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gasolineghuleh · 3 years

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Brattitude

Commission for @simply-skeletons for a Daddy Dom Aether and a bratty reader!

cw: contains daddy kink, choking, and squirting.

Not SFW below, No minors!

You sigh and stretch, rolling your shoulders and looking along the stretched out dining room table, laden with breakfast foods. Platters of eggs are heaped high alongside plates of bacon and sausage, pitchers of various juices and teas and the occasional scone or biscuit. None of it draws your attention quite as much as the Ghouls, however. The chatter of your fellow Siblings manages to drown out any chance of hearing conversation from the Ghoul table, but you aren’t exactly trying to hear anything— just trying to get his attention. When his pale blue glowing eyes finally turn to you, the zap of sudden attention pierces your core like a lightning bolt. Aether inclines his head towards you gently and mouths a single instruction:

“Eat.” You frown in response, toying with the scrambled eggs on your plate before looking back at him. He’s still watching you, of course, his own piece of semi-raw bacon held tightly between his claws as he waits for you to take a bite. When you shake your head with a smirk, he returns the gesture, inclining his head towards you again. “Now,” he mouths quietly, his tail pointing firmly towards your plate. You can tell that he’s enjoying the game by the way that he’s begun holding himself, subconsciously appearing taller and more in charge than he really is.

No one has noticed your little game besides Rain, sitting directly beside Aether. His eyes move between the two of you as he smiles around his own bites of food, clearly enjoying watching your silent standoff. This only prompts you to push your plate away from yourself and turn your attention to your friends, joining in on their conversation with ease and ignoring your Ghoul for the rest of the meal. When you do finally grab a bite of something to eat, it’s a glazed and sweetened scone rather than something of actual nutritional value. It isn’t until later, when the tables are cleared and everyone is bustling about to leave for their morning activities that you feel Aether’s hand close around your bicep tightly- the points of his claws dig just lightly into your bare arm and you can already feel a thrill going up your spine.

“Being a bit of a spoiled one this morning, are we?” Aether’s warm voice curls around your senses like heated honey and incense smoke before a ritual and you feel yourself going slightly weak in the knees before you recover— you need to have your wits about you in order for this game to work, after all. It’s not one that you play often with him, but one that you know he enjoys almost as much as you do. After all, he always says he’s attracted to more of a brat than a tamed pet anyway.

“Wouldn’t want you to think you have all of the control, after all.” You’re able to meet his gaze, only slightly narrowed in amusement, before your eyes slide off to the side and spot Rain standing slightly behind him, still clutching his morning protein shake— not doubt full of the nutrients he’ll be needing for the strenuous rhythm practice with Mountain he’ll be heading off to shortly. “Good morning, Rain. How are you?” The Ghoul raises an eyebrow when you address him, inclining his head towards you in a silent greeting.

“Better than you’re going to be by the end of it,” he quips with a grin, finding the straw with his lips quickly and giving Aether a nod. With a loud slurp from the shake he wanders off, tail swishing happily.

“You’ve given him enough to be pleased about all day. I hope you’re happy.” Aether’s hand tightens dangerously on your arm once more before he lets go, folding his arms as he watches his musical partner sashay through the large doors and into the Abbey proper. “He loves when one of our pets misbehaves. Just makes him brag about his own.” Rain disappears around the corner of the large door to the meeting hall in the direction of the soundproof music rooms and you hold back a snort of laughter, turning your attention back to your own Ghoul.

“Oh? In that case, yes, I’m very happy.” Your friend calls your name to get your attention, waving you over to them and you nod, beginning to walk away from Aether. Already you can hear his growl of annoyance deep in his chest— it’s been ages since you’ve been bratty with him, and you can tell that the punishment (or perhaps reward) would be worth it… and a long time coming.

“Hey! I’m not done with you, princess,” Aether says, a warning clear in his voice. Despite your better judgement, you persevere with your plan. You can practically feel the tightly controlled scolding simmering below the surface as he grinds the heel of his foot into the carefully waxed stone floor of the dining hall. “Sister-”

“Turns out I am, though! Catch you later, Aeth.” You give him a small wave and blow him a kiss, practically skipping away to join your friends and leave the dining hall. It’s a beautiful day outside and you all have made plans to spend most of it in the orchard, doing absolutely nothing.

It’s one of the few days a month where the Siblings in the Abbey are given free reign to do with their time as they please— no lessons, mass, or scheduled events. As you and your small group of friends find a place on the grass to lay down and relax you can hear the shouts of other Siblings running past, playing games or having spirited discussions. Still, your ear is cocked for any sign of Aether or one of his bandmates keeping an eye on you. You know that at least Rain and Mountain will be mostly preoccupied, but Dew has a penchant for chasing his own pets throughout the Abbey gardens on down days. He and Aether often chat about how they enjoy the “prey and predator” feeling that comes with the territory.

“You know that won’t end well, right?” your friend asks with a groan as she lays down in the grass beside you. Jolted out of your thoughts of being chased by Aether through the surrounding woods, you snap your focus back to your friends. You shrug as best as you can and tuck your arms under your head, content to watch the clouds roll by in puffy formations as you try to shake off the sudden urge to run that’s coursing through your legs like lightning.

“I know what he likes and what he doesn’t. I won’t push him too far,” you explain. One of your friends grumbles in agreement, muttering something about how he’s currently tied up with Dew. Those who have an arrangement with their Ghouls know how far to take things when asked. The sun warms your bones and it doesn’t take long before it feels like you’re practically melting into the Earth. You’re drawn from your reverie when your friend snaps her hand in front of you again, attempting to get your attention. “What? What?”

“I said, ‘he’s looking for you’. Look.” She points in a general direction, masking her gesture with a cough and using her elbow. You roll your eyes good naturedly but look anyway— sure enough, Aether is on the lawn, sitting on a large rock and watching you carefully as he balances a book on his knee. Your other friend, the one currently entangled with Dew, makes a not-so-subtle cooing noise under his breath.

“He’s watching you, isn’t he? Got his eyes on his little pet. Yeah, you got a good Ghoul in that one. Isn’t it great how they watch us sometimes?” Even though your stomach is aflutter from the sudden attention, your friend’s voice still manages to rub you the wrong way— it isn’t lascivious, it’s just some good old fashioned teasing.

“He does that even when I’m not being a brat, in all fairness.” You lift your arm and wave at him, smiling to yourself when he returns the gesture, albeit with a slightly confused expression. “He just loves me, that’s all.” The sun feels excellent on your face and you tilt back towards it, allowing your eyes to slip closed. Aether is the farthest thing from your mind as you and your friends chatter on, linking your hands together and comparing various studies and opinions on everything under the sun.

Soon enough, however, a shadow falls over the three of you. Across the lawn you hear a piercing whistle and are hardly surprised when you look up, finding that it belongs to Dew. When you look beside you to mention this to your friend he’s already gone, sprinting to join his own Ghoul— no doubt eagerly answering the summons that you’ve chosen to ignore for the day. You roll your eyes and look up to what’s causing the shadow, only barely blinking when you notice that it’s Aether.

“You want something for lunch, my princess?” he asks, holding out a small brown bag, no doubt packed with your favourite foods. When you decide to be a brat, he always attempts to sway you back under his thumb with your favourite snacks or books, and it almost always works. The temptation is overwhelming, and you can smell the food already— roast beef, potato chips, and a Twinkie. Your stomach clenches in a small display of hunger, but you screw up your mouth as if you’re thinking about it.

“Oh, here we go,” your friend chirps from beside you. She rolls onto her back deftly and gets up, leaving quicker than you thought was possible. Alone with Aether, you laugh and sit up, patting the grass beside you.

“Perhaps. Sit with me?” Aether nods and sits beside you, opening the paper bag and drawing out the sandwich that you knew lurked inside. You swallow hard, looking at it for a moment until he hands it over to you.

“Are you going to be a good girl for your daddy and eat some proper food, unlike this morning?” Aether inclines his head towards you and holds the sandwich out until you take it greedily, unwrapping it and taking a large bite. Instantly his hand flips and grabs your wrist tightly, squeezing until you look at him, eyes wide. “Slow down. I don’t want you getting sick. Okay?” When you don’t answer instantly, he jerks your hand slightly until you nod, resuming your chewing. “Good girl.”

“I try,” you mumble around the mouthful of sandwich. He smiles and shakes his head, laughing a little as he pats your knee with a large hand.

“I figured as much.” Aether watches you for a moment as you chew in silence before reaching into the bag and drawing out his own sandwich, a partially cooked slab of steak on ciabatta. “Boss made bread again. All of us are having steak sandwiches, courtesy of Cirrus,” he says in answer to your raised eyebrow.

“Is it any good? The bread, I mean.” You swallow an overly large bite and cough a little, noticing with a frown when Aether does nothing to help you through the almost-not-quite-a-choke. He merely waits for you to finish as he chews patiently before answering with a dry smile.

“Hubris. And yes, it is. He has talent.” You roll your eyes at him in a wide circle and toss the last bite of the crust of your sandwich in a far arc into the woods before digging in the bag for the Twinkie that you know is hidden at the bottom. “You still aren’t eating your crusts?” Aether asks in a disapproving tone.

“You know I don’t like them. They’re yucky.” Twinkie retrieved, you pull it out and open the wrapper quickly, poking your tongue out at Aether as you settle back down to eat your treat. “Crusts have no nutritional value, you know.”

“‘Yucky’? It’s bread.” Aether tosses the rest of his own sandwich into his mouth and claps his hands to his thighs. “Right. Lunch break is over. Be in my room at 8, dressed for sleep. Don’t be late.” Before you can open your mouth to respond he’s already unfolded himself from the grass, dusted off his smart black slacks and left.

Your friends eventually migrate back to your area, one of them looking slightly disheveled, and you manage to evade their constant questions about what exactly happened over lunch. Being teased for being a Ghoul pet isn’t exactly a new occurrence, but the attention from Aether in public certainly is— and you’re warming up to it. When you mention this to your friends, one of them perks up a little bit.

“Dew loves it when I brat around in public. But you know what he loves even more?” He leans closer, winking at you when you shy away, suddenly embarrassed at the topic. “When I do it in private. When he can scold me. Trust me, do that to Aether tonight when he asked you to show up for bed. It’ll drive him wild.”

“I mean… You seem to know best, I suppose.” You pause, thinking for a moment before asking the question on the tip of your tongue. “How could I do that?”

“Oh, easy!” your other friend suddenly supplies, flushing when your attention shifts to her. Her eyes focus on the sunset in the distance as she talks, firmly fixing her gaze away from you. “Maybe you just show up… Not quite ready. Maybe one thing is slightly off. With how he’s been acting and how disobedient you’ve been today, maybe it’ll just send him over the edge.” You sit up and stretch before rising to your feet, giving it some thought before you respond.

“I think I can manage that.” With that, you toss your friends a wink and flounce back to the Abbey, a spring in your step as a plan forms in your mind’s eye.

Later, at half past 8 in the evening, you knock loudly on Aether’s door before letting yourself in. The Ghoul has clearly been waiting for you impatiently, as evidenced by his posture on the edge of his bed and the drumming of his claws against the wooden posts holding up the mattress. Aether stands up as soon as you fling his door open, kicking it shut quickly behind you with a hiss.

“I instructed you to be at 8! Sharp!” His eyes narrow as he looks down at you, scanning your outfit before frowning. “And you’re wearing… your habit still? I said come dressed for bed. Sathanas, do you just like to disobey me?”

“Maybe I do,” you offer, your eyes meeting his and not deviating. You watch as his pupils dilate in quick and sudden arousal, his chest widening as his breathing deepens. The tip of his tongue darts out briefly to wet his lower lip and before you know it, his hand is clasped to the back of your neck. Aether’s claws dig briefly into the soft skin at the sides of your neck and you gasp, already bending under the pressure he’s exerting as you fall to your knees.

“Then maybe I like forcing obedience. Did you ever consider that, Sister, hm?” Aether says, his voice becoming a low hiss in your ear as he crouches in front of you, watching as your face gets closer and closer to the ground. Just before your nose hits the carpet he lets go of you roughly, turning and stalking back to his bed before snapping his fingers sharply. “Crawl to daddy, Sister. Show me how sorry you are for disobeying me in front of all of those people today.”

When you look up at him, crawling forward on your hands and knees, you can’t help the thought that he surely does make a pretty sight when he’s seated above you. His eyes are glowing in a mixture of arousal, arrogance and annoyance as he beckons to you with two fingers, pointing at the ground in front of him. You slide your hands reverently up his legs to his knees before continuing along his thighs, pausing when you reach the upper portion of the taut muscles. He just nods, motioning for you to continue before reaching up and tearing off your hair covering, tossing it into a far corner of the room.

“Such a pious little Sister, aren’t you? On your knees for a leader of the church. A true servant.” Aether’s tone is mocking and condescending, but you don’t have the time to be embarrassed at the hot spike of lust that spears through your cunt. His hands pull down his fly and then his cock is in front of you, held at base by his fist and enticingly close to your lips. “Go on then. Serve.”

As soon as you bring your lips to the head of his cock he thrusts forward, his free hand coming to the back of your head and entangling in your hair, now free of the head covering. He groans as you slip yourself lower, dipping your tongue down to caress over his knuckles, making sure to show him how in control you are of yourself. When the head of his cock bumps your soft palate you cough slightly, using the moment to readjust yourself on your knees. His hand grips tighter in your hair, dragging you up along his shaft until he pulls you off of him, gasping and already drooling.

“I love you best like this, you know, princess. Supple and pliant. You’re so willing to just… finally- do everything I say. Isn’t that right?” You nod with difficulty when his fingers tighten in your hair almost painfully as his other hand runs the head of his cock along your lips. Aether hisses inward when your tongue flicks out to greet it, sliding himself past your lips once more and dragging you down until your nose bumps against his pelvis.

You moan around him, shifting on the floor as you feel the nylon of your stockings beginning to stick to you even more with every thrust of his hips. When you gasp inward, choking on his cock until tears roll out of your eyes, he presses his advantage and moves his hands to either side of your face. Aether waits until you make eye contact with him and nods subtly, pressing you down into his lap and holding you there momentarily before letting you up once more as he coos down at you.

“That’s a good girl, princess. You’re being such a good girl for daddy finally, aren’t you?” Aether’s thumb strokes along your cheek as he manipulates you, dragging you along his shaft slowly. His eyes never leave your lips, watching as his cock disappears into your mouth over and over. Finally he lets you up for air, sitting further back on the bed and patting his lap firmly. “I think you’ve deserved a bit of a reward, don’t you?”

“Only if daddy thinks I have,” you respond with ease, rising from your knees and settling on his lap to face away from him, just how he likes it.. He presses his palm to your stomach, tucking you against his chest as he raises your leg and plants it firmly on the bed beside you. You manage to keep it there as his hand trails along your body, rubbing your leg lovingly until he finally finds the wet patch at the apex of your thighs, dampened with your slick and no doubt evident to his searching fingers.

“Oh, my. What do we have here, princess? Are you all wound up just from servicing daddy?” You manage to nod and tuck your head against his shoulder, knowing exactly what he plans to do next— the sight of it always leaves you weak in the stomach and clenching for more. Sure enough, you can feel the grab of his claw as it snags in the nylon of your stocking, and the tugging only intensifies as he sheers through the fabric. Aether growls low in his throat when he feels your lack of panties, already moving his fist back towards his cock to direct it to your entrance. “Just couldn’t wait any more, could you?”

“Been thinking about this all day,” you sigh, wrapping one arm around his shoulders and closing your eyes as you lean against him. In no time, his cock has already found its way inside of you and he presses you down hard into his lap, grinding your ass against his hips as he seats himself to the hilt. “Fuck, that feels so nice, Aeth.” He nods and groans in agreement, kissing the side of your neck before sinking his teeth into the sensitive skin there.

Both of you moan in tandem as he shifts his hips, rocking upward into you at the same moment that the pad of his index finger finds your clit. He manages to keep up a decent rhythm as he helps you bounce on his lap, his finger swiping across you in a beat that you can’t quite predict— it’s enough to set off sparks of electricity across your skin every time he does it, though. Soon enough his tail begins to creep along the edges of your vision, finally settling along your other leg to wrap around your calf. When you nod your consent he lifts your leg with it gently, holding it aloft as his cock spears you, his other hand working you along his lap in a fervor as he nears his own climax.

“Aeth- Aeth, I need- All I need is-”

“I know,” he finishes for you, sealing your lips in a heated kiss as his teeth instantly score along your lower lip. The small nip of pain is enough to send you rocketing over the edge of your climax and you cum hard, stars bursting across your vision. You hear him murmuring to you, his lips grazing across yours softly as he does so, but you don’t have time to catch the words that he’s saying as you cum again, this time prompted by his sudden and concentrated assault on your clit with two fingers.

By the time you come to your senses and return from your out of body experience he’s already finished inside of you, his cock still pulsing with the last vestiges of his own orgasm. In front of you on the stone floor is a small pool of the evidence of your arousal and you flush bright red— you knew that was his goal all along, when he lifted your leg and started concentrating on your clit. Aether works your body like a well tuned guitar and you’re more than happy to let him do it as often as he’d like.

“Mm,” he hums, nuzzling his nose into your hair briefly, tail lowering your leg. “I told you to come dressed for bed… What are you going to sleep in now?” You laugh, laying your head back onto his shoulder and pressing a fond kiss to his cheek underneath the mask.

“I figured we wouldn’t be sleeping at all.”

“I can certainly make that happen,” he assents after a short pause.

#lorraine writes #fics #ghost #ghost bc #the band ghost #papa emeritus #nameless ghouls #nameless ghoulettes #era 4 ghouls #aether #ns/fw

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tsukikento · 3 years

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Empathetic Chapter 14

Pairing: Bakugou Katsuki x Reader

Summary: After your mom, the number 1 hero in America, gets offered a teaching position at U.A., you two pack up your things and head to Musutafu, Japan to start a new life. Pressure for you in America was at an all-time high, and now you’re in Japan, where almost no one knows you, or your family’s past.

This tale starts on your first day of class where your new teacher decides the best way for you to fit in is to fight against the strongest person in your class: Bakugou Katsuki.

Warnings/Genre: This piece will feature some angst and reference to an abusive parent, if you are ever worried about other tw’s feel free to send me an ask and I will let you know. There will also be fluff, slight angst, pining, and slowburn.

A/N: I’m glad I was able to get another chapter out before school starts for me. Anyways, please let me know what you guys think! I love hearing your thoughts and feelings on the story!

(masterlist)

You woke up on Sunday with a small pit in your stomach.

It only grew bigger as the day continued.

However, it started small. Just a little bit of nerves for your training sessions today. Except, you did not have much time to think about these anxieties because you woke up to an email from Kobayashi.

You went in yesterday to try on the costume, it fits quite well. You loved the style he was able to encapsulate as well as the functionality it allowed. Once he pinned it in a few places and adjust some things, he bid you farewell.

He said his intern, who was a student at U.A., would make the adjustments that day and be able to give it to you for one more look over in the morning. Additionally, this student would be the person you would be contacting if you ever needed any adjustments.

The email, which also had this student in it, detailed where you two would meet up to do any final adjustments if there was anything after the adjustments made yesterday.

The meeting time was set for 10:00 in the morning and it was currently 7:00, giving you ample time to go on a quick run, shower, and eat something.

Although your morning run was usually an opportunity for you to relax, you ended up feeling more nervous than anything. It was during this run that you were able to finally think about your fight against Bakugou.

You were sure in your abilities and skill with your quirk, enough so that you knew you would be safe. However, you also knew that Bakugou has been waiting for weeks for this rematch. If he won, he would surely gloat. If he lost, he would look like an angry Pomeranian as he demanded another fight.

Additionally, this anger would surely pour-over and affect the fight in a way that could be unsafe.

You felt the pit in your stomach grow just a bit more as you turned up your music and increased your running speed in an attempt to calm down.

By the time you finished running and took a shower, you barely had an appetite. The nerves in your stomach were making the idea of a meal seem disgusting and vile. Despite this, you knew you needed to eat something and forced yourself to drink a protein shake and a piece of toast with jam.

Hopefully not having an empty stomach will help my nerves, you thought as you munched on the toast.

Once the clock inched close enough to 10:00, you made your way to the support team’s school building.

Even though it was the weekend, the building was loud and bustling. Students were running through the halls and rooms with metal in their hands. Cautiously, walked through the building to find a specific room where your new costume designer would be.

Once there, you noticed only one other person in the room.

“Iwasaki Kou-san?” You asked while taking in their outfit and style. Their hair was straight, with some strands falling in front of their face. The rest was pulled back into a white hair tie. The dark color of his hair had hints of blue throughout when hit by the light correctly. With that in mind, it was difficult to identify the hair as one solid shade. However, the most noticeable things about him were his deep eyes and thick eyebrows that made him stand out despite no one else being there.

He was nowhere near as fit as the heroes you surrounded yourself with. However, the black t-shirt he had on shaped his form in a quite flattering way.

You stopped your eyes from wandering lower and you instead looked at his surroundings. He was currently tinkering with something, but you weren’t quite sure what it was. On a mannequin behind him was your hero costume, laying limply across the much too small body.

“Yeah,” He casually replied, the smile forming on his lips was kind, inviting, and yet held a mysteriousness that you couldn’t decipher. “Are you Y/L/N-san?” His voice was soft.

You gulped down and nodded, stepping further into the room.

“Perfect,” He took off the thick gloves that covered your hands and wiped the soot off them with a white cloth he kept tucked into his pants. He then held out his now clean hand to shake your own.

You gently took his own, his calloused hands sending shivers up your spine.

Why do I feel so calm and yet so nervous? You questioned as you forced yourself to smile.

“Shall we get started?” He asked.

“Sure!” You excitedly agreed.

Iwasaki immediately moved to the mannequin and unzipped your uniform. Gently, he handed you the fabric. “You can go into that room there to change,” He explained, pointing to a door on the other side of the classroom. “I’ll pull out all the extra items while you change.

You entered the small room to see that it looked quite like a typical changing room. A small ledge to sit on or hold items, a body-length mirror, and a few hooks to hold items.

The tight bodysuit was a deep blue that looked almost black. Sort of like Kou’s hair, you thought as you pulled it on. Throughout the suit were detailed of neon yellow. As Kobayashi explained to you before, the details were the only stylist and were a way to incorporate your family’s colors without being too cheesy. The arms of the suit stopped just after your shoulder to allow for mobility. The legs, additionally, stopped quickly. You had a small metal waist set that could hold swords and expand to protect vital organs. Your pants stopped midthigh.

You remember specifically telling Kobayashi-san that you wanted skin exposed so you could use your quirk when people touch you, without having a hard to manage skirt.

Once you zipped up your suit, you made your way back into the main classroom.

Iwasaki smiled at you once he saw you.

He was currently surrounded by a variety of dark blues and neon yellows that stood out at all your support items.

He handed you the boots to your suit first.

“I tinkered with the boots a bit, but you shouldn’t notice much difference,” Iwasaki explained. “I was just trying to make them lighter.”

You nodded and you took your time to attach them. The boots stopped under your calf, but straps ran up your leg to attach to a knee cap.

“I’m sure Kobayashi-sensei told you, but the straps are to help prevent injuries from any awkward movements or excessive running. The boots and straps will help you to run faster, but it won’t be by too much so you can get used to the boost. If you want, you can also attach weights to them while you train so that you move faster in the field with the weights off.” He paused for a moment before adding, “Oh and the blade feature on your other boots is the same with these.”

You silently nodded, much too focused on putting everything on correctly.

You then attached the compact shoulder pads to your costume.

You the attached metal cuffs to your wrist that you also assembled to help prevent injuries on your hands or arms. It would also help add weight and power to any punches you would have to throw.

Last but certainly not least were your ear and eye protectors.

Kobayashi brilliantly designed your ear attachments with three different functions. When needed, you could use the ear attachments like your earbuds and prevent you from hearing thoughts. The second function was to increase your hearing distance. Although he was unable to increase your hearing distance for thoughts, he was able to help even out the differences. Now you could hear people from as far as 100 ft without needing to take out the earbuds that help prevent you from hearing thoughts. You were also able to zero in on certain sounds if needed. The final function was a simple Bluetooth addition in case you needed to communicate with other heroes on the field.

“Your ear attachments are cool, but I’m really excited to make them better for you,” Kou smiled calmly and brightly at you. “I want to make them perfect because half of your quirk is so based around your ears.”

Appreciatively, you smiled at the boy. “That’s very nice, thank you.”

Iwasaki sheepishly waved you off, “It’s my pleasure! I became a support student for a reason. If I’m able to figure anything out, I might even make it my final analysis and creation project.”

“Are you a third-year?” You asked.

“Yeah,” The boy blushed lightly and scratched at the back of his head, “I am.”

You simply nodded before attaching the shield to your earpiece that protected your eyes.

You then moved over to look at yourself in the full-body mirror.

I look amazing.

“You like it?” Iwasaki asked, interrupting yourself from going on an analytical tangent for each piece of the costume.

“I love it,” You explained, smiling brightly at yourself.

“I’m glad,” He paused briefly. “I saw your original sketches and I was worried you would hate it. Kobayashi-sensei didn’t tell me how much you two collaborated together, so I didn’t know.

You nodded as you looked at the dark black dots on your left shoulder pad. It wasn’t too noticeable from far away, but you could see it up close against the dark blue.

“Yeah,” You started, “He basically lectured me in a face call and told me I needed to think more about my quirk and what would be best for me, rather than what I thought was cool.” You thought over your next words carefully, “I’m still glad a have a place for my swords. And I have my own black shoulder strap for my biggest sword.”

“Thanks,” Kou said, “I actually thought of the metal sword holder and shield expansion feature.”

“Really?” You inquired.

“Yeah,” He ensured, a smile brightening up his face. “But you should also show me the shoulder strap. Maybe I can make it better or make a new one that will help with weight and comfort.”

“You wouldn’t mind?”

“You seem to keep forgetting this is literally my job,” He laughed. It sounded beautiful. “My third year is all about helping students and only asking my professors or intern leader for help when I need it.”

You nodded in understanding before adding. “Maybe I will. I’ll make sure to email you about it.”

“Of course,” Kou agreed. “And do you have any other adjustments you want now?”

“No, not really,” You explained, a bright smile plastered across your face.

“Then I guess you are all set if you want to change back,” Iwasaki spoke while slipping on his gloves again.

“Perfect, I’ll be right back then.” You grabbed your suitcase and went back into the small changing room to take off all your support items and costume. When done, you stepped back out, bid Kou a farewell, and left.

You walked back to the dorm with your suitcase, a little bit happier than you expected. The costume fit perfectly at this point, and you were excited to move forward with OOO in all other possible upgrades you could make. Although it wasn’t what you initially envisioned and sketched out when you first met Kobayashi, all the changes he made, with your approval, made the costume much better and more modern.

You reminisced about your first meeting with the designer, where he asked you what kind of hero you wanted to be, a sentiment that OOO was clearly upholding.

After discovery and debate, the new costume that was drawn up fit you much better than you could expect.

It wasn’t until you got back to the dorm that the pit in your stomach reared its ugly head.

The first thing you saw when you opened the large door was a sleepy Bakugou, clearly just woken up.

He was yawning, a small cup of coffee in his hands, and his hair seemed to be more of a mess than usual.

Once he opened his eyes again, he immediately found your own eyes. Although the living room and dining table were crowded with about five other people, he immediately made his way to you.

“You got your hero costume?” He asked. There wasn’t any malicious tinge to his voice, but the gruff sound of his natural voice mixed with the deepness from just waking up made your stomach queasy.

You had half a mind to just run into the bathroom and make yourself puke. However, you swallowed your nerves and nodded, hoping you didn’t look like too much of a fool.

“Maybe we should wear our costumes for our training today,” He smirked at your before eyeing your suitcase that had the number 21 printed on it. “I have a few support items I would love to try out on you.”

The idea sent a shiver up your spine, something that wouldn’t normally happen. Bakugou makes me way too nervous, you thought as you debated over what to make next. In hope of lightening up to conversation a little bit, you asked, “Oh, did Iwasaki make new support items for you too?”

“Iwasaki?” Bakugou spat back, obviously offended. “Not only would I never let that weirdo touch my equipment, but I’m also offended you didn’t realize I made them myself.”

“Iwasaki isn’t weird,” You countered, practically laughing. “He was so nice!”

Bakugou scoffed and looked away from you. “Whatever, I would just rather tinker with my own shit than have him do it. He seems too perfect, that smile of his is so weird.”

Despite still being nervous about the fight, you found yourself laughing at Bakugou’s explanation. “Too perfect?” You spoke in-between laughs. “You really can be funny sometimes, Bakugou—”

You stopped yourself from using an honorific. Not sure if he would prefer a more formal ‘san’ or a friendlier ‘kun’.

Although he clearly noticed your pause and debate on which one to use, he simply glossed over it and replied with an “I am not funny! I am being serious!” The blond groaned in frustration before adding. “You know what? Let’s wear our costumes, and we will actually see how well Iwa-shitty did.”

“Iwasaki barely did anything to my costume,” You reasoned, “He only adjusted a few things, the work is still mostly Kobayashi-san’s.”

“Whatever,” He gruffly replied, “Just bring your damn suitcase so we can change in the lockers beforehand.”

“Whatever your say, Bakugou,” You replied, quietly laughing to yourself at his small and childish fit.

The blond walked away from you without another word, leaving you by yourself with some free time.

The first thing you did was make your way to the kitchen to prepare yourself something to eat. Since it was approaching lunchtime anyway, Iida and Uraraka we currently preparing themselves some food.

“No internship today?” You asked them, remembering seeing each of them go out to internships before.

“Nope!” Uraraka gingerly explained, “We aren’t allowed to have internships on Saturday and Sunday because they want us to have enough time for school.”

“Today is our day off,” Iida added as you watched him mix something in a small, Styrofoam container.

When you got closer, a rank and vile smelled filled your nose. You immediately knew it was coming from the container and backed up while covering your nose.

You had no intention to insult their food preferences, especially because you weren’t from here, but Uraraka immediately noticed your reaction and laughed.

“You’ve never seen natto?” She asked.

You shook your head, not wanting to speak in fear that you would get a bigger sniff of the food.

Iida looked back to see your face. “Sorry,” He spoke.

“No! Don’t worry!” You replied, wanting to be as nice as you could.

Uraraka laughed again. “Natto is fermented soybeans. It might smell weird and the texture is slimy, but it tastes so good in rice, especially with mustard and fish sauce.”

You nodded while peaking over to get a look at the slimy brown beans.

“Do you want to try it?” Iida asked you, turning so you could see his portion of rice and beans.

“Umm,” You mumbled, not sure what to say. You didn’t want to take his food, and you definitely didn’t know if you would like it.

“You should,” Uraraka encouraged. “We can give you just a bit to taste.” She pulled out a bowl from the cabinet and scooped a little of her portion into the bowl. “Even if you don’t like it, you’ll have to get used to it. It’s a cheap, easy, and healthy meal so everyone here eats it often.”

Hesitantly, you grabbed the small bowl and chopsticks she offered you.

“Don’t smell it, “Iida began “Just eat it.”

Listening to Iida, you stopped yourself from smelling the bowl and shoved it into your mouth. Despite 80% of the dish being rice only, the flavor of the natto was most prevalent. You chewed quickly, not sure if it was the type of dish to savor.

You closed your eyes, swallowed the bite, and looked back to your two classmates.

“It looked like you hated it,” Uraraka laughed while munching on her own bowl.

“No,” You countered, “It’s okay. I’m just not used to it.” You got the rest of the rice and bean in-between your chopsticks and finished your bowl. “Thank you for letting my try.”

“No problem,” Iida and Uraraka replied together before they took their leave from the kitchen to seat at the large dining table.

You then scoured the fridge and cupboards for a suitable lunch and settled on fried rice leftovers from dinner the night before. You heated up a bowl and took it upstairs to eat.

Time passed slowly as you worked on homework and had videos playing in the background. Eventually, then the clock read 10 to 3:00pm, you got up from your seat and changed into comfortable workout clothes. You grabbed your suitcase, a large water container, and two different swords before making your way downstairs.

When you got to the front door, Bakugou was already waiting, dressed in comfortable workout clothes. His own suitcase was in his hand as well as two large looking grenades and water.

You didn’t bother even asking what the grenades were for as Bakugou simply waited for you to slip on other shoes.

You followed Bakugou out the door silently. “We’ll start with stretches and then change into our costumes,” Bakugou explained. “I rented out a fourth of the cityscape so we will have plenty of room to move around.”

“Okay,” You replied, “Although I might need some time to warm up with my hero costume because it just got finished today.”

“It can’t be that different, can it?” Bakugou inquired.

“It’s completely different, “You explained. “My older hero uniform was so ugly; it didn’t help my quirk at all and just matched with my family’s theme.”

“Your family has a theme?” He questioned while barking out a laugh. “That’s so cringy.”

“Yeah,” You mumbled, “But it is important to my mom and common in the United States.”

Bakugou simply hummed in response and he brought you to a small field. It was right next to the building that held changing rooms, making it ideal for your short warm-up.

“Do you want to warm up together?” You asked him.

“It’s up to you,” Bakugou replied before setting down his things and beginning his warm-up. It mainly consisted of basic stretches every person typically does.

Following his lead, you dropped your belongings to the side and moved to take off your earbuds.

“You’re taking them off now,” Bakugou asked.

You turned to see him looking at you and replied, “Yeah, is that a problem?”

“Uhh,” Bakugou fumbled, “No, I guess not.”

Ignoring his weird comment, you simply put away the earbuds. I’ll just hear any weird thoughts he has anyway.

What first filled your mind, however, was Bakugou thinking:

Don’t think weird thoughts, don’t think weird thoughts.

You couldn’t stop yourself from laughing at his thoughts which immediately drew his attention.

“What?” He spat out.

“Nothing,” You replied after your laughter died down. I don’t need to tell him about how weird he is being, you told yourself and you began your own stretch routine.

You also needed to warm up your quirk, something you did by focusing on different thoughts around you. Because Bakugou was so close to you, his thoughts we most noticeable. However, it was important to see how far you could take your quirk, so you focused as best your could on different thoughts from people different distances away.

Eventually, when your body felt nice and stretched, you wanted to move on to a jog. After letting Bakugou know, you jogged a few laps around the field while he sprinted to build up a sweat.

Once ready, you made your way into the changing rooms with all your belongings. Bakugou followed shortly behind you.

The second you put it on, you could feel the differences in your hero costume. You felt lighter despite having more on. You took a small lap around the locker room to test your speed. You then tested your earpieces that covered your ears completely. Once satisfied, you attached a dagger to the metal plate around your waist. You brought your largest and heaviest sword today. First, to test out how it works with your costume so you could bring it to Kou with any needed adjustments, and two, to intimidate Bakugou.

No one in your class yet had seen your work with knives, daggers, and swords, making it a surprising advantage if need be. You took another moment to stretch in your hero uniform before exiting the room and meeting back up with Bakugou who was facing away from you and stretching.

Immediately, your eyes found him and stared at his hero costume. It was mainly black, with touches of orange and green. From the first view, it was scary. However, you noticed intricate pieces that made it seem detailed and well thought out. However, what was most interesting to you was how it fit on him.

You would hit yourself if you weren’t so distracted ogling his free arms. They looked much bigger than you had ever seen on him. And yet, they also seemed like the perfect size. He must do a lot of weightlifting, you thought as your eyes then traveled to his waist. It was covered in black cloth, making it impossible to see his abs, but his thin waist was enough to see.

He looks so hot, your thoughts. You were unable to place every piece of his hero costume that made him this attractive, but his arms and waist were the main ones. You gulped down the lump in your throat as you watched him bend over to touch his toes

“Holy shit,” You accidentally spoke aloud.

Immediately, the blond shot up and turned to look at you. “What did you s—?” He began to question before stopping halfway through.

Holy shit, his thoughts similarly echoed yours.

You looked down, very aware that your cheeks were flaring a deep red. Although it definitely boosted your ego to hear him react to your costume like that, it sent waves of anxiety through you. He knows I can hear his thoughts. Why isn’t he stopping himself, you questioned as he thoughtfully admired the way your leg straps hugged your bare thighs.

“Are you ready?” You asked, breaking the thick silence, and hoping to distract him.

You weren’t sure how to feel. On one hand, it felt amazing to hear his thoughts. It was clear he found you attractive. However, that did not mean he liked you as more than a friend, classmate, or whatever he actually thought. You nervously shuffled from one foot to the other and Bakugou shook his head.

You fucking creep, he thought.

“Yeah,” He mumbled. His voice was raspy, and he immediately grabbed his water from the ground and chugged a good portion. He then picked up all his items and you silently followed him to the cityscape.

Both of you were stuck in your own thoughts. You debated whether or not this situation was a good thing or a bad thing. I’ll definitely have to talk to Ashido and Hagakure later. And Bakugou was currently wondering over if you heard him.

What are those things are her ears? Can she hear me with them? Maybe she can’t… I could ask her what they are. No, that’s too obvious!

“So,” You eventually began after Bakugou signed in on a sheet of paper that hung at the entrance of the cityscape. “Are you wanting to do a ruled match? Or are you wanting to do a bad guy versus good guy things?” You were trying to break the awkward silence, hoping that fighting would distract you both from the nerves you were feeling.

“A match,” He simply replied. His voice wavered more than it typically would, however, it evened out more and more as he continued to talk. “It will end when the other person admits defeat or is too injured to play.”

“Oof, that sounds intense,” You jokingly replied. You needed to give this match your all. Bakugou was a competitor and should be treated as a stepping stone for you to improve your quirk usage. Hopefully, Bakugou's thoughts and actions were slow enough for you to interpret and prevent them. That would be the key factor in who won today.

Bakugou laughed in response. The typical bark of a laugh that you had become too quickly acquainted to. “Yeah, well you better be ready.”

You two took your time making it to your designated area and choosing a spot to store your suitcases and waters. Once done, Bakugou put on the grenades he had been carrying onto his forearms.

“What do those do?” You innocently asked.

“I’m not telling you, they’re a surprise for later.”

Similarly, to how Bakugou would, you scoffed at his reply. “That was so cringy,” You added.

In response, Bakugou rolled his eyes and let out a simple, “Whatever.”

You genuinely smiled while you watch him finish securing the large grenades to his forearms.

I wonder what his first attacks will be, you thought. Those grenades can’t be his first attack. It must be something that builds up energy. Smirking, you thought of a way to make his motives clear.

“What’s your first attack against me going to be?” You asked him.

The blond whipped his head around and looked at you with squinted eyes. “Like I would ever tell you.” Don’t think about how you plan to worsen her hearing, you heard him think.

You tried your best not to react to him revealing his thoughts and simply frowned. “I guess it was worth a try.”

Bakugou didn’t bother replying and simply faced you. “Ready?” He asked as he cracked his knuckles and neck.

You simply shrugged, trying your best to look casual. I need to get away from him before he can explode out my eardrums. “Ready as I’ll ever be,” You nonchalantly responded.

You waited for a beat, just enough time to move before Bakugou. Luckily, the straps on your legs helped greatly to increase your speed. It made you feel lighter and helped smooth out your movements enough to save a decent amount of time. You were out of Bakugou’s eyesight in a flash, leaving him baffled. She’s faster than I remember. By the time he recovered enough to chase after you, you had turn multiple corners and climbed up a fire escape attached to one of the skyscrapers.

Bakugou launched himself into the sky to move faster He was clearly looking to attack quickly instead of surprise you. You used the sharp and retractable blades attached to your shoes to smash a window, timing the shattering glass sounds to the sound of his explosions.

You moved into the building, hoping he would be unable to see the shattered glass with him moving so quickly. Inside the building, you drew your dagger, just in case he found you. I’ll throw it at him if need be, you thought and you began moving higher and higher up the floors.

As Bakugou soared through the sky, he found himself analyzing the ground more than anything else. After searching a decent distance, he realized something must be off. She can’t be on the ground if I can see her from here, you hear him think. He then landed on one of the taller buildings and looked around.

I didn’t see any climbing materials on her costume unless those straps are detachable? Bakugou thought over each piece of your costume, noting whether or not they could be used to climb up buildings. He began jumping from building to building, looking for a signal.

And that’s when he saw it.

Shattered glass on the grated ground of a fire escape, teetering from side to side as if recently moved and threatening to fall a floor below.

Excitedly, Bakugou pounced on the building and peered into the room. She isn’t on this floor anymore, he noted while debating to go down or up. I’ll find you soon, he thought as he searched below first. It took him approximately 10 seconds to realize you didn’t move lower down the building. He quickly moved higher and higher, searching through the windows on each floor in hopes of seeing a flash of dark blue and yellow.

She must be on the staircase, he thought after being unable to find you. That’s the only place without windows, he reasoned before debating whether to move into the staircase himself or go to the roof where he presumed you were going to be.

His thoughts were clear to you and did not affect your plan in the slightest. With ease, you made your way to the roof. You didn’t want to tire yourself out too much. You opened the clunky door only to be hit with a gust of wind. This school must be rich to be able to simulate gusts of wind, you thought as you spotted the large fans that were scattered across the walls of this cityscape.

You perched yourself on the metal box that was warm enough to help against the wind.

Now it is just a waiting game, you thought as you simply listened to Bakugou’s thoughts.

Eventually, and predictably, he showed up through the same door you came into. You had positioned yourself behind where he would show up so he initially didn’t see you.

Quietly, you looked around the small building and watched as he peered across the sky.

There’s no way she could have gotten off from here unless she climbed down.

You put away your dagger and de-sheathed your large sword. It was chunky and sharp with a wide and heavy handle to keep it sturdy. Before Bakugou could turn or hear you, you pushed forward and kicked the blond with the bottom of your heavy boot.

He stumbled but did not fall to the floor. You held up your sword, using it to extend your arm. As soon as Bakugou turned to look at you, his neck was greeted by the sharp sword only inches away. He didn’t move for a moment, but quickly recovered and sent a blast your way. Now within a small distance, he sent off multiple small explosions. Not only did you cower to get away from his explosion, but the small explosions made it difficult to hear his thoughts.

You pushed forward despite your nerves to the boy and used the flat edge of your sword to hit him. Not sharp enough to harm him, but still a force to be reckoned with. Additionally, the thin sharp edge that was intended for use may seep in enough from the pressure to give him a small cut.

He shot back instantly, and a small amount of blood dripped from his arm. He was breathing heavily, as were you. Although he was not attacking in this moment, he still set off explosions to impede upon your quirk. You didn’t know Bakugou’s fighting style well, but you knew enough. From what you were able to pick up, you knew he intended to go for hand-to-hand combat.

Idiot, you thought while widening your stance and bending at the kneed to prepare yourself. The 50-foot distance between the two of you closed quickly as he pounced on you. Smoothly, you were able to dodge and keep a good distance with your sword and sharp blades on your shoes.

“You really should listen to my mom’s defensive lectures,” You commented. “Playing an offensive role will only get you so far.” You mocked him, watching his eyebrows turn down in anger and his thoughts rush with the idea of just fucking hit her.

You moved out of the way for each of his attacks, only feeling the heat of an explosion or the brush of his fingertips.

When the time was right, you held your sword with only one hand and pushed forward to grab onto his arm. You twisted it before he could react to make sure he could not send an explosion your way. Currently, you were positioned so your right hand held onto his left forearm. His body was twisted so his back was to your right shoulder. The blond twisted his head to look at you and continued to send off explosions to hopefully distract you.

With every explosion, you felt a pulse through his veins, and you held tightly. He groaned in pain at the action, making you realize that his wrist was a weak spot for him. “Oh, so do you have these protect your forearms and wrists?” You asked, gesturing to the large grenades.

His emotions and thoughts made his arms clear. Not just that, you idiot.

“I am not an idiot,” You replied, feigning offense.

Bakugou scoffed in reply and you laughed back at him.

“I’m winning right now, you know?” You spat back, “I wouldn’t scoff at me when I could end this battle right here.”

“Oh yeah?” Bakugou encouraged, “How?”

“Like this…sleep.” You immediately put him to sleep, something he wasn’t expected. You could tell from his thoughts that he wasn’t thinking much about this part of your quirk. Once asleep, you thought over what to do next.

You dragged his heavy body to the edge of the building, wondering if he would wake up in time to save himself if you threw him off.

I don’t think I should risk it, you thought.

Sighing, you pulled him away from the roof, pushed him farther into sleep and let go. You sat down on the ledge and waited a few minutes for the blond to wake up. You pat yourself on the back for getting him to sleep for so long and casually waited for the time to end.

It took a total of 15 minutes for the blond to finally beginning rising. Another minute for him to realize where he was. He looked up at you with a quizzical face.

“If this wasn’t training and you were a real villain, I would have thrown you off this building,” You explained. “I think I win.”

“Like hell you do,” Bakugou groggily replied while getting up. He moved into a fighting stance and you stayed put. “Are you going to get up?” He yelled at you.

You hummed, debating what to do next. “I don’t feel like it,” You replied, knowing full well how much it would irritate him.

“Then I’ll send you off the roof with an explosion,” He spat back.

“No,” You calmly replied, “I don’t think you will.”

“And why is that?” He asked.

You smirked at the boy. “Because,” You began while letting go of the ledge with your hands and leaning back, “Of this.” Once you finished those words, your body fell back and off the building. You positioned your body as safely as you could.

Obviously, this was a dangerous tactic. It was something you would never do in the field. However, you needed to have fun every now and then and Bakugou was so easy to tease. You knew he had a fast enough reaction time to get you. That was proved correct when you saw his body shoot off the side of the building.

Explosion after explosion was set off until you felt a strong arm wrap around your waist.

You looked down and saw you were about 10 feet to the ground. Bakugou reached out and grabbed onto a fire escape. “Jump down,” Bakugou spoke, his voice low.

His arm slipped away from you as you prepared yourself to fall to the ground. Your shoes, which could absorb shock, helped to make the jump easy and comfortable. Bakugou followed you, dropping a few feet away.

You stood silently as the blond stared at you before practically running up to you.

“What is wrong with you?” He demanded while holding onto your arms and shaking you.

Because of the large gloves on his hands, you weren’t able to feel his emotions. However, you were fairly certain he was worried.

You felt bad.

You felt really bad.

His eyes held more worry than you had seen from him and his thoughts had been rushing so much during these past thirty seconds that it gave you a headache. You were sure he had one too.

“I’m sorry,” You bashfully replied. “I wanted to shock you.”

“Yeah, well you did that perfectly,” He replied. He groaned while looking over your body, wanting to see if you got hurt.

“I’m not hurt,” You mumbled, pulling away from him because of how nervous his staring made you feel.

He reluctantly let go of you and let you step away.

“I didn’t mean to worry you so much,” You commented, stopping there because you weren’t sure whether or not to say sorry. That might be too far, you thought.

Bakugou stiffened immediately. It was clear those words made him nervous.

Worry? You heard him think. Fuck, I am worried. I shouldn’t be worried. I shouldn’t be worried. But I am.

Bakugou scoffed, “I have to worry for stupid idiots like you.” Why am I so worried about her? I wouldn’t be this worried about anyone else.

You simply nodded, not wanting to remind him that you could hear his thoughts. “So,” You began after a short pause, “Are we done for today?”

“After the heart attack you gave me today?” He rhetorically questioned, “Yeah, we are done for today.”

Once again, you nodded and followed Bakugou as he began walking to where you left your bags.

“Next time,” He began as your items came into sight, “Let’s just rent out part of the gym and work on hand-to-hand combat. That way,” He turned to look at you, “You can’t pull any dumb tricks.” He paused for a moment, “Also so you don’t fucking cut me with your sword again.”

“Oh!” You exclaimed, moving closer to the blond to look at his cut. “I forgot!”

Once you got to your item, you opened your suitcase and pulled out rubbing alcohol, a couple of band aids, and a Japanese brand for Neosporin.

“Here,” You began, showing the small first aid kit, “Let me clean it.”

Bakugou reluctantly sat down and allowed you to scoot close to him. You rinsed your hands off by pouring some of your water onto them before grabbing a cotton ball and also putting water onto it. You used the wet cotton ball to clean the blood around the cut, some of it was already dry. You then took another cotton ball and put a small amount of alcohol onto it.

Carefully, you ran the cotton ball over the small cut on his arm. Bakugou took a sharp breath in because of the stinging but stayed still as you cleaned it. You pulled it away and looked up at the blond. Your hands had been holding your arm still, allowing you to feel just how nervous he was.

Unfortunately, because of your quirk, you felt the exact same feelings as him. You tried your best to resist any obvious reactions and let go of his arm, so you were no longer being bombarded with nervousness.

When you looked up at him, you saw pink on his cheeks, and you weren’t sure if it was from the training or the anxiety he felt as you took care of him. Additionally, you were fairly certain you also had a blush because of your empathetic abilities. He looked into your eyes for a moment before you tore your own away and went to grab the ointment.

Cautiously, you spread a small amount onto the cut. You then took a few band-aids and spread them across his arms to cover the wound.

“Thanks,” Bakugou quietly spoke once you finished and started putting away the items.

“No problem,” You simply replied before grabbing your water and taking a swig.

Silently, the two of you grabbed your things and made your way to the lockers. The school provided showers in the locker room and well as all the necessary toiletries to help prevent kids from easily stinking up their dorms. Considering your run today and all the hard work you did, you decided a shower before going back to the dorms would be best.

“You don’t have to wait up for me,” You spoke as you two arrived at the lockers. “I’m going to shower.”

Bakugou hummed in response and entered his respective room. You casually and efficiently changed, washed your body, and put on your workout clothes again. They weren’t smelly from only stretching so it wasn’t bad to wear them.

You pushed your dry hair back, put in your earbuds, and grabbed all your things to make your way out of the locker room.

When you exited, you immediately saw Bakugou, who was leaning against a rail on his phone. His items were placed next to him and his left hand was shoved into the pocket of his sweatpants.

“Took you long enough,” He mumbled while looking at you. “You didn’t even wash your hair, what took you forever?”

“I told you not to wait for me,” You replied, “It is your fault for waiting.”

Bakugou scoffed and grabbed his things. “Whatever,” He mumbled before beginning to walk back to the dorms. “I wanted to talk to you about dinner tomorrow,” He explained, “And I didn’t want to text your later.”

“Wow,” You replied in a dry voice, “You sure do know how to make someone feel special.”

“Shut up idiot,” He spat back. You could once again see pink on his cheeks but chose to ignore it. “Anyways,” He began again, “Meet me in the kitchen at four. Sero will be there at five. I want to see how well you can cook.”

“What are we making?” You asked.

“Rice with umeboshi, miso soup, salad, some other shit,” Bakugou replied. “It’s a lot. I know in America that dishes aren’t broken up as much so I will show you everything tomorrow.”

You nodded, “Thanks. I appreciate you trying to help teach me.”

“Yeah, well I will kick you out just as fast if you suck,” He replied.

You looked to Bakugou and saw the teasing smirk on his face. You laughed at his comment which was soon followed by a few snickers from the blond himself.

By the time you and Bakugou arrived home, the conversation died down. Silently, the two of you filled up your waters and walked upstairs to your respective rooms.

“See ya,” Bakugou lazily spoke before heading into his own room and leaving you to yourself.

125 notes · View notes

league-of-thots · 4 years

Text

Cloudy Days and Summer Smiles - A BNHArem collab

Pairing: Aizawa x reader

Warnings: none (sfw), hurt and comfort, brief talking about abduction

Word Count: 4.6k

AN: I haven’t been able to do a collab in a while, but I was super excited to grab Aizawa for this one. If you want to see the other amazing works for the collab, click HERE. also a special thanks to @ikinabi for helping my dumbass with a banner, i love it so much red thank you <3. i hope you all enjoy this one

Date nights weren’t really a part of Shouta’s and your relationship. With him constantly working his ass off, and you also having to work, there wasn’t a lot of time that the two of you could spend going out together. Not that you minded of course, snuggling up to your boyfriend and simply talking with him whenever the two of you had free time was probably your favourite thing in the world.

You’d noticed though, that despite there being a summer break in school, that the pressure on Shouta to perform more in hero work had kept his stress levels and exertion really high. It hurt you to see your boyfriend constantly exhausted, yet he wouldn’t drop any of the extra hero shifts he’d been given recently.

You knew why of course. You knew that he always wrapped up his self worth in his hero work and in passing on knowledge to students. Of course, that also made it more painful to see him work himself so hard, you know just how amazing he is, and yet he works himself to the bone trying to be better. So, you do your best to try to make things easier for him, going over to his apartment to tidy up sometimes, or making dinner there and leaving it on the stove for him to eat when he got home.

You swear that one day you’re going to find where he hid his stupid stash of fruit pouches, that he swears are nutritional enough to be a meal. No matter how much you wheedle him, or show him facts, or just be plainly worried for him, he has an irrational attachment to them. He needed good food, and he needed a lot of it, because he worked a hell of a lot. Now if only you could get that through his head.

So, it’s become another habit of yours to always bring over some healthy snacks, high in protein and salts to help him recover from tough work days and power through the next ones. You keep notice of things he likes or doesn’t like, and be sure to try and put some stashes of them in his cupboard so that he can see them before he goes to work. It’s made it a little better.

He’s started doing a similar set of things for you, bringing you coffees if he was in the area where you worked. Another favourite were the fruit smoothies he’d make when you were feeling a bit down. Although he wants to be there for you more, you understand that he’s always stretched thin across two jobs, and you always make sure that he knows how much you love him despite that.

You know that Shouta feels particularly upset when he has to cancel some of the few date nights the two of you have planned due to work. Of course, you don’t blame him, it’s a part of the man you fell in love with. You know you feel disappointed when it happens, but you always try to reassure him that it’s not because of him, its just the fact that you don’t get to see him. You hope it relieves some of the guilt he feels, because really, you’re proud of all his hard work, and love how steadfast he is all the time.

Though you wish he really would take better care of himself.

It was going to be a good weekend though, you were excited to spend it all with Shouta, who’d taken a weekend off for once. As soon as he’d gotten it confirmed, you’d started planning some little things the two of you could do together after not having seen each other for a few weeks. It had been tough, yes, but you’d made sure to call him every day or every other day two, and you’d made sure that you’d also dropped off some treats, putting them on his table so he’d actually notice them.

He’d always send you the cutest cat videos to you, making sure to send a cute little message, his own way of telling you thanks. It makes you feel warm inside, the little gestures bringing you happiness that would brighten your day a bit.

Anyways, to what you’d been planning. You knew that even on date nights that actually happened, Shouta always preferred lowkey events, something where the two of you could spend quality time with one another and just talk. You’d decided that you’d do your best to make a sweet little lunch for the two of you, and maybe even a dessert too. You’d looked up the weather and it was supposed to be sunny and partially cloudy, the perfect day for a picnic in the public gardens.

You put on some nice clothes you always had for the hot summer air, and start packing up a basket you’d bought a while ago and never actually had the chance to use. You were practically giddy with excitement. The last six times you’d tried to see him, he’d had to cancel, and no matter how much you tried to push down the feeling of being unimportant, it stuck around.

It wasn’t about you after all, it was about Shouta and the people he was helping. You can’t be so selfish about his time; you knew what his schedule was like before the two of you even started dating.

Yet you couldn’t quiet that little voice in your head that said you were never going to be the most important thing in his life. That he’d give you up for the chance to do more to help as many people as he could.

It burned shamefully within you, how could you distrust him, the one who showed his love for you in al his little gestures and acts of affection? But also, the times he’d snap, brush you off, act like it were a chore to actually be together… those things would keep you tossing and turning for long nights. You know that Shouta would reassure you and help you get over these feelings if you talked to him; you just couldn’t erase the fear that telling him would push him away.

Which is why you were so excited to see him again, you know that seeing him and talking with him will wipe away those fears, like waves crashing onto a sandy beach. You know you can get over this yourself, there’s no need to drag your boyfriend into stupid insecurities. Especially over ones founded just off of coincidences.

He has enough to worry about on his own, after all.

You pack up the salmon sushi and the other little bites of food with the meal, put the pastries in a little tin and add it into your basket. Grabbing a soft blanket, you fold it, place it on top of the blanket and grab the sunhat Shouta had gotten you after you’d pointed it out on a walk you’d been on. Smiling at yourself in the mirror, you grab the basket and head out to go meet him.

The gardens aren’t too far away from your house, and you enjoy a lazy walk, the sun warming you up. Near the gardens is a family park, and you hear children giggling and screaming in joy as they play with their parents. It softens your heart, and you feel you shoulders relax, not noticing them being tensed in the first place. Part of you imagines being one of those families with Shouta one day…

You find a small hill within the gardens, the grass rather long and waving in the breeze, hundreds of flowers with multiple types surrounding you. Setting out the blanket, and the food, you take a picture of the area. You send it to your boyfriend, and you know that he’ll recognize the place you are from your many walks together. So, you lie out, relaxing your arms behind your head and gazing up at the sky, where clouds are slowly covering the baby blue with grey.

Time passes, and you’re getting a little bit antsy. You’ve checked your phone, and you have no messages from Shouta, and it’s already been half an hour since the two of you were supposed to meet up. It wasn’t like him to not mention if he couldn’t make it. He always gave you a heads up in case something else had popped up. You sent him a quick text asking if he was alright, and if his plans were still the same.

You got no response, and as you neared an hour of waiting you gave into the hunger in your stomach and ate the lunch you’d packed. You still saved the dessert though, the thought of eating any sweets poisoned by the sickening feeling that was settling within your stomach.

You were worried, and called Shouta just to check in on him, but were greeted with a dial tone message. “Hey, Sho.” You start off a little quiet and you clear your throat. “I just wanted to check in on you, I haven’t heard from you all day, love. Just… let me know if you’re alright please. Love you.” You quickly hang up so he doesn’t hear your heavy sigh.

What if he just didn’t want to deal with you anymore? You know it’s illogical and yet… its too coincidental a timing for your brain to let it go. Plus, he’d never skipped out on a meet up between the two of you without saying anything, and it was throwing your world off balance. You feel a wetness on your face, and you look up to see that clouds had completely covered the sky, and rain had started falling down from them.

You laughed a little at the sight. Truly, this date was not supposed to happen, even the weather was showing you that. You leave one of the little plates of sushi out on the rock, not being able to bear taking it home on your own. You gather the now soaked blanket and the basket still full of treats you’d spent hours making.

The cold rain patters down your back and you shiver as you begin your movements back in the direction of your home.

You figure you’ll hear from Shouta soon. He might have completely neglected you on that day, but it was the first time anything like this had ever happened between the two of you. Maybe he’d just had a bad day, made a mistake. Maybe he’d forgotten to charge his phone, which had happened before. A few times you had answered your phone expecting to hear the loud voice of Hizashi, but receiving the soothing voice of your boyfriend.

So you’re not very worried when the rest of the afternoon goes by and Shouta hasn’t made any contact with you. You text Hizashi to see if maybe Shouta had been with him, but no luck on that front. Hizashi had the week off from hero work, and hadn’t heard from Shouta today either.

As more time went along, the more worried you got. All your insecurities started to bubble up, and all the mistakes you’d made in your relationship – even the small ones like forgetting he was lactose intolerant – started building up in your head. You’d probably driven him away with your constant affection, or maybe it had been the overbearing way you tried to help him. Maybe you weren’t pretty enough or good enough in bed for him, or maybe he just grew tired of you.

By the time you usually went to bed, you were an anxious mess. There were so many possibilities, and your anxiety was telling you that none of them were good. Surely somewhere you’d fucked up.

Knowing you have work tomorrow, you pop one of your sleeping aids and try desperately to get some semblance of rest. You know it’s going to be a rough night, but hopefully you can get enough rest that tomorrow will be bearable to you.

Three days later, and Shouta still hadn’t reached out to you. You felt heartbroken that he hadn’t yet, and felt unfairly abandoned. Neither of his friends had heard from him either, and you doubt that they were covering up from him either, because you’d heard the worried undertones of their voice. It terrified you to think that the closest people in his life had no idea where he was or what he was doing.

Unbidden images of your boyfriend bloody and broken in torn down places were constantly popping up into your brain. At this point, you just wanted to know if he was alive, because you’d gone to his apartment and there had been no sign of anyone having been there for a few days at least.

You tried to keep your mind away from that dark place, and yet it would keep circling back, as if to say that the worst-case scenario was happening right at that very moment.

It was driving you mad with worry, and you called the agency that Shouta was working for at the moment just in case they could tell you. Most of the time, you wouldn’t be allowed to know anything confidential. Even though you were the emergency contact for Shouta, you were still a civilian, and that meant that you were often left in the dark about certain conditions and events that your lover was a part of.

“Hello, this is Sleep-stroke Agency, how may I direct your call.” The woman’s voice on the other side of the line was smooth and had a soft tone. It soothed your nerves enough to allow you to pull yourself together to find the words you needed.

“Hi, um- this is Ms. Y/L/N. I’m the emergency contact for Aizawa Shouta, Eraserhead. He works for this agency at the moment.” You take another slow breath and let it out. “I’m calling because its been a few days since me, or his close hero friends had heard from him, and I was wondering if something had happened to him…” you taper off and you wait for the reply.

You hear some quick typing in the background, a little mumbling that you can’t make out until she stops and clears her voice with a rather pointed cough. “Ah, I’m really sorry, but I cannot tell you, dear. That’s classified information.”

“Can you at least tell me if he’s alive?” you plead with her, desperate. You should’ve known right away that something really major must’ve happened, how could you have ever doubted your Shouta?

“The rules are clear, Ms. There was an unexpected circumstance that arose and needed Eraserhead’s presence. I cannot tell you any more detail than that.” Her voice drops the professional tone for a few seconds. “I know how hard this can be, hun. Please try to hold yourself together until you get some concrete news.”

“Yes, of course. Thank you for your time.” You hang up and feel the energy drain from your body as you slump onto the couch.

Guilt and worry and fear were all mixing into this toxic combination as you sat with all your thoughts, and you soaked in them, unable to gather the strength to pull yourself out. If something had happened to him, something serious, when you were worried about how good the desserts would taste, or if he were going to break up with you… Well, you wouldn’t be able to forgive yourself for a long time.

In a daze you blindly call one of your friends, blearily noticing it’s the middle of the afternoon and she should be able to take your call. You needed some words of comfort right now, no matter who they’re from. You barely hear the hello she greets you with before you start sobbing into the phone uncontrollably.

It’s been two weeks now, although you can’t tell from feeling it. It seems like no time has passed since you’d made that phone call to Shouta’s agency, your life had become a daze. Somehow you managed to go to work and make three meals a day for yourself, but you couldn’t really recall what you’d been doing. If someone were to ask you what you’d been doing, all you’d be able to reply with is nothing, because all you could do at home was blearily look at the walls, ceiling, window… Without any clear news, you were shrouded in this cloud of uncertainty, completely helpless on deciding what you should actually do in response to this nightmare.

It was approaching your third anniversary, and you weren’t even sure if he was alive to celebrate it. That thought sobered you up, and you shakily made yourself some tea, to warm your hands which felt frozen at in your terror. You need something to ground you, something that will make everything feel real again, so you begin your breathing techniques. You listen to asmr, something that would often calm you.

Eventually, with you working at it, you manage to calm yourself, despite the odds stacked against you. Needing a distraction, you turn on the TV as you curl up in a blanket near the fireplace on the side of your living room. Sleep had become your enemy during the few weeks, although you wanted nothing but the sweet embrace of numbness it would give you.

You couldn’t sleep yet again, so you’d migrated to the couch to read a little bit and look over some of the news. Apparently, rompers were making a comeback, though you weren’t too surprised about that.

It was all in the name of distraction anyways. The TV had gotten stale, and you felt yourself dripping into that scattered and anxious headspace, so you had to change it up, keep everything else at bay until you had an idea of what to do.

It’s one in the morning when you hear the weak knock at the door, and instantly, you’re on high alert, your nerves tingling. You quickly make your way up to it and use the peephole to catch a glimpse of whoever would be knocking on your door this late. You nearly burst into tears right then and there upon seeing your boyfriend’s face, bruised and scratched, but whole.

You fumble with the locks in your haste to open it up, the desire to hold him, to make sure he was really there making your movements feel alien. “Shouta!” you cry as you finally fling it open, and you can see his eyes soften as he looks down at you.

“Hi there, kitten. Can I come in?” his voice is hoarse and a little bit shaky, but his words are clear as a summer sky. You immediately throw your arms around him, squeezing him tight against you, and his head comes down onto your shoulder as he wraps his own around you as well.

“Of course,” you say thickly, through new tears that threaten to spill from your eyes. “There’s always room in here for you, Sho.” You lead him into your living area, making him lie down on the couch while you sit on the floor by his head. You run your fingers through his hair, gently combing out the larger knots as you lay your head down onto his chest. His heart is thumping in a steady rhythm, and you start to relax as you realize that, no, this isn’t a dream. This is real, your boyfriend is alive and ok, though a little bit worse for wear.

The two of you sit in silence for a little bit, his eyes closing and his breathing relaxing as he leans into the hand tangled in his hair. It brings a soft smile to your face, and you file away the memory to be able to look back on.

“Shouta, I’m going to get you some tea if you’d like it.” You say softly, almost afraid to disturb the little bit of peace the two of you have made on your couch at 1 in the morning. His eyes open lazily and he nods his assent, and you go to get his favourite blend you have sitting in the top shelf with your other types.

Once the kettles done its work, you bring two cups over to coffee table. Shouta has already sat up and accepts the tea with a small smile as you move to sit beside him. The two of you drink in silence for a little while, not afraid to disturb anything, but simply to preserve the moment before talks need to happen.

As the two of you finish, he clears his throat. “I’m sorry for missing our picnic, love.” He says, rather gruffly, as if to hide the thick emotion knotting his words. “I- well I wasn’t expecting to have to go to another city.”

“Why did you, they said it was some classified mission, even Hizashi and Nemuri had no idea. They were scared, and honestly… that was terrifying.” You tell him the truth, because that’s how the two of you are, valuing clarity in your relationship.

He fiddles a little with the scarf that’s always present around his shoulders. “The whole thing was a setup. I got on the train early that morning and was knocked unconscious.” He starts in a monotone voice, factually, as if he were still processing it himself. “I didn’t even know how much time had passed until I’d woken up in the hospital two days ago. I was unconscious for most of my stay there, and they didn’t give me access to anything or anyone until they were sure I was clear.”

“Oh my god…” Your eyes had widened as you looked at him with horror, it sounded so much worse than he was saying. You pulled him close to you. He was trembling just barely beneath your grasp, a sign of just how intense the past couple of weeks had been for him. You try your best to be a rock for him, comforting him and listening to him talk about what he could. He didn’t go into graphic detail, but just the bare bones had you fighting back anger and sadness. He shouldn’t have had to go through that.

You help him get ready for sleep, bringing him some extra clothes and taking out the spare toothbrush you had for him. He thanks you with a swift kiss to your forehead, and you giggle before going back to the other room to clean up the dishes. You made the decision there, that you wouldn’t bring up your insecurities to him until he was back into the groove of daily life, and had time to recover.

After cleaning yourself up, you drag Shouta to bed, and the two of you fall asleep wrapped in each others arms.

About a month had passed since that night where Shouta had come to your doorstep early in the morning and wrecked. Since then things had begun their return to normalcy, something which both relieved you and at the same time made you a little nervous. You weren’t sure how to ever broach the topic you wanted to with him.

Which was illogical, as he would say. You know he takes you seriously, and that he’d want to put your fears at rest. But, part of you feels so guilty for even thinking of doubting him, and you don’t want to hurt him like that. You trust him more than anyone, you just had a lack of faith in yourself that was hard to ignore sometimes.

The opportunity came when he suggested the two of you tried to do the picnic once again, much to your delight. He’d asked softly if you would make the same meal again, he said it had looked delicious and he wanted to try it. You could only smile and agree, knowing how much he hated cooking himself, but loved yours heartily.

You’d done much the same thing as last time, though now, with a little trepidation just due to the fact that last time you’d tried this, Shouta had gotten kidnapped. But there was nothing else to do other than to shake yourself out of it and move forwards. So that’s what you did.

You made your way to the same area, heart pattering as you found the spot empty. He wasn’t there yet, that much was clear, but that was normal, he wasn’t a tardy man, but he also didn’t see the use of going to things earlier than he had planned.

Ten, fifteen, thirty minutes go buy, and with each passing minute, you feel your heart grow heavier. Why did such shitty things happen to you on what were supposed to be events filled with happiness? There are still no clouds in the sky though, and you look up and stare into the never ending blue. Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be, and you’d just have to live with that.

You don’t remember closing your eyes, but you do remember the soft laugh of your boyfriend waking you up. You open your eyes blearily to the beautiful sight of your boyfriend smiling happily and it brings a sleepy smile to your face.

“Shouta! You came.” You exclaim happily. He looks a bit confused at that.

“Of course I did, Y/N, why wouldn’t I?” Curse your still half-asleep brain. You didn’t want to bring it up like this.

“It’s nothing,” you try to brush it off, knowing it likely won’t work.

“Obviously not. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“It’s really stupid looking back on it…”

“I don’t care about that kitten, just be honest with me.”

“It’s not a slight on you at all though, okay? Keep that in mind please, Shouta.”

He looks confused for a second. “Of course.”

You take a deep breath. “It’s just that, it was really hard to see you for a few weeks before you had your unplanned trip.” He nods his agreement. “I knew it wasn’t the case, but I got worried that maybe I wasn’t interesting enough, or I was holding you back from things. Then you didn’t show for our date and I panicked a bit, thought you might’ve found a way to just move on from me. I know you’re the most amazing thing that’s happened to me in my life, and I’m just terrified of losing that.” You can’t look in his eyes the shame pulling your gaze down.

“Hey,” he says softly, pulling your head up gently, until you’re forced to look into his eyes. “I’m not going to fault you for having insecurities. Everyone has them.”

“I know, Sho, but you’ve been nothing short of amazing to me, and here I am doubting you.”

“Well, I don’t blame you. Sometimes it’s easy to get lost in thoughts and start to spiral into overthinking. But here’s the truth. I am in love with you. You make my days better, and give me something to look forwards to on long days and nights.” You smile up at him, eyes a little misty.

“Good thing I feel the same way then, huh?” you giggle, trying to pull a laugh out of him. You get a small smirk instead, which satisfies you.

He leans into you and presses a soft kiss on your lips, light and fully of love. When you chase after him, he pulls away a bit laughing, so you tackle him to the ground and start to pepper his face with kisses.

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and its there you realize just how much you love him as he stares up at you like you’re the sun in the sky.

#jays writes #aizawa x reader #hurt and comfort #sfw

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cakelanguage · 3 years

Text

A very self-indulgent fluffy piece for RiVer. I just want these two to have a happy ending so I’m giving it to them! I hope you like this :)

You can also read this on AO3

It wasn’t even noon when V got a ping on her Agent from River. A small smile graced her face despite being in the middle of taking out another gonk for Wakako. The gig wasn’t hard - a simple in-and-out retrieval of some intel that’d fallen into the wrong hands, but even simple jobs sometimes involved taken out a guy or two. This one was harmless, not even worth the street cred it might get her for taking him out so she simply knocked him out and stuffed him in one of the bins conveniently posted outside the room.

Really it was like they were asking for people to just dump bodies in them. Actually, that was probably exactly what they wanted to happen. Fewer cleanups for the police to have to deal with and all.

Pocketing the shard that’d been on the desk, she pulled up River’s text.

Hey babe, you busy?

She grinned and quickly sent a negative to him. She barely found time to hang out with River, what with all the Arasaka and Johnny bullshit she’d been dealing with the past few months. Now that she wasn’t in imminent death from the Relic she honestly just wanted to spend some time with her boyfriend. Fuck if she wasn’t going to take advantage of River and her not being busy.

You available to call?

For you? Always. xoxo

She could almost hear Johnny groaning at her being mushy. She felt a pang of loss as she thought about the rockerboy and placed a kiss on her fist before she raised it to the sky. She hoped Johnny was out there somewhere giving the corpos hell from the deepest levels of cyberspace.

The call popped up and she quickly answered as she walked toward the drop-off point.

“Hey River,” V chirped, quickly taking in his appearance in the little window in the upper corner of her vision.

“V, hey yourself,” River said, a lop-sided grin settling easily on his face. “How’ve you been?”

She hummed noncommittally. “Can’t complain too much, definitely been missing morning cuddles though.” And perfect cups of coffee. And the polarity of temperatures between River’s cybernetic hand and the warmth of his skin. And kisses.

She felt needy, missing him so much and all the little things he did. But maybe needy wasn't so bad.

“I’ve missed them too.”

“Think we can change that then?”

“Yeah, case is closed and I’ll be back by this evening.”

If V could’ve purred with delight she would have. “Mm, I’m a lucky girl.”

River laughed, shaking his head. “I’m the lucky one.”

Warmth flooded her cheeks and she didn’t even try to hide her pleased grin. “As much as I’d love to just talk about how lucky we are to have each other, something tells me this isn’t strictly a pleasure call.”

Her boyfriend gave her an abashed smile. “You caught me,” he admitted.

She laughed. “Well go on, let’s hear it,” V teased. “What do you need? A contact? A lead? Someone, to do some super sleuthing?”

“No, no, nothing like that, it’s uh- it’s actually kind of a favor for me and Joss.”

Since she’d met River she’d steadily been getting closer and closer with Joss. It was nice to have another girlfriend, though with Judy and Panam, not to mention Misty and Rogue (if she could count Rogue), she wasn’t exactly lacking in them.

But Joss was different. She was a single mom who busted her ass to provide for her family. It reminded her starkly of her older sister back when the Bakkers were still around. And though Joss sometimes brought up painful memories for her, she loved the woman.

“I don’t mind helping you two out,” V reassured, finally dropping off the shard. She’d get the eddies within the next half hour and if need be she could split her earnings to give to the family. “Anything you need, I’m your girl.”

A husky chuckle echoes over the coms. "Anything, huh?"

"I helped take down one of the leading corpos in the world with an engram of a rockstar slowly taking over my brain - I'm open to just about anything at this point."

"Fair enough." River let out a breath of air. "Joss asked me if I'd meet her this afternoon at Heywood General Hospital to pick up Randy."

V's eyes widened. "He's been cleared for release?" She hadn't thought Randy would be released for another few weeks. It'd been touch-and-go at the beginning and although he'd come a long way since the farm, he still had plenty of recovering to do.

"Yeah, I was shocked too, but I've been visiting him and he's doing a lot better than he was."

Anything would've been better than the drug-induced catatonia that he'd been in when River and V had found him in that barn. She was still haunted by the half-lidded eyes and slack jaw that had been behind that plastic mask. "That's great," her shoulders relaxed from their previous position, "I'm glad he's doing better."

"Me too, and Joss is happy she gets to bring him home."

"He gonna be in his trailer again?"

River made a noncommittal noise. "That's up to him really. We don't know how he'll feel about being alone now but we've decided to let Randy feel his way through this one."

Made the most sense to V. "Alright so you and Joss are going to pick up Randy and you want me too…?" V asked, shifting their conversation back to the favor River and Joss wanted.

"Oh uh right yeah," River scratched the back of his neck. V wanted nothing more than to ease the man's nerves about whatever he was going to ask. "Since Joss and I are going to be getting Randy, we need someone to watch Dorian and Monique." He didn't pause to let her get a word in edgewise. "Usually one of the neighbors can watch them but most of them are busy and then I might've suggested that we could ask you." He scratched at his cheek and shifted his gaze to the side. "You can say of course, but I figured-"

"Babysitting the little rugrats?" V asked with a grin, interrupting her boyfriend's spiel. "You trust me to watch 'em?"

"V," River had that tone to his voice that was part scolding and part fond, "you're their 'Auntie V,' they'll be cheering when they find out you're watching them."

"I don't know, you did joke that I was the one who needed a babysitter."

He snorted and raised a meaningful brow. "And sometimes you do, but I have total faith in you on this. As does Joss."

"Well I guess I can trust Joss' judgment," V teased. "I can be there in twenty."

River's shoulders sagged at her acceptance. "Thanks, babe."

That mushy feeling returned with vengeance and V was sure she had some stupid look on her face. “Want me to make something for dinner?”

Her boyfriend whistled. “Got myself a lady who can kick ass and offer to make dinner.”

“Riv, come on,” she rolled her eyes trying to appear stern, “Dinner a yes or no?”

“Dinner would be great, to be honest. Joss and I were planning on picking something up on the way home.”

That wouldn’t do at all.

“Uh-uh, nope, no way am I letting Randy’s first meal out of the hospital to be some fast food soy protein that’s no much better than the shit you can get with a kibble card.”

“Hey, I’ve seen you eat that crap before,” River argued, though he looked more amused than anything.

“Details, details,” V waved a dismissive hand, “Randy have any food restrictions or favorite foods?”

Food had been a big part of V’s life growing up with the Bakker’s. Food didn’t just mean fueling the body, but feeding the soul. Her mother had once told her that a good meal could heal the body just as well as medicine. Looking back, V knew her mother had been exaggerating but she’d taken the statement to heart because a good meal showed someone you cared for their wellbeing.

Her boyfriend pondered her question as she pinged Jackie’s bike to meet her so she could leave.

“Well, he liked my jambalaya when I snuck some in for him to try last week.”

“Hot or mild?”

“Believe it or not, spicy.” His smile took on a bittersweet edge. “Told me it was the first thing he’d been able to taste since everything went down.”

“Then it’s good he got to taste something delicious,” V said.

River’s smile lost that edge and regained the softness he only showed when he was talking about his family or V herself. “Feel free to keep stroking my ego.”

V shook her head with a snort. “Maybe later,” she offered while mentally going through the repertoire of recipes she still remembered. Something spicy, strong flavors that the whole family would like. “Think he’d eat gumbo?”

“Gumbo?”

“Yeah, learned to make it back when my family was still together...”

She remembered the crowded prep stations, her underfoot as she helped as much as she could under her mother and sister’s tutelage. She remembered her uncle sneaking bits from the cutting boards and popping them in his mouth, sending her a wink and an exaggerated shushing motion to not say anything.

River didn’t interrupt her musing, instead, he waited patiently as she sorted her thoughts. He understood that if he interrupted V she wouldn’t finish talking about her past.

“Mealtime was one of the few times we all tried to be together and pause from our other duties,” V explained. “We made all kinds of stuff depending on who was in charge of dinner, but I know gumbo was my favorite and it’s similar to jambalaya.”

“A family recipe and your favorite, huh?” River commented, “I look forward to trying it.”

It didn’t matter that V hadn’t made gumbo in two years. She wanted to do something for her new family. "It’ll probably take me a little longer to get home since I’ll stop and get them on the way.” She revved the engine and patted the side of the bike. “See you, River, tell Randy we'll be waiting for him at home."

The silence stretched over the line and V had to make sure her Agent hadn't malfunctioned and dropped the call. But River was still connected, just stared at her with this shocked look. "You okay?" V asked.

Her question shook River from his stupor and he gave her a besotted look. "Yeah I'm fine," he reassured, "see you at home after Joss and I pick up Randy."

"Preem."

She snagged the veggies from an Aldaecado who sold some of their crops at the Sunset Motel and picked up some synthetic meat that didn’t look too bad and set course for the trailer park. The ride was as peaceful as ever and V cranked Jackie's bike to the max speed down the straightaways, shaving off five minutes from her ride. The Badlands were some of the best places to go full-throttle without having to worry about a bunch of traffic.

Joss stood on the porch while Monique and Dorian listened to whatever she told them, playfully jostling each other as much as they could get away with. As soon as they spotted V though, they dashed towards her with the exuberance that was only ever found in children. V knelt down with a laugh and opened her arms in invitation.

"Auntie V!" Monique cheered, reaching her first and throwing herself into V's waiting arms, scooping the little girl up into a full-body embrace.

V had quickly discovered how much the two kids liked their hugs and who was V to deny them that?

Dorian quickly followed, wrapping his arms around her legs. "Mom told us you're gonna watch us while she and Uncle River bring Randy home," Dorian said. "Which means we can play together again!"

V laughed and shifted Monique to her hip so she could ruffle Dorian's hair. "Only if you're willing to take this rookie under your wings," V said.

The two giggled and reassured her that they'd show her the ropes, both puffing up with pride.

She managed to slowly walk towards Joss with the two limpets clinging to her laughing and cheering. She saw the poorly hidden laughter that Joss was trying to cover up as just a smile. V was glad she could make the crow’s feet on the women's face crinkle instead of deepening the worry lines that were far too prominent on her friend's face.

“Hey Joss,” V greeted, shifting Monique enough so that she could pull Joss into an awkward one-armed hug.

“Hey, V,” Joss replied, pulling out of the hug. “Thank you so much for being willing to watch the kids.”

“Willing? I’m more than happy to watch them, you know that.”

V and the kids got along like a house fire and she cherished all the little games they’d play together. It gave V an excuse to check-out of adult stuff and focus on entertaining River’s niece and nephew. It had done wonders for her mental health.

Joss smiled and reached out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind Monique’s ear. “Still, I know it’s last minute. Neither River nor I were expecting them to give Randy the okay to leave the hospital.”

“And Randy’s probably been chomping at the bit to leave that place, right?”

The woman scoffed, shaking her head. “If he could’ve, I’m sure he would’ve broken out of there after the first five days.”

“A boy after my own heart.”

Despite going to a number of ripperdocs, regular hospitals, and trauma centers left her nervous and itching to leave ASAP. River practically had to drag her to the hospital just to get a full brain scan after the Relic incident.

Joss rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “We shouldn’t be more than a few hours at most. Pretty sure it’ll mostly be paperwork and finding out any home care we need to know about for Randy’s recovery.”

As usual, Joss was fairly matter-of-fact about the whole thing but she couldn’t hide her worry. V figured she’d be just as worried if her baby had gone through what Randy had. It didn’t help that her relationship with her son had been strained before and no matter how much they’d talked since the incident there was still the unknown of how their relationship would go once he was home again.

“He’ll be excited to see you,” V said, setting down the girl in her arms.

Monique tugged at Dorian’s shirt and the two were off chasing after each other.

Joss remained silent but her shoulders relaxed some. Finally, she seemed to shake herself out of her thoughts. “If the kids get hungry-”

“Feed ‘em something that won’t give them a sugar rush,” V dutifully replied. “I know, Joss don’t worry, I can handle these two just fine.”

Joss sighed. “I know you can, but a mother can’t help but worry,” she managed to give V a sly smile. “You’ll understand when you and River have a kid.”

V made a choking noise as her face flushed. “J-Joss, we-we haven’t even talked about marriage yet.”

“Hop to it, V,” Joss joked with a clap. “Need you to make an honest man out of my gonk of a brother and I want to be an aunt at some point in the near future.”

It was a nice thought, getting married and starting a family with River. It sounded terribly domestic and kind of wonderful if she was being honest.

But her and River could talk about that later.

Much later.

“Go on, get going,” V shooed, “Randy’s waiting.”

“Alright, alright, we can talk about giving me nieces and nephews later,” Joss relented. ‘If you want to get takeout, I have a few menus in the kitchen with Dorian and Monique’s favorites circled.”

“Actually I was gonna make gumbo,” Seeing Joss’ surprise she continued. “It’s a family recipe and I haven’t made it in a while but River said that Randy liked his jambalaya so I figured he’d probably like gumbo too since it also has a strong flavor. But uh if they won’t like it-”

“V,” Joss interrupted with a grin.

“Hm?”

“I really hope River does marry you.”

V blushed and returned her grin. “Yeah me too.”

She’d managed to make the roux for the gumbo while Monique and Dorian were playing tag and now she just had to let the gumbo simmer which meant she was completely free to play. The two were more than ready for her to join them, bouncing around her as she quickly donned the AR set.

The blue tint to ‘Trouble in Heywood’ flooded her vision and she took in the kids’ game personas: Captain Joan McClane and Lieutenant Henry Callahan. It still made her laugh when she saw them, the two rough officers that looked like they were ex-Militech before joining the force. It didn’t help that the backstories they’d given them were so serious.

“Didn’t know if you’d come back, rookie,” Captain Joan, Monique said, her arms crossed and her face stern behind her shades. “Thought what you’d seen when we took down El Chamuco Endiablado was still clinging onto ya’.”

Lieutenant Henry Callahan, Dorian scoffed. “Nah, the two rookies we worked with for the takedown were good, and that’s coming from me,” he argued.

“Sounds like we might’ve grown on you two lone wolves, huh?” V teased, cocking her hip as she checked her gun.

“Don’t get cute with me, rookie,” Captain Joan said.

V raised her hands. “Fine, fine,” she bounced her eyes back and forth between the two. “What’s the situation today?”

“With El Chamuco Endiablado gone, we created a power vacuum and the force is flaggin’ under the pushback,” Captain Joan explained.

“Which is why they’ve called us in,” Lieutenant Henry added, “Regular force just won’t cut it, gotta call in the best of the precinct to take these goons down.”

“We called you in for backup, rookie. All you gotta do is keep up and watch our backs, we can handle the rest.”

“No doubt about that,” V said, “But y’know, I gotta make it home to my partner, promised him I’d make it back.”

“The other rookie?” Lieutenant Henry asked.

“The one and only.”

Captain Joan shook her head and cocked her gun. “Battlefield’s no place for emotion, rookie,” she advised. “We need to dedicate ourselves to taking this filth out.”

V nodded her head and squared her shoulders. “Yes, ma’am,” she saluted, “Are we ready to start?”

Lieutenant Henry gave her a wild grin. “Those bad guys can’t escape justice.”

They ended up playing three different rounds of ‘Trouble in Heywood,’ each round further expanding the narrative. In the last game, Lieutenant Henry had gone rogue to zero José Luis, a Valentino who’d gotten away with murder because the NCPD “didn’t have enough evidence to convict him.” According to Captain Joan, Lieutenant Henry had been harboring secret feelings for the murder victim and he was out for blood.

Honestly, V wasn’t sure where the kids pulled these plots from, but they were endlessly entertaining.

She looked up from the pot she was stirring and made sure the kids were still sitting at the table she'd sat them at with a snack. It didn't look good to her, but Monique and Dorian cheered at the sight of it so at least they liked it.

She tapped her spoon against the rim of her pot and set it to the side. "What do you two wanna do now?" V asked, taking a seat beside Dorian.

"Mom usually makes us practice our reading and math," Dorian grumbled, his eyebrows scrunching together. "We aren't even going to school yet, it's like lightyears away."

"Lightyears, huh?" V mused, propping her chin against her hand. "That's a pretty long time."

"I know!" Dorian threw his hands up. "She says she wants us to be ready and stuff but it's so boring."

"The worst," Monique agreed. "But maybe since Mom isn't here…" She trailed off and gave her puppy dog eyes.

Yeah, that wasn't going to work on her. "Oh no-"

"Please, V?" Dorian begged.

Then it became a cacophony of pleading words and promises to work harder tomorrow. Taking them on one-at-a-time, but both of them at once? Not even worth considering arguing.

"If I let you skip this lesson time," she started, the kids already whooping beside her. "I said if. "

The two nodded seriously, “We’ll do it,” they promised readily.

V shook her head, squinting at them with a skeptical look. “I haven’t even said what you have to do if you skip your lessons.” Monique and Dorian traded confused looks before turning back to her. “The first rule of any kinda deal,” she held up one finger, “you gotta listen to the whole deal, otherwise you might be signing yourself up for something worse.”

“You wouldn’t do that,” Dorian insisted.

“How can you be sure?”

“Cause you’re nice,” Monique said. “You wouldn’t do that.”

“Maybe not to you guys, but I’ve conned my fair share of gonks.” Their faith in her left a warm feeling in her chest. “Alright, but back to the deal. I let you guys skip, but you guys have to help me make a welcome home sign for Randy.”

Two pairs of wide eyes stared at her, mouths agape. “We’re gonna make a billboard?” They asked.

V bit her lip and shook her head. “Not a billboard, little short on time and really out of our budget.” She rifled through her pockets and pulled out a small device. “Had this bad boy for a while now, usually I use it to pull up my schematics or tweak one of my daemons, but I’ve got an app that’ll just let us create a design we wanna display.” She fiddled with her Agent and turned the phone towards them. “I’ve got the words, but I need two experts to really make it shine, figured you two would be perfect for the job.”

“Really?” Dorian whispered.

“Really really.” She leaned back, her smile relaxed and open. “I can do some graffiti or graphic style stuff, but you guys know Randy best.”

Monique kicked her legs back and forth and stared at the screen with a frown. “Last time we saw Randy, he didn’t want to hang out with us and said we were annoying him,” she mumbled just loud enough for V to hear.

Her heart sunk at the solemn tone of the girl’s voice. That was when Randy had been in Peter Pan’s grasp when he was being gaslighted with promises of understanding and promises of help.

You can tell a kid that their sibling loves them and what they were going through, but it didn’t erase the hurt that kid felt. And they didn’t fully understand.

Even so, reassurance was better than nothing.

“When Randy last talked to you,” V stated, making both kids look at her. “He was going through some tough times.” She picked at her nail as she tried to find the right words. How much did they know about what happened to Randy? “Do you know what happened with Randy?”

Dorian hesitantly shook his head. “We knew he went missing, and Mom said that you and Uncle River found him and brought him back,” he said.

“And he’s been at the hospital because he was hurt when you guys found him,” Monique added.

V nodded her head. “That’s the gist of it,” V admitted. She hesitated before continuing. “Randy thought he had a… friend, but when he went to meet this friend, he turned out to be a bad guy.”

“Like… the bad guys in our game?” Dorian asked.

V fought a grimace. “Worse.” When her statement was met with silence she continued. “Randy was captured and was hurt real bad while he was held captive.”

She’d never get the image of those kids gassed up and comatose, hooked up to those fucking machines out of her head. No matter what she did, she still remembers the frantic way her hands shook as she checked pulses on cool bodies and tugged out crusted IVs from limp arms.

“According to your Uncle River, Randy’s doing much better,” she reassured, trying to assuage some of their unease. “But he’s gonna need you two to help him, even if he’s grumpy and being mean.” She playfully punched her palm. “Sometimes you just gotta break through their defenses and make them understand. Which is why,” V gestured to her Agent, “We’re making him a special welcome sign.”

“And… it’ll help Randy?” Dorian asked.

“Showing him you care and are happy to see him can sometimes be exactly what a person needs.”

Monique and Dorian turned to each other and nodded before turning back to V. “You can count on us!”

V clapped her hands. “That’s what I like to hear!”

#RiVer #river ward #female v #v x river #river x v #cyberpunk 2077 #cyberpunk 2077 fic #my fic

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regrettablewritings · 4 years

Note

Maybe the gift rule, the bringing lunch, and the taking care on sick days for Poe?

Captain Dreamsicle it is!

Takes care of on sick days: Both of you, though Poe gets a bit more in by comparison . . . Poe is a man of many traits: He is sweet, hard-working, a little gung-ho but altogether just plain passionate. He’s also a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to his own health. The moment you so much as hint that you might be coming down with something, this man is on your case. You can’t even sniffle around him before he’s right in front of you, those big, brown eyes of his filled with almost puppyish worry. “Are you okay?” he asks, voice gentle yet heavy with concern. He places a hand to your forehead, searching for any excessive heat. “You don’t think you picked anything up, do you? I know your bunk mate just came back from a recon mission --” And so begins the Resistance pilot’s transformation into a mother hen, however annoying as it may be. He can’t force you to stay in bed, especially if the infirmary insists that it’s just a slight head cold (at most), but he’s definitely going to keep an eye on you whenever he can: He has subordinates working close by you report back to him, sending him messages on his tablets as to whether or not you seem particularly light-headed or drowsy. He requests the droids’ assistance in making sure you stay in bed just so long enough that you get a confirmed eight hours. He makes sure your plate has only ever so slightly the bittest more of rations when it’s time for you to eat. (If you make any comment on this, he eagerly ushers you along, commenting on oh look at that lucky you! You don’t see the nod of thanks he gives to the person on ration duty, but you know they’re in cahoots.) And once he gets promoted to general, you can just forget about it! . . . But the moment Poe sniffles, it’s like he’s done a 180 on the matter: To him, Poe Dameron can’t get sick. And if he does, well, he can work it off. So many people depend on him now more than ever, and he can’t let them down by taking some down time just to fight off a common cold. Besides . . . doctors are a little scary. It may take some convincing (and fussing), but eventually, he does give in -- to a degree. Really, if you can convince him to lie in bed with you while he reads over plans and maps, it’s a win. Because you’ll inevitably massage his curls until he drifts off into a much needed sleep. He pretends to be frustrated that you let him sleep in the next day, but the truth is he greatly appreciates it in the long run.

Brings the other lunch at work: You swear that ever since he got promoted to general, Poe’s self-care has taken a hit: He’s up at all hours, he’s running around like crazy, and he keeps skipping out on meals, insisting that he’ll eat later! At first, you were very understanding of it: He did, after all, just jump ahead into way more responsibilities than he’d previously had as just a captain. Sure, he’d been trained for it, but that didn’t make the reality of what it was that much easier. You did your part where you could: Delivering messages, sitting in with him on meetings to take notes on anything that might be of use to him later, making sure BB-8 kept out of trouble . . . But really! Did the man seriously think he could get away with his third straight day of skipping lunch!? You had never been a particularly intimidating person but as you stormed across the base, expression stern as you carried a small tin case in your hands, everyone knew to stay out of your way. You sure wish you’d kept that same amount of confidence when you stormed into his designated workspace. Thankfully, he wasn’t in the middle of talking with somebody, but he was definitely in the middle of something. But you tried not to care about that: Instead, you found yourself focusing on how your beloved looked. He didn’t look sickly, and you’d certainly seen him in a worse state. But there were clear, tiny traces of him lacking proper or consistent nutrition. And rest. Nevertheless, he wore that boyishly cute grin when he looked up from his tablets and saw you. “Oh, hey!” he said, as though there weren’t threats of shadows developing beneath his eyes. He leaned back in his seat ever so slightly. “What brings you to this neck of my woods?” You bit your lip. Remain stern, you told yourself. Be gentle and loving, but make it clear you’re not going to mess around. “Castion told me he didn’t see you in the mess hall earlier. Or for lunch for that matter. So I’m here to deliver your rations,” you lifted up the tin container just a bit higher for him to take note. He nodded. “Thank you, hon. You can put it right there--” he nodded at a corner of his tech-cluttered desk-- “and I’ll get to it in a bit.” He then returned his attention back to the holo-map in front of him. You fought to release an exasperated sigh. “No,” you decided upon instead. You watched as the general blinked before looking back up at you. “Huh?” “I said no,” you informed, a bit more assertive than before. “You always say you’ll ‘get to it’ but according to BB, you ever really do. You take maybe, like, three or four bites and then you’re done. And that’s if you can be bothered to eat it even four hours after receiving it!” You could see Poe gently scowl. How rude: Ratted out by his own droid. He tried again, “Honey, I promise to you: I’ll eat it within the hour. All of it. Heart crossed and hope to --” He paused. “Get Force-blasted by Rey. Again. This time, on purpose.” You hummed. That was a fair proposition to make. But neh, you weren’t buying it. “Oh, I know you will,” you responded, walking towards the desk. And then around it, until you stood next to Poe. You didn’t set the container down. “Because I’m going to stay and make sure you do.” You threw in a cloyingly sweet smile. Poe returned with a smile of his own, albeit one much less composed and far more wobbly. Oh, boy. “Uh . . . Don’t you have something else to get a handle on, sweetie?” “Nope!” said, popping your ‘p’. A beat of silence. Poe eyed the tin. “But . . . I’ve got a lot of stuff to focus on, babe . . . I can’t exactly take the time out to just --” “For the Maker’s sake, Poe! I know you have a lot to do, but that’s no reason to keep skipping out on food. That’s frankly even more of a reason to eat when you can -- you’re not going to be of any help if you’re just a pile of bones, you know!” This time, it was Poe’s turn to do the lip-biting. You had a point . . . You continued, “Look, I know the rations aren’t that great, but you gotta eat something. In fact . . .” You popped the lid off. “How about a feed you?” “I’m not a baby, (Y/N) --” “No, but you’re being reluctant like a toddler. And in any case, if I feed you then at least you can keep your hands busy doing whatever it is you insist you need to do instead of actually putting nourishment in your body. Capiche?” Did he have any real say? No, not really. By this point, after all the ones he’d grown up around and encountered in the Resistance, Poe had learned when to fold in the face of a woman on a mission. Besides, underneath the resigned demeanor, he rather appreciated the gesture. You didn’t have to do this; you were just as important as he was to the Resistance as far as he was concerned. Yet, you were spending your time, making sure he was operating better than he thought he already was. And doing that? It made the disgustingly bland protein glob you spoon-fed him ever so slightly more palatable. Well, almost.

Breaks the expensive gift rule during Christmas: (Since Christmas apparently doesn’t exactly exist in the Star Wars universe as we know it, I’m keeping a more modern setting in mind.) Every year, you would make Poe look you in the eye and promise that he wouldn’t go overboard with the gift-giving. You two weren’t exactly hurting for money, it just didn’t seem to make much sense to go and splurge on something that the two of you both couldn’t benefit from equally (a pool, a tv, a roomba, and so on). At least, to you it didn’t. Which was why every year, you reminded your significant other of this and hoped he would keep a lid on it. And every year, Poe would find some sort of loophole to squeeze himself through, or just plain break the rule, offering only the most sheepish of smiles when the reveal inevitably arrived. Though, if you were “lucky”, you’d be regaled the story of how he found whatever that year’s big splurge was and how he knew from the moment he saw it that it “had to be yours”. Which was how you wound up with a limited edition makeup set. And a gorgeous cocktail dress. And a diamond-and-pearl earrings and necklace set. And tickets to the touring version of that musical you’d always dreamed of seeing. And so much more. And every year, you’d be somewhat upset about it, but only a little bit: You’d learned long ago that none of this was done out of malice or to humiliate you by making whatever you gave him appear lackluster or bought on the cheap. This was simply how Poe was: He was a go big or go home type of fella and it only made sense that this type of mindset would carry over into how he showed you his love for you. To Poe, you deserved to be showered in gifts, and he made it his goal every year to shower you with the best of the best. There just wasn’t a price that could be put on surprising you or making you smile (well, on the inside, because on the outside you were weakly chiding about how he once again broke the rule). And you couldn’t fault him for being your loving, passionate Poe. Besides it wasn’t as though every year, he didn’t also gift you with a painfully ugly Christmas sweater to match his.

Thank you for asking!! Hope I did okay . . .

#poe dameron x reader #poe dameron imagine #poe dameron imagines #star wars imagine #star wars imagines #star wars x reader #character ship meme #regrettablewritings

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danideservedbetter · 3 years

Text

Day 7, 8, 9, and 10 / Elaboration

Hey y’all! I said yesterday I would elaborate a little more on what my doctor’s visit yesterday told me, and here I am to do just that! I meant to yesterday, honestly, but by the time I got home my medicine had worn off and that wasn’t looking very likely 😅😅 But regardless!!! Here is what my results look like and honestly? These things probably have been affecting my sleeping disorder to a degree I’d previously disregarded without detailed info I’ve gotten from these tests.

Full write up under the cut!

—I got two major tests done, blood work and a genetics test. Back in my hometown the nurses couldn’t even figure out how to open the damn swab, but technology here managed to map out my entire DNA sequence which is utterly NUTS to me.

—My body is deficient in almost every important vitamin known to mankind, which makes sense because my diet is not… the best 😅 So, I started on several (SEVERAL) supplements to start out.

—I say start out because it’s very likely that I’ll be taking vitamin C and some liver enzyme through an IV once a month. A younger me might’ve thought something like this was scary, but at this point I’m so desperate to be healthy that getting nutrients drip fed into my system for them to work quicker sounds just fine to me.

—Other than that it’s normal lifestyle stuff. Eat more fruits and vegetables (I’ve been eating olives by the can for like days and I intend to buy fresh fruit packets for breakfast whenever I can afford them) as well as staying more active— which I DEFINITELY have been since I moved closer to New Orleans, in Louisiana proper where my dad lives.

But enough of the boring medicinal stuff. I’m sure you guys are much more interested in the whys— is there a reason my hypersomnia is so bad? Is there a deeper explanation than “lack of vitamins bad and you should feel bad”?

Well, yeah. YES. The genetics test revealed a metric fuckton to say the least 😂😂😂 but the most important was what kinds of diseases I’m predisposed to or how my body can process certain types of hormones/enzymes/proteins. Things like why caffeine won’t work for me (my body processes it very fast but not very thoroughly) or my metabolism being the strongest recorded genotype (which is why it’s been so hard to gain weight). Below, I’ll go into detail about stuff my new general doctor’s in-office geneticist (I still can’t believe that’s a thing I’m typing) has revealed about my disorder.

Naturally, this is specific to me because of my parents and our family lines. Maybe if you see info pertinent to yourself, looking into genetic mapping may be a good idea for you?

We are pretty confident that I have Idiopathic Hypersomnia. The reason for this is that a tiny link has been found between individuals who contracted mononucleosis in their childhood and adolescence and individuals who fell within the sleep cycles indicating IH. Now, IH will be genetic sometimes, but considering I’ve tracked my disorder to starting around 14, the same year I contracted Mono, the coincidence definitely doesn’t seem like… well, a coincidence. My blood test shows that I do in fact have the antibodies in my system, and they’re doing something… odd.

The geneticist found some “active�� antibodies. Well, not some, really 😅 Basically, she’s surmised that these antibodies have a hair-trigger response and can react to any given environmental factor (stress, hunger, etc.) to the point where they activate as if they think they’re **fighting off a virus that’s been out of my system for ten years.** Of course this takes up an inordinate amount of energy, which is her hypothesis as to why my hypersomnia is so random and varies in intensity. The goal for this summer is flushing these antibodies out of my system.

My previous neurologist tried out a couple stimulants and then shit insurance prevented me from trying any others. So I’m stuck on something traditionally prescribed for adhd. A narcotic. *However* since my body is severely dysfunctional in general, the way I describe it is I basically have to induce a high to stay awake and function normally. We want to eventually get me off of these kinds of drugs, of course, since prolonged exposure weakens their effects and they’re highly addictive.

Another in credibly interesting thing we found is that I'm lacking in three major hormones. However, it's not because I don't produce them. I've never identified with symptoms of depression (anxiety, certainly, but not depression) yet for most of my life my childhood general practitioner insisted I had it. Well, the geneticist found that while I'm lacking in serotonin, dopamine, and melatonin, which yes are the two major mood enhancers and then the hormone that induces sleep, it's not because I can't produce them. It's because my neural transmitters are so damaged from a less-than-good diet and years of exhaustion that they simply can't process them. Just as the antibodies can have a hair-trigger response to environmental factors, so too can these processors. Simple things like a good meal, my high from my stimulants, or even micro dopamine shots from getting things done can activate the transmitters. Another thing on the docket for the summer is fixing these permanently with treatments of vitamins and supplements.

My stimulants have caused appetite issues, unfortunately, and that plus Covid at the beginning of this year caused me to get down to my lowest recorded weight ever, 94 pounds, which I haven't weighed since before I hit my final growth spurt way back in middle school. My dad does physical labor (he's a contractor who frames houses in the humid heat of the Deep South lol) so he's used to feeling tired. When he caught Covid, he said that he'd never felt as tired, drained, or out of it in his entire life. He never gets sick and hardly goes to the doctor and NEVER takes off work because of health, but in his last few weeks before full recovery he had to take off early multiple times. He was floored when he described the brain fog and exhaustion and I told him that I had no idea I even had Covid, because I just thought it was my disorder acting up. It was only when my grandmother started feeling tired that we got tested and we tested positive.

All that said, we think that there's hope for a future for me. She said that while there's no cure for IH, the cause that I have may can be mitigated by changes in exercise, diet, routine, and medication,to the point where I may mitigate symptoms of my disorder entirely. I'm still setting up appointments with a new neurologist here in the city, though, because technology is of course more advanced here.

And again, taking all of this into consideration, while it was looking likelier by the day, we've both agreed that I'll be here in the city 'til New Years. Which means no school this semester, but if I can go back in spring at more than 20% functionality and maybe succeed, I'm perfectly fine having to remain on break.

However, another good update: I weigh 103 pounds! I'm steadily gaining weight-- which means the other medication, the one for my appetite, is working as it should and as long as I stay on-track I should reach my goal of 120 by the end of the year as well.

So, yeah! That's what it's looking like. I have another appointment to go more in depth with the results tomorrow, but for now I'm planning out my week since I decided to let myself rest all last week. I'd love to finish helping out for our current podfic, ACTUALLY start the damn 100 Theme Challenge (LOL), finish betaing something that's been on hold for months, properly reconnect with our discord, catch up on all the media I fell behind on, clean my damn room, and establish a budget for this week on what I can buy. A more specific plan for today will follow, but til then, I hope this gives everyone some insight on what I'm looking at and how I'm gonna try to fix it.

Xoxo

Dani

#idiopathic hypersomnia #TW: weight #TW: anxiety/depression mention #health post #genetics

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catfe-overlord · 4 years

Text

“Feral”

Part 4

Read part 1 here

Read part 2 here

Read part 3 here

::in which Bakugou makes a mistake, Kirishima pays the price, but it all works out and the quirk is gone for good... right?::

+++++++++++++

Kirishima couldn’t help staring at the empty desk across the room. It was Monday, and Bakugou still hadn’t returned.

Over the weekend, Kirishima had periodically visited his best friend after meal times. That was when he seemed to be on his best behavior, but the quirk still sent him into frenzies at pretty random times. He’d been able to feel most of them coming. Most.

It appeared he was making some real progress. The claws, fangs and cat-like eyes hadn’t gone away yet, but he was acting more like himself each day, and the fits of rage grew less and less frequent. Until this morning, when Kirishima had decided to bring him breakfast.

Kirishima was already in his school uniform, having woken up a half hour early to go see the blond before class. He’d grabbed a protein bar on his way through the kitchen for himself, but for Bakugou he’d prepared a quick meal of home cooked eggs and vegetables. He was no chef like Bakugou, but after all the meals the blond had prepared for him, he figured he’d try to return the favor. He made sure to grab some of the spiciest seasonings and a bottle of sriracha sauce before heading out though.

Cementoss was the one stationed outside of Bakugou’s room today. He let Kirishima in without hassle, and Bakugou was simply lying on his bed, staring up at the white ceiling.

“Hey, hey, Katsuki!” he greeted him cheerily. Bakugou gave no response, no acknowledgement. “I’ve got breakfast, dude.”

It wasn’t until Kirishima was standing beside the cot and set the tray down on the bedside table with a small clink! that Bakugou stirred.

Before Kirishima could even register what was happening, Bakugou was on him, pinning him to the ground, claws at his throat. Kirishima hadn’t hardened fast enough, and he could feel the hot, sticky blood on the back of his head where it'd collided with the ground. The claws were already dug into the flesh of his neck. He struggled to get out a choked yelp in an attempt to alert Cementoss.

It must have worked, because the Pro Hero came bursting into the room. He surged forward and lifted Bakugou off of Kirishima like he was nothing more than a rabid puppy. Bakugou struggled against the hero’s grip, but he would’ve had better luck fighting a brick wall. Cementoss was sturdy and unyielding.

“Get out of here, Kirishima!” his teacher demanded of him.

Kirishima managed to climb to his feet and stumble out. He put pressure on his neck where it hurt worst, but blood almost immediately seeped through his fingers. He was horrified at how much poured down his arms after hardly a few moments. He could only stare at all the red that stained his shirt and sleeves.

“Kirishima?” asked Cementoss as he emerged from Bakugou’s room. “What are you still doing here? You need to get to Recovery Girl.”

Kirishima couldn’t seem to move. His feet were glued in place, his eyes trained through the window to stare at Bakugou as he curled in on himself. His entire frame was shaking, and he buried his face into his pillow to hide it.

“Kirishima, can you hear me?” Cementoss was asking, but the teenager wasn’t listening. His brain was too busy screaming at him to get back to Bakugou, to tell him it’s okay, to beg him not to cry.

He stepped up to the door, trying to pry it open but unable to without the keycard to grant him access inside. Cementoss put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him away from the door as gently as he could, but he had to use more force when Kirishima fought against his hold.

“Please! Please, I—fuck! Katsuki!”

Everything became a blur after that. He remembered Cementoss delivering him to Recovery Girl, who looked panicked at the sight of all the blood. She was quick to heal him and wrap up his wounds. She’d wrapped bandaging all around his neck and some around his head. She decided he had a mild concussion and needed four staples where he’d bashed his head open. Bakugou’s claws had gone deep enough into his throat to have cut his larynx, so she said to avoid speaking as much as possible at least for the rest of the day. After all said and done, she told him he wasn’t allowed to leave until he’d gotten some rest.

But he couldn’t sleep. He had so much going on in his mind, his brain wouldn’t allow such a foreign concept as sleep. After a couple hours she let him go, but she made it known she preferred he didn’t go back to school until tomorrow due to the concussion.

But he couldn’t just sit in his room and dwell on his thoughts. He knew the teachers wouldn’t let him back in to see Bakugou so soon, and he needed something to distract him. So he went back to the dorms and showered, changed into a fresh uniform, and headed to class.

Everyone was obviously surprised to see him, Aizawa included. Kirishima took notice of the way their eyes caught on the bandaging around his neck that peeked out of the collar of his uniform, but no one said anything as he made his way to his seat.

And he spent the whole hour staring at Bakugou’s empty seat, not a word of Aizawa’s lecture reaching his ears.

Once the bell eventually rang, signaling lunch, the Bakusquad was surrounding him faster than he could even close his textbook.

“Kiri, babe, I don’t want to sound like that person, but you look like shit,” Ashido offered. “What happened?”

“We heard you went to visit Bakugou this morning and he attacked you again,” Kaminari explained.

Sero’s expression was full of pity. “Yeah, man, are you seriously okay?”

Kirishima gave them an O-K, then signaled to his throat with a shake of his head. He grabbed his notebook and wrote out Can’t talk yet. Nicked my vocal chords.

Ashido looked horrified. “He tried to rip your throat out? Seriously?!”

“Dude, that’s so messed up.” Sero shook his head and folded his arms. “Even under a quirk, you’d think he’d have enough self control not to nearly slit his best friend’s throat.”

Kirishima choked. It hurt, but he couldn’t help it. Hot tears leaked down his cheeks, and he could only bury his face in his sleeve to keep his friends from seeing him crying. He felt so unmanly.

“K-Kirishima?” Kaminari gasped. “Whoa! Are you alright?”

“Shit, Kirishima, I’m sorry!” Sero apologized. “That was really insensitive of me to say. I’m sorry, man.”

“It’s okay,” he tried to say, but his voice was horrifically gravelly and much too quiet for anyone else to understand. On top of the pain his throat was in, he could feel a marble forming in it, threatening to choke him. He had to get himself under control.

Ashido pulled him into a hug then. The effect was almost immediate. He relaxed in her grip, leaning into her and turning his head into her shoulder.

“Kirishima,” came Aizawa’s voice then. The redhead turned to see his teacher standing a few rows of desks ahead of the group, hands in his pockets and face expressionless. “A word in private, please.”

Kirishima slumped. He was about to get chewed out. Ashido tightened her embrace reassuringly before slipping away. “We’ll wait for you in the hallway so we can head to lunch together.”

He nodded his thanks, and the group retreated. Aizawa sighed once the door was closed behind them. “I just spoke to Recovery Girl. You shouldn’t be here.”

Kirishima looked down at the floor. He wasn’t sure how to reply, considering he couldn’t verbally answer anyway.

“Listen,” Aizawa continued, lowering himself onto his haunches to be level with Kirishima, “I can’t say I know what you’re feeling right now. But I can tell you I know what Bakugou is feeling. I spoke with him this morning after the incident. He wouldn’t say it out loud, but he was taking it really hard. He was pretty devastated, actually. I’m sure he’d like to see you and know that you’re okay. Would you like to see him?”

Kirishima stared up at Aizawa with big eyes. He nodded vigorously, and Aizawa chuckled softly at that.

“Alright, kid. Not until after you’re fully healed though. Seeing you like this would only make him feel worse.”

He stood again, stretching his back and Kirishima heard a few quiet pops of his joints. He pointed to the door with his thumb as he folded his arms. “Get out. You’re excused from classes for the day. If you’d like, I can give you your homework now, but I want you resting. Don’t come to classes until tomorrow.”

Kirishima nodded. He’d take the leave of absence if it meant he could visit Bakugou again. He stuffed his books in his bag and headed for the door, giving Aizawa a nod of thanks before dipping out.

Ashido, Sero, and Kaminari were waiting for him like they’d promised, but they looked caught off guard by his sudden change in attitude.

“Whoa, uh, you okay, man?” Sero asked.

He gave a thumbs up and flashed one of his toothy smiles.

“What did Aizawa do to you?” Ashido questioned, a lop-sided smile growing on her lips.

Kaminari cocked his head. “Yeah, Aizawa isn’t the type of guy to strike me as ‘uplifting’. Usually people leave his presence feeling worse.”

Kirishima shook his head with a smile meant to put them at ease. He tried his best to signal he was heading back to the dorms, but he was sure he just looked like an idiot waving his arms around. When the others only scrunched their eyebrows, he just pointed in the direction of the dorms.

Ashido’s mouth formed an ‘O’ and she nodded her approval. “Get some rest, Kiri. We’ll stop by and visit later! ‘Kay?”

He gave another thumbs up, then waved goodbye as he sauntered off.

Once in his dorm and changed into jogging pants and a tee shirt, he truly did try to fall asleep, thinking maybe it would help time go by faster. He ended up just staring at the ceiling for two hours. He attempted to get some of the homework done, but without Bakugou’s usual help, he was hopeless.

Finally, he decided to head into the common area and crash on one of the sofas, playing some cheesy American action film on the TV. He snuggled up under a layer of blankets with a bowl of ice cream and watched as two burley men duked it out on the small screen.

He must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew he was blinking awake at the sight of a few of his classmates above him.

“Hello, Kirishima,” said Yaoyorozu, a sheepish smile on her soft face. “Sorry to wake you. We wanted to make sure you were alright. We let you sleep for a while, but it’s dinner time.”

He wiped some drool off his chin. Ugh, how embarrassing. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes, then noticed Iida standing beside her with a tray in his hands.

“We thought you might be hungry,” Iida said with a kind smile. “Aizawa informed us you weren’t quite eating solid foods just yet, so we have some miso soup, and chocolate pudding for dessert.”

Yaoyorozu produced a small table from beneath her shirt and helped him prop it up over his lap. Iida set the tray down, and Kirishima felt his mouth water at the smell of the soup. His stomach growled almost comically loud. He winced, but the two only laughed.

“Glad to help, Kirishima,” Yaoyorozu smiled pleasantly. “Also, I made you some chamomile tea with honey. That’s always best for a sore throat.”

He grabbed the tea cup off his tray and took a small sip. It was delicious! It tasted just like his moms always made it whenever he was sick.

He cleared his throat and voiced a hoarse reply. “Thank you, guys.”

“No need to thank us,” said Iida. “Aspiring heroes should always be there for one another when they’re in need of a little help. Please, if you need anything, don’t be afraid to ask. Yaoyorozu and I would be pleased to help.”

He nodded his gratitude, and they left him to eat his meal in peace. The quiet didn’t last once his band of juveniles were passing through and saw him up and awake. Ashido squealed, and Sero and Kaminari were hot on her heels.

“Kiri, you’re up!” she squeaked, plopping down on the couch beside him. “Feeling better?”

“Much,” he answered. His voice was rough, like he’d just finished a long night of screaming at a heavy metal concert. He was just thankful to be able to speak at all and with almost no pain. At this rate, Aizawa might let him in to see Bakugou tonight!

“So, are you mad at Bakugou about what happened?” Sero asked then.

Kirishima shook his head. He didn’t want to strain his voice more than he had to.

“Good. I’d hate to see you guys stop being best friends over an accident that happened because of a quirk. And I’m really sorry about what I said earlier. It wasn’t true, and I know Bakugou would never hurt you on purpose.”

“It’s okay, Sero,” Kirishima said through a mouthful of pudding. “You were mad. I say things I don’t mean when I’m mad too.”

“How much longer do you think this quirk will last?” Kaminari asked. “I’m actually starting to miss all of Bakubro’s yelling and screaming. Especially his cooking.”

“What I wouldn’t give for a bowl of his curry right now,” Ashido said dreamily.

“I’m going to see if I can visit him again after dinner,” Kirishima explained, “but I need to see Recovery Girl first to get the OK.”

“Ooh! Please tell Baku we miss him.”

He laughed at her pouty lips and puppy dog eyes. “I’ll make sure he knows.”

The three chattered for a while about school and quirk training and all kinds of gossip as Kirishima finished his soup and listened in. He wished Bakugou was there more than ever. Sometimes when they hung out in the common room, he’d let Kirishima lean on him, and once even allowed the redhead to use his lap as a pillow. Kirishima was always a very touchy kind of guy—it was a part of his love language and how he showed affection. Bakugou would never admit he appreciated it too, but Kirishima could read him like an open book. Underneath his hard exterior, Bakugou was human like everyone else.

A little later into the evening, Recover Girl was happy to see his wounds had nearly healed over the course of the day, just little pink scars left that should disappear by morning and a scratchy throat that wasn’t giving him enough pain to bother him. She removed the staples in his head, checked his pupillary responses again, then planted another kiss on his forehead for good measure, but she said with Aizawa’s supervision she’d allow Kirishima to go see Bakugou tonight.

He just about ran all the way to the holding cells. Aizawa looked him over and must have deemed the teenager worthy, because with a sigh he swiped his keycard without saying a word.

Kirishima stepped into the room with a smile plastered to his face. After this morning and spending his whole day worrying about how Bakugou must be feeling, it was a massive weight off his chest to finally be here.

Bakugou was lying on his side in his bed overtop of the sheets. He had his back to Kirishima and didn’t make any efforts to look and see who it was entering his room. For a second, Kirishima wondered if he was sleeping.

“Katsuki,” he said, taking a couple steps forward.

That got him moving. He shot up and spun on Kirishima, shock clear across his face. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Kirishima shrugged. “I’m here to see my best bud. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Me? You wanted to make sure I’m okay? Are you a fucking moron?”

The redhead only took another step forward. “That had to be scary for you this morning.”

“Tch. Kirishima, I almost fucking killed you.”

“Eijirou.”

Bakugou glared at him. “What?”

“Call me Eijirou. This morning hasn’t changed anything.”

Bakugou clenched his fists tight enough that his knuckles were white. He bared his teeth, and it was in that moment Kirishima noticed two things.

“Your fangs are gone! And your claws!”

All the tension in his body seemed to drain at once. Bakugou blinked a few times, then held his open palms in front of him. He looked up at Kirishima, his eyes no longer slit like that of a cat’s.

“Your eyes too! Katsuki, I think the quirk has worn off!”

Bakugou stood, his expression sinking. His head drooped and he held his face in his hands. Kirishima surged forward when he noticed his shoulders begin to tremble.

He wrapped his arms around Bakugou, holding him close as he cried. Bakugou burrowed his face into the crook of Kirishima’s neck and returned the hug.

“What’s wrong, Katsuki?” Kirishima asked in a gentle voice. “I thought you would’ve been happy?”

“I am,” Bakugou answered with a choked sob. “I’m just—relieved.”

Kirishima traced soothing circles into his back. “It’s okay, man. Let it out.”

He took a shaky breath. “I’m sorry I’m so fucking weak.”

“What? You’re not weak. You’re the manliest guy I know, Katsuki. The bravest, strongest, most heroic man I’ve ever known.”

“I-I didn’t want you to see me like this.”

Kirishima shushed him. “It’s alright. You don’t have to be embarrassed. This is what friends are for.”

“Friends,” Bakugou echoed. There was a strange undertone in his voice that Kirishima couldn’t quite pinpoint.

“Best friends.”

Kirishima tightened his embrace, wishing Bakugou saw him as something a little bit more.

<><><><><><><><><>

Soooo hope y’all liked part 4 (and a big fat sorry for how long it took me to get the damn thing posted). I’ve started part 5 and should have it up ASAP bc I’m HELLA excited to get my one-shots posted.

Anywho, thanks for the read!! You guys are the best, and I really appreciate all the love you’ve given me and my writing💕

Read part 5 here

Read part 6 here

8/24/2020

#bakugou is hit by a quirk #katsuki bakugou #bakugou whump #bakugou angst #kirishima angst #kirishima eijirou #kirishima whump #bakugou x kirishima #bnha #mha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #bakusquad #whump #angst #fluff #kiribaku fluff #bakushima

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meetophelia · 3 years

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Tips for Veganuary

A few years ago, you definitely found me saying classic phrases such as “I could never go vegan”, “what about bacon?”, “I love cheese too much” that now I find myself rolling my eyes at.

Veganism is not an all or nothing approach and you can choose to omit animal products however you think is best for you. If you think “I could never be vegan because I love cheese too much” try cutting out all animal products except from cheese. If you mess up one day or accidentally eat something that is not vegan, then it really does not matter. It’s about the intention behind your actions.

You might still have non-vegan options in your cupboards/fridge, but you don’t have to waste them. You could donate to friends/ family or a food bank if unopened. More simply, you could continue to eat animal products but replace them with vegan alternatives when you run out. If being vegan for a whole month is too hard, try adding more vegan meals into your diet or go vegan every weekend instead!

That being said, here are some tips that helped me when I became vegan (almost three years ago!).

Make your favourite meals vegan:

One of the most helpful things to do when deciding to omit animal products from your diet is to veganise your favourite meals. This means you will always have something delicious to eat and you won’t miss your favourite foods.

For example:

You could make a curry with chickpeas instead of chicken or if you love to make soup, make sure the stock you use doesn’t have meat or milk in it! Also check for vegan options in your takeaway. I went two years without chow mein because I thought it had egg noodles, but it turns out all I had to do is call my local takeaway and ask which dishes were vegan.

Accidentally vegan:

It’s always worth checking the labels on products to check if they are or are not vegan. A lot of products are accidentally vegan but are not labelled this way.

Some are labelled vegetarian but don’t contain any non-vegan ingredients.

For example:

· Oreos

· Bourneville Chocolate

· Skittles

· Lotus Biscoff Biscuits

· A lot of different shops’ doughnuts (including custard filled ones!)

· Jus-rol croissants, cinnamon rolls, pain au chocolat!

Try new foods:

If it’s your thing, take this opportunity to try new foods! There were so many foods and cuisines that I hadn’t tried or cooked before turning vegan (and whilst I am sure there still are, there’s definitely less now).

A lot of Southeast Asian food is naturally vegan or easily veganised (just watch out for ingredients like fish sauce).

After turning vegan, I started to experiment with jackfruit as a meat alternative and have cooked it in curries and turned it into a sticky pulled meat texture to top tacos.

Getting nutrients:

There’s often concern around veganism and whether or not the diet will provide the right nutrients for those who consume it. People worry about iron intake, protein intake and (more recently) whether or not vegan’s bones will break more easily! It’s important that you do your own research on what vitamins you need. Personally, I take a multi-vitamin that just reassures me that if all I eat one day is chips, it’s ok.

There are a lot of misconceptions about where to get iron from. I give blood regularly and one time I brought a friend with me to also give blood. They were turned away for not having enough iron in their blood and afterwards told me, a vegan who managed to get through blood giving absolutely fine, “ok so I need to eat more meat, especially steak”…

I always think that those with vegan diets are healthier. Not because they eat more fruits or vegetables because you can eat bread and pasta all your life and be vegan. Instead, because they are so aware of the nutrients their bodies need. You also become more aware of what is in your food because you have to read the label!

It’s recommended that everyone take a multi-vitamin or at least those in Britain should definitely be taking Vitamin D. Watch out for vitamin D3 which is often not vegan or vegetarian, coming from fatty fish, egg yolks, cod liver oil or even sheep’s wool. Vegans and vegetarians cannot obtain vitamin B12 naturally (it’s created in animal intestines) so it is important to take that in a supplement or (eat a lot of marmite!) as side effects of B12 deficiency are not those you want.

Look into easily attainable plant sources of Calcium (tofu, kale, almonds, pulse, dried fruit), Iron (dark green leafy vegetables, nuts, wholegrains), Omega 3 (nuts and seeds).

Most importantly

Don’t change your diet to veganism if it is too much of a food challenge for you. Make sure you can maintain a positive relationship with food whilst doing it. It may be easier to approach veganism little by little.

Veganism doesn’t have to be difficult. Follow Instagram accounts for inspiration, look up easy recipes on the internet, ask your vegan friends/ family/ co-workers what their favourite snacks are.

At the end of the day, you can never go wrong with some beans on toast.

Flo (she/her) is in a love affair with food. When she’s not snacking, she can be found studying her master’s degree, watching crime documentaries, and crashing her car into carpark posts. Follow Flo on Instagram for more recipe inspo @thymetoflo

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dyscrasia-eucrasia · 4 years

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Part 5

<<Prev | Next>>

Like every day, Angel woke up to an alarm at noon. And, like every day, he considered sleeping in. But he'd established that his Instagram stories started updating at 12:30, and he refused to break that routine.

He dragged himself out of bed and over to the kitchen. He was in a bulking phase, which meant that at least he got to eat a lot of calories, but even then he had to check the notebook he kept next to the fridge to make sure he was hitting his macros. Breakfast wound up being oats made with peanut butter, greek yogurt, and protein powder. It was ugly to look at and nearly as bland, since there was no sugar to liven up the flavors. That was the sacrifice that he had to make for the sake of his physique - giving up basically everything that tasted good and living on a diet of peanut butter, chicken, and brown rice.

After he finished choking down his breakfast, he had to take a minute to search his apartment for his wireless earbuds. He popped them in his ears, grabbed his phone, perched himself on the window sill, and proceeded to take a dozen selfies, all with slight variations, until he got the perfect one of himself turned just slightly towards the window, his earbuds clearly showing, the street outside visible but artistically blurry. It took him a few more minutes in Facetune to edit out the puffiness under his eyes and a blemish that was forming on his chin, not to mention lighten his skin and up the saturation of the blue dye in his hair. He needed a dye touch-up, but no one on Instagram needed to know that.

It took him a few more minutes to craft his story post, carefully weighing the benefits of a filter that gave him dog ears and deciding how many emojis he wanted to use.

Then of course there was the matter of what to say in the story. His first post of every day was a 'song of the day' post. It took him a minute to think of what song to use. Ultimately, he wound up writing: 'Listening to Bad Guy today! Love Billie Eilish!' and then took another minute to choose the exact font style, color, and positioning.

He hadn't actually been listening to Billie Eilish. He liked her music, sure, but lately he had been on a nostalgic kick, listening to nu metal. But it wasn't #relatable to post about listening to Coal Chamber. How many people even remembered that the band existed? Certainly none of the e-boys that followed Angel's account.

No, Angel's brand didn't work with a maligned, forgotten genre from the late 90s. He'd made a name for himself as goth-lite. Not really goth, but not an e-boy either. Rather, he was just a touch edgy, but still firmly in the mainstream gay community.

All the more reason to keep Bacchus to himself. It was totally against his brand to go to shows with mosh pits.

'Tell me what song you wanna see me pole dance to!' He added to the post, making a comment field for people to respond. Within seconds, answers started to pour in, mostly Top 40 sex jams.

He spent a little longer scrolling through Instagram, commenting on videos from other dancers. Every comment was upbeat and encouraging, even if he thought their dancing was a bit shit. There was no room to be critical on social media. He had to treat everyone as if they were his best friend, even if he didn't know them. He was still building his following, and any drama could ruin that.

His DMs were full, as usual. Most of them were thirst-DMs, a couple were shady sounding guys offering to be his manager. Nothing interesting enough to respond to.

A notification popped up at the top of his screen from Grindr. He automatically tapped it to go to the app, only to be greeted with a blurry dick pic. He wasn't against dick pics, but they had to have a bit of effort put into them. This one was just lazy. The guy didn't even look like he was hard.

He tapped the back button to look at the rest of his messages. A lot were dick pics. Some were asking for a hookup. One was a message from a guy he'd hooked up with a few days ago, saying that he had a nice time and asking if he wanted to get together again.

The guy had been alright. A nice enough bodybuilder who had been surprisingly gentle and considerate during sex. But his personality had been as bland as the meal-prepped chicken sitting in Angel's fridge. Angel knew he could do better. But it never hurt to have the guy on-call as backup if he felt the need to get laid right away, so he snapped a selfie and sent it to him, with a short note that simply said, 'I had fun!'

With that, he'd had enough social media, and it was almost time for his workout, anyways.

Thirty minutes later, he met with his personal trainer. He paid a hefty fine for one of the best trainers in the city, someone he trusted to help him sculpt his physique without making comments about trying plastic surgery. His trainer was cute, nice, and painfully straight, which was something Angel had specifically looked for. He didn't want to be distracted by a guy who may or may not be interested in fucking.

Like always, working out kicked his ass, and like always, he took a sweaty selfie in the locker room mirror with his shirt lifted to show his abs and posted it on his Instagram story.

His day was far from over, though. He had to stop by the smoothie shop and take a photo of his smoothie - milk, whey powder, greens, banana, and peanut butter - and then go out and take photos around town until he found something that made it look like he was doing something interesting that day. He eventually found a corner of a building that had been tagged with a dozen Mothman stickers and snapped a selfie in front of it, captioned it 'Hanging out with my fellow spooky kids!' and posting it to his main Instagram.

And then the boredom set in. He didn't really have anything planned for the day, and he still had plenty of time before he had to go to work. Sure, he could go home and put on some makeup and take artful thirst-trap selfies, but he'd done that so recently. He didn't want to make his Instagram nothing but thirst-traps - he had to make sure he was attractive to multiple types of brands if he ever wanted a sponsorship.

The thing was, trying to be an Instagram star was lonely. He had friends, but they were either work colleagues - and thus rivals - or other micro-influencers. All their conversations were about collabs and SEO and ways to boost engagement. To outsiders he no doubt looked like he lived a lavish and incredibly fun lifestyle as a stripper, but they didn't see the day-to-day boredom or the awkwardness behind running into people who knew him from the club out in broad daylight.

He wanted someone to talk to who wasn't a part of all that bullshit.

Of course, as soon as he had that thought, he realized that he wanted to talk to Demie again.

He wasn't sure if he should. He'd just called him that morning, after all.

It wasn't that he was worried about coming off as desperate, but more that he was worried about scaring Demie off. He was absolutely certain that Demie was gay, but he was also sure that Demie was a country boy, and country gays were different from city gays. Country boys had such an endearing gee-shucks quality about them, like they were trying so hard to be beer-drinkin', truck-drivin' bros, but they were just a little too soft-spoken and shy for that.

Demie - from what Angel could tell - was a guy who wanted to be cool to other men but who was also painfully nervous around them.

It was absolutely adorable, and Angel wanted so badly to get him into bed.

But getting that kind of guy into bed was a challenge. It was like hunting a deer. Move too fast or too loudly, and he'd run off into the woods.

Or so Angel assumed. He'd never actually gone hunting. That was too much a white person thing to do.

Fuck it, he decided. Demie was the first real connection he'd made in a long time. And it wasn't like he was asking for a hookup. He just wanted to talk.

He settled onto a bench where he could still see the Mothman stickers and dialed Demie's number. The phone rang with no answer. No shit, it was a Monday afternoon. People with normal 9 to 5s worked at that time.

Well, at least he could leave a message and give Demie his number. He realized he'd never actually told Demie how to contact him.

Eventually the answering machine picked up. "You've reached Demie and Elaine," Demie's voice said. "If you're trying to sell us something we don't fucking want it. If you're trying to get on our property, we have guns and we're not afraid to fucking use them. Bye."

"Wow, your answering machine is pretty aggro," Angel said. "This is Angel, but the way. I realized I didn't give you my number. So, y'know, just in case you want to get in touch…"

He left his number and hung up. He sat staring at the Mothman stickers a little longer. He kind of wanted to send a picture of them to Demie, since Demie in a way reminded him of a cryptid - shy and kind of elusive. But of course, he couldn't, since Demie didn't have a cellphone. Still, he took a non-selfie picture of them anyways. Just in case he got to hang out with Demie sometime.

#writers on tumblr #writing #original fiction #original characters #lgbt fiction #gay fiction #wright's writing #w:demie and angel

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megamikethomson · 4 years

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HEALTH & FITNESS TIPS

usage and Eggs May Help You Lose Weight

FILED UNDER DIET AND NUTRITION, LOSE WEIGHT, HEALTHY EATING

Studies have shown that both fat and protein slow the absorption of carbohydrates into your bloodstream.

instant oatmeal - sugar and carbs bagel - all carbs donuts - ditto toast - carbs fruit - sugar juice more sugar See what I’m talking about?

And here’s the great thing about including fat and protein with your breakfast: It may help you lose weight and trim your waistline!

By slowing down the consumption of carbohydrates into your bloodstream, you will feel full longer and your body will have a steady supply of energy. Most people tend to consume fewer calories when they eat a balancd breakfast. I’ve noticed that I consume fewer calories when I include protein and fat with my breakfast and I think you will too.

I’m a big fan of sausage and eggs so I would have no problem eating that every day but when I’m looking for something a little health life, I have some yogurt.

diet and nutrition free fitness and health life cares tips Are You Making Progress with your Exercise Program?

FILED UNDER FITNESS AND HEALTH TIPS

If you’ve been consistent with your workouts for a few weeks and you’re not seeing the type of progress you’d like to be seeing with your exercise program, I would advise to take a look at the two following things:

The first is your diet. Are you eating well? Do you eating a well-balanced diet and are you eating 4-6 smaller meals versus 2-3 big ones?

It’s very important to eat smaller-portioned meals (4-6) throughout the day as opposed to the 3 (breakfast, lunch and dinner) that most are accustomed to because eating smaller meals ( puts your metabolism into calorie-burning mode. This is especially important for people who can only fit in 2-3 workouts per week but generally speaking, it’s a good diet strategy for anybody to follow. Never eat to get full; only enough to get you through until your next meal.

What you eat is obviously also very important. Try to stay away from fat and greasy foods, processed sugars and pretty much anything fried.

Eat as clean as possible.

The second would be recuperation. Are you sleeping and resting enough? Depending on how old you are and how hard you’re working out, you may need more sleep then the average person who I think sleeps something like 5-7 hours a night.

If you’re not sleeping, if you’re not resting, if you’re not giving your body a chance to recuperate from your workouts, then you’re not giving your body a chance to grow and make progress.

do you eat right and you’re sleeping enough and you’re still not making progress in the gym, it may be time to look at your current exercise program. You would be amazed how quickly your body adapts to the workouts that you throw at it.

Eat well, sleep and continually throw different workouts at your body and I guarantee you will make progress.

free fitness cares and health cares tips Challenge Yourself Daily

FILED UNDER MOTIVATION,

It sounds easy enough enough right?

But after a few weeks you run out of ways to continue challenging yourself.

It’s unevitable unless you:

a.) continue to learn new exercise/ workout routines and techniques.

b.) keep a training log.

The easiest way to satisfy the first is to subscribe to fitness magazines or maybe hire a personal trainer depending on how serious you are.

You can also stay up to date by checking this Blog often as I plan on posting some sample workouts pretty soon and I’ll of course keep you posted on all new excercise programs that hit the scene.

The latter option is actually what I want to focus on today.

By keeping a training or workout log, you can make it 10 x easier to consistently challenge yourself to improve upon previous workouts.

A training log is simply a log that details every exercise you perform (in the gym or at home), number of sets, number of reps and of course the weight.

By logging all of this information, all you have to do to improve on your previous workout is look at your previous workout (in your log) and “pick your spots” as I like to say where you can make some improvements in.

free fitness and health tips weblog lose weight weblog training log Bodybuilding to Burn Fat

FILED UNDER IN THE GYM, FITNESS AND HEALTH TIPS, BURN BODY FAT

Several people don’t realize it but one of the most effective methods for burning fat is bodybuilding (working out with weights/resistance training).

Not only will replacing just some of the fat on your body with muscle convert your body into a calorie burning furnace but minute for minute bodybuilding workouts consume more energy and calories then to cardio workouts which most people do to “burn fat.”

So the next time you want to lose some weight or burn some fat instead of jumping on a treadmill, hit the weights.

bodybuilding free fitness and health tips weblog lose weight weblog Use a Training Partner for Motivation

FILED UNDER IN THE GYM, FITNESS AND HEALTH TIPS,

This post is for my wife who didn’t like the advice I gave out in a recent post titled This is How to Motivate Yourself.

This is for those of you who think it’s a little too risky to give a less-then-flattering picture of yourself in a bathing suit to your friends for fear of having it plastered all over the internet.

Another great way to get and stay motivated and to stick to an exercise program is to find a training partner who has similar goals as you and to train together.

Having a training partner is great because you can pick each other up when one of you isn’t motivated. You can spot each other in the gym. You can push yourselves. And it’s a lot easier to eat healthy when you have “nutrition conscious” friends to hang around with.

So if you’re having trouble motivating yourself, you may want to consider a training partner.

free fitness and health tips

FILED UNDER MOTIVATION,

It’s always a good idea to set goals for yourself whenever you decide to participate in an exercise program.

Like pretty much anything else in life, you have a much better chance of achieving whatever it is you want to accomplish if you have a detailed map or guide that will help guide you on your path.

Setting a goal is very easy. Just ask yourself what you want to get out of all this exercise you’re going to be doing. Maybe you want to lose 10 lbs., drop a couple of dress sizes or add a couple of inches to your arms…whatever the case.

Goals will help get you there quicker.

Here are 3 quick tips I recommend when considering goals:

Make sure they’re realistic. If working out 5 x a week isn’t realistic for you then don’t make it a goal. You want to set yourself up for success here, not failure. Have some short-term goals. Long-term goals (losing 10 lbs.) are great but short-term goals (working out 4 x this week) will keep you focused from day-to-day. Write them down. Writing down your goals just make them more powerful. It makes them real (at least for me). free fitness and health tips weblog lose weight weblog setting goals This is how to Motivate Yourself

FILED UNDER MOTIVATION

Back when I was a personal trainer one of the biggest complaints I would hear from people who wanted to get started (but couldn’t) with a fitness cares program was a lack of motivation.

Lack of motivation?

If you really want to get your lazy butt in the gym, here’s what I think you should do.

Take a picture of your fat butt in a bikini or shorts and send the pictures to 5 of your friends.

Invite your friends out to lunch and let them know about your fitness goals and how you need there help to get started.

Tell them that if they don’t receive 3 pictures a week of you working out (at the gym, at home, wherever it doesn’t matter) that they have your permission to send those pictures to whoeever they want!

Nothing and I mean NOTHING is a bigger motivator then public humiliation.

The point is this. Maybe you don’t have to be this drastic. But you know you better then anyone else does and you know what will motivate you enough to get you in the gym so whatever that thing is… DO IT!

#fitness cares #health cares #health life #health life cares

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halohealthcoach5 · 4 years

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15+ Low Carb Freezer Meals for Easy Keto: Recipes and Meal Prep Tips

Cutting carbs can help you lose substantial amounts of fat, but there is another key ingredient that’ll help you maintain those weight loss results for life: convenience.

Simply put, if you make your low-carb or keto diet more convenient than grabbing an unhealthy meal, you will be able to create a lifestyle that helps you lose weight and improve health naturally.

One way to do this is by cooking healthy low carb freezer meals, so you always have something you can eat when you’re pressed for time.

Whether you are looking for a simple solution for weekly meal prep, a quick instant pot recipe, or a hot and ready dinner fresh from the slow cooker, there are a plethora of low carb freezer recipes you can rely on.

Here is a quick overview of what you’ll find in this keto-friendly freezer meal round-up:

The benefits of freezer meals

Low carb freezer-friendly breakfast recipes

Low carb freezer meals for lunch

Low carb freezer dinners

Freezer-friendly keto dessert recipes

Eight tips for getting the most out of your freezer meals

Key takeaways and keto resources

The Three Key Benefits of Batch Cooking Freezer Meals

We hinted at the powers of batch cooking freezer meals in the opening paragraphs, so let’s take a closer look why freezer-friendly recipes are such a powerful tool:

1. Saves you more money than before

Although healthy foods come with the stigma of being more expensive, this does not have to be the case for you. By planning ahead and cooking bigger batches of freezer-friendly meals, your food budget will decrease as you eat out less and waste less food.

If you’d like to save more money on your freezer meals, we recommend checking out our comprehensive guide to eating keto on a budget.

2. Reduces your overall carbon footprint and food waste

The most recent estimates by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) indicate that Americans waste more than $161 billion each year on food, with dairy products as the food waste frontrunner. Not only is this bad for everyone’s food budget, but it contributes to increased greenhouse gas emissions as food in landfills leaks methane gas into the atmosphere.

With the help of freezer-friendly keto meals, you will be able to reduce your body fat %, food budget, and carbon footprint at the same time. Along with that, you’ll be taking steps toward making your new diet plan into a sustainable, healthy lifestyle.

3. Makes keto easier to follow

Willpower and restriction will help you get started, but leveraging convenience to work for you is what will keep you going when you are stressed, hungry, and tired.

To illustrate what I mean, imagine having several healthy and delicious keto-friendly meals in the freezer waiting for you.

With the help of freeze meals, you no longer have to think, prep, plan, calculate, decide, or negotiate with yourself when you are already drained from the day. Just take the meal out of the fridge, reheat it, and eat it to reach your goals.

Surprisingly enough, there are hundreds of recipes that are healthy, easy-to-make, low-carb, and freezer-friendly. To get you started, let’s take a look at the most popular freezer meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert.

Low Carb Breakfast Freezer Meal Recipes

Here are some great options for batch cooking and freezing breakfasts so you always have something ready to go in the morning.

Keto Sausage Gravy and Biscuit Bake

If you’d like something hearty and savory for breakfast, give this freezer-friendly keto casserole a try. The biscuit topping will satisfy your craving for a light and fluffy breakfast pastry, while the sausage and gravy bring you to a level of satisfaction that high-carb dishes simply can’t emulate.

Freeze the finished product as is, and have it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner if you are looking for a keto-friendly high-protein freezer meal that’ll keep you in ketosis.

See the Recipe

Keto Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

Occasionally, I find savory and hearty dishes to be overwhelming for my taste buds and stomach in the morning. If you find yourself feeling the same way, make these keto muffins instead. You’ll find them to be the perfect treat to have with your keto coffee or tea.

Each recipe yields 12 muffins, which you can freeze individually and take out whenever you want a keto-friendly baked good. Pop them in the microwave for 15-20 seconds, slice in half, and place a pad of butter between them for a quick and healthy low-carb breakfast.

See the Recipe

Low Carb Cinnamon Roll Waffle

Not only are these waffles a great source of protein and healthy fats, but you can freeze them and reheat them as if they were frozen waffles from your local grocery store. Feel free to skip the cream cheese frosting and go with butter and/or keto maple syrup if you want any even quicker keto breakfast.

Another freezer-friendly waffle recipe worth trying is our Savory Jalapeno Cheddar Waffles. They come with a savory, comforting flavor and a heartier feel, providing us a pleasant change of pace from these cinnamon roll waffles.

See the Recipe

Easy Meal Prep Low-Carb Breakfast Burritos

Burritos are surprisingly easy to make keto- and freezer-friendly. First, prepare and cook all of your burrito fillings. This recipe calls for turkey sausage, eggs, spinach, and cheese, but you can use pretty much any combo of meat, cheese, and low-carb veggies you have on hand.

As your ingredients are cooling, start prepping your low-carb tortilla for filling. You can either make them yourself by following this link for a freezer-friendly tortilla recipe or purchase a keto-friendly wrap.

Finally, after the ingredients have cooled, make your burritos, wrap them in foil or freezer paper, store them in a freezer-safe bag or container, and freeze until you want a delicious keto-friendly burrito.

*Image from ameessavorydish.com

See the Recipe

Keto Zucchini Bread with Walnuts

For something that’ll satisfy your sweet tooth (while sneaking in some low carb nuts and vegetables at the same time), this zucchini bread is another excellent freezer-friendly option. It is healthy, easy-to-make, filling, and so flavorful.

To prep it for freezing, slice each serving, wrap it in foil, and freeze individually. When you want a quick breakfast, warm it in the oven or the microwave. Serve with a slab of butter on top to make it even tastier and increase the fat content.

See the Recipe

Easy Low Carb Freezer Meals for Lunch

If you’re looking for something to keep on hand for lunch, you’ll find some fantastic, freezable ideas below.

Ham, Ricotta, and Spinach Casserole

This freezer meal has it all — keto vegetables, eggs, rich ricotta cheese, and plenty of umami. Plus, its high protein and fat content will keep you full throughout the day.

Feel free to have it for breakfast, lunch, a snack, or dinner. You can even bake it the night before and have it throughout the next day whenever you are hungry.

See the Recipe

Greek Cauliflower Salad

With this low carb lunch, you can experience all your favorite Greek flavors without the unnecessary carbs. Simply buy tzatziki or make it yourself (with the help of our gyro recipe), rice the cauliflower, prep the veggies, and toss everything together for an easy keto meal.

This recipe yields plenty of servings as well. Feel free to freeze each serving and take it to work for the week or have it as a side with dinner.

See the Recipe

Cheesy Cauliflower & Bacon Soup

As you adapt to your keto lifestyle, you’ll find healthy, keto-friendly soup to be surprisingly easy to make. This recipe is the perfect example of what’s possible on the keto diet, providing you with a satisfying meal in 30 min or less.

That being said, the best part of this soup is that it makes so many servings that you can freeze for low carb lunches throughout the week. Just put the frozen soup in the microwave or thaw and heat on the stovetop until warm.

See the Recipe

Keto Cloud Bread BLT

Technically, a BLT is not keto-friendly nor freezable. With this keto recipe, however, you will learn how to make a simple keto bread that you can freeze and take out whenever you are craving a sandwich.

To make this BLT recipe into a freezer-friendly meal, prep the bread and bacon ahead of time and store them in the freezer. As your bacon and bread are reheating, prep the tomato and lettuce. When everything is ready, grab some keto mayo from the fridge and put it all together for a quick and easy keto BLT.

See the Recipe

Easy Keto Meatballs

One of the easiest ways to add high-quality fats and protein to your keto meal is by adding some keto meatballs. This freezer-friendly meatball recipe allows you to make a bunch of meatballs ahead of time, so you have something you can rely on when you are stressed, tired, and hungry after a long day.

For a simple and healthy keto meal, try placing the thawed meatballs into a baking dish and covering with marinara sauce and keto-friendly pasta, topping it with cheese, and baking at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for around 20 minutes. To get the cheese bubbly and browned, place under the broiler for an extra five minutes.

*Image from makeaheadmealmom.com

See the Recipe

Easy Low Carb Freezer Dinners: Slow Cooker Meals and Healthy Casseroles

There’s sometimes no better feeling than being able to pop something in the oven for an easy dinner when you’re exhausted. Below, you’ll find some great examples of freezable meals that will stock your freezer full of keto meals!

Keto Tuna Casserole

Casseroles are arguably the easiest freezer keto dinners you can make. For the most part, all you have to do is throw ingredients together, bake them, eat them, and freeze the rest for later.

This tuna casserole is the perfect example of how easy it can be to make a keto meal that is delicious and freezer-friendly. Just make sure you put the leftovers in their freezer containers before you find yourself marching back to the kitchen for more.

See the Recipe

Keto Chicken Divan

Here is another example of a quick and easy keto casserole that’ll amaze your taste buds. It is a lot like chicken pot pie, but creamier, tastier, and much more satisfying.

One of the best things about this recipe is that there are many ways to adapt it to your schedule.

For example, you can make it in advance and bake it just before serving — or try cooking multiple pans when you have time and freeze them for another night.

See the Recipe

Bacon Covered Meatloaf

The title speaks for itself. Bacon plus meatloaf is a match made in keto heaven. You can even try pairing it with keto-friendly BBQ sauce if you are ready to take things to the next level.

To make the meatloaf freezer-friendly, allow it to cool to room temperature (after all of the steam has escaped), slice it based on your preferred serving size, and place each slice between sheets of baking paper/parchment in an airtight container before freezing. On the other hand, if you are preparing this meal for a family dinner, skip separating the servings and freeze the loaf as a whole.

*Image from ditchthecarbs.com

See the Recipe

Slow-Cooker Stuffed Taco Peppers

Rarely will you find a recipe this convenient, versatile, and delicious. All you need to do is follow a simple four-step process: empty the peppers, stuff them with keto-friendly ingredients, cook them in the slow-cooker, and eat/freeze.

You can even prep them ahead of time and throw them in the slow cooker before you go to work. When you come home, you will have a hot and healthy keto meal with plenty of leftovers to freeze for later in the week.

See the Recipe

Slow-Cooker Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

This recipe comes with all of the textures and flavors we crave from a bacon cheeseburger but in a healthy, protein-rich, freezer-friendly soup. You can also prepare this in one of three ways: as an easy slow-cooker meal, as a quick instant pot soup, or as a beautiful stovetop dinner.

We recommend making this recipe in bulk and freezing it for the colder months. Whenever you need a reliable keto meal, take it out of the freezer and reheat with some shredded cheese on top.

See the Recipe

Keto Freezer Desserts: Easy, Healthy, and Satisfying Recipes

Dessert can be healthy, keto-approved, and freezer-friendly without missing out on the flavors we love.

There are hundreds of keto desserts that fit the bill, but the following recipes are second-to-none when it comes to convenience and satisfaction:

Coconut Peanut Butter Balls

Keto Peanut Butter Cup Style Fudge

Flourless Keto Brownies

Salted Toffee Nut Cups

Tropical Chocolate Mousse Bites

And, don’t forget about keto ice cream — the ultimate low-carb freezer treat! For a round-up of our favorites, follow this link to check out our top 10 list of keto-friendly ice cream recipes.

Getting the Most Out of Your Keto Freezer Meals: 8 Meal Prep Tips

To help you squeeze the most out of every dollar, meal, and ingredient that you can, here are some of the top meal prep tips from long-term keto dieters:

1. Make batch cooking a part of your weekly schedule.

The two most common approaches to batch cooking are (1) having a meal prep day every week and (2) doubling or tripling the recipes each time you cook.

The first option requires some planning ahead and a good chunk of time dictated to making multiple recipes at once.

If you simply can’t carve out an afternoon or morning for meal prep each week, then the second batch cooking approach will be much easier to implement. Just make sure you know what you will make before you go to the grocery store, so you know how much of each ingredient you need to get.

2. Batch cook recipes that call for similar ingredients.

One simple way to cut down on food spending and waste is by batch cooking recipes with ingredient crossover. This will also help you capitalize on bulk buying deals at the store and reduce the amount of prep time needed for each recipe.

3. Keep it airtight.

Your freezer meals can easily be damaged when the cold air is allowed to come in direct contact with the food. This can steal the tenderness and flavor away for your favorite keto recipes.

To keep this from happening, I recommend buying airtight containers, freezer bags, or a vacuum sealer. If you plan on cooking some meals to store in your freezer for several months, then vacuum sealing will be the best option.

Regardless of what storage option you choose, make sure you allow the meal to cool down to room temperature before freezing.

4. Label and date your freezer meals.

When the meals start piling up in your freezer, you may find yourself forgetting what’s what and how long each meal has been there. This is why it is so important to label each container/bag, including the name, prep date, and expected expiration date. (Bonus tip: use painter’s tape for removable labels)

To help you estimate your expiration dates, here is a quick list of how long different keto meals last in the freezer:

Soups, stews, casseroles, and most other keto recipes will keep for around three months.

Most meat and seafood can be frozen for around three months.

Low-carb vegetables typically last for up to eight months.

5. Separate your servings before freezing.

Most foods shouldn’t be defrosted and re-frozen. To best preserve the integrity of your meals, freeze your recipes in meal-sized portions and only thaw/reheat what you will eat within the next 2-3 days.

6. Become an expert slow-cooker.

Slow cookers, crockpots, and instant pots can be used to simplify almost any keto meal. Essentially, all you need to do is add the ingredients, close the lid, pick a setting, and it’ll be ready 6-8 hours later.

Many delicious keto-friendly dishes can be prepared in this way, including:

Bone broth

Chili

Chicken soup

Curries and other Indian dishes

Casseroles

Meat or seafood stews

Slow-cooked beef, lamb, chicken, or pork

Keto lasagna

Meatballs

For a list of keto recipes that you can make in the slow cooker, follow this link.

7. Freeze in microwave-safe dishes when possible.

If you plan to eat a freezer meal within a few weeks, store directly in a microwave-safe glass container in the freezer.

With this simple hack, all you have to do is thaw, heat, and eat — no need to transfer the food into a separate bowl or waste a freezer bag.

8. Make your casseroles portable.

Freezing and reheating casseroles can be a bit tricky when you only have one or two mouths to feed. A simple storage hack is to line the tray with parchment paper before freezing, lift the casserole out, and cut it into portions after it is frozen. Then, wrap each serving in foil and store them in a freezer bag for easy storing, thawing, and reheating.

The Bigger Picture — Low Carb Freezer Meals, Weight Loss Results, and Your Keto Lifestyle

Freezer-friendly keto recipes have been the secret ingredient behind sustainable weight loss results for hundreds (if not thousands) of keto and low-carb dieters. By using the recipes and tips above, you will be one step closer to transforming your health and body composition for the better as well.

As you make more low-carb freezer meals, it is also crucial to consider what you eat in the context of your overall keto lifestyle to get the results you want. For more information on how to create the optimal weight loss approach for you, we’ve included several tools and resources below:

Keto Calculator — Find out how much you need to eat to meet your goals

A Comprehensive Guide to the Ketogenic Diet — Keto guidelines, benefits, tips, food list, and recipes

Eating Keto On A Budget — How to keep keto cheap, convenient, and easy

Long-Term Keto Weight Loss Results— A guide to losing weight and maintaining your results for life

P.S. Have a look at the Keto Academy, our foolproof 30-day keto meal planner. It has all the tools, information, and recipes needed for you to succeed.

+ The food will always fit to your macros and cooking preferences!

jQuery(document).ready(function(){ if(window.matchMedia(“only screen and (max-width: 768px)”).matches){ setTimeout(function(){ jQuery(“.psImg”)[0].src = “https://ift.tt/2Yg64bN;; }, 2000); } });

Sources

How to Lose Weight on a Ketogenic Diet — Ruled.me

Food Waste in America in 2020: Statistics & Facts — RTS

US Food Waste Challenge | FAQ’s — USDA

The post 15+ Low Carb Freezer Meals for Easy Keto: Recipes and Meal Prep Tips appeared first on Ruled Me.

#How to reduce belly fat in 7 days

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rahullkohli · 5 years

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about the weight watchers app for kids...i’m thinking it may be for overweight/obese kids? i can see it being mentally taxing for those who are at a normal weight for their size. can you explain more about how it’s child abuse?

hello. thank you so much for actually being chill and open for a dialogue, unlike how aggressive people have been about the post.

anyway, i have been thinking about how to tackle this one the entire day, and i am afraid it’s gonna be a long one, so i’ll put it under a cut. i’m just gonna start out with a little background about myself, to explain how i am forming my opinions on the subject, and where my knowledge comes from.

i have been overweight more or less my entire life, even though i have gone through anorexia and bulimia, and have been eating below my necessary calorie intake literally my entire life (i grew up very poor, so we just simply didn’t have enough, or satisfyingly nourishing, food in the house). to this day i struggle with disordered eating patterns and body dysmorphia. i have been lifting weights on/off for 12 years, and i have been seeing a licensed nutritionist for a year and a half now, which has helped me lose 22 kg. i am still working on it. i have worked with a long line of fitness trainers (my mom is a licensed fitness trainer, for one), and about three different nutritionists. so while i don’t have any education in either of those fields, i have worked with professionals that have taught me a lot. i have also studied psychology in college for a year, and specifically child psychology for another year - i also spent a year working with kids ages 2-6.

my two youngest sisters did a weightwatchers program when they were around 8 and 10, so i have also seen upclose how that works. that was many years ago - and not in america - so i do know that the way things worked then/works in america compared to where i live, may not be the exact same. but the guidelines for the company, and their strategies should be the same, since it is afterall the same company. now, both of my sisters lost weight. they also gained it back. and more, and more, and both of them are extremely overweight today. in the way that i am the “thin” sister, compared. and they are eating disordered. they have no grasp of how to deal with food. they are intelligent women, and they know the basics of “if you eat too much pizza and ice cream, you will gain weight” but they don’t know, and don’t have the energy, to apply it to how they live. they are not only compulsive overeaters, they also don’t have a healthy eating pattern that could help stabilize their metabolism.

okay, so with that out of the way, let’s get to the actual app - and weightwatchers.

the app offers a diet, even though it is a fact that diets do not work. they literally do not. people who go on a diet will gain the weight right back on, and more. because diets are short-term solutions, and they are designed to make someone lose X amount of weight in X amount of time. it is not sustainable - just as with the oh-so-popular juice cleanses. for someone to lose weight, and keep it off, a complete lifestyle change is needed, but that is just not as simple as some companies, magazines, blogs, etc. will make it sound. because every single person is unique and what their body needs to maintain a healthy weight is unique to them specifically. in order to lose weight your daily calorie intake needs to be in a caloric deficit, but this depends on your height, your current weight, how your body is built, and more. those are things the app simply don’t take into account. now, i haven’t actually downloaded the app myself (i refuse to give them the clicks), but a licensed trainer i follow on instagram posted screencaps on her story. as far as i could see they take height and weight, and that’s that. but the human body is much more complex than just height and weight - especially when it comes to children and teenagers, who are growing, and going through tremendous hormonal changes. but i will get to that later.

what should also be taken into account are things like hormonal imbalances, and the fact that people breaks down macronutrients (carbhohydrates, proteins and fats) differently. fx, my sisters have poly cystic ovary syndrome (pcos), which means that their bodies can’t handle carbohydrates very well, whereas i need most carbs, medium protein, small amounts of fats. but apps like these don’t take that into account, because it is impossible for an app to do a check for what every single individual needs. i for example recently found out that my body doesn’t break down dairy very well. i have been using plant based milk, yogurt, ice cream and butter, instead of animal based for years, and only very small amounts of animal based cheese, so when my nutritionist had me switch to animal based yogurt i started gaining weight. i went back to plant based and the weight went off.

nutrition and a healthy lifestyle cannot be taught simplistic, because it is about the individual, and it takes a trial, error and do-over period to find what works for your specific body. and what works for your body now, might not have worked ten years ago, or ten years from now, because hormones changes how our bodies processes macronutrients. but this app is a “one size fits all”-system.

and this system. the system it is using is based on shaming children; making them feel inadequate, making them scared, and ashamed of their bodies. the “before and after” photos i have seen, have all been kids who weren’t even that big to begin with. and the fact that the “goals” to choose from when signing up includes choices such as “make my parents proud” is manipulative and destructive for a child/teenager. no kid should ever even have the thought that they need to be a certain weight/size, or their parents won’t be proud of them. the entire set-up is sowing the seed that their weight is the deciding factor for their worth as people, which is the beginning to eating disorders.

now, kids’ bodies really start changing around the age of eight (the age of which you can sign up for this monster); these years are called pre-teens for a reason. hormones really start flowing, and body fat is really needed to help the hormones and toxins take care of the body. but if a child is forced to lose excessive amounts of body fats, this can’t happen. this is one of the reasons that professional child ballerinas, gymnasts, ice skaters, etc. don’t develop until very late. some don’t even get their period until their twenties, because their development has been stunted by excessive dieting and exercising.

their psyche of children and teens are also really delicate, and they are in the process of developing what kind of people they are going to be. not only that, also what their relationships with their bodies are gonna be like. if they are constantly told by their parents/siblings/apps that they need to lose weight, that they have to track and count every calorie they consider eating, and every step they take, does that seem like a healthy foundation for how they view their body, nutrition and exercise in the future?

the way the app works is with the so-called stoplight system, where if when you put in a food it will either give you a green light (good), yellow light (medium) or red light (bad) - but the thing is that, again, that is not how simple nutrition is. you would think that the red foods would be soda, ice cream, chips etc., and the green foods would be stuff like fruits and vegetables. but again, the trainer i followed said that she put in her food for the day: a protein bar, two eggs with bread, and a piece of fruit. the protein bar came up red, the eggs and bread yellow and the fruit green. now, all of these foods are things that are written down in my carefully calculated meal plan from my nutritionist. in my plan i also have lots of vegetables, pasta, rice, chicken, even chocolate and chips. but the thing is that it’s all about how much of it i eat. and that is another thing the app doesn’t seem to take into consideration. if i was to put in nothing but vegetables it would give me green light the whole way, but it would not be nourishing for a whole day.

this app is forming their minds to spend all their energy worrying about what they eat, when they eat, how they eat. think of an eight year old with this app going to a birthday party - do you think they would be able to enjoy regular kiddie birthday party food, with the red light in the back of their heads? even if it is just one day? this app is gonna rob them of their childhood, and being able to enjoy life.

so, what i am trying to say is that the app is bad because the system doesn’t work. it is not teaching healthy habits, it is not giving advice on how to obtain a sustainable weightloss, and it doesn’t care about whether the children are actually overweight or not. it is created by a company whose sole purpose is to make money.

i don’t think that all of the parents who are buying into this are doing it because they are evil; i do believe that they think they are doing what is best for their children, but their views on body images and nutrition have also been skewed by the media and the diet culture we are living in. parents may look at their daughter’s chubby cheeks and think she’s unhealthy when she is literally just a kid with puppy fat that she will grow out of once adolescence hits. sure, there are kids who are truly in an unhealthy state with their bodies, but then the parents should have the help from a licensed professional, starting out with seeing a doctor who can tell them whether their child truly is overweight to a degree that it is dangerous, and from there on be referred to professionals that knows what they are doing. kids shouldn’t feel guilty when eating, but they will with this app.

i do realize that overweight is a problem, for both children and adults - not just in america, but most of the western world. (fun fact: the other day i saw a program that said that china is, as of 2017, the “fattest” country in the world, so it’s not just the western world, i just don’t have enough information about other places to say anything about that.) but a “one size fits all”-app is not the way to handle this issue. there are way too many layers to the problem to fix that.

not only is it important to remember that overweight does not equal unhealthy, regardless of age, gender, race, or anything else, but unhealthy overweight is especially tied to low-income persons, as nourishing food is much more expensive and accessible to people with middle-class and above incomes.

there is also the fact that education about proper nourishment is non-existent. what people know about dietary information is what they get from the media, where they will tell you garbage like goat milk is bad one day, and literally the next the same publication will tell you it’s the fountain of youth. it’s unreliable, and has no roots in actual science. even statistics can’t be trusted, because those often stem from surveys and projects paid for by big cooperations who are paying for an outcome in their favor.

so, to sum it all up; this app is based on a system that uses bodyshaming and guilt to throw kids and adults alike into a vicious cycle of yo-yo weight patterns, eating disorders and hateful relationships with themselves, their bodies and their sense of selfworth. i don’t think parents who buys into this app are overall evil, but it is an obvious tool for abusive parents who uses guilt, shame, punishment and scare tactics to manipulate their children into the above mentioned unhealthy patterns, because the parents themselves are victims of the fatphobic diet culture we are living in. not to mention that the parents don’t have access to proper information themselves.

aside from that, you can also see in the notes of the original post, that there are incredibly many people, who will tell stories about how forced diet in their childhood/teen years has been a kickstart to a lifelong series of mental and physical health issues.

this app is preying on scared parents to capitalize of a beauty obsessed ideal that is completely unrealistic.

i have also written a post about nutrition here that may be of interest to anyone reading this.

i am open to any questions, and constructive criticism. other than that i just hope i have been able to explain why i believe this app is harmful, and that it has been an informative read. thank you so much for reading to the end.

xxx

#anonymoose #ask #wwasks #nutrition #mental health #food tw #eating disorders tw #body image tw

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rainbowfox20 · 5 years

Text

Tips from Maddy

Hey there.

So the other day I was having a conversation with one of my coworkers who was talking about her weight loss journey and how she was going about it and immediately I was getting warning signs all over the place simply because I have been through exactly what she is going through and I wanted to help inform her on what can possibly happen if she continues the way she is right now. I had told her a few good tips and tricks which was a lot of information to process so she asked if I could writes this all down for her to which I happily agreed to do.

As I was writing this I realized that this information could be super helpful to others out there who are dieting and wanting to lose weight. I am no expert in any sense, I’m still learning things out myself and seeing what works but I have learned a lot over the past couple of years.

So, here I am giving my tips to you guys. I hope that you learn something from this and if you can share this so others can see and learn as well that would make me so happy.

Again please keep in mind that I do not have any qualifications, this is all my own personal experience and what I have learned from seeing many doctors, specialists, naturopaths (I have seen way too many people to help me seriously)

Everything that I have written on here are things that I have learned over time as well as try them out myself and see what works for me. Please keep in mind that there will be some things that will help and other things that won’t. I’m always more than happy to discuss anything if you have any questions if something doesn’t make sense or you’re curious about more information.

Typically, when I talk about my diet, I don’t necessarily mean being in a caloric deficit but more about what I eat and my lifestyle in general. I’m not the type of person to eat less to lose weight, I’m more about eating good healthy foods and exercising the right amount for my body to handle without pushing it to the edge. I’ll give you my basic rundown of my history a couple years ago and what I learned from it.

Around three years ago I decided to change my diet and my overall lifestyle. I was 21 years old and weighing around 64kg. Keep in mind around the time I decided to change my eating habits was when I just came back from a holiday in Korea and Malaysia and boy I did not hold back on eating while away. I was young and used to a diet where I ate what I wanted and didn’t think much of it but over time as I got older I noticed that I wasn’t really recovering as quickly after eating junk food like I did when I was a teenager in high school.

Growing up I was never fat or obese in any sense. I was fit, I played hockey and karate and I would happily enjoy sports during school and enjoy walking, riding, anything I felt like I wanted to do. I was never really interested in being super skinny, I had a little fat on my tummy but it never really bothered me until after I finished high school. That was when I became more aware of how other people would look at me, make comments about my body and thus making myself become more aware of my own body.

When I was 21 I didn’t think that “Oh my god I am so fat and imperfect I need to fix this!” it was “I want to change my eating and just become healthier overall” and so I started to change things bit by bit. I cut things out that I knew my body couldn’t exactly handle such as gluten and dairy and noticed changes in my body such as my face was clearing up of pimples and acne. I was losing weight little by little which at the time made me really happy as it was something that has never happened to me before. That is what lead me down the path that I wish I read the warning signs early on but because I had this goal of ‘you must lose a certain amount and then you will be successful’ but didn’t notice how toxic it became.

I became obsessed with exercise. I would go to the gym 5-6 days a week as well as do 2-3 spin classes as well as 2-3 karate sessions each week, on top of working at a restaurant which is a physically labouring job. Yes I lost weight over time and I didn’t think it was bad simply because it was small amounts every month, ranging between ½ - 1kg every month.

Over roughly one and a half years I went from being 63kg to 53kg. I was the lightest I had ever been, and the strongest I had ever been however things caught up to me very quickly. There was a certain point probably one month after I turned 22 when I started to notice my hair falling out. I didn’t think anything of it and just thought “Oh I have long hair and it happens” which was true but I would wake up every morning with hair all over my pillow and sheets, brushing my hair it would come out and throughout the day strands would fall out. I had always had thick hair so I didn’t really notice it until a lot had come out. By that point I had become lethargic and tired all the time, I would struggle to climb a flight of stairs and I could see that my body was taking a big step backwards.

This was when things went really bad.

I had denied it over and over, never daring to say that I have body image issues and everything was falling apart because I wanted to hold onto this little moment that I had worked so hard for was slowly slipping out of my grasp and I tried so desperately to hold it close to me.

Everything came crashing down so quickly I didn’t know what to do.

Over a period of 3 months the muscle that I had built over a year was gone, I had gained around 7kg and I was severely depressed with health issues I didn’t know how to deal with and am still dealing with to this day.

I’m telling you this not to frighten you but to let you know that this can happen if you are not careful when you diet, if you ignore what your body is telling you and keep pushing yourself to that point that you cannot return from. I had screwed up my metabolism, was close to being diagnosed with chronic fatigue and had to deal with the fact that the body I had a few months ago was gone and that I had/have body image issues.

I am someone who is not afraid to talk about my past and I’m willing to talk about myself and my experiences if it means that I can help someone else.

I have come across many people who do all these fad diets and starve themselves which I didn’t go to any extremes but I did limit what I ate at times which is what would have been one of the factors that screwed up my metabolism and caused my body to just go screw you I’m going into survival mode.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to lose some weight and wanting to be fit and strong because that is what you like and you want to feel that way, I’m all about being fit and healthy but you have to make sure that you do it in a safe manner. Do not expect for weight to come flying off and that it will stay that way because boy oh boy that is not the case. It is something that you have to work at all the time, it’s a lifestyle. This is why I like to endorse a healthy lifestyle change, not just diet for a bit and enjoy how you look for a short amount of time.

As I said when I started back then I made small changes such as eliminating certain foods which is a great way to start. Going online and reading all these articles about how to lose weight and doing particular exercises to lose a few kilos is very confusing and quite honestly overwhelming so keep it simple.

One of the important things is that you need to learn about food and not be afraid of it. You need to figure out what your body can tolerate and what it can’t. It’s all trial and error but you will learn over time what is acceptable. Food is energy, the more energy you have the more you can do but the less energy you have the less your body will tolerate. Don’t think that eating an apple in the morning and going throughout the rest of your day on just that single apple will do you any good, quite honestly it will do you more damage not to eat.

If you deprive your body of food your body will go into survival mode and hold onto body fat. It goes into this defensive mode to keep your body alive and if it means storing fat because it can’t trust you to feed it then that is what it will do. Naturally it will eat away at your muscle as well so it’s important to feed your body!

I highly recommend eating a good breakfast, having a decent lunch and eating a small dinner. The reason behind this is because when you wake up in the morning this is when your body wakes up from its rest and will start to get to work. Breakfast literally means to break your fast. Fasting is when you don’t eat for an extended period of time so to break your fast you need to eat. Tada Breakfast!

Many people find that they aren’t hungry in the morning which can be due to a few reasons. One they may have had a large or late dinner and so they aren’t hungry due to that. Maybe they are used to not eating in the morning however they find that they will eat big meals for lunch and dinner or they will tend to snack a lot during the day.

You want to eat like a king for breakfast, eat like a prince for lunch and eat like a princess for dinner.

Meaning eat a big meal in the morning, eat a good meal at lunch and then have a small meal for dinner.

Dinner is the last meal of the day and most of the time after you’ve had dinner you’re going to wind down, enjoy Netflix and then fall sleep. You’re not doing much after dinner, all depending on your life and what your job entails, but for most people night time is time for rest and sleep. The last thing you need is for your stomach to be hard at work breaking down a giant meal that you shoved its way because you didn’t eat enough during the day.

Another thing I want to stress is how much you chew your food. Holy cow I wish I knew this ages ago and it makes such total sense but no one told me before!

Your stomach has acid in it which helps break down your food, more so it’s designed to really break down meats and proteins due to these foods being tough to digest and so it takes longer to breakdown. Fruits and vegetables take a small amount of time and energy to digest but honestly your stomach and digestive system will thank you for chewing your food properly.

I am someone who has working in the hospitality industry for around 8 years and a lot of the time it involves having to shove food down your throat if you want something to eat and continue on with your work as you don’t have time to properly sit and have a meal and you have customers to tend to so of course during these times I have developed a bad habit of chewing my food lazily and swallowing it almost whole but until recently I have been actively trying to change this.

Keep in mind I can eat a lot if I want, and when I say this I mean when I don’t chew and break down my food properly. If you talk to any of my friends they can vouch for me, a lot of the time they question how I can fit so much food into a small body and I would just shrug and say that I’ve always had a big appetite, which is not a lie. Ever since I was little I could fit a lot of food into my stomach but keep in mind I’ve always been an active person so naturally I burn more fuel and so would eat more.

Now that I am more aware of how I chew my food I have learned to slow down when it’s possible for me to do so and really chew my food before swallowing. From this I have noticed that I feel fuller and I’m not eating as much as I used to which makes sense as I have this tendency to overeat but that was simply because I would shove food into my mouth so quickly that my stomach wouldn’t be able to tell me when it was full until it was too late.

So, CHEW YOUR FOOD!

If you’re noticing that you’re not having much energy it means that you’re not getting enough food into your body or that you’re not eating the right kind of food.

Your body needs 11 essential amino acids which in turn makes another 11 non-essential amino acids. These make your DNA and RNA which are the building blocks of life.

These 11 essential amino acids cannot be made naturally from the body and the only way you can get these is through food. I cannot tell you which food hold what properties, this is where you need to do your own research and learn what you can have and what works for you.

I know that for my body I need a 50/50 diet that consists 50% protein/meat and 50% vegetables. This is how my body works, which would be due to my background and heritage but that’s another thing in itself which I could talk about but I am still learning myself so I do not have enough knowledge about it to discuss it. You need to learn what works for you, everyone is different and you cannot do a certain diet that someone else can do because their body may work differently than yours.

I suggest doing the elimination process where you take a specific food such as bread and eliminate that from your diet for about 2-4 weeks and just take note of how you feel. You can eat how you normally eat just take out that one item and then once the 2-4 weeks are done you can try that food again and then see how your body reacts. You’ll be surprised what your body can tolerate after a while. There will be times during this process where you have such strong cravings for specific foods which will make things harder but you need to try as hard as you can not to give in. Most of the time you will stop craving these certain foods after 2 weeks, sometimes it will take longer but again it all depends on you and what your body is like.

Once you’ve tried doing this this is when I suggest going through your notes of what foods you can and can’t have and then create somewhat of a diet plan based off of this to create food that you can eat that will be sustainable. Remember this is a lifestyle change, you want to be able to do this for the long run.

Another thing is enjoy yourself. Please don’t restrict yourself of life’s pleasures. If you want to have chocolate then have it but I suggest doing so in small doses and less often. I tend to have a cheat meal/day one every two weeks. Sometimes it can be once a week, sometimes it can be once every three to four weeks. I honestly go on what my body tells me.

LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. It will tell you what it wants.

If it wants to rest, let it rest. If it needs more food, maybe because you’ve been exercising more, then eat more. If you’re really craving a specific food then have it, as long as it’s not every single day it’s not going to hurt.

During a lot of dieting phases we tend to have a weak moment and then we punish ourselves by either pushing our bodies to do extra work at the gym and exhausting ourselves and becoming miserable, or we binge and give up completely. Do not let these moments get to you. Easier said than done I know but we are human and we need to be kind to ourselves.

Another thing I want you to keep in mind is treat yourself kindly. Let me ask you this question. Everything that you tell yourself would you tell it to a friend?

Let me give you an example.

A lot of us who are dieting or look at ourselves in the mirror and notice all the imperfections in our bodies will tend to put ourselves down and we let it happen. We say to ourselves that we aren’t good enough, I am fat, I’m not muscular enough, I’m not good looking, my stretch marks are ugly, etc.

How would you feel if someone said these exact same things to you? I’m pretty sure it’s easy to say that you would feel like crap. So why do we let ourselves say/think these things about ourselves?

Here’s another question. Would you say those exact same things to your friends or family? I’m pretty sure the answer to that would be no.

You know that saying things like that would be hurtful to anyone, so again why do we let ourselves say these things to ourselves.

When it comes to exercise I suggest it’s a good idea to see a personal trainer who can set up a program for you. They will adjust it to what suits you but be honest and tell them whether the program is too much or too little, they are there to help you.

Also when it comes to exercise if you’re wanting to gain muscle you need to eat more protein. It’s pretty simple. You cannot create something out of nothing so if you don’t have extra protein in your body to help build extra tissue in your body then your body will eat away at the muscle you have. Also keep in mind the more muscle you have the more energy you will burn throughout the day so lifting weights and gaining muscle is honestly one of the best things you can do when it comes to “dieting”.

There is no way you’re going to become a beefy body builder unless you’re going to the gym every day and following a strict diet plan, so don’t stress about that. Again enjoy your exercise and try something new and fun.

I’ll quickly recap everything because there’s a lot I went through so here:

- Don’t be afraid of food

- Food is fuel = energy

- CHEW YOUR FOOD

- Try eliminating food from your diet

- Enjoy yourself: have a cheat meal/day every now and then

- LISTEN TO YOUR BODY: it will tell you want it wants

- Be kind to yourself: don’t run yourself into the ground

There is still so much that I am learning, I am no expert in any sense so don’t expect a miracle from what I’ve told you. This is what I have to offer and I hope it helps in any way, big or small.

#maddy's tips #writing #my journey

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