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#just to try and reduce it a little so it's just like 2-3 months sitting in a steaming dark box sweating and miserable
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i can tell summer has been very hot and annoying to me this year because just seeing snow in the sims is enough to be deeply emotionally moving 
#like it doesn't even look that nice. its just a plain default house with pixelly trees and stuff but literally even seeing reminders#of snow and winter it's just like aAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA i feel like i could cry ghhj#It's like a transcendent experience just to gaze upon digital snow#I feel like I have the opposite of that seasonal affective disorder thing where people get depressed in the winter and are so happy#to see summer and warm weather. for me it's like the second it starts to get warm I am filled with nothing but dread and miserable until#it's finally fall again and ESPECIALLY winter. my only complaint is that I hate being out at night or driving in the dark#or going anywhere and doing anything if it's not daylight. so in the winter when it starts to get dark at like 4pm its super limiting#IF it were reversed where winter had the longest daylight and summer had the shortest then winter would legitimately be the absolute perfect#season in every way. Short days is it's only solitary flaw#Just like longer days/more daylight is summers ONLY positive#I'm sure this is also different for people with central heating and air but for those of us with either zero ac or a tiny little#dinky window ac thats hard to install and uninstall every year and doesnt actually get the whole house and etc. etc. etc.#then it's just like.. idk how I'm supposed to enjoy constant headaches and being drenched in sweat#and unable to sleep half the time because it's 85F INSIDE OF MY ROOM when tryong to get comfortable and being basically unable#to go outside because you feel like you're going to pass out and you have to keep like 5 layers of heat/light blocking curtains up#just to try and reduce it a little so it's just like 2-3 months sitting in a steaming dark box sweating and miserable#And then people are like 'thats why we go on vacation! it's my favorite season because I get to travel away from the heat and go to the rive#r or the coast!' and it's like.. okay.. if it was REALLY a good season then you wouldnt have to travel just to get away from it like hghb#that argument just makes it look bad? 'Summer is good because I can enjoy spending my time escaping the conditions of summer!'#ANYWAY.. i hope cooler weather will finally arrive soon. there are STILL days in the mid-high 80s here... why was is like#87 degrees this afternoon on fucking September 25th .... w h y#I know climate changes is affecting the entire everywhere but it seems to be heating up so quickly on the west coast#If I cant get to the uk or canada or at least back to the northeast US in the next few years I am going to become an evil villain#idk how much longer I can take this before I transform into a rabid beaste#ANYWAY.. as always.. my mood is craving the cold.. craving snow.. I love being cold so much. I used to sneak into the walk in cooler at#daycare when I was a kid legit like cold has just always been so comforting for me. I am not built to be even moderately warm ever at all lo#l... It is so draining and the longer that summer goes on the more intense it is until I'm like crying at sims pictures ghjbj
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alitheakorogane · 1 year
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Freedom's Protection: Please Forgive Me
Summary: Venti tries to visit you while you're still recovering from your injuries and tries to apologize. At the same time, you found out the truth about the Divine Creator from Venti.
This is the sixth part of Mondstadt's storyline for the Reader Protection Squad SAGAU series.
Warning: There are mentions of blood but it's nothing major. Also, there are instances of grammatical errors and incorrect lore because this was written on a whim.
Note: I apologize for the delay, it's been a month or two since I updated this! This draft was been gathering dust for months and decided to add some ideas little by little. To those who are actually waiting for Archon Venti, just be patient, this was cut into parts so this wouldn't be too long for a chapter, I can assure you he will appear in his Archon form in the next chapter (as of this date). I still had to write them, review the next chapter for errors and place some additional ideas.
Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (current), 7
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You woke up with the most pounding headache you had ever felt in your entire life.
You had no clue what happened, as you were still adjusting to the situation you're currently in. With difficulty, you slowly sat up and looked around the place, ignoring the aches and pains you felt, trying not to shake your throbbing head. By the looks of it and the fact that you can smell the lingering scent of disinfectant, it seems that you were placed in some sort of clinic.
You reached your forehead to calm yourself but were surprised to feel some kind of fabric on your head, possibly bandages wrapped on your head.
You were confused as to why you were lying down on a bed in an unfamiliar room when you were supposed on your room. After all, since the pandemic has begun, you're on online modality and you are supposed to be at home right now, playing Genshin or doing something worthwhile to kill some time. You wondered what place you are currently in and why you woke up with a killer headache.
Suddenly the door opened wide, making you nearly jump up off your bed in surprise. A young woman then entered the room, holding a cart full of medical supplies and medicine. By the looks of it, she looks like a nun... a fancy nun who looks like a nurse. You couldn't help but notice how she looks so familiar to you but you couldn't pinpoint what.
As she closed the door behind her, the young woman saw you try to sit up so she rushed to you and abandoned her cart beside her so she could help you get up.
"Thank Barbatos, you are finally awake..." the young nun spoke up as she grabbed a glass of water from the pitcher she had carried. You gratefully received the glass and drank the liquid, feeling the cold water rushing on your parched throat. You were still groggy from being recently awake alongside the throbbing feeling on your head, so your mind was still as blank as a clean slate of paper.
As you focused your sight on the woman in front of you, a plethora of memories regarding your recent escapades in Teyvat suddenly rushed into your mind, causing you to wince over the throbbing pain in your head. The woman, the lovely Deaconess Barbara, noticed your pained expression so she tried to heal you with her Hydro Vision, but it wasn't as effective as you expected it to be. But at least the pain was slightly reduced due to her efforts.
So your unfortunate trau... adventure throughout Tevyat was not a dream after all. It was real as it had been.
"How long have I been asleep?" You groggily asked the young nun as she was preparing to give you some herbal medicine that you assumed the nuns of the Church of Favonius had made them. Of course, they are not as modern as in your time, and had to rely on healing and elemental magic rather than science and technology to cure people in this world.
You then saw her sprinkle some herbs on the glass of purple juice and waved her glowing hand, signaling that she used her Hydro Vision on the drink.
As she had finished preparing the drink, she then sweetly smiled at you as she offered the glass in front of you, "I hope you like it, it's actually Wolfhook juice mixed with some healthy herbs to help you recover. I even made sure that you can't even taste the bitterness of the herbs I freshly plucked a while ago."
You received the drink and looked at it with a hesitant look and a grimace. The young Deaconess had noticed your strange expression so she cutely giggled, "Don't worry, it has no poison on it, I could assure you. After all, I'm a healer by trade."
Then she crossed her arms with her right hand raised in the air as she waved her finger for emphasis, "And to answer your first question, you have been asleep for two weeks. We are even wondering why you slept that long without food or water."
You were flabbergasted as your eyes looked at the nun as if she had grown a second head, and you should have seen your jaw drop if you were in a cartoon, "WHAT?!"
You still can't believe what you have heard, until you remembered how time flies on Teyvat compared to your world and you suspected that even though you were isekai-ed to the fictional world of Teyvat (which is apparently real in some other universe), you were still bound by your world's time.
You found this out when you first came to this world, when you noticed how you can spend days without food or never slept for weeks. After all, according to the game, 24 hours in Teyvat is 24 minutes in yours.
Barbara nodded as her face turned into a serious look, "But of course, I wouldn't be surprised if you do that, but we're still worried. Based on the ancient book our family had treasured for centuries, which was given and written by Lord Barbatos, the Divine Eminence has been gone, probably asleep, for centuries. And you're actually the Cre-"
Suddenly there was a knock on the door, earning a slightly annoyed look from the Deaconess and a curious look on your face, "I'll be right back."
She went to the door and opened it, revealing a tired-looking bard clad in green and gold accents, his cape flowing through a non-existent wind and you were not surprised that he was currently in his mortal bard form. After all, he has an identity to hide.
He seems to be holding a bouquet of fresh Cecilias and a bottle of apple juice in his hands, a well-thought gift that you assumed he possibly stole from Master Diluc's winery basement.
"Ven-Lord Barbatos!" The young Deaconess exclaimed as she bowed gracefully toward the new visitor. You did the flabbergasted look on your face once again, and by the looks of it, you did it a thousand times already ever since you woke up.
The Archon in question, Venti, entered the room, his beautiful face was struck with guilt and self-loathing as he walked towards you and the young nun, who paved way for the Anemo Archon to come inside the room you were in.
"You can call me Venti and you don't need to bow. I am just a regular bard at the moment," he replied to Barbara with a crinkled smile on his young-looking face, as Barbara blushed in embarrassment over her mistake, but you could see the guilt and child-like wonder in her eyes. You can probably guess that she was still thinking about her embarrassing moments with Venti during the Holy Lyre incident.
He then set the apple juice on the tabletop beside your bed, but he looked around for something to put the flowers in. Barbara could notice the bard fidgeting nervously so she offered her help to place the flowers in a vase, her arms now free from medical supplies she had carried a while ago.
Venti thanked the young nun gratefully while giving the flowers and the apple juice to the young woman, who sensed that you needed some time with Venti. She excused herself to grab some nice containers for these beautiful flowers, leaving you and the guilty Archon in the room.
As Barbara was gone, the young Archon was still standing near the door and fidgeting nervously, as his eyes were staring at the ground and his lips quivered as if he was about to cry. You just sat on your bed with your forehead covered in bandages, your eyes looking at him with a sympathetic gaze.
"Just come here beside me, I won't even bite," you teased him, as you patted your right leg in emphasis, signaling him to sit on the chair beside you. The bard hesitated to follow suit, but you made a puppy eye stare at him, complete with a pout, and he then gave up when he saw you still maintaining the look for minutes. He quietly sat on the chair, but he was still bowing his head down, his eyes were still covered under his bangs.
"I'm sorry for hurting you, (Y/N)," the green-clad bard suddenly apologized up to you for the first time since he came here. Your eyes widened as it was the kind of first time seeing Venti nearly breaking up in tears and begging for forgiveness in front of you.
"I...um," you stuttered out, not knowing what to react.
"I know you can't forgive me, I even knew that even my own people can't forgive me for what I have done," he raised his head slightly as his eyes sparkled in unshed tears, "I nearly killed my own people, (Y/N), and I couldn't forgive myself for that. I could have killed lots of innocent people just like what I had done a few centuries ago. I feared that I was starting to become like Decarabian... Worst of all, I could have killed you, even though I know you're not what I have perceived you to be."
You smiled sheepishly as you spoke back, reassuring the bard that you were fine even though there was still a lingering headache caused by his outburst a while ago, "No need to apologize, in fact, I was grateful that you were one of the people who defended me that time! So don't cry, Venti."
The bard just said nothing, as he sniffled with quivered lips, but you could notice the tears started to fall in his blue-green eyes.
"I supposed that you are really involved in the Cataclysm 500 years ago since you said you had experienced killing innocent people a few centuries ago. The Khaenri'ahns, isn't it?"
Venti looked away in shame as he had heard your remarks, making you wince at the words you just released, so you try to salvage the situation, "I don't want to pry, though. I know it's kinda traumatizing for you after all."
To be honest, you never even knew what happened during the Khaenri'ah disaster, as the game was still in the Sumeru patch, and the nation was still mysterious as it was when the game was first released. All you know is the latest dump info about it in the recent patches, where Nahida once said that the six Archons are involved in the Cataclysm, while she was protecting the Irminsul.
"I guess you know all about that, after all, you're the Divine Creator of Teyvat themselves. You were supposed to know as Celestia must have been doing all of this shit in your honor," Venti whispered but you could still hear him, his eyes still looking at the window behind him, "And here I have thought that you're just an imposter."
Your eyes widened once again, for this is the first time you hear him curse, and his tone suddenly filled with a little spite. Also, the words he had said to you made you a little confused, so you asked him with a confused tone, "Why do you say that?"
Venti shook his head with hesitation before he replied to your question, "The blood, you're actually bleeding in your head because you bumped your head to the floor and it actually glittered gold like the legend says. The Divine Creator in the legends of old was supposed to have the blood of pure gold, with constellations shining in their eyes. I dunno about the constellation thing, but the gold blood we had seen coming from you was the legitimate indication that you are really the legendary deity."
"Fortunately, the citizens had been evacuated to safety thanks to the brilliant minds of Acting Grandmaster Jean and Master Diluc, along with other Knights, and that means not everyone knew about you bleeding an aureate color. But even though Bennett and Razor had to carry you to the Cathedral without gaining attention from other people, we need to have someone look at your wounds and protect you while you're still recovering."
You nodded as if you now understood everything, but deep inside, confusion and doubt was still simmering on your mind. You had known your whole life that you were born a regular human, a normal speck among billions, but being the greatest god of Teyvat that can bleed liquid gold? Last time you remembered, your blood was red. You have been in too many blood tests to confirm that.
You theorized that it has something to do with you being isekai-ed to Teyvat. The phenomenon has made your biology change to fit the essence of the game. Then you suddenly remembered how Barbara reacted when she saw Venti.
"But what about you? Based on Barbara's reaction, everyone now knew who you were..."
Venti rubbed his neck with a sheepish look, "Well, it's bound to happen sooner or later, but honestly, I wouldn't expect that I would be revealed while being in an unstable state."
He then smiled brightly but you could see the empty look in his eyes, "But on the bright side, they now gave me free wine and good food to eat for free. But to be honest, I don't really deserve their kindness after what I did as their absentee Archon who suddenly shows up and tries to hurt them."
You nodded again as you looked at your hands which were still clenching on the blanket covering your legs. Since you were just recently conscious after being knocked out for weeks, your memories of the past events were kinda fuzzy.
Yet, you were curious about what happened after you were knocked out, so you asked the bard, causing him to look at you in the eyes, "Can I ask you something?"
Venti nodded as you took a deep breath and the question was now dropped from your lips.
"What happened after I went unconscious?"
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Taglist: @vvyeislazzy, @chocolatekuns, @mmajoko, @jaxielous, @mulandi, @code-roevember, @the-real-fandom-person, @dilucpegg3r, @yoascheeksplayin, @kithewanderingme, @justarandomweeblol, @3there4l, @5sos-wdw, @leyla3x0, @totallyntsarcat, @tartarsaucechi1de, @uchihaeirin, @ello-its-me-ya-boi, @konzumeken, @05aaphrodite, @pix-stuff, @osamu-miya-wife11, @bajifairyy, @valka-230, @thedevioussmirk
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scariercnidaria · 11 months
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another kerapin modern au where lapin is a medieval history professor at a uni and keradin is a financial lawyer who took one of his classes because he was interested in the crusades and he needed a history credit 8 years ago. he ended up dropping the class after a semester and a half at his therapist (pastor) (who just so happened to be a friend of the police officer assigned to the case) polite "suggestion" (restraining order threat), after developing a bit of a psychosexual obsession with lapin and doing a little trolling (targetted harrassment/stalking). in the interim keradin got another therapist (real one) (court mandated) and is on mood stabilisers now but still has not stopped seething about professor cadburys evil woke cultural marxist agenda.
lapin in this scenario is living with amethar in theos Eternal Bachelor Pad. he was living with amethar and caramellina (with reduced rent in exchange for tutoring jet and ruby who are probably like 14 in this scenario [so sorry for de aging them all a little bit i know im committing old men yaoi crimes it just makes slightly more sense this way. itd still be like. lapin 56+, keradin 31, amethar 44, theo ~46, caramellina 49]) until The Divorce (over finanicial disputes - amethars business is crumbling and is bringing caramellindas down with it as she just cant keep funnelling profits from her business into amethars in order to keep it afloat any longer; amethars purported unfaithfulness is not really an issue here because um This is just politics).
theo is trying to find an excuse to kick lapin out without making amethar feel worse about the situation but the only thing he has on him is that hes a bitch and smokes weed outside the laundry room sometimes but its been legalised and anyway lapin is never late on rent cause he has like 700 jobs (on top of being a history professor, lapin also has a side hustle leading bdsm/consent workshops at the library and also moonlights as a professional dom at a local sex club) (he also is still tutoring jet and ruby (for money this time) and has a positive relationship with caramellinda (they bitch about amethar) but she wont let him move back in because she "needs space"). theo thinks they have a weird gay thing going on (and hates it) and lapin is aware that theo thinks this and plays into it (because its funny) (and also hates it)
meanwhile in the keradinosphere, he has been consistently working ~60 hour weeks at his one (1) job at the same law firm for the last 5 years with no (0) promotion. his life is literally: work (10 hours), gym (2 hours), commute (2 hours each way), doomscroll on The App (5 hours), sleep (3 hours) every day forever.
on saturdays he works from home and on sundays he has church and then spends 3 hours sitting on a bench at the park "chilling out" (staring into the distance) (he doesnt own any books) before going to his court mandated weekly therapy session. his apartment is a textbook r/malelivingspace populated with an absolutely obscene collection of anime posters, lifting equipment, nerd shit replica medieval weapons or something and also an ever-rotating cast of Windowsill Plants Of The Month because he cant stop accidentally killing them and bursting into tears. his therapist tells him this is progress and that his drywall & security deposit will thank him
at some point some disaster hits keradin or something and they make him take sometime off work, and strangely without spending 10 hours under high stress bullshit every day + some melatonin he is actually for once in his life able to get more than 3 hours of sleep per night. at the same time, keradins The App experience starts being psy-op'ed by a memepage called xXsugarPlvmF4IRY_ who has infiltrated his niche internet tradbulb /fit/ microculture and begun flooding it with """ironic""" grecian gay sex "RETVRN" propaganda. this is a big hit as far as engagement among terminally online perpetually enraged historypilled incel-adjacent men such as keradin, and 6 hours of seething at ancient femboys combined with 8 hours of sleep and his brain unshrivelling somewhat results in him starting to have Gay Sex Dreams, which metastatises into him having Regular Gay Thoughts in the conscious world. he is too mortified to tell his pastor (because it is a liberal church and hes worried hell be supported) so he tells his therapist instead in hopes that they will recommend conversion therapy.
spoiler alert they dont. they encourage him to test the waters at his own pace by passing him a flyer for a consent workshop at the library later in the week in hopes that it will help him Get Comfortable With Sex As A Concept. keradin shoves the flyer in his sock drawer hoping to ignore it but is so haunted that he stays up all night doing some inspired googling and eventually learns about bdsm and is like woah! just like bulbo from my self-flagellation! he tries his best to resist the urge but he cant stop thinking about it and hes found he quite likes getting 8 hours of sleep and this New Stress is compromising that. eventually he looks up the number for a local sex club and books an hour and a half-- the following day, so he doesnt have time to chicken out-- with "father candi" (priest roleplay) ($120 out of pocket) (he tries not to think about having to face his actual pastor after this).
keradin goes there and surprise surprise its lapin.
keradin thinks he seems a little bit familiar but he cant quite put his finger on from where... so he discards the thought, and lapin straight up doesnt recognise him either so it all goes ahead.
lapin asks about boundaries and keradin is like "what are boundaries" so lapin spends the first hour and 15 minutes explaining boundaries and trying to get keradin to come up with something, anything dear bulb please. eventually they settle on a very rudimentary list and lapins like. ok that took ages we have 15 minutes left if you want to try and scene and keradin made it this far he isnt going to leave without at least trying gay sex It Would Kill Him. so they do an incredibly light d/s scene involving a confession booth or something and keradin comes within 2 minutes and then hits lapin with the old "if by my life or death i can protect you i shall". and lapin is like. um ok. thats nice. your time is up tho do u want a warm wet towel and a glass of water. ok. cool (<- his ass is clocking out immediately)
keradin immediately goes home and books another time slot precisely one month to the hour after the last one. during that month he goes back to work, is assigned to do some donkey work noone else wanna do on some fraud investigation around some local failing businesses, replaces his windowsill plant again, spends marginally less time on The App and somehow manages to look his pastor in the eye. he doesnt tell his therapist about the experience but they do ask how the consent workshop went and keradin lies and said it was good it was interesting and they ask like is that it so he badly paraphrases something lapin said about boundaries to get them off his back. they give him a flyer for the next one and keradin still doesnt go.
the month passes and he goes back and has another epic gay sex moment with father candi. and it becomes a regular occurance. every month, on the dot, like clockwork. for a while keradin is fucking crushed under the pressure of trying to come up with a non-gaysex reason for why he has to leave work before 7pm for once every month on the exact same day but nobody actually cares enough to ask him. and hes relaxed. hes not on The App. his windowsill plant lives for 2 months this time. so its just. like. good. its just a good situation.
...maybe too good.
[EXTREMELY LOUD BULBIAN GUILT SFX]
lapin, largely unaware of this, thinks the whole thing is pretty amusing. he knows that keradin works some stuffy office job and has some major religious hangups but he mostly just wants to be beat up a little and then praised and he always walks out 5gorillion % less stressed than he came in and its like ok. lapin can do that. its literally the least weird thing anyones ever asked him to do in a scene. yeah keradin is hot but mostly lapin wants to put him under a microscope and study him like a bug. its like having a favourite customer. he doesnt really think about it outside of when he knows its coming up its literally not that deep.
besides, he has other things to worry about like more pressingly: that amethar is being investigated by the IRS for being bad at running a business and if he goes to prison then theres no way theo will let him keep staying at his flat (the novelty of playing along with theos "weird gay thing" suspicions wore off, like, so fucking quick). he could go stay with his old scene partner "sugar plum mommy" but her whole place looks like serial experiments lain and he will not be able to grade papers over the sound of her bumping grindcore out a subwoofer she stole from a nightclub 4 years ago for 13 hours straight while she joshua citarellas the target audience for europa universalis into getting gayer than they already were.
meanwhile keradin literally cannot stop thinking about hot gay sex gay religious old man sex in your area click here right now and he feels crazy wazy and conflicted and awful about it and on the verge of getting psychosexually obsessed again. he decides to bring it up with his therapist finally because what are they gonna do? court mandate that he gets More Therapy? they end up being like ok yknow what would be really good for this actually is if you Went to the consent workshop ive been telling you about all this time. it would definitely help. its at the library its free. theres one in 30 minutes. ill drive you there (maybe not precisely).
either way. keradin goes. and guess whose fucking running it.
keradin stays but sits in the back and only feels slightly awkward but for once its like. no this is. it would be a good thing if father candi saw that i was here. i am listening and learning.
and he sits there.
in the back of the library.
set out like a lecture hall.
listening and learning.
and it slowly dawns on him exactly why "father candi" seemed so familiar.
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priscila-runs · 6 months
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It’s 8PM and I’m sitting in bed with a stuffy nose. I was about to cry a few moments ago until I remembered that I’ve been meaning to make a list of all the energy gels/food I’ve been trying out during every one of my long runs.
During my long run workouts, I need to replenish around 1700 calories (more or less) which means I should consume several packets of these lil goopy things in the span of 2-3 hours. Come marathon day, I will probably need to carry 8 of fuel sources and so I’ve been shopping around for months to find something that gives me a good balance of minimal GI issues (vom, the runs, burps) and maximum portability.
No verdict yet on what I will pick for race day, but here they are, in no particular order, my fueling gels/foods:
1. stinger waffles: while I started off hating these, they have a way of winning you over. It’s nice that they lead to very minimal burping, and better yet, the burps don’t make you gag the way the gels do. Their gigantic size and clumsy shape means I need to find a good carrying solution.
2. Huma strawberry gels: these have been my favorite although on my most recent run they gave me the gags. I just need plenty of water to flush down. I don’t know much about this company other than they claim to put chia seeds in their gels which gives you lots of energy. This pretty much checks out! I take them every 40 min. They have a similar texture to and taste almost like, if you’re familiar with Mexican candy, Lucas Pelucas (minus the spicy flavor). This is probably due to their high sodium content. Very, dare I say, fun to eat.
3. Ucan Edge gels: these were the first gels I tried. They’re not technically gel, instead they use some sort of cornstarch mixture which they claim is better than what other products typically use as the base for gels thereby reducing GI issues. Ironically, I got very burrrrpy when I tried them. They were also the first time I tried gels so I had no idea what to prepare for or expect. I may give them another try now that I have mastered the art of eating and running simultaneously.
4. Huma lemonade (caffeinated) gel: taking this was like inducing a panic attack? No good. I should say that my body is really sensitive to caffeine so i don’t typically consume caffeine other than in my morning cup of coffee. Now that I’ve tried a caffeinated gel, I’m going to stay far away. A few weeks ago, I received a HUMA sampler pack in the mail which included one gel pack with 2x caffeine lol. Just looking at it made me panic so I threw her out.
5. Honey stinger energy gel: very thick and sweet, and they don’t taste great. Water is essential to wash it down. The nice thing about these is how small they are. Very portable.
If I try any other gels I will add them to the list. But overall, I like the waffles and the salty strawberry gels. I stand by what I said months ago which is that all of this is such a show. I think a little pack of stroopwaffles, baggies of gushers, packs of honey would do the job. But here we are. 8:50PM. Good night. 🌙
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a1savannahs · 1 year
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PAWsitive Introductions: 6 Tips for Bringing a New Dog into Your Cat's Life
Are you introducing a new puppy or dog into your home and not sure how your existing cat or cats will react? Welcoming a new friend so close to your feline family can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be!
With commitment, patience and plenty of love, you can make the transition of bringing a new dog into their lives as smooth and anxiety-free as possible. Here are some tips for helping both species adjust to each other during this exciting time.
1. Gradual Introduction
As with any new relationship, it's usually best to go slow. Keep initial interaction brief, and use other strategies to get each pet used to one another. For example, try swapping blankets or toys so they can sniff and investigate without the pressure of direct interaction.
From there, you can gradually build up to face-to-face encounters, always monitoring their behavior and providing positive reinforcement for good behavior. With patience and persistence, you can create a harmonious household where all of your furry friends can coexist happily.
2. Positive Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement can go a long way when it comes to training pets. Whether you have a rambunctious puppy or a finicky feline, rewarding them with treats for appropriate behavior can be an effective way to encourage good habits. Giving treats for things like sitting on command or using their litter box can make training fun for both you and your furry friend.
Not only does positive reinforcement help build a stronger bond between you and your pet, but it also enhances their overall well-being. So next time your cat uses the scratching post instead of your couch or your dog listens to your command to stay, don't forget to reward them with a tasty treat!
3. Give Each Pet Their Own Space
Pets are like family members, and just like siblings, they may sometimes quarrel over resources like food, toys, or even sleeping areas. Creating separate spaces can provide a sense of safety for your new pup and cat, and reduces the competition or jealousy that comes from sharing resources.
This can go beyond the introduction phase, and can generally make your cat and dog get along better. Separate eating, sleeping, and play areas can really help to prevent unnecessary conflicts during the introduction phase.
4. Consider using CBD pet products
In recent years, both scientific and anecdotal evidence supporting CBD for dogs has emerged, while becoming more and more popular for cats too. A naturally derived supplement from the hemp plant, it has been shown to have calming effects on animals, especially during anxiety-inducing situations like this. We do recommend speaking with your veterinarian, however, before administering any new supplement to your beloved pets.
5. Supervise Interactions
As much as we love our pets, they can sometimes get a little too rambunctious when interacting with other animals. That's why it's important to supervise these interactions and have someone present to step in if things start to get out of hand. Whether it's a new puppy meeting an older dog or two cats trying to establish dominance, having a watchful eye can make all the difference.
By redirecting any negative behavior before it escalates, we can help our furry friends develop positive socialization skills and ensure that everyone stays safe and happy. So the next time your pets interact, make sure you've got a trusted companion by your side to help keep the peace.
6. Patience is Key
Introducing a new pet into your home can be an exciting time, but patience is key when it comes to the introduction process. This is especially true for cats and dogs, as they have vastly different personalities and ways of communicating. It's important to recognize that it may take several weeks or even months before your pets grow comfortable around each other.
While it may seem like a slow process, it's crucial to allow them the time and space they need to form a bond on their own terms. In the end, the wait will be worth it as you witness the joy of watching your furry family members cuddle up together and playfully chase each other around the house.
In summary
While introducing your pets to each other can be a challenge, it can be an even more rewarding experience. With the right approach, patience and positive reinforcement it is possible for cats and dogs to develop a cordial relationship. Remember to start slow by allowing them to get used to each other’s scents before introducing face-to-face contact.
Give each pet their own space with enough of the resources they need so that they do not feel threatened or have to compete for resources. Finally, always supervise interactions until you are sure your pets have grown comfortable spending time together. If done successfully, your pets can learn to get along in a happy and safe environment – creating more harmony in your home!
Click on the links in the article to see where it takes you.
Until our next cat convo
-MARTIN
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omar16nissen · 2 years
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Get Fit Today To Much better Your Way Of Life The next day
Do you consider physical fitness is actually a girl's thing? Think again. Exercise may help you obtain a fantastic entire body, are living much longer and also have health and well being. Consider several hours every week to exercise. The following tips will allow you to learn what kind of workouts you could do, what gear you will need and everything else you need to know. Make sure your training session shoes are comfy. You're will be pressing your system and the final thing you will need is added tenderness or perhaps a physical injury, as you didn't take the time to get shoes which fit properly. Your footwear don't need to be high-priced, just be sure just to walk close to inside them a little, to ensure they fit your feet effectively. Place your routines. You don't ought to exercise at the same time, if it's a hardship on you. In the event you split up your workouts into four 15 moment pieces, at the conclusion of the morning, you've received an hour or so in. Occasionally, that works better for those who can't sit down still for the hr and fitness. Chat a stroll every evening. Walking is reduced impact and burns up more calorie consumption. It is a good way to start up a work out routine for weight-loss first-timers. It is not only great to lose weight but it is also beneficial to your current health and well being. To prevent accidents, make sure you dress in boots that are right for your physical fitness action along with your toes. There's more to choosing footwear than having the proper size. Ft . and ankles can change one of the ways or the other, where there are shoes or boots which will help place them in-line effectively, and helps to steer clear of soreness all through your body. Lunges are an outstanding workout that actually works out your leg and thigh muscle groups. To do them, merely stay together with your kept lower leg slightly in the front along with your right lower-leg a little within the again. Then toned frontward together with your kept leg somewhat bent. Then stay backup. Do this for every single lower body ten times for 3 units every leg. To ride your cycle better process with a single lower body. Driving 1-legged forces you to pay attention to great pedaling. Set each legs on the pedals, but let one particular go limp. At the end of your stroke pull up. This will better disperse the work stress to your main lower-leg muscle tissues. In order to acquire your working to a higher level, incorporate weight loads and strength training with your day-to-day work out. A number of studies have shown that joggers who put in typical training for strength for a minimum of 2 months can easily minimize typically 35 moments off their very best time. Chin-ups can be a challenging physical exercise, but there are ways to make them easier. Modifying your means of thinking can assist you tremendously. Try and believe that your elbows are yanking downward when you are carrying out a chin-up. Altering your strategy for pondering will assist make carrying out chin-ups much easier and you'll have the capacity to do a lot more. Do your arm workouts in solitude. Isolating every person left arm can cause the particular arm to perform far more operate than should you do equally forearms together. For instance, when conducting shoulder blades presses do a single established with the correct left arm and after that one particular along with your left. The final results will likely be much better by doing each left arm in solitude. Increase your hockey dribbling capabilities by rehearsing dribbling with safety gloves. Natural leather or fabric safety gloves perform best. The glove's fullness leads to your disposal to become more understanding of touch to enable you to have much better hands power over a golf ball once the gloves are pulled from your hands. You can also attain soccer ball managing expertise using this method. When chasing your workout goals, one particular great idea to adhere to is usually to exhale powerfully on top of the activity when performing belly ab crunches. This will make your stomach muscles job even harder, which will provide you with a better high quality abdominal workout. Be sure you try this every single time you do crunches, and you will probably notice a change. When you really need shoes or boots for working out, make sure that they can fit correctly. Go footwear buying in the evening time. When it is past due within the day time, the feet will be the biggest. When attempting about the shoes, be sure that you can wiggle your toes so you have regarding a one half in . of place involving the lengthiest toe and the sneaker. When beginning to work out, get a everyday regiment going. After you are aware how to accomplish every thing and what muscles to work through, try out enhancing the pace of your respective workout. By that time you ought to be doing your workouts faster, which factors your muscles to operate tougher and enhance strength. Do dips to increase the amount of strength that you have with your triceps. Start by choosing a good bench. Then set the two your hands backwards on the table together with your elbows dealing with up. Then dip only you are able to for as long as you can. To build true energy, be sure to exercising your muscle groups in a number of techniques. Staying with 1 type of physical exercise for a muscles (like unit function only) can enhance your durability in terms of that process, but can in fact diminish you with regards to alternative activities your physique is not really used to. One of the main motives people fail to continue exercise applications is monotony. There exists practically nothing as unexciting as walking or sprinting about the same fitness treadmill machine, every single day. The key for most people is variety of exercising. By way of example, a couple weeks of riding might be combined with weekly of operating, followed by every week of taking part in tennis games. Input it in opposite. Should you usually figure out on a treadmill machine or elliptical exercise machine, attempt reversing your stride to boost your muscles. On account of your system is just not used to the change movements, the system functions diverse muscle groups to result in you to continue to work harder. Gradually put a few minutes of opposite movements into each and every exercise to completely feel the burn off and discover final results. Look at the advantages and disadvantages of health and fitness. The disadvantages: It takes several of your time and requires determination at first. The benefits: You might have fun, improve your fitness and reside for a longer time. When you can make an effort, using up exercise is clearly a very important thing you could possibly do.
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consultingrevenue · 2 years
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There are 3 Value Statements. 1 is vital for a client and I bet you aren't using it.
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Selling the value of what you do is one of the most challenging areas for many Consultants and Advisers.
 There is so much to consider:
 Who is my target market?
What is the proposition that I am offering?
How do I get meetings (Zoom's!) with busy business people?
I’m looking for ways to sell higher and deeper into organisations
How do I break through the ‘SMADD’ disease that clients and prospects have – that’s ‘Sales Message Attention Deficit Disorder’!
How do I get more referrals?
How do I prove our worth to an organisation so we don’t have to compete on price?
How do I get clients to value what we have just done for them?
 The good news is that I am about to share with you 3 core components of value that you can use in your business to help you with these business challenges and more.
 The best news is that very few consultants or advisers work on the outer ring of the value bullseye I'm about to share with you, let alone excel at the inner ring.
 Let me introduce you to the ‘Value Bullseye’:
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 1) Value Hypothesis:
 The value hypothesis is the outer ring of value. This is when you are on the outside of an organisation trying to get in, breaking into new divisions, or trying to create a new project within an existing client.
Here you must use research to determine whether you can potentially create value for them. You don’t know for sure yet because you do not know enough about the organization or the particular business initiative or the business pain that the company is facing.
You have a good idea that you can but you need to determine the specifics.
And if you'd like a little 'tune up' on the elements of value in a B2B sale then Bain have a great research piece exploring 40 separate value creators here
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   This is not to be confused with an ‘elevator pitch’ which can come across as a trite generalization of what you do.
This is a very specific hypothesis of what value you can specifically add to that organization.
An example could go like this:
 “John, you should be capable of reducing your stock holding of your entire widget range by 60% through the ability to use our demand forecasting software to know precisely what inventory is required to within a 10% tolerance rate. This will require an investment of £320,000. Which could be returned within 11 months. We recently implemented a similar solution at Major Corp PLC who achieved a 70% reduction and payback within 9 months.”
 At the very early stages of a discussion, this is only a hypothesis because you do not know enough about their business. 
Without the right kind of conversation, at the right level, and therefore validation it is only a value hypothesis.
You will rarely win business selling on a value hypothesis.
 It is only the start of the process and without the questioning and investigating skills needed to get validation from the client and prospect then it will never be a true value proposition.
 2) Value proposition:
 This is where your client or prospect, is describing how their business operates, where the dysfunction and costs reside and what their vision is for an alternative way of doing things.  
 This is what you use to map your capabilities to what you discover to articulate your value proposition.
Executives in large organisations have given feedback that few, if any proposals, make them sit up and go:
 “Wow, I really love what these guys are proposing”
 ….and very few if any actually propose anything.
 More they are no more than page after page of price lists and capability statements.
  Rarely is there a personalised story that tells:
 the names of stakeholders
the challenges they face
the goals they own
an overview of how those tasks and goals will be affected by a new solution.
 Senior stakeholders want specifics of the value hypothesis turned into the reality of what can and will happen specifically to their business. 
 Asked why they feel they rarely see this type of value proposition executives answered...
 that consultants are too intent on getting their message across without asking the questions needed to identify the core basis of a value proposition.
  3) Value Statement:
 The value statement is the single most important part of the whole process and yet very few people do it.
 When done correctly this is a huge opportunity for you.
 One of the core principles of sales has always been trust.  
 People don’t buy from people they like, they buy from people they trust.
 One of the greatest ways to build long-lasting trust and credibility is to show you have delivered on what you have said you would.
 This is even more important when selling to large organisations because research shows that senior executives generally get involved at the project scope phase (value hypothesis) and post project review (value statement).
  The value statement is simply going back and proving the value of what you said you would achieve:
“John, we said we might be able to reduce the stock holding of your entire widget range by 60% and now the system has been live for 3 months we have seen a reduction of 75% with a prediction tolerance of 7% . Your investment of £320,000 is on track for full payback in 9 months and not the 11 months we originally planned.”
If you can continually prove the value of what you have done then your credibility will go through the roof.
In effect, you are closing the sales loop or Consulting loop.
So my challenge to you then is
How well do you rate on the three stages of the value bullseye?
-----------------
Please put this into practice and let me know the results in the comments.
 And, if you are enjoying this newsletter, the best compliment you could pay me would be to share it with one person who you think would benefit from it. 
 Also - if you don't want to leave notifications of future episodes of this newsletter to the Linkedin algorithm then you can get good old-fashioned email notifications if you subscribe here. I recommend you do :-) -
 If you want me to personally coach you on this strategy to make sure it gets done then schedule a coaching call here: https://consultingrevenue.com/coaching
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idy-ll-ique · 3 years
Text
They Always Do.
Pairing: Sebastian Stan x F!Reader
Genre: Fluff, Angst
Warnings: insecurity
Requested: Nope
Summary: "you're not worried? he seems to be spending a lot of time with her..." "no" "why not?" "because i braced myself for this months ago. they leave, they always do. it's nothing new"
Author's Note: Hiya peeps! The first part of this fic is fluff, angst in the middle, fluff again at the end. Nothing too extreme, just a little one-shot. Enjoy!
---
"Sebastian, Y/N, so glad you made it!" Susan Downey smiled warmly at the couple. "Of course, we couldn't miss the 56th birthday of the one and only Iron Man," Sebastian chuckled, walking into the house with his girlfriend. He put his arm around Y/N, observing the place. "Guys! Hello!" they heard.
"Mr Downey," Y/N greeted politely, turning to smile at the birthday boy. "You must be the girlfriend," he grinned, pulling her into a bear hug. "Yep, that's me." Then he turned to Sebastian, frowning. "Why didn't you introduce her to everyone sooner?" Y/N laughed as Sebastian rubbed the back of his neck, shrugging.
"Don't ask me, she was the one too chicken to meet you!" Sebastian defended himself, narrowing his eyes at his girlfriend. She snorted as Robert let go of her, returning to Sebastian's side. "I guess that's on me," she sighed dramatically, making both men laugh. "Well, enjoy yourselves! Have a drink, have fun!"
With that, he walked away. Sebastian noticed a server holding up a tray of drinks and called him over. He handed a glass to Y/N and took one for himself, taking a sip. "Thanks for bringing me over, honey," Y/N smiled and he turned to her, scoffing. "You're my girlfriend! God knows they were dying to meet you," he laughed, giving her a kiss on the forehead.
With that they went around the place, talking to new people, old friends and making new acquaintances. Y/N had a lot of fun meeting Sebastian's co-stars, and especially loved Elizabeth Olsen. Y/N was a huge Marvel fan and one of her favorite works of the MCU was WandaVision. Y/N had fangirled a bit, not gonna lie.
Like that passed an hour. After her feet started hurting, Sebastian decided it was time for the woman to sit down, have a drink and chill out. "Okay doll, here's a glass of champagne, if you need anything at all, don't hesitate to call me, okay? I'm going there, with Chris and Anthony. I love you." She smiled when he gave her a quick kiss.
"I love you too, and don't worry, I'll find you easy. This place isn't that big."
"I heard that!"
Laughing at her antics, Sebastian gave his girlfriend one more loving kiss before prancing out of the room in search of his best friends, Chris Evans and Anthony Mackie. Y/N relaxed on the comfortable couch with a sigh, sipping on her drink. It all began a year ago, very cheesily, might I add.
Y/N was at her favourite coffee shop when he had walked in. Immediately, fans had him surrounded, but she didn't go over to him. She stayed seated, looking at him, wishing she could go over but she knew how stressful fan interactions were for celebrities. Sebastian had, unfortunately, caught her eye and she had turned beet red, burying her face in her laptop.
He had found her absolutely winsome and after the crowd around him had dissipated, he had wandered over to her table and introduced himself. She was flustered around him, which made him tingly inside. And he had blurted out, "Wanna meet here next Saturday at 7?" They kept their promise and that's how they started dating.
A year ago.
That was a healthy amount of time.
Right?
Y/N couldn't help but have her doubts. All her previous relationships were pathetic failures, where the guy usually got bored of her within 3 months. But now, she had braced herself for rejection (which she knew deep down wasn't coming but it pays to be careful). "Hey."
Startled, she turned to see a kinda young, kinda drunk woman sitting next to her, looking up at her with doe eyes. "Hi," Y/N smiled back politely. "You're— you're the woman!" She had started slurring her words, which made Y/N frown a bit. "I'm… what?" she blinked. "The girl! Who came over with Sebastian Stan, you're his girlfriend!" The woman laughed loudly.
A few heads turned towards them but quickly looked away when they realized that the girl was drunk. "Yep, that's me. Why?" Y/N was now amused. As they talked, she didn't notice Sebastian walking into the room. He had come back to ask Y/N something but had paused in his tracks when he saw her frowning at the young, drunk woman.
Then he inched closer, unabashedly eavesdropping on her conversation. "Yep, saw him spending a lot of time with Ms Lizzie Olsen. If he was mine, girl, I would take that man home and show him who truly belongs to him, if you know what I mean," the girl winked and a sad smile bloomed on Y/N's face. "They're good friends, of course they're gonna spend time together."
Sebastian smiled at her answer. He knew she was different, she didn't get easily jealous and he liked that, since it reduced the number of arguments they had by a lot. His jealousy? Well, that's a story for another time… "You don't mind? He seems to be spending a lot of time with her…" the drunk woman frowned at Y/N.
Well, she was drunk, she wouldn't remember this night anyway, so maybe… it would be good to get some things off her chest.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I braced myself for this months ago. They leave, they always do. It's nothing new," Y/N admitted, swirling the champagne that was swimming in her half-full glass. Sebastian's heart shattered into a million pieces at her words. Before the words were even completely out of her mouth, tears had started stinging in his eyes.
"Y/N?" Startled yet again, Y/N turned to see Sebastian smiling at her. "Seb! Hi, thought you were with your friends!" she grinned at him. "I— uh— something came up, we need to go," he spoke quietly, fidgeting with his hands. Y/N's brows furrowed but she got up, collecting her coat and her purse.
"Can we at least say Happy Birthday to Robert?"
"Yeah, yeah of course." Sebastian managed a weak smile when she gave him a kiss on the cheek, going off to find Robert and Susan. She told them something urgent came up and they allowed the couple to leave. "Seb, let's go!" He followed her out of the house, meekly trailing behind her, the words she said ringing in his ears.
They leave, they always do. It's nothing new.
How had this woman, practically a Goddess, had such bad experiences that she was forced to think that way? He was never going to leave her, having found the perfect woman at last. He got into the driver's seat of his car, and the car ride home was quiet. Y/N was getting anxious. What happened to him? Did something happen at the party?
Once they were home, Sebastian couldn't help himself. "S—" Y/N yelped when he crushed her to his body, hugging her tightly. He took both of them to their shared bedroom, sat down on the edge of the bed, pulled her on his lap and buried his face in her chest, breaking down. "Seb, honey, what's wrong?" Y/N cooed, getting insanely paranoid.
The crying didn't stop for 15 minutes. Y/N, in a futile attempt to get him to stop, was running a hand through his hair, whispering sweet nothings in his ear, holding him close. When he took in a shuddering breath, he pulled away and finally looked Y/N in her eyes. "Now are you going to tell me what happened?" she smiled gently.
He took her hand, pressing a kiss to her wrist. "I'm sorry," he croaked out and Y/N frowned. "Sorry for what?" He shook his head, burying his face back in his safe haven. Except, Y/N wasn't having any of that. She pulled him away and dropped a soft kiss to his forehead. "Tell me what happened."
He took in another shaky breath.
"I… I heard you."
"Heard me?" Y/N blinked. "Yes. You were… you were talking to that girl on the couch and she was— she was talking about how I seem to be spending a lot of time with Lizzie and you— you said you didn't mind but she kept on insisting and you said they leave. they always do. I'm not going to leave you, Y/N, I promise. You're one of the best things that has ever happened to me and I'm not letting you go."
Oh.
"Seb," Y/N whispered, her own eyes now filled to the brim with tears. "Don't cry," he chuckled with a watery voice, wiping her tears off. "It's just— all my relationships before you… the guys were assholes. They always left 2-3 months in. I— I wasn't taking any chances with you, you know… plus, you're kind of a famous guy and you can get so many better women—"
He didn't want to hear it. Better than Y/N? Impossible. He pressed his lips to her, immediately deepening the kiss when she reciprocated. "I promise you, I cannot do any better than you." Y/N smiled shyly at his words and his heart filled with happiness. "Let's go to sleep."
Both of them tired from the crying, they got undressed without trying any funny business. Y/N put on her usual pair of shorts and one of Sebastian's huge t-shirts, getting into the bed where a boxer-clad Sebastian already lay. He pulled her into his arms and she rested her head on his chest, draping an arm around his taut abdomen.
"Comfy?"
"Yeah, you?"
"Yeah. Goodnight, doll, I love you."
"I love you too, Seb. Goodnight."
"...Never gonna leave you."
"Not a chance."
---
A/N: Thanks for reading! Leave a like if you liked it!
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sirthisisa-wendys · 3 years
Text
Rules: Geto Suguru x Fem!Reader
synopsis: You two have one rule when it comes to your hookups: don't fall in love. So what happens when one of you breaks that rule? (based on a anon request that Tumblr ATE UP)
wc: 1.8k
tw: NSFW
masterlist
You're riding him as fast as you can, hands cupping your breasts and tweaking your nipples.
"God, this feels so damn good," Suguru hisses beneath you, eyes holding yours captive. His hand moves away from your left breast, sliding down your stomach and resting on your clit.
"Mmm... Su..." you breathe, your hands pressed on either side of him as your hips slam into his. "That's perfect."
Panting, sweating messes. That's what you're both reduced to every Friday evening when he comes through your door and fucks you until you can't walk. And he leaves before sun-up, just as you ask, placing the spare key beneath the mat at the door after he locks up behind himself.
"You gonna cum soon?" Suguru wonders, but not because he wants to rush you. No, you look down in those onyx eyes and see his desire to withhold himself from cumming for just a little bit longer. He wants to feel your walls rock against his length for as long as he can before giving himself up to you. Suguru loves it when you spasm around his cock - and loves it when you squirt even more - but every single time, he cums right after you. It's not because he's weak; no, that's never been the case.
Your pleasure means so much to him. And when he delivers you the best, toe-curling orgasm of the week, you can't help but let yourself indulge in the sensations and ride it out as well.
But the first caveat to your little arrangement was Rule #1: that neither of you could fall in love. The moment one of you catches feelings, it's over. And you were starting to see that it could very well be Suguru that catches feelings, just like all of the ones who came before him.
The only difference between them and this black-haired devil beneath you was that he'd not only lasted a full six months, but he was the only one that could truly satisfy you. You never felt like Suguru used you as a fuck toy or masturbated into your body just for the feeling of a warm cunt surrounding his twitching cock. Your pleasure meant something to him, even if he left before daylight.
Those are your rules, however.
Soft lips bring you back to the present, and a gentle scrape of the teeth against the flesh of your breast makes you moan loudly.
"Suguru, I--"
"Hush, y/n," he mutters, tongue darting out to flick your nipple. "I'm not done with you yet."
Rule #2: no pet names. And he'd stuck to it, only calling you by your name as he fucked you into the couch, or moaned your name as you came around his length.
"Fuck..." you breathe as he sucks on your breasts over and over again, switching between the two at his leisure. And still, he's bouncing you on his dick, making you shudder.
Rule #3: Condoms. Every. Single. Time. And Suguru never came empty-handed.
You'd gotten rid of men the first time they came over without a condom and blamed it on their brain, even though you kept a stash hidden in the bottom cabinet of the bathroom. Those were reserved for hookups with men who weren't on your schedule or for when you used your strap-on; not for "forgetful" people.
"Oh, shit," you breathe. "I think I'm going to cum..." Suguru nods, pressing you against his chest and speeding up his strokes.
God damn, he's intuitive, you think as he brings you to the edge and tips you over like only he can. When you shudder and whimper in his ear, Suguru grunts softly, hips stuttering as he cums right behind you. It's always been like this, you muse, kissing the man deeply and with feeling. It's never going to change.
_____________________________________________________________
Change comes when you first step into the high-end department store, and you spot a silk gold and black tie hanging on a display.
"Suguru would like that," you think aloud, imaging him tying it on just like he takes them off before wrapping them around your h-- You smack your cheek, waking yourself up from the semi-lewd fantasy. You forget all about the occurrence until you pass by the cologne department, and catch a whiff of a familiar scent.
"Miss," you ask, stopping in front of an associate. "What's that scent?" When the lady rattles off some famous cologne brand, you inhale the fresh scent again, suddenly transported to the time you buried your face in Suguru's neck and smelled his hair for the first time. "Thank you," you quickly mutter, and walk away from the counter as fast as you can. Your hands begin to shake as you place the shoes you just bought on, looking at them in the store mirror right as the words 'maybe I should ask Suguru how they look' rolls through your mind.
Your assigned stylist gives you a frightened glance as you growl and take the shoes off, stuffing them back into the box in her hands as you hiss, "I'll take them."
What the hell is happening to me? you wonder as you drive home impatiently, honking at every person who minorly inconveniences you as you speed down the highway. It's not even Friday, but thrice you've thought about asking Suguru to come over and spend time with you. Three times!
You drop your keys onto the counter and sit on your couch, burying your hands in your face as you think, think, think...
Cancel with Ryoma. Cancel with Aizen. Cancel, cancel, cancel...
You shoot off various text messages in a short amount of time, cutting the other five men out of the schedule. You can find others to fit into Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday if you need to. You just need it to be Friday and fast.
"Hello?" the soft voice murmurs when you dial - picked up on the second ring.
"Hey," you whisper nervously. "Um, Monday canceled and I'm feeling a little stressed. Are you free tonight?" Some papers shift around in the background, and you bite your lip as you wait for an answer. It seems like forever until you hear:
"Yeah, let me finish up at the office. I'll be there around seven, alright?"
"Alright." You hang up just as a rush of adrenaline pumps through you, making you shower and dress with vigor. You even put on the new shoes and a nice set of lingerie to match. All for Suguru. You tie a robe over yourself and sit at your computer - it's six-fifteen - to do some work as a distraction. And it proves fruitful because when the doorbell rings, it's seven o'clock.
You straighten your robe and walk to the door, fixing your hair before opening it up and grinning at Suguru, who is still dressed in his slacks and a button-down shirt. The top button is open slightly and his sleeves are bunched up around his elbows, but he offers you his sweet smile as well, stepping into the house with ease.
"You look really nice. Are those new shoes?" he asks, tossing his jacket over the back of the couch and turning back to you.
"Why yes, they are," you sing, walking toward him slowly, leisurely. "Do you like them?"
"Do you care?" Suguru wonders, cupping your chin and kissing your lips gently. "I'm going to take them off of you in a second anyways."
"You have all night to think about that," you tease, tugging him toward your bedroom. "But I'd prefer you let me wear them while you fuck me." Suguru lets out a surprised chuckle, following you into the room and shutting the door behind him.
But even after he's fucked you senseless, you can't sleep. Your earlier thoughts haunt you and a twinge of guilt eats at your brain as you lay against a sleeping Su, head resting on his chest as he holds you close. Even when you see the clock hours change from ten to eleven, to twelve to three am, you can't help but dread the moment when he would awake and leave you alone in the bedroom.
And when six o'clock comes, his watch buzzes on the nightstand, shaking him from his hazy sleep.
Your fingers curl into his side, and Suguru groans, rubbing his eyes.
"You awake?" he whispers into the darkness, but you don't reply, hoping he would just lay there for a few minutes more. "Y/n? Your heart is beating a mile a minute."
"So?"
"So..." He shifts up, petting your hair gently. "I think we need to talk." Your heart plummets into your stomach, and you try not to react sharply, but Suguru clears his throat as he turns on the bedside lamp. You look up into his black eyes, and he blinks in the light, biting his bottom lip at the sight of you fully awake. "Why did you call me over here and not anyone else?" You fumble for an answer, but thinking of a lie just wouldn't do. Not for Suguru. "Aren't you breaking your rule?"
"No," you counter, sitting up straight. "I'm not falling in love with you. Your dick, maybe. But not you." The look in his eyes tells you that he knows you're lying. You hang your head, fighting back an apology.
"We should call this off if that's the case."
"No," you whisper, shaking your head. "I don't want that."
"I don't want that either," Suguru murmurs, tilting your chin up with his fingers. "But what happens if you go back to..." You sigh, looking away. "I'm a jealous lover, y/n. I'm not the kind to play around with."
"And I won't," you reply, head snapping back to meet his eyes. "I..." you exhale shakily. "I couldn't stop thinking about you when I was at Bergdorf's." The admission doesn't shock Suguru, but he does clasp his hands together. "Everything reminded me of you, and I--" You break off, hands shaking. "I'm scared."
"Have you discussed this with anyone else?" The question implies the obvious, and you look to your phone, opening it up and letting him see the contacts "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday" all with the same message:
Sorry, I have to cancel our weekly rendevous. Hope you understand.
"Am I saved as Friday?" Suguru chuckles, but you scroll down a little more, and his name pops up: Suguru Geto.
He huffs a laugh, shaking his head.
"I'm the special one, huh?" You turn his head toward you, leaning in to kiss him on the lips once.
"Please, let me break my rules for you." Suguru groans, leaning into your touch and kissing your palm in response.
"Let me start right now then, babe. And don't worry, we'll take it one rule at a time." You giggle as he tosses your phone aside and leans into you, kissing you just like he did before and switching off the light as daybreak comes.
_____________________________________________________________
TAGLIST: @missbonekitty @wack0-genius @thankuary @r-i-m-f-009 @sunfloweroranges @leanne-tamashi @rein-icu @brownskinnedgirll @savantsoulfinder @chilledlucifer @kontentious @flare-on @meena-in-a-nutshell @falling-through-pages @naoyasdarling @vabybizzle
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Continued from this post, Part 3 of my discussion of Essek Thelyss in the context of real-world espionage. This time: what happens to espionage assets in the long run? Do they break contact, and why? What might have been in store for Essek?
At the treaty meeting Essek tells Ludinus to his face that he wants no further contact with the Assembly, not even to learn what the Assembly discovers via their own beacon. He’s far from the first asset to try to sever their relationship, and it ends in one of three ways: they don’t manage to break contact, they break contact but voluntarily return, or (rarest of all) they end the relationship permanently. 
Most attempts don’t go beyond option 1, because intelligence agencies are not in the business of respecting their assets’ choices. Handlers are skilled in keeping the upper hand in their asset relationships and will take any further opportunity to gain leverage by compromising the asset. For instance they’ll often pay for information even if the asset hasn’t requested it, because money changing hands makes it far harder for an asset to frame their activities positively to their own side if they attempt to confess (”You expect us to believe they were blackmailing you when you got $10,000 to hand over the secret manual?” etc.) And when push comes to shove most people aren’t willing to accept the severe punishments for espionage. An asset’s threat to confess is more likely a negotiating ploy than a serious option.
Some assets, especially nervous or ego-driven ones, get the carrot: the KGB did a strong line in awarding secret medals to convince them they were doing important, well-regarded work and that the KGB would protect them - not an empty reassurance, as highly-placed moles like Aldrich Ames warranted elaborate ops involving double and triple agents to avert suspicions. And some assets get the stick: the handler tightens the screws using whatever leverage they’ve gained, implies that they’re already “too far in to go back,” or gives some time for those who were blackmailed into spying to think about the consequences of exposure.[1]
Those who get as far as option two, breaking it off and later returning, are usually driven away by fear but back by finances. Fantasy spies have all sorts of motives but in real life the majority are in it for the money. Assets, as you might imagine, make bad choices. About half start selling secrets just to stave off massive debt from overspending and poor financial decisions (the rest feel underpaid.) So even if these assets stop temporarily, the circumstances that drove them to espionage in the first place are still very much present. In these cases all a handler has to do is shrug and say, “You know where to find us.” Infamous FBI mole Robert Hanssen broke off contact with his Russian handlers when the Soviet Union collapsed, fearing he might get outed in the chaos, but linked back up with them just 10 months later when, surprise surprise, he needed some cash.
And then there are the rare handful who stop completely. There’s a bit of survivor(?) bias here because anyone who passes along secrets, breaks off the relationship before being caught, and manages to get away with it is by definition someone we don’t know about. Those who do manage to break contact long-term are usually able to do so because they left the situation that gave them access to interesting secrets and therefore the controlling agency determined they were no longer a useful resource and not worth pursuing. But even if an asset stops working for an agency, they’re far from forgotten - and far from off the hook. Names and evidence of their espionage would be kept on file for potential use as blackmail, leverage in state-to-state negotiations, or expendable material to prove bona fides in ops involving fake defectors or triple agents. A surprising number of spies are caught/outed years after their espionage ended.
Very few assets permanently sever their espionage relationships the hard way: making a genuine confession and accepting punishment. But it’s not unheard-of, especially if the espionage was brief and the asset believes the damage can be repaired. In 1989 Army signals analyst Michael Peri disappeared from his post in West Germany along with a portable computer containing numerous classified documents. Eleven days later he returned to his previous post with the computer and voluntarily confessed to the theft and sort-of defection to East Germany. When interrogated, Peri - who had been a model soldier until that point - said he felt overworked and underappreciated by his superiors, though he couldn’t entirely explain his decisions either to leave or to return (a sexy female Russian agent might also have been involved). He received a 30-year sentence.
Marine Clayton Lonetree, a guard stationed at the US Embassy in Moscow in 1985, was blackmailed over an affair to hand over details on the embassy compound for a year, but his conscience finally got the better of him and he confessed in late 1986. Being a Marine he faced the very real prospect of death by firing squad, but the court martial ended up giving him a 30-year sentence. It was later reduced to 15 after the Marine Corps Commandant wrote a letter to the Navy Secretary on his behalf attributing the young Marine’s actions not to treason or greed but to loneliness, naivety, and poor judgement.[2]
Going back to Essek’s case, he’s already in the minority of espionage assets because he doesn’t want money in return for the secrets he passes along; though the knowledge the Assembly promises him in return fulfills a similar desire, Essek doesn’t need that knowledge to pay off the equivalent of debt or to maintain his lifestyle. He has no pressures at home that force him to continue spying. With the beacons returned, the fall guys in place, and their tracks seemingly covered, he tells Ludinus that all he wants is to be rid of the entire affair. That rules out option one (he sincerely means to cut the Assembly off) and option two (he won’t be driven back by need.) 
Essek is also in an unusual position in that the worst of the damage he caused is repairable - just return the beacons.[3] A secret, once compromised, can’t be un-compromised. If an asset hands over a cipher machine they can’t fix the situation by stealing the cipher machine back; the foreign agency they sold it to has already studied the machine and learned its secrets, meaning it’s now effectively useless. But returning the beacons restores what the Kryn lost. While keeping dunamancy secret gives the Kryn a tactical edge, and I’m sure the Dynasty would prefer to keep the magical soulstones of their elite hidden from their long-time rival, the beacons don’t need to be secret to work. Essek therefore has a much better chance than most to simply repair the damage, cut off his handlers, and try to forget the whole affair ever happened. He might even think that, now that the Assembly has their own beacon, they’ll have no further use for him and will just leave him alone.
But from the Cerberus Assembly's perspective, this fruit still has plenty of juice in it and they risk nothing by continuing to squeeze. Now that they have their own beacon Essek’s knowledge becomes even more valuable. He has access to hundreds of years of dunamantic spellcrafting - and more importantly the rite of consecution, since the Assembly were probably after beacons in the first place to make themselves immortal. If Essek is caught, it’s treason for him, but the Assembly doesn’t suffer; they were doing it for the good of the Empire, learning about dunamancy to help the war effort. So if he refuses to keep spying voluntarily for the Assembly, they’ll just have to find another way to motivate him. 
As part of evaluating Essek before recruitment, Assembly operatives would have noted that he’s, well, highly motivated to save his own skin. Ludinus’ goal therefore becomes to make Essek see further espionage as the only way to stay alive. So instead of confronting Essek then and there, Ludinus shrugs and goes, “Okay. Sure.” Then he activates the Volstruckers, maybe leaks a little info to the Dynasty about a traitor in their midst, and sets up Essek to stew in fear, feeling isolated and attacked from both sides - targeted by the Assembly for his defiance, under suspicion from the Dynasty, unable to ask for help because of his crimes. Ludinus sits back and waits for Essek to re-establish contact on his own. Of course Ludinus didn’t know that the M9 had confronted Essek and gotten him to confess, making a return to spying impossible even if he tried.
While Essek’s motives revolve around ego, frustration, and rebellion, his situation is more like those of people who end up defecting because they’re unable to pursue their careers or live as they want to back home. He has virtually no social/family ties to leave behind, no loyalty to Dynasty authority, and no religious fervor to defend the Luxon, while the Assembly promises him the company of like minds and free rein in his experiments. Assuming no intervention by the M9 I think Essek would have ended up defecting to the Cerberus Assembly. If he did it early enough in the story he might have even joined the Volstruckers to complete the narrative foil transformation.
If the crew had confronted him at the treaty but not offered mercy I think he would have defected purely out of fear, thinking the Assembly were the only people who could protect him from both the Dynasty and the M9. He was already on edge watching the guy he'd set up to take the fall getting walked away in chains and with the Assembly's Wind of Aeons ship right there it would be the ideal time to make the move. Assuming the treaty confrontation went as it did (the crew makes him confess but lets him live) but the M9 hadn’t shown up in Eiselcross, Essek would likely have fled the outpost and gone into hiding in a bid to outrun his crimes (and probably gotten caught two weeks later given how awful he was at being “Dezrain Thane.”)
Essek is far from the first recruited asset to regret what they did even as they kept doing it. Those who can sell out their nation and not feel even a pang of guilt are thankfully thin on the ground. Most start off doing what seems to be a favor for a friend - or accepting a favor from a friend who wants to help with their “financial difficulties” - and end up so deep they can’t see any way forward other than to keep handing over secrets. He’s one more in a long line of those who compromised information out of frustration, especially through the appeal to shared professional interests (that’s how industrial assets tend to be recruited.)
But he’s also in a much better place to make up for it than most assets. Since he primarily compromised property, not secrets, returning said property can (somewhat, mostly) repair the damage done, which goes a long way towards buying leniency from the powers that be. And now I’m realizing that this post actually needs one final part, which is: how do you try someone for espionage, and should you charge them with it in the first place?
[1]  While spy dramas love sexy blackmail, and handlers will happily collect it to leverage against a balky asset, it works far less often in reality as a main reason for espionage. Social penalties for extramarital affairs pale before actual legal penalties like the death sentence for treason. On the other hand, those with foreign relatives are sometimes coerced by threats against those relatives.
[2]  Lonetree’s case for leniency got a boost in 1994 when Aldrich Ames was finally caught and some serious breaches of embassy security that had been attributed to Lonetree were found to be Ames’ work instead. In 1996 Lonetree was released after having served 9 years total.
[3] Although I did just think of a really messed-up Cerberus Assembly plan: consecute a handful of completely loyal Volstruckers, kill them, and send the beacons back so said agents will be reborn in the Dynasty and work to undermine it from within. How fucked up would that be?? Campaign 3 plot hook anyone?
(This accidentally turned into a series on Essek & IRL espionage: Parts 1, 2, 3, 4)
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sickstarlight · 3 years
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different causes of sickness
a friend had asked me for some advice on how I write differences between different types of sickness or reasons someone could get sick! so I typed up a reference of details I try to keep in mind in my writing. not by any means meant to be comprehensive but these are some of the more common things I see used or use myself!
eta: if you found this interesting or useful consider tipping me on kofi (/jallyns) or getting a $5 commission so I can fix my computer
drinking related:
drank too much: everyone’s threshold for this is going to be different obvs both in terms of how much alcohol they need and how wasted they’re able/willing to be before getting sick. also ime you have to be QUITE drunk for being drunk alone to make you sick, to the point where it may be dangerous, so personally I like this combined with something else - motion, something not sitting right in their stomach, etc - but it can be good otherwise too. probably the first thing the character will notice or be aware of if they have any warning is that being drunk stops feeling good at this point. they might feel flushed and/or clammy and will probably feel dizzy, their mouth might feel really dry depending on what they’ve been drinking. this is probably also the point where they recognize they have limited control of their body, feet might feel too heavy to move or head might be spinning, may feel very clumsy and suddenly become AWARE of it.
they might FEEL motion sick even if they’re not moving too because their motion sense is fucked at this point. might feel heavy but this is likely to be a whole body heaviness NOT just their stomach (though they might be very aware of it); might or might not be able to place the feeling of nausea. maybe burping but it depends on what they’ve been drinking (carbonated or not, mixed with soda, etc) and what else they ate! they MIGHT feel okay after throwing up but their friend probably shouldn’t let them drink anymore even if they do.
also this might come with very little warning, they may go from feeling fine and giggling with their friends to suddenly feeling Wrong to hurling all over the floor in a matter of minutes or even a few seconds. if they have friends with them who have been with them drunk regularly, depending on who’s more sober their friends might notice they look unsteady and/or queasy before they realize they don’t feel well.
other good things here: alcohol that tastes so strong it’s all they can taste when they throw it back up, feeling dizzy but not placing it as nauseous right away, feeling like their head is too heavy to lift. reeling on their feet when a drink hits them too hard and feeling the whole room spin.
drank too quickly - more likely to come on SUPER suddenly, but they’ll probably recognize it right away (unless they’ve already been drinking) because the alcohol hasn’t had time to get to their brain yet. so with gradually drinking more than they should they will get drunk first and THEN get sick, but if they drink too much too fast right off the bat they’ll start to feel some effects probably but they’ll also know pretty quick that their drinks aren’t gonna stay down.
hung over - throwing up from a hangover is a combination of a buildup of alcohol byproducts in the stomach, and the stomach lining being irritated + producing more acid. a headache is also a significant part of the misery of a hangover but (unlike a migraine, where the pain directly leads to vomiting) isn’t necessarily related to any queasiness, so the headache might get worse with sound, light, or movement, but their stomach likely won’t. they might feel a little like they have heartburn (or actually GET some acid reflux) from acid buildup, and their stomach might be sore or feel too warm as well as being upset. 
the only real cure for a hangover is slow sips of clear fluids and bland foods to help settle the stomach and reduce the acid, but lots of people swear by other things - certain kinds of foods, drinking more alcohol, etc, so that’s something you can have fun with! depending on how much alcohol is still in their bloodstream, they might also still feel a little drunk/tipsy and have some issues with their balance, thinking clearly, etc, which could make the nausea worse; also some people might always get sick from hangovers but others might not so consider how your character deals with that! They also might wake up sick, or feel sick right away, or might not feel sick at all until trying to get some fluids or take meds for their headache (especially since ibuprofen/aspirin also irritate the stomach lining).
food related:
ate too much -  character will likely feel bloated and tight, food might feel heavy in their stomach. depending on what they’re stuffed with there might be burping esp if there’s a lot of gas in their stomach, or a lot of gagging and unproductive dry heaving if it’s very heavy/solid. might need to drink something to get anything up, or have help from someone, or might just take a while to finally puke as their overstuffed stomach struggles to break down their meal enough that their stretched out muscles can get anything moving. any firm pressure on the stomach is gonna feel worse and likely to make them gag even if they’re not ready to throw up yet. maybe weak strained tummy noises as they try to digest. (side note if a lot of their stomach contents are liquid like soup, drinks, etc they’ll throw that up a lot faster; also a good excuse to discuss sloshing/jostling/swirling around in their tummy)
ate too quickly - ties in well to eating too much since it’s easy eating in a hurry to not realize you’re full until it’s already a little late - eating or drinking anything too fast can also make some people’s stomachs hurt or get upset in general, and is an easy way to end up swallowing a lot of air which can obviously lead to feeling much more full and tight with lots of burping that could easily bring up more!
ate something bad - this could be rotten, poorly prepared, or just something that upsets their stomach but what it is might change the feeling of it so there’s definitely variety here. probably also feels heavy but more localized, like they can feel the specific food they ate and where it’s settled in their stomach. might also be painful and cause cramping and tenderness. imo nausea from this is more likely to come in waves and recede but might also be more readily recognizable as nausea. some things I like in this scenario - character thinking about what they ate and feeling worse, imagining they can feel individual parts of their food in their stomach, burping and tasting what they ate (possibly noticing the taste having gone sour / etc in their stomach). good place to describe stuff like how greasy smt was/feeling the grease coating their stomach, or otherwise talk about the specific way the food feels in their tummy and how much it makes them want to puke. unlike with eating too much, they’re likely not to feel better until ALL of the offending food is out of their stomach (while with overeating, they may throw up a few times and then start to feel better once there’s less pressure on their stomach).
general notes - if something the character ate is what’s making them feel sick, a lot of focus on hyperawareness of how much food is in their stomach/how heavy it feels are gonna be big sensory things (as well as maybe taste, pressure/tightness, stomach contents moving around)
illness
appendicitis - if you’re looking for something more serious than food poisoning or a stomach bug, this is sure to end up with a character in the hospital as they’ll need surgery! the big distinguishing thing is pain, which will be sharp and located on the lower right side of the abdomen (or may start near the navel and move down). any kind of exertion or sudden muscle movement can make the pain worse. if the character or one of their caretakers is knowledgeable and suspects appendicitis, they might do the rebound test, which causes pain to get drastically worse AFTER placing pressure on the area and releasing it. sickness usually begins after the pain starts and may get worse when something exacerbates the pain as well.
in addition to nausea and vomiting, other symptoms can include fever, bloating, and bowel issues (either diarrhea or constipation), which will usually get worse over the course of the infection. if the character is treated soon enough (within 2-3 days) they’ll usually feel better after surgery and recover relatively quickly, but if they’re not seen by a doctor and the appendix ruptures they’ll likely need more extensive treatment including antibiotics and a longer hospital stay to make sure they won’t develop sepsis. (in some cases, symptoms could seem to suddenly go away when the appendix ruptures because it releases pressure, but worse symptoms would rapidly develop!)
rarely, there’s also such thing as chronic appendicitis, where milder symptoms may appear and recede over the course of weeks or months before developing into acute appendicitis and prompting surgery.
coughs, colds, strep, etc - can all cause vomiting as secondary symptoms thanks to postnasal drip, throat irritation, or forceful coughing. serious enough throat irritation or buildup of mucus can make a character gag, or feel the need to, and so can coughing up phlegm from their chest. if they’re sniffly and have their sinuses draining down the back of their throat, they may end up swallowing a lot of mucus too which can make them feel nauseous as their stomach gets full of sticky snot. I think these work best as emeto scenarios for characters with weak gag reflexes!
food poisoning - separate from eating something bad because food poisoning from a virus or bacteria is a longer lasting illness with a later onset; the character may first get sick within a few hours of eating the contaminated food, or it may incubate and make them sick within a day or two. like stomach flu (also frequently foodborne) many types can cause both vomiting and diarrhea, but symptoms vary depending on specific cause. characters also might puke early on and then develop more symptoms and become sicker later as bacteria multiply and produce toxins, and may take several days to recover from the later onset where they could have persistent nausea, or might feel okay and even regain their appetite if they don’t try to eat  but be unable to keep much or any food down. most types of food poisoning also cause pain, swelling, bloating, and cramping, usually in the lower part of the stomach and upper intestines, so those are other symptoms your character might have to deal with in addition to puking!
stomach flu - character may be feverish or achy as well as nauseous while their body fights the infection, which is an additional great source of hurt/comfort fuel! can cause both vomiting and diarrhea, so even food they manage to keep down might still sting them later. because it directly causes irritation and inflammation in the stomach and lower GI tract, character might throw up frequently or after every meal, or might be able to handle clear fluids but no solids, or some bland foods but nothing with significant sugar, spices, or fat. they also might only be able to drink or eat in very small amounts without bringing it back up. their stomach may hurt and feel like it’s cramping even if they haven’t tried to eat, and they may get only very brief relief of nausea after each time they’re sick because it reduces the immediate pressure on the stomach but not the inflammation; they might feel nauseous constantly or end up dry heaving even when there’s nothing in their stomach, and might need to keep a basin of some kind nearby for a couple of days since they can’t be sure if they’re done. dehydration is a common complication and can cause headaches, weakness, and dizziness in addition to other symptoms! the most common stomach virus, norovirus, is also EXTREMELY contagious, and virus particles can aerosolize and scatter widely during vomiting, so the caretaker may not be safe either.
injury, other medical
anaesthesia - people react to this in all kinds of ways but getting sick is really common so it can be combined with just about any reaction. character might be disoriented or dizzy and have trouble with balance, walking, other coordinated movement. some might be really confused and have trouble communicating their ideas clearly or say things that might not make any sense to other characters. from the anaesthetized character’s perspective though they’re  probably making total sense so it can also be fun to include their muddled thought process and what they’re feeling or thinking that they express in weird ways! other characters might feel pretty clearheaded and be able to communicate clearly though. they might feel “light” or like they're floating, or very  detached from their body; this may cause more dizziness and vertigo. they may also be cold they might feel nauseous right away and persistently from the anaesthetic irritating their stomach, or might only get sick from moving that makes the “floating” feeling worse. general anaesthetic is usually used for surgery so if they aren’t immediately nauseous the character can also wake up really hungry from fasting before, so eating too much or too quickly might also make them realize they’re nauseous and end up with them puking.
concussion - there are a lot of reasons someone might get sick from a concussion, but the most common (non threatening) are vertigo / vestibular disturbance and headaches! the character might  get nauseous or throw up when they turn too quickly or stand up too fast if their balance center is disrupted, or might have head pain similar to a migraine that makes them sick and can have similar sensitivities. mild concussions without other complications can still last up to a week after the injury, but the character should get sick less and less often as time goes on, so the most intense phase for sickness caused by a concussion is shortly after it happens! Frequently repeated or prolonged bouts of vomiting are often signs of more serious injury though, so if you’re keeping it mild they should probably be brief and a little spaced out even early on, though a character might have intermittent nausea between them. other symptoms of concussion are important too here - big ones are short term amnesia, loss of coordination, difficulty concentrating, and confusion. they might also hear ringing in their ears or sometimes have visual disturbances like in migraines! 
migraine - the pain from migraines can directly cause vomiting, especially when it’s at its peak, but it might also be caused by aura effects on balance and vision! (some people get tunnel vision or “kaleidoscope” vision with migraines, some just get dizzy, some people even hallucinate strong smells or tastes which could also lead to nausea!) for some people, the headache gets better after throwing up, but not everyone; they also might or might not feel the buildup of nausea or persistent nausea throughout their migraine, or alternately might retch or throw up almost IMMEDIATELY when any trigger makes their pain worse (common triggers are bright or flashing light, loud or high pitched sounds, strong smells, and sudden movement, but people have lots of different triggers so they can be a lot of things!) many people can’t chase off a migraine until after they’ve slept so you might also include them trying to get comfortable only to have their head start hurting worse or their stomach get upset and make them scramble to get over the trash bin.
motion sickness - anyone can get motion sick but some people are more prone to it than others! so you might have characters who always get motion sick in any moving vehicle, or who are okay in cars but can’t travel on water, or who only get sick with intense movement like on roller coasters - or characters who aren’t prone to motion sickness in general, but discover they get it when fatigued, anxious, etc. different characters might also experience it differently - for some there may be a cycle of gradual buildup of nausea until it becomes unbearable and they throw up, while for others it might come on suddenly, or they might have low level nausea throughout a trip but only puke when there’s a more sudden or violent movement. some people also only get motion sick after a period of time, and might be fine on short trips but get sick if they’re traveling longer.
other notes: many people who get carsick don’t get sick if they’re driving! being able to get fresh air also helps many people, as well as focusing on the horizon if possible. some people prone to motion sickness will also experience the opposite when sitting still but watching movement onscreen like in a video game. likewise, reading or looking at a still object for long while moving can trigger motion sickness, even in people who are less prone to it otherwise.
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amor-immortalem · 3 years
Text
You’re Important to Me part 4
Part 1 | part 2| part 3
Genre: angst/comfort
———————————————————————-
Chat: Troublemaker (affectionate)
Lucifer: Come home immediately. We need to talk.
Mammon: bout what? If its one of your shitty punishments. Think I’ll pass.
Lucifer rested his head on his desk letting out a groan. The second-born was frustrating him to no end. However, the first-born supposes he’s made him this way from everything he’s put him through. Picking up the pill bottle, he rolled it in his hand and watched as the contents slid from one side to the other. He placed them in a locked door in his desk as he thought about how they had been this close to losing yet another sibling.
A soft rapping on the office door pulled his attention back to the present.
“Enter,” he sat up straight as the guest joined him. It was Levi.
“Do you think Mammon still loves us. I-I’ve really been thinking about what’s been going on….. about our family. What if he leaves us? We lost Lilith. I-I don’t want to lose him too…” The Avatar of Envy’s voice quaked. Back when they were angels they were once close- almost even closer than the twins.
“I’m sure he does, Levi.” His response was hollow words. If Lucifer was being honest, he didn’t really know how Mammon felt about them currently. If he were the one in Mammon’s shoes, he would absolutely despise his brothers.“He’s currently refusing to come home, however. It’s likely that he knows what went on today and that’s why he broke up with the human we all know he cherishes so deeply. He didn’t want us to know.”
“I knew it! He hates us and never wants to see our faces again.”
“Leviathan, I never said that.” Lucifer’s voice was stern. “Please calm down before you throw yourself into a panic attack. He has to come home eventually, and we’ll all talk then- if not tonight then definitely tomorrow morning. For now, maybe you should go play one of your games. If you’d like I could join you to help take your mind off this whole debacle.”
Levi nodded his head slowly. “ I would appreciate that….. Actually, I had made this rpg specifically to play-test with Mammon but if you wanted to….we could play it together.”
“That’s a wonderful idea, Levi.”
Finally deciding to make his way home, Mammon pushed open the heavy doors to the house. The last thing he wanted to do was face his brothers right now. He already anticipated their reactions. The teasing and mocking that would be thrown his way- there wasn’t any escape for him now, was there? At least no one was here at the moment- that much he could be greatful for.
As he made his way up to his room, the demon made sure to avoid the places he knew his brothers would frequent at this time of night. Once there, he slipped inside and tossed the bag of clothes he had modeled in today from the top of of the stairs into the walk in closet with practiced precision. When he turned his head, he saw her small, blurry form just lying there on the couch.
“Why’re you in here? Ya got a room if your own dontcha?”
“I just….. sorry. I pushed too hard, didn’t I?” Arella’s voice sounded hurt. “It was just that I thought this might be the only place I could go and you’re brothers wouldn’t come looking for me. I’m still really angry with them. Not that they would anyway, not with how I screamed and yelled at them earlier...”
“And Lucifer didn’t kill ya on the spot? Its a miracle you’re alive after that.” He let out a chuckle. “I can’t tell if you’re incredibly brave or just plain dumb.”
“Maybe both…..” Arella sighed, “I… um… I’ll go back to my room now.” As she stood and made her up the staircase, he could feel the sadness radiating off of their pact mark.
“‘Rella, wait.” He grabbed her by the arm. “Don’t go. I don’t mind if ya stay…. We should talk about earlier, okay?”
He watched as she nodded a small frown on her face. Now that he could see her more clearly, he noticed the puffy eyes and tear tacks streaked down her cheeks. Now he just felt worse.
“I was thinkin’ real hard about this morning and I’m sorry for what I said earlier.” He started, “I don’t… I don’t really think we should break up…. I know you were just trying to help. That you were worried and scared for me.”
“I was…. Can I tell you something?“ she asks as he nods. “Seven years ago, I lost my little brother and then six months later my mother to suicide. One to cyber bullying, the other because she was so consumed with grief from the loss of a child that she saw no way to go on…. Do you know what was like….. to find their bodies? To realize you could have helped them if you had just paid attention and seen the warning signs? It still affects me to this day….They were the only blood related family I had left until I had found a new family here in the Devildom with you and your brothers. A-and then when you were saying all those things last night, I- I flashed back to the night I had found my brother but instead of him it was you and I-I-”
Mammon pulled the human tight against his chest in what could have been a bone crushing hug if he wasn’t careful and she buried her face in his chest. Her body shook with with muffled sobs.
“I’m sorry. I was running my mouth without thinking ‘bout what that might do to everyone- worst of all you….” He leaned down, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “I wont say things like that ever again. No matter how I’m feelin’.
He walked her back towards the bed, letting her get in as he went to go change into some more comfortable clothes for sleeping. He joined her in bed shortly after, pulling her close as he wiped the stray tears from his cheeks. Arella moved closer so she could lay her head on his chest listening to his heartbeat, her crying reduce to quiet sniffles and hiccups by this point.
“Ya know, I think you just wasted your breath when you were yellin’ at my brothers earlier…. I think to them, I’ll just always be the family screw up. I’m already dreading the teasing I’ll get tomorrow at breakfast….”
“It had to be done, though. I think I managed to set them all straight….If you could have seen the look on their faces when I lost control of my temper and fried all the electronics in the common room or when I commanded Asmo to sit so hard he crashed face first into the floor….”
“Wait…you did what?” He quirked an eyebrow as he stared down at her before breaking into a soft laugh, “Ya really are something else, Hon, ya know that? I’ve never met someone who would fight for me like this before- who would call my brothers out on their bullshit.”
“Only because I know you don’t deserve to be treated this way…. You… you deserve good things and to be treated well by the people who you love most.” She yawned as she stretched out a little more in his embrace. “And because I love you and I would be lost if anything were to happen to you.” Her eyes were starting to slip closed.
“I love you too, babe.” The demon hummed as he started to card his fingers through her hair. As soon as he was sure she was out like a light he pressed his lips to the crown of her heard once more.
“Thank you for being here on my worst days, for being my little ray of sunshine down here in the dark.”
Once the morning came around, most of Mammon’s brothers gathered in the common room. They were awaiting the entrance of the Avatar of Greed as it was nearly breakfast time.
Lucifer had figured Mammon would be avoiding them as if they had the plague, so he instructed Beel to drag him in here by any means necessary. They all knew he was successful when they heard Mammon let out a surprised yelp and the clattering of a bowl against the floor.
“C’mon, Beel, Let me go!”
“Not until we all talk.”
“Talk? What’s there to talk about? I didn’t do nothin’ so let me go!’
Both demons soon entered the dining room as the sixth-born sat his older on the couch facing all of them, holding him down by his shoulders so Mammon couldn’t escape despite how he squirmed and tried to wiggle his way out of Beel’s grasp.
“Mammon, stop struggling.” It was a request from eldest, a chance to cooperate. “We all have some words we’d like to say to you.”
Mammon froze at that statement. Here it came: all the ridicule and teasing. He wanted to run. He was the second strongest of them, maybe if he tried hard enough, he could shake his little brother off and get away. What good would that do him though? His brothers would just corner him later anyway so maybe it was just best to get it over with now.
He looked towards his brothers’ blurry figures, a million different thoughts rushing his head. He couldn’t tell their expressions from this distance but they had to be smiling, right- ready to laugh at him any minute now. His body tensed as he braced himself for the harsh sting of their words.
“Mammon, we’re sorry,” Asmo was the first to speak up after a short moment of silence, “We love you so much even though we suck at showing it.”
“You did so much for us after we fell,- you still do a lot for us even now,” the seventh-born picked his head up from the table,“And I don’t think we ever told you how much we all appreciate it…. If it weren’t for you, I don’t even think we would still be a family… don’t forget, you’re the one who kept us all in line when Lucifer would lock himself away in his office back then.”
“I know we act like you’re just a burden to us,” Satan started, “but I think all of us would agree that life would be so boring without you here.”
“Yeah, I-I mean who else would take the time to play games with me when I’m down in the dumps?” Levi asked.
“Or risk getting strung up from the chandelier to get me the food that I want from the human world?” Beel cut in.
“Or compliment me on my outfit or hair no matter what form I choose to take for the day. Or is always there to hype me up when I’m having a bad day? Hell, you even gave up the position of DevilStyle’s cover model just for me! Honestly I think you might be the best big brother out there.”
“We know about all the things you’ve done in secret for us- the things you don’t take credit for,” Lucifer smiled softly, “I’m proud to call you my brother for that. We love you and while you may make some poor life choices from time to time, our lives just wouldn’t be the same without you.”
Mammon looks at them in a daze. Was this really happening? His brothers were…. Apologizing? To him of all people? This had to be a dream. There was no reality in which his brothers really cared about him. The second-born pinched the skin on his arm. That’s what you did to check if you were dreaming, right?
Harder, harder he pinched until the spot was sure to bruise. It wasn’t until Beelzebub placed his hand over his that Mammon realized he wasn’t dreaming. This was reality.
Tears welled in his eyes as he processed the words he just heard. One tear fell down his cheek soon followed by another then another until eventually the demon let out a sob.
“Th-This ain’t real! It ain’t!” The second-born yelled, his body shaking as he sobbed harder. “I’m still dreamin’. I-I gotta be! None of this is real…”
His brothers moved to embrace him- first the sixth-born, then the eldest and then the youngest. One by one, the rest of their brothers followed suit until the seven of them all somehow managed to end up on the floor in one giant cuddle pile, his face pressed into Lucifers as they allowed their brother to cry out all the tears he’d been bottling up for all these centuries.
It seemed they were going to be there a while- Good thing Lucifer had called Diavolo to tell him they wouldn’t be attending RAD today. That this was a more important matter to attend to.
“This stops today, Lucifer announced to his siblings once Mammon had stopped crying. “From today on, the six of us will make a conscious effort to change the ways we’ve talk to and treated you.”
“And if we get too out of hand, feel free to put us in our place,” Belphegor chuckled. “We can be blockheads from time to time.”
“The point is,” Asmodeus sighed as he hugged his brother a little tighter, “We all messed up big time. We just want to make you feel loved and appreciated again- like you’re an important part of this family.”
“We lost Lilith.” It was Beel’s turn to speak. “We’re not losing you too.”
Mammon smiled at his brothers’ words. Finally, he had thought, finally they were showing their true feelings to him after all these centuries.
“Thanks guys…..” the demon’s voice sounded cracked and strained from all the crying he had done earlier. “Even after everything that’s happened I wouldn’t trade y’all for the world. I love you guys.”
A chorus of ‘I love you too’s sounded from the group of demons as another family hug commenced. Eventually, as hours passed, one by one, they had all fallen asleep, each with a smile on their face and still huddled together.
Arella eventually found them in that state. With a soft smile she grabbed the blanket they often used for movie night and draped it over them heading back to her room so she wouldn’t disturb them.
———————————————————————-
Taglist: @gallantys
Masterlist 2
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katsukavi · 3 years
Text
"OH SHIT!" part 2
"I WANT AN ABORTION." Sung Jin-Woo said abruptly, tapping his foot up and down from the agitation. "I'm afraid that's not possible. The baby is far too healthy and because of the amount of health potions you drank, it will be almost indestructible by our means. It even accelerated its growth.."
Sung Jin-Woo didn't think that far into it that night. He gave the baby's father an icy glare and took out his dagger from his inventory. "You can't abort it by your means huh..." he locked (M/n)'s hand onto the hilt and pointed it at his stomach.
"(M/n)! Stab me!"
"HELL NO!"
"Why not? We're already at the hospital, so you could just rush me to the emergency room when I start bleeding," Jin-Woo explained, but that still didn't make a drop of sense to (L/n) (M/n). "NOT IN A MILLION YEARS WILL I STAB YOU!"
"Fine. I'll stab myself."
"No!"
The doctor's face paled at the S-Rank hunter's lack of care for his unborn baby's life—even attempting to stab himself. Luckily, (L/n) (M/n) was there to stop him before the blade could touch his skin.
"Jin-Woo! Come on, you could just hold on to it until you give birth. We could set it up for adoption later.."
"I don't have time to wait 5 months. I could be leveling up using that time."
Scratch that. (L/n) (M/n) was also a horrible parent-to-be. The doctor forced a smile, wondering if all S-Rank Hunters were like this. He cleared his throat and stared back at them.
"How did you even conceive this child?"
"I have no idea. I drank too much. Hey, aren't you immune to alcohol?" (M/n) nudged Jin-Woo's shoulder, since he was the one that wanted to play video games all night. "I don't know. I can't remember much either. There was this scent.."
"I see. It must've been a heat."
"No? I wouldn't have left the house if that were the case."
"Then..." The doctor's eyes set on to (L/n) (M/n), making him feel a cold sweat. The man with red eyes smiled awkwardly, blinking repeatedly at the doctor. "Why are you looking at me?"
"It's incredibly rare but I assume you went through a rut, Sir. So I understand how you may perceive this as unbelievable since this situation is one in a billion or even more so." The doctor scratched the back of his head, trying to consider the rarity of the situation.
It was even more impossible if he considered the fact that male alpha and omegas were less likely to have a baby, then they were both S-Rank Hunters, both with their respective systems and (L/n) (M/n) had suffered from a rut that only one in five alphas experience.
[The Orion System is extremely happy!]
[☆*:.。. o(≧▽≦)o .。.:*☆]
[The Orion System is wondering if it would be a girl or a boy??]
[The System is rejoicing for your offspring.]
"I hope it becomes a miscarriage. I'm too busy for this," Sung Jin-Woo said, glaring at his slightly bloated stomach. "Since you are a male omega, there is a 78% chance it would be a miscarriage if you're constantly stressed and you didn't receive professional help from us.."
"Good. I'm already stressed from this situation."
[The Orion System is ignoring your wife's statement.]
[Yay! Baby! \\\\٩( ^ω^ )و ////]
'He's not my wife, you stupid system. We're friends at best,' (M/n) thought at his system. He and Jin-Woo left the hospital with conflicted thoughts. (M/n) wasn't as extreme as Jin-Woo to forcibly kill it, but he was wondering what he should do next.
That's right. They were hunters. They didn't have time to raise a baby when they could be saving lives through dungeons. It's a simple choice of one life for one hundred.
[The Orion System is rejoicing for you.]
[The Orion System has contacted (totally didn't take over wink wink) the Player System for the child's sake. (*'ω`*)]
[The Player System has agreed!! ٩( ᐛ )و yay! yay!]
'What are you celebrating for? Stupid Orion..' (M/n)'s mood turned sour, looking away from his system. Jin-Woo held his phone and pressed Jin-Ho's contact, making (M/n)'s eyebrow twitch. "Oi, what are you doing?"
"I'm going to contact Jin-Ho. He's the Vice Guild Master of Ah-Jin so he has to understand our circumstances."
"What? You know how weird that kid's imagination is. What if he thinks something weird?"
"I'll blame you for that then." Jin-Woo shrugged, his phone ringing for a few seconds before Yoo Jin-Ho picked up. "Hello Hyung-nim. Are you doing okay now?" Jin-Ho's voice made Jin-Woo smile, responding quickly.
"Yeah. I just visited the hospital."
"Ohh. Is (M/n) Hyung with you?"
"Yeah, he's right beside me. Turns out I have to lessen my work hours."
"I understand. You are the Guild Master, Hyung-nim. Everything is up to you. But why do you need to?"
"I'm pregnant."
Yoo Jin-Ho choked on his saliva, falling into a coughing fit as he doubted his ears. "Excuse me? What?"
"You didn't hear? I'm pregnant?"
"THAT'S BAD HYUNG-NIM! YOU NEED A FULL VACATION, NOT REDUCING YOUR HOURS!" The beta shouted, making everyone else in the office stare at him. What?! His Hyung-nim was pregnant? So he had a secret lover this entire time, and he didn't know?
"Then, could you decrease (M/n)'s work hours?"
"Yeah, sure. Why him though?"
(L/n) (M/n) hid his face in his hands, feeling so embarrassed that Jin-Woo just admitted that out loud. His own system was bombarding him with weird messages as well, it was creepy.
[There's no need to be embarrassed, Predator-nim~]
[( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). We all know what you did~~]
"He's the father of my child."
Jin-Ho choked yet again, throwing his fist at his desk as he fell silent. So (L/n) (M/n) and Sung Jin-Woo had been in that kind of relationship the entire time? Sure, he didn't know a lot about Sung Jin-Woo but even (L/n) (M/n)?
Is that the reason he joined Ah-Jin? So he could see his lover?
Then all those times they left together..
"Jin-Ho? Are you still there?"
"...If you need any help, you can call me Hyung-nim."
'Oh my God, so they were doing that so many times Hyung-nim got pregnant?!' Yoo Jin-Ho's face flushed as his imagination ran wild, smashing his forehead on his desk to cleanse his mind. 'I'M SO DENSE! I SHOULD'VE REMINDED THEM TO USE PROTECTION!'
"Yoo Jin-Ho-nim.. Is anything wrong with the Guild Master?"
"Ah nothing, he's just on maternity leave."
"What?"
"Huh, he hung up. He must've been shocked.." Jin-Woo said, looking up blankly as (L/n) (M/n) gritted his teeth. His face was red, mostly out of embarrassment than out of anger. "SHOCKED MY ASS! OF COURSE HE'D BE SHOCKED! AND WHY DID YOU TELL HIM IT WAS ME?"
"What else should I tell him? He politely asked who was the father."
[The Orion System agrees with your wife.]
[Calm down, host!! \\\٩(๑'^'๑)۶////]
(L/n) (M/n) took a deep breath, rubbing his temples to soothe himself. "Okay, let's just call it a day and go home and sleep." (M/n) felt like it had sucked his life out of him, so he just wanted to sleep.
"I'll see you then."
Sung Jin-Ah was feeling suspicious for the past two weeks, noticing that her older brother's movements have become strange. At first she thought he got sick, but that would be strange for a sickness to last weeks, especially since he's an S-Rank Hunter.
"Hey, I ordered pizza. You feeling okay, bro?"
"Yeah. I visited the hospital earlier," Jin-Woo said, plopping down on the couch beside her. "Where's Mom?" he asked, grabbing a slice of pizza from the box. "She went out to get something. So she said she wouldn't be able to cook tonight," Jin-Ah answered him.
As soon as Jin-Woo took a bite from his pizza, his face turned sour. He swallowed it and bitterly gulped a glass of water. "Actually, I don't want any."
"Huh? What do you mean you don't want any? You practically inhale this stuff!"
"It doesn't taste good."
"It tastes just fine, get over here!"
Sung Jin-Woo completely ignored his beta sister and holed up in his room. Confusion crossed her face as she gobbled up a slice of pizza. 'Something weird is definitely going on with him.. He's sus...'
The next morning, Jin-Woo got up early to do his daily regimen. But his fatigue had raised twice the number it had before. He felt annoyed from it and tried even harder, exhausting himself in the process.
'I haven't even done half yet?'
[[The Player System has cancelled the 'Daily Quest: Preparation to be Powerful'.]]
[[The Orion System has requested it to be changed to 'Daily Quest: Meet up with your Husband<3']]
Sung Jin-Woo wanted to middle finger the systems and ignored the new Daily Quest, thinking it was an awful prank from Orion. (That Constellation liked to bug them a lot.) So he continued to do the old Daily Quest, but he unfortunately got sent to the Penalty Zone all the same.
["Since you lovers don't wanna meet up. I have no choice but to force you! Hmph!! ヽ('⌒'メ)ノ"]
"I— Jin-Woo?!" (L/n) (M/n) hollered, his eyes setting on his partner on top of a floating marble platform. Jin-Woo was behind a translucent wall, safely protected in a small room filled with comfortable pillows, blankets and cute stuffed animals. Just in front of him was a coffee table with a full set of snacks one could crave for.
[[You can sit back and watch the show~ Daddy is going to go on a little run!! \(٥⁀▽⁀ )/]]
FWOOSHHH!!
On (M/n)'s side of the wall was a scorching, fiery desert, his shoes sinking in white sand as an enormous monster rose from the ground. The gigantic lizard roared, sending a breath of flames towards (L/n) (M/n) as he tried to run for his life. He screamed and cursed at the system while Jin-Woo watched from above like his Alpha was a gladiator.
"FUCK! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS THING?!"
"ORION! WHY THE HECK IS HE BEING CHASED BY LIZARDS?!?" Jin-Woo punched the orange wall, making it glitch for a few seconds before spitting his fist back inside the enclosed room. He could only look down at (M/n) with worry, slamming into the wall to attempt an escape to go help him.
[[HEY!! Don't help that idiot! He's a loser who doesn't even bother to look after his pregnant wife! (҂' ロ ')]]
[[You know what! Since he's so bad, let's go torture him more! Yay! Yay!!]]
Three more lizards surfaced from the sand, breathing fire like dragons. (M/n)'s face paled in shock as he retrieved his rapier from his inventory. A fifth lizard rose from where he stood, making him tumble down on the sand as it bellowed a menacing tune.
"UGH.. FIVE OF THESE THINGS?!" (M/n) shouted, burning his palms from the hot sand as he tried to get up and away from such a life-threatening situation. Sung Jin-Woo felt more anxiety for (M/n) and banged on the walls.
"DO YOU WANT HIM TO DIE!?"
[[Don't worry~ He won't die. He can handle it! (b ᵔ▽ᵔ)b]]
[[He has to be at least this strong to be a wonderful Daddy of course. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]]
"We're not even keeping the baby!" Jin-Woo glared at the cute emoticon on his screen and gave it a middle finger. He took out his dagger from his inventory, slicing open the wall and using the slight gap to escape.
[[Wait! No! If you get hurt, the baby will die! \(º □ º l|l)/]]
"Good," Jin-Woo said with a smirk, landing on top of one of the lizard's heads. "Hey, you need a little help?" he shouted after (M/n), riding safely on the monster. It only seemed to be hostile towards (M/n) and not him.
[[NOO! IF IT ATTACKS MOMMY, ALL HOPE IS LOST! \(╥ _ ╥ l|l)/]]
"Nah, I got it!" (M/n) responded, sliding under one lizard's feet and stabbing it's heart from underneath. Its skin was thick, but (M/n)'s high strength stat could make up for it. The beast let out a small cry of pain as his blade pierced through like a needle. He soon coated the blade in a reddish orange hued mana, poisoning the lizard internally in just a few seconds.
"Jeez. I was a little panicked. But I'm fine," (M/n)'s skin was harder than steel, like an indestructible material. Just like in the myth of Orion, he was like the indomitable scorpion that the legendary Hunter could not beat.
"I was a little offended, you know."
[Noo!! Predator-nim, I hate you!! ((╬◣﹏◢))]
[Hmph! Hmph! You big IDIOT! ]
"Orion, shut up."
[FINE THEN! I'LL REMOVE ALL OF THESE LIZARDS! ヽ( 'д'*)ノ]
[I'll be nice to you just because wifey's pregnant okay! humph!]
[Go kiss kiss fall in love now! I don't wanna see you be stupid IDIOTS! (҂ òзó )]
The lizards evaporated quickly like Orion made them out of ice in the blistering sun, making Jin-Woo suspended into the air. (M/n) reached out his hands and ran under him, catching him quickly in his arms. Jin-Woo could've landed safely on his feet, he wasn't that fragile..
But in (M/n)'s princess carry, he felt some sense of relief. Jin-Woo hugged him, inhaling a breath of his friend's pheromones. (M/n) really enjoyed wearing Axe Body Spray (a pheromone masking agent in this world) because he always met up with an Alpha female named Cha Hae-In. It was because of that, Jin-Woo didn't notice any of his alpha pheromones.
But with a whiff, he preferred this version. It made him imagine the fragrance of lit scented candles. It was a very specific scent that calmed him down. "Hm, are you okay?" (M/n) asked, making Jin-Woo snap out his momentary trance. What was going with him?
"Yeah, uhm. Were you still sleeping?" Jin-Woo took notice of (M/n)'s disheveled hair and casual set of light blue pajamas. "Oh right, I haven't showered yet.. Fuck. My handsome complexion!" (M/n) said dramatically, looking down to his lovely rapier covered in sand.
As much as he wanted to get it and polish it until it was shiny, he didn't want to drop Jin-Woo yet. It seems like Jin-Woo was the same, wrapping his arms around his neck in a comfortable hug. Yeah, they should hug more often. It was very comfortable.
[Yes!! NOW KISS!! ٩(♡ε♡)۶]
"Ew gross, Orion is back from a tantrum.." (M/n) set Jin-Woo back down, making a look of disgust. Jin-Woo also didn't like the constellation. So he joined (M/n) in spiting it with all the malice he could.
[Ugh, you guys are so mean! (︶︹︶ ||| )]
[It's like you're perfect for each other. (You are btw (^ω~))]
[I'll bring you back home now. (╬ Ò﹏Ó)]
"Oh nice. This is your room?"
"It's a little messy, but don't mind it too much." Jin-Woo scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, not knowing what to do in such a situation. He and (M/n) had teleported back to his house together, convenient for him. But (M/n) was still in his pajamas.
"Damn, I haven't even combed yet. How do you expect me to walk home in this?" (M/n) sighed, fixing his bedhead with one hand as he scratched his stomach with the other. Even though he just went through a terrifying experience, he was still tired and planned to sleep until noon.
"I mean you could run like really really fast. You'd just be a blur to normal people."
"But.. I haven't been to your house before.." (M/n) looked around Jin-Woo's room. Despite him claiming that it was messy, no clothes or wrappers were on the floor and the only thing messy were his blankets. This guy's sense of "messy" was on a whole other level.
(M/n) just leaves his cans of energy drinks, chips and bowls on the floor and leaves the cleaners to go clean it up. His appearance was the only thing that was respectable.
"So I can't navigate on my own. You know."
"You can use Google Maps."
"I don't bring my phone everywhere."
"You don't? I thought you were an addict."
"Your perceptions of me are so warped. What even made you think I was a beta?" (M/n) sighed, glancing over to Jin-Woo's stomach before blushing. He wasn't that different. He thought Jin-Woo was an alpha precisely because he gave off those vibes.
"Ah, it was your Hunter Wikipedia page. I skimmed over it a while ago.."
"My Hunter Wiki what??" (M/n) got confused, watching Jin-Woo take out his cellphone and search something online. He peered over his shoulder, watching him scroll down to the gender option. It actually said [Beta Male].
"That's really stupid. What part of me is beta?"
Sung Jin-Woo looked over to (L/n) (M/n) for a few seconds, his appearance to his language. Yeah.. (M/n) was right. What part of him seemed Beta? (M/n) right then screamed 'I-AM-A- DOMINANT-ALPHA. STAY-5-METERS-AWAY-FROM-ME-BECAUSE-I-WILL-ATTACK-YOU'
Then, he saw his picture on the wiki. Jin-Woo held his phone up and looked to his left and right, comparing the one in person, to the picture. "Now that I've thought of it, this is the first time I've seen you in pajamas."
(L/n) (M/n) was someone that barely swore, kept calm and wore modest clothing. But it looked like stress took over him so much it affected his personality. His mouth was foul with curses.
"Yeah, I mean the last time you saw me, I was naked."
"Oh," Jin-Woo blurted out, his face heating with that in mind. (M/n) quickly shut his mouth and looked away shyly, fixing his hair to seem more like himself. "Now we're in this situation, huh?" (M/n) mumbled, staring down at Jin-Woo's belly. It wasn't noticeable, but it showed a bump if you touched it.
"Do you.. wanna hug?" (M/n) diverted his vision away from Jin-Woo, a light blush on his face. "What made you say that?" Jin-Woo asked calmly, avoiding looking at (M/n). The (h/c)-haired alpha cleared his throat, extending his arms in the air.
"I don't know. You seemed to like it earlier.."
[Definitely you right now: Σ>―(〃°ω°〃)♡→]
[(¬‿¬ )]
Sung Jin-Woo nodded, placing his chin on (M/n)'s shoulder as he wrapped his arms around his torso. The same fragrant pheromone relaxing him enough to close his eyes. He felt safe in those arms, like he was under an unbreakable set of armor. "I feel like I could fall asleep like this.."
(L/n) (M/n) didn't know why his heart was beating so quickly, making his skin feel like they were on fire just from touching this omega. "We should hug more often," he said, rubbing on Jin-Woo's back calmly. It was fine for friends to hug, right?
But could we could even consider them friends when one of them was pregnant?
"Oppa, I think we ran out of dish soap—" Sung Jin-Ah opened the door, letting out an 'Oh' sound as she gazed at her brother. Then, Sung Jin-Woo noticed how odd it was to have (L/n) (M/n) there. "Wait, Jin-Ah! It's not what you think—"
"MOOOMMM!! JIN-WOO HAS A SECRET ALPHA BOYFRIEND!!"
"Sung Jin-Ah!" Jin-Woo yelled, squeezing her cheeks with one hand as she struggled to run away. "I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT SO BAD WHEN I SMELLED ALPHA PHEROMONES ON YOU! IT'S VERY STRONG NOW!!" she screamed and kicked her feet in the air.
"Hold on. I'm not his boyfriend—"
"LET GO OF ME, OPPA! WHY ARE YOU SO STRONG?!"
(M/n)'s voice gradually got weaker as he pursed his lips awkwardly. There was no room to protest in the screaming girl in the room casually being battled to the death by her older brother. He just gave up.
It was that quick giving up that people thought he was a beta.
"Oh! You finally brought home your boyfriend. That's great," Park Kyung-He said as she stood on the doorframe. She smiled at (M/n), then stared at his sleepwear. "Jin-Woo! You even let him stay without telling us?"
"I didn't—"
"Shush! I know it could be embarrassing to reveal your first love. Come on, dear. What's your name?" she looked over to (M/n), waving her hand to call him over. "It's (L/n) (M/n), Maam.. Nice to meet you," he said shyly, not even refuting her words at all.
His cute demeanor made Kyung-He fall in love with him already. What a good future son-in-law. No wonder Jin-Woo liked him.
"Ah, come here now (M/n). I'll cook you breakfast too."
"If you don't mind me intruding. Thank you.." (M/n) said, following Kyung-He like he was an imprinted chick. "I'll be there too!" Jin-Ah said, wrestling with Jin-Woo's arm. "Let me go, you jerk! I wanna see what your boyfriend is like!"
"I already told you. He's not my boyfriend."
"Why are you even saying that at this point?" Jin-Ah made a face at him and slipped through his grasp, running out of his room in fear that he would catch her again. "I caught you red-handed! Hehe!!"
[[(¬‿¬ ) hehe..]]
"Orion.. What have you done to my system?" Jin-Woo grumbled, walking out of his room with a long sigh. He could explain to them later that he and (M/n) were just friends. But sadly, he would never get the opportunity to.
"So, when did you and Jin-Woo meet? Was it nice?"
"Oh! I met him at work. He was my partner for a while. And you know, when I saw him, he was so scary I thought he was an alpha!" (M/n) was suddenly very talkative, amusing the curious Kyung-He and Jin-Ah.
"Ohh.. So how did you fall in love?"
"We didn't!" Jin-Woo butted in, receiving sympathetic eyes from his family. "Oh, so it was Jin-Woo who fell first. I see," Kyung-He assumed. He asked (M/n) how he did, but it was her son that answered. Their romance was very cute.
"No.. That's not.."
"Wow, I didn't think Oppa would be the one to confess. He's being super shy about it right now. How could he even proclaim his love now..?" Jin-Ah exclaimed in shock, looking over to (L/n) (M/n). He did provide the juicy details she wanted in a romance novel. Jin-Ah approve!
But even though he was the one who confessed, why is he suddenly saying they weren't together? Was her Oppa too shy about it and only stayed sweet in front of his one true love? Isn't that.. too cute?!
"Huh? What are you all talking about? Jin-Woo didn't confess to me?"
Sung Jin-Ah's world was then flipped upside down. It all made sense. Jin-Woo was denser than the Earth itself. If (M/n) was he one who asked him out, it would make even more sense! Their trope was... Shy Omega x Outgoing Alpha! Jin-Ah prayed internally to her lord and savior, KatsuKavi. She was in a romance novel and she could watch the protagonists.
"Oppa, you're no fair! How did you get this lucky with KatsuKavi's pairing rituals?!"
"Who?!"
"The author!"
(A/N: ignore the fourth wall. There is no such thing.)
"Ah, we got too distracted! (M/n) could you clear the table?" Park Kyung-He stood up, moving towards the sink. (M/n) nodded obediently and helped her wash the dishes. Jin-Woo was dumbfounded at his goody good behavior.
He didn't even clean up at his own house. What was he doing being so good with his mother and sister?
"You're a good kid, (M/n). I approve of you."
"Thank you," (M/n) said, chatting a little bit with Kyung-He until he could call her 'Mom'. Sung Jin-Woo gritted his teeth as he watched (L/n) (M/n) be the new favorite.
"Oppa, (M/n) is so good to us. How dare you hog him for yourself," Jin-Ah glared at him from across the room, getting an angry look from Jin-Woo. "Wow, so possessive.." she murmured to herself, skipping happily to her new brother-in-law.
Possessive? No, Jin-Woo wasn't being possessive. He must've just been jealous (L/n) (M/n) was getting all the attention. But when did Jin-Woo start caring about being the center of attention?
He looked over to his best friend, biting his lip to ignore the tight feeling in his chest. He wanted to scream 'look at me!', but he was so dense he didn't know who he wanted to look at him.
"Ah, that's Jin-Woo?! He looks totally different!" (M/n) exclaimed, looking through Jin-Ah's older photos of Jin-Woo. He did look like an omega before, but he drastically changed after becoming a S-Rank Hunter. It was like he was a totally different person.
"Yeah, he used to be so cute and sunny. Now look at him! He's growling at me for taking you away from him."
"I am not growling at you!" Jin-Woo argued, knitting his eyebrows together. He didn't know why, but he felt so annoyed being so far away from Jin-Ah and (M/n). Normally, he wouldn't care but for some weird reason, he didn't like being treated like air.
(L/n) (M/n) soon changed out of his sleepwear and took a nice shower. He didn't wear any pheromone masking agent, so everyone could smell his masculine pheromones leaking out. As much as Jin-Woo liked it, he felt a little annoyed that his 'friend' was being used as incense.
"Mom, did you let him wear dad's clothes?"
"Mhm. It wasn't being used anyway," Kyung-He answered Jin-Woo. She put her hands together, making a sad smile as he looked over to (M/n). "I think it should go to good use, you think?"
"Yeah."
"He suits it well, right?"
"Yeah."
"He's more handsome now, isn't he?"
"I agree."
Sung Jin-Woo crossed his arms over his stomach. (L/n) (M/n) was very attractive in his eyes and a fuzzy feeling would come when thinking of him. "I can tell you really love him. So don't let him go." Kyung-He coaxed Jin-Woo. His mind was blank, only focusing on (M/n).
"Yeah."
"Oi, Jin-Woo! Why did you smile so weirdly in this photo!"
'Ah, I hate him so much,' Jin-Woo thought as (M/n) made fun of him. "Don't look at those!" he marched over, snatching the photo album from his hands while Jin-Ah and (M/n) laughed on the floor.
"Pfft! I don't want our child to look like that!"
"It'll be even worse if it looked like you!"
"I'm a handsome bastard and you know that!"
"I didn't know you wanted children. I hope they look beautiful in the future," Jin-Ah's eyes sparkled at the thought of cute children saying 'Aunt' at her. She wanted to squeeze their chubby cheeks immediately.
"Wait five months, then you decide if the baby will look good."
"Five months? So you're getting married in five months?"
"What? No, I mean Jin-Woo is giving birth in five months." (M/n)'s laughter soon ceased into silence as Jin-Woo walked closer to him menacingly. He then understood why (M/n) didn't want him to tell Jin-Ho about his circumstances. It was so embarrassing for them to know. Now they're never going to let him give it up.
In front of his family, his face became tomato red with both anger and embarrassment as he crouched down to strangle (L/n) (M/n). "Why did you tell them, you dumbass?!"
"Eh?? I thought they already knew from how you told Jin-Ho from the moment we left the hospital."
"Shut up." Jin-Woo balled his fist and set it in the air, his other hand on (M/n)'s chest to prevent him from moving. "Wait, wait! Don't actually—"
"Oppa, you're pregnant?" Sung Jin-Ah's shock had multiplied by 900, so did her happiness. "MOM! IM GOING TO BE AN AUNT! WOOHOO!" She stood up from her place and fetched her phone with a massive smile. She was going to brag to all her friends all about it, wasn't she?
"This is a pleasant surprise. Jin-Woo! You don't tell us about anything going on your life." Kyung-He also smiled, half scolding Jin-Woo. He was already 24, so he could decide as an adult. She had no problem with it. "First, you're a hunter, then your secret fiancee, now your child? Hoo, you.."
Wait, why did secret alpha boyfriend evolve into fiancee? They weren't getting married after the birth of the child!
(M/n)'s ears were about to bleed. He forgot about it! But because of their excessive happiness, he couldn't bring himself to disagree with what they were saying in fear they'd be disappointed. So he could only regrettably nod.
[Yay! Yay! Baby!!]
[We're getting a little hunter!! (☆ω☆)]
Jin-Woo's complexion became pale blue. They were doomed.
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geekwritersworld · 3 years
Note
Hey, will you do an angst to fluff imagine where Henry Cavill’s dating a single mam of 16 to seventeen twins (boy, girl) and they’re having trouble warming up to Henry because it’s always been the three of them. There mam being with Henry had turned their life upside down and one day the daughter explodes at Henry because the paparazzi followed her home from work? I love your writing by the way. Thank you and have a nice day/night
Give him a chance
Tumblr media
Pairing: Henry Cavill x Reader
Warnings: None, slight fluff ....maybe?
Summary: As stated in the request.
A/n: I am aware that this isn’t the best, I will make certainly make some slight changes to it later on, but I just wanted to have this out today.
Feedback is more than welcome. Please do let me know your thoughts. It really helps when you do post comments :)
He'd had tough times getting along with people. But he always remained kind and graceful towards them nevertheless.
But when Henry started to go out with me, I knew that my twins' would have a tough time warming up to him. It had been years, of its just being the 3 of us. For me to suddenly go out with Henry, was a big change for them.
There was a lot of adjusting that needed to be done, and neither twin was happy about it.
It had been a few months of Henry and I dating. My son seemed to have warmed up to Henry a little, but my daughter remained persistent on the fact that she wanted nothing to do with him.
Henry being the kind-hearted soul that he is, never verbally said so, but I could see it was obviously breaking his heart. And I'd tried to speak to Everlyn and get her to give Henry a chance, but she remained stubborn.
As of the last few days, Henry had been staying over, because I insisted that he does. He was hesitant because he didn't want it to get in my daughter,  way. But I told him he had to.
My son, Isaac spoke to Henry occasionally. Though he was struggling to accept that there was another Male figure in my life. 
But over time, He'd started to try and converse with him.
 Evelyn, unfortunately, wasn't so easy going. She'd convinced herself that all men were the same as her biological father. She'd also turned slightly bitter towards Isaac for warming up to henry, but I remained stern with her regardless.
 It was a different matter if she had a hard time getting along with Henry, but to throw her emotions at someone else because she couldn't handle them was unacceptable. 
And so I'd had a civil conversation with her, hearing her out and talking to her. It was only natural for me to assume that after our talk she'd maybe try and loosen up with Henry, and she did try.
The tone of anger had reduced the next day, her responses remained short but kinder.
And I thought that maybe she'd finally give him a chance. Henry and I weren't the kind of people who liked going out much, so we naturally spent a lot of time indoors, whether it was his house or mine.
Henry and I had only been seen out together twice over the last few months of our relationship. Which of course was nobody's business, but I did know what I was getting into, when Henry and I started going out. The media, knew that their beloved Henry Cavill was dating a mother of two, and they'd seen the twins once, but we did our best to keep the attention off of them.
The cold weather of London chilled the marble floors, though it was only 3 in the afternoon.
  Luckily, the bear next to me provided me with enough warmth.
 Isaac, was at his friends' house, while Evelyn had decided to go for a walk. I knew she'd be back soon since she'd been gone for almost 2 hours, so I kept an ear out, for her steps.
"This is nice" Henry mumbled into my shoulder, while we sat on the couch, limbs entangled. His warm arms wrapped around my waist, his curls tickling my face.
The only response I gave was a soft hum.
 We'd sat on there on the couch, snuggled up, the silence was a comfortable one, with the glow of the TV whilst it ran the next episode of friends.
The irritation was real when I had to get up and go to the bathroom, but I couldn't procrastinate this. Breaking away from my boyfriend, I went to the bathroom to do my thing. Turning on the lights on my way, of the hallway.
There are only so many things that I'd expect to make me rush out of the bathroom, but the sound of my daughter screaming profanities was not one of them. 
Rushing out, I heard, what I assume was the last part of her rant "This is all your fucking fault, I mean what do you want? More publicity? Thanks to YOU I can't even take fucking walks anymore. They followed me because of YOU. Like as if I have nothing better to fucking do than answer questions about you. You will never be a father figure to me, no matter what my mother says. You're all the fucking same. All of you are fucking liars!"  she ran past me into her room.
I didn't go after her, because I knew the first person I needed to question was Henry since he'd give me the unbiased part of what happened.
But walking into the living room, my heart broke. It broke at the sight of Henry slowly and cautiously sitting down on the couch, he looked like a lost puppy.
 The confusion and heartbreak were evident in his face. But when he saw me walking in, the whisper and desperation in his voice, had my eyes brimming with tears. "Y/n" it was soft, his voice. His chest heaved, his breathing heavy.
"Bear?" walking around the couch I sat down next to him immediately. "Hey"
 I put my arm around his broad shoulders. " what happened?"
"I- The fucking paparazzi followed Evelyn .and-" he took a deep breath and let it out" they kept bugging her about me and you" He bent his head and into his hands. 
"Fuck" I knew that after this, getting around to Evelyn would be tough, really tough.
"Y/N I am so fucking sorry, for all that I've put the 3 of you through. Evelyn isn't wrong, I should just fucking leave. " he ran his hands through his hair. His blue eyes turning slightly glossy.
"No" It came out sterner than intended but I had to get things under control before it got too out of hand, and I lost the only man I trust and love.
"What?"
"No, Henry. Don't even think about it. I'll talk to her, ut you, you've got to understand that you have not ruined anything. Bear, for the first fucking time, Isaac, finally looks up to a father figure, I know it doesn't look like it, but he'd told me of how he feels less like an outcast now that he's got you. Henry, the paps following Eve is not your fault. You didn't ask them to follow her, you didn't make them. It's not on you." Henry's eyes were starting to brim with tears at this point " Sweetheart, you are not getting in anyone's way. And you are NOTHING like other men. If you were, I wouldn't be going out with you." Henry let out a little chuckle at the end.
 But I now needed to go and deal with Evelyn." look, I'm gonna go talk to her, all right?" He nodded and pecked my lips when I got up.
I walked to Evelyn's room. I could hear sniffles, and as bad as I felt for her, I was quite irritated at what she'd said. But I'd still deal with it, with patience, because losing my temper, would bring nothing good.
"Evie?" I softly opened her door, using the nickname I called her only when she'd be upset."Yeah?" Though she was sniffling, I could tell that she was anxious. Anxious, of what I had to say to her outburst. 
Her legs were wrapped around her pillow, which she hugged to her chest. Her black hair poked out from the top of her sheets.
I walked and sat down next to her, she lifted her head slightly and looked at me.
"Evie" I sighed, not knowing where to begin " why would you say that to him?"
"because he's like the rest of them. He's gonna be nice and fatherly for a year, and then he'll turn and leave. He'll leave and he'll never come back. And then you'll be hurt again" 
"So it's not about the paps following you?" I tried to get a clearer idea.
"It kind of was, I mean when he leaves, his fans, they're going to tear us apart. they'll make us look like the bad guys and he'll be the good guy. And Isaac will just go back to feeling even more fan outcast.  I mean, do you know the number of girls that have come up to me now and tried to be friends with me,  because they know that you're dating him?" she hiccuped.
I understood exactly why she'd been the way she was. It all made sense.
"Evie, he's not going to do that. But You know how I know that?” I placed my hand around her after she sat up next to me.
"How?"
"Because your father never was as involved in our lives as he is. Remember when you told me your favourite book was pride and prejudice? well, Henry overheard you, and he's actually reading that book because he thought maybe he could try to converse with you over that. Your biological ass of a father would've never done that. Honey, Henry is one of the most humble kind-hearted man I know, he's been asking me all your favourite movies. Evelyn, fame doesn't matter to him. He loves being an actor not because of the fame, but because of how much he enjoys bringing those characters to life. Fame is something that just came along with it. " I could see her eyes softening, as I spoke.
"wait, he's reading pride and prejudice for me?"She chuckled.
"yep"
"I just thought he was into that" 
"You have to understand it's a change for him too, but he's trying. But this cannot work if it's only a one-way effort. Evelyn, I know Henry, I love him so much, some nights I cry because of how much I love him." I managed to get another giggle out of her. " And hey, how many times have I said that I loved a man and he was different?" 
"This is the first time" Evelyn wiped her face, and sat up straighter.
" I know it’s a big change it'll take time, no doubt, but come on, you've got to at least try, please?" I looked at her with hope-filled eyes.
"I'll try, I promise" she got up, walking to her door and then turned when I asked her where she was going."To apologize to your man" 
I raised my eyebrows at her calling him my man, but I wasn't complaining either.
I followed after her and heard her talking to Henry, but I didn't want to intrude so instead I headed into the kitchen.
*
While the hot cup of coffee in my head cooled down a little, Henry walked in, smiling.
"How'd it go?" I questioned him.
"She-um- she said she found it hilarious for no reason that I was reading pride and prejudice" 
I put the hot mug down on the counter and brought my palm up to my face. Facepalming I looked up at the man child I'd fallen for
 " Seriously, that's not what I was talking about ' I shook my head but smiled regardless.
letting out a laugh, he threw his head back " Well she apologized and said that she would try to get along with me, but if i " messed with you, she'd fight me" he made air quite gestures which made me giggle.
"and then she said that she was extremely grateful for the effort I'd put into getting along with Isaac and her" when he'd finished relating their conversation to me, he'd let out a breath. 
He put his arm around me, and hugged me tight, with his breath hitting my neck.
*
It had been a week since Evelyn and Henry managed to have a civil conversation, and today and I'd left early to get some groceries.
 I hoped that having left the two of them home with Isaac didn't turn out to be a disaster.
I'm sure I'd missed a couple of things off of my list in a hurry and worry about the 3 at home.
So I was undoubtedly surprised when I opened the door and stepped in, and the first thing I heard was, Henry, screaming at someone to stop throwing beer bottles at him. 
I couldn't put together what was happening so I quickly put the grocery bags down on the floor, in the middle of the hall, and walked into the living room where I heard him.
But instead of chaos and couch stuffing all over the place, Henry and Evelyn were sitting next to each other, in the middle of an intense battle in a videogame on the pc. 
I'd stood there, with my eyebrows raised for a few minutes.
"That was my reaction too when I heard them" 
I turned around to see my son standing behind me, and looking at his sister and Henry with his head tilted to the left and his hands on his waist.
"well, at least they're getting along" I laughed. Henry and Evelyn turned around at the sound of my voice.
"Yeah, while throwing beer bottles at each other"
"stop whining Isaac, not our fault you suck at video games" Evelyn sassed her brother, while Henry got up chuckling.
"Shut up Evelyn"
"why, would that make you any better at video games?" 
Henry helped me put the grocery in its place after I picked up the bags off of the hallway floor and placed them on the countertop, while the twins bickered and sassed each other back and forth.
" glad the house is still standing" I kissed Henry's cheek.
"Henry! I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure Eve's beating the crap out of your character!" 
"oh shit, I gotta go love," Henry said, running out of the kitchen.
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circethegoblin · 3 years
Text
STAYING ALIVE MASTERPOST, FROM A BROKE TEEN WITH ADHD
here you go. some down to earth tips on how to not die metally nor physically.
tired of those "drink three liters of water everyday uwu" and "wake up at 5 am" and "buy a bath bomb and a fec mask and some other things you don't have the money for" shit? i'm here for ya.
1. NOT DYING
eat at least three meals a day, one of which m u s t be warm and above 300 kcal (it can be istant ramen with an egg added if you have to)
you technically should shower everyday, but we know how it is. A change of clothes is sometimes enough.
DRY SHAMPOO AND BABY WIPES!!!
keep bottles with water everywhere. On your desk, near that spot on the floor you always end up sitting on, near your bed, basically whenever you know you spend a lot of time. No need to get up and go to the kitchen will help. Obviously change the water in the bottles as often as you can.
Get some form of physical activity. It doesn't have to be much, you can for example replace scrolling on tiktok by walking around your room and scrolling on tiktok! Brilliant, isn't it? Obviously, running or doing those 10 minutes workouts from youtube is better, but you are still getting like an hour of walking.
Buy blankets. Steal blankets. Summon blankets from other dimensions. Just make sure you have a lot of warm, soft blankets in your house. You will thank me when you won't have the anergy to wash your sheets (just take them off and throw some blankets on your bed), or when the power goes out.
If you have pets, ALWAYS keep spare food that'll last for a week for them.
things to always have in the kitchen: milk, eggs, flour, rice, pasta, yeast, cheese, oil, a leafy vegetable, onions, tomatoes, apples, patatoes, some flavourful sauce, sugar, salt, spices and an emergency chocolate bar. You can make a lot of food with those. Just make sure you won't eat the chocolate too fast.
Have a lot of spare batteries. A lot.
Get urself a flashlight, a lighter, and a pocket knife.
Remember the apples? eat one a day. if you don't like apples or you can't eat them for any other reason, you can take a kiwi, banana, orange, basically something that will give you vitamins and non processed sugar.
do the dishes before your sink starts developing it's own ecosystem
drugs from that one guy around the corner = very bad time
2. NOT DYING INSIDE
Open the damn window.
Don't watch so many commentary videos. You are probably not even checking the sources, so you can easily make unjust judgement, and like. did you even hear of half of those people before?
make a discord server just for yourself. get into the habit of writing little things that happened to you there. rant about the fanfics you read. or the movies. vent there if you don't have anyone you can vent to. write your ideas there, write e v e r y t h i n g. make a section for passwords, for quick ideas, for your to do lists. you won't lose it as you do with sticky notes or notebooks. there is no risk anyone will see it. oh, and when you'll have a strong impulse to tell emily that you hate her? write that message in your private server and list all ur arguments. look at tat the next day and decide if you really mean that.
life sucks. come to peace with it.
cuddle ur pets if you have them
1 hour a day without a lot of sensory input. if you have to, reduce to half an hour.
if you find yourself scrolling endlessly through social media, make sure it's pintrest (just don't compare urself to the people here; if you have issues with that, tumblr may be better)
delete. twitter. from. your. phone.
influencers are lying to you; maybe not even intentionally. remember when you were watching that cute-aesthetic-productive morning routine, and you were wondering why your life isn't that pretty? why your room is a mess? why you cannot for the life of god be aesthetic 24/7? its the filter. don't worry about it, their lifes arent that nice either.
realize there's actually nothing stopping you from screaming as loud as you can right now. like there is no physical barrier. think about it. realize there's no actual physical barierr to many other things.
your body is your body. you can decide how it looks like; just remember it's in your greatest interest to keep it healthy.
3. BEING A LITTLE BETTER THAN JUST ALIVE
If you wear make up, take it off before you go to sleep.
moisturize your body; everything is better when your skin doesn't feel dry
have a one brand of cosmetics that you love and buy things mainly from it. they often have sets of products that complete each other. i like ziaja. it's a polish brand, it's surprisingly cheap and has nice quality
cleanser, moisturizer, face mist
of you can, change your sheets once every two weeks
do the dishes before your sink starts developing it's own ecosystem
do a deep house clean once a month (don't beat yourself up when you don't tho)
keep your workspace organized (it doesn't have to look organized to other people, remember)
sunscreen
cook your own food
keep a calendar
no money for scented candles? got ya. make a simmer pot: throw some apple peel, a couple of cinnamon sticks and whatever spices that smell good you have into a pot, add some water and simmer. boom. your house smells good, and you haven't spend 20 dollars.
If you really like candles, buy scented wax melts. it's cheaper.
Buy urself scented mists. they're pretty cheap and will make you feel A LOT better.
keep your clothes clean. if you aren't sure if that shirt thats on your chair is dirty or not, throw it in the washing mashine anyway. better be sure.
if you can, make your bed right when you get up
wear clothes that make you feel good. put some effort into your outfits. really.
4. OTHER PEOPLE
be nice to essential workers.
if you have money, give tips.
remember, you do not owe anyone love; it is not something you can force. even if they saved your life. even when they helped you in your darkest time. if you don't love them, you don't.
you don't have to be in a romantic relationship to be happy.
if you want to, date! date everyone! date girls, date boys, date nonbinary people! date people completly different than you, date people from different countries, date them!!! just make sure they're kind and won't kill you. even if you don't end up in a relationship, you can learn a lot.
don't be afraid to piss off people that deserve it
smile to strangers :)
5. NOT FAILING SCHOOL
heard of dark academia? check it out
romanticize the heck out of studying
do not let your studying be just reading the same partagraph over and over again. it won't work. believe me.
seterra for geography, quizlet for everything else
try to make yourself intrestet in whatever you are studying (watch veritasium, listen to podcasts about weird history facts)
notes are for you and you only; don't worry about them looking pretty. doodle on margins, make weird metaphors, squeeze in as much info as you can.
when you're studying, listen to music without words/in a language you don't understand.
chew gum while you study
get the forest app, get attached to the trees, focus.
don't feel guilty for taking breaks
grades aren't everything, but they are important.
eat something in school
don't just use the cheapest pens. invest a couple dollars in something that will make writing enjoyable and smooth
those study with me videos? they're great
if you like to argue with the teachers, take care of your grades becouse. they may not like you afterwards.
be nice to your classmates and help them with homework. if you don't do your homework they'll help you
executive dysfunction won't let you study? been there. sometimes it's better to wake up ealier tommorow and do that homework then.
don't feel guilty for failing a test
go to the goddamn class
don't pull all nighters oh my god don't especially on weekdays
6. OTHER LIFEHACKS
don't get involved in the crime, and if you do always have a believable explanation why you were doing it
have different alarm sounds for every day of the week
set a daily limit of money that you spend
great hobbies that don't require a lot of money; urban exploration, writing, hiking and learning other languages
thrift stores
don't eat grapefruits while on meds
nail polish removers dissolve most strong glues.
if you have a cut on your skin, desinfect it. do it. please just do it.
always have pads with you. even if you don't get periods, at least one of your friends probably does
sign up in your local library. its free
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msmoonfire · 4 years
Text
How to prep for MABON ‘20 -COVID19 edition
Hey my fellow witches! This year we have to rearrange our Mabon fest according to all the covid19 restrictions. 
I’m going to share some tips and ideas to inspire you guys to prep for this holiday & celebrate in total safety. ♥️ 
First let me tell ya what Google says for us in the Northern hemisphere:
Mabon 2020 will begin on Monday, September 21  and ends on Tuesday, September 29.
Keep in mind that the most important days are Sep 21-23. Witches in the Southern hemisphere will celebrate around March 19-22 & bookmark this post to prep at their best;)) 
SO, let’s start this journey with the right foot IN ADVANCE.  All the late witches out there yeah you heard me: IN ADVANCE. Make yourself ready BEFOREHAND. We’re going thru this together.
1. Thinking of a party? MAKE SURE WHOEVER IS CELEBRATING WITH YOU (except for close people you’ve always shared the same roof with) TESTS NEGATIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS. Force them to get tested, ESPECIALLY IF THEY WERE ON VACATION. No tests, no invitations. Be firm on this point.  > anti-covid tip: always sanitize your hands and go get tested yourself first!
***I highly recommend to spend most of this sacred time all by yourself to minimize the risk of contracting the virus. We will party together once a good vaccine or an effective cure is out and globally accessible... Let’s wait😉
2. If you have a garden, and had planted some herbs/fruit/veggies before, go pick the results of the 2nd harvest and use them to cook delicious foods during Mabon! (Lammas is the 1st harvest, yep) > anti-covid tip: gardening is an outdoor hobby that allows you to keep social distancing & breathe fresh air 
3. An Equinox is "equal”: re-establish balance in general. I’m talking about your overall ph, diet, work, feelings, home, social life... Don’t stress over useless activities, limit vices & excess, avoid fights, don’t hustle, don’t splurge, don’t push yourself in the gym, don’t let your home/room look like a junkyard, take good care of yourself, only be there for people who love you... Take this time of the year as a moment to re-gain harmony and equilibrium in all comfort. > anti-covid tip: reducing stress levels can improve your immune system
4. Apples are in season, so be creative with em! Use apples for multiple purposes, even for decorating your altar if you will. Snack on them, offer them, cook them, collect their seeds, whatever comes to your mind... > anti-covid tip: rinse your apples thoroughly, never share your apple while eating one + a healthy diet feat. apples can boost your immune system
5. Work with the element of EARTH. Here comes the spellwork my lovelies... Connect with your crystals, use herbs in your rituals, offer food, sit on the ground if you can, be out in nature, curate your garden, learn to cook, position your altar (or anything else) to the South (*Southern hemi: to the North), enhance your natural beauty, seek beauty in the simple things etc... > anti-covid tip: spending time away from the crowds does actually reduce the chances of getting infected
6. Stay hydrated, drink your water & treat yourself. Drink vegetable milk or tea to pamper yourself a little more than usual whenever you have a break (or a cozy spa night at home). I’m very into herbal teas and lemon/apple water atm, not the spicy ones tho (save them for Samhain & winter!). If you’re fully allowed to drink alcohol, sip a glass of Rosé (loads of good Pinot Noir rosé are out this season, but any rosé will do), Portuguese Tinto, or maybe Pinot Gris. As for beer, just stick to the one that you prefer or try lighter ones! *remember balance is key, drink responsibly or not at all* > anti-covid tip: never share your glass while drinking your beverages, make sure glasses & bottles are sanitized and clean
7. Get comfy within your body: love your figure, feel yourself, train your 5 senses, stretch a lot/practice yoga, look at yourself in the mirror, take selfies or photos of beautiful details, touch/massage yourself, take care of your hair, groom, apply body lotion and enjoy your earthly beauty. Mabon wants you to look bomb hun! > anti-covid tip: getting familiar with your own body can help you recognize any weird symptoms easily, as well as the smallest changes in your system... Be friendly to your body and it will thank you in so many ways later on!
8. Use a big jar to save money. A little sum everyday. Open the jar only after the sabbat of Samhain. Trust me, this month is crucial for saving money. Autumn is coming and we must prepare for all those transitional, unplanned expenses that we will have to face during the colder months. Remember to look at the jar everyday and speak some words of gratitude. Working with money, food and tangible stuff of any sort are also activities that are related to the element of Earth.  > anti-covid tip: always wash your hands after handling money
9. ALWAYS PRIORITIZE YOUR SAFETY WITHOUT FEELING STUPID OR PARANOID. This way you’ll end up saving someone else’s life, believe it or not. Leave the d16Kheads say whatever they want to say & be strong. Clean your disposable/reusable mask with disinfectant, make sure you never forget it and please stay safe... but try to minimize the waste. Avoid crowded places as much as possible, prefer open venues with plenty of room for maintaining social distancing, avoid peak hours in shops/malls/supermarket/whatever, carry hand sanitizer with you, keep your distance especially from people who might show evident covid symptoms and remember to be kind to people! Oh and SMILE a lot: your mouth is hidden but your sweet eyes are OUT! 😉
Hope this post was helpful for all of you lovelies,
xox msmoonfire
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