#15 thank you for earplugs

[alas--pringles]

The brainrot noticed that the opener for streetlight has an aqua guitar *just like Randy's*

But this guy is actually acting like him on stage too wtf is happening 🤣

Edit: ah I put my glasses back nvm that is a bass 🤦

[mj0702]

The other Bronze - Part One

Here we go again 🤣 Thank you (as always) to Crush and Bubs

(the bad Spanish is courtesy of Google and if you find typos or anything please point them out to me 😉)

Y/n POV

You finally walked the last steps towards the door of your Sisters small house at the Outskirts of Barcelona. What you're doing in Barca on a random Friday Night? You wanted to surprise Lucy for her Birthday. It took a lot of begging to Mum and Dad to let you fly all on your own from Manchester to Barcelona and when you turned your phone on after landing, you had 26 missed calls and 15 messages already, the last one from your older Brother Jorge telling you to text him if the Plane crashed and you died – real Clown that one. You phoned Mum, telling her that the Flight was just a little delayed and that your still very much alive and not Shark food in the Ocean. You knew Lucy had training, so you stayed a little longer at the Airport, watching people, drinking Coffee. You found some nice company in a Girl, who waited for her Girlfriend and surprisingly spoke English. So know you're currently walking up the steps towards Lucy's front door, her spare key (which you got from Mum, in case Lucy wasn't home), my Earplugs blasting Music and you opened the door – boy what a mistake.

„Luuuucccyyyy!! Happy Birth... OH MY GOD MY EYES!!! OH EW!!“ you started to yell out in horror before spotting my Sister on her Couch. Naked. With another Girl on her knees in front of her, her head buried between your Sisters legs. You turned around as quick as you could, shutting the Door behind you. A few minutes later, some shuffling and swearing from the inside, said door got ripped open again.

„What are you doing here?“ Lucy asked you and you couldn't tell if she was pissed off or just annoyed.

„Surprise??“ you say, your back still facing her.

„Why do you have a Key to my Apartment? You can turn around by the way“ she sounded annoyed, which was good – annoyed is better than pissed off.

„Mum... I just saw things I never wanted to see ever“ you shrugged like it was self-explanatory. „Dear bloody Jesus“ your Sister huffed out, before grabbing your Arm, starting to pull you inside, as you tried to stop her by holding on to the Door frame

„I'm NOT going back in there again“ you say, gagging for good measure.

„Stop being difficult“ Lucy said, putting her arm around your Shoulders instead, having more leverage. Back inside you were sat down at the Kitchen table, the Girl from earlier just making some Coffee.

„I hope you sanitized that Table“ you mumbled, before looking at your Sister „No way you haven't fu...“

„If you finish that Sentence, I'll call Mum telling her that you broke that ugly Vase at Christmas three years ago“ Lucy narrowed her eyes at you, before turning to the Girl „Ona... this is my overly annoying baby Sister y/n... devils spawn... this is Ona, my Girlfriend“

You just looked at the Girl with a blank face nor knowing how to react to these news.

„Manners“ Lucy growled at you and slapped the back of your Head

„Hola“ you said to Ona, not really knowing what to think of her.

„Hola“ Ona smiled back, putting a cup of Coffee in front of you, which Lucy took away the instant it touched the Table „No hay café para ella“ she said to Ona, while ignoring your frustrated „Oi!!“.

„Por qué?“ the dark haired woman asked.

„Look at her.... she's already a pest, I don't need her caffeinated up“ Lucy answered, finally in English, while pointing at you.

„Aye you Arsepiece“ you huffed out, crossing your arms in front of your chest.

„You're English, not Scottish, ya wee shite“ your Sister grinned at you, but finally came over, ruffling you Hair, which is Lucy language for „I love you“.

“I was born in Scotland therefore I’m Scottish” you grumble out.

„I don't understand a word you two say“ Ona said confused, her spanish accent thick as she speaks english and Lucy laughed out loud

„All good...“. She then looks at you again „But seriously... what are you doing here?“.

„Wanted to surprise you for your Birthday... haven't seen you since the Euros“ you mumble a little embarrassed

„You... missed me“ Lucy smirked

„No... how could I miss your annoying Ass?“ you answered quickly and she KNEW she hit a nerve

„I missed you too, Devils Spawn“ she said, pulling you into a side hug

„You never told me you had a younger Sister, Lucia“ Ona said, smiling slightly at our interaction

You just raise an eyebrow at Lucy „Lucia? What have you done to fuck up so badly, that she uses your actual name?“

„Lucia is more common here, you daft punk...“ Lucy rolled her eyes at you still holding you to her side before answering her Girlfriend „I try to keep her away from the Spotlight“

„Oh...“ Ona said, like she understands, which you doubted „I'll leave you two to catch up, I'm going to go...“ she smiled

„Weren't you about to come a little while ago?“ you blurted out, which earned you a very hard punch to the shoulder courtesy of your lovely Sister

Ona just look confused, which causes you to laugh „You can explain that one, Kneeless... Bathroom that way?“.

As you renter the Kitchen, you see Lucy and Ona kissing in the Doorway. You comment it with a loud dry heaving sound. Lucy blindly throws a shoe at you, which misses by miles and you snap a photo of her. You can only see Lucys back and Onas Hands around her Neck, so it's obvious that there's someone else, but you can't see who. You sit back down at the Table, your Stomach starting to growl and you realize just how late it is. You shot up and run up to Lucy, grabbing her shirt, pulling hard successfully ending the make out session

„You have to phone Mum that I'm here, otherwise she'll send a search party and I'm already dead, because I didn't text her that I arrived safely“ you stumble over your words, because nothing is more scary than Mum Bronze in Mum Mode. Lucy rolled her eyes, pecking Onas lips again for a final goodbye, before pushing you back into the Apartment again

„You realize what I just gave up for you?“

„Multiple Orgasms, I know... I don't want to know, but I know... can I post a picture, saying I'm with you?“ you murmur the end of your question, knowing Lucy is very picky with private Pictures and even more, when you're involved

„Let me first call Mum, then let me check the Picture, then we decide what we get for dinner, okay?“ she pressed a Kiss to your temple, already her Phone in Hand, dailing Home.

She was on the Phone to Mum forever, apologizing telling her she was so happy to see you that we forgot to call her. Straight A+ lie, but if someone can pull it off, it's Lucy

„You owe me, Smol“ she said after ending the Call „Now show me that picture, so I can say No and we can go finding food, since my fridge is empty and I planned on eating something else tonight“ she grinned, as you start to dry heave again.

„Please... i REALLY don't want to think about it“ you say pained

Lucy laughed out loudly and you smiled. You really missed her.

„Show me the Picture“ she said, encouraging you, a smile playing around her lips, as you show her.

„That's a good one“ Lucy said after a minute of looking at it closely handing you the phone back „You can use that one... Just don't tag Ona please“

„I don't even know who she is“ you said looking apologetic „but I think she's nice“

Your Sister laughed again „She is... haven't felt like this since Keira“

„Why did you and Keira split up? I really liked her“ you said and Lucy looked at you for a second, really looked at YOU before answering

„We just fell out of Love... nobodies fault... it just happened and it wasn't fair to either of us to keep pretending“ Lucy said carefully, yet seriously, knowing that Topic was difficult for you

„As cliche as it sounds, but we're still friends and I know, Keira will be over the Moon seeing you again“. Truth is, when Lucy and Keira split up you refused to talk to your Sister for weeks, not grabbing fully why she would leave Keira. Keira who was a mixture between a big Sister and a Mother to you. Keira, who made you laugh, when you where sad. Keira, who carried you to bed, when you fell asleep during a Movie. Keira, who held you when you came crying into Lucys Bedroom, just woken up from a Nightmare. In the End, you was just too young to grab fully what was happening. Maybe not too young but you couldn’t understand the feelings behind it.

„Was it my fault?“ you whispered, always the nagging feeling at the back of your Head, that it was your fault they split up.

„What?“ Lucy asked confused „No... of course not! Y/n listen to me... it had NOTHING to do with you“

„But if I would have acted more grown up and not come running nearly every night..“ you stared and Lucy immediately knew what it was about

„Y/n... it had nothing to do with that... nothing! You went through something traumatic and we were honestly glad you trusted us enough to come to us or let us calm you down when you had a nightmare“ she said insistently, holding your look „You had nothing to do with what happened between Keira and I, do you understand me?“

„I just... I feel like it's my fault“ you look down, playing with your fingers

„It's not... and if you don't believe me, you can ask Keira...“ Lucy said, grabbing your Hands in hers, holding them tightly „It just happened“

You let her pull you into a hug and for the first time in a long time you felt safe and home.

„Thanks Luce“ you mumbled against her shoulder

„Always ya wee shite“ she said and you felt her smiling into your Hair.

Yes, even at 16 years old, Lucy is a whole Head bigger than you were. Your stomach growled again and Lucy laughed „What do you want to eat, I'll order“

„I'm in Spain... obviously I want Fish and Chips, Idiot... I want authentic spanish food“ you said sarcastically

„Smartass“ she rolled her eyes „We could also go out, whatever you want“

„It's YOUR Birthday... why do I have to choose? “ you said, honestly confused

„I was trying to be nice... I know a small little Restaurant, not too far from here“ she grinned at you

„Do I have to change for it?“ you asked, looking down at your button down shirt, ripped jeans and the baby blue chucks

„Other shoes and you're good to go“ Lucy said as she threw a pair of NIKEs your way „I'll just go change, don't do anything stupid“ she pointed her finger threatenly at you

„Never, my beloved Sister“ you say sarcastically.

While Lucy is changing, you decided against posting the picture of Lucy and Ona kissing online. You know your Sister values her privacy and even she gave you the ok, it didn't feel right – but that doesn't mean you couldn't send it to someone else... Keira.

Y/n: ~ inserts picture ~ It finally happened Kei... I walked in on her... thankfully I haven't eaten today, otherwise Lucy would have to clean that up too

Keira: You're in Barcelona, Bitsy?! Why didn't you tell me?

Y/n: Sure am... wish I wasn't tho... ehm... surprise?

Keira: I hope you didn't plan to fuck off without saying hi... and don't kid yourself, Bitsy... that definitely wasn't the first time you walked in on your Sister ;)

Y/n: of fucking course not... and how would you know that, Ms. Walsh?

Keira: Because I was there :p

After you read Keiras last Text, you threw your Phone to the other End of the Couch with a loud „EW!!“.

Lucy came running from the Bedroom, looking at you shocked „What happened?? Are you okay?“. „I walked in on you and Keira???“ you cried out in agony.

„What?“ Lucy looked at you confused. You showed her your Phone, which caused her to laugh – full on belly laugh „Oh yeah... I forgot about that“ Lucy laughed.

„I WALKED IN ON YOU AND KEIRA???“ you screeched horrified.

„Yep... multiple times actually“ Lucy grinned.

„Oh god... I think I need to throw up? When... wait no... don't answer that“

Your Sister laughed again, throwing a coat towards you, silently telling you that you were leaving. „Is it okay, if I invite some people?“ she asked you, as you leave the Apartment.

„It's your Birthday, Luce – you can invite whoever you want“ you shrugged your Shoulders. „Whomever“ Lucy corrected you automaticly, before she pulled out her phone and send some texts. „Smartass“ you mumble as your Sister put her Arm around your Shoulders, manoeuvring you through the City.

Just as you rounded a corner into a small side road, someone shoulder checked you, turning around, yelling something in spanish at you. You looked at the guy confused, feeling Lucy going into protective Mode, making herself bigger by your Side. Before she could say anything, you looked at the Guy, yelling at him „Cállate la Boca, matildo hijo de puta!“

Your Sister looked shocked at you as does the Guy. You put on your best Bronze-Fightingface, before making a step towards him. Just as the Guy made up his mind and also took a step towards you, a Woman pushed right in between you two oozing confidence and started talking calmly to the Guy. She was pretty but damn – she was intimidating. The Guy talked back twice, before turning around, leaving the little alley

„What the Hell, Y/n??“ Lucy yelled at you „What the hell did you say to that guy? I understood ONE word and know it wasn't a compliment – and since when do you speak spanish?“

She then turned to the Woman „Hola Alexia... Gracias por interferir“

„Ningún problema“ the woman smiled at my Sister

„And you“ she turned to you „Where did you learn that?“

And there was that intimidating look again, which made you gulp. You grew up with Lucy Bronze, but this woman scared you. You pushed yourself behind your Sister, trying to hide

„Answer her“ Lucy pulled you out from behind her.

You just shook your Head and mumbled „She scares me Luce“

„Good“ your Sister mumbled „now answer her“

You shook your Head again. The woman looked at you and smiled slightly

„Excuse me. Hi, my name is Alexia, I'm a teammate and friend of your Sister“

You're still careful, not to stand to close to her „Hi... Y/n... I'm.. the Sister of my Sister“

This actually made her laugh, while Lucy groaned and started to rub her forehead embarrassed

„So... now that we know each other, where did you learn to offend spanish people? As much as I gathered, you don't speak spanish..“ Alexia said and immediately she got all scary again

„I... no... yes?“ You looked at her and tried to hide behind Lucy again, who groaned again. „Cariño.... my patience is wearing quite thin... you better start talking” Alexia said sweetly, but you knew it was a fair warning

“A girl at the Airport taught me... I just tried to order a coffee, which is SO hard in your country and the Barista didn't understand me and she kinda took over and ordered for me... as a thank you, I paid for hers... and we sat together as she waited for her Girlfriend and since we had time, she taught me some spanish” you stutter out

“Do you even know what you just said?” Alexia looked at you shocked

“ehrm... no... but the girl said I have to put on a Bitchface after saying it... she was cool...”

“Y/n... you just can't throw around spanish phrases, because SOMEONE told you” Lucy pressed.

“She look trustworthy” you defended yourself

“Cariño...” Alexia said softly “... don't EVER say that again, because you will get hurt in the process”

“Is it bad?” you ask unsure

“It is...” the Spanish woman said “... and if I ever find that Girl, that taught you, I will have a VERY serious talk with her... in spanish” she winked at you

“What are the Odds” you mumbled and Lucy looked at you

“What odds?” she asked you confused

“That girl just turned around the Corner” you said, pointing at a Girl, laughing loudly with some other girls

“I should have known” Alexia groaned out “María Pilar León Cebrián!!! Nosotras necesitamos hablar!!!” she yelled out

The Girl in questions Head snapped towards Alexias angry Voice, her laughter dying in her throat. She made eye contact with you, her eyes went comically wide and you could swear, you saw her mouthing the word “Fuck”, before slowly starting to walk backwards

“Oh please do” Alexia sneered, while walking towards Maria “Please start running, so I can chase after you because after I caught you, I'm gonna drag your sorry Ass up to Nuo and let you run Laps until Training is over and then some more...”

You turned towards your Sister “Isn't Nuo Egg?” you ask confused

“Huevo is Egg.. Nuo is the Stadium where we train and play” Lucy explained

“Ah... and why is Alexia calling me Cariño ... is that some weird spanish name?” you said, still confused

This Time Lucy laughed out loud, while Alexia is “actively” having a word with Maria – she was outright yelling at the poor Girl. You actually did feel sorry for her. Maria looked very guilty, trying to explain, but not getting a word in.

“Cariño is a form of endearment... something like Honey”

“Excuse me?? She could have at least taken me out on a Date first” you huffed, but smiled.

“Are you causing trouble already?” a voice behind you said amused. You turned around and sprinted off, throwing yourself in the Womans arms.

“I missed you, Keira” you mumbled into her neck, while she's hugging you tightly

“I missed you too, Bitsy” she kissed your Hair, not breaking the contact

You felt safe in her arms. Lucy came over after getting over her initial shock of you just sprinting off

“For once, it wasn't her causing the Trouble... it was Mapí” Lucy said, nodding towards a still yelling Alexia with her head

“What a surprise – Mapí causing trouble... these two would absolutely cause havoc” Keira laughed, not letting go of you

“Take a guess, why Mapí is getting yelled at... they have met already” your Sister grinned

“Oh god” Keira groaned laughing “What has Mapí done?”

“She taught me spanish” you said proudly

“What did she teach...” the other english woman started before getting interrupted by Lucy “Don't!!!! Don't ask!”

Keira was a little taken aback, but didn't ask any further

“She taught me a phrase... apparently it's a bad one and I'm not allowed to say it again, otherwise the scary Woman will have my Ass” you said, still pressed into Keiras side

“Scary Woman?” Keira raised an eyebrow at Lucy

“Alexia” your Sister answered shrugging her shoulders

“Mapí would like to say something” said Woman stood behind you three, her hand grabbing the back of Marias neck, who looked like a kicked puppy

“Lamento mucho haberte enseñado algo malo” the smaller Woman mumbled, clearly not happy or comfortable with the situation

“En Inglés” Alexia rolled her eyes “As you maybe remember, little Bronze doesn't speak spanish”. “Su hermana lo hace - ella puede traducir” Maria said

“Maria” Alexia warned “Deja de ser difícil y discúlpate correctamente”

“I'm sorry for teaching you bad spanish” the younger woman huffed out annoyed

“It's...” you started, before Alexia interrupted you “And now we try to say that, like we really mean it” she said to Mapí, grabbing her neck a little tighter

“I'm sorry” the younger girl winced

“Very good” Alexia smiled, but everyone saw it was fake, before getting a stern face again “You still will run laps tomorrow”

“What??? I apologized” Mapí said shocked

“Still doesn't change the fact, that you nearly caused a fight – if I hadn't stepped in, she most like would have end up in the Hospital with a broken nose... or worse” Alexia said

“Oi!” you yelled out “I may be small, but I can hold myself, thank you very much”

“We” Alexia looked at you sternly “Will talk tomorrow”

You gulped again, making yourself smaller at Keiras side, who had watched the whole interaction with an amused grin on her face.

“Can we get food now?” you whispered into Keiras side

The Midfielder laughed loudly “Let's go” she said as she pulled you into the small Restaurant, everyone following you. You sat between Lucy and Alexia, Mapí to Alexias right, next to her her Girlfriend Ingrid, Keira was to Lucys left with one seat free in between them for when Ona would join.

“What's edible here?” you ask to no one particular, studying your menu.

“Should I order for you, Cariño?” Alexia ask, wanting to make you feel welcome and comfortable “If this is you aassuming that this is a date, then no...” you say distracted, still try to figure out the menu.

Alexia was taken aback, while your Sister laughed.

“But what is... potatoes braves?” you asked, looking up confused.

Mapí clutched her heart dramatically “My heart... my Heart burns... I think I have a heart attack.. is this what a heart attack feels? My poor Heart”

“What is her deal?” you asked your Sister, who already had tears in her eyes from laughing

“You just absolutely BUTCHERED her language and food” Keira said, her tone dry as usual still looking over the menu.

“But it says there...” you climbed on top of Lucy, your Knee pressing into her thigh, causing her to groan out in pain, to show Keira on the Menu “Potatoes braves... or something like that”

“Patatas Bravas” Keira corrected you “It is potatoes, but it's not called Potatoes and definitely not Braves..”

“Look at you, all fancy spanishing” you rolled your eyes at her, but she knew you didn't mean it.

“Could you please finally get off me?” Lucy groaned out, pushing you back on your chair “When did you get so heavy?”

“Are you calling me fat, Arse biscuits??” you challenged her by raising an eyebrow

“What if I do, Twat McFuckknuckle?” Lucy taking your bait, raising her eyebrow as well

“Stop it! Both of you, we have company AND in public” Keira said sharply, successfully interrupting your interaction “God the two of you – always trouble”

You kicked Lucys ankle lightly under the Table, she shoving you, pushing you successfully into Alexia.

“Sorry... she pushed me” you mumbled out, while shoving Lucy back.

Alexia looked at Keira “Are they always this violent towards each other?”

“Oh this isn't violent – this is actually them behaving” Keira smiled fake, watching you two shoving each other “Just wait till there's food on the Table – THEN it gets violent”.

Just as they were about to order, Ona joined the small Group, pressing a small Kiss to Lucys lips. You watched that interaction with a frown on your face. You cared deeply for Keira and assumed it wasn't easy on her watching her Ex and her new Girlfriend kissing right in front of her. You carefully looked at Keira, but saw her laughing with Ingrid, who changed seats for conversation purposes.

“What's this dark look on your face, Cariño?” Alexia whispered in your ear, unknowing to you, she always had an eye on you.

“Nothing” you said flatly, not wanting to start a scene “I'm just hungry”

It was your Sisters Birthday after all and she looked very happy with Ona.

“Dinner will be served soon, don't worry” the Barca captain said lightly, putting a hand on your bouncing knee.

“Ale?” Mapí asked from Alexias other side.

“Si?” the woman in question looked at her younger Teammate

“Can we swipe seats?” Mapí asked hopefully.

You look at her confused “You want to what?”

“Swipe seats... I take Alexias, she sits in my seat” the young spanish said

“Oh... OH... you mean swap...” you say as you realize what she wants “and they say I butcher a language”

“No” Alexia said sternly “before you ask, you two won't be anywhere unsupervised”

“Oi” you exclaim “I'm very capable of looking after myself”, while Mapí exclaimed something in spanish.

“No idea what she said, but she's right” you say, pointing at Mapí

“Enough” Alexia said sternly, both of you stop complaining immediately.

Keira looked impressed at Alexia, trying to hide her smirk. Lucy was in her own world with Ona, ignoring everything around her. Finally there was Food on the Table and before the Plagrabfor everyone even were placed on the Table, you and Mapí already starting to grab whatever you could reach. Alexia watched in horror, as you two just loading food on your own plates without waiting for the rest “Excuse me? María León... I know for a fact that you have manners and won't just load your plate with food without WAITING for everyone else – especially for the Woman who celebrates her birthday today... isn't that right, María?”

Mapí looked down on her plate guilty, before starting to put the food back.

“I thought so” Alexia said, still a mad undertone in her voice

You on the other Hand didn't care one bit. You grew up in the Bronze household. You snooze, you loose. You threw a little fried something into your mouth, chewing happily. That was until the spiciness kicked in. Your eyes went wide, tears starting to form in your eyes and you started to have problems to breath. As always, you turned to Keira for help, throwing food at her to get her attention.

“Y/n please... I didn't raise you for years so you start throwing food in public” the Woman said, turning to you before realizing what was happening. Once she saw you in your distressed state, she immediately came over, pulling you out of your chair and out of the restaurant. Lucy finally noticed her surroundings, as Keira pulled you outside. She jumped up, following the two of you outside

“What happened?” Lucy asked worried, seeing you having difficulties to breath and tears streaming down your face.

“I don't know. She suddenly started to throw food at me, I actually was about to tell her off, but saw her having problems to breath and got her out” Keira gave Lucy a rundown, while keeping you upright

“It's okay, Bitsy... calm down” Keira started to talk to you in a low, soothing voice “Take a deep breath for me”

You tried to follow her instructions, but with no luck. Lucy finally sprung into action grabbing you by your shoulders, making you look at her

“Did you eat something?”

You nod, still trying your hardest to breath.

“Spicy?”

You nod again, thankful that your Sister keeps a cool head.

“You're doing good, Bubs... Do you know what you've eaten?”

You shake your head.

“Okay... we can work with that” Lucy said, a small reassuring smile on her lips, turning to Keira “Could you get something dairy.. milk... yoghurt... whatever”

“Sure” Keira smiled before disparaging inside the Restaurant.

“It's okay, Bubs... it's going to get better soon, I promise – just... don't shovel everything into your gob without asking next time.. these guys here are absolutely unholy when it comes to spicy food”. Just as your Sisters calm voice started to work on your nerves, Keira appeared with a glass of milk AND yoghurt

“Drink Bitsy” she smiled assuringly at you, pushing the glass of milk into your hands.

You took a sip and immediately felt your tight chest loosen up. Greedily you drowned the whole glass, feeling better with every gulp.

“Fuck” was the first word, that left your mouth after you regain your breathing again.

“You okay now, Bubs?” Lucy asked concerned.

“Getting there” you said, leaning forward, your hands on your knees “But I think I need to throw up”

Lucy pulled you upright quickly “Are you serious?”

“Yep” you breathed deeply, your stomach on a wrath for torturing it

“I'm getting you home right now” your Sister said seriously “Spicy is one thing, but your stomach is normally made of steel, that's not normal”

You just groaned

“Stay” Keira said to your Sister “It's your Birthday – I'll take her to my Place and have an eye on her... you stay and enjoy your evening, okay?”

“I can't ask that of you, Kei” Lucy said softly

“You're not asking... I'm offering” Keira smiled softly “If she feels up for it, we can meet for brunch or lately at training”

“Thank you” Lucy whispered, hugging her Ex-Girlfriend before turning to you “You behave... be good for Keira”

You nod before Keira wraps you into a hug, leading you away.

As soon as you're out of earshot and view, Keira let go of you and grinned knowingly “You can stop pretending now...”

You looked at her shocked “How did you know?”

“I was always able to tell... your sister is right, you have a stomach made of steel... your whole face changed after you drank the milk and I knew you're alright again... what I don't know is why you put on a show” the english Woman smirked at you, as she called you out

“Didn't want you to put up with Lucy and her new One being all lovey-dovey all evening... and I didn't want to put up with it either” you mumble caught.

Keira started to laugh loudly “Oh Bitsy... I see that lovey-dovey every day... it's okay for me... Lucy deserves to be happy...”

You looked at Keira and she knew there was more to it.

“What's wrong, Bitsy?” she ask lovingly

“I feel like it's my fault you broke up...” you mumble, having a hard deja-vu

“Oh sweetheart... no it's not... Lucy and I just grew apart. It happens and it's nobodies fault, especially not yours... but there's more, isn't it?” Keira said softly

“I don't like the new one” you mumble out, looking down embarrassed

“Why? Ona is a good person, she's good to and for your Sister”

“She looks like she doesn't even need to shave” you exclaimed.

Keira bursted out laughing “You're one of a kind, Bitsy... trust me... Ona is a good Person and she's good for Lucy... I know you're always struggling with change, but please.. give Ona a chance, she'll surprise you”

“M'kay” you mumble.

You arrived at Keiras Apartment, she let you both in before setting up her guest room for you. You went on exploring Keiras home. You were about to open a cabinet as she called from the guest room “Don't you dare open my Cabinets... I love you but you're a clutz”.

You quickly let go of the handle, looking at the pictures hanging on the wall instead. You spotted one of yourself and Lucy, sound asleep on your Couch in Manchester. You laid on top of Lucy, while she was sprawled out under you, her right arm over your back, holding you safely, her knee carefully placed on some pillows, her glasses askew on her face, your hand fisted in her shirt.

“I love that picture” Keiras voice soft behind you “I came back from training, wondering why she hadn't answered my texts about dinner... I walked in and both of you were softly snoring on the Couch. Your leg was so close to her freshly operated knee, that I was afraid you'd hurt it, if you move and I tried to lift you off her, but both of you started to stir as soon as I moved you. So I just let you sleep – after I took a picture. I think Lucy slept for another hour and you slept for nearly three more hours”

Keiras voice was soft and full of love, that you started crying silently. Another picture showed Lucy and Keira in a park, you asleep in between them. You pointed at the picture, your back still facing her.

“London” Keira said understanding you even without words “Our first anniversary.. She planned this whole Weekend to the brim, with fancy Restaurant, Musical Show, Sightseeing... everything... then your parents got so sick with the flu, that we took you with us... her plans went so fast out the window” Keira laughed quietly “but we improvised and instead of fancy restaurant we did pick-nick in Hyde Park – and I wouldn't change it for the world. You were so done after a day of exploring the city and all of the sights, that you were out like light as soon as you sat down”

You pointed at the next picture, again the three of you.

“You can't remember this one?” she asks you surprised.

“I do” you whisper “but... please”

“Paris” Keira said softly “Third anniversary.. Lucy just joined Lyon and invited me over to France for our anniversary She told me, she has the weekend off and wanted to take me to Paris – I honestly thought she would propose... Somehow you heard Lucy talking to your mum and begged her to let you come as well. It was the first time you two were separated and everyone could see that it was so hard on you. Lucy said as long as I'm okay with it, you could come. I remember you being so over the top with your nerves, that you ran around the Airport like a maniac... I lost you twice” Keira chuckled “and as soon as we started, you were out like a light again. In Paris, I had do carry you off the Plane, because you wouldn't wake up – and I still had to get our luggage AND carry you. It took me forever and Lucy was starting to panic that I bailed until she saw me, packed like a Donkey holding onto your sleeping form, dragging our bags behind me. And what did she do? She first smiled and then laughed – but it was the most beautiful sound in the world to me”

“Do you miss her?” you asked quietly.

“Of course I do” Keira answered honestly.

“Do you still love her?”

“I love her, yes... but I'm not IN love with her” she said.

You finally turned around, hugging her tightly.

“I miss you at home... so much” you mumble into her shoulder, tears rolling down your cheeks. Keira held you tightly “Oh sweet girl.. I miss you too – I really do”

You stayed like this for a moment, before your eyes grew heavy and Keira carefully walked the two of you towards the Guest bedroom, not letting go of you. You held onto her for dear life, letting her guide you.

As Keira kicked the door of the Guest room open, you mumble into her shoulder “Don't wanna sleep alone”

The english Woman chuckled lightly “I thought so... I just thought I'd offer, just in case... being a good host and everything”

She guided you towards her own Bedroom and sat you down on the Bed. You already were half asleep and whined tiredly as Keira let go of you. She smiled at your hunched over form

“Hush you... I need to change and get ready for bed – you too by the way”

You whined again “too much effort”

“Come on” Keira pulled at your Shirt “Teeth, Face, Change”

You felt like being Seven all over again.

“Nooooo” you whined out.

“Don't start... I'm not Lucy, I'm not a push-over... seven years of me in your life should have taught you that” Keira said severe.

You huffed heavy-hearted, before pushing off the Bed, shuffling towards the bathroom.

Keira smiled to herself “Still a big baby”.

After both of you went through your nightly Routine, with Keira basically brushing your teeth for you and changed your button down shirt with a normal shirt to sleep in, you made it into bed, where you immediately cuddled into Keiras arms and closed your Eyes. The older Woman kissed the Crown of your Head as she mumbled sweet nothings into the dark room, knowing you'd fall asleep in an instant.

Part 2 follows... at some point 😅

[shanastoryteller]

Happy Halloween to you! More Bakugo being not-a-total-jerk against his will (+ partners 👀), please and thank you!

a continuation of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Deku is finally back in his own damn house with his stupid husband which means Bakugo can have his own damn room and bed back instead of switching between Ochaka's and Kirishima's.

He'd ended up cleaning both their rooms just to keep himself from going insane, which he has a dark suspicion was their whole ploy from the beginning. Them keeping their messiness to their rooms usually works perfectly fine but he's not usually in there so much.

Deku is at least as clean as he is. His room is in perfect condition and Deku had even changed the sheets before leaving.

He sinks down in his bed, in his clean and calm room where there's nothing on the floor or growing ecosystems or a thousand water bottles in every direction.

His door bursts open with a bang. "Let's have sex!" Ochaka shouts.

"Threesome night," Kirishima says cheerfully, bouncing on the bed next to his hips. "Now that Midoriya is gone, we don't have to be quiet anymore!"

Bakugo raises his head just to look at him incredulously. "Do you even know how to be quiet? Which, for the record, you haven't been. Not once."

He pouts. "Midoriya said he couldn't hear anything."

For fuck's sake. "Deku wears earplugs to bed because he learned his lesson during the whole year after we graduated."

He and Deku living together had been quite enjoyable, actually. Their place had been spotless.

Coordinating booty calls had been a nightmare. That's so much more of Todoroki than he ever wanted to see.

[beautifulphilosopherbird]

Dungeon Meshi chapter 15, or Me trying to figure out the Kabru & co timeline bc the anime confused me (vs episode 7)

the anime ep 7 opens with Kabru & co getting resurrected, before it goes back to Senshi & friends, but in the manga they get resurrected at the start of chapter 15

they actually tell this to the mage that's with them, while in the anime he is shown when Kabru & co are already awake so they obviously cannot communicate with him (idk why he was kept a secret tho - I guess it would make adventurers suspect them of being dodgier than they seem, which they were lol)

these two speculate a bit before they resurrect them and realise it was treasure bugs

the exact fee was not mentioned in the anime (that feels like a lot of gold lmfao I wish I had something to compare it to but nothing comes to mind tbh)

I like that they showed distrust for them in the manga (tho they did in the end conclude the same thing, that it was Senshi & friends) because those two were very obviously dodgy. ironically, Marcille casting the protection on them seemed to be what convinced them it was Senshi & co who robbed them lol

the anime cuts their story after they run off to catch the "criminals", and continues it in episode 14 (in very confusing order, at least for me). this entire next part is not in the anime but in the manga we see them get to the 4th floor, the lake, trying to sniff out Senshi & friends' scent

I feel her on this (had to look up her name bc I didn't retain it from the anime lol, it's Mickbell)

are those slimes? do they hang out in water too?

they come across the two mermaids before Laios and Chilchuck, but thanks to Kuro's superior hearing, they realise it before getting bewitched

lmfao this made me laugh but I wanna know what she was actually saying tho. also they are wearing actual earplugs hahaha I thought there would be a spell for that but then again, why waste magic

why she so maddddd. she does act kinda like she has a crush on him but does she really? lmfao

this is how their bit ends for now and we backtrack to Senshi & friends before Marcille finishes the soap

Chilchuck outright has a mental breakdown in the manga RIP old man chuck

hehe what are you gonna make the raft from chickchuck? the kelpie? to carry the kelpie?

also woodchuck doesn't say "I'd rather not" to Laios in the manga (or something was lost in translation)

don't you just hate it when you find a perfectly good backpack and it's attached to a dead person. really ruins your day doesn't it

whose waterwalk spell? Laios and chucky's? or Kabru & co's? I thought they were floating bc they're dead but it's bc of the waterwalk spell? edit: no wait, later cluckchuck says that the caster is dead (Rin) so the barley should not be affected by the spell anymore, so they shouldn't either right? i'm confused now lol

interesting, in the anime he says that they met a mermaid and killed each other (did he mean they heard the mermaid's song? is that the effect it has? or is it the fishmen?)

awww Laios worrying about them cutie

anyway I'll end this bit here until we see the rest of Kabru & co story from ep 14 in the manga bc I need to understand this timeline of events it's gnawing at my brian

[rogueshadeaux]

Chapter Thirty-Eight — Prognosis

I think those were the worst parts of it all; the waiting. That silence that left way too much time for the thoughts to get louder. Sitting on the stiff examination bed in a hospital gown felt more suffocating than a noose, the center of a horrible sort of attention.

4.5 k words | 15-20 min read time | TRIGGER WARNINGS: Hospital, procedures, medical events

⚠️AUTHOR'S NOTE: Another chapter, another friend! How could I not let the world's best doctor be a part of this tale, especially when the RowlandRoweWhatever family needs someone with a special set of skills they can't get at just any ol' hospital? Thank you @infamoussparks for letting me steal your girl and show off her brilliant skillset, the inaugural first outreach towards the people who make this fandom fantastic.

I sat up as the patient couch pulled out of the scan machine, pulling the earplugs out of my ears and opening my jaws to force a pop. 

Dad had nearly blown a gasket when Dr. Sims explained what they wanted to do on Monday—or, moreso, how they wanted to do the imaging for it. A dose of diluted raythium with a dye in it for tracing the conducrine and every protein it produced in the time I was in there. “You want to put that stuff in my daughter?” Dad demanded, “A day after we just figured out how dangerous this shit is?”

Dr. Sims did his best to try and placate Dad’s worry, telling him it wasn’t the same. “It’s at least not gonna cause anything bad,” he assured him, “But it’s the only way to activate the proteins in her to observe them,” 

Dad eventually relented, letting Dr. Sims whisk me away as he stayed back with Brent; he wasn’t allowed in the radiology department while I was getting an MRI just in case the magnet became too attracted to his steel. 

“You did great, Jean,” Aunt Sia assured me with a low voice as I slipped off of the patient couch, Dr. Sims wheeling in a wheelchair. They wouldn’t let me walk, and I hated it—I wasn’t crippled, just broken. 

Didn’t matter—either way, I was pushed through the hall like some spectacle. 

Dad pushed off from his place leaned against the wall when the door to the exam room opened, rushing to meet me as Aunt Sia wheeled me in. He glanced down at me, smile stressed and forced, before looking up at Dr. Sims. “Get what you need?” he asked.

Dr. Sims nodded, taking the chair back from Aunt Sia. “Yeah. I’ll be back with the specialist in a bit.”

And there we were, caught in another waiting lull. 

I think those were the worst parts of it all; the waiting. That silence that left way too much time for the thoughts to get louder. Sitting on the stiff examination bed in a hospital gown felt more suffocating than a noose, the center of a horrible sort of attention. It didn’t help that they all had quickly shifted back to treating me like broken glass; Brent was silent and blankly watching me, seeming to examine every move, Dad was still acting as if I’d drop dead any second, and Aunt Sia insisted on coming. Said she wanted to support me. And I mean, sure, I was thankful that they cared…but it was suffocating. Demeaning. Even if that’s not how they meant it, it’s how it felt. 

There was a swift knock on the door, and Dad didn’t even finish saying something about coming in before the door opened—and the sharp click of heels against the hickory floor. 

The person that walked in most definitely wasn’t Dr. Sims. Her red hair was more natural auburn than Aunt Sia’s bright red, shoved away in a messy bun that somehow looked like it took twenty minutes to set. There was one fancy silver pen sticking out of it and that somehow looked deliberate too. If someone asked me to picture a ‘confident scholar,’ it’d probably be someone like her; white blouse, black pants, eyeliner that looked sharp enough to prick my finger for a blood sample. The lab coat swayed behind her as she walked confidently into the room, Dr. Sims closing the door. 

But her smile was warm and welcoming as she looked over the room, greeting, “Hello!” She regarded me first, smiling, “I’m Dr. Hutch—you must be Jean.” 

I smiled back sheepishly as Dr. Hutch’s eyes moved to Dad, something in them registering. “You must be Mr…Rowland? Rowe?” 

Dad chuffed, “I’m not even sure, at this rate,” 

Dr. Hutch accepted his admittance with grace, offering a hand to shake. Dr. Sims turned just as Dad stood, eyes widening when he moved to share the doctor’s hand—and with a shimmering sound and a flash of blue, he was across the room in an instant, gripping Dad’s wrist and yanking it upwards away from Dr. Hutch.

“You don’t wanna do that, D,” Dr. Sims warned, looking at Dad knowingly. The realization struck me almost immediately. 

She was a Conduit. 

Brent seemed to come to the same conclusion, eyebrows shooting up as he glanced at me. “Right, sorry.” Dad said, letting his hand fall. 

Dr. Hutch smiled, “I’ll go with Rowe, then,” she said simply, her own going to rest on her hip. She looked between Dad and I, getting right down to business. “I’m a certified genetic counselor, and I’m here to run one last diagnostic on Jean before we go over your test results—and what I found out from what you sent me,” she added, looking over her shoulder at Dr. Sims. 

I looked her over; nice outfit, a lab coat, and…quite literally nothing else. She made no move to pull anything out of the pockets on her coat, either. Hadn’t we established there was nothing wrong with my DNA? Why was there a genetic counselor here? Dad seemed to think the same, because he asked, “What sort of diagnostic?”

“I want to observe her health on the cellular level,” Dr. Hutch informed him. “It would give us a better idea of what could possibly be the problem here.”

“Do you—” I hesitated, not even sure how to ask what I wanted to ask. “Do you have to draw blood?”

Yeah, that’d have to do.

Dr. Hutch smiled gently, shaking her head once. “No. I’d just need about ten seconds of your time, and your hands.” 

My brow furrowed; my hands? How was she going to examine me with those? Was she gonna palm read her way to my diagnosis? I glanced over at Dad, who looked intrigued more than confused. “Alright,” he said simply, giving consent for whatever procedure she had in mind. 

Dr. Hutch nodded, beginning to roll up her sleeves before asking, “May I see your hands please, Jean?” I hesitated, looking at the cast on my right arm, and Dr. Hutch seemed to understand my concern, placating it with, “Don’t worry—just your fingers are fine.”

She brought her own hands out in a gentle show of faith, a soft coax of her fingers convincing me to lay mine in hers. Her manicured nails clicked gently against my cast as her hands closed over mine, and I could just barely hear her hum to herself as the seconds ticked by. 

Dr. Hutch spent the first few of those ten seconds looking down at where our hands met, but once she passed five, she looked up, eyes trailing along my body as she began to look for something. It was there that I saw it; her eyes were this rich green with golden flecks around her pupil, but the longer the time passed, the brighter that yellow got. 

She was using her power on me. 

Her brow furrowed further as she went from looking at me to around me, like she was searching for something in the air. Her counting progressed further, past seven, and she began to stare at specific spots like she was deciphering hieroglyphics, trying to understand something more than any of us could fathom. 

“...ten.” She breathed. She glanced over at Dr. Sims and shook her head before letting go of the hand in a cast to gently pat the back of my other one before setting it in my lap, moving away to stand by Dr. Sims once more. 

Dr. Sims crossed his arms, looking down at the floor for a moment before saying, “Thank you, Dr. Hutch.” 

Neither of them seemed happy. 

I think everyone else caught on to the sudden shift in tone in the room as well; Aunt Sia moved a bit closer, and her hand came to my back, rubbing it gently. Dad moved two steps to close the gap between us to put his hand on my knee, and Brent’s brow furrowed as he watched them both move. 

Dr. Hutch sighed hard before looking up at Dad. “I’d like to clarify, before we begin, that my power is magnification,” Dr. Hutch began. “I can essentially narrow in on the gene structure of any person and pick apart their DNA sequence just by ten seconds of contact, much like how an electron microscope functions when examining a blood sample. I prefer hand holding as it’s comforting and easy to mask with extended handshakes for those I simply have a hunch about. As I build up to ten seconds I can see the DNA sequence clearer and with that I can determine if anything is out of place or exists when it maybe shouldn’t. I’ve yet to find an instance where I’ve been wrong.”

Jeez, with a power like that, I don’t understand why we didn’t come here to begin with.

“So you’re sure you know what’s wrong with Jean?” Brent asked, looking at Dr. Hutch. 

“We had results before bringing in Dr. Hutch, however, she’s the best second opinion you could ask for. I wanted to make sure.” Dr. Sims said. He inhaled deep, looking like he was biting down on his cheek so roughly he was going to chew a hole straight through it. He looked between Dad and I, cutting right to the chase: “I’m diagnosing Jean with conducrinopathy.”

Dad’s grip on my knee tightened and his jaw tensed, and I swear to god he looked like he was about to start breaking down walls. “What’s…” I glanced at Dad before looking back at Dr. Sims. “What’s condu…that?”

Dr. Hutch took over the explanation, beginning with, “Well, your conducrine—between your shoulder blades, right about where she’s touching right now—is what gives you power. It produces rayacitins, the proteins that change this energy into your elemental conduvergence.”

Conduvergence—that was what they called the powers, right? Using a power was conduvergence. “Okay,” I hummed, nodding. But I didn’t understand; what did this have to do with what was wrong with me?

“A typical Conduit has a set amount of rayacitin proteins in their body, and when they’re running low, that causes that pain you feel in your shoulders.” Dr. Hutch continued, trying her best to dumb this down for me. “They’re also what influences other cells to heal faster. Less proteins, less power, slower healing. More, the opposite.”

Oh, okay. “So is my condushine—”

“Conducrine.” Dr. Sims interrupted. 

“Conducrine,” I corrected, looking back at Dr. Hutch. “Is it just not making enough proteins?”

She looked to Dr. Sims, who sat on my question for a moment. “Sort of.” he agreed hesitantly, head bouncing side to side gently like he was considering which way to go with his explanation. “Conducrinopathy is when the conducrine itself begins to dysfunction. Its protein output wanes, you’re correct. That’s probably the cause of your pain, currently. But it…I suppose the best way to understand exactly what happens is to consider it…a sort of organ failure.”

All my breath left in one huff, and it felt impossible to breathe in more. “What?” I whispered. 

“Your conducrine is in a manageable state right now,” Dr. Hutch interrupted. “But as the disease progresses, it will begin to produce corrupted proteins. Your power will…will turn on you.”

“Wait, like the old forced Conduits?” Brent cut in. He looked furious, but his anger wasn’t aimed at Dr. Hutch and Dr. Sims with his question. 

Dr. Sims nodded. “That’s the main instance we’ve seen conducrinopathy, yes. The conducrine is due to turn on a Conduit if it is forced to copy artificial proteins. It’s like using the wrong blood type in a transfusion. But it has happened to two Prime Conduits. A patient here, and—”

“Mom.” I looked at Dad. “That’s what happened, isn’t it? When she started looking gray a-and sick in the pictures. Her power was killing her.”

“We can’t assume that it was killing her,” Dr. Sims interrupted as Dad’s eyes fell and he stared at the floor, face void of any emotion. “But if we had to compare how she was to the data we have now, then…yes, she more than likely had the same condition.”

My fingers went to mess with my cast, and I couldn’t think of anything to ask. What the hell was I supposed to say? Cool, doc, thanks for the Conduit cancer diagnosis! I felt on the verge of a panic attack. 

Aunt Sia rubbed my shoulder like she was trying to ease the tension out of it, and that was enough to get me to regurgitate one of the thousands of thoughts running through my mind. “Can you cure it?” I asked, looking back at Dr. Sims and his partner with pleading eyes. 

Dr. Hutch looked down at the ground as Dr. Sims appeared to try and swallow back bile. “We…there’s no known cure yet, though in your situation, this has only happened to one other prime whose progression of illness could be followed. There are noted differences between the symptoms in primes versus forced Conduits, but we’re…these are uncharted waters. We don’t know what to expect.”

“What are the differences?” Dad finally asked, voice robotic. “What can we expect?”

Dr. Sims looked like he wanted to do anything but answer Dad’s questions. Like he hated being the bearer of bad news. “The pain and tenderness between the shoulderblades is common. That will probably be the most persistent symptom. However the amount of healthy rayacitin proteins in her body will…they won’t be replaced by healthy ones. The damaged cells will spread further instead, and it’ll…her powers will start getting weaker. Maybe disappear entirely. The healing is usually the first to go.”

Dr. Sims looked at the ground and scuffed his shoe on the wood before adding, “We don’t know how her power will turn on her, either. That will change the status of her condition from manageable to severe more than anything else. And…between Fetch, and the other prime Conduit we’ve observed, decline is…faster in prime Conduits. The way a forced Conduit is already stunted in power is enough to delay it significantly more than a prime, especially when considering how much weaker they are.”

“And you’re sure it’s this?” He asked, looking between the doctors. His eyes settled on Dr. Hutch. “How can you be positive?”

Dr. Hutch was trying her best to keep her face neutral. “When using my powers, I can see this aural ring around people. I can tell if they have the gene, if they’re activated��your daughter has both signs. But there is also something wrong with the aura on her. It’s turning black. The only other times I’ve seen that is when I’ve run diagnostics for Dr. Sims upon his request.”

Dr. Sims shook off the discomfort of the moment, moving a step closer. “Delsin, I’m gonna be here every step of the way in case something happens,” he looked at me, “We’re going to make sure you’re, at minimum, comfortable.”

I hated how he phrased that. Comfortable? It didn’t sound like he was offering to just help me with pain, it sounded like there was more to the statement. A promise for there to be a comfortable end.

And I wasn’t a fool, I knew how this was going for all the old DUP agents; they were either all ill as could be, or slowly succumbing to their illness. His words sounded like he was offering me management if it came to that, too. 

Fuck. Fuck. Tears immediately began to pool in my eyes and it was hard to keep them away. No cure, no help, no idea what was going to happen. But I needed to know one thing: “Am I gonna die?” 

That was the wrong set of words to use; Brent immediately threw his hand back to hammer the side of it against the wall, the hit so hard plaster immediately caved under his fist. He pushed off and stalked away, brushing past Dr. Sims to the door and throwing it open, disappearing into the hall. 

Dad sighed, head falling. “Sia, can you—”

“‘Course,” she said, patting my shoulder gently before leaving the room, heeled combat boots echoing loudly as she jogged to catch up to him. 

The silence in the room truly was deafening, the air thick as the remaining four of us grappled with what just happened. Everything felt like it was slipping away; the color in the blue hospital gown I had on, the noise of the cars on the street outside. This was it. I really was broken. 

And there was no way to fix it. 

Dad squeezed my knee three times, and suddenly I was shot back to when I was a little girl trying to sit through the scariest moment of her life: vaccine day at the doctors. Me sitting at the end of an uncomfortable bed just like this, gripping the edge for dear life as Dad sat across from me, a hand on my knee. Three reassuring squeezes. I love you. 

Took me far too long to realize he’d do it when the needle went in and I’d miss the scariest part of the whole event. 

Now he was trying to reassure me yet again, forcing a deep breath into his chest as he lifted his head, looking at Dr. Sims. “This didn’t start happening to Jean till that fight with Augustine,” he began. “Conducrinopathy doesn’t happen to just anyone. Something caused this.” 

Dr. Sims sighed. “Delsin, her powers just manifested. We truly don’t know if this can be an inheritable condition or not.” 

“Well,” Dr. Hutch held up a finger. “I wouldn’t go so far as to say that yet, either.” 

Both Dad and Dr. Sims shot her a confused look. Dr. Hutch didn’t bother waiting for one of them to interrogate her, instead digging into the pocket of her lab coat and pulling out three blood collection tubes full of anything but blood. “I analyzed the two samples you sent, Eugene. And your friend downstairs passed a third to me earlier this morning.” 

Dad immediately bristled. “We don’t have another friend here,” he said, guarded. 

Dr. Hutch cocked her head to the side, concern on her face. “You don’t?” 

“What did they look like?” Dr. Sims interrupted. Dad’s hand tensed on my knee. 

“Short, wide set. Wore sunglasses inside for some reason which I’m…” she drew off. “Now I’m worried was to disguise himself.” 

I knew someone that matched that description exactly, but it wasn’t someone with a hidden agenda. “That’s Zeke,” I forced myself to murmur. My voice didn’t sound like mine. It didn’t even feel like I was talking. Was this what dissociation felt like? Feeling like I was witnessing the room from outside the window to the right? 

Dad scowled…but something in his expression shifted. “He brought you something to analyze?” He asked Dr. Hutch, surprised Zeke even cared. 

“He did,” she confirmed, holding up a collection vial that had black liquid in it that turned iridescent with a deep green where light hit it. I knew that liquid—that’s what Zeke took from the First Sons’ base in New Marais. “Said he hoped it would help me find answers for Jean.” 

Dr. Sims looked at Dad, who almost looked remorseful in a way before blinking a few times, inhaling. “And what did you find?” he asked. 

“Well, from what I understand, these two samples were acquired in New Marais,” Dr. Hutch said, shifting the samples in her hands so she could hold a pair up to the light. “I examined their properties and their aural signatures, and they’re certainly interesting. To save you the technical terms, these two samples almost replicate poison in a way. This one—” she pointed to the black and dark green liquid, “—the poison itself while this contained the cells it was affecting. However instead of killing the cells, they seemed to mutate them. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Dad went on to tell Dr. Hutch what we saw when underground, and how we found files that suggested the creepy crawlies in the First Sons’ basement were Conduits turned creatures. She reacted with horror in the right parts of the tale, but her eyes were alight with a curiosity that she couldn’t hide well at all. “I didn’t know that was possible,” she said. “I knew there were instances of monsters in New Marais but never really followed up on why.” 

“We were worried, with it corrupting Conduits, that it could be what happened to Jean,” Dad finished. 

Dr. Hutch shook her head. “I don’t think that’s the case. Where these two are similar, the one from Salmon Bay is completely different.” She stored away the two vials in her lab coat and held the one full of tar to Dr. Sims, who took it without hesitation. “It matches the signature of every case of conducrinopathy I’ve seen—including Jean’s. It has the same…darkness to it, but at a strength that made it nearly impossible to read without feeling ill after.” She glanced between Dad and I. “It’s like it’s emitting something far more dangerous than a regular Conduit can handle.”

Dad stood, hand leaving my knee to step forward and take the vial from Dr. Sims’ outstretched hand. “So this tar is what caused Jean’s sickness?”

“She was injected with it, correct?” Dr. Hutch asked. 

Dad motioned to my leg hanging over the edge of the bed. “Augustine’s concrete had this tar on it when she managed to pierce Jean’s leg,” he informed her.

The scarring and spider veins on my left leg hadn’t faded at all in the last week. The raised scars were still an angry red and brown, the veins alight like they were lightning with how bright the blue was against my legs. Dr. Sims took a few steps forward, motioning for me to bring my leg up and hooking his hand behind my calf so he could examine it closer. “I need to get this and the break checked on, next,” I could hear him mutter to himself like he was making a checklist. 

Dr. Hutch joined Dr. Sims, looking at my injury from over his shoulder. “It looks like it attempted healing,” she observed. 

“If you’re right, and that tar caused her sickness, could this be when the conducrinopathy started happening?” Dad asked, pointing to my scars. “They’re healed wrong because it was running out of time?” 

Dr. Sims’ brow furrowed. “The results did come back abnormal,” he muttered. He turned my shin lightly and then looked up. “Knowing the tar is practically the same as the illness, I wouldn’t be surprised if so.”

Dad stared at my scarring for a long time, long enough for Dr. Hutch to clear her throat awkwardly and say, “I’m sorry for bringing bad news. If there’s anything I can do to help…”

Dr. Sims sighed. “We’ll be visiting palliative care later today for the patient, if you’d be willing to meet us there.”

“Of course.” 

Dr. Hutch gave me a nod before turning on her heels and leaving the room, the sound of the door as it latched shut behind her feeling like a gavel strike of a death sentence. Dad, still staring at my leg, shook his head and brought a hand up to rub against his face. “Someone did this.” He said. 

“Del—”

“If that tar matches what’s wrong with Jean, then Augustine caused this. I don’t know if it’s because she got a new power, or somehow fucked with her old one—”

“Delsin—”

“But her power caused organ failure.” Dad finished with a stressed voice, and I wasn’t sure if it was to talk over Dr. Sims or simply because he was stressed. “We need to find out how she got the ability.” 

Dr. Sims shifted on his feet, thinking. “We can’t be sure that it’s not something that Augustine simply developed,” he warned. 

Dad shook his head. “I don’t believe that. Archangel helped Augustine. They tried finishing what she couldn’t do! She had to have gotten this power from somewhere.”

“I understand that, but you have to realize—this is the first time we’ve seen a situation like this with its cause. The forced Conduits develop conducrinopathy naturally, and we don’t know how the other two instances of this happened in primes—“ 

“But we know it’s not normal.” Dad retorted. “What happened to Abbs? What’s happening to Jean? Shouldn’t be a thing.” 

There were three sharp raps on the door and Aunt Sia returned, looking between Dad and Dr. Sims as the latter refused to let his gaze wander. “Archangel did something to make this happen, it was probably the plan the entire time—just for me. But this is some sort of power, right?”

“I’m not sure—“ Dr. Sims tried saying as Dad rambled on.

“—so we just need the power to fix it. Only way it’s coming out is the same way it went in.” 

“Delsin, this isn’t like then. We don’t know where the power came from or if it’s something new at all.” Dr. Sims finally put enough power into his voice to interrupt. “This is the only time it’s happened like this. For all we know, with the old DUP soldiers? It could simply be because Augustine was involved.” 

Dad opened his mouth to say something else when Aunt Sia cleared her throat loudly and pointedly, looking at Dad. “Delsin, I think you should go talk to Brent.” 

Dad blinked. “But—“ 

“Just a small talk, then we’ll finish what we came here for.” Aunt Sia turned to Dr. Sims. “Is there anything else we need to do for Jean? She still has some stitches, do they need to be removed?”

Dr. Sims looked confused and yet thankful for the topic change. “Yeah I-I want to get a general check up on her, but we’d need a more qualified doctor.” 

“Alright, then why don’t you go see who you can find while Delsin talks to Brent?” Aunt Sia asked the men, looking at them expectantly. 

They muttered some sort of agreement as Aunt Sia herded around their attention, the two eventually leaving me alone in the room with her. She stepped up to the edge of the exam table I was sitting on, right between my legs, and moved to cup my face, her expression solemn. “Oh Jean,” she murmured, “I’m sorry.” 

She pulled me into a hug and it was like everything snapped back to my center like a rubber band ball; I was no longer witnessing this from the outside, but fully trapped within the body betraying me, the ache in my back reminding me of the diagnosis. “I’m scared,” I admitted to her, voice cracking. 

“I know,” she replied almost immediately. “This has to be so scary for you. But you heard how quick your father was to begin trying to think of solutions,” she pulled away to look at me. She was right: Dad was always the problem solver. I wasn’t sure if this was something he could fix, though. “We’ll take this a day at a time, but you won’t be alone.”

Want more of Dr. Hutch? Check out Feth’s inFAMOUS: Sparks!

Set 7 years after the good karma ending of inFAMOUS: Second Son, join friends new and old as they navigate what it really means to be a part of the Second Age.

A perfect blend of OC and OG, Feth knows all things inFAMOUS like the back of her hand—for good reason ;). I’m a sucker for a good after story, for the butterfly effect of every choice made in canon to change something in their future, and Feth captures that perfect (and realistic) after. Rosa is one of many amazing new friends the original trio make as they take on foes old and new.

[jpitha]

Just a Little Further 28

Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

Loud, hearty laughter from the Venusians assembled to eat fills the hall.

"Oh Melody Mullen, playing at being Empress over on her toy starbase." Raaden smiles and stands, her face smug. "You have no idea what you are doing, and have no concept of real power."

"Allow me to demonstrate to you what real power is." She touches her ear and after a moment she makes a face. She touches it again and...

She glares at me.

Good work Ava, looks like the radio suppression field is working.

Thank Omar, he found it inside Royal Dawn weeks ago. Looks like we were right, this place was for royals before it became a hotel.

Raaden snarls and reaches down and tries to grabs her pistol. Her hands grasp it and she brings it to bear on my face. With wicked glee she squeezes the trigger.

But she' can't.

Her glee turns to confusion, turns to rage. "Melody! What did you do! What is going on here! Release us this instant!" The mask has completely fallen off. I push the pistol out of my face.

"You will refer to me as É̷̱͑͗̐̅͌͗̂̀m̶̡̡̡̜̗̭̥̯̬͍̉̇͐̒̒̓̌̀̈́͆̓̓̀͘͝͠p̸̡̨̧̡̞̦̙̪͌͐̀̇̈́̂̍͗͘ṟ̸͓͜͠e̶̲̮̞̬̱̝̗͓̭̺͑̈͗̂̈́́͘͜͝s̶̡͍̬̫͙̘̦̬̘͛̐̍͂̇̉͛̌͐̚ͅs̵̡̐͋̈́̾̒̓̆̂͋̈͘͘͠͝.̵̲̩̣̅̓͊͗͋̈́̌̈́̈́̊͒̔̚̕ͅ"

Raaden keeps trying to get her pistol to bear on me while she's talking. "I will do no such thing, Empress. You are not an Empress, you are -grunt- just a girl who just found -ugh- some old junk and declared herself Empress! Ugh, why can't I call you Empress, and I keep calling you Empress instead."

It's my turn to be smug. "I told you earlier, you're mine now. You cannot refer to me as anything but Empress, I so order it. The Empress of the Holy Imperial Systems can not be disobeyed. The K'laxi knew it; I was called Tep'ra'fel in their ancient language. The Undeniable. You think earplugs are enough to stop me? The moment you stepped aboard you and your entire crew became mine." I look out at the assembled crowd. It seems thinner than we expected. "In fact, call the remaining crew members here, we appear to be a few short."

"You're blocking the radio." Raaden says through gritted teeth.

"Oh, My apologies. Allow me." I connect to the Reach and find the radio signal for the Vengeance of Lavinia. On board, they hear the radio click and then my voice saying, "Go ahead Helen. Tell them to come out and come to dinner. I will have a runner show them the way. You can just speak, they will hear."

Raaden glares at me, saying nothing.

Ď̴̦ö̷̫́ ̸̰̆a̶̲̍s̴̘͝ ̸̥͋y̸͚̐o̸̲͋ǘ̵͙ ̴̳̇a̴̭̎r̶̮̅e̷̬̓ ̸̺̐ȯ̶̞r̶̞̉ḑ̶̈́è̷̦r̷̮̍e̶̘͋ḑ̴̽.

Her body flinches as if I had slapped her. "This is Archduke Helen Raaden. Please... leave Vengeance of Lavinia and a runner from the Reach will... lead you to dinner." Her eyes go wide at the realization that she said it because I ordered it.

"Lovely. Thank you Helen." Only then, did I cut the radio connection to the ship.

Everyone seated at the tables looks awkward as we waited. Some people toy with the utensils, or take sips of water. Raaden stares straight ahead and her hands turning almost purple from the fist she was making. I look at her hands, then up at her.

"Helen, you are going to injure yourself. You should relax."

She turns her glare on me and then turns straight ahead again.

"I'm sorry Helen, I phrased that poorly. r̴͔̕ĕ̵̱l̸͎̈́a̸̩̓x̸̨̐ ̷͈̎y̴͇̓o̵̰͘u̶̲͊r̵̤͒ ̴͉̑h̸̢͌a̴̟͘ń̵͓d̵͔͘s̵̨̾.̵̳͊."

Instantly her grip eased and she began to massage feeling back into her hands.

Omar leans over and looks at Raaden and then me. "Empress..."

I look back at him. "Yes, Omar? You lived on Starbase Picaresque when Raaden and the Venusians came to visit, didn't you?" Raaden's head snaps up at that and she stares at Omar. Omar doesn't meet her eyes.

"Yes Empress, I was there. I remember when Venus shackled our AI, and then attempted to set up a puppet government out of the Administrators. I also remember how the residents blew up at least one whole platoon of troopers and then the administrators blamed it on Venusian carelessness and Raaden and the Grand Admiral bought it, because her troopers were of such poor quality."

At that Raaden turns her head slowly to Omar, her eyes wide. "I knew it. I knew it was you bastards on that cursed Starbase. Wellfleet was a fool from day one and I am glad I shot him and took over. I should have obliterated that Starbase the moment we linked in-system. I should have obliterated you the moment we went though that stupid Gate."

He nods, unsurprised at her reply. "Why are we doing this Empress? We should just destroy them and take their ship for our own. Order them to kill themselves." Raaden is shaking with fury that is only controlled because I order it.

"That is true Omar. It would be easy to make this problem... go away and then have a nice large dreadnought to play with and copy. But doing it this way?" I look at Raaden and meet her eyes.

"It sends a message."

I look out at the Venusians waiting for their colleagues to join us and I can see the fear, the worry. They thought that Raaden was going to show us what it truly meant when Venus comes to visit. They were right, just not in the way they expected.

I turn to look at Raaden. "Helen. Look at me. Don't make me use the voice again." She turns and looks at me. Her eyes are red rimmed and her pretty face exudes pure hate.

"I. Am. Empress. You live, because I desire it."

She whips her head away from my gaze as the stragglers from their ship arrive, confused. Ava was right, they look like they were mostly guards. They are muscular with darting eyes. With them though is a youngish man, tall and willowy who looks nervous. One might even say that he looks... noble. Interesting. Places are set for them and they are led to seats. Once everyone is here I clink my glass for silence. Everyone turns to look at me

"Ah, now everyone is here. This is so nice, thank you for coming out. I for one, am starving. We shall E̷̮̒a̸̤̋t̷̨̿.̴̫̀"

At my command the servers from the Royal Dawn bring out steaming plates of food. Just like I so ordered, everyone begins eating as the food is brought out. Everyone went all out, I can smell the food as it's served. I think we're going to be served a meal to remember. I don't want to waste everyone's hard work.

The Venusians are trying to look at Raaden for guidance while also obeying my voice. More than a few of them are struggling, their utensils shaking as they eat. One or two has tears running down their face freely.

Good.

Raaden is robotically eating, her fork tinkling a little staccato against the plate with every bite. She is clearly trying to struggle against the orders the whole time. "Helen, you will have an easier time if you just accept the order and eat." I say after taking a sip of - local - tea.

"There has to be a way around this-" she struggles mightily before giving up "-Empress."

"We haven't found one yet, Helen."

Omar looks over at me and inclines his head and raises his eyebrows questioning. He wants me to ask her. Fine, fine.

"Helen, how did you learn about us? Who told you?"

"Fuck you, Empress."

Á̶̙͆ṉ̴̨͛͗s̶͙̒̈́w̵̯͉͆e̷̼̍r̵̢̙̊͑ ̷͇̿̊m̸̭͙͑͝ę̵́,̸̥̞̋̏ ̶̨̝̎H̴̖̄̿ͅé̷̹l̶̫̻̆̎ě̵̡̖͠n̴͈̿.̶̦̌͐

"...Someone from FarReach got drunk and unloaded on a sympathetic ear in a bar...and a bedroom. The sympathetic ear linked a reconnaissance beacon back to us. The Emperor thought that I should go out and... get you to be our ally... one way or another. He wanted me to try and win you over with kindness and... by sleeping with you. The spy mentioned that they thought you liked women. I for one wanted to come in guns blazing and just either capture or destroy you." She gasps in surprise and glares at me.

I gesture with my fork before going for another bite. "I have to say Helen, your option probably would have worked better."

"I see that now... Empress, but I was under orders to dry diplomacy first."

"As well as seducing me? Do you find me attractive?"

She shrugged, still clearly upset that she's answering questions. "You're pretty enough, just not my type. I wouldn't have minded it."

Melody.

Right, right.

We eat in silence. It really is an excellent meal.

I finish my meal and delicately wipe my mouth with my napkin. I hope everyone enjoyed it. I take a sip of the last of my tea and look at Helen. She's not saying anything, but her eyes could melt starship hulls. "Helen. What are we going to do with you?"

"How about you let me go, and we pick up and leave."

"Tempting. I have a different idea though."" I turn and face the gathered Venusians finishing their meals. I point at the nervous young man. "Who are you? A̷̡̨̛̖̟̣̗̻̠͓̘͙̩̗̦̓̓̿̀͒̒̎̆͜n̴̡̨̺̝̩̩̣̯̣̜̗͓͙̙͌̍̏̊̈́͆̉̽͛͋͆͑̆͠ͅş̸̬̟͖̞̞͔̪̮̝̖̤͎̜̪͇̇͐̑̂͂́̄͊͗̋̍̓̈͗̇͜͝w̸̢̨͓̩͎͓̹̘̜͎̜̜̔̂̀͜͝e̵̢͓͕̤̼͍͍̯̰̳͐͑̎̍̾́̈ȓ̴̨̳̦͗̐̊͆͛͘.

"I am Crown Prince Emery, the Emperor's son." As soon as he says it his eyes go wide. I have a feeling he wasn't supposed to tell many people. I glance over at Helen. She knew.

"Nice to meet you Prince Emery. Thank you for coming." I face the rest of the crowd. "Who here was going to volunteer to stay behind and work with us?"

About half the hands go up."

"T̶̞̥͙̱̦̣͔̬̪̣͙͇̽̔̔̈́̃̆̄͘ę̶̻̺̰͙͕͓̫̰̙̺̩̬̺̫̔ͅl̶̨̠̠̬͉̹̮̩̟̤̜̤̜̖̻͔̒̀̅͑̎̍͐̋̓̏̈́́͂̇͗͌̕l̴̛̖̮̙̬͇͉̃͐́͐̂̀̎͘͠ͅ ̸̟̹͙͉͎̤̤͖̲͙͉͕̘̱̻̈́̎͐̅̈̾̌̀̕ͅm̶̢̗͖̼͓̲͓͚͉̱͐̏̋̐͊͆̇̅̄̋̀͘ͅe̶̙̠̟͛͐̆͌̕͠,̴̢̭̥͎̓̆̏͒̎ who was going to spy and report back to Venus?"

No hands go down.

"Is anyone here not in the Venusian Navy?"

One hand comes up.

"Oh? Who are you?"

"My name is Will, I work in the Venusian Spy Corps." His eyes go wide and Will slaps his hand over his mouth as the people sitting next to him look at him surprised. Looks like they didn't know they had their own spy either. I expected to hear someone from a starbase or colony world. Looks like Raaden was lying about that too.

I stand "Thank you for taking this meal with me. I for one enjoyed it quite a bit. Venusian guests, please c̴͔͝ó̸̞m̷̢͗e̴̦̎ ̵̦̔w̵͇̾i̶̙̓t̶͎̚h̷̺͝ ̷̹̆m̵̲͊e̷̬̎. I have something to show you."

There's a simultaneous scrape of chairs as everyone stands up at once. I reach out my hand to Helen, and she just glares harder. I glance over at Omar and Um'reli and Omar rolls his eyes, wishing I'd lay it on less thick, but Um'reli is reveling in it. I imagine Ava enjoys it quite a lot from her Builder chair as well. Raaden doesn't take my hand, and I don't force the issue.

I lead them out of the Royal Dawn and incline my head to Wind as we leave. "It was an exceptional meal Wind, with exceptional service. Please make sure everyone has a 20% bonus applied to their pay tonight."

Wind Rustled Leaves bows low "It was our pleasure Empress."

I exit the hotel and there's a temporary platform here that wasn't here before dinner. I carefully walk up the stairs and go to the front, where there is another, smaller platform. I step up onto the higher, smaller platform as the Venusians climb and look out. As they climb, they hear the roar of a crowd. Louder and louder as I climb higher on my platform until I'm two meters over the Venusians and three meters off the ground. The Venusians turn and see...

They see people.

Thousands of people.

Ava had called runners and used the Reach's address systems to ask everyone who was able - within this and the further two levels - to come down and witness a presentation from the Empress.

This is perfect, thank you Ava.

Putting the Venusians in their place is my pleasure, Melody. I am enjoying this.

I raise my hands for silence. "People of the Reach!"

Everyone becomes silent. They stare ahead at us in that unnerving way a silent crowd can.

"These-" I gesture "-are humans from my side of the Galaxy. They are not Builders. They have not taken the rites, they do not know the ways. They thought us weak. They thought your Empress a fool. They thought that they could come in and take over with gifts and words and trickery."

The crowd shouts and jeers at the very nervous Venusians. Only Raaden still looks defiant, chin up as the crowd heckles them.

"We have shown them hospitality. We have taken them in, we have fed them, we have shown them our home. What do they do in exchange? They threaten us. They threaten me. They lie about volunteers who wish to stay with us."

The jeers and shouts get louder. If I'm not careful the crowd is going to tear them apart. I hold up my hands for silence again.

"So, I ask you, my people; the residents of Reach of the Might of Vzzx. What shall we do with these people? These spies. These interlopers."

Over the screams and jeers, the Venusians can hear shouts for them to be killed. At least I assume they can. Based on the fear they show, they can understand the gist of it, if not the nuance. They didn't ask for an update to their translators, so I assume they got a copy of the one that Fer'resi was working on.

I raise my hands for silence again. It comes, but slower. The crowd is bloodthirsty. I can't rile them up any more. "You demand their deaths, and you are correct in doing so. But! I am merciful. I do not call for their deaths. I will educate them in who is their empress and send them on their way."

At that, Omar, Um'reli, and the Venusians pivot and stare at me wide eyed.

What.

Keep listening Ava, you'll see.

"I will send them on their way, without their crown prince and without their archduke. They will remain behind as our... honored guests. They will not be able to send a warship after us in retaliation as we have their second and third in line for their own throne. They will learn both that we are merciful and that we are not to be underestimated."

This time, Raaden and Emery stare at me. Raaden is beyond furious, Emery just looks tired.

"But first, before they go, we shall strip their ship. We will leave them enough thruster to traverse Gates home and enough environmental systems such that they will survive the trip. It will not be in luxury. We shall use their parts to retrofit our ships and make our ships formidable again!"

Cheers and shouts from the crowd. Everyone loves to hear how we are going to have starships again, powerful ones.

"I need volunteers! Come and see my Builder, Omar and he shall put you to work. I want their ship stripped in 5 days time. Thank you for coming out and showing these people what it means to be from Reach of the Might of Vzzx!"

More cheering for me; the crowd is chanting my name. After everyone realizes the presentation is over, the crowd starts to dissipate. A large group of people stay and Omar walks over to them.

That was amazing Melody, but are you sure about sending them back?

Yes. The only other option is to kill them, and I don't want to do that. Without Raaden and Emery, their Emperor won't send a dreadnought to just blow us up, they'll want to deal. They will be our hostages and will protect us.

Plus, this way we get a leg up on ship refitting.

Empress, you are playing a dangerous game. Given how Raaden reacted, if there are more like her in this Venusian empire, we now have some new enemies.

Venus was always going to be an enemy. They do not want equals, they want subordinates. We are not subordinate.

Empress.

Part 29

[hccn-overseer]

Issue 30, 11/08/2023 - The Overseer

Issue Masterpost About the Overseer

Weekly Weather Report

By Lydia

Temperatures are represented using Celsius. Sorry, Americans!

Wednesday: Temperatures will reach a high of 8 degrees and a low of 0 degrees. Skies will be cloudy today with a very, very low chance of snow in the early afternoon.

Thursday: Temperatures will reach a high of 12 degrees and a low of -4 degrees. Skies will be cloudy with snow coming during the early morning and passing by the late afternoon.

Friday: Temperatures will reach a high of 5 degrees and a low of -9 degrees. Snow will persist throughout the entire day. Laugh tracks may play at random times throughout the day. Using earplugs is highly advised by the staff of The Overseer.

Saturday: Temperatures will reach a high of 2 degrees and a low of -13 degrees. Skies will be clear but very windy today at approximately 45 miles per hour.

Sunday: Temperatures will reach a high of 4 degrees and a low of -8 degrees. Skies will be overcast and winds will continue at approximately 30 miles per hour.

Monday: Temperatures will reach a high of 7 degrees and a low of -2 degrees. Skies will be clear throughout most of the day until later in the afternoon. Snow is possible.

Tuesday: Temperatures will reach a high of 6 degrees and a low of -9 degrees. Skies will be heavily cloudy throughout the day with occasional bouts of snow.

Wednesday: Temperatures will reach a high of 3 degrees and a low of -11 degrees. Skies will continue to stay overcast and snow will fall heavily, reaching approximately 15 inches by the end of the week.

Now onto other news under the cut!

Lost and Found

By Lydia

All of the following items have been brought to The Overseer office for safekeeping until they are claimed. If you recognize one of these items as yours, please visit us to receive your items, or contact us at lostandfound@thehermitnews.org. Lost items will be sent to Twinkly Trash if not picked up after two weeks. Thank you! *Not a real email address.

Item 1: A picture frame This picture frame is made with a gold border with intricate leaf designs, appropriate for the fall season. It was found near Gem’s Elven Village and hums when placed in direct sunlight. Anything placed inside has been mysteriously disintegrated within the next five minutes. The staff has used this as an opportunity to rid their office of all citations given to them from the Office of Unofficial Documentation for being a general public nuisance over the past several months.

Item 2: A bottle of bird medication A bottle of Psittamune APV was found among Grian’s large rocks with a small syringe for administering to presumably very small birds such as parakeets. The bottle has never been opened and sits with the syringe in a plastic bag.

Item 3: A sympathy card This sympathy card has an unknown intended recipient, but the official printed message inside expresses condolences for the passing of one’s grandmother. Inside, several people have signed the card expressing further condolences, with the exception of one person who did not sign their name, who wrote, “Happy Birthday!” instead, in thick letters.

Item 4: A letter from a professor of animation This letter, addressed to a group of college students taking an unknown class, is written by a professor unknown to the staff, signed, “Prof. Lansbury” and delves into the subject of re-animating corpses, rather than focusing on the medium of artistic cartoon animation. The letter expresses caution towards the practice and implores the students to mind their steps carefully. It also asks the students to precede the rituals with the following sentence: “Will a re-animated corpse enjoy the artistic work I have to offer?”

Item 5: A copy of Scattered Minds by Gabor Mate, M.D. This book, centering on the origins and treatment of ADHD, written by Gabor Mate, who himself has ADHD, was found in a Shulker box in Pearl’s alien forest. It is suspected to be an unsuccessful delivery, as delivery instructions are attached, but the name and address label has fallen off. The delivery instructions state, “Please take buttercream pie at the doorstep after dropping off our package. Enjoy!” Though its contents are unharmed, the shulker box was found splattered with alien viscera and human blood.

Item 6: Sixteen birthday candles that do not light These candles do not light despite the staff’s best efforts. They are in assorted colors and appear to have been taken from the local arcade. While there is no record of the server hosting parties for small children, it is nonetheless seemingly evident that a children’s birthday party was held near Joe’s pinball arcade, judging by the party hats and smatterings of children’s toys in the area.

Fun and Games

This week's fun and games are once again brought to you by Lydia and Azure!

And that's all for this week folks! Have a wonderful week!

[4ster-bl4ster]

Area Zero Research Trip - Part 04 [Final]

I... went in. I haven't been in here since then. Anyways, here's the final log before I leave the crater.

I'm gonna be in so much trouble with my friend Bea when I get back lol

[Area 0, Underdepths - 05/29/20XX - 5:14pm]

》》》 Temperature is 19.4°C (67°F), Humidity is 50%, Air Quality is Dangerous at 200 AQI [oxygen tank is in use]

<>

》 Only pokémon seen within the Underdepths since the incident are Glimmet and Carbink, both with healthy-lookinh populations. [Avg. 15 for each, the underdepths is very cramped so a large population isn't expected]

》 The level of Tera energy in the underdepths is near suffocating, if I didn't have an oxygen mask on I would probably be having a difficult time breathing (thank you Hano for carrying the tank)

》 Crystal formations seem normal, no signs of cracking or shattering in most. The ones that do have most likely already fallen from the celing as they are assorted chunks on the ground

》 The crystals are making a noise, it sounds like singing? I've attached an audio file of the noise they make. It's a bit overwhelming for me so I put earplugs in.

[File ID: <crystal_song.mp4>]

》 Deep within the Underdepths there's this tree, I think it might be a fully-grown Herba Mystica as there is a branch of it growing from the tree— a sample has been taken for the league to study

At this point I decided to leave as I noticed tera crystal flecks sticking to my skin and my prosthetic leg is getting stiff due to crystal buildup.

I've submitted the full report to the league already, so that's it! I'm making my way out as I type this— I'll probably be in Medali when this post goes up, I dunno.

[alans-snz]

Vent alert. Slightly Gen/shin related (mentions of relating to Al/hai/th/am and a hc of him shared with a few others here). Continued below the cut

Al/hai/th/am is soooo autism-coded, and as a high-functioning autistic individual, that makes me feel so happy to finally relate to a character so much, and it's why he's my favorite in the game. I (and a few others) also hc he gets sensory overload, which is why he wears his headphones (confirmed to be soundproof) everywhere and we hc he sleeps in them too.

Well, I sleep with earplugs as opposed to my noise-cancelling headphones, and having a dog who just looooves to bark can be very frustrating. My sister-in-law came over with my little niece and nephew early this morning, and because my dog just wouldn't stop barking, my parents put him in their room (Yes I am 21 and live with my parents, don't judge me). Which is right across from mine. Despite having my earplugs in the whole time, he not only woke me up, but I have been up for two whole hours, unable to fall back asleep with all his barking. I thought he would eventually stop, but he just did not stop. I'm getting a bit of a headache and getting really frustrated in general because of it. There are some times I wish I could just shut off my hearing so I could have peace and quiet in situations like this, because for me, my headphones are so uncomfortable to sleep in since I sleep on my side (even with something meant to make my headphones easier to sleep in), so situations like this are just such a pain. LITERALLY! I literally had to text my parents to take him out of the bedroom and calm him down just so I could go back to sleep. It's been 15 minutes since that, and they both still haven't seen it. Don't get me wrong, my parents are great, and I get that they are spending time with my sister-in-law aka their daughter-in-law, but for heaven's sake, you two, you have a daughter who you know is trying to sleep in the room across from where you put the dog, and has experienced sensory overload so many times, can you PLEASE look at your phones for A FEW SECONDS and let him out of the room????

Ugh...being autistic can really be a pain in the ass and a LITERAL emotional and physical pain sometimes, and I hate that...it's why I and others hc Al/hai/th/am struggling with sensory overload. With how autism-coded he is, we just want to feel represented and portray our struggles through a character we can relate so much to already. So if any of you have gotten this far into the thread, thank you, and if you don't hc Al/hai/th/am like this, maybe now you can at least further see why some of us do.

[autismvampyre]

https://www.tumblr.com/autismvampyre/741462958593441792/hate-how-its-practically-impossible-to-find-anti?source=share

I saw this post and I couldn't agree more and Im asking anonymously cause I don't want to get judgement and stuff and I know this is going to sound a little dumb but I'm having a crisis about like. Whether or not I should support Taylor anymore like. Im going for the eras tour soon and I'm obviously really really excited but I've been seeing more and more anti swiftie media and it all really makes sense. Your blog was like the only anti swiftie one that didn't say all swifties deserve to die lol (at least from what I could find) but I just wanted to know if you have any advice on like letting go of the music in a way. I love her music, and one of the reasons I'm really scared to let go is that my childhood best friend and I share so many precious memories over her music and I don't want to disappoint her in a way by not listening anymore and her music helped me through really really hard times, which feels kind of dumb to say cause I'm 15, but like it's always really helped me and I don't know if I can or if I want to let go but at the same time I'm huge on ethics and a big part of my life has always been helping people and empathizing, and I just don't know if I want to support an artist who can't seem to publicly do that. Idk I was just wondering if you had advice? Thank you so much :)

P.s. feel free to ignore this ik it's loaded and not related to your blog entirely

hey! thanks for the ask. i wanted to respond to this before i forgot so this might be rushed but i hope i can still help.

i get your dilemma, i really do. i like her music a lot and one of the worst things about the anti swiftie community is how much it relies on the "her music sucks" card. its lazy and just personal taste, and i absolutely hate the puritanical idea that if you enjoy a single taylor song you are in some way morally lesser. people like what they like, and i think it's completely fine to enjoy her music because that isn't really an ethical concern

you can separate the art from the artist. its fine to do so. you shouldn't force yourself to stop listening to music you like unless you feel thats right for you. im very critical of taylor but i still occasionally listen to her music because there are a lot of memories attached to it and those memories are precious to me. art can make you feel so much, and you're not dumb for feeling comforted by it.

i dont think you have to let go of her music unless you want to. i believe the most important thing is to let go of the idea of taylor as a brand. people tend to get attached to her due to clever marketing; to a lot of people she's their friend and they feel very protective over her for that. taylor thrives off the parasocial relationship of her fandom which is financially beneficial to her. the most important thing to remember is that she is a billionaire with more money than you could ever imagine and it is impossible to get that rich without fucking over the poor. the image of taylor in the media is not real, she isn't the girl next door, she isn't your friend, she's an ultra rich celebrity who gets richer by pretending to be your buddy. once you've realized that, you're pretty much done

now, i definitely wouldn't recommend financially supporting her. if you're going to the eras tour don't go alone, be safe, wear earplugs(seriously this one is so important you dont want tinnitus believe me). i know there are a lot of different factors and ethics about the shows but as someone who a) hates live music cause im autistic and just end up overstimulated and b) was never in a financial situation where i could or even would buy eras tickets i feel very under qualified to tackle any of that so i'd recommend talking to someone else who knows about that.

to end, i'll just say piracy isn't theft if buying isn't owning snd there are guides out there so you can listen without paying her dime. sorry if this was incoherent, i am tired. have a good rest of your day/night/whatever time it is and please take care

[lavendelhummel]

Tag-Game-Time!

Ok, I have never done any of these. But it is time. Because @lilolilyr tagged me in so many of these fun games and every time I think they are fun... maybe I'll do it? And then I didn't dare.

But still Thank you so much for every tag! I appreciated every single one so, so much!! Thank you!

So the one that caught me in a moment, where not only I am feeling brave but also have some time (*gasp*), is of course a super duper hard one (pun intended, because I wont be able to include Abba, but disclaimer, I love Abba). Let's do this:

URL-Songs: Rules: Pick a song for every letter of your url and tag that many people. Let's be honest, this is impossible. I am incredibly indecisive and am that person with the weird music taste. I have absolutely no idea about fresh new songs. And I am indecisive, I wont make it with just one. Can I do three per letter?

L - ok, See here it starts, I found 126 songs starting with the letter L on my playlist. This game is cruel for French music! How should I pick one?? Closing my eyes... La mer est calme. This one calms me down instantly, I have used it to fall asleep (usually dont use music but earplugs for that) when I had headaches. It's just very calming. Also did I mention that I love the sea? Yes? Ok, so I will stay with that theme for this letter, there is also Le chant des sirènes and Land of opportunity ("I'm sailing away..." so yes fits with the ocean ones and yes there would be more "la chanson de la mer" etc. but I have to leave it at this I think)

A - only found 11 songs with A! Yay, an easier decision! I'll go with Antarctica, A white demon love song (because vampires. yes, this is the twilight soundtrack), and April come she will (not including "Andante" because I already mentioned that I love Abba, but I want to mention how gay I felt when Lily James was singing that one in Mamma Mia 2. Also not mentioning either of the "Autumn leaves" songs, because one is actually a poem that I love mostly for the lyrics and the other one is nice but not a fav)

V - time for... Vampire! I will also include Viva la Vida for @lilolilyr because we sang it together and it's a great song. And to bring it to three, there is also Voler de nuit because I can't not include Calogero. In total there were 8 songs starting with the letter V in my playlist.

E - Elle a les yeux revolver, Elle me dit (MIKA!! and yes, the orchestra version) and Expectations (yes, Juno soundtrack) by Belle and Sebastian (which is funny because I have to pull myself together not to add the whole soundtrack of a film called Belle et Sébastien).

N - This is hard! There are only 15 songs with that letter but it's hard! But maybe I should switch languages for a change? I listen to very, very few German songs but the Wise Guys are great. I was late to the party and discovered them at the last concert they gave before splitting up but here is Nur für dich. I also like N’importe quoi and Ne m'appelle pas. Honorably gay mention: Not worth hiding and No place in heaven (ne me qu---quuu-quiiiiiiii----tte pas ma chère letter N! there are so many songs starting with you... ok, ok I am cheating. But this game is hard!)

D - I think I am giving up at trying to stay in line. I have already missed one opening for a song for my very favorite album of all times, so here is Dans les Prisons de Nantes. I also haven't included the Dubliners yet so here is Dirty old Town. I also love Dead Flowers and haven't mentioned Coeur de Pirate yet. For the Germans on here, Deutsche Bahn is a must-know. We all know why. Also haven't mentioned Grand Corps malade so here is Dimanche soir. Nooooo, don't stop me now, there is so many more with the letter D! Ok I am cheating again but help, this is hard!!

E - Elle me manque déjà, Eblouie par la nuit and En chantant (yep, going for that soundtrack version by Louane. It's just very cute)

L - L! The hardest letter again! Looks like my Liability is decision making! If only I could put Lucky Number Nine (9) songs for each letter! Let's get lost in music together!

H - I have to admit that I am a Christmas Grinch. And yet. Here is Happy X-mas, the war is over by John Lennon. I love that song and will never forget how my very musical educated sister sang along to it, suddenly asking "what means 'fear'?" when she was little. It's one of the best Christmas memories I have. I can't say that it's my favorite Christmas song, because those are all classical and in a good part in latin, but it always makes me feel better. There is also Happy Together, which I will always associate with the film Imagine Me And You and therefor love. Aaaand, I don't know, 20 more, so let's just randomly pick Hexagone.

U - Un été française, Un jour au mauvais endroit and Under my thumb (to get the Scott Pilgrim soundtrack in here)? Decisions are hard. Why am I doing this to myself?

M - My alltime favorite song is Ma Bretagne quand Elle pleut. It's silly but it answers the longing in my heart that only the rain in Brittany can and I love the personification and the love in that song. Since it's the same album - though a different language is Mna Na H-Eireann, so I am not counting it extra. This now makes me think of Mermaids (wow such a new, popular song) and Mr. Blue Sky.

M - Mr. Big Stuff, Ma liberté de penser, and Mon Amant de St Jean/Mitternachsnacht bei IKEA orrrr one of the 30 others on the list.

E - Eugene, I feel like this is a good place to add a gay-mention: Everyone is gay. It might be silly but I did take comfort in it when I was figuring things out of for the first time. And this is The End of the Line, I suppose.

L - Not quite the end, there is still Le Portrait, Les Tzars and I'll just Leave out all the Rest. Just one more for @lilolilyr because I had an earworm from this when we met and couldn't properly sing it to you to show you so- L'effect papillon. There is so many more but here is the Last Party and I'll stop.

Ok, now I still have to tag people. I still don't know that many, I'll never make it to 13 but to get close I'll just tag everyone I've ever talked to on here (and not felt bad about it later, cause not all messages were positive experiences ;)). So @ginnyjyng (your name here is still confusing! But have fun with the music <3), @trollocks-in-my-bollocks, @lakeofsilverpike, @onaperduamedee, @witchingshcdows, @thatordinaryoddity and @masterpieceofunderstatement have fun with this game, if you want. And if anyone else sees this and wants to participate, I am just to shy to tag anyone whom I haven't talked to but am still curious about your music taste, so go for it!

[spectacular-supernova]

Re: Concert Unwritten Rules - Need Help

Nova! I'm gonna attend the very first (and probably the last) concert in my life! I guess that your CONRT exp must be quite high, so I was wondering if you've amassed some sort of unwritten rules and observations about concert attendance so that I don't accidentally ruin someone's experience out of ignorance or something.

Is it allowed to wave your arms? Shall I collect every trash in the same row I'm sitting in after it's over? How do you tell someone to stop putting flash on their cameras usually?

Or just your general observations about concerts that you wish more people will understand!

Thanks a bunch!

Ooh! I’ve been quite blessed to have gone to a handful of concerts these last few years, so I’d like to think you’ve come to the right person 👀

To answer your questions:

1) It is 100% allowed and even encouraged to stand up and wave your arms like crazy! The fact about concerts is you’re among people who love the music just as much as you do- chances are they‘ll be dancing around too ✌️ Fair warning: if you’re in seats, it’s not uncommon to be placed in front of people who’d prefer to stay seated. You won’t be pestered for it in most cases though- most would agree you’re within your right to enjoy the concert however you want, even if they grumble about it a little to themselves. If you’re ever unsure of what to do though, you can always just follow the flow of the crowd. Even concertos can get rowdy in the right circumstances <(~w~)/

2) This is a very kind gesture that would almost certainly be appreciated by the custodial staff, and I’d hate to steer you away from it. If you have the means to pick up multiple pieces of trash, why not! That said, it’s already a huge help to only pick up after yourself,

3) I’ve found a pretty polite way to ask someone to turn their flash off is first to inform them that their flash is on. If it was unintentional, they’ll probably thank you and turn it off. If it was intentional however, you could always ask them to please tilt it in a way that isn’t blinding you lol. I think the key is to keep your comments lighthearted. That said there are sometimes moments where it is encouraged to have your flash on, but hopefully they’ll be shining it at the band and not in your face!

I’m trying to think of any other nugget of information I may have for ya… I guess if you come across any grumpy-looking people, try not to take their behavior too much to heart? Some people don’t like to get up, and others have RBF. My sister doesn’t get up at concerts if she doesn’t recognize the song for example, and she gets anxious in large crowds which causes her to look a little grumpy. It doesn’t mean she’s judging everyone else for having a good time! She’s just overstimulated and trying to ground herself by staying still.

Oh, another tip would be to carry some earplugs. Don’t worry, it won’t block out the music! If anything it kind of amplifies it? But anyway it’s solely for protecting your eardrums from particularly loud sounds and cheers and speakers. I don’t anticipate you developing damage to your hearing after just one concert so if you opt out it’s no big deal. That said, I always walk out of concerts with ringing ears when I forget to bring my earplugs, so if this happens to you, here’s a tip: You can minimize/eliminate the ringing by placing your palms over your ears, and drumming lightly on the back of your head for at least 15 seconds. That should do the trick! If not, a simple good night’s rest should be enough to get things back in order.

Hmm what else… I guess the only other thing I can think of is to take care around mosh pits? You mentioned seats so you should be ok, but a mosh pit may happen whenever people are standing shoulder to shoulder on an open floor. It’s basically a little mob of people running around shoving each other in a circle. It’s not hard to avoid, the crowd naturally forms a big enough circle to accommodate for it, but if you ever find yourself too close to the action, no one will be offended if you guide/push people who stumble too close to you back into the circle. Take care of yourself though!

Uhmmm… it’s become standard practice for artists to pretend to end a show then come back for the true finale once the audience asks for an encore, so make sure to linger in case another song starts playing 👀 Unless you want to get to your transportation early to beat the traffic haha. Also, I’ve only ever seen one artist come back for two encores, so if the artist leaves after the first encore it’s probably safe to assume they’re done. Especially if the brighter event lights used for visibility come back on.

That’s all I can think of at the moment… I’ll have to consult my other concert going friends for any tips I may have missed… otherwise! I hope this helped somewhat :)

[everybodyshusband]

For the ask game: 4, 15, 31, 47, 48, 53!! (only the ones you're confortable answering or want to answer, of course)

eeee, thank you, anon <3 !!! i'm skipping 15 because i have no idea how i'd describe my personality, i hope that's alright

4. what are you looking forward to?

my ghost ritual !! i'm very, very excited and terrified for it !! and i'm just now realising i have forgotten to buy earplugs !!! shit !!

31. 3 random facts

i assume this is three random facts about me and not three random facts that i know ?? eh, we'll go with that regardless :) hmm, let's see...

from ages 5-8 i had a box filled with my favourite words (i no longer have a box, instead i have a list in my notes app)

"cock" and "tits" are both on my list of favourite words

i can touch my foot to my head

47. turn ons

ahhh, i'm bad at answering these types of questions, haha !! i'll do my best though :)

if you are nice to me i will fall in love with you, and yes, that is a threat (/hj)

ironically, if you're mean to me i will probably also fall in love with you (a specific kind of mean though, don't just call me a dickhead and go on your merry way ksdjfbkdfb)

53. 5 things that make me happy

my cat

my bed

my plushies (all the time but especially if i'm regressed)

my friends

writing (....sometimes)

[kaunisbaby]

15,16,17,18

thank you layla! 🖤

15. who is an artist you haven’t seen that you’d love to?

nine inch nails!!

16. do you wear any sort of earplugs to shows?

yes, i started using them after the last miw gig that fucked my ears for a week 😂

17. which show would you say was the most beautiful?

i said electric callboy and blind channel in zurich earlier but another one that left me super emotional was the depeche mode one i saw in july

18. which show would you say was the most fun?

electric callboy + blind channel in milan in may 2022. first gig after the pandemic. at the height of my blind channel obsession (not that it has calmed down, but that was the first bc gig for me so. i was out of my mind) it was an incredible experience. and i didn't know much about electric callboy back then (had only heard the most famous songs) but they made me have the time of my life. that was when i decided i was an electric callboy fan

[aintmyjewelry]

15-17?

thank you!!

15. who is an artist you haven’t seen that you’d love to?

oh man i feel like there's so many omg despite being an og fan i've never seen 5 Seconds of Summer live and i'd literally give anything to see them it's so frustrating lmao

16. do you wear any sort of earplugs to shows?

i don't! I've never actually thought to, my parents never mentioned it to me but i've heard more about it lately and i'm wondering if it might be helpful lmao i'm not too worried about outdoor concerts but they may be good for indoor shows

17. which show would you say was the most beautiful?

oh the eras tour was the definition of beautiful

[betteradvice]

Sleep Secrets for Moms-To-Be

Single Moms Catching Those Precious Zs

Hey. Let’s talk about something we all desperately need but often struggle to get – sleep. Whether you’re expecting or already juggling life as a single mom, getting enough shut-eye can feel like mission impossible. But don’t worry, I’ve got your back with some tried-and-true sleep secrets that’ll help you catch those elusive Zs.

Creating a Sleep-Friendly Environment

First things first, let’s turn your bedroom into a sleep haven. Think of it as your personal retreat from the chaos of life. Aim for a cool room temperature – somewhere between 60-67°F (15.5-19.4°C) is the sweet spot. If you’re like me and live in a noisy neighborhood, earplugs or a white noise machine can be absolute lifesavers.

Now, let’s talk darkness. Remember those vampire movies where they can’t stand sunlight? Channel that energy into your bedroom. Blackout curtains or a comfy eye mask can work wonders. And while we’re at it, declutter that space! A tidy room equals a tidy mind,

Oh, and here’s a game-changer – invest in a comfy mattress and pillows. Trust me, your back will thank you, especially if you’re carrying a little one around (in your belly or on your hip).

Before bed, try to unplug from your devices. I know, I know, scrolling through social media is tempting, but that blue light can mess with your sleep big time. Instead, why not try some soothing aromatherapy? A little lavender can go a long way in helping you relax.

Consistent Sleep Habits

Okay, this next part might sound boring, but stick with me – consistency is key! Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends. I know it’s tempting to sleep in on Saturdays, but your body will thank you for sticking to a schedule.

If you need to adjust your sleep schedule, do it gradually. Shift your bedtime by 15-30 minutes every few days until you reach your target time. And create a bedtime ritual that helps you wind down. For me, it’s reading a few pages of a book (nothing too exciting, mind you – we’re aiming for sleepy, not “I need to know what happens next!”). Speaking of which, please feel free to download my eBook: Single & Expecting – Pregnancy Checklist for Solo Moms. It is a very practical guide to getting y0ur through your pregnancy via great organisation and crucial checklists.

Pregnancy Sleep Solutions

Pregnancy can turn sleep into an Olympic sport. Those hormones are no joke, and don’t even get me started on trying to find a comfortable position with a beach ball attached to your midsection.

Here’s a tip: invest in some extra pillows. Seriously, build yourself a pillow fortress. Support that belly, put one between your knees, and suddenly you’re sleeping like a queen (well, maybe a slightly uncomfortable queen, but still).

And hey, while we’re talking pregnancy, let’s chat about caffeine. I know it’s most peoples lifeline. But try to keep it to 300 milligrams a day, and stick to mornings if you can. Your future self will thank you when bedtime rolls around. The latest research shows that, if at all possible, you should quit caffein whilst you are pregnant for the both of you.

Managing Nighttime Anxiety

Alright, let’s tackle the elephant in the room – anxiety. It’s like your brain decides bedtime is the perfect moment to replay every embarrassing thing you’ve ever done or worry about everything that could possibly go wrong tomorrow.

One of my favorite coping strategies is journaling before bed. It’s like dumping all those worries onto paper so they’re not swirling around in your head. And if anxiety still keeps you up, don’t just lie there stressing. Get up, do something calming (no screens!), and only head back to bed when you’re feeling sleepy. Another good thing to do is to put together your checklist for the following day, helps get some things out of your brain and onto paper.

Oh, and here’s a bonus tip – exercise! It’s a great way to burn off that anxious energy. Just try to wrap up your workout a few hours before bedtime so you’re not too amped up when it’s time to sleep.

Sleep Relaxation Techniques

Now, let’s talk relaxation techniques. These are like your secret weapons against sleepless nights. My personal favorite is the 4-7-8 breathing technique. You breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 7, then exhale for 8. It’s like a mini-meditation that tells your body it’s time to chill out.

Another good one is progressive muscle relaxation. Start at your toes and work your way up, tensing and then relaxing each muscle group. By the time you reach your head, you’ll feel like a noodle – in the best way possible.

The Role of Nutrition in Sleep Quality

You know how they say “you are what you eat”? Well, turns out what you eat affects how you sleep too. Foods rich in tryptophan (think milk, lean meats, eggs) can help you catch those Zs. And magnesium-rich foods like legumes and low-fat dairy? They’re like nature’s chill pills.

Here’s where meal prep comes in handy. Planning your meals ahead of time not only saves you stress during the week but also helps you make sleep-friendly food choices. Plus, you can avoid those late-night heavy meals that mess with your sleep.

And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you might want to rethink that evening glass of wine. Alcohol might make you feel sleepy at first, but it can actually disrupt your sleep later in the night. Most experts recommend zero alcohol during pregnancy. Actually zero anything chemical!

Rest and Prep Balance

Alright let’s talk about balancing rest with baby prep. It’s tempting to spend every waking moment getting ready for your little one, but remember – rest is crucial too!

Use your energy wisely. When you’re feeling good, tackle those high-priority tasks. Maybe that’s exploring childcare options or setting up the nursery. But when fatigue hits (and trust me, it will), don’t feel guilty about taking it easy.

Building a support network is key. Whether it’s family, friends, or a mom group, having people you can rely on makes a world of difference. And don’t be afraid to ask for help – it takes a village, right?

Conclusion

So there you have it – your guide to catching those elusive Zs. Remember, it’s all about creating the right environment, sticking to a routine, and finding what works for you. Whether it’s building a pillow fort, mastering breathing techniques, or meal prepping for piece of mind and better sleep, every little bit helps.

And hey, on those nights when sleep just isn’t happening? Be kind to yourself. Motherhood is a journey, and sometimes that journey involves a lot less sleep than we’d like. But with these tips and a little patience, you’ll be on your way to sweeter dreams in no time.

So here’s to better sleep, more energy, and rocking this whole mum thing!