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breelandwalker · 2 years

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Beating The Heat On The Cheap

For all my European darlings who are suffering through this horrible heat wave, my American friends who don't always have access to air conditioning, and anyone else who needs it....

Here are some tips on how to survive the heat of summer at home when you have next to no money and only household basics to work with.

(I'd love it if readers would reblog this and add their own ideas - people need all the help they can get right now!)

Stay hydrated. This is the most important thing. You're going to sweat a LOT and your body needs that replenished as often as possible. Drink WATER as much as possible and cold is best. Soda won't cut the mustard and sports drinks may replenish your electrolytes, but they are not meant for subsistence. If you need to flavor your water to make it more palatable, do it. And I know cold tea is anathema to some, but a glass of sweet or citrusy iced tea might be just the thing to get you through.

Wear loose, breezy clothing. I know the instinct is to wear your smallest, briefest summer garments, but sometimes wearing something larger, looser, and flowy helps to cool you down. The movement of the fabric creates a little bit of a breeze to draw heat away from your skin and helps all that sweating actually cool you down.

Draw the shades. If you have curtains or blinds or window shades, cover the windows, especially on the sunny side of your home. Shading the place will help keep the heat out, at least a little.

Use fans and appliances judiciously. Keep the air moving. I know sometimes it's just blowing hot air around, but it's better than stagnating. Also if you have an exhaust fan above your stove, USE IT. Draw off some of that heat from your cooking and for the love of all things holy, try not to use the oven. (Also, if you're not using your desktop computer or gaming system, unplug it for a while - those things generate a lot of heat!)

Eat cool and light. Try to avoid making meals that are going to heat up the house. If you can, make cold meals or use the microwave instead of the stovetop or oven. If you have an outdoor grill, use that for the evening meal instead of the stove. Also, if you have a blender handy, smoothies are a great way to cool down and also get in a few servings of fruit or vegetables.

Swamp coolers are your friend. If you've got a towel, a drink cooler, a bag of ice, and a box fan, you can make a homemade swamp cooler as well. Put the towel on the floor and the drink cooler on top. Fill the cooler with ice and position the fan so that it's blowing over and around the open cooler from less than two feet away. Elevate it on a box or chair if necessary. This isn't going to cool your entire home, but it can cool a small space and provides a little relief. Just be aware that there will be some sweating from the cooler and you'll need to replace the ice after a while. (The meltwater may be good for watering the garden or doing the washing up though.)

Cold showers take the edge off of many things. At the end of the day, take a shower that's a few degrees cooler than body temperature. Even if you don't do a full scrub or wash your hair, get in and sluice down, or use a pitcher of room-temperature water to give yourself a rinse. This helps your whole body cool down, cleans off the sweat of the day so you don't get breakouts, and helps you sleep cooler and less sticky. (Also, try sleeping under the duvet cover without the duvet inside to stay cooler at bedtime. And definitely have a fan in the bedroom.)

Make some homemade cold spray. This is something I used to make for camping trips. In a spray bottle, combine tap water and aloe gel in about equal measure. Then, if you have it, add 2-3 drops of peppermint essential oil. Shake to combine. You can store the bottle in the fridge when you're at home or tuck it into your bag if you're out and about. A few spritzes on the chest or the back of the neck helps immensely. (Don't spray it on your face or near your eyes. If you have any allergy or sensitivity to peppermint, leave the essential oil out.)

Keep reusable ice packs in the freezer. These can be a lifesaver. They're a quick way to cool down during the day, by cuddling or leaning against while sitting. If you can't find ice packs, fill a freezer bag 3/4 full of ice water with half a cup of rubbing alcohol, squeeze out the air before closing, and reinforce the seams and edges with duct tape. In an emergency when nothing else is working, or if someone starts to overheat, take an ice pack and put it under the arm. There's a whole host of major circulatory vessels in that area and it's a fast way to bring down body temp if someone's in trouble or while you're waiting for emergency services.

Please feel free to add your own tips and stay safe out there!

#Beat The Heat #summer #heat wave #ways to stay cool #life hacks #practical advice

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i-did-not-mean-to · 10 months

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Beat the Heat

For my first entry, I'd like to thank @searchingforserendipity25 for the amazing DaeMags Prompt.

Not included, Faeron the demon-spawn lol

Words: 710

Characters: Daeron x Maglor

Prompt: Beat the Heat

Warnings: Nudity, sexual innuendo

Daeron stared at his unexpected visitor in disbelief.

"How do you even bear this heat?" Maglor groaned, wiping a ridiculously ornate handkerchief across his fair brow.

Cocking his head, Daeron smirked at the sight of the heavy robes and the beautiful but entirely impractical layers covering and restraining that glorious body he so adored.

The mighty singer, if one was to ask him, was disarmingly cute when he was whining, especially when his grievances were as frivolous and easily remedied as his present gripe.

Even beneath the canopy of the dense trees of his native forest, the sweltering summer heat could not be outrun or avoided, but Daeron was comparatively unfazed by circumstances he was so deeply familiar with.

"Well," he smiled as he pulled his own light tunic over his head resolutely, "I can show you what we usually do when it gets too hot to breathe."

The unconvinced expression on the distinctly Ñoldorin face only stoked the fire of his own enthusiasm, putting even the blazing sun overhead to shame with its intensity.

Maglor’s brows knit in confusion before his eyes lit up with undisguised curiosity.

"That's what you get for wanting to parade around like the little prince you are," Daeron laughed provocatively and discarded his worn leggings as well before padding cautiously towards the edge of the lazy river noiselessly. “The Blessed Realm must be quite a place if everyone dresses up like that with no regard for their physical comfort and safety.”

"I don't..." Looking down at his brother's handiwork, Maglor bit back the rest of his useless protestation. "I am sorry if I've left my more casual wear in my drawer when I set out for a potentially lethal quest."

Chuckling melodiously to himself, Daeron merely shook his head in quiet amusement.

Despite their consistent squabbling and impassionate fights, he liked Maglor and felt oddly honoured to be allowed to see behind the façade of the ever-stolid, hardened warrior and prince Fëanor’s second son generally presented to the people within the Girdle.

"Come here, Prince of Princes," he invited, extending a broad, tanned hand trustingly. "Lay off the burden of your station and your name, and join me in the purifying waters of the ever-young waters blessed by Ulmo himself."

"Bathing?" Maglor scoffed. He had expected a secret ritual involving rare, undiscovered plants and maybe even a few incantations as Daeron seemed so much closer and more intimately bonded to the fertile earth he lived and thrived upon.

The idea that his best remedy to the oppressive, asphyxiating heat was to simply throw himself into the cool river was almost disappointing.

At the very instant that thought crossed his mind and made his brow furrow in dismay, his gaze fell on the mesmerising skin—dappled by specks of sunlight filtering through the trees—of his host and all his misgivings subsided instantly.

“I wonder what they’ve taught you in that tree-lit paradise of yours,” Daeron commented sharply as he floated on his back on a clement current, “if you don’t even know that these garments—beautiful as they might be—are hardly appropriate for a summer day over here.”

A thousand replies came to Maglor’s outraged and rather vexed mind—they had not known and, moreover, had had no reason to even think about the meteorological conditions of a far-away world—but as he saw the peaceful expression on Daeron’s face, his desire to shed the stifling layers of heavy brocade took precedence over his irrepressible need to defend his honour.

“Go ahead,” Daeron grinned, getting to his feet again, “you may call me an ignorant savage now, but, tell me dearest Kanafinwë, is this not better?”

Maglor swallowed heavily. Rivulets of pure, cold water ran down the mesmerizingly broad expanse of Daeron’s chest and his wide stance let the young prince divine every curve and dip of his body through the shimmering, translucent veil of the river.

For some unfathomable reason, this hint and promise of nudity was more titillating and entrancing to him than the sight of Daeron’s bare flesh, stretched out on a carpet of soft grass.

“It’s…perfect. And so are you,” Maglor admitted and dove through the blessedly cool floods to embrace this paragon of ancient magic and sublime comfort.

@fellowshipofthefics Here's my submission for the first week of the July Summer Fics.

Lots of love from me!

#og post #fotfics july event #fotfics summer stories #DaeMags #Daeron x Maglor #Daeron #Maglor #Beat the Heat #Week 1 #IDNMT writes #fanfiction #writing #tolkien writing #jrrt

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pedrito-friskito · 2 years

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Kay!! Congrats on 300, lovely 💕 for your celebration: 🦦 how about a meet cute with our fave grumpy DEA agent, Mr. Javier Peña? He deserves a lil something sweet, I think 😌💗

sadie!! thank you so much my sweet! 💕

hope you enjoy, you are 100000% right our favourite grumpy DEA agent does deserve something sweet, and this is definitely that 😋

a/n: full disclosure I have not finished narcos yet (still lmao) but this would be (I BELIEVE) sometime after the end of season 3. no warnings, just tooth-rotting fluff that I might build off eventually 😇 (separate from my other javi fics as well!)

beat the heat - javier peña x fem!reader

✨kay’s 300 follower celebration✨

It should be illegal for the weather to be this warm.

Javier’s had that thought more than once in his life. Colombia was a whole other beast compared to the summers in Laredo that he was used to. It was a different kind of heat, the humidity hanging in the air and clinging to him like a second skin. It was a lot, and it took some getting used to, sure, but now, the weather in Texas feels more foreign to him than anything else.

It’s a dry, blazing heat. The kind that just feels like staring into the sun, warming you from the inside out, sweat pouring out of every nook and cranny. In a way, it makes him long for the wet summers in Colombia, chased away with ice cold beers and fans that spun till they broke. And nights on the compound, before everything happened the way it had, the concrete floors murder on his back but the perfect way to cool off.

And on top of feeling so hot his shirt is clinging to every inch of his torso, Javier feels out of place.

A carnival — a fucking carnival of all places. Chucho had all but yanked him out of the house that morning, deciding that he wasn’t going to let his son sleep another day away when the community was coming together. And they had; despite the heat, the whole town must be here, crowds of people everywhere he turns, faces he recognizes, others he doesn’t.

He’s run into a few friends, since he’s been back. It’s awkward, some of them telling him how proud they are, others approaching him warily, like he’s an animal that might get spooked. Javi tries to brush it off, to take the bad with the good, but the feeling sits heavy in the back of his head, the reminder.

He’s not a hero.

He’s not, no matter how many times Chucho tries to tell him different.

What happened to you over there?

Too much. Far too fucking much.

Today, however, he decides to push the thoughts away completely, following his father through the crowds until they find the line of food stands tucked towards the back of the field housing the carnival. He fills his face with tacos and empanadas and barbecued corn dripping with butter. Chucho watches approvingly, and Javier can feel the quiet appreciation coming from his father, to see his son with an appetite for once. It’s always been a debate in his house, even before, when his mamà was still alive.

You don’t eat enough, Javier. You’re too skinny, Javier. You need to put some meat on your bones, Javier.

It plays on a loop in his brain some days, but today, he pushes it away. And lets his father push another beer into his hand. The chill down his throat chases away some of the heat sitting on his skin, and Javier finds himself wandering, quietly disappearing after some of Chucho’s friends join him at their picnic table.

The whole place is buzzing with activity, stalls with games manned by less-than-impressed looking teenagers, a ferris wheel tucked in one corner, one of those spinning rides that makes Javier’s stomach turns just looking at it. Even a fun house.

He’s not totally sure what possesses him to do it, but he finds himself doling out a few dollars for ride tickets, getting in line, and walking into the fun house. He waits until the kids ahead of him are out of sight, not wanting anyone to witness his careful walk through the spinning tunnel that makes up the entrance. It’s probably a weird thing, a grown man walking through a fun house alone, but he makes it through the tunnel in one piece, wiping the sweat from his brow. It’s surprisingly cool on the other side, and Javier is immediately met with a room full of mirrors and paned glass, a zig-zagged path that he assumes till take him to the other size. He scoffs quietly, rethinking his choices, but then—

“Can somebody help me, please?”

You don’t sound…scared, per se. It’s an almost-funny mix of fear and exasperation, definitely more frustrated than afraid, and your tone alone puts a smile on Javi’s lips. He lifts a brow. “Hello?”

“Oh my god,” comes your quieter exclamation. Then, called louder: “Is someone else in here?”

“I’m here,” he calls back. “Are you stuck?”

A long pause, and then you quietly admit it. “…yes.”

Javier stifles his chuckle, lifting a hand in front of him as he takes a step forward, careful that he doesn’t come face-first with a pane of glass. “You need help?”

“I need to get out of here!” you call. “My stupid friends ditched me and I can’t find my way out of this stupid thing.”

“It’s okay,” Javier replies. Something ticks in the back of his mind. He doesn’t recognize your voice, missing the Southern twang most of the women in Laredo carry. Besides, he prides himself on knowing as many people as he can, and you have a voice he would most definitely remember. “Just keep talking, okay? I’ll follow your voice and we’ll get you out of here, sound good?”

“O-okay,” you reply, the word stuttered slightly. “What should I say?”

He can’t stifle the chuckle this time, stopping in his tracks as his hand touches glass. “Whatever you want to, I guess. Could start with your name. I’m Javier.”

You’re quiet for a moment before you reply with your own name. “It’s nice to meet you, Javier.”

The sound comes from his left, so Javi moves in that direction, both hands held up in front of him now. He can only imagine how ridiculous he looks. “It’ll be better when we can look at each other and talk, eh?”

You let out a little giggle, and he follows the noise, swinging around a corner and letting his feet slide against the ground. His fingers meet glass again. Damn. “I guess so. I don’t know what else to say.” Another giggle, and he turns again, this time getting a good ten feet before he hits another pane.

“What’s your favourite movie?”

“My favourite movie?” you repeat. Another turn. “Top Gun.” Javi just starts to laugh, the noise echoing through the space. “What?”

“Top Gun? That’s your favourite movie?”

“Yes, that’s my favourite movie.”

“You’re not from Texas, are you?”

“No,” you reply, your voice sounding wary. “Wait a second, I can’t be from Texas and like Top Gun? Is that what you’re saying?”

He sputters another laugh. God, when was the last time he laughed like this? “No, no! Your accent. I’m just trying to keep you talking.”

Your giggle is nervous this time, sheepish. “Oh.” A pause, and then… “I’m from Colorado, just for the record.”

“Colorado?” Javier repeats. “I hope you didn’t come all this way just for the carnival.”

“No,” you reply, and he swears your voice is getting louder. He’s getting closer. “I’m staying with my aunt and uncle for a while.”

“They live in Laredo?” he asks.

“Yes,” you reply almost instantly, and then pause again. “Y’know, maybe I shouldn’t be telling you all this, you could be a—”

Javier rounds a final corner, hands still held in front of him, and there you are. Your back is pressed into the corner of two glass panes, arms crossed over your chest. You’re wearing the sweetest sundress he’s ever seen, thin straps over your shoulders, the skirt tiered at your hips, buttons up the front. There’s fluorescents in the maze, so he’s not sure what colour it is, not sure what colour your eyes or your hair is.

But he knows you’re beautiful.

“You’re Javier Peña,” you say, pointing a finger at him, your eyes sparkling. He can see the sheen of sweat on your skin, the way some of your hair has fallen from where it’s piled on top of your head and is curling against your neck. “You’re Chucho’s son.”

Javier balks. “You know my dad?”

You start to giggle again, and damn it all, if it’s not the sweetest thing Javier’s ever heard. It’s even better this close to you, the sound unimpeded by glass and space. “I do. My aunt and uncle own the land beside yours.” You nod once. “I’ve seen your picture before, and your dad talks about you a lot.” And then… “He’s proud of you.”

He waits for the second part. For what you did in Colombia. For being a hero. But it doesn’t come. You’re just watching him, hand lowering from where you’d pointed your finger, fingers curling in the fabric of your dress, a soft smile on your face. Javier just stands there awkwardly, rubbing the back of his sweaty neck, palms going more clammy than they already are.

“So,” he says finally, dragging his eyes up to meet yours, trying not to let them linger too long on your dress, “what do you say we get out of here?”

You nod enthusiastically, eyes going bright. “Yes, please.”

Javier steps in front of you and looks back at you. “Put your hands on my shoulders,” he tells you, and you obey, nodding once. He smiles and you smile back and then he goes to take a step and…

…his forehead hits glass. Hard.

He stumbles back a bit, directly into you, and you try to stifle your laugh, he can tell you really try to, but it doesn’t work. The little giggle is replaced with a much louder, unabashed laugh, and all Javier can think is your giggle barely compares to your laugh.

“Are you all right?” you ask, and it takes him a moment to realize that in the shuffle, your hands had moved from his shoulders and are currently resting on his hips.

He’s grateful for the fluorescents; hopefully you can’t see him blush. He rubs at his forehead. “Yep.”

It takes a while, to get out of the maze. He remembers to put his hands up this time, and pointedly focuses on the task on hand, if only to distract himself from the fact that your hands are still on his hips.

There’s more of the fun house to get through, you both realize: steps that slide back and forth on a track, some kind of twisting rope course, a ramp that bounces you both up and down the moment you step on it. You’re very quickly gripping Javier for support, both hands now wrapped around his bicep, and he can’t stop smiling.

Then you’re out of the fun house, back on solid ground, and Javier can see you for real. The blush in your cheeks, the colour of your eyes, the shade of your hair. Your dress is purple, lavender, dotted with little yellow flowers all over.

“Thank you,” you say as you fall into step beside him. He’s waiting for you to disappear, to go run off and find your friends, “for rescuing me.”

He lets out a little huff of a laugh, grinning at you. “You’re welcome, Maverick.”

Your eyes go wide, jaw dropping, and you shove his arm. “After you gave me all that sass!”

“I’ve seen the movie,” he tells you, chuckling as you start to shake your head. “I didn’t say I liked it.”

You purse your lips, squinting at him. “Whatever you say, Charlie.”

“Charlie?” he repeats, brow creasing. “That’s the girl’s name, isn’t it?”

You slip your arm through his, bumping your hip against his. “It is, but Maverick gets the girl in the end, doesn’t he?”

He just stares at you, mouth dropping open. You let out a sly laugh, curling your hand around his bicep like you had in the fun house. He can feel the heat radiating off of you, but despite the unforgiving Texas warmth, he’s glad for it. It stirs something in him, something he hasn’t felt in a long time.

“C’mon, hotshot,” you grin, tugging on his arm. “I’ll win you a teddy bear.”

You spend the rest of the afternoon together. He tells you more than once you should go find your friends, but you’re adamant to stay right by his side, telling him you’re having more fun with him than you’ve ever had with them, and that, “those jerks left me in the fun house to rot, and you saved me, so I’m sticking with you.”

You make good on your promise to win him a teddy bear, proving to be a better shot at him at the game where you throw darts at the board full of balloons. Javier pays for three throws, and you nail every one.

There’s conversation as you meander through the carnival. He learns a bit more about you, offers a bit more about himself. You’d graduated a few years back, couldn’t find anything you truly liked back in Colorado, so you decided to come down South, stay with your aunt and uncle until you could figure it out. You hadn’t yet, you told him, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear and looking down at the bag of cotton candy in your hand (Javier’s treat).

“I’m starting to like Laredo more and more,” you told him, and he could hear the meaning in your tone, see it in the blush that slowly crept into your cheeks, not from the heat, but from something more.

He nods. “Me, too.”

You end up back at the picnic benches, and Javier finds his father in exactly the same spot he left him, a collection of empty beer bottles on the table, surrounded by friends, all chatting away. Your aunt and uncle are apparently among them, both greeting you happily as the pair of you approach.

“There you are!” your aunt calls, smiling as you bend down to peck her cheek, squeezing your uncle’s shoulder. “We were wondering if you got lost somewhere; I was this close to sending out a search party.”

You roll your eyes. “Jenna and Harvey left me in the fun house. I got lost in the mirrors and couldn’t find my way out.” Your aunt looks concerned, patting your hand, and then you look over at Javi, stood by his father’s shoulder. “Javi rescued me.”

“Rescued?” Chucho repeats, craning his neck back to look at Javier. “Aren’t you a regular knight in shining armour.”

“My saviour,” you sing-song, and Javier feels that something stir in him again when you wink at him.

The sun has started to set, the temperature blissfully lowering, and the carnival comes to life further, every inch covered with lights in an instant. There’s a dance floor set up in the middle of the picnic tables, lights strung from stand to stand, and a band starts to play.

You hover by your aunt and uncle, talking animatedly with your aunt, glancing over at Javier every few seconds. He pretends not to notice, toying with the little teddy bear you’d pushed into his hands the moment you won it. “Something to remember me by.”

He already knows he’s not ever going to forget.

The band plays something slow, and couples start to fill the dance floor. Your uncle asks your aunt to join him with a flourish, and Javier hears you giggle as they take to the floor, arm in arm.

Chucho elbows him in the ribs, and when Javier looks at him, he’s jutting his chin towards you. “Ask her to dance.”

Javi starts to protest. “I don’t da—”

“Te pasaste todo el día con ella, Javier,” Chucho returns, lifting a brow. You spent the whole day with her, Javier. Javi sees you glance over, shoot him a smile before turning your gaze away. Chucho continues. “Es una buena chica, de corazón fuerte. Ella podría ser buena para ti. Baila con ella.”

She’s a good kid, strong heart. She could be good for you. Dance with her.

Javi sighs. Chucho is right, he suspects. You could be very good for him.

His dad starts to laugh. “Before I do.”

Rolling his eyes, Javier pushes himself to his feet, rounding the picnic table and coming to stand in front of you. You look up at him slowly, eyes bright and shining. Honestly, where did you even come from? “Dance with me?” he asks, the words stumbling out of his mouth as he holds his hand out to you.

You just grin, pressing your hand into his. “Okay.”

You’re both quiet as he walks you onto the dance floor, the slow song fading into one he actually recognizes. He bites the inside of his cheek as his hand settles at the small of your back, other hand holding yours. Your other rests on his shoulder, toying with the collar of his shirt, and Javi clears his throat. “I had a lot of fun with you today,” he tells you, and you smile back at him.

“I had a lot of fun with you, too.”

“I was wondering,” he starts, and drops his eyes, feeling his ears go bright red. God, why is this so hard? “Wondering if, uh, if you’d want to—”

“Second date?” you supply, raising a brow at him playfully.

Javier’s confused. “Second date?”

“We spent the whole day together,” you tell him, fingers still toying with his collar, “at a carnival. That’s a first date as in my book. So, second date. And just for the record,” you lean up on your toes, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek and whispering in his ear, “the answer is yes.”

—————

javier peña tags: @iamskyereads @ancientbeing10 @saintmurd0ck @woomen23 @plutoneu @pedropascalsx @allfoolsinluv @maddiewinchester @winchestershiresauce @minxsblog @bluestuesday @i-simp-much @trickstersp8 @kirsteng42 @lovesbiggerthanpride @beskarprincessjenny @loonymagizoologist @mashomasho @greeneyedblondie44 @tanzthompson @fiscinthirst @mswarriorbabe80

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#javier peña #javier peña fic #javi peña #narcos #narcos fic #javier peña x you #javier peña x reader #my fics #javi p #beat the heat #javier peña fluff #pedro pascal

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