#Safer food Better Health

[spidybaby]

A trusting matter

Summary: A confession makes Kylian think you have no trust in him. Making him feel shamed and almost breaking your relationship.

Warnings: cursing, sex talk, slut shaming, sex shaming.

"What is this?"

You turn your head to where he is, finding him walking out of the bathroom. He has something in his hands, reading the back of the box.

"I don't know, what is it?" you ask him.

He tries to read what the box means, but he can't understand any of it.

"Comprimé pelliculé." he reads out loud for you. "What does that even means?"

You frown, stretching your hand to him. "Let me see."

He hands you the box, you want to laugh at him.

It was your birth control pills. He was trying to understand what the box says but the box only reference that the box contains certain amount of pills.

"It's my contraceptive pills." you smile at him, leaving the box on the nightstand next to your side of the bed. "Want to see a movie?"

He's quiet, what is a contraceptive pill? why are you taking them?

"Are you sick?" he asks, worried about it.

You shake your head, smiling at him.

"Healthy as always."

"Then why are you taking these pills?"

You chuckle, finding him adorable. "It's contraceptive, Ky."

"What's that?"

You then get why he was so worried, he doesn't understands what the pills are for.

"They are birth control." You smile.

"Birth control as in anti baby?" He asks, still confused.

You can't help but laugh at him. Thing that makes him pout. Why were you laughing at him?

"I'm not sure if >anti baby< is the right thing to say, but yes."

His mind is still confused, why were you drinking them if he's using protection every time you had sex.

"But I'm using protection." he says, not fully getting the purpose of the pills.

"Yeah, you are."

"Then why are you taking these for?"

You sigh, wondering what's inside of his head for him to be that confused.

"Condoms can break." you say. "And it also helps me with my period, it helps me with my cramps. Not only for the anti baby part." you explain to him.

You left him sitting in bed, grabbing your water bottle and walking to the kitchen. He follows you like a kid who's ready to botter their mother with questions.

"But if the condom breaks, you can take the plan b pill, don't you?"

You roll your eyes, "Yes, that's correct. But I don't want to get to that." You say, low and monotone tone. "Birth control is safer and the fail rate is less than others."

He nods, not asking more questions. He was one not to ask much about health or things like that because you were someone healthy.

"Hey, do you want some cake?" you ask him. Opening the fridge. "I have the one you like." you take the box out of your fridge, placing it on the counter.

He nods happy, accepting a piece of it. You were seated at the top of the counter, he was between your legs as you feed him the cake while jokingly pretending to do the airplane move on him.

"You got some right here." you grab a napkin, wiping the tip of his nose.

He loves spending times like these with you. Only the two of you, things you could only do from time to time due to his agenda. Especially now that he is in Madrid.

You were telling him about this series that you were watching. He was washing the dirty dishes from dinner since you made dinner. He then gets this thought.

"Hey." He says, getting your attention.

You humm, placing the leftover food back on the fridge. You were too focused to notice his mischievous grin. He walks over to you, waiting for you to close the fridge door and turn, hitting his chest in the process.

You left out a laugh when he carries you and places you back on top of the counter. Kissing your lips while his hands grip your hips.

"I was thinking." He began. "Since you are on birth control, I can stop with the condoms."

You stop smiling, looking at him with a frown.

"And it's going to be better, because it's going to be a life saver. All those times we had to stop because I didn't have any left."

He was smiling like crazy, thinking of how much your sex life was going to change with you taking birth control. It was easier, it was faster and he didn't needed to stop when he runs out of condoms.

"Kylian," you sigh, not wanting to have this conversation. "I don't want to stop using condoms."

He frowns, not understanding you.

"Wha-Why?"

You don't want to say the real reason. "I just don't." You push him a little, getting down of the counter and walking back to the room. "It's more safe if we both are protected."

"But isn't birth control enough?" He whines. "Don't you want to feel me completely?" He asks, getting closer.

He hugs you from behind, his lips on your neck, making you shiver at the sensation. He pulls you to him, making you let out a small whine.

"Stop it." You whisper.

You take his hands away from you, walking over to the bathroom to wash your teeth. You can't help but feel a little bit bad about denying him what he wants.

But you can't.

He looks at you from the door. Not understanding why you are so questionable about the topic. He tries to understand that maybe it's because you are fearing that something fails and you get pregnant.

Even if that was the case, he would be by your side with any decision you take. But since it was not the case and he doesn't really know the real reason.

"I get that you are scared, but this can be something good for us." he says, trying to open your mind to the possibilities. "And if pregnancy its what scare-"

"Kylian, please." you say, tired of the talk. "Drop it."

"I'm just saying that you don't have to worry."

"Listen, I don't want to stop using condoms, end of story."

You walk outside of the bathroom, grabbing the clothes from your bed and walking into the closet to hang them.

"I just don't understand why you are so closed to the option."

You stayed quiet, you want to drop the conversation. If only you would have known that leaving your pills there was going to cause so much commotion.

"Y/n?"

You turn your face to him, noticing how his eyes are full of doubt. You just sigh, shaking your head and continue ordering the clothes.

"So you are just going to ignore me?" he asks, mad at your attitude.

You finish, turning to see him. "Kylian, you have been with a lot of people, I haven't. Forgive me for wanting to take care for myself." you explote.

He's taken aback, what are you even meaning?

"Take care of yourself?" he asks mad. "So I'm not safe enough for you to have sex without me wearing a condom?"

"Remember when I told you that maybe doing a test to see if you were fully healthy trigger you?" you ask. "You told me that you had that when you get the medical exams at the club. I asked you that because I don't want whatever you groupies have." you scuff.

You walk out of the room, tired of him insisting on talking about it. You take a few breaths, finally getting what you just said to him. You turn, finding him walking towards his things.

"Kylian." you call.

He just lift his hand, making you shut your mouth. You just observe him pick his things. He doesn't want to say anything back, afraid of telling something wrong.

"You were insisting, I asked you to drop it." you try.

"Yeah, I should have." he says, the way his voice is so low that scares you. "But lucky me I didn't, cause I found out my girlfriend thinks I'm fucking around and that I'm going to catch something and giving it to her."

"Kylian, don't go." you say, blocking the exit. "Let's just calm down and have a conversation."

"Oh! you want to talk now?" he laughs. "Well, now I don't want to."

You watch him go out of your house. Hearing the sound of his car getting away from your property. You feel bad about what the way this conversation goes.

"But why did you even say that?" your best friend says.

You look at her like a kid whose parent is scolding.

"I asked him to stop with the conversation, and when he didn't I lashed out."

You feel the guilt of the words you say to him. You know that what you say hurted him, you know that maybe this isn't something he would forget.

"I tried everything, calling, texting, even went to his place, but he was back in Madrid." you sigh, not sure of what else to do.

Your friend tries to think about what you can do to tried to make your situation right. It's a difficult position, because you lashed out when he kept insisting on doing something you weren't comfortable about.

The thing is, you would have been comfortable, but when you asked him something you asked your last partner, he refused.

Your mother taught you that you needed to be careful when it comes to sex. She works in health care and constantly sees how girl get things because the boys they are with are also with half the city.

Hearing stories about girls being sick and having to go out of their ways to fix something their boyfriends or sex partners got them was your daily stories.

So when you asked Kylian in a not direct way, he told you that he didn't needed that, he got those test every season and every six months thanks to the club.

> "I was thinking" you say, sitting next to him on the couch. "In this biology class I'm taking, they are encouraging us to get these test to now we are healthy."

"Really? what kind?" he asks.

"Oh you know, some blood ones, some normal check out to discard any std, any sickness. And my friends and I are a little bit scared of doing it." You show him the pamphlet.

"Scared?" he asks, a little concerned about you. "Is it that invasive?" he read what the test are.

"Not sure, just you know needles. They are taking their boyfriends and I want to ask if you want to join me, maybe?"

He reads the whole thing, looking at you with a smile. "I've done these tests. They are not that bad." he says. "Don't worry, take it from me."

"Oh, you have?" you ask, smiling. "When was the last time?"

He thinks for a moment. "I think before the year started."

"That's almost eight months ago." you say. "Don't you think that it's better if you get another one?" you say, batting your eyelashes.

"No, thank you." he says. "I'll get one when I get to the medical testing in Madrid. No need for more."

"But, you will do your girlfriend a favor."

"Let me think." he says, pressing his fingers on his temples. He pretends to think about it for a moment. "No, let's go to eat." he says, kissing your temple and walking to the kitchen. <

You met Kylian only six months ago. You didn't sleep with him right away, you wanted to meet him before even think about that. You liked him too much and didn't wanted to rush things.

You know that he was someone who got girls that wanted to spend a night with him. You read news about him "hooking up" with different models or influencers.

That he was flying them to Paris, when he was in PSG. Then when he announced the moving the news were that he was moving this model from Paris with him to Madrid.

You never cared about those things, you trusted him. He was someone who was very family orientated. He prefers to spend the night with him at home than to go out.

When he asked if you wanted to become official, you were thrilled. You love spending time with him, and not to lie but the trips, the gifts and the games passes were an amazing extra thing.

"I'm going to Madrid." You say to your friend.

"You are crazy?" she asks. "What about your job?

"I mean, a signed Real Madrid jersey will do for our boss." you say, writing the email. "Also, I booked him and his mistress some tickets for Hawaii, so he better give me the time or his wife would get the email with the information." you smile at her.

When your boss asked for not one but two signed jerseys, you booked your ticket. You knew where Kylian was living, you even have a copy of his keys for emergencies.

You grab a small bag, packing only a few things. You hoped that he wanted to see you. Your friend drove you to the airport, it was not a long flight. Only two hours and a few minutes. You will survive.

To you luck, you notice how the Real Madrid instagram is posting about the players training, so you have time to think about what you will say and how you would say it.

You have a copy of the pass for the gate, so you with no problem got inside. You tried to think about the situation, mentally hitting yourself for being that mean and dumb.

You know that the two of you were wrong, he on one side for forcing the conversation on you, even when you asked him to drop it in a nice way.

And you, for basically telling him that you didn't want his rabies that he probably got from his one night stands.

You sat down in the couch, tired of overthinking the situation. You don't want to lose him, not over something like that. Even when you basically accused him of cheating.

You were so into your mind that you don't pick the sound of the door opening and closing. You just hear the voices and tense.

He wasn't alone.

"Oh hi!" a dark hair boy says, smiling. "Kylian, you didn't told us you got company, we need more drinks."

You wave at him, a little shy to say something.

"Company?" Kylian asks confused. That's when he sees you, red cheeks and awkward smile. "Hey." he says, walking towards you.

"Hey." you say. "Hi, by the way." you finally say.

"This is Vini." Kylian says, pointing at him. "Vini, this is my girlfriend. I talked to you guys about her."

You smile at him. He still refers about you like his girlfriend.

"Nice to meet you." he smiles. "I'll call Rodry, he will bring more drinks."

You look at Kylian, trying to get an explanation so you don't look too lost. "We are watching a game." he says.

You nod, feeling a little dumb because there's people there and you can't really talk with him like you wanted to.

"No need to call Rodry." you say, standing up. "I'll be upstairs, so you can have more privacy."

You give him a small smile and walk a little fast to the stairs, feeling a little embarrassed about how your plan is going. You feel a hand on your arm, making you turn.

It was Kylian, he then moves his hand from your arm to you own hand. He grabs it, walking upstairs. He leads the way, you can't keep your eyes away from him.

He can feel you sight, he feels the need to turn around. When you two are inside his room he turn around, looking at you with this neutral expression.

You wait for him to say something, but he didn't. He wanted you to start. "Hi." you say, smiling a little. You really don't know what to say.

He want to laugh, but he remembers that he's mad. So he won't do it. You feel defeated, wanting for him to smile at your awkwardness.

"How long are your friends staying?" you ask.

You don't want to talk with him when his friends are downstairs. You want to be able to have a conversation with him and two be able to express how you feel without caring. You can't do that if there's people waiting on him.

"A little bit after the game, we have training in the afternoon, so we can stay a little bit later than normal. But I can ask them to leave right after the game."

You shake your head. "No, it's okay. I can wait."

"Vini did asked Rodry for more drinks, so you kind of have to get down at some point or they will come get you." he jokes.

"Maybe after the break." you smile back. "I'll take a shower first."

He nods, smiling at you. He walks downstairs, wanting to call the night off and hear you out. He wasn't mad anymore, just a little ego hurt. But he can't be mad at you that long. Not you.

"Rodry and Jude are almost here." Vini smiles. "Is your girlfriend joining? or did I scared her when I mentioned drinks?" he asks, joking.

"She's taking a shower, she will join us in a few."

You can hear the way they are screaming and cursing at whatever is going on at the game. You laugh when you hear one of his friends saying something in a very bad french.

The laugh Kylian left out is music to your ears. You sat on the stairs, not feeling like going down. You missed him, his humor and his laugh.

"No way these motherfuckers are only giving two extra minutes." Jude yells. "That's bullshit."

"Innit" Vini laughs, making fun of Jude's accent.

The other three boys laugh, making Jude curse Vini. The game came to an end, you know because the guys criticize the way the referee did and how the coaches did.

You got up, slowly walking upstairs.

"Okay, ladies." Kylian says. "Time to go home."

"We still have drinks." Rodry says.

"My girlfriend just flew in from Paris, pardon me that I want to spend time with her and not with your asses."

You stop on your tracks, wanting to hear more. You feel your heart warming up.

He wanted to spend time with you.

"Got it, let's go, boys."

"You own us one."

"I want to be with my girlfriend now."

You walk back into his room, smiling.

You regret not talking thing with him. You know that everything was avoidable if you would've been honest from the beginning.

You sat on the bed, watching the door carefully. You can't wait any more. The ninety something minutes you spend waiting for the game to be over were killing you.

The door opens quickly. You tried to act as if you weren't waiting for it to open. Earning a chuckle from you boyfriend. You feel the heat in your face, embarrassed of him discovering you.

He closes the door, walking to the bathroom. The door is left open, you can see how he's stripping his clothes. You fall back into the bed, not taking your eyes away from him.

He knows what he is doing.

You can hear the shower. You take a deep breath, mentally hitting yourself. You have to control yourself. You close your eyes, words repeating on and on and on. You know what you want to say and you will say it.

You are to into your thoughts, practicing how you will deliver the words, how you are giving him the message that you trust him and never doubt his loyalty.

You feel a cold hand grabbing you ankle. Making you open your eyes, you saw Kylian with towel around his waist, his eyes glued to yours.

You smile at him. "Hi." you whisper.

He smiles, shaking his head no. He wants to tease you, make you feel desperate. He takes his times changing. Picking carefully the boxers he would use.

You can tell what his plan is, and it's working.

He walks over to you. Sitting on the chair that's on the corner of his bedroom. "Mon cher, Y/n." he smiles mischievously. "What brings you here tonight?"

Your eyes are glued to his, you won't look down at his body.

You have to be strong.

"Don't you have a tshirt?" you ask, making him smile.

"I have tons." he points with his head towards the closet. "But the one I normally use to sleep is the one that you are wearing."

You blush, looking down at the shirt you took from him. "Oh" you say.

You look back at him, noticing how his grin is bigger. "You were saying?"

You sigh, knowing he's not going to give in. You sat back on the bed.

"I want to apologize, what I said was very out of line." you began. "I didn't meant to ever made you feel like I was shaming you for your previous sex life. Neither meant to doubt your loyalty to me."

He looks at you in the eyes. He can tell that you are being honest.

"What trigger your reaction?" he asks. "Was it something that I said in the past? Anything you read online about me?"

"No." you shake your head. "You know how my mom works at this clinic?" you ask him, making him nod. "Well, since I was a kid she told me about how girls that came there had all these problems. They came thinking it was a normal cold and ended up being something else, because their partners were sleeping around. And that made me feel like I needed to be extra careful with all."

"Even with me." he says low. He was saying that more to himself.

"You are the second person I've been with." you say, crawling to the edge of the bed, near the chair. "I felt so much pressure, my mom kept telling me about how I needed to be careful, that football players were always around. And not that I don't trust you, I do. But-"

"But you wanted to be sure you were safe." he finishes your sentence.

You nod, "I trust you, Ky. I do."

He stands up, opening his arms to you. He wraps his arms around your figure, embracing you into a much needed hug.

You inhale his scent, feeling better now that you explained everything to him. Not caring that load of always being alert.

"I'm sorry I was pushy about the subject. It wasn't nice of me."

"No, it's ok-"

"It's not." He interrupts you. "You asked me to drop it, and I kept talking.

He separates from the hug, walking over to his nightstand. He opens the drawer, taking an envelope.

He hands you the envelope. You take it with curiosity. Checking it to know what is it.

He did the test for you.

He wanted you to trust him. Even if that took a small medical check and blood test.

"I know now that it's not because you don't trust me, but because you are protecting yourself." He says, going back into the embrace.

"You didn't have to." You smile at him. "Thank you."

"If that's what it takes to make my girl know that I'm only hers, then I'll do anything."

You grab his cheeks, kissing him.

You missed the taste of him. The way his lips felt against yours. How his warm temperature mix with yours.

"I'm willing to try if you are." You smile, pecking him.

He smiles at you. The way his eyes got a little dark. You separate from him. Putting your arms in the air for him to take your shirt off.

"Je t'aime." He says, kissing your lips before taking the fabric off of you.

You kiss him to shut him up, pushing him down the mattress with you. "Show me how much."

[crystallinestars]

Caring for you when you are sick

A short little drabble about Jiaoqiu caring for you when you fall sick. Jiaqiu x Reader (Established relatioship)

Whenever you fall sick, Jiaoqiu fusses over you like a worried parent. Even if it’s just a common cold, he gives you strict instructions to rest and eat his cooking to get better.

And cook for you he does.

Even when Jiaoqiu is busy serving Feixiao and completing his duties as a retainer, he makes time to cook healthy and tasty dishes to nourish you back to full health. Chicken noodle soup, congee, tea with lemon and honey, and more are delivered to your bedside on a tray each day by a concerned Jiaoqiu.

He checks your temperature by placing a cool palm on your forehead, brows pinching together when he feels how hot your skin is, and his tail sways in displeasure whenever he hears you coughing or sniffling. If you complain about a sore throat, he whips you up a hot drink of ginger and lemon to soothe the pain and observes to ensure you drink it all.

He places a damp towel on your forehead to lower your fever, and regularly swaps it out for a fresh one. Jiaoqiu even visits you at night to check your condition and spends the night by your bedside if he discovers your fever worsening. You’ll wake up to find him sitting in a chair beside your bed with his head resting on the mattress and your hand grasped tightly in his. He gets little sleep on those nights because he stays awake to fight your fever, so finding him napping like this is a common occurrence.

Despite you telling him your condition is not so bad that it requires round-the-clock care, Jiaoqiu won’t stop worrying. How can he not worry when you don’t feel your best? When you shiver while running a high fever, when your voice sounds hoarse, when you wince each time you swallow his food because your throat is so sore?

As a healer, it is his duty to care for the sick, or so he tells you while spoon-feeding you some soup. You can feed yourself? He knows, but he saw how weak your grip was on the spoon earlier, so it’s safer if he feeds you. You can bathe yourself? Yes, but you sway while standing on unsteady legs, so let him carefully wipe you down with a cloth instead. Besides, he likes actively caring for you like this, though you don’t need to know that.

Jiaoqiu is mischievous and sometimes sadistic, but when it comes to seeing others suffering or not feeling their best, his caring side shines through. Even if he gave up on being a healer, he can never give up on taking care of those who need help, especially those whom he loves.

You will be nursed back to heal by his caring and gentle hand, given the best treatment a patient could ask for, so make sure to thank and praise him when you recover, alright? For now, get more rest and get better, dear.

[nidalzomlot]

Help me and Support My Family in Gaza

I am 34 years old, and my family and I are in desperate need of assistance.

We are living in constant fear for our lives and the lives of our loved ones. We urgently need your help to find a safe haven where we can live or to escape the horrors of this war.

My Story

Before the war, I lived a normal life with my family in Gaza. We worked hard to build a better future, but unfortunately, everything was lost in an instant. Our home was destroyed, and we lost everything we had. Now, we are living in extremely harsh conditions, lacking basic necessities like food, water, and electricity, and we are suffering from a lack of essential medical care.

Our Current Situation

My family consists of myself, my children Omar, Odi, and Alma

Me and their mom, Azhar, worn down by the relentless struggle, our living conditions are dire, lacking the most basic facilities. Clean water or acceptable diapers are a rare luxury, and the constant threat of violence surrounds us.

We have to believe someone will hear our story. Someone will help us."

You can be that someone. Your donation can help my family escape the horrors of war and start anew in a safe place. With your support, Omar can play soccer again, Odai can build his dreams, and little Alma can finally know peace in a brighter future.

Medical Needs: Some of my family members are suffering from serious health issues that require urgent treatment and medical care, which are unavailable in Gaza.

Shelter: We are currently living in temporary shelter that does not provide adequate protection from the ongoing bombings and the constant danger surrounding us.

Our Goal

We aim to raise funds to:

Safe Shelter

We need a safe place to live peacefully and securely, away from the horrors of war. To secure a suitable apartment with basic necessities—such as a bathroom, water, protection from diseases and pollutants, and shielding from radiation and shrapnel—costs approximately €900 monthly.

Medical Care

Ensuring that our family receives necessary medical treatment and healthcare is crucial. We need funds to cover medical treatments, milk, and diapers for my baby, amounting to €500 monthly.

Escape the War

Our ultimate goal is to relocate to a safer place outside of Gaza hopefully to Egypt. The costs are significant, but the safety of our children and ourselves depends on it.

Here's a breakdown of the costs involved:

Coordination fee for leaving Gaza:

€10,000 per person. We need €20,000 to ensure both my wife, Azhar, and I can leave Gaza safely.

Travel and entry costs to Gaza: €2,000.

Purchasing a home and living essentials in Egypt: €30,000.

Educational and medical expenses in Egypt: €30,000 annually.

Monthly living expenses for food and beverages: €3,000.

How You Can Help

Financial Donations: Any donation, no matter how small, can make a significant difference in our lives. Help us reach our goal by providing the financial support we desperately need.

Share Our Story: Please share our story with your friends, family, and on social media to raise awareness about our dire situation and attract more support.

Moral Support: Words of encouragement and prayers can give us the strength to continue fighting for survival.

Thank You for Your Support

We are grateful to everyone who contributes to helping us during these difficult times. Your generosity and solidarity give us hope and bring us one step closer to safety and stability.

With heartfelt respect and gratitude,

Nidal Zomlot

DONATE HERE

@el-shab-hussein @wellwaterhysteria @nabulsi @irhabiya @sar-soor @appsa @buttercuparry @brutaliakhoa @stuckinapril @schoolhater @three-croissants

@generallyjl @wutheringheightsfilm @cybrthrillz @jezior0 @anneemay @appsa @labutansa @girlinafairytale @sneakerdoodle @variantsofblue @brokenbackmountain @maester-cressen @demothers-empty-blog @thedailydescent @aleciosun @determinate-negation @schoolhater @buttercuparry @sayruq @tittyinfinity @luminousrose1 @malcriada @i-am-a-fish @a-shade-of-blue @allthecanadianpolitics @i-cant-think-of-any-url @mazzikah @sar-soor @soracities @sadhoc @skatezophrenic @girlwhowasonfire @brutaliakhoa @voidofryu @timogsilangan @freetyphoonfire

#help

gaza#free gaza#gofundme#pray for palestine#go fund me#archaeology#free palestine#palestine#israel#boycott israel#genocide#from the river to the sea#donation#emergency donation#donate now#reblog#indigenous#indigenous peoples#indigenous rights#palestinians#save palestine#Youtube

[howtofightwrite]

re: the question about stunning someone with head trauma (and how you Should Not unless you're okay with them dying) would knocking the wind out of a character be a better way to have that happen?

Yes, but no.

So, knocking the wind out of someone is a lot safer. I wouldn't say perfectly safe, this is how Harry Houdini died, after all. However, it's a lot safer that head wounds, and usually wouldn't result in any major injuries.

The downside is against a trained opponent, who's ready for the hit, it's not going to work. This isn't called a, “sucker punch,” without reason. If your abdominal muscles are tensed for the punch, they will absorb a lot of the blow. So this works better against the unaware or the untrained.

The other problem is, it's not going to take someone out for the duration of the scene. In a self defense situation, winding your attacker is great, because it lets you create an opening to start your escape. But, it's not going to stun someone for minutes. From personal experience, you can measure the time you gain from winding your opponent in seconds.

There are combos that start with winding someone and lead into more painful blows that can extend that opening. But, there is a continuity of force: Incapacitating someone for longer requires inflicting harm that is increasingly difficult (impossible) to moderate.

If the goal is to escape from someone who means you harm, then yeah, an elbow strike to their stomach, will give you the opportunity to get out of there.

If the goal is to have a prolonged conversation while standing over a defeated (but still living foe), that's not really something you can do intentionally. At the same time, intentional application of lethal force isn't as reliable as you might expect. For example, gunshot wounds to the head are only fatal ~98% of the time.

The issue with this train of thought is that the individual inflicting harm cannot moderate for the desired outcome. Knocking someone out, only for them to recover, is 100% possible. However, you can't do that intentionally. And having a character who does bounce another person's head off the pavement until they stop twitching, is an incredibly violent act, and it's not going to be a casual, “well they're just knocked out.” It's a, “Carl, that kills people,” moment.

If you want a character that is disproportionately violent, and probably scares everyone around them a bit, this will feed into that presentation. If you want a character who's a good person because they don't kill people, then attempting to inflict life altering injuries on someone is probably not the best way to demonstrate their ethics.

(Remember, Batman doesn't kill people, he just shatters their spines; leaving them at the mercy of the American health care system. So, the real moral lesson of Batman is that it's better to be psychologically unwell and wealthy, than economically disadvantaged. You can murder half of the city, and he'll gently deposit you in a padded cell that you can escape from whenever you get bored of the place, but if you so much as imply that you'll resort to less than legal means to put food on the table for your starving family, he will end your existence as a vertebrate.)

And, yes, I fully realize that, by the nature of his character, and comics, Batman (like most superhero comics) is poorly suited to discuss the complex factors involved in street level crime. This this is more of a critique on the treatment of “violence is okay, so long as no one ends up in the morgue,” more than a specific character critique.

There's another part to this that worth remembering, and I know I've said this before, but when you're writing, violence offers diminishing returns. Violence releases the tension you've been building. You can think of it like a rubber band gun. Until you pull the trigger, that rubber band is under tension, and the moment you release it, you hit your audience. Now, getting hit a rubber band is a sharp, and somewhat unpleasant experience, but the second time is going to annoy you less than the first, and if you're constantly bombarded with them, you'll quickly become numb to their impacts.

I'm not saying that you can't, or shouldn't, use violence, however as a writer, you are paying a very real cost whenever you use violence to resolve a scene. It's something that you do need to consider carefully. Part of my aversion to questions like this comes from this structural consideration. A lot of writers make the mistake of using non-lethal violence somewhat indiscriminately. This can absolutely harm the credibility of your characters, and your world.

There is absolutely a place for violence in stories, however, this is a tool that is most effective when used sparingly, or deliberately. (This doesn't mean the violence itself needs to be deliberate, just your use of it.)

A lot of the time when someone says, “I want to use violence to temporarily remove a character from the scene,” that's a scenario that will harm your story. There are a lot of ways to remove a character from a scene, and I don't mean, “alternatives to fighting,” like hiding from them or talking them down. The limit here is your creativity, and in a lot of ways, violence is the least interesting way to achieve your goals.

-Starke

This blog is supported through Patreon. Patrons get access to new posts three days early, and direct access to us through Discord. If you’re already a Patron, thank you. If you’d like to support us, please consider becoming a Patron.

[creature-wizard]

This is very random but, can we talk about the rise in “toxin free eating/clean eating”? Because all of this is so wild to me. The rise in “cleanliness” in general is so weird. (Not saying caring about hygiene is weird that’s not what this “cleanliness culture” is about.)

I’m sorry but drinking raw milk isn’t going to give you this missing nutrition BIG DAIRY has been keeping from you so they could fill you with toxins. Pasteurizing milk is a process so you don’t fucking die!!!

An uptick in bird flu cases have been reported in Dairy cows recently, and with all the dumbasses drinking raw milk that’s just putting yourself and so many others at risk.

But do they see that risk no. They are too busy posting tiktoks about how Air Fryers give people autism. And how “processed” foods are filled with evil toxins and give people autism. (Why the fuck does everything now a days give you autism) What do they think processes food are?? Putting a food in a wrapping is processing it.

Sugar, pasteurized milk, chemicals in an ingredient list you don’t understand, aren’t giving you autism or parasites or “toxins”. It’s crazy they will say they have a borax deficiency and start eating LITERAL BORAX THE LAUNDRY DETERGENT, but demonize sugar or oil. Stop moralizing your EDs and spreading false information to feed your delusions. Let’s also not ignore the political rhetoric that also helps prop up these ideas. (That’s way bigger conversation I don’t want to get into. Also I’m saying “your” and “you” not at YOU but at them. Sorry for any typos, I hope you understand what I’m trying to get at.)

We can and should talk about this! So many people today have been led to believe that Food In The Past was so much better and nobody got sick from anything they ate, which was just. So Not True. Like the reality is that food today is way safer than food in the past, and the health problems people suffer today were absolutely suffered by people in the past. Like you only have to read something like the Lacnunga to see this for yourself.

[weaselle]

@biggyb I wanted to answer you and then it became so much that i felt it needed to be it's own post.

So, if it was enacted on a large or ubiquitous scale, that is absolutely a concern, that if everybody had more money prices would just increase, rendering the UBI useless.

what would we do about that?

One the one hand that is basically already what happens anyway, which is why cost of living increases etc are a thing. And on the other hand there are a few mechanisms that can curb that, things like rent control laws.

But ultimately, personally, i believe the real answer is to remove the money aspect and provide the basic necessities directly.

When we say UBI we’re basically talking about the government giving us money (which has to come from somewhere, and that probably means some kind of progressive wealth tax, which is really just wealth redistribution at that point but whatever)

Anyway I believe it would be more effective for the government to provide those things directly (but not exclusively). I believe the baseline for society is everybody has free access to:

HEALTHCARE

All forms of healthcare (this is an important one, the very best we can do should be available to anyone who needs it, with no conditions, no barriers to entry like complicated paperwork, if you need health care you should get it, period.

INFORMATION

This means a free press, and education, true, but i also mean internet access, which at this point in our society i think is necessary for equality

NUTRITION

So, not just food, but a complete diet. This can still be very basic, little more than rice and beans, with medical exemption options of course, but it can be enough that it is the bare minimum food types, maybe rice beans and a couple types of dark green veggie and a couple types of vitamin C fruit. Possibly eggs or peanuts or something. Nothing fancy, just good quality ingredients that contain enough nutrition to keep you not only alive but fully healthy. And i think this should be provided in both raw ingredient form and cooked form.

CLOTHING

This one gets overlooked a lot, but kids need shoes, and struggling people need blankets and jackets, and everybody needs access to clothes, actually. Again, can be very basic, maybe government issued overalls, socks, jackets, blankets, and some kind of cheap tennis shoes would be most of it, but everybody needs access to clothes.

And finally HOUSING

So for example, the government would build apartment complexes that were just freely available to the public, first come first serve, you sign for it and the apartment is yours until you give it up or take another apartment.

We already have our government building and running public schools and libraries, we just need to upgrade those a bit. We already have governments building and running hospitals, we just need to do a lot more of that a lot better and get these private insurance companies to fuck off.

And then we just need to provide the clothes, open the Food Distribution Centers and build the housing.

Because then it won’t be money, so you don’t have to worry about the prices of everything going up because everybody has more income, which you are correct, is a concern. So just provide those things directly.

This is much less like taking money from the super wealthy and putting it into the bank accounts of everyone else, and much more the way taxes are supposed to work taking money from those that can spare it and using it to build a society that is better for everyone - even improving things for those super wealthy people (who now at the very least get to walk around safer from the sick and the homeless and the desperate - i mean violent crime alone would probably do whatever the opposite of sky-rocket is. Ground-dive.)

And people will still get jobs and spend money! Like, just because you provide government overalls, doesn’t mean people will stop wanting fashion brands. But now nobody will die of exposure from not having clothes. Same with everything, for example, the government school system is extremely developed, but there are still private schools, right?

That would be true of all this. If you gave everyone access to basic nutrition, there would still be steak houses and sushi restaurants and stuff. But now you could actually have the public boycott foods they felt were sourced unethically, or you could, say, regulate the fishing industry into sustainability even if that meant fish became so expensive that the average person could only eat fish once a year or whatever. Businesses might die from it, but no people would. Not even the people who used to own those businesses.

For my money, no money is where it’s at. But UBI would be a nice stepping stone.

What UBI experiments show us is that when you give people money and they DON’T get a job, but just exist at the minimum level, they are usually only doing so to accomplish something like go back to school for a degree or take care of a disabled or elderly loved one.

And the same would be true if we just provided everyone with the basics (except healthcare, everybody must get the best we have when it comes to healthcare, anything else is a moral failing that doesn’t bear contemplating)

but yeah, there would be people who would only wear government issued overalls, only live in government barracks, and only eat government rice and beans… but UBI experiments show us that it would be a small percentage of the population, and they'd only be doing it either to accomplish something worthy, or because they were in some way impaired. 90% of everyone else would still be out there getting jobs so they could move into a nice house and eat fish, but now with the security to quit if those jobs didn’t treat them well!

imo, THAT’s how you fix the economic issues surrounding UBI, you take the “income” out of the equation and you just straight up provide the Universal Basics themselves.

"but how would we build all these apartments and run these food distribution centers?"

well, this dovetails into my other favorite solution for the united states.

See, we spend a FUCKTON on the military, and we're just never going to make that stop happening, apparently.

So I say, we INCREASE the military. I say double it even.

And then we use them here, keeping them sharp and employed and trained etc by doing public works.

The military is already full of engineers and cooks and doctors and electricians and forklift operators and everything else.

So get them building apartments and running food distribution and supplementing hospital staffs etc.

All that stuff involves, logistics, and teamwork, and knowing how to run projects and accomplish missions, it's all good training even for the combat personnel, which is only 15% of the people in the military btw.

The rest are those other jobs i mentioned. So hire and train even more of them, and then deploy them here, repairing bridges and building hospitals and managing clothing warehouses and stuff.

anyway. Food for thought.

[hxney-lemcn]

Scavenger — Farmworld! Finn Mertens x gn! reader

summery: After Finn saved their life, reader becomes a family friend of the Mertens. What happens when the family becomes too accustomed to their presence?

tw: mentions of blood and injury (nothing too descriptive but it's there). hurt/comfort. this is gn! but I couldn't find a good term for a gn! parent...but you can choose what they call you :)

a/n: I am so down bad for Farmworld Finn that it brought me out of my hole and got me writing again lmao. So enjoy

wc: 1.9k

Master List

The sun beat down heavily as I ventured from stall to stall. I shifted my scarf to better cover my shoulders from the sunlight. I was a scavenger. I explored the desolate lands that were already looted as is and took any interesting trinkets I could manage to find. I’d trade it for food or any other things I needed, then I’d head out of the city to the Merten's household. It was a lineup I ended in a long time ago. 

Years ago, I found myself attacked by a group of mutant coyotes while on a hunt. I fought them off the best I could, but ended up wounded in return. I cursed myself for not carrying more medical supplies. I cleaned and wrapped my wounds to the best of ability, but I knew I needed to head back to the city. The walk back felt longer than I remembered, and suddenly in my slightly dazed mind, I realized I wasn’t aware of my surroundings. 

Scavenging was a dangerous practice. You had to be aware of your surroundings at all times, because for all you knew you were on some gang territory and you’d be dead or seriously injured. I myself didn’t join any gang, I worked alone. Which may seem dumb, but I find that you’re not too much safer in any gang than alone. They’re all selfish and only seem to care for themselves. Even without gangs, you have to be aware of wildlife, as everything has become more dangerous. Not to mention stocking up. You can’t bring too much with you, not that there’s much supplies anyways, but if you bring too little you might as well be dead.

I kept walking, trying to gather in my surroundings. Blood started to drip down my arm, my wound having been poorly bandaged. I tried to stay calm as the pain was pounding throughout my body, hoping glob would look down on me with pity and bring me someone who would help. 

I couldn’t stop the pained yelp as I absentmindedly brushed against a thorny bush. My chest constricted as the world started to spin, stars invading my vision. If this was how I ended…it would honestly be really sad. I kept walking until I stumbled to the ground. Perhaps I should rest. I leaned back against a tree, focusing on breathing properly. The swirling got worse as I heard a branch being broken. I took out my dagger, looking around, which only made everything worse.  

I closed my eyes hard, trying to correct my vision. If I’m dying, I’m going down fighting. More rustling was heard and I quickly opened my eyes, only to see a man in front of me. He was tall, fit, and had one prosthetic arm. I don’t remember seeing him in any gangs, I would remember since he definitely stands out. I can only hope he’ll be merciful.

“Please…help,” I whispered out before I finally fell unconscious. 

That was how I met Finn Mertens.

Merciful he was. Him and his children helped nurse me back to health, and in return, I helped around the house where I could. At first, Finn didn’t want me doing anything, but I insisted that I wasn’t going to be a burden on this already large family. So he agreed I could help the kids with small house chores. It felt embarrassing when he told his oldest kid, Jay, to keep an eye on me. 

When I was nearly fully healed, I thanked the family, and promised to visit and bring them something for their kindness. Finn seemed a bit weary, but didn’t protest. 

Which led to now. I’ve grown quite close to the family. When I’m out scavenging, I can’t help but search for toys or items the kids would enjoy, or possibly even Finn…but he’s a bit hard to please. When in the city, I trade for items that I know will help them out, and in return, they allow me to stay for as long as I need to. It's a nice symbiotic relationship. 

I smiled as I finally approached the house. I managed to get some really good meat, and I was even thinking of cooking something for the family. I only hope Finn doesn’t react too badly to the proposition. I understand how the soup they’ve been eating means a lot to them, and I hope I’m not overstepping, but I also know how they must want to try something different.

I knocked on the door, hoping it would be Finn answering so I could talk to him about the meal first. It seemed like glob really was on my side as Finn stood on the other side.

“You know you don’t have to knock anymore,” Finn greeted.

I looked off to the side a bit embarrassed, “I know but I still feel awkward about it.” I wasn’t sure if I was seeing things, but I swear he slightly smiled. 

“Come in,” He motioned. 

“Oh!” I exclaimed, almost forgetting what I was gonna ask due to his handsomeness. “Hey I was wondering-”

I was cut off by a chorus of the younger kids calling out my name.

“Hey guys,” I smiled, setting my sack on the kitchen counter. “I gotta talk to your dad real quick okay? Then I’ll come and see what you’re up to.”

“Okay!” They cheered, pushing each other slightly as they ran off. 

I turned back to Finn who was already looking at me, I felt shy under his gaze. It was held with a warmth I normally only see him look at his kids with. I opened my sack revealing the cut of meat I got.

“I was wondering if it would be okay to cook something for dinner,” I finally said, keeping my eyes down. It was silent for a few seconds which put me a bit on edge, “I don’t mean to overstep or anything, I totally understand if you want to stick to the stew. I can just add the meat to that-”

“Okay.”

I looked up at him in shock, “Seriously?”

He nodded, “I can help.”

My heart stuttered, not expecting him to let me cook in the first place, let alone help. “O-okay!” I slightly stuttered, feeling a warmth enveloping me at the situation. “Do you have any seasonings?”

At first it was only Finn and I cooking, but slowly, the kids started joining as well. Some came when I didn’t come find them like I promised earlier, others enticed by the smell of something other than stew. It was nice, a big family bonding moment. 

I think that's what kept drawing me back. Not only did I find Finn to be handsome, but his family was such a welcoming one. I wasn’t a fan of children, I didn’t really have any experience with them. Growing up in a wasteland, children meant more mouths to feed. And I was never really focused on finding love or making a family. I had to look after myself. I didn’t have land, or any prestige. Just a scavenger looking for their next meal. 

So being tended to and cared for by five children was a bit of a shock. I got to know them on a personal level and my aversion to children seemed to vanish. I was awkward around them at first, but I learned how to treat them, and soon I found myself wanting to be there for them. The domesticity of it all warmed me in a way I thought was impossible. It made me forget that the world was unforgiving, that there was still good in the world. 

“Dinner is served,” I stated proudly, seven plates of food set on the table.

“Thanks (momma/daddy),” Bonnie thanked absentmindedly before digging in.

I felt myself tense, looking over to Finn who also seemed tense. Oh glob please tell me I didn’t do something wrong. I mean her calling me as her parent wasn’t my fault, but I didn’t want to seem like I was replacing their beloved mother. Nothing was said as the children ate without worry. Jay tried to talk about something he found, and I tried replying like I wasn’t sweating bullets, but I think he felt the tension too. 

Once dinner was finished, I went to wash the dishes, wanting to avoid any thought of what just happened. If I pretend like nothing happened, it never did…yup. It didn’t help that after everyone was finished eating (which was very quick), Finn just walked out the door. 

“Hey,” Jay popped in. 

“Hello,” I replied, putting the dish to the side to be rinsed.

Without saying anything, he helped rinse the dishes. It was like that for a minute before he finally said something, “You’ve become a member of our family. We still love our mother…but you’ve helped bring back something she left. Dad’s been a lot happier…Neptr’s been learning a lot more with the gadgets you bring him. Stormo’s gotten a lot stronger with the basic defense you teach him. Fern found that he loves nature through what you’ve taught him in the forest. Bonnie loves having someone to play with. And…you’ve helped me with…my thing…”

“How’s Little D been?” I asked with a soft smile.

“Good,” Jay blushed slightly. “I know Dad is still struggling with Mom’s passing…but you’re good for this family. So…please don’t leave.”

I looked over to him in shock, “Leave? Oh Jay, I’m not leaving. I just…don’t want to seem like I’m replacing her. And ultimately, the decision is up to your father. I mean…if he deems…I don’t know, that I’ve become too close, or…I know I’m just overthinking. I just don’t want to upset anyone.”

“You’re not upsetting anyone,” Finn’s voice rang out from behind us. I felt myself flustered in embarrassment at the fact he heard about my worries. Jay took it as his queue to leave and I turned around to face the man I was slightly avoiding. Finn motioned me to follow him and we sat in the living room, the kids being occupied by their own interests.

“I’m…sorry if I made you feel that way earlier,” Finn apologized, staring into the fireplace. 

“It’s not your fault,” I laughed nervously. “You know how I get.” His gaze fell onto me, and the pure emotion in his eyes made me melt.

“I’ve come to realize just how important you are to our family, how important you are to me,” He continued. My heart melted even worse when he called his family ours. “...I…” He seemed to struggle with what he was trying to communicate.

I slid closer to him, putting my hand over his gently. Our fingers intertwined and suddenly the room felt really warm. I think I know what he’s trying to imply, but I want to be 100% sure. We sat like that for a few minutes, letting him think of the right way of saying what he wanted to. 

“Would you stay, and officially become a part of our family?” He asked, the lightest tint of pinks covering his cheeks. 

“Are you asking me to marry you?” I blurted out, feeling my own cheeks warm at the thought. Although we never officially courted or dated…I wouldn’t be opposed. 

“We can take things slow if you’d rather.”

Leaning over, I kissed his cheek, “I think we’ve been going pretty slow.”

…

“Good job Bonnie,” Jay whispered, handing her a fruit he got from the city as they watched their dad and new parent finally come together.

[spacefacedtragedy]

Things you can do to prep for Trump 2025!

Please keep in mind this is based off of things I'm actively doing or trying to encourage others to do. Only participate in activities and actions that genuinely bring you safety and/or joy. The most important thing right now, is staying alive.

1: Make connections

Go out and meet people! Connect with groups, friends, anyone in your community that is supportive of you and any lifestyles you have. There's going to be a horrible rise in conflict and aggression, it's best to stay together and focus on helping support each other, love will win in the end!

2:Stockpile resources

As inflation hits, discrimination rises, and people may loose access to resources, stockpile what you can afford. If you have EBT, stockpile rice, canned food, frozen things esp, and be ready to distribute if you hear about it in the community. Food banks may be allowed to deny food, same with medicine and even health products for daily living. Try getting what you need the most of, or things that are hardest to grab first. If you're staying as long as you can, keep a small bag of food near you too, that can easily be snagged.

3: EDUCATE

They love banning things, from books to expressions to people's activities. Read everything you can, get copies and make libraries. Open your mind to how other people think and feel so you can try to relate and help. Learn skills you might not have, like sewing so you can fix clothes, making your own books, ect. Read up on laws, and keep an eye on your area for warning signs. Learn about survival tactics, self defense, basically anything you might need.

4: Start programs/community

Even if it's just a small meeting once a month, start organizing events. Ask spaces to use them if you trust them, but definitely keep private, enclosed areas as a plan too. Meet as much as you can handle it, and talk about that others might need vs what you can actively do. I meet up with people once a week to drink tea and knit, and I've learned how to make clothes just by doing that. You could teach them the trick you learned on cooking something, or good ways to cope with loss/fear/dread. Support groups are important, but lgbtq focused ones need to start hiding now.

5: See a doctor

There's massive plans that will affect those in lower classes. Go to a doctor, get a check up before it all goes down. However much you usually pay, will no doubt doubly by a year in, so get what you can out of the way now.

6: passports!

Legal papers, like birth certificates, IDs, immigration documents, these can help so much! But a passport is almost certain proof for some us agencies that it may even help if they start doing harder crack downs. Some news sources also report locking down our borders down, so I'm not sure how real that's gonna be but it's best to have the documents, than having to wait nearly a month or two to get the card.

7: Save money

I know, inflation is so harsh rn, everyone is struggling to even eat it think. But it's gonna get so much worse for the lowered classes, and if you don't have a savings you need to start. Even $50 could change something for the better, or get you somewhere safer. Pull out cash if you can't trust your bank, but save as much as you can over the next few months. It's not gonna be easy, and giving up going out to eat is really hard, I miss it so much too, but you're not doing this because it's fun. You're gonna survive it, and you can control yourself.

The very worst thing one can do to their enemies, is stay alive and be happy.

[another-whump-sideblog]

Fixing Tracy — Illness

TWs in the tags

Masterlist

Somehow, Tracy is even more tired than before. She's stopped worrying about escape methods, which if anything should free up her mental energy, but she's just exhausted. Using the gym, which used to be easy, saps Tracy's strength further, until she stops using it altogether.

She's not even just tired, she's achy and weak and hypersensitive to cold. Molly must've changed what she's drugging her with, or maybe stopped drugging her, causing withdrawal. It doesn't really matter, there’s nothing Tracy can do about it either way.

“How are you feeling?” Molly has been hovering around Tracy, worried, since the disaster of Tracy’s last escape attempt.

Tracy shrugs, staring at but not really watching the movie Molly put on.

After a moment, Molly moves to slap Tracy!— oh wait, she’s just placing her hand against Tracy’s forehead. False alarm.

“You’re burning up…” is that excitement in her voice? “I should’ve checked that sooner, you’d think a former nurse would know not to just assume something is mental health related without checking! I’ll— I’ll make you some soup, and read to you, and keep a lukewarm washcloth on your forehead—“

“I don’t get sick, Molly.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I don’t get sick.” Tracy repeats. “You know why I’m miserable, you just want to blame it on something that you can fix without letting me go.”

“…I know you probably won’t suddenly feel great about everything after you’re better. But you won’t be sick anymore, and that’ll help at least a little.”

“I’m not sick!”

Molly chuckles. “Whatever you say, dear. I’m going to go make some soup, is that okay?”

Tracy can’t come up with an answer to that that doesn’t make her sound like a pouty child. “…fine.”

Molly’s definitely got a spring in her step as she heads to the kitchen. She seems to really like the idea of Tracy being sick. Not because she likes it when Tracy suffers, Tracy's fairly certain that she doesn't, but because she likes how vulnerable it would make Tracy. Which is worse. Tracy shudders. Just from the thought of how creepy Molly is, not chills or anything of the sort, because Tracy doesn’t get sick.

Tracy rests her eyes. She's so, so tired. So…

She wakes up in her bed with a washcloth on her forehead. She's definitely being drugged, how else would Molly move her from the couch to her bed without Tracy even stirring?

"Are you awake? Are you hungry? I ended up putting the soup in the fridge since you were asleep, if you're hungry I'll reheat it for you."

Tracy rubs her eyes. "...what kind of soup?"

"Chicken noodle. Can't go wrong with a classic."

"Mm… I can reheat it myself." Tracy tries to get out of bed, but Molly gently pushes her back down. "I'm not sick. You're fucking drugging me, and I can't avoid it because there's no food here that hasn't gone through you first."

"The only time I ever drugged you was to get you from your old place to here. I can have some of the soup too, if it helps you feel safer."

"Reheating it myself would would help me feel safer."

"Hmm… what if I brought in a bowl of soup and had some in front of you so you know it’s safe? With a different spoon, of course.”

“Then the spoon could have a drug on it.”

“But… germs… what if I brought a few spoons, and you can pick which to use and which to have me use?”

“…that works. Wait— no, I want to get it myself, I’m not—“

“You are sick, dear. Even if you were sick because I drugged you, that wouldn't mean you're not sick, right? You'd just be sick for an unconventional reason. I haven't drugged you, but if you can't believe that, can you at least believe that you need extra care right now, whether it's because of a virus or drugs?"

"No, I don't get sick! Stop treating me like I’m incompetent! I’m not—“ hot tears fall from Tracy’s eyes. Could this get any more humiliating? “I’m not that weak! I’m not pathetic, I don’t get sick!”

“Being sick doesn’t mean you’re weak or incompetent or pathetic.”

“I’m not sick! I don’t get sick, please stop saying that, I’m not— I don’t make excuses, I’m not sick, I can do it!”

"...okay. This seems like something we should talk about when you're feeling better. For now… could you just humor me? Please, I desperately want to take care of you. It’s not because I think you’re weak or incompetent or pathetic or making excuses. It’s the opposite, actually. I know you can do it. You’re so strong, and you always work so hard. You deserve to be taken care of. Will you please let me take care of you?”

“You’d just drug me more if I said no.”

Molly looks crestfallen. “I… is there anything I could do to convince you I’m not going to do that?”

Tracy shakes her head.

“That’s… that’s okay. You don’t have to trust me, and… I’m glad you don’t feel like you have to pretend to. I’m glad you can be honest with me.” She looks at Tracy with big, sad blue eyes. “Do you really want to get the soup yourself? Or do you just not want me to do it?”

Does she actually want to get the soup herself? It… wouldn’t actually prevent Molly from drugging it, since she could’ve beforehand. Even with Molly’s offer to eat some to show that it’s safe, eating a little of something drugged wouldn’t have as strong an effect as eating a lot of something drugged. And if Tracy pushed for Molly to eat the same amount as her… Molly could just say no, and then what would Tracy do? She has to eat. Tracy will eventually eat what Molly wants her to whether it’s drugged or not. Even if Molly did eat the same amount as Tracy, it’s always possible that she has higher tolerance to the drug she put in the food, or has access to a drug to neutralize the effects of the drug she put in the food. There’s no point in trying to ensure the food isn’t drugged. It always could be, no matter what.

And Tracy feels like shit. Does she want to get out of bed when she doesn’t have to?

…No, of course not. Who would want to make things harder for themselves on purpose, when the same result is reached either way? Of course she wants the easier way. That’s… that’s not weakness, that’s normal. It’s normal. Healthy, even. That’s what Tracy has told Alicia to comfort her countless times, and Tracy doesn’t lie, not to Alicia.

Really, the only reason she wants to do it herself is because Molly would really enjoy getting soup for her, and that’s creepy as fuck. Is that all this argument is about? Molly would enjoy taking care of Tracy, so Tracy doesn’t want to let her?

This is such a pointless, childish power struggle, and Tracy is too tired to continue it. “I guess I just wanted to argue.” Tracy says softly. “You can get the soup. I don’t care.”

The answer doesn’t seem to make Molly happy. “I… that’s very self aware of you. I’m proud of you. I’ll be right back.”

Molly leaves the bedroom and Tracy pulls a blanket over her head. She’s so fucking worthless, can’t even get soup for herself… but… she can. She could’ve. Molly wanted to do it for her. Molly begged to do it for her. So… what does that say about Tracy, that she let Molly do it? She doesn’t know. Well… it doesn’t matter. Who cares?

Achy and tired and trying not to cry, Tracy groans into her pillow. She can’t go on like this. Every little thing can’t be a huge debate and power struggle. What else can she do, though? Just accept that she’s stuck and do whatever Molly wants? She doesn’t want to fight and she doesn’t want to give in either.

Molly finds Tracy curled up under the covers crying when she comes back. “Oh, dear… what’s wrong?”

Tracy doesn’t answer. There’s no point in starting another argument.

“I know, I know, I know it’s hard. I’m sure you’re really miserable right now, but I promise it’ll get better.”

“I’m so tired.” Tracy sobs. Tired of fighting, tired of losing, tired tired tired.

“Let’s get some soup in you, then you can go back to sleep. Can you sit up? I brought a few spoons so that you can pick which one you use and which one I use if you want me to prove it’s not drugged.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Tracy stops hiding under the covers like a child and sits up. She reaches out to take the bowl of soup from Molly’s hands, but Molly seems to have a different plan. She picks out a spoon and sets the rest down, then fills the spoon with soup and starts bringing it towards Tracy’s lips.

“What the fuck is wrong with you??” Tracy knocks the spoon out of Molly’s hand. “I can feed myself! I’m not— I’m not…” anger quickly gives way to horror. “You- you think I’m sick. You think I’m so sick I need help bringing a spoon to my mouth, and— and I’m still here. Not in a hospital.”

“…I just wasn’t thinking. Of course you wouldn’t want me to do tha—“

“If I was so sick I couldn’t eat on my own, would you take me to the hospital?”

“I was a nurse, dear. Breathe. You’re safe, I can take care of you.”

“What if— what if I had a heart attack or a stroke or something?? What if my appendix burst, you’ve never been a surgeon, have you??”

“That’s extremely unlik—“

“Humor me! What would you do?”

“You don’t need to worry about that. I don’t want you intentionally injuring yourself to try and get away, so I’ll leave it vague, but I do have plans in place. You’re safe with me.”

“I’m going to die here! Alicia won’t even know! They’ll never find my body!” Screaming again so soon after last time does not do her throat any favors, but she’s too panicked to care.

“You’re safe. Can you take some deep breaths for me?”

Thoroughly drained by her outburst, Tracy lies down and complies. Molly guides her through breathing exercises until Tracy can hardly keep her eyes open.

“I hate seeing you so scared. I would do absolutely anything to help you feel safe, so please let me know if there’s anything I can do. I’m going to leave the soup and the spoons here on the nightstand, okay? I’ll bring you a water bottle too.” She picks up the spoon Tracy knocked out of her hand. “I’ll take this, since I assume you don’t want a spoon that’s been on the floor. I’ll clean the carpet later. Does all that sound good?”

Tracy doesn’t answer and tries to pretend she’s already asleep.

“You’ll feel better once you’ve had some sleep and food.” Molly says softly. “If I could take your sickness on myself so that you didn’t have to be this miserable, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I love you so much.”

Tracy is asleep before Molly’s footsteps leave the room.

Tag list: @whumpyourdamnpears @watermelons-dont-grow-on-trees @iamheretohurt

[ceapa-mica]

Bad Day - a Thrawn headcanon

a/n: Whether you're sick, on your period or are suffering from the good ol' stressy depressy, this headcanon is for you. ❤️

This will get slightly NSFW later so 🔞

Thrawn takes your wellbeing very seriously. He picks up on any cues you're not feeling your best right away.

Better get ready to be spoiled, because during your relationship Thrawn took mental notes of what you like (and dislike).

First of all he makes sure you take time off work. Using your datapad to work in bed? Nope, he makes sure you focus solely on getting better.

He orders your favorite food from the mess hall. A hot soup if you're sick, and chocolate when you're on your period.

I headcanon that Chiss are immune to most human viruses and bacterial infections.

So it's not surprising he lies down next to you and works from his datapad.

You're the little spoon, no questions about it. His tall, strong body is enveloping you, his body heat keeping you warm better than any heating pad could. There is no place you feel safer than in his arms.

If you're sick, he orders a medical droid to check on you. He always has painkillers in his quarters for that time of the month. If your mental health is the problem, he will listen to you and makes sure you feel loved and appreciated at all times.

Although he doesn't share your love for your comfort holo movies/series, he doesn't mind you watching them while he works on his datapad.

He makes sure to have a supply of your favorite hot beverage in his quarters.

He tells you stories of his people to distract you from your ailments. Little do you know you're the only person he tells these stories to.

Should you get into the mood™, he takes his time to make you feel really good. Whether you prefer it slow and sensual or fast and rough, whatever makes you feel better. He draws the line at physical pain and degrading you though.

Should you be on your period, Thrawn is a warrior. He doesn't mind a little blood. Just put a towel under you and you're good to go.

And last but not least, should you be the type who needs some space, and time for yourself to feel better, Thrawn would acknowledge and respect your decision, making sure all your needs are met. He respects your boundaries after all. Just comm him in case you need anything.

To him you are his most precious piece of art and the light in his dull Imperial life. He wants you to be comfortable and that you take your time to recover. He loves you and wants you to know, no matter how bad you feel, you will feel better again. Not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon. He knows your body and mind are strong and can deal with anything.

Feel free to add to this headcanon! ❤️

[badpoliticaltakes]

I agree that qe should support poor people who want to have those children! Sadly government support like that has never been enough. Abortion would save children feom being born into abusive households when its not the mother who is abusive, many women get pregnant and then cant escape those relationships because of their children (corrective rape and forceful impregnation is a thing that affects a lot of people) so allowing them to escape those relationships before having children on safer terms would be better

Heres an study on how abortion being banned increases maternal deaths https:// ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306396

Hello!

Thank you for the link to the study! There were several issues I had with it specifically that are acknowledged in the study - potential misclassification of Maternal Deaths (see 'Study Limitations'), as well as the study's struggle to establish a link of causality (which is always difficult, I do understand).

Many of the issues with abortion that have the potentiality to affect Maternal Mortality I think could be solved in other ways (such as previous chronic conditions being exacerbated), and in the Discussions section it says this:

To me, these confounding issues are worth focusing on. More of an emphasis on family in their legislation would aid in paid family leave, and would help generate a dynamic where women could stay and look after their children without facing poverty. We should put more of an emphasis on primary care, and improve the health of people (especially through critiques of the food industry and the looking at the monetisation of healthcare as a barrier).

I do believe women should have access to contraception, and better sex education and family planning. I also think that what would help pregnant women who have been abandoned by their partners, or are in abusive relationship is a strong community (not necessarily religious), and that a lot of pregnant women would feel less inclined to have an abortion if they had that support.

Regarding your point about abusive relationships and abortion, I have the similar and opposite concern - that men in abusive relationships may coerce women into getting an abortion as an additional form of control, and as a way to further exercise control over their body. If unprotected sex became something that lacked consequence for men, then they could impregnate women as they please, and that greatly concerns me. This is why, ideally, I think men should be held accountable for their families, and if they impregnate a woman have responsibility to be a father (except for certain case such as incest, rape, abuse), and this would create a culture that respects life and women.

I think it's worth stating that I don't wish to ban abortion in cases of incest or rape, or when a woman's life is in danger, but I do wish to prevent the lack of responsibility that seems to be emerging in our culture around pregnancy and parenthood. Furthermore (and this is especially concerning as a disabled person myself), the way I have seen some women describe aborting their babies who may be disabled is greatly concerning, and that is a side to the abortion debate that I feel often gets ignored.

I do wonder, to the women who wish to have abortions, if there is anything that would influence them to have their baby. Maybe not, but I do wonder if we shifted the culture and discussion around pregnancy and motherhood to not be so negative (babies as parasites and leeches, pregnancy as a condition or ailment, family as a burden) and more of an emphasis on support, that more women would be inclined to not have an abortion.

I hope this illustrated my point, and please feel free to send me another ask! This was super interesting to debate about, thank you!

[crystallinestars]

Falling asleep and waking up together with him

A collection of headcanons on what I think falling asleep and waking up with a few of the Genshin men would be like (alternatively, just me rambling about how much they love you).

Characters: Thoma, Xiao, Kaveh, Alhaitham, Wriothesley, Diluc, Childe, and Kazuha

Thoma

🍡 Thoma comes home late after his duties as a housekeeper for the Kamisato clan. He’s used to the grueling work, so he’s not as exhausted as he used to be when he first started the job, but the physical work still takes a toll on him, and he tends to fall asleep pretty quickly. Even so, he tries to stay awake long enough to chat with you while you snuggle in bed together, sharing stories about your day and your hopes for the future. Thoma likes to hug you close to him while you both fall asleep, both because he enjoys feeling your presence and because he feels the need to keep you safe. And no place is safer than in his arms, or so he thinks.

🍡 As a part of his duties for the Kamisato clan, Thoma wakes up really early so he and other housekeepers can get started on cleaning and cooking before the masters of the manor wake up. As such, he always wakes up before you, so you hardly ever get to see him before he leaves your shared home. Thoma feels bad that he can’t greet you a good morning in person, but he still wants to show you that he cares, so he cooks you breakfast. It’s become a routine for you to walk into the kitchen in the morning and find an entire breakfast spread on the table full of various delicious foods and a note from Thoma wishing you a good day ahead. Thoma also packs you a lunch for you to take to work (or eat at home). By nature, Thoma feels compelled to take care of you, and he will be damned if you go hungry.

🍡 If he comes home to find that you haven’t eaten breakfast, then he’ll be disappointed and scold you for skipping the most important meal of the day. He would be genuinely upset and worried for your health, fussing over you almost like a parent. It would be in your best interest to just eat the breakfast he prepares you to avoid worrying him more.

🍡 During your mutual days off, Thoma still wakes up early out of habit. He lays in bed next to you while you sleep, keeping his arms wrapped around you as he watches you snooze. The two of you don’t always have as much time to spend together as you’d like due to your busy schedules, so Thoma tries to take advantage of these moments to spend time with you and admire you. He wants to let you sleep, but seeing your cute sleeping expression fills him with too much affection for him to contain, and he can’t help but press a few kisses to your forehead and cheeks. Thoma’s kisses usually disturb your sleep, and he apologizes for waking you. He lets you go back to sleep if you want to and just gets up by himself, or if you choose to stay awake, he’ll be delighted to shower you in more kisses and hug you tighter to him, getting in some of that affection he didn’t have the chance to indulge in during the week.

🍡 Thoma loves waking up together with you, as rarely as that happens, since it gives him more time to spend with you. His favorite activity to do with you is cooking a meal together, so it becomes routine for you to help him out in the kitchen while he cooks you both breakfast. Even if your cooking skills are lacking, Thoma instructs you on what you can do to help, making sure to keep the tasks simple if you’re not much of a chef like he is. Even if he ends up doing most of the work, Thoma appreciates whatever help you provide him with. After all, the purpose of cooking together is less about the outcome and more about doing something together with you. He also finds that eating together with you makes the food taste better. You can laugh at him for that and poke fun at him all you want, but he claims that it’s true. Being around you just makes everything better.

Xiao

👹 Xiao refuses to sleep in the same bed as you, saying he doesn’t want to risk exposing you to his karma for extended periods of time. No matter how much you try to convince or beg him, his answer is always a firm no. He loves you, and it’s because he treasures you so much that he doesn’t want to hurt you. It would break him if you fell to harm because of him, so he always turns down your offers to sleep next to you even if it breaks his heart to see the disappointment in your eyes. He wants you to understand that he’s only doing this to keep you safe, but he always feels guilty for letting you down, and the guilt haunts him even after he leaves you to vanish into the night.

👹 At some point, his constant rejection depresses you. Even if you know why he avoids sleeping with you, understand that his reasons are good, it still hurts that you can’t engage in such simple intimacy with him. Xiao hates seeing you look so down because of him, so he agrees on a compromise. He’ll stay in the bedroom with you until you fall asleep, but he won’t lie next to you. It’s the best outcome you could hope for from him, so you agree. It’s not the same as having him right next to you and feeling his warmth, but it’s better than nothing. It’s still fun to talk to him while you wait for sleep to take you, hearing his calm and soft voice resound from a dark corner of your room in response to your questions and stories is reassuring. Despite what he may think, you feel safe having Xiao nearby, and when you tell him this, all that follows is silence. His only response is that you should go to sleep, but you can tell by the lilt in his voice that he’s embarrassed. Although you can’t see his face, you’re confident that he’s blushing.

👹 Once you’re asleep, Xiao likes to take a few minutes to watch you sleep to ensure you’re fine. If you have nightmares, he uses his abilities to eat them so they won’t disturb your rest. He has bad memories of consuming the dreams of others back when he was under the enslavement of a cruel god, but after watching you struggle with your nightmares and seeing how frightened they made you, he thought that he could help you. It is with this intention that he offered to eat your nightmares, and only starts ridding you of them after he got your consent. Xiao still feels a bit uncertain about eating your nightmares, but when you thank him for helping you in this way, he feels a bit better about it. He’s only done this to hurt others in the past, so he’s glad that his ability can actually help you.

👹 On rare occasions Xiao actually does lay down beside you, though you’re never aware of it because he does it while you’re asleep. He avoids touching you so as to not accidentally wake you, which is why you remain unaware. He’s not sure what drives him to go against his own words of caution, but there are times when he wants to be close to you. Yes, he holds your hand and exchanges kisses with you (though it’s mostly you kissing him), and that is its own form of closeness, but resting next to you while you are so vulnerable brings him a sense of peace. While he lays beside you you, Xiao likes to close his eyes and listen to your slow and even breaths. He tries to imagine what a normal life with you would be like if he weren’t affected by his karmic debt, and his mind comes up with images where he can hold you close to him as you both sleep, where he can spend more time around you and your friends without worrying about hurting anyone. But for now, laying down beside you like this for a short while is enough. Xiao doesn’t dare ask for more.

👹 In the mornings, you usually won’t find any traces of Xiao. He’s gone by the time the sun rises, whether to fight demons or hide out at the Wangshu Inn, you’re not sure. Regardless, you end up eating breakfast alone unless you call on him to join you. Xiao will always appear before you without fail, and though he won’t be pleased with you for calling on him for such a simple reason, he will stay with you while you eat your breakfast. He tells you to not make this a regular thing, reminding you of the dangers of his karmic debt. Even so, he wants you to be happy, and if his presence is what makes you happy, then he’ll indulge you a little.

Kaveh

🍷 Kaveh’s sleep schedule is inconsistent. Some nights he stays up until the early morning working on draft after draft for his client until he’s satisfied with the finished product. On other nights he gets too drunk or too tired and clocks in earlier. As such, each night you never know when your boyfriend will join you in bed.

🍷 On nights when Kaveh stays up late, he seldom listens to your urging to leave his work for later and finally get some sleep. As frustrating as his stubbornness can be, Kaveh is too bound by his perfectionism and work ethic to stop. But once he’s finally finished his work and gets into bed next to your sleeping figure, nothing brings him as much comfort and peace as holding you in his arms after a grueling workday. All the stress, worry, anxiety, and frustration melt away when he feels your warmth, the softness of your skin, and breathes in your scent. Even while asleep you still manage to chase away his loneliness and sadness just with your presence, and Kaveh will forever consider himself incredibly lucky that you chose to stay by his side despite how difficult it can be.

🍷 Kaveh holds you close as he falls asleep, nuzzling his face into your hair or the crook of your neck while his mind quickly succumbs to exhaustion. He used to have nightmares on days where the memories of his childhood plagued his mind, but ever since meeting you, those nightmares became less and less frequent. Sleeping next to you brings him a sense of peace and solace that you won’t ever know about unless Kaveh outright tells you, and though he won’t say it out loud, he still tries to let you know how much you mean to him through his actions.

🍷 Staying up late usually results in Kaveh sleeping in. He could sleep through his scheduled appointments with his clients, so he’s very appreciative when you wake him up to give him time to get ready so he won’t be late. If he doesn’t have any clients to meet, then you usually have to carefully extract yourself from his arms to not wake him, and then go to prepare coffee and breakfast to share with him once he wakes up. Kaveh is used to making his own food while he lived with Alhaitham since his schedule didn’t always match up with the Scribe’s, but there is something special in waking up and walking into the kitchen to see you preparing breakfast for him. The sight fills him with warmth, affection, and gratitude that he can’t express in words, so he chooses to hug you from behind and kiss you on the cheek in greeting. He thanks you for making him breakfast too, calling you a true treasure for your acts of kindness towards him. Though his words might sound like simple flattery, if you look into his eyes, you’ll see the adoration in them and know that he truly means them from his heart. Kaveh isn’t used to being taken care of like this, but little by little you make him more open to receiving your care, and he swears he falls even more in love with you for it.

🍷 On the rare occasion when Kaveh wakes up earlier than you, he usually likes to take a few minutes to lay next to you and just admire you in the morning light. Even if your hair is all tangled and you’re drooling onto your pillow, the architect still thinks you look beautiful. He claims to have an eye for beauty and fine art, and to him, you are the epitome of beauty at this moment even if you think otherwise.

🍷 Eventually, Kaveh reluctantly separates himself from you to get started on his day while still letting you sleep. Much like you, he also prepares you breakfast and even plates it on a tray and brings it to you so you can have breakfast in bed. When you’re met with the gorgeous display of fruits and other breakfast foods arranged artfully on the tray, you are reluctant to eat it. After all, Kaveh spent a long time arranging the food to look beautiful, especially for you, and it would be a pity to destroy such a masterpiece. Your praise of his efforts feeds his ego, but he still encourages you to eat because your acknowledgment of his efforts is enough. He wants to take care of you the same way you take care of him, giving you just as much love back if not more.

Alhaitham

🎧 Alhaitham is a man of routine. He has a set time for when he goes to bed and a regular proceeding he does before going to sleep, such as spending an hour reading in bed or listening to some music. He rarely stays up late unless absolutely necessary. He doesn’t expect you to match his bedtime routine since he believes you should do whatever you need to help you prepare for bed, but he appreciates it if you take his needs into consideration. Though he’s set in his ways, Alhaitham is flexible enough to make compromises in his bedtime routine to better suit you, like taking his reading out into the living room if you complained that you couldn’t sleep with the bedside lamp on.

🎧 The Scribe is not fond of physical closeness, so he prefers that each of you stay on your respective sides of the bed and not invade the other’s personal space. He feels smothered if you cling to him throughout the night, and dislikes being in contact with you for long periods of time. Though he’s not fond of having you wrap yourself around him, Alhaitham has a much easier time being the one initiating the physical closeness. If you feel cold, he wraps an arm around your shoulders to pull you closer to him. His body is naturally very warm, and he functions as a great heater during the colder nights. If you feel sad and crave some company or affection, then Alhaitham will indulge you by hugging you and absentmindedly stroking your hair. He won’t say much since he’s not good at using gentle words, but he hopes you are still able to find some comfort in his arms.

🎧 Another time during which Alhaitham is okay with you touching him would be when he feels affectionate. This could happen after a session of lovemaking or if he hasn’t seen you for a while due to his business trips and has missed your company. He doesn’t have many close relationships, and Alhaitham sometimes becomes aware of just how much you mean to him. You put up with his aloof and overly pragmatic self and accept him for who he is. You love him for who he is. Few people can put up with him, even his ex-roommate Kaveh frequently complained and blew a fuse because of the Scribe’s attitude, but you continue to love him despite the difficulties, and in return, he accepted you into his heart. Although he prefers to keep his personal space, sometimes even Alhaitham craves the touch of another, to feel that he belongs and is accepted by someone, and thus has moments where he enjoys feeling your head rest on his chest or shoulder with one of his arms wrapped around you. The feeling makes him feel a warm and gentle emotion he can’t quite place, but it makes it easier for him to fall asleep.

🎧 Alhaitham usually wakes up before you, especially if he has work. He’s consistent like clockwork with how he wakes up at the same time each day, and the morning routine he performs to get ready for the day ahead. If you’re still not awake by the time he makes his coffee, expect Alhaitham to unceremoniously wake you up and take a jab at you by commenting on how you overslept in the snarkiest manner possible. Though he wakes you up rather rudely, you still find a cup of tea or coffee and a light breakfast waiting for you so you won’t go hungry in your rush to get ready.

🎧 If it’s a day off, then Alhaitham likes to laze around in bed with you, especially if it’s raining outside. Something about reading in the comfort of his warm and cozy bed with you snoring softly by his side brings a sense of peace to him. Depending on how long you sleep, he might read while he waits for you to wake up or eventually get up if he knows you won’t awake for a while still.

🎧 Alhaitham is fond of taking afternoon naps when his day is uneventful, even coming home from the Akademiya so he can read and then snooze on the sofa in his living room. He keeps his headphones on to block out any external noise since it helps him fall asleep easier, warmed by the afternoon sun streaming through the windows. Though he’ll never tell you, one of his favorite things is waking up from such naps to find you sleeping next to him on the couch, resting your head on his shoulder. The stacks of reports he planned to look through after his nap go on the back burner, for you are simply too adorable for him to disturb. So Alhaitham resumes reading his book while waiting for you to wake up from your own nap.

Wriothesley

🐺 Being the administrator of the Fortress of Meropide, Wriothesley is often busy from dawn to dusk. Signing paperwork, overseeing the prison operations, meeting with collaborators and partners, monitoring various projects, and many other things all take valuable time in his day. Despite how busy he is, Wriothesley is still full of energy when you retire with him for the night. He likes laying on his side while facing you, propping his head up on his hand while he listens to you talk about your busy day, occasionally sharing stories of his own about the drinks Sigewinne tries to convince him to drink or funny stories about his colleagues. He enjoys having these simple, lighthearted conversations with you. It’s a nice contrast from his usual talks with inmates who are intimidated by him, and formal business meetings which aren’t his cup of tea.

🐺 Wriothesley finds comfort in spending these few hours awake in bed with you. He’s used to life in the gloomy, dark depths of the waters of Fontaine, surrounded by the cold, metallic walls of the Fortress. With no windows, it’s difficult to tell what time of day it is, the only indicator being the activities of the prisoners and staff, and the clock he occasionally glances at. A life devoid of sunlight and fresh air can be bleak and depressing, and though Wriothesley is used to it, he does notice that ever since he started sleeping with you, his mood has improved compared to before. Maybe it’s conjecture or maybe he’s just that stupidly in love with you, but watching your sleeping face and feeling your warm body in his arms makes him feel that his room in the Fortress is not as gloomy and cold as it used to be, as if you brighten up the place with your presence.

🐺 While sleeping, the Duke likes to have an arm around you in some way. He prefers to scoop you up into his strong arms and hug you to sleep, but if you don’t want that then he hopes you’ll at least let him lay one arm across you. He just likes feeling you next to him, it gives his mind a sense of peace knowing you’re beside him. Unfortunately, even if you tell him you’re not in the mood to be held by him, by the time you wake up you’ll find yourself wrapped up in his body as if you were a teddy bear. Wriothesley apologizes for this, but he genuinely has no control over his body while he’s sleeping, and it somehow happens unconsciously. You’ll either have to get used to this or sleep in a separate bed.

🐺 Due to his administrator duties, Wriothesley usually wakes up earlier than you. He doesn’t have much time to bask in bed with you and admire your cute sleeping face, so he gets up fairly quickly and gets ready for his day. If you work in the Fortress as well, then you usually get up together with him even if it might be a little too early for you. This gives you a chance to spend the morning with him before both of you go about your duties. Wriothesley usually gets breakfast from the cafeteria, and you join him if you feel too lazy to cook anything. However, the Duke loves it when you cook breakfast for both of you. It can be a simple meal of toast and eggs or anything else you know how to make, but having his love cook for him gives him a sense of domesticity which is a foreign feeling in the dark and cold walls of the prison. It makes him feel as if the two of you were married, and the idea warms his heart. He contemplates genuinely asking for your hand in marriage later down the line.

🐺 While you cook breakfast, Wriothesley brews a pot of tea for you to share with your food. He’s memorized your favorite way of taking your tea and adds the right amount of sugar or cream (if you take any) before serving it to you. Breakfast is generally the most time he gets to spend with you during the day before night falls, so he treasures these little mundane moments even if he doesn’t say it aloud. He does his part by washing the dishes afterward and asking for a kiss from you before heading to work. He claims it’s his good luck charm, and who are you to refuse when he gives you that expectant look?

Diluc

🦉 Between his day jobs as the wine tycoon of Mondstadt and the owner of Angel’s Share and his night job as the Darknight Hero, Diluc is very busy and has an inconsistent sleep schedule. So much so, that you don’t always get to spend the night in his arms. He could come home after you’ve fallen asleep and then be up before you, so by the time you wake up you won’t even know he was home if it wasn’t for the clear indication that he had slept on his side of the bed. Diluc knows he shouldn’t neglect you too much, so he tries to make time to spend with you. He misses you just as much as you miss him, so rest assured he will always return to your side.

🦉 Diluc feels guilty when you stay up late waiting for him to come to bed with you. You try not to rush him because you know that whatever he is dealing with at the moment is important. If it could have been done another day, then he would have left it for later in favor of joining you and getting some rest. Still, Diluc doesn’t like making you wait for him. He tells you not to wait and go straight to bed, though he does appreciate your dedication and loyalty towards him.

🦉 Once he does finally join you, Diluc likes to wrap his arms around you and hold you close while giving you a few chaste kisses in apology for making you wait and expressing his gratitude towards you. He feels so lucky that despite how busy he is, you don’t get mad at him or leave him for not being able to give you as much affection as you want. Diluc tries to make it up to you by being extra affectionate when he does get to spend time with you and sends you a lot of gifts when he can. For now, he hopes you will let him hold you close and stroke your hair while he feels you fall asleep in his arms. Diluc’s mind is usually full of various thoughts that don’t let him fall asleep easily, but listening to your quiet and slow breaths lulls him to sleep soon after.

🦉 Despite going to sleep late, Diluc usually wakes up before you do. If he doesn’t have anywhere urgent to be, he likes to take some time to admire you since he doesn’t get to do so as often as he would like. He traces your cheek with a finger, marveling at how soft and smooth your skin is, and how it glows in the morning light. You look so beautiful, and he’s reminded once more of why he fell in love with you. He apologizes when his touch wakes you up, and his heart squeezes when your face lights up in a smile at having woken up next to him for a change. Diluc kisses your forehead in a morning greeting and smiles when you cuddle up closer to him to enjoy the warmth of his body.

🦉 Though he wishes to spend time with you, unfortunately, he must part from you all too soon. His duties await him, and as the master of the winery, he can’t afford to stay idle. He invites you to breakfast with him, and by the time the two of you make it downstairs, Adelinde already has breakfast prepared for you. The perks of living with Diluc as his lover is that you get to eat delicious meals prepared by Adelinde, the head housemaid of the manor. She dotes on you as much as she dotes on Diluc and Kaeya and prepares your favorite dishes from time to time. It honestly makes Diluc happy to see that the closest thing he has to a mother figure has accepted you so warmly into his family, though in Adelinde’s eyes, you and her master might as well be married already. If not yet, then soon because Diluc would be a fool to lose someone as caring and precious as you who waits for him long into the night. She will make sure Diluc won’t let his happiness slip past him due to his sense of responsibility.

Childe

🐋 Childe doesn’t always get to sleep together with you due to being away on long business trips as a part of his Harbinger duties. He doesn’t complain about not getting to be with his love, but he certainly does think about how much better it would be if he could have you in his arms when he goes to sleep in his hotel room at night. He misses your warmth, your smile, your voice, kissing you goodnight before falling asleep, and then good morning when he wakes up. Once he makes it back home to Snezhnaya, you better believe that he won’t let you go once night arrives. He wants to make up for all the missed time he didn’t get to spend with you and will be very affectionate by giving you abundant kisses and caressing you all over your body. He loves feeling your warm and smooth skin against his palms, making you feel all that much more real to him and not just another one of his dreams which he often gets when he’s away from you.

🐋 Another thing he missed about sleeping with you is your conversations before bed. Childe loves to ramble to you about his family, recounting all the fun stories about his younger siblings. He avoids talking about his dealings as a member of the Fatui even though you’re aware of what his Harbinger duties entail. He’d rather not talk about work when he’s with you, but about something that makes him happy. In turn, he loves it when you talk about things you like or that you found exciting while he was gone. Sure, he read your letters about these events while he was away, but he wants to hear all about it from you directly, told in your own voice. Listening to your voice relaxes him, and he sometimes falls asleep while listening to you, but don’t take it the wrong way. He’s not bored of your stories, he simply feels so at ease around you that he lets his guard down and falls asleep easily.

🐋 Despite how affectionate he is, Childe isn’t very clingy when he sleeps with you. The most he does is keep a protective arm around your waist but otherwise gives you enough freedom to not hinder you while you sleep. He instinctively prefers to have a more relaxed posture while sleeping so he can react swiftly if something were to happen, and he can’t do that if he’s all tangled up with you. That’s not to say that he will turn you down if you want to rest your head on his chest or shoulder. He’ll very much welcome it and wrap an arm around your waist and kiss the top of your head before settling in to sleep. He does like having you near, after all. It makes him feel all warm and fuzzy when you snuggle up to him of your own volition, whether because you’re feeling affectionate or want to warm up from the cold Snezhnayan winters doesn’t matter, Childe will always welcome you with open arms.

🐋 Childe is an early riser. He rarely sleeps into the late morning, preferring to wake up early to train or go fishing. He doesn’t have as much free time to indulge in his hobbies, so he takes advantage of the morning to do so. He strives for self-improvement, and training or fishing are some of the best ways to help him better his fighting skills. Plus, he’s a strong believer in being productive with one’s time and doing as much work as possible in a single day instead of leaving things for tomorrow. As such, he won’t let you sleep for too long. Around 8 or 9 a.m., Childe will come to wake you, saying that you shouldn’t waste your day in bed and that he wants to spend more time with you. He even cooks you a warm breakfast and brings it to your shared room before trying to rouse you with hugs and kisses so you wouldn’t be too upset with him for waking you earlier than you might be used to. Childe wants the best for you, which is why he wants you to take control of your life and strive for self-improvement as well, and in his opinion, it starts with making the most of what your day has to offer.

Kazuha

🍁 As members of the Crux fleet, Kazuha and you spend most of your time out at sea, occasionally stopping with the crew to visit the harbors of other nations and explore the land. As such, the wandering samurai shares his cabin with you as your lover. It’s a bit cramped, but it’s not an issue since both of you spend most of your time outdoors. Kazuha goes to bed rather late because he likes to spend a few hours admiring the starry night sky and feeling the cool breeze. This time of day proves to be the quietest, and it’s perfect for him to compose some poetry or listen to the sounds of the waves and wind. He welcomes you if you want to join him in gazing at the stars or listening to his poems, but also understands if you’re too tired and want to head to bed.

🍁 Once he’s ready to go to bed himself, Kazuha will quietly join you. He’s quiet enough to not disturb you if you’re already asleep, but if you’re still awake then he takes advantage of that to wish you goodnight and kiss your cheek. Kazuha prefers to sleep while facing you. He likes having you be the last thing he sees right before he falls asleep, and be the first sight to greet him when he wakes up. He also enjoys holding one of your hands in his while he slowly drifts off. Though he can clearly hear your soft breaths in the darkness of your room, it’s still nice to have a physical reminder of you being next to him. If you’re still holding hands by the time both of you wake up, then Kazuha has a tendency to rub his thumb over the back of your hand and feel the smooth skin. It’s a small sign of his affection for you, a reminder that he loves you.

🍁 If you have trouble falling asleep, Kazuha can recite a few of his original poems for you or tell you a few Inazuman legends or fairytales in hopes that maybe his calm and soothing voice can lull you to sleep. If not, he’s willing to stay up with you to talk or take a walk around the ship’s deck and feel the night breeze. He keeps you company as long as necessary until you feel sleepy, and only goes to sleep himself once he makes sure you’re asleep first. He doesn’t want you to deal with the solitude of the night by yourself unless you explicitly state it’s what you want. Regardless, he is always willing to be there for you if you need him.

🍁 Kazuha tends to naturally wake up early. The songs of birds and sounds of the wind are enough to rouse him, though he lets you sleep if you’re not awake yet. He likes to take some time to simply admire you and chuckles if he sees you drooling in your sleep. Despite the drool dried to your chin and your mussed-up hair, he still finds you pretty. He knows that when you catch him looking just as disheveled when he wakes up, despite your giggles of amusement, he can tell that you find him equally as attractive if the loving gaze in your eyes is anything to go by. So Kazuha simply smiles and presses a tender kiss to your temple before getting up to start his day.

🍁 By the time you wake up, a few hours had passed since Kazuha got up, but he hadn’t had breakfast yet. He waits to eat together with you, considering it only natural that he should share all his meals with those he loves. He’s a firm believer that food tastes better in the company of others than while eating alone, and though he could eat together with his friends in the fleet, he doesn’t want you to eat by yourself. He uses the ship’s kitchen to whip up a simple breakfast for both of you. It’s nothing fancy, but it is nutritious and filling, perfect for helping you start your day on a full stomach. Despite your urging to not wait for you, Kazuha won’t stop doing so, and neither will he wake you up early unless necessary, so you better get used to it.

[dearest-painter]

My little girl

summary:When your parents don’t care what you do,what you eat,what you say,what you wear,or how you look or throw you out in the cold with only slippers,a t shirt,and shorts you do anything to survive the world is Gotham especially little old Y/N. She is known to steal just so she can survive the streets of Gotham. Once you run away to New York and still have the same life you gain some attraction especially with hero’s,villain,anti hero’s,and vigilantes.

TW/CW:Yandere behavior, unhealthy behavior, unhealthy relationship,abusive behavior.abusive relationship,being force to grow up,Title from ‘Daddy issues by the neighborhood’,Y/N’s parents fully neglects Y/N to the point their basically homeless,SELF HARM,kidnapping,drugging,sedation,stalking,murder,death,villains being better parents then Y/N’s real parents,threatening,death threats,abuse

The coldness comfort you usually but now your running away from the only home you knew,Gotham city but you knew it was better to leave. Your parents never cared honestly and you knew it as they’ve thrown you out in the middle of the snow with barely any cloths,you had to steal proper clothes for you and the people who gave shelter to you. Sighing as you watched the places go by you saw all the heroes that didn’t do Jack shit for you when in need

It was always the villains that save you,Deadshot would always give you a ceral bar,the sirens would take you around town treating you like a daughter or sister,killer croc would let you sleep on his back while he went through the sewer,bloodsport would make you stay around him while he got you food and clothes. They were the best as they took care of you. Your parents didn’t care about your mental health or physical health but the villains did,they made sure you were always safe.

To you it felt like betraying your family yet you knew it was needed. “New yooork!” It was your area so you got up then walked out taking a look around. Everyone seemed confused at you but said nothing. You understood why because they were dressed for winter while you had a hoodie,shorts,worn out sneakers,fingerless gloves,a bandaged leg,many band aids on you,and a tank top plus your bag. It was like it was autumn to you. “Where do I go…” you thought everything out but you knew one thing,men were going to try and take advantage of you.

You took a deep breath then walked to a woman who looked friendly enough. “E-excuse me ma’am…do you have money you could spare so I can call someone on the pay phone. Sorry for the bother” the women looked at you,short red hair is the first thing you notice of her. “Of course,calling your parents?” You forced a smile. “Mhm! Lost my phone so I gotta tell them where I am” she nodded as she gave you money then you went to the pay phone.

Ring

Ring

Ring

Ring

Ring

Ring

Ring

Ring

Rin-

You hitched your breath. “Hello?” “Thor! You answered thank goodness! Your in New York yes?” “No I am not Y/N! I’m sorry!! Why do you ask?” “Damn it…I was gonna visit you but never mind! I gotta go!” You hung up then walked out plotting how to get by. Walking out the subway you just went with the flow.

New York was a bit safer then Gotham but something caught your eye. ‘Car for sale! Free!’ It’s as if something took pity for you. Running to the area where the car was you smiled wider then usual. “Ma’am! Can I have this car?” She puffed out air then look at you smiling motherly at you. “Of course sugar,I’m Charlotte harlot but may I ask. Where ya from honey?” “Gotham city ma’am” “oh dearie. Here the keys but do you know how to drive or have a job?” “Yes I can drive but no job” she looked at you sadly then took out a paper. “Here,my works hiring. Just say Charlotte gave you it” nodding you head she left and smiled. You got in then drove to a run down but safe parking lot.

You got in the passenger seat laying the chair plus your body down. Looking at the paper it was titled ‘villainously tastey’ it was definitely a restaurant but you sucked ay cooking and didn’t have any history with cooking extravagant food but only food for easy and quick food so being a waitress might be your job. Yawing it was time to sleep so locking the doors,getting protection the putting a sign up saying ‘I am fine! I am just resting as I’ve just moved here so I do not have a home yet!’ Then you brought out your blanket and pillow falling asleep in seconds.

[goth-oatmilk-latte]

i think one of the worst and scariest parts of recovery is the almost sure guarantee youll gain some, all, or even more of the weight back.

i listen to a lot of health podcasts and a lot of them talk about healing relationships with food and developing a healthy diet. and it isnt necessarily recovery or like diet talk, most of the ones i listen to are about picking better foods and being more mindful about buying more whole foods, eating clean, fixing thyroid issues, those sort of things.

and almost all of them talk about the fact that they gained weight when they started listening to their bodies, eating cleaner, and idk thats terrifying to me. and most of them acknowledge they dont like how they look, but they feel better...and idk if i can vibe with that bc i wanna look good and feel good.

its like recovery? weight gain.

gym girlie again? weight gain.

clean, mindful eating? weight gain.

everywhere i turn theres the possibility of looking how i used to look, and i hated that bitch.

at least this is safer. i may not always feel good, but i look better than i have. and plan to continue.

[laugtherhyena]

In a dra/sdra2 zombie apocalypse au, who dies/gets infected first, who was the one who spread it all, and who are the modt lilely to survive? (All on your opibion)

Well someone has been watching those infection Aus going around huh? I've been having a blast watching those but pulling the strings on who does what is a litte harder.

First off, here's how I'm going with the virus:

-Infection spreads only through bites, afterwards there are 4 stages the person goes through in the zombification.

-Stage 1: Starting stage after the person is bitten, they're still acting fine since the infection is just starting to settle in and hasn't started spreading much further from where the bite is. it's the only stage in which amputation can stop the virus from spreading, tho this needs to be done as quickly as possible after the bite.

-Stage 2: Virus is already running through the person's blood system and become very tired as their muscles begin to ache, they develop eyebags under their eyes and their skin starts becoming pale with a slightly greenish hue. This is the first stage in with the infected can spread the virus to another person, it's also where they start feeling hungrier than usual.

-Stage 3: The hunger is starting to become unbearable as the person's body begins rejecting most types of food, they can't sleep and now their skin has gotten greener with an itchy sensation all over. This is where the person's sanity really goes downhill and the decay of the body begins, all the scratching leaves open wounds that only get worse as the infection progresses.

-Stage 4: Final stage, by now the persons mind is completely gone and they're just mindlessly wandering around and trying to eat people to quench their hunger. They're the most aggressive in this stage, however it doesn't take much longer until the decay makes their bodies fall appart completely and the zombie dies of "natural causes" per say.

Anyways, this got really long so I'm putting it under the cut. Taking their chronological ages for this btw (Aka: Dra cast being younger than most of the Sdra2 people)

-Utsuro and Akane:

Utsuro was the patient zero of the infection, spreading the zombie virus as a way to throw the world in despair while remaining fine as his devine luck made him asymptomatic. Roaming around the desolately city watching the chaos unfold, always accompanied by his loyal servant; Akane Taira, who is by now a stage 3 zombie whose devine luck slows down the spread of her infection significantly and leads to her retaining most of her sanity.

She strives to be the perfect servant for her master, carrying out his orders and acting as a "bodyguard" of sorts. Sometimes she wonders if her former classmates manages to escape safely, other times she wishes to see them as decaying zombies.

-Since I'm talking about the luck people here's Nikei, Hajime, Emma and Iroha:

Their devine luck is steadily running out, looking for Utsuro is no longer an option with all these zombies around. The voids stick together in hopes that the remainder of their luck acts in unison and gives them a better shot at surviving this mess.

As their leader, Nikkei is always trying to think of safer ways to traverse the city and places for them to get supplies or steal steal from other survivor. He's stressed pretty much all of the time but tries to control his emotions to not end up lashing out at his friends, he doesn't always succeed. Hajime is the closest they have to a doctor due to his knowledge in health while Emma tries to get keep the group's morale so that they don't all go insane, not an easy task when her own sanity is starting to go down the drain.

They lost Iroha pretty early on, she was very scared, jumpy and paranoid, which led to her lashing out at Nikkei and the others out of frustration (sorta like she does in the void theater segment) then storming off where she was attacked and killed by a hoard of zombies. The remaining 3 voids swear to stick together and survive no matter what.

-Mikado and Kokoro:

Mikado was getting in contact with Kokoro for his future plans and when the zombie outbreak happened, he stayed by her side since they were pretty much stuck inside her laboratory for a while because of all the zombies outside.

Kokoro is scary smart, however, curiosity surely gets the best out of her. So she wants to study the zombies to see how they function, how the infection spreads and affects the body, maybe even try to find a cure in the way. She has chemical components, protective suits and a lot of things to keep herself safe, and since Mikado is stuck with her she makes him work for her so she shares these supplies with him.

So for a while all he had to do was lure zombies into this designated containment area and collect samples from them for Kokoro to study, while also bringing some dead ones in too from time to time so she can dissect and study them as well. But nothing good lasts forever, Mikado was bitten by a zombie he thought had died while collecting a blood sample, Kokoro takes this as an opportunity to start testing possible cures on him.

She was able to develop a solution that keeps his infection from spreading beyond stage 2 (the one Mikado had reached by the time she first tested this solution on him), but there's been no progress on one capable of reversing the effects of the virus so far. Probably because Kokoro's lab is starting to lack a few things by now, not that this will stop her from continuing her research tho, if someone's gonna find a cure it's probably her.

Anyways, back to the Dra cast. This whole apocalypse starts in a similar way to how the cast gets captured in canon, Kisaragi brings them to the foundation's place without knowing Utsuro and Akane (who is at early stage 2 now) are the causes of this mess. The two of them let a bunch of zombies in and reveal themselves as despairs, at this point the class ends up getting divided as they lose track of where the others are.

-Group 1; Yamato, Mikako, Teruya, Satsuki, Haruhiko: It was a hard decision but seing as zombies were everywhere around the facility, they couldn't risk staying for very long to try finding the others. Yamato directed the people with him alongside several other foundation members that hadn't gotten bit towards some helicopters where they left the island and headed towards a secret underground facility/bunker.

So they're safe, but obviously worried about the others. Yamato manages to contact Tsurugi via some kind of communication device early on and hearing that he's got a lot of their clasmates still with him makes them all a little relieved, Yamato sends the coordinates of the bunker to him so that Tsurugi can bring him and the others there safely, he also tent to talk him whenever he has the time to make sure everything is going well and even send supplies to their location when needed.

Because i imagine Yamato would absolutely be overworked on this, trying to keep the people at the bunker safe and sane while getting news from their friends still outside while ALSO trying to find a cure himself. Which is a lot harder to when he is very unwilling to bring infected into the bunker to make tests as in depth as Kokoro is doing. His are done by shooting zombies around the area on the surface with a dart that has one of his solutions and a microchip onto it, he keeps track on these zombies to see if it does anything. Not very precise, but the safety of the people in the facility is more important to him than that.

Mikako also helps with it from time to time but most of what she does is keep check of the people in the bunker and make sure they're ok, while also being in charge of checking and disinfecting anyone that's gonna enter the facility and coordinating ocasional missions to go outside and gather more suplies. Where are these supplies coming from? Otori mart of course! Hence why Teruya also helps with these missions by telling them which stores will have certain itens and where to find them.

As for Satsuki and Haru, I don't think they're doing much, sorta just trying to settle in the facility and reassuring the other people there that they're safe down there. I like to think Satsuki maybe pulls up some performances to boost morale of the people at the facility and make them smile even if just a little.

After getting separated from Yamato and the others, Tsurugi took the lead in guiding his classmates to safety after deciding that they should head down and try to leave the island via boat, but things don't go so smoothly as the group is followed by a hoard of zombies. Kakeru, Mitch and Kinji stay behind to hold back the zombies while the others reach the boat, Maki wanted to stay behind with them as well but Higa insisted that she should go with the others to protect them.

-Group 2; Tsurugi, Kiyoka, Ayame, Kanata, Kizuna:

The remaining members of class 79 stick together as they traverse through the city, making contact with Yamato via Kinjo's two way radio and getting the coordinates for their location. Tsurugi effectively becomes the leader of the group, though his weird morals tend to make him pretty cold and rather unsympathetic during the apocalypse, prioritizing their survival above all else while being somewhat paranoid about the infection and possible traitors like Utsuro and Akane.

Back in the foundation's island Ayame had gotten bit by Taira while in denial that she could have helped cause this, she tried to get Akane to "snap out of it" and return to her senses, but it didn't work out. Seeing as Ayame had gotten infected Tsurugi wanted to put her down to avoid more casualties, which was not taken well by pretty much everyone else in their group, except for Rei who begrudgingly took his side she figured keeping Ayame with them would be risky.

Thankfully, Kanata stepped in and begged to be allowed to try doing something to help Ayame and if there was nothing she could do to save her she would let him go ahead and kill her. They headed towards an abandoned hospital where Kanata performed mant tests on Ayame and ultimately decided to amputate her armnin an attempt to stop tye infection from spreading. She monitored her closely for tge next few days and was overjoyed when she didn't show any signs of infection afterwards.

Because Kizuna is not doing well either, a few weeks into the apocalypse she became absolutely terrified of zombies and the virus which led to her becoming extremely paranoid and scared that she could get it and turn into one. She was never bit, but her anxiety and paranoia makes her afraid that maybe she has gotten it somehow, she constantly asks Kanata to do check-ups on her and asks if what she's feeling is normal or if she's turning into a zombie.

Ayame is.. not doing very well. Her mental health has gotten pretty bad after learning the truth about Akane, she blames herself for not having been able to "see her true colors" despite being so close to her and is generally really hurt over her betrayal of them since she had feelings for her.

Currently she doesn't talk much, doesn't eat much and doesn't do much, which bothers Kinjo since she could have been very helpful due to her talent if she had the strength to be a more active member of their group. Kanata tries to help her mental health improve even if that's beyond her field of knowledge, she's essential always near her and Kizuna to keep an eye on them and reasure them that they're gonna make it to the bunker.

She pretty much doesn't sleep anymore, something Kinjo uses to the group's advantage and tends to leave her in charge of looking over them while they sleep for the night, if she sees or hear anything strange she can wake him up and he'll know what to do from here on out.

With Kanata being their only medical professional and Ayame and Kizuna not being in the best state of mind, Kinjo and Kiyoka are the ones who do most of the work for the group. They scout areas they're about to head towards next (since their goal is to reach the foundation's underground facility, they're always on the move) to see if their safe and look for suplies and food. Maki is essentially his right hand woman and voice of reason a lot of the time, she also taught the other girls how to fire a gun, just in case whatever base they are currently staying in gets attacked while the her and Kinjo are out.

-Kakeru, Higa and Kinji:

While Kakeru and Mitch were killed by zombies back in the Kisaragi foundation's island, Kinji managed to free himself and reach the roadway, unfortunately he was infected in the process. Knowing that he would eventually lose his mind to tye virus, he decided to not go after the others from his class and instead dedicates the time he has left to giving a proper burial to the dead people and zombies he finds on the streets, praying that their souls are able to rest in peace.

Kinji's infection has reached mid stage 3, his memories are starting to become foggy, keeping his sanity while resisting the hunger is becoming harder and harder.

-Rei:

She stayed with Tsurugi's group for quite some time but eventually left after a huge argument with him and generally being fed up with having to deal with them. Having the coordinates to the foundation's bunker written down in a notepad, she decided to find it on her own, believing she could get there way faster without having to wait for a bunch of other people.

She was certain that her intelligence and problem solving abilities would be enough to get by, however, in these situations safety is in numbers. Rei had a close call in the city when she stumbled upon zombified versions if her parents, unable to bring herself to shoot them, she was attacked but luckily a group of survivors came to help her before the worst happened.

She stayed with them for the night, having her minor injuries treated by the father of one of her classmates. While she was offered a place in the group by their leader, Rei refused, adamantly sticking to her goal of making it to the bunker on her own.

She made it out of the city, but is starting to run out of supplies and ammo.

-Setsuka and her crew: Working as a detective for a good while before the apocalypse and having the devil's eye to help her, Setsuka is a master of stealth and doesn't have a hard time at all avoiding zombies by traversing through some safer routes. She set up a base in an abandoned warehouse and overtime managed to rescue a handful of people, these being Ryutaro, Midori, Keisuke, Minako and Yoruko.

Things were going as smoothly as they could be for a while until zombies broke into the warehouse and the crew had to leave in a hurry, Minako was killed in the process and Yoruko was bitten in the ankle, something she only took notice of late at night. When the others woke up the next day, she was nowhere to be found. Ironically, it was while the group looked for her that they met Hikaru, who could possibly have saved her from the infection the same way Kanata did to Ayame.

On a good note, now that they have a medical professional, Hikaru can take care of Midori and tell them what kind of medicine they should look for in this situation, the two of them tend to stay at their new base most of the time (set on the roof of a tall building, stairs barricade to prevent zombies from getting up. The group climbs down usinga rope whenever they need to leave) while Setsuka and the boys go around to gather food and suplies.

It was in one of these small missions that they met Rei and agreed to give her some of their food and a place to stay for the night in exchange for medical supplies. While she was asleep, Setsuka rummaged through her backpack and found the notepad with the coordinates for the underground facility. She used the devil's eye to record it and now there is a new group heading towards the bunker.

-Kanade and Hibiki:

Hibiki panicked and ententered her puppet stage early on into the apocalypse, Kanade found that delightful, now she has her sister all for herself and no facades to keep on at all since the world has gone to shit. Her focus is not on surviving or making to a safe shelter, she's just having a blast brutally murdering zombies all over the place and people too whenever she sees that they have something she wants or simply managed to get on her nerves.

Zombie or human, Kanade likes to sign her work, other survivor have learned to recognize corpses killed by her not only for the guresome ways in which they were left for display, but also for a music note symbol carved in their foreheads. Every once in a while she will be sent to eliminate people or specific trade groups that Syobai considers a threath to his business, in exchange, he allows her to take any weapons he wants from his stock and stay in his shelter if she desires.

The person Kanade talks with the most is Hibiki, which is more like talking to herself by now since she remains unemotional and unresponsive to anything but direct orders from her.. Or is she..?

Either ways, if one hears singing around the bloody city streets, it's better to run away immediately.

-Shinji and Yuki:

Shinji was on a business trip outside the city when the apocalypse started, he was attacked and his car was destroyed by zombies when he tried to come back there when the outbreak was in its peak. In the outskirts, he stumbled upon the place Akane and Utsuro had locked the real Yuki in. Took a while but he eventually managed to free him, the boy was scared and confused, it took a few days Shinji to explain things to him and for the reality of the situation to settle in his mind.

Although scared Yuki is determined to reunite with his mother, just how Shinji wants to find his wife and daughters. Together the two of them are making their way back to the city, with Shinji promising himself he'll do anything to protect the young boy, who is like a son to him by now.

-Syobai:

Being a broker during the apocalypse sure has its advantages! Since money is pretty much worthless now, Syobai makes a living by trading goods (weapons, clothes, medicine, shelter, drugs, whatever you want, he probably has it) by things of his interest, be it food, other suplies, information or even services from people. Though a handfuls survivors tend to avoid doing business with him, aware of the dangers that come with the deal.

Most of his goods were taken from other traffickers/criminal organizations after they were attacked and killed by zombies, so Syobai has a lot in hands to trade and lots of contacts he made during this mess to keep him up to date on the situation, always gotta be one step ahead of the curve you know.

-Yuri: Stage 2 infected, he achived his dream of sacrificing himself to save a woman!.. Now what? His health is deteriorating fast.

[mr-clow]

Kal’Hal notes on a human ship. Part 2:

Laffite woke up a few moments earlier than her alarm told her to. She rolled around the bed for a while, thinking about yesterday's events and stretching her torso. She felt the air going out between her ribs. Kal’Hals had evolved from an aquatic world, and they could breathe water or air, their gills having evolved into pseudo lungs, their hands with palmed fingers and a powerful tail connected where humans would have legs. Her big blue eyes with no white to sight, something that humans had and still looked weird to her, panned the room, and she saw a small package on the floor in front of the door. She unrolled her tail and with the full length of it she reached the box and put it on her bed…

I opened the box, inside the first I saw was a colourful paper with some kind of human animal that was saying get well soon. I looked kinda cute, but I didn’t get any reference if there was any and Mag had signed it. Below I found a card with a clip attached to a paper that explained that is a long term sensor to check the radiation received and that humans use it when they work in radioactive environments (They really work in radioactive places!) and also below there were some pills. The paper explained that it was something humans used in case they got poisoned, but I should check if Potassium Iodide was bad for my health, something even I didn’t know. Below all that I found a small device that I recognized, it was a radiation sensor. Maggie really tried and I was glad.

I had met humans before, even if a lot of other species treated them as wild dangerous creatures, Kal’Hal knew better. Both species had an early relationship and for more than a thousand human cycles they had been supporting each other. Humans could be extremely loyal given the same treatment, and that didn’t include their pack bond. I have never been included in a human pack, but some people said that there was no safer place in the universe than being included and surrounded by a human pack. I wondered if this box was only a form of respect, or if it was a sign that they had started to include me in their pack.

After that, I took the time to moisturise my skin and change my clothes, my world was way more humid than earth and I needed to keep myself healthy. After that I took the things from the box, read the instructions again and searched about those pills on my way to the mess hall.

When I reached the mess hall my face was showing quite the concern, those pills could shut down several of my organs, technically I had a blister of poison in my hand. Maggie waved a hand, she was having breakfast with Bill who was in charge of the engineering department, Rose and Raúl, both of them colleagues also from the same department. I waved back, took a tray and served myself some food. Most leaves from the human world, some processed seeds and various teas were fit for my consumption, so I chose peppermint tea and a light salad. Most humans wouldn’t eat this at this hour, but the cook knew my taste, so I gave him a nod and an imitation of a smile, he smiled back, and I went to sit with Maggie.

Maggie asked how I was, and I explained that I still felt uncomfortable, but I was willing to give it a try and thank her for all the things she got me. Bill explained that everyone room in the engineering department had helped and that they had asked in the Med bay for the pills. My face turned with worry and Raúl asked what happened. I took the time to explain that iodine was poisonous to a lot of species and turned back the pills. They apologised, and then the conversation turned to other things from work, and I felt relaxed. Maybe they were starting to include me in their pack.

I went back to help Maggie assemble the reactor we were working on the last day. The job hasn’t advanced too much, but I noticed some tools that weren’t here yesterday. “Maggie, why did you bring all this?” While I checked a welding equipment that I haven’t seen before. “Yesterday, after I left the box in your room, I came back here and checked all the boltholes and filled the ones that had more diameter than they should. You shouldn’t worry any more for this” Her face had a smile but with an expression I didn’t knew. “Thanks Maggie, I appreciate all this. Anyways the sensor you gave me didn’t go off even in here, so I’m starting to feel more secure” I took the sensor from my belt and showed it to her. “Ehhh Laff, I don’t want to scare you, but you checked that it was set to your standards? It is really sensitive, but you have to program it” I looked at her, then at the sensor, and it was true, the threshold was set to 1mSv, lower than a human needs it but higher than I was comfortable. I changed it and when I pressed OK the sensor went off automatically. I looked at her worried and she took my hand and led me outside. “How low did you set it, Laff?” She asked with a worried look on her face. “Not too low, only 0.01mSv” and she put the same smile from before, “Oh hon, that won't do. Why don’t you try 0.4mSv at least, remember what I said yesterday. Earth is slightly radioactive, humans are, and this ship also is human made. Nobody got hurt before with even more than that, so let's try that.” I nodded slowly, I didn’t like it, but I knew she was right and changed the alarm. It stopped, and I exhaled, she took my hand again, and slowly we went inside the room, it didn’t sound again.

All that day I was distracted, but Maggie chatted as usual, and she gave me some simpler tasks, so I could entertain myself. At the end of the shift I went out to the mess hall with Maggie and when we sat down I looked at her and Bill “Yesterday you told me that humans knew how much radiation makes you sick, it’s that true?” Bill and Maggie looked at me with a serious face. Bill took a breath to start speaking, but Maggie spoke first. “Look Laff, we are not proud of explaining this to you, but I consider you my friend and I think it is fair to explain you some of our history”