Ashley. She had no idea the experiment was making her feel bad, and it made her… Well, feel bad. ‘But what kind of giant leap is there that could hurry the experiment along without outright abandoning it? What can we do to satisfy me and reassure her? What kind of get together could we have that would knock off most of the things I’d want to check?’.

Then, just like that, it came to her.

‘...Ashley, can you wiggle out of the Annual Ashley Sleepover this Friday?’

Back in her room, Gretchen finished retelling her tale to Galileo. ‘So now, I don’t know what to do. Everyone around me is telling me the experiment’s pointless!’

‘It’s quite the trifling predicament.’, Galileo admitted, and he would have stroked his beard if he had one.

‘I know!’, Gretchen replied, sinking further into her bed, clutching Bearbert Bearstein. ‘I need this experiment, I need to make sure that this isn’t the worst idea I’ve ever had. Otherwise, I’ll be a stress volcano for the rest of my life!’

But, at the same time, as she looked into her teddy bear’s eyes, she couldn’t help but admit another truth. ‘Yet… They are right. This WOULD be more efficient. This WOULD help us.’

She sighed, looking away, scared. ‘And if I want to hurry things up… Then coming out to Ashley would be one heck of a way to do that.’

‘But Gretchen… You’re petrified of it. There’s a reason you’ve only come out to Mikey and your parents over the last two years.’, Galileo reminded gently, clearly concerned for the girl.

‘I know, but… But that’s the thing, isn’t it? The one thing I’ve been truly delaying. Truthfully… I know Ashley’s my friend. At least, in all the other matters.’, Gretchen explained, opening up her experiment notebook and changing things around. ‘But not in the most important matter. I need to know I can trust her, I need to know she’s got my back no matter what. Even though… Even though I’m gay.’

‘...Very well. If that’s what you wish. Just… Be careful, Gretchen.’, Galileo begged. Gretchen promised him she would. ‘It’s a lot, I know. But a sleepover with Ashley this Friday is the best way to really prove we can be friends. I’ll just have to swim against the tide.’ Shutting Galileo down and putting on her pajamas, Gretchen sighed, clutching her blanket. ‘Don’t drown, don’t drown, don’t drown…’, she begged the darkness, as she saw visions of Ashley hating her for being different.

Meanwhile, outside, Penny was only able to hear the end bit, but it was more than enough.

‘Looks like I have a weekend assignment…’, she thought, giggling. ‘How deliciously moist…’

Then, she fell off the tree she was on, groaning in pain. ‘Why must you torment me so, God?’

Because this was a short, dramatic chapter and we needed an ending joke.

‘...Fair.’

[dreamerinthemoonlight]

Genshin College AU HCs: Kaeya, Diluc, Tartaglia, Albedo

Cw: Fluff, general content

Thanks to my little baka of a sister for her help

REQUESTS ARE OPEN

Dorm: Kaeya, Tartaglia, Diluc, and Albedo 

Tartaglia

He majors in Business Management

Spends every weekend helping Kaeya throw the campuses best parties, but always skips out on clean up

Somehow he manages to have a high B average in everything except the higher maths. He begs Diluc for help in any higher math class he has to take.

Is a not-so-closet member of the campus LARP and D&D clubs

Diluc

Also majors in Business management sees Tartaglia in all his classes and hates it

He’s the dorm babysitter provider of booze and designated driver during the parties Kaeya and Tartaglia throw. he some how ends up doing most of the clean up. Albedo helps by providing experimental cleaners that only sometimes work

Straight A’s across the board and tutors on the side. Has saved Tartaglia’s academic life more times than either of them can count

Part of the campus disciplinary committee and occasionally DMs for the local D&D club

Kaeya

 Majors in Law and political science

Best friends with Tartaglia

Somehow this man throws the sickest parties every weekend, is never seen doing homework or studying, and still makes straight A’s 

At least that’s what he wants people to think

Tartaglia, Diluc, and Albedo have been told that under no circumstances are any of their friends to know that he has a strict study schedule

When Diluc is away he helps Tartaglia with whatever homework he can

Kaeya was the one who introduced Tartaglia to LARP and suggested starting a D&D club in their dorm

Albedo

Bio-chemistry major, duh

Member of the art club and source of their dorms D&D minis

Is rarely at the dorm, preferring to hang out in the art room or the science labs

Ridiculously high grades, but unlike Kaeya no one really questions why.

Every now and then he can be seen helping poor freshman with their labs, but usually doesn’t help with the tutoring sessions in the dorm

The one time he joined one of Kaeya's parties he got sick, passed out, and since then has avoided them like the plague. He does help out by researching and providing cleaners and hang over cures

Despite this he’s a regular participant in D&D nights. 

[anon-apple]

Hot Soup and Soft Bread 27 (END)

ToC and Synopsis <- Chapter 26 Read on WordPress

Chapter 27: Shiitake Mushroom Rice IV

t/n: This is the last chapter of the main story!

When Zhong Qiuyan drove by the location of the former stirfry shop, he parked by the roadside and stared for a long time. The inside has already been cleared out, and the old signboard drooped down from above the doorframe. This will be his restaurant in the future; he couldn’t quite believe it just yet. 

In the past few days, he cooked a few of what he intended to sell as his restaurant's signature dishes for Zhou Cunqu. Dishes like wild shiitake mushroom rice, chestnut pumpkin steamed rice, Pad Thai, et cetera. Cunqu particularly liked the Pad Thai. Zhong Qiuyan had pulled out a bottle of fish sauce from who knows where, and the rice noodles' flavor was particularly delicious. One day, Cunqu requested Qiuyan to cook it again, and he packed a serving inside the little pink pig bento box for Shi Shuyuan to taste. She smiled and said, “Your little pink pig’s cooking skills aren’t bad.”

Zhou Cunqu reiterated: “Don’t call him little pink pig.”

At the same time, the little pink pig Zhong Qiuyan was pulling A’Shan and Da Yu to the side of the storefront. He pointed at it and bragged: “Ge picked this store for me to open a restaurant with. He even did the design of the shopfront for me.” 

Da Yu let out a “Woah” and followed with, “It’s reminiscent of those financial-backer literature.”[1]

Qiuyan rebuked, “This is love with square feet as the unit of measurement, alright?”

Da Yu said to A’Shan: “Look, I’ve said it before. This guy is a prime example of fortune favoring fools.”

Qiuyan scolded, “How am I dumb??”

While the shop was undergoing renovations, Zhong Qiuyan was still busy every day as a bus driver. Instead, he let the unemployed Da Yu help oversee the work. At the same time, the South City Experimental Elementary School also started to renovate after its 35th founding anniversary celebrations. In a year, it would switch locations with the City First High School. This was because a fortune teller foretold that the feng shui (t/n: Chinese geomancy) on October Road was better and moving locations would be beneficial for raising the graduation rate. Anyway, the City First High students started attending school at the October Road location that year. The school uniform for the autumn months included a navy-colored windbreaker made of a material that rustled noisily with movement. They would stream out of the school gates like the dim light rays of the late dusk hours, flow across the street to the pretty little restaurant on the opposite side, and sit down for a meal. Even in the heat of summer vacation, they would meet up at the restaurant to do their summer homework over an order of watermelon shaved ice. In this muddle-headed high school era, they come here to secretly go on dates and come here to be heartbroken. 

Many students from City First High would remember this restaurant. This restaurant named “Hot Soup and Soft Bread”, despite not selling either hot soup or soft bread. Every day, there was a special menu. The seasonal wild shiitake mushroom rice and the signature Pad Thai were both delicious. The boss would stand behind the cooking station and scoop out rice from a giant brown earthen pot, and the aroma of wild shiitake being cooked would disperse and linger around every corner of the small seating area. Many years later, the students of City First High would join the fatigued adults of modern society, working hard to make a living. And in certain sluggish twilight moments, as they drag their weary bodies from their workplace, they would suddenly recall those high school days. Along with it, there is the fragrance of that shiitake mushroom rice. 

When “Hot Soup and Soft Bread” first opened, Da Yu helped out at the restaurant for a while. Zhou Cunqu had designed the little porch[2] outside the storefront so waiting customers or passersby could rest for a short while. However, after the “Double Yolk Egg” Grandpas discovered this location, they would show up early every day with a Go board. Zhong Qiuyan would give them each a cup of barley tea, and they would sit there and play Go until noon.

After getting off work, Cunqu pushed open the restaurant door and sat atop the bar stools next to a whole row of high schoolers. Qiuyan passed him a glass of water and asked, “This customer, what would you like to eat?”

Cunqu was about to reply, but he was interrupted by the excited yelps of the two high school girls next to him who were staring at their phone screens. They screeched, “He’s so handsome so handsome so handsome!!!” Qiuyan leaned over toward Cunqu and asked, “How about the secret menu?” Cunqu nodded.

After a bit, Qiuyan placed a bowl of fried rice before Cunqu. The fried rice contained chopped bamboo shoots, which were in season, as well as marinated meat, white beech mushrooms, and some other seasonal vegetables. Because that bowl of fried rice smelled way too good, the few students sitting beside Cunqu turned over to take a look. Qiuyan knocked on the table and said, “The school day ended, but you guys aren’t rushing home to do homework. How come you all are so free?”

The students’ mouths twitched, and they turned back to stare at their phone screens. They finished their meal, sat around for a bit more, and then, like chirping birds, left the shop amidst chatter to fly off to a nearby cram school. Sometimes, after closing shop around 8 pm, Qiuyan would sit beside the goldfish tank on the second floor and look down from the window. He’d recognize the faces of the backpack-wearing students, holding their trinkets-adorned phones, chatting while rushing to take the subway home. And the next day, at 6 am, those same students will emerge drowsily from various corners of the city and rush back to school.

Zhong Qiuyan and the newly hired waiter finished cleaning up the store. He closed up shop and walked back to Qin Qin Homeland. Zhou Cunqu recently started exercising and had just returned home from a half-hour run. After showering, he sat cross-legged on the sofa looking at his laptop. A few months ago, Shi Shuyan officially invited him to sign on. He leaned against the pedestrian bridge's railing and joked, “Boss, if work gets too demanding, I might leave anytime. You know me. Someone is willing to raise me now.” 

Shiyuan laughed as she cursed, “Gross.”

The one raising Cunqun finally arrived home. After kicking off his shoes, Qiuyan slid onto the sofa and hugged Cunqu’s waist, rubbing his face against his while complaining, “You haven’t taken a single look at me since I got home. You’re just looking at your laptop. I’m angry angry.”[3]  

Cunqu said exasperatedly, “Let me finish up with this email.”

Qiuyan was still repeating: “Angry, angry, angry…”

Cunqu lightly tapped his forehead and said: “Power off. Stop being annoying.”

Qiuyan aggrievedly shut his mouth, stood up, and ran off to the balcony. After Cunqu finally finished up with his work, he closed his laptop and walked to the balcony. He pinched Cunqu’s cheek and said, “Power on.”  

Qiuyan lightly said, “Angry.”

They leaned against the balcony’s railing and looked toward the housing community under construction across the street. The framework of the new buildings was almost complete; time always marched forward. Cunqu lifted his head, took a deep breath, and commented that the air carried the scent of grape juice. Qiuyan replied that give it a month, and Qiu Xuemei would be coming here to gift them two whole crates of homegrown grapes. 

In the sunset hours, when the streets are crawling with people, she will climb down from her cargo truck and push open Zhong Qiuyan’s restaurant’s door while holding two crates of grapes. She will sit down and take a break by the same window where she and Liu Xiaoying once sat. Turning her head, she will see the City First High’s students crowding by the bar counter, tilting up their faces, lit up by two cloud-shaped hanging ceiling lamps, chattering with Qiuyan, excitedly inquiring about his relationship history with sparkles in their eyes. And just like that, the love story of the boss of “Hot Soup and Soft Bread” will spread from one grade to another, from one year to the next. But many of the finer details and many of the deeper causes and effects are only known between me and you. Don’t go around telling that group of gossipy high schoolers. 

And now, I will tell you one last thing. In this universe, atop some planet, within a neighborhood in some city of a country, behind the window of the fifth floor of a building, a wonderful love has settled down.[4]

---- Author's Note: This is a rather unpolished sweet little bedtime story. After finishing the story, I recommend listening to 天台晚餐 (Rooftop dinner) by 麥浚龍 (Juno mak) (t/n: youtube, lyrics). Please refrain from commenting about this story under the song, anything you want to see please say it here[5]. I’ll also be uploading two short epilogues for Madam Qiu Xuemei and Madam Liu Xiaoying. Later I’ll write a bit of Zhou ge and Little Zhong’s if-storyline[6]

Footnotes

[1] I translated this ltierally. Da Yu is referring to all the novels of the “rich ceo falls in love with me” genre; basically he’s suggesting that Zhou Cunqu is giving Sugar Daddy energy lol.  [2] The original term was 缘廊, which I believe refers to an engawa: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engawa [3]  Zhong Qiuyan literally repeats “Angry” twice here. Just to clarify, he’s saying this not too seriously, in like a childish, spoiled manner. He’s 撒娇（Sājiāo)-ing for anyone familiar with the term.  [4]  A call back to the storybook Zhou Cunqu read on the rooftop to the little kid in Chapter 15 [5] “Here” is the comment section of the raws, which I’ll link again here: https://www.gongzicp.com/novel-1597036.html [6]  Basically like an AU (alternate universe), she doesnt’ specify what kind. I’ll try to translate these eventually too.

t/n: And we're at an end! The reason why I picked this up (aside from the manageable length lol) is that the chapters often leave me with a warm fuzzy feeling (except for the angsty ones lol) I love how this story never forgets any of the side characters. The double-yolk egg grandpas, despite not being crucial to the main plotline of the story, consistently appeared throughout. And we even get some depth into Qiuyan's friends, especially A'Shan, despite how short this story was. I also adore how it describes just ordinary, daily lives. Like that bit about the high school students at the restaurant was so charming and nostalgic. Also! The fact that the shop Cunqu picked out for Qiuyan was the same store where Liu Xiaoying and Qiu Xuemei had their encounter (ch 23)! The world is so big; the world is so small. May Zhou Cunqu and Zhong Qiuyan be happy forever~ If you guys liked this story, please leave it a rating & review on https://www.novelupdates.com/series/hot-soup-and-soft-bread/ so more people can read it~

[shadesofmauve]

This is a diversion from OP's excellent point, but reading the omments on this makes me try to think of how you could set this up well, as a teacher. (Teaching is a brutal job I'm really glad I don't do, but sometimes I still have thoughts about lessons plans).

Even when things weren't disasters, most of my high school science classes ran into related issues. The only actual science experiments I did were in elementary school. (I got a null result! But it was an actual result of an actual hypothesis I actually came up with, in an experiment I actually designed! None of which was true of later 'experiments.')

If I was teaching science, I'd want to distinguish between a demonstration project and an experiment. It's fine to do demonstration projects! Get your hands on something and see how it works for yourself. But it's not an experiment. You're repeating a known procedure for the eleventybillionth time, and even the dimmest bulb in class knows that a different result is likely to be operator error, not real data.

So if it's a demonstration project, let students know that.

And then help them design actual experiments.

And... (I'm gonna get science-flamed for this)... maybe bring in the whole hypothesis thing later? Or at the very least, bring it up very differently.

We learn complex skills by breaking them up into smaller, more achievable chunks. So do that. You can have lessons entirely on observation. The seedling 'experiment' is actually great for that! No predictions required. You've all got different seeds. Start by describing them. Plant them, describe that. Leave them in the god damn classroom window -- kids have too much homework. Part of every class day is the day's observations. Graph the different times to sprouting.

Now you've worked on documenting observations and procedure, and planted the idea that in this class, not everyone will have the same result (different seeds, remember)

If a seed doesn't germinate, or a seedling dies, talk about it as a class. Why might this have happened? Now you can explain hypothesis. How might we test that? Now we're talking about experimental design. Run some of those experiments (maybe as a class?).

You have to build in room to fail, and you have to build in room for open questions and discovery, because that's what science is about. But it can't be a trick, or students are going to use the absolutely-correct school-survival skills they've spent their entire classroom life learning.

Story time:

In middle school biology, we did an experiment. We were given yams, which we would sprout in cups of water. We then had to make hypotheses about how the yams would grow, based on descriptions of yam plants in our books, and make notes of our observations as they grew.

Here’s what was supposed to happen: we were supposed to see that the actual growth of the plant did not resemble our hypotheses. We were then supposed to figure out that these were, in fact, sweet potatoes.

What actually happened was that every single student in every single class lied in their notes so that their observations perfectly matched their hypotheses. See, everyone assumed the mismatch meant they had done something wrong in the process of growing the plant or that they had misunderstood the dichotomous key or the plant identification terminology. And, thanks to the wonders of a public school education, everyone assumed the wrong results would get us a failing grade. We were trying to pass. We didn’t want to get bitched out by the teacher. Curiosity, learning, science - that had nothing to do with why we were sitting in that classroom. So we all lied.

The teacher was furious. She tried to fail every student, but the administration stepped in and told her she wasn’t allowed to because a 100% fail rate is recognized as a failure of the teacher, not the class. It wasn’t even her fault, really, though her being a notorious hard-ass didn’t help. It was a failure of the entire educational system.

So whenever I see crap like Elizabeth Holmes’s blood test scam or pharmaceutical trials which are unable to be replicated or industry-funded research that reaches wildly unscientific conclusions, I just remember those fucking sweet potatoes. I remember that curiosity dies when people are just trying to give their superiors the “right” answers, so they can get the grade, get the job, get the paycheck. It’s not about truth when it’s about paying rent. There’s no scientific integrity if you can’t control for human desperation.

[statistics-homework-helper]

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[barry369]

Beyond the Numbers: Navigating the Depths of BioStatistics in Research

As a student navigating the intricate landscape of statistical analysis, I've often found myself lost in a sea of numbers, formulas, and hypotheses. However, my recent journey into the realm of BioStatistics has been nothing short of enlightening, thanks to the invaluable assistance I received from statisticshomeworkhelper.com. In this blog post, I'll delve into the pivotal role of BioStatistics in research and how this online service helped me unravel its complexities. So, buckle up as we embark on a journey beyond the numbers!

Before delving into the intricacies of BioStatistics, let's address the elephant in the room – the daunting task of statistical analysis assignments. Like many of my peers, I found myself grappling with complex data sets and perplexing statistical methods. That's when I stumbled upon statisticshomeworkhelper.com, a beacon of hope in the tumultuous sea of academic challenges. With a simple request to "do my statistical analysis homework using BioStatistics," I entrusted my assignment to their capable hands.

From the onset, the team at statisticshomeworkhelper.com exhibited professionalism and expertise. They demonstrated a profound understanding of BioStatistics principles, seamlessly integrating them into my assignment. Whether it was designing experiments, analyzing data, or interpreting results, they approached each task with precision and clarity. Their attention to detail and commitment to excellence were evident in every aspect of the assignment.

One of the fundamental aspects that statisticshomeworkhelper.com emphasized was the importance of understanding the context behind the numbers. In research, statistics serve as more than just numerical representations; they are instruments for uncovering meaningful insights and driving scientific discovery. BioStatistics, in particular, plays a pivotal role in elucidating complex biological phenomena, from genetic inheritance patterns to disease epidemiology.

Through my collaboration with statisticshomeworkhelper.com, I gained a newfound appreciation for the interdisciplinary nature of BioStatistics. It serves as a bridge between biology and mathematics, enabling researchers to translate biological data into actionable knowledge. From experimental design to data analysis methodologies, BioStatistics provides the framework for rigorous scientific inquiry.

One of the most daunting tasks in statistical analysis assignments is selecting the appropriate statistical methods for data analysis. With a plethora of techniques at our disposal, ranging from t-tests to regression analysis, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. However, statisticshomeworkhelper.com alleviated my concerns by guiding me through the process of method selection.

They helped me identify the most suitable statistical techniques based on the nature of my data and research objectives. Whether it was hypothesis testing, survival analysis, or multivariate modeling, they provided invaluable insights that streamlined the analysis process. By leveraging BioStatistics principles, they ensured that my analysis was not only statistically robust but also scientifically meaningful.

Furthermore, statisticshomeworkhelper.com didn't just stop at performing the analysis; they went the extra mile to ensure that I understood the rationale behind each statistical method. Through clear and concise explanations, they demystified complex statistical concepts, empowering me to grasp the underlying principles with confidence.

Beyond the realm of academic assignments, BioStatistics holds profound implications for real-world research endeavors. From clinical trials to public health interventions, statistical analysis serves as the cornerstone of evidence-based decision-making. By harnessing the power of BioStatistics, researchers can derive actionable insights that inform medical practice, policy formulation, and scientific advancement.

In essence, BioStatistics transcends the realm of mere number-crunching; it serves as a catalyst for innovation and discovery in the field of biology and beyond. My collaboration with statisticshomeworkhelper.com not only helped me conquer my statistical analysis assignment but also instilled in me a deeper appreciation for the transformative potential of BioStatistics.

In conclusion, my journey into the world of BioStatistics has been nothing short of transformative, thanks to the invaluable support I received from statisticshomeworkhelper.com. Their expertise, professionalism, and dedication to excellence have not only helped me navigate the complexities of statistical analysis but also ignited a passion for scientific inquiry. As I continue my academic endeavors, I am confident that the lessons learned from this experience will serve as a guiding light in my pursuit of knowledge and discovery. So, here's to embracing the power of BioStatistics and venturing beyond the numbers into a realm of endless possibilities.

[educationblogfgffg]

Experimental 12th lesson planning

Experimental twelfth grade students, who are now two steps away from the entrance exam, endure a lot of stress because they are approaching the entrance exam. Only experimental 12th grade planning can reduce the stress of these students and lead them towards success. Establishing harmony between the new lessons that are taught in the 12th year and the basic lessons and entrance exams is something that can only be done with the help of experimental 12th lesson planning. Stay with us until the end of this article so that you can set the best curriculum for yourself.

12th experimental lesson planning training If you are looking for the design and implementation of the best 12th experimental lesson planning, you should know that in this level of education, students are divided into two groups: 1- Those who have already studied the basic lessons in the exam method.2- Those who left everything intact for the twelfth year! In any case, both groups should start the curriculum, studying for the exam and taking the test; But the work for the second group is a little more intensive! Both school and exam! Carrying out twelfth year lessons at the same time along with mock tests, studying basic lessons, practicing and taking tests is the biggest challenge faced by twelfth graders. The best way to succeed in this level and at the same time prepare for the entrance exam is to balance these two goals with the help of entrance exam planning.

Some experimental twelfth graders see preparation for entrance exam as the main goal and ignore participation in school classes and exams! You should also consider the effect of the GPA on the entrance exam and study the school lessons and do the homework to succeed in the entrance exam.Take the 12th experimental final exams seriously; In addition to the test report, give value to the scores of school reports and take them seriously.

Using a lesson resource or several different resources for the entrance exam?

Studying for the entrance exam is very different from the studies you have experienced so far. Since you have to answer a large number of conceptual or computational tests in the entrance exam, you need to learn the lessons in depth and commit them to memory. Learning with the help of textbooks alone cannot be enough; You need a good study aid resource to learn the topics in depth, solve tests and take notes. The training packages for the jump experimental exam can be very useful for this purpose of 12th grade students.The juxtaposition of the video and educational help books has made the jump experimental exam package one of the best resources for the exam.

Be careful not to jump from one source to another in the hope of better teaching lessons and don't confuse yourself; Find a good source for yourself and continue the same way to reach the goal.

The importance of 12th lesson planning of the experimental field As we said, it is not an easy task to create a balance and harmony between basic and twelfth courses in order to participate in the entrance exam. Almost everyone who enters the experimental field dreams of studying medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy. But do you think why all candidates for the experimental exam can't achieve their goals and dreams?!

To achieve this goal and succeed in this tough competition, you must have designed the best 12th grade experimental planning for yourself.By implementing a basic lesson plan, you will make the most of your time and get the best results from your efforts

[miasblogdesn2002]

WEEK 1&2

What is Design thinking? And what does it have to do with me? 

In this weeks weekly readings I learnt that Design thinking is a way of thinking, a non-liner, iterative process that starts with people. Its a way of finding solutions to problems in innovative ways. And what it has to do with me that it’s a way that will help me solve problems i’ll face not just this semester but in the future. Stanford d. school describes design thinking in 5 stages; empathise, define, ideate, prototype, test. Each stage you complete tasks and research to then have an end result.

Throughout the semester we will be solving ‘wicked problems’, which are problems to do with community that are found hard to solve. 

The semester has been divided into the 5 Stanford d. school stages for us to solve a ‘wicked problem’ ourselves. Starting with empathise!

In tute week 1 we did a exercise to do with toast! Weird way to start a class but hey it had me intrigued, why was I writing and drawing instrustions on how to make toast? It was introducing me to the idea of visual thinking as well as engaging with the rest of the class in working together in silence. 

In week 2′s tute, we formed our groups through an interesting exercise that involved the whole class. All of us writing our degree’s and interests on pieces of papers, then silently everyone would place a random piece of paper with the information on it under group 1-7. I was put into group 5 where we made the name 5 weeks of wicked. The group includes myself, Riley, April, Callum, Jackson and Muazzam. We began to fill out our contract for collaboration. Homework for this week was to decide on a wicked problem. 

WEEKLY READING:

Why Design Thinking Works:

This article taught me about the potential of Design Thinking that can improve processes and inspire innovation. Talks about Total Quality Management (TQM) and how they revolutionised manufacturing in the 1980s. 

Mentioned how Design Thinking uses research, reframing problems, experimentation and team collaboration too overcome problems. That the process also provides structure to generate solutions. 

It also highlights the challenges of innovation: superior solutions “It’s also widely accepted that solutions are much better when they incorporate user-driven criteria”, reducing risks and costs and gaining employee buy-in (which is crucial to be successful). Design Thinking helps overcome these challenges. 

How Great Design Could Fix the World’s ‘Wicked Problems’

This article discusses IDEO and how they are leading the movement for the process Design Thinking. And how the process has be used by various organisations around the world which include technology companies such as Apple, as well as healthcare systems, financial services firms and management consultancies regualurly employ designers. The process is also been taught in schools.

Its not just a process for designers 

IDEo worked on a project to design a new education system in Peru, emphasising the value of integrated whole-systems design and addressing the challenges. 

Overall the article highlights the evolving role of designers and design thinking in addressing complex wicked problems in societies and businesses. 

Design Thinking for Social Good: An Interview with David Kelley

The interview basically spoke about the mindset and approach of David Kelley and design thinking 

David Kelley talks about the importance of allowing children to flourish their creativity and his personal experiences. He discovered the idea of designing for humans rather than solely focusing on the problem. Kelley defines design as a process of creating something new with intention and making an impact on the world.

the interview goes into how Steve Job’s approaches design and how he could predict what people wanted and paint a compelling vision for the future

Kelley also mentioned the importance of applying design thinking into education and how it can generate unique ideas and lead to better decision making skills.

references:

IDEO design thinking (no date) IDEO. Available at: https://designthinking.ideo.com/ (Accessed: March 28, 2023).

What is design thinking? (no date) The Interaction Design Foundation. Available at: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/design-thinking (Accessed: March 28, 2023).

Liedtka, J. (2023) Why design thinking works, Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2018/09/why-design-thinking-works (Accessed: 05 June 2023).

Katz, T.B. with B. (2021) How great design could fix the world’s ‘Wicked problems’, Fortune. Available at: https://fortune.com/2019/02/15/change-by-design-new-excerpt-tim-brown/ (Accessed: 05 June 2023).

Solomon, A. (2012) Design thinking for social good: An interview with David Kelley, Boing Boing. Available at: https://boingboing.net/2012/09/22/design-thinking-for-social-goo.html (Accessed: 05 June 2023).

[fridayfirefly]

Seeing Ghosts

Read Seeing Ghosts on AO3

Masterlist

For Maribat March Day 12 - Second Chance

For as long as she could remember, Marinette could see ghosts. It wasn't always the ghosts of strangers, though. Her ghost encounters started small. When Marinette was four years old, her parents told her that the family cat, Tikki, had left to live in the countryside. Marinette didn't understand, because Tikki still lived with them. Tikki still meowed for pets, still purred when Marinette pet her, still played with her favorite toy, the laser pointer that Marinette got for her last birthday. It wasn't until two weeks later, that Tom and Sabine sat Marinette down and explained to her that Tikki had died, that she needed to stop pretending that she was still there. Marinette was confused until she saw the way Tikki's paws batted right through her toys, the way she never ate the scraps that Marinette dropped on the floor. Marinette knew two things for sure: Tikki was dead and Marinette could still see her ghost.

For years and years, Tikki was the only ghost that Marinette saw. Then Marinette turned fourteen and Marinette could suddenly see.

They haunted the corners of her eyes, lurking in her periphery. They were just shadows, phantoms until Marinette focused her eyes, and then she could see them clear as day. Ghosts were real and Marinette could see them. Ghosts were real and they were everywhere, an inescapable reality for Marinette.

Quickly, the ghosts learned that Marinette could see them. They followed her around, lingering at the edge of her sight. She could hear them too, little whispers about the baker's daughter, the only person who could see them. However, none of the ghosts were bold enough to approach her. That was the status quo, until one day when Marinette came home from school one day to a ghost lurking in her room.

Marinette gasped as she saw the ghost sitting in the chair at her desk, staring at her with knowing blue eyes. He was her age, which made his brutal injuries all the more horrific to look at. His skull was caved in. His chest was mangled. His skin was shredded and burned. He had been beaten to death, tortured in his final moments.

"I've been told that you can see ghosts," the boy remarked, ignoring Marinette's shock entirely. He spoke in English instead of French, luckily Marinette's class had been learning both languages, so she was able to understand.

Marinette nodded, her throat suddenly unable to get a word out.

"You can hear ghosts, too. Can you bring them back to life?"

Marinette shook her head, clearing her throat as she began to speak in English, "I've never tried, but I don't think so."

"Could you try? For me?" pleaded the boy, the desperation in his expression breaking Marinette's heart.

"I don't even know you," said Marinette, trying to find a way to gently let the boy down. Seeing ghosts was one thing; bringing them back to life was another thing entirely.

"I'm Jason Todd." Jason stuck out his hand and Marinette tentatively shook it.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

It wasn't until Marinette pulled her hand back that she realized that his hand - and now her's - was covered in blood. With a shriek of surprise, Marinette stumbled backward away from Jason. "What did you do?"

"What did I do? What did you do?"

"This has never happened before. Somehow my touch turned you corporeal enough for the blood on your hand to transfer to mine."

Jason glanced down at his hands. "Your fingers left prints in the blood. I've spent hours trying to wash the blood away for months, and you managed to do it by accident."

Marinette stared at her hands, the realization sinking in. Jason Todd was dead and his blood was on her hands. In the blink of an eye, Marinette was running to the bathroom to throw up. She thought she would be able to handle looking at the injuries of the dead, but Jason's wounds suddenly felt personal. Someone beat him to death, beat him until his bones broke and his skull caved him. Marinette heaved into the toilet, unable to cope with the violence of Jason's death.

When Marinette finally lifted her head, she saw Jason lingering at the door, looking guilty. "I'm sorry. I know that this is pretty graphic to look at." Jason gestured towards himself.

Marinette shook her head. "You don't have to apologize." After rinsing her mouth out until the taste of vomit was gone, Marinette turned to Jason. "Come here."

Jason approached her at the sink. With the water still running, Marinette took his hands and held them underneath the water. They both watched as the water turned red, then pink, then ran clear as all of the blood washed off Jason's hands. "Thank you," Jason whispered.

Marinette took a deep breath. "I can't make any promises, but I will do my best to bring you back."

--

Bringing the ghost of a human boy back to life seemed like an impossible task, so Marinette started small: with Tikki the ghost cat. It took two weeks of experimentation before Marinette realized that with enough meditation she could funnel some of her energy into Tikki's ghost. With Jason to help her take notes, Marinette began to figure out the ins-and-outs of resurrection.

The most difficult part was figuring out exactly how much energy Marinette could expend before it took a toll on her physical health. The very first time she gave Tikki energy, Marinette woke up the next morning with bruises littering her body. Tom and Sabine took Marinette to the doctor's where she was diagnosed with anemia and prescribed iron supplements. Jason was so concerned about Marinette's well-being that he refused to let her give any more energy away before she had returned to her full health.

A few weeks after the initial mishap Marinette got back on track. Every morning she would push just a little bit of energy into Tikki. Little by little, Tikki turned from specter to physical being. Then, one morning, as Marinette pushed energy into Tikki, she felt her energy hit a wall. At the same time, Marinette felt Tikki's fur under her hand for the first time in ten years.

"You brought her back!" Jason exclaimed.

Marinette let out a whoop of joy, scaring Tikki, who jumped out of Marinette's lap with a startled meow. Marinette grabbed Tikki back up, able to properly hug her beloved pet for the first time in ten years. "I've got to go show Tikki to my parents. I'm going to tell them that I found her outside."

"You'll need to give her a new name," said Jason. "Might I suggest Alfred."

Tom and Sabine were surprised, which was to be expected. After all, it wasn't every day that their daughter found a doppelgänger of their dead cat in the alley behind the bakery. However, they were quick to rationalize the event, shrugging it off as a strange coincidence. Alfred became a beloved new member of the family.

After her success with Alfred neé Tikki, Marinette turned her attention to Jason. Their very first attempt took place in Marinette's bedroom. Marinette and Jason sat down cross-legged on the floor. Marinette placed her hands on top of Jason's and concentrated. She felt the life force within herself and pressed it forward, through her hands and into his.

"I can feel it," whispered Jason, "I've never felt anything like it before. It's so warm."

The awe in Jason's voice made Marinette feel warm inside as well. "I'm going to start with just a little bit of energy. I don't know how transferring energy to a human will differ from transferring energy to a cat, and I don't want to burn myself out on the very first transfer."

"Do this at whatever pace you need. I don't want you to hurt yourself."

Marinette smiled with his reassurance. She took a deep breath, and let the energy flow out of her. When she finally finished, cutting off the flow, she looked back up at Jason and gasped. Jason's broken finger, which had bothered him for weeks, had straightened out. The cut on his collarbone had closed shut. The bruise on his cheekbone had faded. His wounds were already starting to heal.

--

Quickly, Marinette and Jason fell into a routine. Every day after school they would sit down in the back corner of the bakery and Marinette (under the guise of doing her homework) would push more of her life energy into him. It was a slow process. Though Marinette often wished to give Jason just a little more energy every day, to speed up the process, she was constantly aware of the fact that Jason would fuss over her and stop the transfer of energy entirely if he saw any sign of pain or exhaustion on her.

In the months that Marinette had known Jason, he had grown protective over her. Marinette spent most of her time with Jason. He slept in her room on the little couch in the corner, followed her to school, and wore the clothes that she designed for her. Jason changing his clothes was an incredibly embarrassing affair, as the only way for him to be corporeal enough to touch the clothes was for Marinette to be touching him while he did it, leading to averted eyes and blushing on the part of both Marinette and Jason (but it was worth it for Marinette, to saw Jason's relieved smile when he realized that he never had to see the blood-stained clothes that he died in again).

In total, it took eight months from the day that Marinette met Jason to the day that Marinette brought Jason back to life. It started as an uneventful morning. Marinette woke up to her alarm, grumbling as she got ready about how it was inhumane to make teenagers wake up so early. She made herself a coffee while chatting to Jason. They walked to school together, Marinette dodging through the crowded sidewalk while Jason moved straight through people with ease. Marinette got to her desk at school and took a seat next to Alya. Luckily the seat behind Marinette was empty, so Jason sat there when he followed Marinette to school.

Marinette had asked Jason before if it bothered him that he was unable to participate with the rest of the class since they could neither see nor hear him. Jason claimed that he didn't mind. Despite that, if Jason ever whispered comments or questions about the lesson into Marinette's ear, she always made sure to ask the teacher, even if she already knew the answer.

Sitting in on lessons had the additional benefit of teaching Jason French. Marinette did her best to teach him the basics, but immersion was the best teacher - after eight months of hearing and speaking only French, Jason was fluent in the language. Marinette often praised him for his quick learning, which was how she learned that Jason was prone to blushing when he was complimented. Jason always grumbled when Marinette pointed it out, but Marinette found it adorable.

Once school was over on that fateful day, Marinette and Jason walked home together. Marinette set her backpack down at her usual table, sat down, and got to work. It had become an easy routine: put in her headphones and play some calming music, find a quiet place within her brain, and focus on the feeling of energy welling up inside of her. Then take Jason's hands, concentrate on that energy, and push it through her arms and into him. Controlling the direction of the energy was easy - it was controlling the rate that was the difficult part. It moved slowly at first, then all at once it flowed faster than Marinette can control, and it was a race to slow it down before it could all drain out of her.

That day, however, just as the energy started to speed up, the flow of energy abruptly cut off before Marinette even had the chance to react.

"Why did it stop?" asked Jason, looking confused.

The day had been so long coming that Marinette could hardly believe what had happened. "I have nothing left to give you. You're alive again, Jason."

Jason stared at her, wide-eyed. "Are you sure?"

"I'll go test it." Marinette jumped out of her seat and raced towards the front of the bakery, heading for Tom, who was behind the counter. "Papa, can I get a plate of macaroons for me and my friend?"

Tom glanced over at Jason. "Who is he? I don't think I've ever seen him here before."

"He's a foreign exchange student," Marinette lied easily. "His name is Jason."

"Here's a plate for you and Jason." Tom handed her a plate, piled high with macaroons and other sweets.

"I might take Jason and show him around Paris, once we finish our homework. Is that alright?"

"Sure, sweetheart. Just make sure you're home before dinner."

"Of course," chirped Marinette. She made her way back to her table with a bounce in her step. "My papa could see you. You're real."

In that moment, Jason looked lost. He glanced down at his hands, flesh and blood once more. "What do I do now?"

"You're alive again. You can do whatever you want."

Jason took a deep breath. "I've been gone from this world for so long. I want to go home."

Marinette tried not to let the fact that her heart was breaking show on her face. "I have enough birthday money saved up to buy you a plane ticket. You might have trouble getting on a plane without any identification, but I'm sure we can come up with a solution."

For a moment, Jason looked upset. Then, Marinette saw on his face as a realization dawned on him. "I didn't mean alone. Marinette, I want you to come with me."

--

There was no sugar-coating it: Marinette's parents were going to kill her. The plane was half-way across the Atlantic Ocean and Marinette's phone was turned off. There was no way to check, but she was certain that her parents were already sending her frantic texts. By the time the plane landed in Gotham, Tom and Sabine would surely have already called the police.

Marinette could only hope that her and Jason's fake IDs would hold up against the Gotham Airport security officers. While seventeen-year-old Jason could easily pass for nineteen, the age listed on the fake ID for Jasper Townsend, Marinette was worried that she looked young enough to cause suspicion. The age on Marie Davis's ID needed to be eighteen in order to get Marinette onto the plane, so whether she liked it or not she had to look eighteen. Resigned to her lies, Marinette put on a heavy face of makeup and wore three-inch heels on the international flight. It was a little funny, in an ironic way, that her heels had one inch for each year she needed to make up for.

Marinette was still confused about how Jason managed to get them fake IDs in the first place. Jason just shrugged and said that he knew a guy who owed him a favor. It was a side of Jason that Marinette hadn't ever seen before, a side of him that she was deeply curious about.

They had gotten on the plane just as the sun was setting. Marinette had sent her parents one last text message, telling them that she might be a little late. It was the understatement of the century. Marinette had never lied to her parents like that before. All of her past lies had been little things - lying about the number of macaroons she ate, or how late she stayed up the night before - but never a lie about her personal safety. The guilt was killing Marinette. It made her feel sick to her stomach.

Jason placed his hand (flesh and blood) on Marinette's shoulder. "I'm sorry that I'm making you do this."

"I'm not sorry. I would never make you do it alone."

Marinette could practically feel the nervous energy radiating off of Jason as their plane landed in Gotham. "I'm assuming you know where we're going next. Should we rent a car?" she asked once they cleared security (miraculously, no one looked too closely at Marinette's feeble attempt at a disguise. Marinette was glad to switch out her heels for flats and wash off the makeup in the airport bathroom).

Jason shook his head. "We don't need to rent one. He always keeps a car at the airport just in case someone's flying in."

Marinette wasn't sure who he was supposed to be, but Jason had been reticent to share any information about his past, and Marinette wasn't going to pressure him. Jason had been beaten to death, after all. There was a lot of trauma in his past and Marinette wasn't going to force him to share it with her until he was ready.

Jason led her through to the VIP parking lot to a luxury black sedan. He reached underneath the car, feeling at the underside until he pulled out a key. "Bruce keeps a key taped to the underside."

"That seems... irresponsible." Marinette was delicate with her words. Jason had been tense since the plane landed, like a loaded gun. She didn't want to bring up anything that might set him off.

"He also has a tracker planted in the car," Jason remarked offhandedly.

Marinette rolled her eyes at that remark, unable to keep walking on eggshells around the topic of Jason's family. "Irresponsible and paranoid. That's an interesting combination."

Jason laughed. "Just wait until you meet Bruce in person. I promise you, none of what I could tell you about him would ever live up to the real deal."

They got into the car, Jason in the driver's seat and Marinette in the passenger's. Jason's driving was a little rusty at first (which was understandable, given that he hadn't driven in nearly a year), but by the time he got on the highway, it was like he never left the driver's seat.

"Do you think that your family will believe you when you tell them that I brought you back to life?" asked Marinette, her voice quiet. The closer she and Jason got to Jason's house, the more questions Marinette had. It had taken her weeks to rationalize the fact that she could see ghosts, and she was the one seeing them. She couldn't imagine how Jason's family would react.

"Bruce was the one who found my body. There wasn't any faking that. I think he'll believe you."

"We've never talked about what happened to you. I- Is it safe for you to go home?"

Jason nodded, eyes on the road as he pulled off the highway onto a winding road. "Bruce did everything he could to save me, but he was too late. I was there for the funeral. I watched him mourn. I think... I think the reason I never passed on was because he never got over my death, never stopped feeling guilty. I wanted to pass on. I wanted to tell Bruce that I didn't blame him. I went and found you so that you could pass on the message for me. But then, when you could touch me, when you took the time to wash the blood off of my hands, I realized that I might be able to tell Bruce myself. I realized that I could have a second chance. I realized how badly I wanted a second chance, because a second chance at life meant that I had a chance with you."

Marinette blushed, looking over at Jason. "You know that doesn't matter to me. I wouldn't care if you were dead or alive."

With a snort of amusement, Jason said, "You might want to rephrase that."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. I liked you before you were corporeal. Human or ghost, you're my friend, Jason, and that's never going to change."

"I know that, but I like being alive better. I like being able to hold your hand for real."

Before Marinette could say anything in reply, the car turned. Marinette was too shocked to speak when she saw the size of the house at the end of the driveway. "Welcome to Wayne Manor, Marinette."

Marinette got out of the car first, smoothing down the fabric of her skirt and running her fingers through her hair. She hoped that she looked presentable, even if no one would be looking at her once they saw the resurrected Jason. "Are you coming?"

Jason nodded, taking a deep, steadying breath. "Yeah. I'm ready." Jason got out of the car and slipped his hand (flesh and blood) into Marinette's, and even though questions and doubts were swirling through Marinette's head in a whirlwind of anxiety, she knew that as long as she could hold Jason's hand, everything would be okay.

@maribatmarch-2k21

[whatifyoulivelikethat]

still not Jean Milburn, but here we are with the mystery of the female orgasm

*insert soobin's voice here* HI LADIES BYE GUYS! i sent an ask some time ago asking for advice and i now come to you again but this time i would like to ask for some tips regarding, you know, the good ol' devil's tango

aka fucking

ya, so, thing is, i'm 20 and i never had an orgasm. i lost my virginity at 16, had multiple sex partners (male and female) this past years and i just cannot get there, not even by myself. maybe i should see a doctor, but that's embarassing as fuck...

why am i sharing this now? because yesterday i had sex and i thought i was gonna get there! it was good, really fun, the guy was literally as thick as my wrist (i am a small girl, but you get the picture), and even though it hurt like a bitch when he first slammed that MASSIVE FUCKING DICK in me, i enjoyed it! but i still couldn't cum hahahah its not funny but please laugh through the pain with me

any thoughts? at this moment and time i will take any comments whatsoever :)

*sips tea*

Don't think it has anything to do with his dick, but I can take a look at it, I suppose, ya know, for research.

Mmm.

Anyway

I'm still not a doctor. Not even a sex therapist. Don't even play one on any streaming services. Maybe I'd make more money. Damn.

Orgasm through penetration occurs, but most women can only orgasm through clitorial simulation. It has nothing to do with age, don't worry about that. I think sometimes people forget that vaginal intercourse is designed primarily for biological reproduction and female pleasure comes secondary (yeah, it be like that).

A bit disheartening that you've been unable to give yourself an orgasm. The most important person in your life that should be able to give you an orgasm is you. Once you know how to reliably give yourself an orgasm, you can communicate with your partner(s) to help you get there.

Expectations also play a factor. You can end up psyching yourself out and your own anxiousness / excitement can kill your climb to climax. A mental block, if you will. Might actually be what happened to you; perhaps you were so elated that you were about to get there and you built it up in your head and your body was like, "bruh u scaring me" and so it didn't happen (depress).

Let's focus on you giving yourself an orgasm reliably. Whatchu doing? Usually clitorial simulation is where it's at. Are toys involved? Vibrators? There's even clitorial simulators that create a suction around your clit (personal fave tbh). Lube? Could increase the sensations depending on what kind of lube. The bottom line is, what makes you feel good? Maybe you need more experimentation.

Suggestions I made involve monetary investment, but it doesn't have to (although I recommend investing in your orgasms, it does improve mental health). Touch yourself all over. Tease the outside, build it up, finger yourself, rub your clit. What are your erogenous zones? What makes you horny (reading BTS porn? ;) )?

Spend some time and get to know your body. Take mental (or physical?) notes on what gives you the most pleasure each time. Experiment. If it's weird, so what, you're alone, nobody is looking. It's different for everyone. There's no right way. For example, I never finger myself. It doesn't get me off. But it works for other people. I will say it's less about speed and more about consistent pressure, usually on your clit, but some find that too sensitive, so it's wherever you're most comfortable and feel the most pleasure. Masturbate. A lot. A lot. Yeah, that's the homework on this one. XD

Sex and self-pleasure is not just the orgasm. It's everything, how attracted you are to the person, how you're touching, the things you're doing, self-confidence. To be honest, the orgasm is the least interesting part. It's everything else, the nails on your back, the tongue drawing patterns on your skin, the kisses that follow the curve of your waist as the fingers sink into your thigh and pull them apart. Fast or slow, rough or tender, maybe both to have that juxtaposition drive you crazy. Don't think so much about the end. Stay in the moment. Take the pressure off yourself and your partner. Just have fun having sex. You more likely to orgasm if you're not thinking about it. Feels better too because you're not expecting it. XD

Focus on you and giving yourself orgasms. What's that BTS said? Oh, yeah, love yourself. Jack off. BTS and I endorse sexual health.

*thumbs up!* :D

-

(also, don't be embarrassed seeing a professional if needed, it's a common issue and they've 100% seen way weirder than you, trust me)

[wisherbysharlight]

I Wanna Get It, I Didn't Get It, Til Now

Word Count: 4084

Pairing: Analogical

The second in a series of different pairings being capital O Oblivious because that’s a trope I will never ever get tired of.

Virgil sits at the same library table every single day, alone, until one day, Logan needs a seat.

They are both kind of idiots.

Warnings: none that I can think of

AO3 Link

Virgil loved his library table. He would get there after his work study shift in the registrar’s office, around 7pm on weekdays and 1pm on weekends, and the section on the second floor would be mostly clear. Second floor was quiet but not silent, so it didn’t feel oppressive, and he didn’t feel insecure about whether his headphones were too loud or not. His favorite table was just to the left of the water fountain, had an outlet built into it, and the chairs were adjustable enough that he could lean back and press his knees against the side of the table while he typed. He loved his table so much that he’d come even if he didn’t have homework to do, just to scroll through endless Tumblr pages or work on his personal writing. He’d had his table for 3 months with no problem at all, which was why he was baffled when someone came up to him while he was reading and stood expectantly next to the table, overly full backpack hanging off his shoulder.

 He recognized the other man immediately, he was another library regular who usually sat two tables away, always messing with his hair and adjusting his tie pushing his glasses up his nose and drawing Virgil’s eye with movement. He took his headphones down and put them around his neck, though he could still faintly hear his music, “Hi? Can I help you?”

 “The outlet is broken on my table, and I was wondering if I could join you and utilize the other half of yours?” mystery-man asked, gesturing to where Virgil was only using two of the four outlets.

 “Oh sure, of course, go ahead. Sorry about your table,” Virgil offered, brandishing his hand vaguely at the chair across from him.

 “You have nothing to apologize for, of course. I appreciate your amenity. I submitted a work order request, hopefully it will be repaired soon,” the other man took the seat and set his things down before extending a hand across the table, “Logan Perry. I believe I’ve seen you here frequently so this is at least a good opportunity to get acquainted.”

 Virgil blinked a bit, trying to process, then hurriedly pulled his hand out of the makeshift paw he’d made out of his sweatshirt sleeve and shook Logan’s hand so he wouldn’t think that Virgil didn’t want to, “Um. Yeah. I’ve seen you around too, I think. Virgil Storme. Nice to meet you.”

 Logan tipped his head to the side curiously when Virgil leaned over, as though he was listening hard, then adjusted his glasses, “Hmm. Interesting melody. I appreciate the solid bass rhythm. Who is the artist, if you don’t mind my asking?”

 “The... Artist? Oh, you mean the band I’m listening to?” he picked his headphones up but only put one ear on, “It’s Arctic Monkeys. They’re like, known, for solid bass lines, which is probably what you could hear.”

 Logan hummed like he was intrigued, then began pulling books out of his bag and… wow. That was a lot of books, each one thicker than the last. Chemistry I, Physics II, Theory of Numbers, Discrete Mathematics… Virgil had a headache just looking at the titles, “Uh… Wow. That’s some collection you’ve got there. What year are you?”

 “I am a first semester sophomore. I struggled choosing a major, so I opted to dual major in Math and Physics and minor in Philosophy and Conservation Studies. Also a minor in Astronomy, but that came with no extra courseload, just strategic choices in electives. I enjoy learning quite a bit, so I opt to stay during break semesters, and I am on track to graduate on schedule with no more than 18 credits a semester,” Logan rattled off, like he’d gone through the spiel before and was expecting certain questions and wanted to head them off, “And yes, before you ask, I do take breaks, I am not a hermit with no friends, and as far as I know I am not a robot.”

 Virgil blinked dazedly again, trying to absorb the bucketful of information being thrown at him, “Cool. Sounds like you’ve got it under control then. I’m dual-major too, but creative writing and interactive media design have a bunch of overlap.”

 Logan nodded, pulling out what must have been the notebook he was looking for with a triumphant noise, “You want to be a game designer then? Very lucrative career to choose, especially with the current market for such employs.”

“I wanna write books, actually, but like you said, markets good for game writers and I wanna have a fall back in case everything sucks, ya know?” Virgil admitted. He’d been told his stories were good, sure, but there was always a chance it would all go to shit, and the only way to account for that was to put 110% in and have a backup plan for his backup plan’s backup plan.

 Logan gave him an indecipherable look that passed in a moment before he went back to his neutral expression, “Understandable, I suppose. If you would ever like a second opinion on a piece, please allow me to offer my aid. I may not be as fluent in creative ventures, but I am a fan of such works, and my roommate often uses me as a sounding board for his own ideas.”

 Virgil tried not to let his surprise show, he didn’t want to offend his new… desk-mate? Acquaintance? Study partner? Whatever Logan was to him now. “Sure, uh, that’d be great. I don’t know if I can offer the same, since, ya know, science is really not my strong suit, but I can try?”

 Logan pushed his hand through his hair and pulled a hairtie off his wrist to pull it up into a slightly messy bun that kept his hair out of his eyes. Virgil noticed it actually looked more red than brown as the light hit it, and was so distracted he almost didn’t notice Logan offer a genuine smile, green eyes sparkling and catching Virgil off guard yet again with just how attractive he actually was, and flipped his laptop open, “That would be much appreciated Virgil. Thank you.”

 They worked together in silence for the next hour and a half, then both headed back to their dorms. Virgil felt even more productive with just Logan’s presence and aura of concentration, and he found himself hoping the work order took a while to be completed.

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The next day, Virgil arrived at his table to find Logan already there, two coffee cups in front of him, studying a tome of a textbook raptly. Still, he looked up when Virgil took his seat across from him and pushed one of the coffee cups his way, “I made myself a tea downstairs and figured I’d make a second in case you wanted one. It’s a vanilla flavored English black tea, not the garbage they serve in the dining halls.”

 Virgil grabbed the cup greedily, “Oh shit this is perfect, I had an 8am and desperately needed caffeine.” He took an experimental sip and groaned a bit as it hit his tongue, closing his eyes as the warmth passed through him like a calming fire, “Thank you, Logan, it’s delicious.” He thought he heard a choking sound, but when he looked up, Logan was looking back down at his notebook. He thought he saw a slight flush to his face, “Hey, you alright?”

 “Oh yes, I’m fine. I just needed to clear my throat,” Logan insisted, though he did not look up from his book and his cheeks got even brighter. Virgil supposed he was probably a little embarrassed since he was normally so poised and put together.

 “Ok, if you’re sure!” He opened his laptop and checked his to-do list, and was thrilled to realize he didn’t have anything urgent in terms of schoolwork. He opened his novel document instead, and immediately remembered why he’d left off where he did as the frustration resurfaced. Well, he thought, now was as good a time as ever to see if Logan meant it when he said he was willing to help. “Hey, Lo, could you help me find a word for what I’m trying to say here?”

 Logan finally looked up from his book, sticking a bookmark in and closing it before adjusting his glasses and giving Virgil his full attention, “Absolutely, I could do with a break from formulae. Go ahead.”

 Virgil felt a little off balance with the full weight of Logan’s stare, and his brain suddenly chose this moment to remind him that he was very, very gay. He cleared his throat and looked back down at his laptop so he wouldn’t be distracted, “Oh. Um. Thanks. So this guy is looking at his friend who he hadn’t really noticed in a romantic sense before, but i need a word for ‘‘momentary gay panic at how pretty he is’ without saying it like that. Like more poetic? Or just less casual.”

 Logan cleared his throat, face flushing again, and Virgil had a moment of alarm when he realized he didn’t even know if Logan was ok with LGBT stuff, and oh god, what if he was a homophobe and yelled at him or he just made him super uncomfortable or - “While romantic language is typically much more my roommate’s forte, I can certainly, er, relate, to the situation you are describing, and attempt to describe it as Roman would.”

 Virgil let out a breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding, relaxing once he realized the source of Logan’s hesitation was not derived from intolerance but instead from hitting a little too close to home. Then, in a moment of emotional whiplash, his breath caught again as he realized it hit a little too close to home and that meant Logan was likely attracted to men and that was nerve-wracking in an entirely different way. He forced himself to relax, knowing that Logan was likely waiting for an answer, and stammered out, “Y-Yeah, that would be good. Anything would help.”

 “I believe a good way to phrase it would be ‘Suddenly caught unaware by the realization that he may be attracted to this man’. You could also describe side effects of the feeling itself, such as flushed skin or quickened heartbeat or what I believe my friend Patton calls butterflies?, rather than spelling it out explicitly.”

 Virgil couldn’t hold back a grin as the inspiration hit him, “Oh! Duh! Show don’t tell would work perfect here, thank you Logan you rock!”

 He didn’t miss the way Logan looked momentarily shell-shocked and made a mental note to be sure to give him more compliments in the future, if he was that maladjusted to them.

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

 Virgil hissed as his pencil broke again, clicking the end to get more lead a bit more aggressively than he probably needed to. Calculus was the devil, he’d decided. He was in hell and series and sequences were his instrument of torture.

 Logan cleared his throat and Virgil’s head shot up in surprise. When had Logan gotten there? Oh good, tea, that was always welcome. He grabbed the cup Logan extended towards him and started chugging before Logan could even give him the usual background on what kind it was like he had every day for the past month. The other table was definitely fixed by now, but the two of them had gotten so used to the company that they’d just kept sitting together. “Virgil, are you… alright?” Logan asked tentatively, and Virgil looked up again, guilty and a bit crazy eyed.

 “Fuck that was so rude. Yes. Yes, I’m fine, sorry, thanks for the tea Lo, I’m just stressed about this godforsaken calc II exam I have Monday. I don’t understand any of this stuff,” he gestured to the packets and notebook and textbook spread out on the table.

 “That’s quite alright, I’m familiar with the stress of midterms. Though I may be able to help alleviate some of yours? I am a junior TA for Calc II, I could potentially provide assistance,” Logan offered.

 Virgil let out a breath of relief, twisting one of his rings in an attempt to quell some of his nervous energy, “Oh that would be incredible. My Grad TA’s office hours are during when I have work, and he’s kinda a dick anyway.”

 Logan exhaled heavily like he was trying not to laugh. “Chad, I assume?” he asked and Virgil nodded, “Well I can definitely be more helpful than that glorified orangutan.” It was Virgil’s turn to be startled into laughing, “Here, let me see what you’re working on....”

 An hour and a half later, Logan was watching him work carefully and when he tentatively circled his final answer he gave him an encouraging nod and a smile, “You’ve got it now. See, it’s all about the rules and the patterns.”

 “Oh Logan I could kiss you,” Virgil enthused, still looking in amazement at his own work, “You just saved my entire life, thank you.”

 Logan cleared his throat and turned away, though when Virgil looked up he could see that the tips of his ears were red. Ugh, you’d think after a month he’d be used to being complimented by now. “Well, if that was all, I, er, I need to work on some of my own assignments.”

 “Yeah, yeah, of course, I can do more practice myself,” Virgil told him, waving him away with a smile, “You’ve absolutely helped enough,  I’ll get you that jam you like so much or something. I owe you so much.” 

 Logan mumbled something in return but when Virgil asked him to repeat it he stammered, “I’ll be right back!” and ran off to the bathroom. Virgil shrugged and went back to puzzling through the rest of his study guide.

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“-so, theoretically, there could in fact be another planet in this solar system, but it would need to be far enough away or small enough to not affect the gravitational pull of Pluto’s moons in a significant way or just in a way which is balanced by another gravitational pull which forced our equations to not identify any irregularity.”

 “Well shit,” Virgil breathed, “So, theoretically, how possible are aliens?”

 “Damn close to guaranteed,” Logan told him with a grin, “Intelligent life, that’s another story, but I still believe they are highly likely-”

 Virgil set his head in his hands, pushing his work to the side so he could simply listen.

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“I’m going to head down to the cafeteria to make another cup of tea, would you like to join me?”

 “Sure thing, Lo, I desperately need to not look at this anymore.” Virgil felt a teeny bit of pride when Logan choked on nothing in what Virgil assumed was shock as he stood up to stretch and revealed his outfit, his heels giving him the extra three inches he needed to be what Remy called scary tall, which was actually enough to effectively tower over Logan, and the confidence to leave his sweatshirt unzipped over a mesh crop top and ripped jeans that he knew looked good, as he had been assured so around 100 times before he agreed to go to the library in it in the first place, “Sorry, forgot you got here after me, my friend’s playing a show tonight after this and I told him I’d hang with his boyfriend and make sure no one gets obnoxious. So I got a little dressed up, cuz I didn’t wanna have to go back to my apartment in between. Besides, when I’m this tall no one fucks with me in general, not just in the mosh pit.”

 “That is… certainly an outfit,” Logan wheezed, then took a sip of his water in an attempt to wash it down.

 “You ok L? You’re all red, I don’t need you dying on me,” Virgil asked, concerned his friend was actually drowning on his own water bottle.

 Logan waved him off, gulping water down like he’d been stuck in the desert for days. “Yes, yes, just a little, erm, parched. Got a bit too focused and forgot to drink and you startled me.”

 “Whatever you say, Professor,” Virgil teased, stretching his arms up to try to roll his shoulders, “Just don’t get too enthusiastic there. Last thing we need is you to choke to death cuz you were thirsty.”

 Logan seemed to make a concentrated effort not to choke again, adjusting his tie and turning on his heel quickly to head down to the cafe, and Virgil considered it a win.

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There was someone else at their table. The new man was broad shouldered, with dirty blonde hair that had just a bit of a beachy wave to it, skin tanned perfectly like he’d never spent a day out of the sun. How was that even possible? They went to school in Massachusetts and it was January. He was gesturing wildly while he spoke and Logan was doing that half-laugh he did when he thought something was funny but didn’t want to admit it and Virgil felt… something… pang deep in his stomach. Of course, Logan was ridiculously hot, Virgil had no chance at all, even if he’d been starting to feel like there was something between them. He definitely didn’t have a chance if Logan wanted someone that looked like that. He couldn’t help but be a little vindictive though as he plastered a smile onto his face and headed over, setting his bag down with a resounding thump, “Wow, this quiet corner just keeps getting more crowded, huh?”

 Logan startled a bit, and Virgil could have been imagining it but he thought he saw a flash of hurt at Virgil’s tone, “I-I suppose. This is Roman, he needed some assistance with his screenplay and I suggested he come here, but we can go back to our apartment if it will be too much of a nuisance for you.”

 Virgil would have eaten his own shoe to take back his original words, but he couldn’t, so he covered up as best he could, “R-Roman. Your roommate. Of course. Hi, I’m Virgil, you can definitely stay. Sorry, just had a long day at work, I’m a little - er- cranky, or whatever.”

 Roman gave him a smirk that was just a tad too knowing for Virgil’s taste, “Don’t worry, Mr. Prince of Darkness. I’ll be out of your hair soon and you two can get back to doing whatever the hell it is you do every day. Just need the human thesaurus here to help me out a bit, and it’s not like he’s ever home anymore with how often he hangs around here for your little study-”

 “Roman,” Logan hissed quickly, and Virgil saw Roman shoot him an unimpressed look.

 “Study sessions.” Roman finished, “Now come on Pocket Protector, what’s another word for pining. I’ve already used it twice, and longing and yearning are both not quite a right fit.” Virgil had a momentary thought that Roman should be very glad looks couldn’t kill, with how Logan was glaring him down. “Nothing? How about some flowery language for black hair or blue eyes, hmm? Think you can help me there?”

“Roman Michaels.” Logan bit out, and Roman gave him a bright, shit-eating grin.

 “No? How about helping me with a sweatshirt sharing scene, how about that? I mean, it’s a cliche, sure, but I’m sure we can put a spin on it, like make it clearly well used and important...”

 “I will dye your hair fluorescent orange in your sleep Roman, I swear,” Logan seethed, and Virgil was stock still, eyes wide as they darted between the two roommates.

 ”Maybe some music recommendations then? Those are slightly less cliche…”

 “Destroy your conditioner and hide your blow dryer, add cheap hair gel to all your shampoo,” Logan continued, attempting to speak over him.

 “I know you’ll suggest a height difference, I believe I can fit that in,” Roman’s voice was rising too, and the new occupants of Logan’s old table were firing dirty looks at them.

 “Guys?” Virgil asked quietly and both of the roommates stopped immediately, turning to him with fire in their eyes, “Um. I guess this is like... a touchy subject? But people are staring cuz you guys are sorta… loud.”

 Roman and Logan both flushed brightly, turning to give awkward waves to the other table while Virgil tried to comprehend what had just happened, “So like… Logan you’re pretty passionate about Roman’s screenplay, huh?”

 Roman groaned dramatically and shoved his laptop in his bag, standing abruptly. “I can’t believe there’s two people as oblivious as you,” he muttered like a curse, then almost literally flounced off with a clearly meaningful look shot at Logan that Virgil couldn’t quite figure out but made Logan flush brighter.

 It was silent for a couple minutes, just the taptaptap of Virgil’s pen against his notebook sounding out through the space between them, before Virgil couldn’t take it and spoke up, “You wanna talk about why that was a thing for you or nah?”

 “Y-You don’t know? Seriously?” Logan looked incredulous, then laughed a little to himself, “Virgil. He was teasing me.”

 “Teasing you? About what?” Virgil asked, trying to think through what it could possibly be, “You that against, like, cheesy romcom cliches?”

 Logan shook his head, still looking like Virgil had amazed him in some way, “Virgil. Please. Think about it. Black hair, blue eyes, height difference, well-worn sweatshirts and music recommendations. You don’t have any idea what he could possibly be mocking me for?”

 Virgil’s brow creased in thought, and suddenly it hit him and he audibly gasped, making Logan swallow nervously, and the word pining soared to the front of his mind, “Y-You. You mean?”

 “I am… Interested in you Virgil. Romantically. I have been since far before I ever sat at your table, the broken outlet just provided a good excuse for me to finally attempt to talk to you. Roman was… blunt but he had informed me that he was, and I quote, ‘Coming to see what the fuss was about’ after I got, I admit, a bit too in depth in lamenting my inability to ask you out on a date. I had no idea he would be so infuriatingly obtuse about it, I hope he did not make you uncomfortable. Obviously, you do not share the sentiment-”

 “Whoa whoa. Hold on there. Who said I didn’t?” Virgil cut in quickly before Logan could keep babbling, recognizing social anxiety when he saw it, “Cuz I sure didn’t.”

 “...I’m sorry?”

 “You should be. Can’t go assuming stuff about people, L. Now why don’t you ask me, straightforward, if I am interested. Because I can guarantee you will like the answer.”

 Logan cleared his throat, then swallowed thickly, his cheeks lightly pink, “Well then, Virgil, I like you very much and would like to know if you would like to accompany me to dinner this Friday night? As a date?”

 “I’ll do you one better, since I also very much like you back, and I don’t think my anxiety could take waiting that long. Let’s go get some food right now. I’m starving and I would very much like to kiss you and I want to get at least one date in before I totally ruin your opinion of me and do that right here in this library, and Friday can be our second date, deal?” Virgil offered, extending his hand across the table to Logan.

 Logan grasped his hand and brought it up to his lips, pressing a kiss to his knuckles with a heady glance up through his glasses, “V, I think you will find that there is not much that you could do which I would not fully endorse at this moment. But I absolutely accept this proposal. Let’s go.”

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 5 years later, almost exactly to the day, Roman is insufferable during his best man speech about the fact that he is the reason they even got together in the first place, and insists that if left to their own devices they would still be meeting at 7pm on weeknights and 1pm on weekends at a table in the corner of the library with the good chairs and never, ever confessing their love. Logan and Virgil are too busy clinging to each others’ hands and staring into each others’ eyes to dispute it at all.

[jbbarnesnnoble]

Chaos

Summary: You and Bucky Barnes are not friends. You’re partners who put up with each other, whose styles on the field clash constantly. One mission leads to a moment of vulnerability 

Features: Angst; Brief mentions of violence, mentions of past human experimentation and unknown medical issues

Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Reader

Notes: This is my late submission for @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan​‘s Hamifilm Lyric challenge. Time got away from me, between my dissertation and starting a new job. I’m not entirely happy with how this turned out, but it still ended up running away from me.

My prompt was chaos and bloodshed are not a solution 

Word Count: 2984

You were itching for a change. You had been cooped up in the compound for far too long after your last mission. You had broken your wrist on your last outing and had gotten shot. You had only just been cleared. It hadn’t been your fault, but Barnes would argue otherwise.You and Bucky Barnes didn’t hate each other, but you weren’t friends. You worked well together in the field, all things considered. It was why the two of you were constantly paired together. 

He had been livid after your last mission. The silence on the way back to the compound had spoken volumes. The two of you had brought Peter Parker out into the field for what was supposed to be a training mission, a low level one that was supposed to have minimal danger. The key words there were supposed to. Things had gone south the second the three of you entered the building. 

Your wrist had ended up broken after you pushed Peter to the ground when you dove in front of him. The lone operative you had yet to find had taken aim at the teenager. You took the shot for him and Barnes took out the operative. Unlike Barnes and Peter, you didn’t have a healing factor. The shot had been dangerously close to striking something vital, but hadn’t. Barnes had been able to stitch you up on the quinjet and gave you the silent treatment all the while.

It hadn’t been until later that night that the two of you got into it. Words had flown recklessly, and you were both dangerously close to crossing the point of no return with them. Steve had had to intervene to get the two of you to calm down. 

You found yourself sitting by the window, watching the snow fall outside. You had made yourself a cup of hot chocolate, fully intending to enjoy the day off from training. Even with your injury, you had still been responsible to train, doing what you could without agitating your wrist. You had finally been cleared to return to full active duty that morning, six weeks after the mission that had ended in disaster. 

You groaned when FRIDAY told you your presence was required in one of the conference rooms. So much for a relaxing Saturday morning. 

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The mission briefing devolved quickly into an argument between you and Barnes. The two of you were put as the point people on the mission, and you had different views on how to handle it. You preferred the guns blazing approach. Loud and brash was your style when dealing with the kind of people the mission involved. You had read enough of the brief to know what you were dealing with. You never cared for the nitty gritty details, something that annoyed Barnes to no end. 

“All I’m saying is we storm the place, take out the bad guys and call it a day. Intelligence says there’s only about a dozen or so in the building. It’s a cake walk,” you said, tossing the folder down on the table. Bucky’s expression hardened as he glared at you. You refused to back down. 

“Chaos and bloodshed are not a solution. Not every plan has to end with blood on your hands,” Bucky snapped, his hands hitting the table. You recoiled. You had never seen him have this reaction before. He’d been annoyed before, sometimes a little angry, but he never looked as angry as he did in that moment. You knew he was right, but you couldn’t bring yourself to give an inch of ground. 

“Then what do you propose, oh Great One. You’ve never been one to be a pacifist before,” you replied. He glared at you. You refused to shrink back under the intensity of his gaze. 

“Did you even read the mission brief fully, Agent? There are children there. No older than Parker. Do you really want that on your hands?” he challenged. He knew you hadn’t read the full brief. You snatched the folder off the table, feeling the blood rush from your face as you saw what you had missed. A sick feeling made itself at home in the pit of your stomach. 

“Okay. We nix the guns blazing approach. But that doesn’t guarantee they won’t hurt them, or worse, use them as human shields against us,” you replied, sitting down in an empty chair, shoulders slumped. You saw his expression soften but ignored it. Now was not the time to get distracted by Barnes. You couldn’t believe you missed that detail. A sick feeling settled in your stomach. 

“We have to do this carefully. If we use the tech to our advantage, we can infiltrate without arousing suspicion,” Natasha offered. You nodded. You ran a hand over your face in frustration before you collected your thoughts, your mind moving a mile a minute as you looked over the maps FRIDAY was projecting. 

“We don’t have many options. Scott, how do you feel about some recon?” you asked. Scott was your best option. You didn’t want to risk anything going wrong. Not now that you knew there were children involved. Scott was good at moving around undetected. 

“I can do that,” he said. You glanced around the room. It was only you, Natasha, Bucky, and Scott in the room. Peter was missing. A frown settled on your face. Parker was supposed to be there. He had been there when you walked in but was no longer there. The four of you and Peter were the only ones at the compound. The others were on other missions and this one had come in urgently. You knew it had been on the radar for a while, but something had changed in the situation that triggered an immediate need for action. 

“Wait...where is Parker?” you asked. It dawned on the others that the teen was no longer in the room. You got your answer when seconds later he all but crashed through the door. 

“Sorry, sorry, Ned called. He’s stuck in Metuchen,” Peter said. Something was off about his tone. All eyes were on him, waiting for some sort of explanation. 

“Where?” Scott asked, confused. You knew where that was. Your mind was racing to put the pieces together as you took in Peter’s tense body language, the nervousness he held. You glanced at the map in front of you, the pieces coming together, before you asked the question you already knew the answer to. 

“Is he in Jersey?” you asked, brow furrowed. You knew in your gut that the kid had done something he shouldn’t have. Metuchen was where the building was you were looking to infiltrate.You saw the moment Bucky realized what you had already pieced together. 

“Peter...why is Ned in Jersey?” Bucky asked. Peter went wide eyed.

“I...well...you see...I have some new prototypes and well...you have to be in close proximity to operate them,” Peter said.

“Peter, please tell me Ned isn’t near that building,” Natasha said. 

“I could tell you that...but it’d be a lie,” Peter said, his voice trailing off. You took a deep breath before meeting Bucky’s eyes. The two of you shared a look, only breaking eye contact when Bucky spoke.

“Wheels up in five. There’s a landing zone we can use not far from where they are,” Bucky said. No one made a move.

“Let’s go people. We don’t have all day. Scott, you’re first in, get us a visual on the kids and Ned if you can,” you said.

“I didn’t say they caught him,” Peter said. You stared him down. Even if he wasn’t still nervous, a by-product of his age and his experience in the field, you knew his tells. Aside from Tony, you were one of his primary mentors. Whether it was fighting tactics or help with his history homework, Peter came to you for a lot of things. He had become your little brother in a way. 

“They caught Ned but they didn’t take his phone,” Peter admitted. A tense silence gripped the room. There was a new sense of urgency. 

“At least it seems like they’re incompetant,” Scott replied, trying to bring some levity to the situation.

“Or they want to draw us in. We need to be cautious,” Natasha said. You knew that Natasha had a point. As sloppy as they had been, there was always the risk that it was a trap. 

“We don’t know what they have. They could still figure it out, still disable any tech we use somehow. We need to be prepared for anything,” Bucky replied, glancing over at you. Everyone stood, ready to head to the jet. 

“FRIDAY, get a location on Ned’s phone. Peter, you need to tell us everything you know,” you said as you began walking out of the room and toward the hangar. 

It didn’t take long for the five of you to reach the landing zone you had designated. It wasn’t a far walk. Peter’s newest invention was a miniaturized drone. You had reviewed the footage with Bucky and Natasha en route to the landing zone. You had to admit, you had an advantage going in with the footage.

“What are you thinking?” Natasha asked.

“We still send Scott in first. Before Ned was taken, seems like the perimeter was insecure. It doesn’t seem like they were waiting for us, and it seems like they were surprised to find Ned,” you said. 

“Doesn’t mean it’s not a trap. Comms stay open. There’s a drainage pipe that leads right into the grounds. We use that as our entry point. Chaos and Parker will use their abilities to get in. Scott, you’re flying,” Bucky said. 

“Wait for your call?” you asked. 

“As soon as I call it you go,” Bucky replied. Your powers allowed you to phase through objects. You likened it to Danny Phantom. You had a heightened healing factor and super strength that came with it. Your other main power involved controlling the elements around you. There was a reason they called you Chaos. 

“Catch you on the other side,” you said as you and Peter split off. It was another ten minutes before Bucky and Natasha reached the entry point from the drainage pipe. Scott had made his way deep into the facility. You were headed right for the children and Ned. You knew there were others spread throughout the building but your priority was getting the innocent ones to safety. Natasha and Bucky would handle taking out others on their way to meet you and Peter. 

“Howdy gentlemen,” you said as you curled your hand, focusing on the task at hand. You and Peter made quick work of taking down those in your way without alerting them to your presence. It was a key to succeeding. You had read more of the file than Bucky gave you credit for. While you had missed the information on the children being held currently, you knew they were brutal when they thought someone was on to them.

“I have eyes on Ned. I don’t think they figured out he was surveilling them,” Scott’s voice came. You and Peter had entered another room, ensuring it was cleared. You saw a stack of folders and nodded your head toward them. 

“What’s this say?” Peter asked.

“It says they’re dead men walking. I thought the last of them were wiped off the earth,” you said your voice low.

“Who are they, Chaos?” he asked. 

“The reason I am the way I am. Hydra weren’t the only ones interested in recreating the serum that made Captain America. They thought children were the key. I should have known it wouldn’t be the end,” you said. It was personal, now. You tore your way through the building as your comms buzzed in your ear. By the time you reached the room where the captives were being held, you could feel the energy crackling around you. You and Peter breached the door. He made quick work of webbing the two men standing guard inside the room as you checked on the children and Ned. You broke the lock on a cabinet, finding a stash of blankets, enough for each of them, if they shared. 

“What happened?” Natasha asked as she and Bucky rounded the corner and entered the room.

“We’ll talk at the debrief. I’ve already gotten in contact with the compound. Dr. Cho is waiting for us with the entire medical staff on standby. FRIDAY will run facial recognition when we get to the jet. There’s a team enroute to secure the rest of the building and take anything we may be interested in,” you said. You were on autopilot. 

It wasn’t until late that night that the five of you gathered in the meeting room to debrief. You were still on edge.

“What the hell happened there? I thought we agreed to limit the bloodshed as much as possible. You want to tell me why Abrams is telling me there was a trail of destruction in your wake?” Bucky asked. 

“Because it’s the same organization that did this to me. The same organization that stole my childhood to try to re-create Steve. I’ll admit, I lost control. But you would have too, Barnes,” you said. 

“I didn’t realize,” he started to say before you cut him off.

“Neither did I. I thought we wiped them out years ago. Turns out we were wrong. We just drove them deeper underground instead,” you said. The rest of the debrief was uneventful. Your reports were due in forty-eight hours, though you knew yours would be done by morning. You hated dwelling on things. 

You found yourself making a cup of hot chocolate, extra marshmallows and whipped cream, before heading to the balcony that was just off of the Avengers living area. It was a post mission routine, one that helped you get out of the headspace that came with missions. The night had a slight chill to it, but you couldn’t bring yourself to care. You heard the door slide open a short time later. You could tell by the footsteps who it was.

“Thought I’d find you out here. You did good today,” Bucky said, sitting down in the seat beside you.

“I thought you said chaos and bloodshed were not a solution?” you asked, lowering your voice to mimic him. He cracked a smile before laughing with you joining in.

“It wasn’t. Not for entering the building. Chaos and bloodshed have a time and a place,” he replied. The two of you sat in a comfortable silence as you sipped on your hot chocolate, looking up at the sky. You were scanning the night sky for any constellations you could identify. 

“What’s on your mind?” Bucky asked. You glanced over at him.

“You ever think about how in the grand scheme of things, we’re just specks of dust floating through space? There’s worlds out there we know nothing about. And in a second, that can just disappear and the universe just moves on,” you said. 

“Where’s this coming from?” he asked. You sighed. 

“How much do you know about how I came to join the team?” you asked him. You weren’t sure you had ever talked to him about it. The relationship between the two of you was frosty, sometimes cordial, sometimes filled with angst and anger. You couldn’t recall ever having a heart to heart with him.

“I know this group we took out today had a role in you becoming who you are,” he said. 

“They told my parents they could fix me. I was sick when I was a kid...not sick, more of a medical mystery. The doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong. MRIs, x-rays, blood tests. They ran the gamut of tests and nothing came of it. Until Dr. Westerly. Dr. Westerly came a long, had this test she could run. She told my parents the condition I had had no name but I was a perfect candidate for a clinical trial. They were desperate. It took my parents a month to realize something was wrong. I was injected with something that gave me powers. When Westerly caught on that they were suspecting something, she took me and fled. Six months. She had me for six months, running tests. SHIELD found me and brought me home. More specifically, Fury,” you explained.

“How known was this to SHIELD?” he asked.

“Not very. My father and Fury are old friends. Fury trusted very few with my rescue. Clint was on the team that got me out. Fury oversaw my training covertly because the man has never been trusting, not really. You have to earn it, it’s not just given,” you replied. 

You didn’t want to get into the details and Bucky wasn’t about to pry. You didn’t jump when his hand covered yours. Soon enough you moved closer to him, his arm moving to be around your shoulder. 

“There’s Orion,” Bucky said, gesturing toward the sky. 

“That’s always been one of my favorites,” you replied. The two of you sat comfortably for a while, pointing out constellations and other stars. You couldn’t recall every sitting and just talking to him. Under the moonlight, he looked almost ethereal. You’d be lying if you said you never found him attractive. You didn’t see him giving you the same look when you’d look away. 

You weren’t sure when it happened, but you drifted off beside him, cuddled into his side. You woke up, still outside beside him, with a thick blanket strewn across the two of you, a note attached by your hand in Natasha’s writing. You smiled as you read it, before nestling back into Bucky’s side. You’d address the elephant in the room later, content to sleep beside him as the sun rose over the horizon. 

[phyrephoenix]

The StoryBook Legacy Challenge

Each Generation is a new Chapter in the Book of Lives.

Overall Rules and Notes:

Lifespan: Normal

If you choose to make Same Sex Couples, make sure your Heir is set on Get Pregnant and the partner is set on Make Pregnant.

Even though there is Occult Children in this Legacy, they are not part of the Legacy Line. Abduction babies don’t count as eligible for Heir decisions.

Read Story for the next Generation, important for the Heir’s Childhood

Each heir must Practise Writing (PC or writing in journal) till they can write “non-fiction” books.

They must write a book named after their Generation’s title.

All these Book, plus urns must be kept in the heir’s inventory till last generation.

The last Generation’s Heir will have a mausoleum where the books and urns will be displayed.

Books should be written as elders, put all the children and Spouses/ Partners names in description.

If heir dies from accidental of emotional deaths before elder or before they could write the book, one of their children or partner can write it.

Money: You can choose how you want to play the family funds.

If you play this challenge and want to share it with us, go ahead and post with #StoryBookLegacy

The traits are listed as (Child),(Teen),(YA)

Generation 1: The Friendly Doctor

Your Passion is people. To Heal them, to befriend them, to entertain them on the Piano. If you ever fall in love, it will be with a Co-Worker.

Career: Doctor

Traits: Genius, Outgoing, Ambitious

Aspiration Complete: Friend of the World

Skills Maxed: Charisma, Logic, Piano

Goals:

Workaholic till Death.

Focus on work and skilling till end YA

Fall in love with an Adult Co-Worker, while still YA

Get married to Co-Worker after turning Adult. (and Co-Worker is Elder or close to)

Have 1 Pregnancy

Do not retire, but can use vacation days after the Last Days pop-up came.

Rules:

Live in the San Myshuno, can move apartments as you have more money

Have a Party for Every Birthday

Main Sim may not fix broken objects, just replace them. Spouse/Child may fix them.

Join Main Sim at work and work Late most Days, may work normal in Birthdays for Parties

Can only control other Family members when Main Sim is at home

Heir: Only Child/ First born from 1 Pregnancy

Main Packs Needed: Get to Work + City Living

Generation 2: Parenting 101

Growing up, your parents wasn’t very present. Your Father died when you were young and your mom before you became a YA. The only time you and mom spend together was with music, listening to it together or making it: she on the piano, you on the violin. You want to work from home as a Writer and be a Super Parent to a big Family.

Career: Freelance Writer

Traits: Music Lover, Neat, Family-Oriented

Aspirations Complete: Super Parent, Bestselling Author

Skills Maxed: Writing, Parenting, Violin

Goals:

Have 1st Child soon after turning YA

Have at least 3 Pregnancies

Female Heirs may get married or just have children

Male heirs must have GF move in, or get married

Rules:

Move to Newcrest

Must help with Homework/ Projects often

Be friends with ALL your children

Middle Child must be “neglected”, rather help another Child

Try for Multiples

Must have Uneven number of Kids (abduction babies do not count for number)

All children must be in after school activities, Middle child must be in Drama club, the rest in Scouts.

Heir: Middle Child (preferably a Daughter)

Main Packs Needed: Parenthood + Get Famous

Generation 3: A Star is Born

Growing up with a lot of Siblings is tough, you got lost in the crowd. As the Middle Child you rarely got attention, now you want to be in the center of it.

Career: Actress

Traits: Active, Self-Absorbed, Romantic

Aspirations Complete: Bodybuilder, World Famous Celebrity, Master Actress

Skills Maxed: Acting, Fitness, Mixology

Goals:

Have 2 Pregnancies with 2 Different Sims

Keep figure Skinny

Be close with your children

Rules:

Move to Del Sol Valley. Start in cheaper home and move to Celebrity home when 5 stars

Don’t get married (if male heir – GF must move out after birth(s))

Have 1 Pregnancy as YA and 1 Pregnancy as Adult

If 1st Pregnancy is female(s), Carrot/Alternative music method for 2nd Pregnancy (or use MCCC)

Try to never lose stars

Heir: Oldest Male

Main Packs Needed: Get Famous

Generation 4: I Need More Space

Your Parent was/is a Star, you want to Reach the Stars! You want to explore space and maybe even find an Alien Planet and meet some native Aliens! You know there is Aliens living between us now!

Career: Astronaut – Space Ranger

Traits: Perfectionist, Geek, Unflirty

Aspirations Complete: Nerd Brain, StrangerVille Mystery (with Spouse)

Skills Maxed: Rocket Science, Handiness, Video Gaming, Programming

Goals:

Have at least 1 Abduction Pregnancy

Only 1 “Normal” Sim Child

Travel to Sixam

Be friends with all Aliens you meet

Spouse must be in Military Career (they join it after they move in)

Complete Stangerville aspiration with Spouse.

Rules:

Move to Strangerville

Can’t have children with Aliens unless it is through an abduction or After Heir is a Teen

Have at least 1 Child with Non-Alien Sim as YA or Early Adult (Do not try for multiples)

You do not have to marry Non-Alien, just have child and move out

Marry an Alien after Heir is a Teen

Give spouse the StrangerVille Mystery aspiration and Military Career

Heir: Non-Alien Child (oldest in case of multiples)

Main Packs Needed: Get to Work + StrangerVille + City Living

Generation 5: Nature Child

While your Dad’s head was in the Sky, yours was on the ground. You want to be one with Nature. You are also the only (one of few) “Normal” or Non-Alien Sibling, which made you a bit of a Loner.

Career: Gardener – Floral Designer

Traits: Loves Outdoors, Loner, Vegetarian

Aspirations Complete: Outdoor Enthusiast, Freelance Botanist

Skills Maxed: Gardening, Flower Arranging, Herbalism, Wellness

Goals:

Have a big Garden/ Green House,

Try to collect all main plants

Have at least 2 Pregnancies

Getting married is not important, unless it is a male heir

Rules:

Move to Willow Creek

Go to Granite Fall after turning YA and finish Outdoor Enthusiast Aspiration.

Only start Career and family after finishing Asp and starting with Freelance Botanist

Have all Children help with Gardening, they must also all get the Loves Outdoors Trait as a Child

Heir: Youngest Child (Either Gender, but Male more)

Main Packs Needed: Seasons + Outdoor Retreat + Spa Day + City Living

Generation 6: Dirt for Dirt

While your family wanted to make things come out of the Dirt, you wanted to know what was in the Dirt. You wanted to uncover the Dirt!

Career: Secret Agent – Diamond Agent

Traits: Loves Outdoors, Genius, Self-Assured

Aspirations Complete: Jungle Explorer, Archaeology Scholar

Skills Maxed: Archaeology, Salvadorian Culture, Guitar, Logic

Goals:

Main focus is finishing both Jungle Explorer and Archaeology Scholar Aspirations by switching between them

Have at least 2 Pregnancies before turning Adult

Get married to Salvadorian Native

Rules:

Move to Oasis Springs and live in the more desert side

Go to Salvadorada after turning YA

Only start with Career after finishing both Aspirations

May choose any new Aspiration

Don’t have to finish career before death

Get married to a Salvadorian Native you met while visiting Salvadorada

Go back to Salvadorada with Children often

Make sure 1st Pregnancy is female

Heir: Oldest Daughter

Main Packs Needed: Jungle Adventure

Generation 7: Hungry for Knowledge

Growing up your family went on Vacation to Salvadorada a lot. You got to experience all the food there, which made you grow in love with Food. Making it, eating it, learning new meals.

Career: Critic – Food Critic & Culinary – Chef

Traits: Cheerful, Foodie, Non-Committal

Aspirations Complete: Master Chef, Renaissance Sim

Skills Maxed: Baking, Cooking, Gourmet Cooking

Goals:

As Teen be a Fast-Food Employee

Start Critic Career as YA, try to reach Food Critic branch before Adult

Switch to Culinary career once Adult and join Chef Branch

Have at least 3 Pregnancies with 2+ partners

Learn all Experimental Food & Food stalls Recipes

Rules:

Move to San Myshuno, start in cheapest apartment and work up to a penthouse

Reach cooking lvl 5 as teen, learn all Salvadorian meals before becoming YA

Go to every Festival and learn all meals

Learn & Photograph all experimental meals

Don’thave to get married, but if you do, as an elder

Buy a cupcake machine and Ice Cream Machine and learn to make (and make) all the recipes

Heir: Youngest Child

Main Packs Needed: Jungle Adventure + City Living + Dine Out + Seasons

Generation 8: Family Pet

Growing up you were used to having a lot of Varieties. A Variety of meals, of siblings and partners for your mother. You want a simple life, one partner to grow old with and lots of pets.

Career: Open a Vet Clinic

Traits: Cat Lover, Dog Lover, Family-Oriented

Aspirations Complete: Soulmate, Friend of the Animals

Skills Maxed: Parenthood, Veterinarian, Pet Training

Goals:

Have at least 1 Cat & 1 Dog via adoption

Have at least 1 Pregnancy and adopt 2+ Children (baby/toddler)

Operate and make money of a Successful Vet Clinic

Rules:

Move to Brindleton Bay

Adopt a Kitten on first day

Spouse must share 1 Trait with Main

Adopt Child before having 1st Pregnancy

Don’t have a “real” job, the Vet Clinic is your full time gig

Can do Odd Jobs for more money

Spend more time with pets

Heir: Biological Child (preferably a daughter)

Main Packs Needed: Cats & Dogs + Parenthood

Generation 9: Something Fishy

Growing up, your parents gave more attention to your adopted Siblings, both human and animal. You do love animals, but is more drawn to the ocean and its creatures. You would love an easy life in a Beach House.

Career: Conservationist – Marine Biologist

Traits: Music Lover, Child of the Ocean, Materialistic

Aspirations Complete: Beach Life & Fabulously Wealthy

Skills Maxed: Fitness, Singing, Wellness

Goals:

Turn into a mermaid before becoming an Adult, but after having a Child

Have 1 Child before becoming a mermaid, more children after becoming one

Do not marry the father of 1st child.

Complete the Fabulously Wealthy asp by starting at the bottom (Rags to Riches style)

Rules:

Spend a lot of time on the Beach as Child (in Brindleton Bay and/or Sulani)

Become pregnant with teen lover’s child on the day they age up to YA

Move to Sulani after confirming pregnancy.

Only switch to Fabulously Wealthy Aspiration after you moved out.

Build a small house on a beach lot and move Sim in with “freerealestate” cheat, move out with only $1,000

Spouse must also be a mermaid, but not the father of 1st pregnancy

Only become mermaid after having at least 1 Biological Child

Heir: Oldest non-mermaid Child

Main Packs Needed: Island Living + Spa Day + City Living

Generation 10: Colour Me Musically

Growing up it was just you and your mother. But then your mom fell in love with a mermaid and became one herself. They had a big mermaid family and you became an afterthought. You became a Clean Canvas, and want to fill it with a lot of Creativity.

Career: Style Influencer - Stylist

Traits: Creative, Music Lover, Clumsy

Aspirations Complete: Musical Genius, Painter Extraordinaire, Best selling Author

Skills Maxed: Guitar, Painting, Piano, Violin, Writing

Goals:

The Focus is Creative skill levelling

Have at least 2 Pregnancies

Sell paintings on street sales

Rules:

Move to Windenburg Island area (Close to bluffs)

Spouse must have Creative Trait.

Sell all Paintings, excellent or higher, on street sales

Must reach lvl 10 on musical instruments before Elder

Work on all Aspirations by switching them

All children must have Creative skill and complete Artistic Prodigy Aspiration

Heir: Oldest Child

Main Packs Needed: City Living + Get Together

Generation 11: Socially Famous

Being Creative was a must while growing up. Your (Main Parent) influence other people’s style, but you want to be an Internet Personality. You also want to do everything you can with the Computer. Maybe you can even become famous? You also want to run some groups.

Career: Social Media – Internet Personality

Traits: Creative, Insider, Outgoing

Aspirations Complete: Leader of the Pack, Friend of the World

Skills Maxed: Media Production, Programming, Video Gaming, Dancing

Goals:

Have at least 2 groups and marry someone from a group

Join at least 1 existing Group

Spouse only have to be in 1 Group (after leaving Singles Group)

Become at least a 3 Star Celebrity

Have at least 3 Pregnancies

Rules:

Move to another neighbourhood in Windenburg

Make a Singles group, which Main & Spouse will leave after getting together

Start another group after leaving Singles group

Make use of the streaming bod

Heir: Youngest Daughter

Main Packs Needed: Get Together + City Living + Get Famous

Generation 12: Capturing Magic

Growing up there was always people around you. Your parents loved being social. You love photography and want to make a career from it, but you also want to know the truth about Magic. You’ve seen a Magical Portal in Glimmerbrook as a Teen and want to explore it more.

Career: Freelance - Fashion Photographer

Traits: Neat, Perfectionist, Art Lover

Aspirations Complete: Spellcraft & Sorcery, Purveyor of Potions

Skills Maxed: Photography, Painting, Charisma

Goals:

Have a successful career as a Photographer

Become a Spellcaster

Have at least 2 Pregnancies with Spouse and 1 Pregnancy with a One-Night Stand

Form a big Spellcaster Family

Rules:

Move to Glimmerbrook

Become a Spellcaster after moving to Glimmerbrook

Marry a spellcaster, all children from marriage must also marry spellcasters (or must turn into Spellcasters).

Have a One-Night Stand with a non-spellcaster after getting married.

Only have One-Night Stand pregnancy after having 2 pregnancies with spouse.

Ask “To be just friends” after getting Pregnant with One-Night Stand

If Illegitimate child is a spellcaster, they must take the Rite of Dissolution as a Teen

Take photographs of everything/everyone and display it.

Heir: Oldest (Only) Child from One-Night Stand

Main Packs Needed: Realm of Magic + Moschino

Generation 12: Who Wants To Live Forever

You were the Black sheep of the Family. A constant reminder of your Mother’s infidelity. Your Step-Father tried to include you, but you could see it pains him, your Biological Father wasn’t part of your life. Your half-siblings mostly ignored you. You just want to go Dark, maybe even live forever!

Career: Criminal – Oracle Branch

Traits: Bookworm, Loner, Gloomy

Aspirations Complete: Chief of Mischief, Master Vampire, Good Vampire

Skills Maxed: Vampiric Lore, Mischief, Programming, Pipe Organ

Goals:

Befriend a Vampire and become a Vampire while still YA

You do not have to have to get married or have children

Legacy Ends when Sim finished both Aspirations, Career and Main skills

Rules:

Move to Forgotten Hollow after turning YA or as a Teen if mother dies

Turn into a Vampire as soon as you can ask a Vampire to turn.

Disliked for CoM Asp must be half-Siblings and /or step-father

Have a mausoleum where the books and urns of the Legacy are displayed.

Heir: No Heir – Legacy Ends

Main Packs Needed: Vampires

[quickspinner]

Finding Harmony - Ch 2 A Different Sound

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7

The next time he saw her was when she came down to the boat with fabric samples.

“Oh, what’s this?” Marinette leaned down to look at the squat wooden instrument sitting against the wall between the bed and the amp. “Is it a harp?”

“It’s a clarsach, a type of Celtic harp,” Luka told her, picking it up. He sat down on the bed with it in front of him. “I found it in the case in one of mom’s piles of stuff and I thought I’d dust it off and try it out. It was my grandfather’s. I can’t play it very well yet though.” He played a brief glissando. 

“It’s pretty,” Marinette said, and Luka had to hide a secretive smile of his own while he pretended not to see hers. 

“Definitely a different sound, but I like it.” He plucked a few bars of Scarborough Fair. “It’s soothing. And it’s nice to try something new, I haven’t tried out a new instrument in a while.” He picked it up and set it carefully back out of the way. “But you didn’t come to hear me plink on this thing, so, what’s up.”

“Oh! Right, I wanted to show you a few things. I talked to Juleka some at school, but I wanted to get your opinion too.” She pulled several small pieces of fabric out of her bag. “I got a blue that I’m really happy with, and a nice black...I couldn’t afford the one I really wanted, but this one is still good, and then—” Marinette hesitated before pulling out a piece of shiny fabric that was a bright orangey red.

Luka’s eyebrows rose and he fought to keep his expression neutral. “Wow. That’s...um...bold.” He didn’t mind bold colors, really, but...it was a lot.

“I know, but look,” she grabbed his hand and pulled him over to Juleka’s mirror, nearly shoving him down in the chair. She draped the red-orange fabric over his shoulder and then layered a blue piece on top of it, and a black piece on top of that. “See how it pops? As long as I don’t use too much of it, I think it could really make the design.” 

Luka studied the effect. He wouldn’t want to be wrapped in the stuff, but paired with the other colors it did look good. He smiled. “Okay, you’ve convinced me. I have faith in you.”

“Great!” squealed Marinette. “I’m working on some embroidery designs also—” She whisked the fabrics away and dug in her bag for her sketchbook, which she put into his hands as he came back over. There were several designs on the page, all combinations of the snake she’d shown him before and her own signature flowers. 

“Wow, Marinette,” he breathed. “This is amazing, but it looks like a lot of work.”

That set her off about appliques and embroidery machines and a whole lot of other things he didn’t really understand. “Okay, I have no idea what you just said,” he laughed when she stopped for breath. “But I trust you. Just don’t burn yourself out, you know?” 

“Do the flowers make it too feminine?” she asked him.

“I don’t think so, not the way you’ve used them. I don’t mind wearing your flowers, if that’s what you’re asking.”

She flashed a smile at him, and then seemed to get nervous all of a sudden. He set the sketchbook aside and waited.

“You still have your Jagged poster up,” she said finally.

“Yeah,” Luka sighed, looking at it. “I feel weird about it, honestly, but I’m...not sure what to do with those feelings? Finding out him and my mom have a history, it’s just weird, you know? I mean you read all these articles about how eccentric and demanding he is, but it doesn’t hit home the same way as ‘he ditched my mom without notice to go on tour in America.’” He tapped his knee for a moment, trying to find the words. “I talked to Maman about it, afterwards. She told me the whole story. She still had a copy of their old album, I’ve been listening to it. It was great, actually. So I guess I’m just...there’s the artist I’ve always admired, and the jerk who dropped my mom, back before she was my mom, and I...I don’t quite know how to put the two together.”

“That’s understandable,” Marinette nodded. “Well, I—” She paused, and pursed her lips. “Okay, if you say no I’ll totally, completely, one hundred percent understand.”

“You have to actually ask me something before I can say no,” he prodded gently.

“Well, you know Jagged’s receiving that lifetime achievement award and they’re having a big gala at the Grand Paris, and—well I sort of got an invitation. And I wanted to know if maybe you’d come with me. As my—as my plus one.” She looked down at the fabric in her hands, rearranging the swatches absently. “I thought it would be fun if you came with me since you’re a fan, and there will probably be a lot of people from the music industry there and I don’t know anything about music but you do and— But again, I totally understand if you don’t want to, I mean it makes total sense that you might not want to hear about Jagged Stone at all right now and if it would make you feel even a tiny bit weird you can totally say no and I’ll understand and—”

“Air, Marinette,” he said, grabbing her shoulder. He waited until she’d taken a couple of deep breaths. “I’d love to go with you. Jagged Stone aside, it sounds like a good time, especially if I’m going with you.”

Marinette beamed up at him, and then looked hesitant again. “Um, if you like the suit, when it’s finished - how would you feel about wearing it? If you’d rather get something yourself—”

“I would love to wear the suit, Marinette,” he cut her off. “Stop worrying so much. I may not be into fashion but even I can figure out that it would be good exposure for you to show off your clothes at an event like that. I’m totally in, one hundred percent. Anything you want. I’d wear it even if I hated it.” He nudged her. “I’m sure I won’t, though. I’ve loved everything you’ve done so far. That I’ve seen, anyway. In fact…” Luka picked up the sketchbook again, butterflies suddenly, inexplicably invading his stomach. “Let me run something by you.” 

Marinette blinked. “Okay.”

“I’ve been thinking about refinishing my guitar,” he told her, turning pages until he found the design he wanted. “It’s gotten kind of knocked around lately, and it took a bit of a beating during that whole Desperada business.” He pretended not to see her wince. “Ladybug fixed the worst of it but it’s still all scratched up. So, since I need to take it apart and strip it anyway...how would you feel about doing a little artwork on it for me?” He glanced up at her.

Marinette blinked again. “Me?”

“You.” Luka smiled. He pointed to one of the snake designs in the sketchbook. “I love this. If I let you know when it’s ready, do you think you could paint this for me?”

Marinette paled. “You want me to paint your guitar.”

He couldn’t help a chuckle at her expression. “Yep.”

“Your guitar, Luka.”

“Yes. Right here.” He traced a line up the side, following the curve. Luka could already see it in his mind.

“Luka, I can’t—what if I mess up?” Marinette exclaimed, and he had to catch her wrist to keep her from jumping to her feet.

“Then I’ll strip it again and start over. Wouldn’t be the first time. Marinette, I trust you, and I’d love to have your art on my guitar. But if you’re really not comfortable with it, I understand.”

Marinette sat silent for a moment. “You’re sure I won’t ruin it? Won’t painting it change the sound?”

“Not unless you pile it on super thick. I’ll show you the right paint to use. It should be fine. And, again, worst comes to worst, I just restrip it and refinish it again.” Not to mention that his mother still had every guitar she’d ever owned strewn haphazardly around the boat, though it would hurt to give this one up.

Marinette took a slightly shaky breath. “Well, if you really want me to, I guess I’m willing to try.”

Luka grinned, catching her hand and squeezing it. “Awesome. I can’t wait. Sorry for getting us off track. Did you need to talk about anything else?”

“That was all I needed to show you. For today, at least.” Marinette folded the swatches and put them back in the bag. “Hopefully next time I’ll have some actual clothes to show you.”

He didn’t want her to go. Luka fidgeted with his bracelets as he walked her back up to the deck, remembering how she had invited him to stay for Mecha Strike last time. “Do you need to go now?”

“No, I’ve got some time,” Marinette said, looking up at him in surprise. “What’s up?”

Luka grinned and walked over to dig behind one of the cases on the deck. He came up with a basketball and tossed it to Marinette. She caught it, barely, dropping her bag of fabric in the process. “I was thinking maybe it’s my turn to take you to school.” Luka gestured toward the bow. “Fair’s fair, right?”

She gave him a desperate look as she trailed after him. “Luka, I’m hopeless with sports on land! If I try to play on a boat one or both of us is going to end up in the hospital.”

Luka actually hesitated a brief second, because it wasn’t impossible, but then he shrugged. “It is a little different, but I won’t let you get hurt, I promise. Surely you’ve been here enough to get your sea legs by now.”

“Do you play a lot?” Marinette asked, bouncing the ball experimentally against the deck boards as he dragged chairs and the table and various other bits of flotsam out of the way.

“Honestly, not really. Too easy to get injured and I kind of need these intact,” he held up his hands and wiggled his fingers. “I play one on one sometimes with Juleka, or my friends when they’re here, but mostly I just like to come up and shoot hoops when I’m stuck on something or the music isn’t flowing. Or to avoid homework.” He shrugged and grinned, nodding toward the hoop over their heads. “So, you want to take a shot?”

He let her take a few passes at the goal unhindered to get used to playing with the gentle motion of the boat. Fortunately, it was a calm day, the river as easy as it ever got. When she seemed steady enough, he stepped up to face her.

“This is totally unfair,” Marinette groused, dribbling as Luka loomed in front of her.

“What, you want me to play on my knees?” he teased, and laughed at the way she pouted. 

The next thing he knew she had ducked under his arm and past him. She tripped as she shot, but as he leapt to catch her he heard the swish behind him. Luka hauled her up before she could hit the deck and she slumped against him. “Not bad,” he told her. 

“Yeah, super,” she grumbled as he set her on her feet. “One goal for one faceplant, sounds like fun.”

“Except you didn’t,” he chuckled. “I told you I wouldn’t let you get hurt.”

She smiled up at him from the circle of his arms and he let her go quickly. “My turn,” he grinned, retrieving the ball. He bit his lip to keep from laughing as she tried to block him and he lobbed the ball easily over her head and into the basket.

“Ooh,” she pouted again, and he was torn between laughter and the urge to kiss those pouting lips. She was just so damn cute.

However, he found out quickly that Marinette was competitive, and ruthless enough to take advantage of his care of her, more than once faking a fall to get past him. Luka fell for it every time with good nature, and kept his promise, rescuing her from both the deck and the ball multiple times, except for one instance where she threw herself in front of the ball to keep it from going overboard.

“You didn’t need to do that,” Luka scolded, turning her face so he could see the red mark across her cheekbone. “It wouldn’t have been the first ball I lost to the Seine.”

“It’s not the first time I’ve taken a basketball to the face either,” Marinette shrugged. 

“You play dirty, you know that right?”

“It’s not my fault you’re a gentleman.”

“What would you have done if I wasn’t? Maybe I’m really just a caveman on the inside.” Moving quickly, he caught her wrist and ducked, dragging her over his shoulders into a fireman’s carry. “Now what are you going to do, hmm?”

“ Luka Couffaine ! You put me down right now!” Marinette kicked her feet, but she was laughing too hard to get any leverage.

“Make me,” he laughed back. A squeal behind him made him turn towards the gangplank. Rose was hanging off of Juleka’s arm, shaking her slightly and whispering in her ear. Juleka’s expression was blank.

“Oh, hey Juleka.” Luka tried to act casual, as if he didn’t have his sister’s most adorable friend slung across his shoulders. “Hey, have you seen Marinette, she was going to stop by today but—”

“Luka!” Marinette screeched, and he winced.

“Okay, okay, don’t deafen me,” Luka laughed, setting her down. Her face was red as a cherry, either from embarrassment or from hanging off of him, and he held onto her arms to steady her. “You’re all right? I didn’t hurt you did I?”

“I’m fine,” she smiled, and then socked him in the arm. “You jerk.”

“Ow! You deserved it, you little cheater.” He shoved her gently. 

“Taking advantage of your weaknesses is not cheating.”

Juleka was smirking, which he could have handled, but Rose was looking at them with hearts in her eyes, hands folded together in front of her. Luka blushed hotly and cleared his throat. “You girls up for a little two on two?” he asked, just for something to say.

Juleka snorted. “Yeah, no thanks. I like all my limbs intact and between Marinette and Rose—”

“Hey!” Rose pouted.

“I should probably go soon anyway,” Marinette said, checking the time on her phone. “I didn’t realize how late it was, I’m supposed to be home for dinner. Thanks Luka, I had a lot of fun. I’ll check in with you both about the fitting when I’m a little farther along.”

Luka retrieved her bag and gave her his hand up the gangplank. He leaned against the rail, watching her go.

“You are so transparent I can see Notre Dame through you right now.” Juleka muttered at his elbow. 

“Oh, Luka, you’re so in love!” cooed Rose, hugging his arm on his other side. “I’m sure things will work out somehow.”

“Thanks Rose.” He freed his arm and patted her head. “I’ll be okay either way. Don’t worry about me. I’m going back below, you girls have fun.” He squeezed Juleka’s shoulder as he went by, and heard her sigh.

“You shouldn’t encourage him,” she mumbled to Rose just before he was out of earshot.

She was right, but even Juleka’s pessimism couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. It was a good day. He was just going to leave it at that.

[educationblogfgffg]

Curriculum planning training

It doesn't matter which course or subject you are studying; You should know that having a lesson plan is a general requirement for effective learning. The answer to the question of how to plan a lesson?, your guide in studying. Many students have enough intelligence and talent.

But because they don't have a good lesson plan, they usually lag behind their friends and competitors. Lesson planning, like any other skill, has its own techniques; Of course, it is not possible to prepare a curriculum for all students, and on the other hand, personalizing the planning requires a lot of information.

Successful lesson planning techniques So the best way is to design a coherent and regular program for yourself by learning lesson planning techniques.In this article from the Fab educational magazine, the question "How to plan a lesson?" is going to be answered. let's answer If this is your question, stay with us until the end of this article.

Why do we need lesson planning?

Lesson planning is an effective way to help you in your studies. The most important issue for students today. Time management can be challenging. In addition to classes, you probably have other things to attend to, such as extracurricular activities, language classes, clubs, and the like.

Creating a curriculum allows you to see how you spend your time. It also shows you whether you have enough time to do homework, study for exams, extracurricular classes, etc. or not.Curriculum is very important for students and it keeps them disciplined.

first step; Examining study habits The most important thing you should do is to know yourself and your study habits. You should check your strengths and weaknesses. Which subject do you enjoy studying or which subject is boring for you? At what time of the day are you most productive in studies?

If you study a subject immediately after class, do you retain the material better or do you need to rest first? Answering these questions will help you have a more open view of lesson planning and adjust your schedule wisely.

A number of students spend the same amount of time and energy on all subjects without examining their strengths and weaknesses.This issue causes them to not get acceptable results from their studies and to be left behind by their competitors.

The second step; Flexible and reasonable planning What does flexible planning mean? We have many things to do during the day, some of which are unpredictable. For example, you are invited to a party or have a make-up class. If such a situation occurs, how will the curriculum change?

Your plan should be such that it does not change much even if such a situation occurs. In other words, it should be flexible. To achieve such a plan, it is better to leave a part of your daily time free to use it in case of emergency.

Flexible and reasonable planning

What is meant by reasonable planning? Many students consider their ideal state for planning. For example, they have a maximum of 3 hours of useful study during the day.But for lesson planning, they suddenly increase their study hours to 7 hours.

You should step by step increase your study rate and consider the real situation, not the ideal situation!

the third step; Good time to study lessons Certainly, the time of religious study is not equal to mathematics. Different courses have different coefficients, which goes back to their importance. For example, the biology course with a factor of 12 is extremely important for experimental students.

This is where you should determine the right time to study each of them according to the strengths and weaknesses and importance of different subjects. Of course, studying some subjects such as biology is obligatory every day. Also, for general courses, you can prepare testing packages and solve tests.

The fourth step; Prioritization in lesson planning Make a list of all the things you need to do.Studying the fifth chapter of 11th math, participating in an online class, 50 religious tests, etc., write whatever you have to do. Now, prioritize them according to their importance and deadline and enter them in your lesson plan in order.

This will help you to set your schedule with a more open view and do more important things sooner.

The fifth step; Take time for fun Our brain needs rest and recreation in order to show its maximum efficiency. Many students think that taking a break will keep them away from the top universities in the country, but this is not the case at all! So you don't need to study 24 hours a day.

You just need to maintain a balance between studying and resting, and just as you plan for studying, have your own plan for fun.This entertainment can vary from reading books and listening to music to traveling and visiting places of entertainment and it completely depends on you.

The sixth step; Commitment to curriculum planning Commitment to curriculum planning

Many students have a very high ability in planning, but they are weak in implementing the program. The most important part of any lesson planning is the commitment to implement that plan. Otherwise, the curriculum cannot be of any use to you. To get the right result, you have to be patient and implement the program step by step.

Get used to the implementation of the program and put aside your perfectionist spirit. It's okay if you couldn't do part of your daily schedule; It is important not to leave the rest of your work half and half.A final word about curriculum planning In this article, you got to know lesson planning techniques and their important points. Remember that writing a lesson plan by itself does not guarantee your success; Rather, it is the commitment to implement the program that increases the probability of success.

Also, the use of appropriate educational resources is as important as proper planning. We recommend that you visit the Fab application so that you can access the best educational videos at the lowest cost. Just try it once!

[hedwigstalons]

The Tracy Prize - part 7

I’m not sure whether to leave this here or if people would like an epilogue to set the conclusion in stone – let me know.  I have some ideas but I’m not sure if they are needed.

 I really appreciate all the comments and support this fic has received.  Every piece of encouragement has given me the nudge to keep going.

 I hope you like this (potentially) final instalment.

 xoxoxox

An air of preoccupation hung over the Tracy family. Brains had disappeared into one of the many areas off-limits to Claire.  Scott was locked away in an office, occasionally appearing to grab a drink before hurrying back, the tension evident in his posture.  Grandma Tracy and Alan had thrown themselves into displacement activities.

Only Kayo was an ever-present feature.

Wherever Claire went the other woman was sure to follow. Lounge, poolside, cinema room; it didn’t matter where Claire tried to find some solitude Kayo would find her. It was like being tailed by a malevolent minder.  One that was determined to assert her dominance.  

In an effort to shake off the shake off her self-appointed guard Claire headed to the kitchen.  Grandma Tracy was elbow deep in a mixing bowl.  For some reason the sight of the matriarch surrounded by flour and baking trays was enough to make Kayo retreat and melt back into the shadows.

When the first charred discs were offered to her under the guise of cookies Claire could understand why everyone why everyone was giving the kitchen a wide berth.  However, she figured that ingesting charcoal was a small price to pay to rid herself of Kayo’s calculating stare.  

Morning transitioned to afternoon and still Virgil and Gordon did not return.  It was becoming evident that Claire would be forced to spend a second night on the island.

As the shadows began to lengthen Claire felt her wrist comm vibrate and an incomprehensible pattern of lights played across its face.  Grandma Tracy’s device mirrored the signal.  Her shoulders relaxed and she stopped weighing out the ingredients for a third batch of inedible baking.  

“The boys are nearly home.  Could you be a dear and help me fetch something from the stores for dinner.”

Grandma Tracy still hadn’t quite worked out what they would be fetching but she knew she needed to move Claire into one of underground areas.  The sight of Thunderbird Two returning home would be clearly visible through the panoramic windows in just a few minutes.

They headed out of the kitchen, Claire trailing behind Grandma Tracy as she took the elevator down a level and let the way into a maze of utilitarian corridors at odds with the luxury of the residential areas.

As they entered one of the numerous store rooms a low growl rumbled through the complex.  More felt than heard, the vibration caused the floor to tremble slightly. Claire worried that the clearly volcanic island was showing signs of activity but her companion was unfazed. The vibrations stopped as abruptly as they had started.

They dug about in the food for several minutes. Selections were made and discarded. Only when Grandma Tracy felt sure that all danger of discovery had passed did she quit stalling for time and fill a box with the final choices for dinner.

Claire offered to carry the box back to the kitchen. Grandma Tracy gratefully let her; her boys had voracious appetites and the box was now very full.

They made their way back down the corridor.  Claire was grateful for her guide, she wasn’t convinced she would have successfully navigated the bland stretches of blank walls, uniform doors and unmarked intersections without help.

It was at one of these intersections that Claire nearly collided with Virgil and Gordon as they arrived from a side corridor.

“We really must stop meeting like this.”  The baritone voice joked.

Claire took in the dishevelled look of the brothers, a stark contrast to the well-groomed man she had first collided with.  

They were dressed in just shorts and undershirts. Brick dust streaked their hair and exhaustion lined their faces.  A bandage was tightly wound around Virgil’s thigh, an ugly red stain marring its crisp, white surface.

“C’mon Virg, keep moving.  We need to get cleaned up then you and I have a date with the suture kit.”

Gordon steered his older brother around them and led him away down another faceless corridor.  Their bare feet making no noise as they padded away.

“Don’t take too long boys.  Dinner is in an hour” Grandma Tracy called out over her shoulder. She seemed completely unperturbed by their half-dressed appearance and obvious injuries.

xoxoxox

As they re-entered the kitchen Claire found her load suddenly lightened as Scott took the box from her arms.  The ever-present Kayo glared at her from a corner.  

“Gordon and Virgil landed safely” he announced cheerily.

“We know.  We’ve seen them.”  Grandma Tracy’s tone was flat.

“Oh.”

“We bumped in to them coming out of the laundry.”

“Oh.”  At least if they were exiting the laundry they should have got rid of their uniforms he mused, that one would have been difficult to explain away.

“Landed safely?!” Claire exclaimed.  “They looked like they had been in a war zone! Virgil’s leg is sliced open and none of you seem concerned.  What is wrong with you people?”

She hadn’t seen her move but Claire suddenly found herself nose to nose with Kayo.  The taller woman was making full use of her extra inches.  The display of aggression was clear.

“Of course we care.  Don’t you dare judge us.”

“Stand down, Kayo.”  Scott’s order was firm.  Kayo grudgingly took half a step backwards.

Claire turned her attention on Scott.  “Just who are you anyway?  You run this place like some sort of military leader.  I’m surprised your family put up with it.”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth she knew she had overstepped the mark.  She was still a guest in his house but Kayo riled her.  Their personalities flared and clashed.  Before she knew it Kayo was back in her personal space.

“I could ask you the same question.  Who are you with all your secrets?  Who are you working for?”

The others in the room looked on powerlessly as the challenge was issued.  Kayo was deliberately inflammatory and Claire’s temper ignited in response.

“I have no secrets and I’ve made it perfectly clear I don’t work for, or with, anyone!”

“So why did you disappear from research two years ago. Who made you a better offer?”

“Checking up on me, huh?  The only place I disappeared to was the bottom of an ice cream carton.”

Kayo snorted.  “I don’t buy it.  Why would you give it all up then take on a job you clearly hate.”

“I lecture because my savings ran out.  Some of us don’t have trust funds to fall back on.” It was a low blow but her anger was seething.  “If you’re so desperate to know what happened I’ll tell you.  I was working on a joint project on mineral refinement although you evidently know that already.  Turns out the professor leading it was a fraud.  He hadn’t had an original idea in years.  He had just been trading off his reputation and claiming the work of more junior team members as his own.  No-one could challenge him, he could kill your career in an instant.  He claimed all the credit for my work and I was meant to be happy with the scrap of recognition from being associated with him.”

“So you quit just because some old guy passed off your homework as his own?”

“No.  I quit because of ChemCorp.  I doubt you remember it.  It turns out Professor Oulton wasn’t just using the work of others to maintain his position.  He was also selling the research to bolster his retirement fund.  The result was ChemCorp.  The method was still experimental and should never have been scaled up.  The processing plant went critical.  A waste gasses tank exploded, killing seventeen people.  Seventeen families were ripped apart because of something I created.  I could never let that happen again.  To know that something I designed could cause so much harm in the wrong hands.

“I cut myself off and took and safe and easy job. But then the itch of an idea hit me again and I couldn’t shake it off.  I started up my research but made a vow that my work would go nowhere before I was ready.  Before I could make sure all the fail-safes were in place and no-one could get hurt. If I release my work it will be on my terms.  I can’t have another business putting profits over people.  I can’t face being responsible for more deaths so Tracy Industries can back off, I’m not for sale.”

The wave of emotion Claire had been riding left her with a crash.  Her shoulders drooped and she slumped against the counter top.  It had been cathartic to tell her story.  The story that had been denied to her, and that Kayo had unable to divine, since Professor Oulton had relegated her role to a footnote in his publication.

Silence settled over the kitchen.

“You’re wrong.”  Scott’s voice was low, little more than a whisper.

She looked up into clear blue eyes that mirrored the emotion in her own.

“Of course we remember ChemCorp.  We remember everyone we couldn’t save.  Every death leaves its mark.  We arrived too late.  Maybe if we had got there faster we could have stabilised the plant or helped with the evacuation.  That’s why we need your fuel formula.  I think it’s time to show you the rest of the island.”